St. Michael's Cathedral (Toronto) - Interior

Interior

The interior of the cathedral is laid out to create 5 designated spaces: a foyer, balcony, central aisle, left aisle and right aisle. When entering the church, they foyer creates a gathering space to engage with fellow parish members. Marble stoups that contain holy water emphasized with red trim are located to the sides of the doors. To the far left of the foyer, there is a small gift shop. To the far right of the foyer, a statue of Jesus and the Blessed Mary is set on a marble pedestal. A wooden kneeler apulstered with green leather is rested in front of the stature for the use of prayers. The foyer is arranged to create a horizontal space that causes movement passing through perpendicular to the flow of the main body of the cathedral. Three sets of double-doors mirroring the front entrances allow guests into the cathedral. When entering the sacred space of the cathedral, its mass is arranged linearly based on a vertical axis, with two main arcades of stone create a main vessel that draws focus to the altar. There is a sudden increase in height when entering the cathedral created by the high vaulted ceilings. The ceilings are not to human scale and seem as if they were created for a superior power, this was done intentionally. The two main arcades consists of ivory piers with patterned spandrels of blue and red, however, string courses outline the immensely decorated triforium. The high vaulted ceilings are painted in rich hues of red, blue, gold and emerald with exposed beam work. The first three piers that are closest to the altar are topped with red abacuses to define the sacred space. Above the alter, the focus of the church’s interior is the stained glass window of the crucifixion. The tableau was installed in 1958 by Étienne Thévenot, a French pioneer of the medieval glass revival. Blue, yellow and red are the most prominent colours in the window. The deep blue sky with small blood-red squares of glass leading in the regular grid fall into larger and smaller bands of maroon, plum, and purple enlivened by emerald, viridian and gold. The central panel of the oculus there is a depiction of the Blessed Sacrament symbolizing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Underneath the stained glass window is an intricate wooden reredos with gold and green detailing. The altar looks back to a balcony where the organ installed in 1880 by Archbishop Joseph Lynch, is situated. To the right of the altar, there is a wooden monument for the Blessed Sacrament that is the result of a re-design of 1980 directed by Gerald Emmett Cardinal Carter. The left and right aisles begin with ribbed vaults and then transition into an exposed beam ceiling. Widely spaced compound piers of wood, with slender colonnettes clustering around their core, make the church seem very open. The walls are lined with wall arcades. Within the arcade arches are stained glass windows that depict the Stations of the Cross. The material of the interior walls is a painted grey stone over plaster. Sixteen cast-iron lanterns hang from the tall aisles that light up the Cathedral. The aisles are lined with a green carpet, which pulls colours from the surrounding paintings and stained-glass windows. Facing the aisles, an etching of a gothic window profile is incrusted on each of the wooden benches. At the back of the Cathedral are lacquered wooden sculptures. De-emphasized in the back corners of the Cathedral there are four wooden confessionals mimicking the arcade arches. The panels of the confessional are decorated with crosses.

The ceiling is colourfully painted with a repeated design used for decoration, adding to the colourful windows. These paintings, murals and vignettes were done in the 1930s. Lightly lit candles flickering in red and blue illuminate the sides of the church, where people quietly pray in gratitude. Classic artwork like The Last Supper, as well as other religious paintings of Jesus, priests, and John the Baptist hang above the sanctuary. Various sculptures of saints sit along the side aisles in front of the stained glass windows and line up with each other across the pews. The St. Michael’s church choir sit in their own special seating on the left side of the altar. Up above the foyer sits a large organ, with pipes reaching the ceiling. It is used during mass, and fills the church with its deep, rich sound. The acoustics in the church are enchanting, as sounds eco throughout the vast walls, ceilings, vaults and arches. Down the nave, the high altar sits facing eastward, oriented toward the holy land. It is made out of white marble showing Christ’s sacrifice. Behind the altar is a large “semi- circular oak reredos” with one large episcopal chair of the Archbishop and six smaller chairs on either side for the clergy members to sit in front of. The priest’s throne is made of a red velvet-like material which links to the church in Rome. It creates a walkway behind it from either side to the work sacristy where the priest gets ready for the ceremony and changes robes. About midway down the aisles, there are two small chapels; the Blessed Virgin chapel on the north behind the baptismal front, and the sacred heart chapel on the south, beautifully decorated with small colourful stone tiles and candles. These chapels sit within two bays and a pointed arch, and line up with each other horizontally across the pews.