Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption — Attraction in San Francisco

It is sad to hear all of this comments in regards to the watering situation at the cathedral. Maybe it is not the right way to clear up the cathedral for when kids come in the morning, and they could find another way to fix that, but what is more upsetting are the comments because all of you are judging and criticizing the church for not protecting the homeless. Well, think of yourself, what have you done to help the poor? Have you given them shelter at your home? Have you feed them everyday? I don't think so. We, as human, tend to criticize the other without looking at our own life. And what about the government? I saw a comment where some said that the church is the one who should be taking care of the homeless, not the government. Well, guess what? Thanks to the messed up system that we have in the U.S., it is why we have so many homeless, people who lost their jobs, lost their homes, have no money, and no support. I think the government should be the first to help out those to who they ruined their lives. Plus the church has being doing its job to help those in need, and it is well known that the most of the aid to the homeless comes from the catholic church . As an active catholic, I volunteer myself in a food program for homeless, where they are given food to survive. I see this often and it changes me to love others no matter the economical situation or social status or race or culture. So why don't everyone start doing their own act of charity and help to support the homeless, rather than just sit around and writing hateful comments about the Catholic Church, whom at least is trying to do the best to support the homeless as much as they can around the world, not just the...

Majestic and iconic and one of the most famous landmarks of San Francisco, the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption sits on the edge of a steep hill.

The horizon behind the cathedral is therefore not cluttered by other buildings but instead shows only the open sky. Especially on evenings, or when the fog drifts in from the west, the cathedral seems to float between earth and sky — an appropriate image for Our Lady rising upwards, assumed from Earth into Heaven.

Since the open air parking lot that brackets the cathedral is sunk below ground level, as one approaches the cathedral from the street, or having walked up the wide stairs from the parking to the street level, one finds oneself on a broad plaza that functions as a wide bridge leading to the cathedral. The sunken parking lot functions almost like a moat and gives the cathedral the appearance of an island. This physical separation from its surroundings, plus the brilliant white marble exterior and the soaring, unusually sinuous roof, crowned by a 55 foot cross, clearly indicate that one is approaching a holy place. Traditionally, cathedrals have often been described as a “Gateway to Heaven” or as a “Bridge to Heaven” — but very few cathedrals have incorporated this image to such a visual degree as St. Mary’s Cathedral.

St. Mary’s is the third cathedral built in San Francisco. The first cathedral was commissioned by the first Archbishop of San Francisco,...

Built like something out of Star Wars lol, I know the ceiling is supposed to represent a cross at whatever angle you look at it, but it feels to me like it's completely influenced by modern art, a concrete box that lifts my soul to dreary nihilism rather than an art that elevates my heart and mind to God during Holy Mass. Also the tabernacle is off to the side and hidden, which I guess I don't understand why anyone would ever do or want that, I just wanna see where Christ is in the church, rather than the prosiding chair on a central high hill for everyone to look at. I rant on for no good reason.

However I will say I enjoyed the liturgy, the mass I went to had a good mix of Gregorian chant and English hymns, the choir was dope. I should say that this was the Walk for Life 2024 day, and hence a lot of the faithful come around. We had 2 bishops prosiding the mass, with like 20+ more priests distributing Communion. Overall good experience, I give it a low rating because I think architecture can represent the faith better; when I think of modernist churches I unfortunately think of...