41. CHAPEL TOP WINDOW

High above the side doorway in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel is this small lattice window depicting St Thérèse of Lisieux. She was canonised in 1925 and the window dates from that time. It is likely that it was manufactured locally. Church archivist Michael Taffe comments that it is occasionally lit from behind and is then quite beautiful.     PLAN

42. NORTH TRANSEPT WINDOW

Leaving the Blessed Sacrament Chapel we come to the North transept with its beautiful window depicting the Resurrection of Christ. The angel of the Lord imparts the news to Mary of Magdala, Joanna and Mary the mother of James, while the two guards recoil in fear. Jesus appears in his glorified state, with disciples Peter and John at the left.

43. TRANSEPT CRUCIFIX

This Crucifix is on the wall of the North transept. In a perpendicular Gothic style church of this period the crucifix would normally be hanging from the sanctuary arch above where the nave altar stands. Today it is simply affixed to the wall in the transept in line with where its proper architectural placement would have it.

44. TRANSEPT MADONNA

This Carrara marble statue of Mary in the North transept and the statue of Christ in the South transept are the oldest items in the Cathedral, dating from 1874. They originally stood on either side of the altar.

45. NORTH NAVE WINDOW

The windows on the North side of the nave picture the parables of Jesus. Here we have the parable of the weeds and the wheat. The angels with sickles in their hands are separating the weeds from the wheat, i.e. the wicked from the righteous, at the time appointed by God whose judgment is not to be anticipated.

46. ST JOSEPH

This sculpted figure of St Joseph, father of Jesus, stands in the North West corner of the Nave. St Joseph is often depicted with a staff surmounted by a lily; this is missing at the moment due to vandalism. This depiction's based on an ancient legend of how he was chosen to be the spouse of the Blessed Virgin. The apocryphal Protoevangelion of James recounts how Mary's spouse was chosen by collecting walking sticks of widowers in Israel, and Joseph's alone bursting into flower, thus identifying him as divinely chosen.

47. ST THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX

Against the West wall of the nave stands the figure of St Thérèse of Lisieux holding a cross with flowers.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873 – 1897) was a French Carmelite nun. She is also known as ‘The Little Flower of Jesus’. She felt an early call to religious life, but died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. The impact of The Story of a Soul, a collection of her autobiographical manuscripts, printed and distributed a year after her death to an initially very limited audience, was great, and she rapidly became one of the most popular saints of the twentieth century. Pope Pius XI made her the ‘star of his pontificate’.

48. WEST WALL

The fine West window of the Cathedral, set between two stands of organ pipes, makes a lovely sight in the afternoon sun. The first organ installed in 1867, was replaced with the Fincham in 1930.

49. WEST WINDOW

The very attractive West window ...

In the early 1950s the sandstone ‘stone tracery’ of the Cathedral windows was found to have deteriorated badly, and the windows were removed and dispatched to Melbourne for releading of the stained glass. All the supporting stonework was renewed in Hawkesbury River stone, the best in Australia. The project was completed at a cost of £20,000.

50. 1875 INTERIOR

Although Catholic Services were conducted in Ballarat from 1851 onwards, the parish of Ballarat was not instituted until 1852. The first Parish Priest was Father Matthew Downing, who in 1853, selected the two acre site for the church, which was granted under a Crown Grant in 1855. On February 7th, 1858, Bishop James Alipius Goold laid the foundation stone for the church, which commenced being used on a regular basis for Mass in 1863. The miners presented the Bishop with gold nuggets which were formed into a Chalice and Paten, found today in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. With this exception all the presentation plate is still held by the Diocese.

51. 1875 INSTALLATION OF BISHOP

St Patrick’s was Ballarat’s only parish church from 1863 to 1963.The official opening of the church was in 1871 and when the Diocese of Ballarat was formed in 1874, the first Bishop, Dr Michael O’Connor chose it for his Cathedral.

52. 1909 WEST VIEW

When St Patrick’s Cathedral, Ballarat was finally consecrated in 1891 by Cardinal Moran of Sydney, it was the first Catholic Cathedral consecrated in the Australian Colonies, making it today Australia’s oldest consecrated Cathedral. In 1887, a high altar, which can be seen still today, and stations of the cross were purchased from Rome. The altar is of Carrara marble inlaid with precious stones including Antico Rossi, Lapis Lazuli and antique marbles. The tiles of the sanctuary and side chapels are from Austria and those in the nave from Minton’s England. The first organ installed in 1867, was replaced with the Fincham in 1930.

53. 1917 POSTCARD

The stained glass windows were introduced in 1883, the first being that in the sanctuary. Following this were the Lady Chapel window and Blessed Sacrament Chapel window. These three windows were made in Germany and a slight variation in colour to the other windows can be noticed. The remaining windows were gradually added to, until the final one in 1910. Of these, the first was presented by the Loreto Sisters representing St Brigid (note her Crozier, the traditional mark of a Bishop). On the opposite side of the narthex is St Patrick’s window, donated by the third Bishop, Bishop Higgins (note the crozier piercing Aengus through the foot). The side windows depict the parables and the miracles of Jesus.

54. 1938 VIEW

An extensive renovation and liturgical upgrade of the Cathedral took place in 1999. Highlights of this were the installation of a new altar, tabernacle and baptismal space. Also of note was the discovery of the original paint colours around the sanctuary, which have been conserved in the renovation. The new altar, given by the Archdiocese of Melbourne, was consecrated by Cardinal George Pell on April 26, 2000. Bishop Peter Connors retired as Bishop of Ballarat on 1 August 2012. Father Paul Bird CSsR was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to be the diocese’s next bishop. His installation took place on 16 October 2012.

This completes our tour of the Cathedral.