328 Rep. John Lewis Way N., Nashville 37219
(615) 256-1704
The church is open weekdays (Tues – Friday) from 11:25a to 12:45p for Confession and Mass; Saturdays from 3:30p until 6:30p for Confession and Mass; and Sundays 8a until 1:30p for Confession and Mass.
If you would like to schedule a tour of the church outside of these hours, please contact the parish office at office@stmarysdowntown.org.
Tennessee has an abundance of Sacred Sites, many of which are of important historical value, and all of which are beautiful examples of faith and supernatural mystery. But one that stands out for both is Nashville’s oldest remaining church of any denomination: St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows. (Read on for a possible miracle related to this church!)
It may be easy to pass by this church, nestled in the heart of downtown among towering buildings. But if you want to connect with the early history of Nashville and its Catholic faith, there is no better place than St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows Church. The tale of the church starts in 1837, when Pope Gregory XVI appointed Richard Pius Miles as the first bishop of the newly formed Diocese of Nashville. In 1848 he dedicated the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin of the Seven Sorrows (then called the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin of the Seven), which was designed by Adolphus Heiman, a Prussian immigrant who was a self-taught architect and worked on many Nashville landmarks, including the Belmont Mansion. (Interestingly, Heiman was a Confederate Colonel in the Tenth Tennessee Regiment, was captured and died as a prisoner of war in 1862 and is interred in the Confederate Circle in Mount Olivet Cemetery!) While the Greek Revival design has a traditional entrance with Ionic columns, it opens into an interior without the use of columns – an innovation at the time, and one of the reasons the church feels so open and inviting. It has been renovated and updated throughout the years, with the addition of Italian marble altars and limestone facades. (It is currently getting new tile work, and the pictures reflect storage in the side chapel.) It remained the cathedral of Nashville until 1914, when the Cathedral of the Incarnation on West End was built. As Nashville’s oldest remaining church, it has witnessed the growth of the city and the turmoil of the Civil War, when it served as a hospital for both Union and Confederate soldiers. Hundreds died there during that time, and so the site is infused not only with the joy and faith of its parishioners, but also the tragedy of those who died fighting.
One of the reasons I wanted to come to St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows, besides its importance to Nashville, is the fact that the Mass is given in Latin as well as English. The Roman Rite Mass is the most widely used in the Latin Church, which is one of 24 churches in communion with the pope in Rome. From 1570 until 1962 the Tredentine Mass was celebrated in Latin only, but after the Second Vatican Council in 1962 and revisions by Pope’s Paul VI and John Paul II in the 1960’s, mass is often given in the local language. (Latin-only masses must be authorized by the Holy See or diocesan bishop.) I was baptized a Catholic and was not raised very strongly in the faith, but I have memories of an Irish priest who held riveting services in Latin, and decided I really wanted to see and feel this again for myself.
It was a lovely experience! I believe the pomp and ceremony of a Catholic mass is a beautiful sight, with the priest in his ornate robes and the altar boys in white carrying candles and incense (and I wonder if this is where my love for incense began?!). Many women of all ages wore veils, which I have not seen a great deal of in other Catholic churches since coming to the states, and I think must be tied to the more traditional practice of the Latin mass. (This article also mentions that for many Catholic women a veil represents a wish for the return to purity and modesty, especially among millennials.) I had expected the entire mass to be in Latin, but in fact it was a blend of both English and Latin for prayers and songs, and the Gregorian chants of the choir were a joy to listen to.
Of course, this church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, so let's explore it's name. For Catholics the name “The Seven Sorrows of Mary” refers to an important part of Catholic devotion and is often portrayed as showing the Virgin Mary with one or seven swords piercing her heart. According to Wikipedia, the Seven Sorrows refers to the following:
1. The Prophecy of Simeon upon meeting Baby Jesus. ("Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34–35)
2. The Flight into Egypt. (Joseph is visited in a dream by an angel who warns him that King Herod will seek the child to kill him.)
3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem. (Jesus is 12 years old and accidentally left behind in Jerusalem for three days and feared lost.)
4. Mary Meeting Jesus on the Via Dolorosa, the Fourth Station of the Cross. (The Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in the Old City of Jerusalem commemorates Jesus’ encounter with his mother on the way to his crucifixion.)
5. The Crucifixion of Jesus on Mount Calvary. (The Passion is Jesus’s suffering and redemptive death.)
6. Jesus’s Descent from the Cross. (Mary is said to have fainted as Christ was taken down from the cross.)
7. The Burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea. (Mary witnesses his entombment.)
I learned that Marian antiphons are a group of hymns in the Gregorian chant inventory sung in the honor of the Virgin Mary. It was therefore special and appropriate to hear the words of Salve Regina sung in Latin by the choir and parishioners, and translated to English as this:
Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
“In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man’s mind to God and to higher things.” (Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 120)
The National Catholic Register explains about the beautiful artwork found at the church, such as statues of St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary, donated paintings of the Madonna, and a carved wooden statue of the Sorrowful Mother donated for the centennial of the church in 1937. Stations of the Cross are found along the side walls of the church, hand painted in Czechoslovakia in 1845. In accordance to the Seven Sorrows of Mary, there are seven small stations as well that reflect each sorrow. One of my favorite details were the ceiling murals, also hand painted, in 1847 in Italy. These are all lovely, intimate, and unique features that make this church so special.
I promised you a tale of miracles, and so we have one here: The first bishop, Bishop Richard Pius Miles, was a hard-working man of the faith, initially travelling throughout Tennessee to meet his parishioners of around 100 families. According to Wiki and the church’s website, by the time of his death in 1860 he had grown the diocese to 12,000 Catholics, 14 churches, six chapels, 13 missions, a seminary, a hospital, and an orphanage. To say that he was an influential and beloved man of action would be an understatement. He was laid to rest in a cast iron coffin inside the church, where he lay undisturbed until 1972 when the church began work on renovations. Imagine the shock of the parishioners to find that when Mile’s body was exhumed after 109 years it was found to be perfectly preserved, despite not being embalmed!! In Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief, incorruptibility is the belief that a body defies the normal process of decomposition by divine intervention and is usually seen as a sign that the individual is a saint. Often, a sweet and pleasant aroma accompanies the body. The inspection of a body such as of Miles under Canon law is performed in Rome, and his case is still under review for Sainthood. Today, his body rests in a side chapel in the church. Here is your chance to visit a potential saint for yourself, right here in Tennessee!
Additionally, Father Patrick Ryan, who was ordained as a priest in 1869 at St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows and later became pastor of Saints Peter and Paul in Chattanooga, is under review by the Vatican for sainthood ("Martyr of Charity") for offering his life caring for yellow fever victims. He was only 33 when he died, and his body was moved from Mount Olivet to the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul 143 years after his death. So this church has not one but two priests with outstanding acts to their name! (A documentary about Father Ryan sounds interesting!)
I truly appreciated being a part of Catholic worship once again, in a beautiful and historically important church, and in manner that harkened to centuries of past worship. To see a church downtown that drew families young and old was wonderful to see, and I came away feeling renewed in spirit. If you are a Catholic, or are simply interested in learning more about Catholicism, I highly suggest a visit to St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows! A list of all of the masses and church calendar is on their website. Parking is free in the lot next to the church for those attending St. Mary’s on Saturdays until 6:30p and on Sundays until 3pm.
