III. OTHER BUILDINGS, ETC.

Bishops) House 3.0¢. 0-6-1 118 Synod House ............ 124 IDEESa Sondoasmocooonse 118m Open At: Pulpit se s.cn 129 Choir School. aaesceies 120 Cathedral Organizations...130 Ste baits Ouse. «6s. es 124 Publications ...:......... 131
- Ld uJ o F Ww)
(3TH
WEST
AMSTERDAM AVENUE 112
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PARKWAY
CATHEDRAL
10. 11. 1 es
7MoOw >
PLAN
- West Front, under construction . Nave, under construction . Crossing
North Transept, not begun South Transept, not begun
. Chapter House, not begun . Baptistry . Choir Sacristy, not begun
Dotted lines indicate cloisters connect- ing with Choir School
. Dean’s Office, with Canons’ Offices ad-
joining, not begun Choir Sanctuary Ambulatory
Seven Chapels of Tongues
. Chapel of St. James
. Chapel of St. Ambrose
. Chapel of St. Martin of Tours . Chapel of St. Saviour
. Chapel of St. Columba
. Chapel of St. Boniface
. Chapel of St. Ansgarius
. Bishop’s House
. Deanery
. Choir School
. St. Faith’s House
Synod House
. Open Air Pulpit
The Old Synod House (formerly the
Leake & Watts Orphan Asylum) stands on the site of the South Transept (5) and is not represented on this plan.
g
Pllustrations
The Cathedral, from Architect’s drawing.......... Frontispiece Flac ot ithe: Cathedraliten cess seciessorrvasiiee toe tse aisicier 6 PlantotsthesGathedralmands loses emer eee eee: 8-9 East ind ot. Cathedral (exterior) iy.neeee err hernias 18 Sealsioi Dioceseyand (Cathedral sesame een eee 24 West Pront, from Architect's models. mas -semocmeecer cee 27 Building they Nave cies os vies sisiere ev is ale cies ce eect siete aia 31 Nave (exterior), from composite photograph of model.... 35 Nave (interior), three bays, from model................. 39 IC-XC-NI-KA symbol, “Jesus Christ Conquers”.......... 41 SP-SF-SS symbol, “Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit”. 41 Two symbols of St. Luke, as Evangelist and Artist........ 41 HoundationgStonesorNaves ase ace meee eee 43 Crossing tand (Chore Gnteriom)eemccaencates ease eee 45 Pil pitt Cipdoors) eae cn es cos son. teene She nie eee aieiae eee 47 Barberinimbapestrymmdsnes laste Supper ee aoe eee cee 49 ChoirsStalle southesides., omens aot ee Cer ee eater 57 Credence) Vable with) Magna ‘Charta Stones.en sn ese sees 60 Habla WaW liber ta cue ote ORAS SCN E INOS o Ra cee eso aes soc Sic 61 SanctuarycndslGreatePallarceeer meee oe ees cee eretereeee 63 Baptismmon | Caiistpaititiiag a treser eel reise eee eee ene ener 71 The; Wo understory mee asec arene ist tome eeeore ere eee 73 Choir’ Boys? Store: aemec aca. feted eer cia ae eee 74 Chapel Tor sSte ames sm Gnteniom leerer ee eeeeertce ceeeeeee 77 Seven Coats-of-Arms in windows of St. Martin’s Chapel.. 87 ViGano Ar © (Statue. cic cmermcieyne eee cee ein One ree 89 Nicheet English’ Cathedral Stoneshs-emeeneeeeee eee 101 Statue of" Phe Sacriiice meni eeer eins: Meee eee 105 Baptiste. cect ch oeeeore Livi gee wees eke tomas Reon Tene 107 Baptistriy’ Priezes.3 os cnioesis rae et ee ee ee eee 109 Baptistry: (Pott... +0. eens ot nee ee 113 Bishop s)-Seat aun ties Gathecralll ences nee ere eee 117 Bishopis sHouséy Deanery ascent ve hie sho ae ee ee 121 Choir “School oc tre. ccciciat een seer ee aN ee 123 Synod Housese nace eee ee ee 125 Key to Figures in Synod House Doorway..............0: 127
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Part One The Spirit of the Cathedral
The Real Cathedral On Morningside Heights, in the City of New York,
on ground consecrated by the blood of our forefathers in the War for Independence, stands a trinity of insti- tutions which represent with singular completeness the three-fold nature of man: Columbia University, which ministers to the Mind; St. Luke’s Hospital, which minis- ters to the Body; and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which ministers to the Soul.
This little book is designed to assist visitors to under- stand the meaning and purpose of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Some such aid, either written or oral, is needed, for a great cathedral cannot be comprehended in the glance of an eye. Certain features, such as its magnitude and general beauty, are obvious; but in- wrought with these is a wealth of meaning which is the soul of the Cathedral — the real Cathedral — and which reveals itself only on intimate acquaintance. When Ruskin called Amiens Cathedral “The Bible of Amiens,” he used a figure of speech applicable to all cathedrals. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is “The Word in stone.” It is a sacred book, written in massive pier and ponderous arch, in sculptured marble and carved oak, in stained glass window and inlaid mosaic, in embroidered fabric and woven tapestry, whose pages are full of de-
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light, inspiration and help for those who will take the trouble to read them.
The Cathedral performs its function as a place for the praise and worship of Almighty God in two ways— statically in the grandeur and beauty of the temple, and actively in the services held within it.
Praise in its Greatness
Like other great cathedrals, St. John the Divine first impresses by its size. Its magnitude is not only becoming to its rank as the chief church of the great Diocese of New York and necessary for the accommodation of large congregations, but it also has a spiritual purpose, for it gives one the feeling of something bigger than one’s self and of a Power greater than one’s own. “The Cathedral gives me a feeling of humility,” said a man to Bishop Greer one day. “When I go in,” said a college girl to him, “I forget myself.” And a man whom the Bishop met in the Ambulatory said to him: “If I came here regularly, something about it,—its size, its spaciousness, its loftiness, its great receding Choir—something about it would compel me to be a churchman.”
Praise in its Beauty
The Cathedral is designed also to praise God in the glory of its Beauty. Ruskin, in “The Laws of Fesole,” says that “all great art is praise.” Here we have the three great and enduring arts of Architecture, Sculpture and Painting (the latter including stained glass), com- bined in a wonderful Te Deum of Beauty. For cen- turies the great cathedrals of the world have been the caskets of certain kinds of art—or, rather, of certain kinds of expression of art—not elsewhere to be found; and in this respect the Cathedral of St. John the Divine fills a place in our American life which no secular build- ing can fill. In the beauty of its general form, in the
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beauty of its detail, in the beauty of its symbolism, and in the record of human achievement in godly living which these express, the Cathedral stirs the most reverent emo- tions and creates the noblest aspirations.
Praise in its Service
But these silent though eloquent physical features are only adjuncts and helps to the active expression of praise in the Cathedral Service. In this, the impressive rites of the church and the congregational participation are aided by music brought to a high degree of perfection, and the preaching from the pulpit aims to interpret the Christian religion in terms of the practical every-day life of to-day.
In short, the Cathedral endeavors to employ all that is beautiful and majestic in Art and Service to bring God closer to men and to draw men closer to God.
Those who live near enough to the Cathedral to be able to attend its services frequently can appreciate the words of a man who lived most of his life in one of the great cathedral towns of England, and who said:
“T account it one of the greatest blessings of my life, and a circumstance which gave a tone to my imagina- tion which I would not resign for many earthly gifts, that I lived in a place where the cathedral service was duly and beautifully performed. . . . If the object of devotion be to make us feel, and to carry away the soul from all earthly thoughts, assuredly the grand chaunts of our cathedral service are not without their use. I admire—none can admire more—the abstract idea of an assembly of reasoning beings offering up to the Author of all good things their thanksgivings in a pure and intelligible form of words; but the question will always intrude, Does the heart go along with this lip service? and is the mind sufficiently excited by this rea- sonable worship to forget its accustomed associations with
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the business and vanities and passions of the world? The cathedral service does affect the imagination and through that channel the heart.”
The Spirit of Democracy While the Cathedral of St. John the Divine is a
Protestant Episcopal Cathedral, its ministrations are not restricted. “Our democratic age,” said Bishop Henry