Northwest Territory Basilica
by William J. Turner, appearing in Volume 47
The picturesque city of Marietta, “the oldest town in Ohio,” was founded in 1788. It was the first permanent settlement of a newly created Northwest Territory and a possession of the French government. It was named to honor Queen Marie Antoinette in appreciation for aid that came from France during the American Revolution. Ministry to Catholics in the area was offered through the labors of pioneer priests who arrived at the junction of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers to care for the settler population. The first Mass was celebrated for French troops and Native people on August 16, 1749. Masses were later offered by visiting priests through the years up to 1838, when a resident pastor was named. The first church was built near the river, but the Bishop of Columbus decided that property on higher ground would eliminate the danger of flooding. The current Basilica of Saint Mary of the Assumption was constructed where a small women’s college building once stood. This structure, called Putnam Hall, the precursor to what would become Marietta College, was moved to the adjacent property to become the rectory. This left ground vacant for a new church to be built in 1903.
Bids were sent out to find an architect. With the approval of the bishop, the firm of Fuchman & Uhlrich of Cleveland (later Uhlrich alone) was chosen to build a “Spanish renaissance” structure that would accommodate 800 worshippers at a cost of $50,000. Work on the new building continued until its dedication on Sunday, December 12, 1909. Records from that time describe the new church as equal in beauty to any religious building in the state. It stood on a commanding site and was built of stone with tile roofing. Its dimensions were 150 feet long, 80 feet wide at the transepts and 134 feet high. On each side of the front corners rose a tall spire and there was also a dome affixed with a gilded cross. The interior included mosaic flooring, marble finishing, imported paintings, and stained-glass windows that were ordered from Germany. Those windows would eventually be increased in number. The Stations of the Cross were of a beautiful and artistic design and finish. Across the front was a sanctuary rail of massive marble with polished pillars. The organ, a two-manual instrument with twenty-two ranks was purchased from the Stevens Organ Company of Marietta and placed in the choir loft. It would be rebuilt in 1973 by the Ebert Organ Company of Pittsburgh. Three bells from the older church were installed in the bell tower and are still in use today. The entire debt was paid in full by February of 1916.
Like many churches after the Second Vatican Council, there was a new direction to simplify the decorations and paint over artistic features to provide what was thought to be an “undistracting space” in which to celebrate the revised liturgy. The resulting effect placed the beauty of the original appointments into abeyance. Many parishioners hoped for a return of those symbols and devotions that were an important part of their Catholic identity. Saint Mary remained in this state until a major renovation took place in 2008 at the cost of $2.8 million. It is that renewal that would return the church to its original beauty, addressing its Catholic identity in the faith life of its people.
When a new pastor arrived in 2006, he noted the need for a restoration plan. He contacted Rolf Rohn, a Pennsylvania liturgical design consultant. Through the previous thirty years, the interior finishes, artwork, plaster, lighting, and the renaissance furniture had been replaced by contemporary wood furnishings. The confessionals had been removed and the major apse mural of the Assumption of Mary was painted over. The former pastor and the diocese were convinced that painting the walls white was a step forward. Unfortunately, the walls were resurfaced with a joint compound that was hoped to create a finish that would look like plaster. Eventually the surface dissolved and ran down the walls and wainscot.
Restoration
For the first phase of the project, it was decided to address the exterior of the church: its roof, gutters, domes, Ohio sandstone walls, and towers. After this structural work was completed, the interior work began in 2010 and was ninety percent complete by 2015. The project continued until 2022. The finished plan had decorated the ceilings, the dome, the walls, and the arches, painted the marble columns, and restored the stained-glass windows. The new lighting emphasized the basilica’s fourteen paintings of the life of Christ.
In recent years as the population decreased, it had been suggested that the church, which was the largest in the diocese, could be torn down and replaced by a smaller building. There were sixty percent fewer people attending Mass. This sort of narrative encouraged the pastor to envision this location as a place where people could experience a glimpse of heaven. Here sacraments would be a life-giving sustenance. That restoration has provided such a result as to make this church worthy of its nomination to the rank of Minor Basilica.
Interior
Upon entering the front doors of the church, one discovers the ornate vestibule area, a warm welcoming space that includes busts of Saints Peter and Paul and of the parents of Mary, Saints Joachim and Anne. Icons of Christ, the Mother of God, and of John the Baptist are also here. The ceiling theme is a blue sky with stars. A door to the left leads to a cry room. The style of the interior of the basilica calls to mind the classical and baroque churches built in Europe from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. Of note are the columns, the arches, and the central dome, each offering a majestic appearance. Looking down the main aisle, the light from the dome area draws the eye upward to the heavens. Throughout the church there are angels holding lights that are not only decorative, but also serve as a means of illumination. There are four pairs of angels on the pillars under the dome, four in the body of the church, and six over the sanctuary that surround the bas relief of the Assumption. Mary is patterned after Bartolome Murillo’s painting of the Assumption, the honored patroness of the basilica. This area of the sanctuary also has eight smaller pillars and is capped by an area of blue sky with stars. A further presence of angels in the form of cherubs is found at the capitals of each column in the church. Angels holding lamps are also found outside the main entrance, as well as the statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
Recessed lighting illuminates the sanctuary and the altar of reservation. The Blessed Sacrament, which was removed to a less prominent place during an earlier renovation, was restored to a central place. This central placement includes a baldacchino, or ceremonial canopy. The recessed and adjustable lighting is a feature of the padded pew area of the church, providing lighting without hanging fixtures. The tabernacle is on a marble throne decorated in gold leaf. Its placement in the sanctuary encourages the understanding of the presence of the Eucharist as the center of Catholic faith and life.
The imposing altar made of Botticino marble with rose onyx measures 7 feet 5 inches long by 4 feet deep. There are twelve Carrara marble statues of the apostles and a figure of Christ holding the bread and chalice. In the back of the altar there is a grille, where reliquaries may be seen. There are relics of the twelve apostles, Saint John Vianney, Saint John Paul II, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, and Blessed Solanus Casey. The ambo of the basilica weighs 5,000 pounds and was created to match the altar in Botticino marble and rose onyx. It is surrounded by the four evangelists carved in Carrara marble. The two symbols of a basilica, the tintinnabulum and the ombrellino, are displayed nearby.
Two shrines are located on either side of the sanctuary. To the left is a crucifix, measuring 20 feet wide by 32 feet tall. Figures of Mary and Saint John stand below the cross. The life-size body of Christ was carved in Italy from one piece of marble. A reliquary holds a small relic of the true cross for public veneration and was given to the church by Cardinal Laurean Rugambwa, Archbishop of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 1968 to 1992.
To the right is a shrine of the Holy Family. The figures of Mary and Joseph with Jesus on his shoulder were also carved in Italy. The baptismal font has been placed in front of the statue of the Holy Family. It is 4 feet in diameter and 3 feet tall and continues the theme of Botticino marble with rose onyx inserts. The font is octagonal with a black granite bowl. The waters are constantly in motion to signify the living waters of creation.
The Stations of Light are twelve paintings under the vaults of the church. They begin with the story of the Resurrection appearances and continue until Pentecost. Each scene was painted in vivid colors by a priest in the Philippine islands in 2008. In addition, six large paintings in the transepts date from the nineteenth century. Created in Germany, these portrayals of the public life of Jesus were installed in 1919. Twelve consecration candles in gold holders mark the points on the walls where the church was anointed for sacred use.
The stained-glass windows of the basilica tell the story of the life of Mary from before her birth to her crowning as Queen of Heaven. They were created in Munich, Germany at the beginning of the twentieth century. Their voyage across the Atlantic in 1916 included encountering a World War I naval blockade.
The basilica has two confessional rooms, one on each side of the church. Each is appointed with noble decorations, icons, and stained glass. There is also a well-decorated chapel dedicated to the English Martyrs that serves as a prayer room, a chapel for small weddings, and as a location for Eucharistic adoration. Murals on the walls that lead to the chapel tell the stories of those martyrs and their witness to the faith.
In the rear of the basilica there is a shrine to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Created in mosaic marble and gold leaf, this image is reported to be one of the largest versions of the icon in the world. An elevator is available to take guests to the choir loft or to the undercroft hall. The parish hall includes a kitchen, space for gatherings and meals, a library, and a fine archival display, not only of the parish, but of the entire diocese, as the local diocese does not have an official archival room.
The basilica’s new appointments were created and purchased as follows: from Carrara Italy: all marble furniture, the ambo with the four evangelists, the altar with the apostles, the baptismal font, the crucifixion statue, the Holy Family statue and the four vestibule shrines. From Florence, Italy: the tabernacle throne. From the Philippines: fourteen nave murals. From Saint Luke Studios in Pittsburgh: the mural of the first Mass, the mural of the English Martyrs, eight dome murals, and the presider and deacon chairs. Saint Luke Studios completed the restoration of the Stations of the Cross, the plaster relief of Our Lady of the Assumption and eighteen other plaster reliefs. Ongoing maintenance of the exterior includes roof repair on the dome, removing shingles, and their replacement with copper. The entire project will cost $1.8 million and is to be completed in stages.
A visit to Marietta Basilica, its rectory, and its grounds is well worth the effort. The rector, Monsignor Michael Campbell, concludes that “the basilica is an invitation in brick and mortar to all that enter these holy doors to consider, against the prevailing secularism of our culture, that God truly matters and that as the basilica’s coat of arms states: Christ is in our midst!”