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Fr. Charles Coughlin and Henry McGill
Late in 1928, Father Coughlin met with Henry McGill, of the
New York architectural firm of Hamlin and McGill, to discuss
plans for the construction of the church. The altar was to be
in the center, an innovation that was 40 years ahead of its
time. Father Coughlin wanted to illustrate that the sacrifice of
the Mass is the center of the Catholic faith. A tower was to
rise above the church—a tower so magnificent that it would
inspire all who saw it. It would be a tower that "neither man
nor beast could tear down or defile."
Because of the unusual configuration of the property and the
resulting restrictions, the architect had great difficulty devising
a workable plan. He considered thousands of ideas. McGill’s
final design features the church proper, an octagon, with four
two-story "wings" that, together with the narthex and the
Blessed Sacrament Chapel, create an overall shape of a
cross. The roof is built to evoke the feeling of a tent as
described in the Book of Exodus. The primitive sanctuaries
of the Old Testament were protected by a heavy cover, which
was stretched from an elevated central pole and reached
down beyond the vertical framework of the sanctuary. The
church roof is faced with copper and nickel-chrome steel.
The entire structure is capped with a crown, which is
surmounted by a golden cross. The crown, forming the base
of the cross, also serves as ventilation for the church. |
