Cathedral of Santa Maria, Queen of the Holy Rosary, Galle
In Galle, a coastal city in southern Sri Lanka, the Virgin of the Rosary presides over the diocesan seat: the Cathedral of Santa Maria, Queen of the Holy Rosary, raised by the Society of Jesus in the late 19th century in the Kaluwella district. The diocese itself calls it "Queen of the Holy Rosary Cathedral."
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- The priest Don Benedict Martin, being a parish priest of Galle, laid the first stone in 1873, and the works began in 1874 on land where a small church had already been erected in the Dutch era.
- The diocese of Galle was erected in 1893 and entrusted to the Belgian Jesuits; its first bishop, Jesuit Joseph Van Reeth, promoted the construction of this cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
- Its Neobaroque style, with well-maintained windows and interiors, has made it a milestone of the city, and is protected as an archaeological monument of the Galle district.
- Under the title of Queen of the Holy Rosary, the cathedral continues to bring together Catholics from the south of the island; its parish serves several hundred Christian families around the altar of Mary.
Queen of the Holy Rosary
In Galle, the Rosary gives name and heart to the cathedral: Santa Maria, Queen of the Holy Rosary, the seat of the diocese since the time of the Belgian Jesuits. Next to the Indian Ocean, the Virgin of the Rosary reigns with simplicity over a small and faithful community.
Por us and for the Christians of Sri Lanka.
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