Saint Patrick's Cathedral

Saint Patrick's Cathedral was on my list of things I really wanted to see while on our trip. I have always loved looking at old churches in the cities that we are visiting. I have to think it's because our churches are so utilitarian and boring looking inside. Our temples our beautiful but most are quite modern. 

This building was completed in May 1879 with some renovations made between 1927 and 1931. It is really breathtakingly beautiful and so incredibly intricate. It blows my mind that buildings like these were made before all of our modern conveniences came to be. I can't wrap my brain around building something like this without cranes and heavy machinery. 

Sadly they were doing renovations on the exterior while we were there. The whole lower half was hidden behind scaffolding. 

When I enter a church that I don't belong to I feel like I am doing something I shouldn't by walking around taking pictures while people are there praying but I am so glad I went in. I  loved visiting this amazing building. 

I would love to hear this organ!

I can't even begin to describe how huge this building is. It is enormous. 

Everywhere you turn there is beautiful stained glass and some kind of intricate ornamentation. It was truly amazing. 

There were several places throughout the building where one could light candles. I'm always drawn to their flickering lights in the dimly lit churches. I love seeing these candle. They leave me wondering what prayer was offered when each one was lit. Thinking about them as a representation of someone's prayer is very special to me. 

While we were on our tours I saw so many old churches, all throughout Manhattan, that I would have loved to go into but sadly this was the only one I was able to visit. It was awesome.