The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament has reopened and people are pouring in by the thousands to see it.

There are parents with children, elders who first came to the cathedral as children, Catholics from churches throughout California, and complete strangers eager for a first glimpse at the ethereal beauty of its vibrant works of art.

Father James Murphy, rector of the cathedral, said that between 5,000 and 6,000 people attended Masses the last weekend of November. Hundreds more lined up for tours during the week.

“It’s a very well-done project and obviously the word has gotten out,” said Father Murphy, whose telephone has been ringing off the hook with inquiries about Mass times and tours.

He said people have been eager to share their opinions. Among the most frequently expressed comments are that the restoration has “exceeded expectations,” is “well worth the investment” and achieved much more than modernization of a historic church.

Among the first to arrive at the cathedral’s rededication Mass on Nov. 20 was Deedee Marin, a parishioner from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Fairfield.

“It was like walking into another world and very inspiring,” she said. “My eyes went first to the altar, seeing the tabernacle and then to the dome. It was breathtaking.”

Another early arrival that day was Harry Hallenbeck, supervising architect of the cathedral project. He praised the 100 skilled workers and artists who had labored on the project.

“It truly achieves cathedral level and will be, I think, a wonderful worship space for everyone who visits,” he said.

A hallmark of the project, he said, was the placement of the crucifix, suspended from the dome above the altar.

Also among those present at the rededication Mass was Barbara Gormley Morgan, great, great niece of the diocese’s first bishop, Patrick Manogue.

Seeing the eucharistic lamp lowered, lit, and then raised in the eucharistic chapel, a lamp she first saw in the cathedral as a child, overwhelmed her emotionally.

“It was for me the most tremendous moment. Life had come full circle. What was there was back again,” said Gormley Morgan, of the lamp which was installed in 1903 but removed during a renovation in the late 1930s. “I know that up in heaven Bishop Manogue is smiling.”

For Maria Elena Gutierrez, the rededication Mass was an opportunity to connect again with the very roots of her faith. She and her brother, Jesus Romo, both distant cousins of St. Toribio Romo, had the honor of placing a relic of St. Toribio in the church altar.

“We have hundreds of family here in Sacramento so I think (having the relic) here was a plan from God,” said Gutierrez, who serves as parish secretary at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

She said she grew up hearing stories about St. Toribio Romo — martyred during the persecution of the church in Mexico in the 1920s and 1930s — from her father who knew him as “someone big in his life.”

“St. Toribio had a great love for God,” Gutierrez said. “He has touched my life and the life of my kids in an extraordinary way, and we’re much stronger because of him.”

More impressions of the historic landmark came from parishioners and men and women religious from various parts of the diocese.

Dawn Ruffling, who attended the Mass with her three-year-old daughter Daphne, is a member of the cathedral parish. She said the cathedral reminded her of some of the great churches she had visited in Europe.

“The cathedral is spectacular,” she said. “When the organ started playing and the choir sang, it gave me goose bumps. We were coming home.”

Patty Cole, a member of St. Basil Parish in Vallejo, saw the cathedral as “a beautiful worship space.”

“You made this connection between the dome with its scriptural references and art and the word that is proclaimed in the Mass,” she said.

Sister Damascene Anthony, a member of the Missionaries of Charity at St. Peter Parish in Sacramento, praised the craftspeople whose artwork she described as “incredible.”

“The workers have given their talents to create something to praise the Lord,” she said.

Echoing those sentiments was Father Joseph Ternullo, pastor of St. Lawrence Parish in North Highlands.

“It’s magnificent in a real sense of the holy and highlights how we celebrate liturgy from the baptismal pool as we enter the church…to how we live the eucharistic presence in the tabernacle,” he said.

For the remaining weeks of the year, tours will be offered at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Wednesdays following the 12:10 p.m. Mass and on Sundays following the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Masses.

A new publication, “The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament,” a commemorative book of the history and renovation of the cathedral, is now available in English and Spanish.

Father Murphy said copies of the book in English are sold out at present, but copies from a second printing will arrive in January. Gift certificates can be purchased for copies of the book to be mailed in January.

The book may be purchased at the Cathedral Gift Shop, located at 1017 11th St. in Sacramento, or by visiting the cathedral Web site at: www.cathedralsacramento.org.

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