Cathedral bells central to annual Bishop's Dinner

Intermountain Catholic

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Bishop John C. Wester greets Bishop's Dinner guests as they leave the annual fund raiser. The Cathedral of the Madeleine depends on the dinner to help raise funds for an endowment.

SALT LAKE CITY — The bells of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, those four deep tones that toll out in joy and in sorrow, were the focus of the fourth annual Bishop’s Dinner at the Grand America Hotel Sept. 25. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Bells on Temple Square, under the direction of Thomas M. Waldron, rang in the dinner with 350 hand bells ranging from those weighing a few ounces to those weighing 13 lbs.

The Bishop’s Dinner is a yearly fund raiser for the Cathedral of the Madeleine, providing money for the future care and maintenance of the cathedral, its rectory, and the stone convent at the corner of South Temple and C Street. Through the support of an endowment in the Catholic Foundation, donations gain interest which is used to keep up with the repairs needed on the nearly 100-year-old facility.

Also honored at the dinner were members of the Michael O’Donnell family, owners of O’Donnell and Sons Mortuary, which has been in service to the Catholic community for generations.

"This dinner is a new tradition,

said Father Joseph M. Mayo, rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, "a tradition of support that has become part of our legacy of faith. It is now out turn to take over from those who came before us and assure that those who come after us will find us committed and responsible stewards of the Cathedral of the Madeleine."

Bishop John C. Wester, in remarks at his first Bishop’s Dinner, said cathedrals al over the world, "Represent all that is fine about us and our faith. It stands as a monument to what is sacred in our lives."

The first function of a cathedral, Bishop Wester said, is to give glory and honor to God. "In the early days people made pilgrimages to the great cathedrals and found themselves awestruck by the cathedral’s spires and stained glass windows which prompted them to say, ‘Glory to God in the highest.’

"The Cathedral of the Madeleine is more than bricks and mortar. It is a living monument to the people who go there."

In a moving video provided to all guests, the history of the bells of the Cathedral of the Madeleine were traced and celebrated.