Music at the Cathedral Basilica

Carved limestone screen in rear of the nave.

The free concert series at the cathedral basilica, open to the public, is in its 55th season as of 2023-24.^[13]

The pipe organ, the largest Schantz ever built, includes 154 stops playable from two consoles. When installed in 1953, the organ held 144 stops; it was expanded and renovated in 1989.^[14]

Performances of religious music at the cathedral basilica also include the New Jersey Symphony's annual Advent season performance of Handel's Messiah (a ticketed event).^[15][16]

Holy Week

The west façade

The cathedral basilica is home to a number of special religious events during Holy Week, including a Palm Sunday mass, Chrism Mass, and services on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil in anticipation of Easter Sunday.^[17]

Black History Month Mass

The cathedral typically celebrates Black history with an annual mass in which the cathedral basilica is decorated with images of Black Catholic candidates for sainthood and participants frequently wear African, African-American and Caribbean cultural attire.^[18][19]

Hispanic Heritage Mass

A detail of the sanctuary

The church celebrates Hispanic heritage with an annual mass, featuring Spanish-language music, and participants often wear cultural dress to represent their nations of origin.^[20]

Golden Anniversary Mass

Each spring, frequently during the cherry blossom season at Branch Brook Park across from the cathedral basilica, Cardinal Tobin holds a mass to honor and bless local couples celebrating 50 years of marriage.^[21][22]

Blue Mass

The cathedral basilica hosts the Blue Mass annually to honor the dedication and sacrifices of fallen, active, and retired New Jersey law enforcement personnel. Numerous dignitaries typically attend, including Governor Phil Murphy, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and others.^[23]

Red Mass

A red mass is held annually for members of the legal profession and government officials.

Early stages

Following groundbreaking in January 1898,^[25] the cornerstone was laid on June 11, 1899.^[26] O'Rourke wanted to get the walls and towers built first and selected a Vermont Rockport granite as the exterior stone. By 1902, the walls then stood 50 feet at the nave and ambulatory, with the first four tiers of the front towers under construction. Wigger died on January 5, 1901, and the new bishop, John Joseph O'Connor, asked O'Rourke to cut costs not to exceed a price tag of US$1 million.

Halt in construction

O'Rourke was removed as head architect in 1910 following a series of feuds between O'Rourke and another architect. The new architect, Mr. Waldron noticed a dangerous shift in weight and hired Fred Metcalf to observe this shift. An order went out to remove all 24 pillars, excavate underneath, re-level the ground and reset 22 pillars. The decision to eliminate two pillars allowed the builders to eliminate the clerestory wall connecting the nave and the chancel, widening the transept to 165 feet (50 m). As the arches and clerestory began to rise in the latter half of 1910, architects provided extra reinforcement in the form of steel girders at the clerestory level down either side of the nave and around the ambulatory.

Design changes

The original English/Irish-gothic style was switched to a French-gothic one with those plans accepted in June 1913 and work starting in August 1913. Changes included:

• reducing the height of the towers from 332 feet (101 m) to 232 feet (71 m);
• eliminating the spires to reduce the weight loads on the tower;
• eliminating the exterior nave buttresses and pinnacles,;
• substituting three rose windows instead of a concentric-circle design; and
• increasing use of sculptures at the entrances.

The last stage

By 1918, construction moved at a steady pace to allow the completion of the steel-slated roof in November 1919. The granite tympanum canopies and medallions were finished and, by July 1924, the windows were completed. With this, the building was finally insulated for the first time since the construction's start. The carving of the medallions' scriptural scenes and bishops' portraits took place on-site between April 1922 and November 1924 under the direction of Rochette and Parzini of New York City.

In 1925, officials wanted the cathedral completed by December 1926, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of O'Connor's ordination as a priest. The dedication was postponed because of a dispute over the type of limestone used and the many delays in construction. Limestone installation, vaulting, the work on the sanctuary floor and sacristies continued.

With O'Connor's death in May 1927, construction focus shifted to the crypt where he would be laid to rest.

General work re-commenced in August 1927 and ended some months later with the installation of an Italian Botticino-marble altar purchased from Benziger Brothers of New York City.

Pre-dedication

The new bishop, Thomas Joseph Walsh, opened the cathedral even though construction was ongoing. Walsh believed it was time for the cathedral to be open even though it was unfinished.

The first ordination was his own as Bishop of Newark on May 1, 1928. A Pontifical Mass followed, celebrated by Father Joseph H. Conroy, with a crowd of nearly 4,000 people.

Walsh's elevation to Archbishop of Newark took place on April 27, 1938. He celebrated his Silver Jubilee on July 29, 1943, and the 50th anniversary of his ordination as a priest on May 1, 1950.

During the pre-dedication, Walsh ordained six bishops in the cathedral.

Dedication

After nearly 95 years of planning and building, Thomas Aloysius Boland, Archbishop of Newark, finally dedicated the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart on October 19, 1954. During the ceremony, Boland received the pallium from then-Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, Apostolic Nuncio (delegate) to the United States.

View of the cathedral from the north

Post-dedication

The Father Monsignor Joseph A. Doyle, who spent his entire priestly life in the cathedral parish, was appointed first rector.

In addition to the six bishops he ordained during the pre-dedication, Boland ordained many priests in this cathedral and showed people's contributions in this church.

Thousands came to celebrate his Golden Jubilee in 1972. In 1974, Pope Paul VI named as Boland's successor Peter Leo Gerety from Portland, Maine.

Visit by Pope John Paul II and cathedral's elevation to basilica

During Pope John Paul II's visit to the United States in 1995, he celebrated evening prayer at the cathedral. At this occasion, the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart was elevated to a minor basilica to become the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.