The Cathedral in the Wilds

By 1886 the old rectory which served as school and church had become inadequate for the increasing number of catholics. Pella needed a church. They had no funds to call in an architect. It would have to be the work of their own hands, the fruit of their own labours. They could not refuse a suitable Temple for their Lord.

Together with their priests inhabitants of Pella like Piet, Frans and Long Willem Basson as well as Kootjie Steenkamp helped making the bricks. Uncle Piet Visagie, Jan Raman, Vaaltyn Diergaardt and Jan Waterboer recounted the struggle to transport the building bricks from the river to Pella. Sixteen oxen can transport only 500 bricks per day.

Two hundred cartloads of sand were needed to level the ground, four hundred wagon loads of stones to lay the foundation, 352 bags of slaked lime for the mortar and finaly two wagon-loads a day of hard-won willow wood which Brother Leo swam through the treacherous Orange River.

In spite of sweat disappointments, faith spurred on the builders. The rounded arch above the doorway was designed, the wedgeshape bricks were made, a spiral staircase, of which a professional could have been proud, led up to a roomy gallery. By 1893 the brickwork was completed. Fr. Simon and Br. Rougelot, with the aid of Neels Swartz, were the masons. They now had only to put on the roof and construct the spire, for which Brother Leo was indispensable. Acrophobia was not his weakness. He could walk on the coping of the roof as if he were walking across his room, and he worked at the cross on top of the tower as if he were but two feet from the ground.
The large clock, a gift from Father Brisson, was set up in the steeple for all Pella to see the time at a distance.

A beautiful bell, also a gift from France, was entrusted to Father Tremelot, who came to Matjieskloof in 1893. This young missionary, however, forgot the precious case in England, without an address. Evidently it would never reach its destination in the belfry of Pella cathedral. Father Simon wrote to the shipping companies of the Cape, at Southampton and Le Havre. He did all in his power to find the missing bell, but to no avail.

Pella prayed and hoped, not in vain. Three months later, when Father Simon was on a trip to Springbok, a merchant approached him and asked whether he could not give him some information about a case without an address, which the loaders at O’okiep had inadvertently brought along with his goods. Certainly, Father Simon could inform him. It was the bell. How it got there remains a mystery.

The sisters were wonderings whether I had noticed any new furnishings in the church. I had not. On entering the church I had not looked around. I had only been feeling rather proud of the new ceiling and thought that father General would also like it. This ceiling of steel sheets made in England had been put in last year. it had cost us 200 pounds, but that sum had been raised in Pella itself. The sisters had organised a bazaar which brought in the greatest part of the amount. Private donations had covered the rest. We were thus able to hide the somewhat promitive woodwork of the ceiling. Father Lebeau was also pleased with it. As for the new furnishings in the church, I had to go back in to see them.

The old Way of the Cross had been replaced with a new one sculptured in wood, with gilt framework. It was a magnificent work of art which supplied something that had been missing in our church. Then the Vicar Apostolic’s throne, which had been something draped in red hangings of material costing 60 cents a meter, was now a throne of sculptured wood made by Father Wolf himself. I never knew that he was talented in this way. His accomplishment is so much the more noteworthy since he did not have the proper material and had to use any wood or boards he could find in the mission. It is beautiful indeed, very beautiful for a bishop of Bushmanland. When I am seated on this throne, I often wonder what the good Lord thinks, He who was born in a stable. if this is a sin, then who suggested and did the work will also have to share in the punishment.

brought along a beautiful statue of the Sacred Heart, the gift of a Sister of the Visitation in Paris. It was my intention to consecrate the Pella mission to this Divine Heart the day we placed the statue in our church. Unfortunately, the statue reached us in a sad state. It had been packed in a flimsy case and was, partially broken by the rough handling inevitable in any long journey.
At first I thought it would be impossible to repair it, but with patience we finally succeeded in gathering all the pieces and fitting them together with some plaster. We placed a few pieces of wood inside the statue to support the arms, and we patched the whole statue so well that it seemed to be in better condition than when it left the manufacturer. We also repainted the damaged parts. If one does not look at it too closely, one does not notice it has been through so many harrowing experiences.

We were so pleased with the results of our labors that we wanted to hold the ceremony of consecration without delay. We constructed a hexagonal column whose corners were cov- ered with a spherical gilt molding. A platform resting on gilded hearts supported the column. We then set the column and platform behind the main altar where it rose even above the exposition monstrance.
The top of the column was bolted to the church’s mason and then we placed our beautiful statue of the Sacred Heart upon it. We hung a piece of red material against the wall as a background, and we framed this material with boards painted white. The board across the top bore this inscription: PELLA TO THE SACRED HEART, SEPTEMBER io,1899. On the sides of the frame we inscribed the names of the missionaries and of all the Catholics in the mission. Everything was ready, and on the evening of the 10th of September the whole population of Pella went to the church for the ceremony. Care had been taken to veil the statue, which the public had not yet seen. The curtain was held by cords which would let it fall at the proper moment. First, hymns were sung in honor of the Sacred Heart. Then there was a sermon explaining the meaning of devotion to this Divine Heart and its advantages. Finally, all the clergy in cassocks and surplices gathered at the foot of the beautifully decorated altar which was lighted with sixty candles.

The signal was given and the veil fell revealing the statue on its column from which it dominated the whole church. Our Lord was robed in white and wore a red mantle. His Heart was visible to all, and His arms were half extended and seemed to call everyone to Him. His face, painted with artis- try above, was full of gentleness and mercy, and inspired confidence.

Our assembled faithful were completely surprised when the curtain fell and they saw Our Lord holding out His arms to them. Some of them thought it was an apparition and cried out. We then blessed the statue and read an act of consecration after we had exposed the Most Blessed Sacrament. The ceremony closed with Benediction. To give Our Lord proof of our love for Him, we became affiliated with the devotion of Eucharistic Adoration fostered by the Basilica of Montmartre. Since we were free to choose our day of adoration, we chose the Feast of St. Aloysius of Gonzaga as this was also the feast of our revered founder and superior general.

Since 1900 the Most Blessed Sacrament has been exposed in our church every year from six o’clock in the evening of June 20th until six o’clock in the evening of the following day. Our Christians participate in the hours of adoration during the day and night.