St. Mary Cathedral

St. Mary Cathedral is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in Lansing, Michigan one block north of the Michigan State Capitol. It is the seat of the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing.The style church was designed by E. A. Bond in the Gothic Revival style. Construction began in 1911 and was completed in 1913. The stained glass windows were made in Munich, Germany and installed in 1923. In 1937, the church became the cathedral for the newly formed Diocese of Lansing.In January 1938, a serious fire broke out in the rectory and Bishop Joseph H. Albers, the survivor of a World War I gas attack, collapsed inside the building before he was rescued by firefighters.The church has seen four renovations. The first was in the 1920s which added the stained glass windows, gothic details, and decorative painting behind the altar. The second was in 1954 and removed some of the gothic details in the sanctuary. Another renovation from 1967 to 1968 removed the communion rail, side altars, and stations of the cross and reconfigured many other elements because it was believed that the Second Vatican Council mandated them, but it did not. In a 1986 renovation, many of these elements were restored.