Spotlight St. Louis: The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis

As I prepare to embark on my next vacation, I have to look back to my last one for the inspiration for this here post. On Southwest Airlines, my airline of choice, they have a navigation feature (as I’m sure they all do, but I haven’t been on anyone else in a minute) that shows the progress of the flight. Well, if you tap the various cities listed on the map, it gives you a selection of attractions from each city. I was surfing through all these random locations and decided to give St. Louis a lookover and was quite surprised to see The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis listed as the second top attraction following the Gateway Arch.

As I am most definitely not religious and most definitely have never been to the cathedral, I was quick to screenshot the informational page before me, so I could be sure to look into this place further upon landing. Well, look into it I did and it wasn’t long before I became incredibly obsessed with visiting what I knew would be a phenomenal place that I couldn’t waste another second without going.

Boasting a mosaic collection of more than forty one and a half million, it is second only to a cathedral in Russia for the most mosaics of anywhere in the world. I was instantly astounded to learn this fact. Right here in my own backyard is this true work of art that I’ve been sleeping on all these years! I was completely and totally flabbergasted to learn this fact and at the time, I hadn’t even been yet, but let me tell you what, when I finally got there, I can very much confirm that just being in this cathedral around all this incredible art was a spiritual experience unlike any other.

As I mentioned, I’m not a religious person, but you do not have to be to appreciate and marvel at this incredible edifice. My friend’s Katie and Megan joined me one day last month for a guided tour of the cathedral and you best believe it is something I will be doing again and again.

Our tour guide, Dee, was a volunteer, but her passion and enthusiasm for this spectacular structure was indicative of someone who was making millions of dollars a year giving these tours! She was just lovely in every sense of the word and made the experience infinitely better than I could’ve ever imagined. I followed Dee along this 75 minutes tour with a dropped jaw and gaped eyes just trying to take in all that lie before me. Every single second I felt like I was seeing something new that I hadn’t before, often in the same place I’d been looking. The details in some of these mosaics were as incredible as they were unbelievable.

Now we all know that I absolutely LOVE St. Louis and the hill I die on will be defending this world-class city, but I have to say, when we were walking around this cathedral, I honestly felt like I was someplace far away, like a mythical land that didn’t exist in this place and time. I could not bring myself to believe I was still in St. Louis. My mind couldn’t reconcile with the notion that when I walked back out those doors, I would be in Midtown St. Louis. I don’t know, that might totally just be me, but I felt as though I were in historical Europe somewhere and not in 2023 St. Louis, Missouri. It was so divinely beautiful in there that I felt like I was on hallowed ground in the most sacred of places. Y’all probably reading this thinking I’m crazy, but if you’ve ever been, you have to know what I’m saying, and if you haven’t, you’ve got to go experience this for yourself!

Southwest Airlines was not wrong for listing this after the Gateway Arch on their list of things to see and do in St. Louis because I can assure you, when we have guests come into town from here on out, this is a must-see spot. I haven’t been to a church service outside of a funeral or a wedding in nearly two decades, but Dee, the tour guide, invited me to return during the Christmas season for Mass because she said the decor with the thousands of poinsettias and such has to be seen to be believed and I knew right away that was the case. I will happily and eagerly be attending Mass there before the year’s end because just being in this space gave me chills and goosebumps and I suspect that feeling to only be amplified under those circumstances, I honestly can’t wait.

In the meantime though, I invite you to gaze over my pictures of this must be seen to be believed place and then plan on taking a guided tour of your own – POST HASTE! Like I said, you do not have to be any kind of religious to appreciate the wonder and wow of The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. It is a gem truly unlike any other in our great city and for that matter, the world.

The triangle in the door below represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Every little detail here was just outstanding to me. Because I’m so ignorant of Catholicism I was wowed and amazed by nearly everything, so some of this may be completely normal to many, but for me, I was just shook at how precise and perfect every little thing was. I truly cannot praise this place enough.

One of my favorite Disney songs is from The Hunchback of Notre Dame and it’s called, “God Help The Outcasts.” The scene in the film when the gypsy Esmeralda sings it occurs in the Notre Dame Cathedral, so you best believe I was wanting to have my own moment of walking slowly while singing this incredible hymn. While I kept the lyrics out of my mouth, they were definitely being played in my brain. The interior dome height was 143 feet, so as you can imagine, the vastness of space was spiritual in and of itself. I’m telling you, there’s no place else like this, especially around here!

They were doing a deep cleaning of the cathedral, so there was a team of skilled laborers inside on scaffolding cleaning all of the mosaics and architecture. It was actually quite interesting to see them perform their craft and the care and detail they gave with the task. I was thankful it was happening while we were there because it definitely inspired me to return again soon when their work has finished.

Below is a Conopaeum, a silk canopy featuring stripes of yellow and red, which are traditional papal colors. This is one of the indicators that you’re in a basilica and not a cathedral or church.

From the ceiling in the picture below hangs the former hats of the past Cardinal’s of St. Louis, of which there’ve been three. I was honestly shocked to learn that Cardinal Glennon was an actual person and the hospital was named in his honor. I’d heard the name all my life and never once wondered about its origin, but knowing it was named for a historical figure in the world of St. Louis Catholicism really left me shook. I was seriously amazed to learn this.

Below is a choir book from the fourteenth century! THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY! You’d have to go to Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville, Illinois to find anything else around here that authentically old! I was absolutely shocked to see how well preserved it remained. It was a work of art in and of itself and can be seen in the museum beneath the cathedral.

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis gives guided tours daily, but you will want to call (314) 373-8200 to check out their available times as they vary. You’re allowed to give yourself a self-guided tour, but need to be sure Mass is not occuring during the time you’re wanting to visit. They’re open from 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m everyday of the week with Mass times being 7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m., and 12:05 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8:00 a.m. on Saturday’s; and 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. on Sunday’s. They also have Confession times throughout the week. For more information about this must-see marvel please visit cathedralstl.org. While they allow one to walk around freely and tour it yourself, I would very much recommend doing a guided tour. Our tour guide told us more than I could ever of learned on my own, so I found it incredibly enriching and informative and the experience is one of the best I’ve had in recent memory. The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis is a solid 10/10 and I most definitely Highly Recommend visiting it the moment you get the chance for it really is simply the best!

As always, THANK YOU so much for viewing! Please feel free to leave me a comment below as I love reading and responding to them! I’ll be returning from my Walt Disney World vacation soon with a whole new crop of blogs highlighting my magical trip, so be on the lookout for those, but until then, I wish you all, all the best!