Photo: #Archbishop Harry Flynn outside the doors to the sacristy, where he prepares for Mass. He enters the sanctuary through the sacristy's doors.
Photo: #The Cathedral is an imposing edifice. The cornerstone was laid in 1907. It was designed by French architect Emmanuel Masqueray. The lantern on the top of the dome is 306 feet high.
Photo: #The interior of the Cathedral of St. Paul is one of the most unobstructed of all Cathedrals, especially for its size.
Photo: #This ambulatory leads behind the altar and to the Shrine of Nations. There are smaller altars for patron saints of nations represented in the population of the region during the Cathedral's early years.
Photo: #St. Boniface represents the St. Paul's Catholics of German heritage.
Photo: #The grand dome is 96 feel in diameter, and 175 feet high. Its stained glass windows bathe the cathedral in light. The mosaics at the top are 25 feet high.
Photo: #The name "cathedral" comes from cathedra, the latin for "chair." This is the chair from which the Archbishop presides over services and ceremonies held in the Cathedral. Only the Presiding Bishop of a Cathedral can sit in the cathedra.
Photo: #This is the view from the pulpit, from which Archbishop and other priests preside over the Mass. Archbishop Flynn says he takes his teaching authority in the cathedral quite seriously.
Photo: #This statue of St. Paul is a more recent addition to the cathedral. There was none when Archbishop Flynn took over, so he had one installed.
Photo: #This east facing Rose window is 26 feet in diameter. It's called the Resurrection window, and depicts the Lamb of God in the center.
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Archbishop Harry Flynn outside the doors to the sacristy, where he prepares for Mass. He enters the sanctuary through the sacristy's doors. (MPR Photo/Tom Crann)
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Archbishop Flynn recollects on a St. Paul architectural icon

by Tom Crann, Minnesota Public Radio
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St. Paul, Minn. — As Minnesota celebrates it's sesquicentennial this year, one of the state's most recognizable landmarks is reminding people it has been around for two-thirds of that time.

The Cathedral of St. Paul is 100 years old this year. It will host an open house and "family day" this weekend.

This year will also mark the end of the tenure of Archbishop Harry Flynn. He turns 75 next month, the traditional age of retirement. He's held his post as the Archbishop of the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese since 1995.

I recently met the Archbishop under the Cathedral's great domed ceiling to find out what he loves about this Minnesota icon.

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