A great church for national purposes,"
Envisioned by Pierre L'Enfant, today crowns the Capital City on Mount Saint Alban. Presidential monuments mark the Southern view toward the Potomac River, Known officially as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and sometimes called the National Cathedral, Sunlight sparks the bloom of the North Rose Window as the 101st Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Donald Coggan, delivers a sermon in the Washington Cathe�dral. The Gothic cathedral, fifth largest in the world, has risen since 1907 as a "house of prayer for all people" (Isaiah 56:7), so proclaimed by its Congressional charter. Fluted boughs of stone branch through the nave toward the high al�tar (overleaf). Medieval Gothicists sought an image of heaven. THE HANDS of many lifetimes have shaped a cathedral to stand for millennia. Masons, metal smiths, sculptors, carvers, needlepoint workers, and stained-glass artists have aspired toward a common glory. Modeled on 14th-century English Gothic, the cathedral takes its strength from stone; no metal adds support to the walls. Nine chapels grace the cathedral. Some have been used for worship by small congregations�including Russian Orthodox, Jewish, and Polish National Catholic�lacking a church or synagogue. CHANCEL AND APSE The chancel 8 contains carved choir stalls, organ, and sanctuary. The intimate Holy Spirit Chapel is and the Children's Chapel @ flank the choir. Stones for the high altar C) were quarried outside Jerusalem. More than a hundred individually carved stone figures adorn the reredos or altar screen C). From the west facade to the apse, the cathedral extends one-tenth of a mile. WEST FACADE The twin towers of Saint Peter and Saint Paul and the Pilgrim Observation Gallery C) await funds for completion. An original copy of the King James Bible highlights the collection of the Rare Book Library. Frederick Hart's sculpture of the creation will fill the central tympanum C). RARE BOOK LIBRARY NAVE AND TRANSEPTS The ten-bell ring C) and the 53 bells of the carillon) peal in the 30l-foot-tall Gloria in Excels is Tower, dedicated in 1964. The Transepts C) form the arms of the traditional cross. The War Memorial Chapel C) honors the nation's war dead. Most sermons are given from the Canterbury pulpit C) in the crossing Which soars more than ten stories? The nave � is the Principal seating area for worshipers, Commemorative bays in the outer aisles of the nave include the Wilson Bay @which holds the tombs of President Woodrow Wilson and Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, the Maryland Bay C), the Washington Bay 62, and the Lincoln Bay. In Communion vestments John T. Walker, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, buy tobacco online. The cathedral has no congregation, but 400,000 people come each year to admire, rejoice, and pray. "The cathedral must have a life people can partici�pate in," says Bishop Walker, "while it upholds the highest ideals." Measuring up, acolytes match heights of processional candles before a Sunday ser�vice. The young men and the choirboys attend St. Albans School, one of the cathe�dral's four educational institutions. Graduation weekend toasts the 1979 class of the National Cathedral School. Senior Esther Brimmer speaks with pride, "That's my cathedral!"