The Mother Church Since 1943
Saint Columba Cathedral has stood on Youngstown's near North Side since 1958, but the parish that became the Diocese of Youngstown's mother church had been there for more than a century before then. St. Columba Parish was organized in 1847. Its first building was erected in 1853, a second in 1868, and a third, larger church in 1897. When Pope Pius XII carved the Diocese of Youngstown out of the Diocese of Cleveland in 1943, St. Columba was named the cathedral, the bishop's church, taking its name from the bishop's chair, the cathedra. The new diocese covered Ashtabula, Portage, Stark, Columbiana, Mahoning, and Trumbull counties, with 110 churches, three hospitals, 54 elementary schools, and three Catholic high schools.
A bolt of lightning on September 2, 1954, struck the cathedral during a late evening storm, and within hours the building was in ruins. Eleven fire companies answered the three-alarm blaze. Diocesan officials at the time estimated the damage at $1.25 million. Bishop Emmet M. Walsh set out to rebuild on the same site, and the present cathedral was designed by Diehl and Diehl Architects of Detroit and built by the Charles Shutrump and Sons Company of Youngstown. The new cathedral was completed on November 9, 1958, and is described by the parish as an example of modern ecclesiastical architecture. During the years between the fire and the dedication, St. Patrick Church on the south side served as the Pro-Cathedral.
The Diocese of Youngstown is now led by its sixth bishop, the Most Reverend David J. Bonnar, installed on January 12, 2021. His coat of arms joins the diocesan shield, with its silver wavy bar representing the Mahoning River and two green arrowheads honoring the Native American peoples of the area, with a personal side that includes a chequy blue and silver fess from his home Diocese of Pittsburgh and a seven-point blue star recalling the Blessed Virgin Mary. The cathedral parish, in turn, is led by Very Rev. Msgr. Robert J. Siffrin as Rector, with Rev. John Madden serving as Sacramental Minister and a permanent diaconate of five men serving the parish and the diocese.
Mass at the Cathedral and at St. Edward
The parish celebrates the Eucharist at two sites. At Saint Columba Cathedral on West Wood Street, Daily Mass is offered Monday through Friday at 12:10 p.m. Weekend Masses are the Saturday Vigil at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday Masses at 10:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Confessions are heard on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is held on the first Monday and first Thursday of each month from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
At the St. Edward Worship Site at 240 Tod Lane on Youngstown's North Side, off Fifth Avenue and adjacent to Crandall Park, Mass is celebrated on Thursday and Saturday mornings at 8:30 a.m. and on Sunday at 9:00 a.m. Reconciliation is offered on Saturdays from 8:00 to 8:25 a.m., and Adoration is offered every Saturday from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. St. Edward Parish was founded in 1917 and named after Father Edward Mears, a former pastor of St. Columba. Its church was designed by architect Charles Owsley and built by Moore-Lamb Construction Company, and its patron, Saint Edward the Confessor, is honored in the parish's devotional life.
Glass and Stone: The Building and Its Art
For a visitor entering the cathedral for the first time, the effect is, in the parish's own words, breathtaking. Myriad hues and shades of blue, red, purple, orange, green, and amber intermingle to form a rainbow projected into the nave and reflected from the walls, the floor, and the bronze chandeliers, depending on the position of the sun. The stained glass windows throughout the church, as well as the Venetian glass mosaic mural that adorns the sanctuary, are the work of the late Sicilian-born master Andrew R. Maglia, a native of Palermo who founded Maglia Studios in Detroit. The work was produced in a Florentine Studio using antique-type precious glass blown in Germany, England, and Italy, with some two hundred variant shades of colored glass in the entire scheme.
The Apostles are the theme of the nave windows, an apt choice since the Catholic Church is built on the foundation stones of the Apostles, the first bishops, and a cathedral is the bishop's church. The Virgin Mother of God finds her place among the Apostles, portrayed in heroic size with color tones and lines of garments blending into the background. Jewel-like medallions depicting a symbol particular to each Saint complete the picture, and above each of the Apostles a fiery flame symbolizes the Descent of the Holy Spirit. The building's design was also recognized in a published architectural and liturgical expression issued in 1958, and in photographs in the January 2007 and April 2012 editions of Metro Monthly.
A Polish Heart: The Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa
In 2010, Bishop George V. Murry, S.J. enlisted PolishYoungstown's help to begin transforming the cathedral's baptistery into a Shrine to Our Lady of Częstochowa. The project was undertaken to welcome the parishioners of St. Casimir and St. Stanislaus into the cathedral parish following the closure of their reorganized churches, with financial campaigns by PolishYoungstown, the St. Casimir Society, and cathedral parishioners. The parishioners of St. Stanislaus Kostka bestowed the mosaic icons that serve as the centerpiece of the shrine, an enduring symbol of the sacred mission of Our Lady as protector of Poland and her people everywhere. The shrine was dedicated on October 30, 2012, with guests from around the region and capped by a performance by the Śląsk Song and Dance Ensemble of Poland. It remains open to the public whenever the cathedral is open, with prayer cards and recordings available for devotion.
The Mission of a Cathedral Parish
The mission of the Cathedral Parish of Saint Columba is twofold: to participate in the saving mission of Jesus Christ by caring for the spiritual and physical needs of people in central Youngstown, and to serve as the spiritual center of the Diocese of Youngstown by fostering the mission of the Bishop. The parish's family of worshiping communities has grown over the decades through the merger of the Polish-heritage parishes of St. Stanislaus (which had its last regular Sunday Mass on June 28, 2020, and was formally closed at the end of 2021) and St. Casimir, which merged with St. Columba in 2010 and held its last Mass on February 25, 2012. The parish also cares for the historical record of Ss. Peter and Paul Church, which closed in 2026.
Faith Formation from Kindergarten Through Confirmation
Religious Education and Youth Ministry at the cathedral meet on Sundays from 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. in the undercroft, with classes running from the third Sunday of September through the last Sunday of April. Kindergarten through grade eight is divided into three groups using the Pflaum Gospel Weeklies Faith Formation Program, which flows from the words of Jesus Christ in the Sunday Gospels. Kindergarten through grade three uses Good News, grades four through six use Venture, and grades seven and eight use Vision. Children learn their faith, including doctrine, sacraments, commandments, and prayer, within the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year.
Youth Ministry for grades nine through twelve meets every other Sunday in the choir room in the undercroft, with young adults spending time praying together and sharing faith, and volunteering with the activities that Purple Cat offers. First Reconciliation is celebrated on the last Saturday of January with a prayer service, First Holy Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of May at the 10:30 Mass, and Confirmation is celebrated in the early spring on a Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at the Cathedral. The parish also runs the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, with formal instruction beginning in September on Sundays from 9:00 to 10:15 a.m., and catechumens received into full communion at the Easter Vigil Mass.
The Director of Religious Education and Pastoral Minister is Sr. Martha Reed, OSU, an Ursuline Sister who has been an active member of the parish since 1999 and joined the cathedral staff in September 2017 after 27 years of teaching special education. She also coordinates the altar servers, ushers, Children's Liturgy of the Word leaders, and catechists, and prepares youth and families for the sacraments of Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation.
Ministry Life: Servers, Lectors, Greeters, and Care Chain
The cathedral's lay ministries are the working fabric of parish life. Altar Servers, students in grades four through twelve, carry the cross and candles in procession, hold the Roman Missal for the priest, place the corporal, purificator, chalice, and missal on the altar after the Prayer of the Faithful, assist with the presentation of the gifts, and help the priest with the thurible when incense is used. Many continue serving through their college years, and a group of senior citizen altar servers serves daily Mass and funeral Masses during the week.
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion assist the ordained ministers in distributing Holy Communion at Mass and may take communion to the sick or homebound of the parish community; those who regularly take communion to the sick receive special training and are commissioned. Readers prepare thoroughly at home throughout the week before they are scheduled to read, praying with the scriptures and hoping in faith that God will come to them through the printed words. Greeters help create a welcoming and comfortable environment as the assembly gathers, while ushers anticipate and assist with any physical needs of the assembly and take up the collection.
The Care Chain serves parishioners who are not able to join the assembly for Mass because they are homebound or currently reside in a nursing home. Team members commit to visiting one or two parishioners each month and bringing them Holy Communion, with visits to local hospitals as needed.
The Choir and Cathedral Music
The Music Ministry and Choir at Saint Columba serves the assembly by leading it in sung prayer and by reinforcing or enhancing the song of the assembly. The choir also prepares a weekly motet or anthem to assist the prayerful reflection of the assembly. During the choir season, which runs from mid-September through mid-June, members attend rehearsals on Thursdays from 5:15 until 6:45 p.m. and sing at the Sunday 4:00 p.m. Mass, as well as at special occasions. The Cathedral Musician is Ralph Holtzhauser, who also serves as Diocesan Director of Music within the Office of Worship. He is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University with majors in organ performance and composition and is completing his master's degree in organ performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music, with twenty-one years of liturgical music experience in the Diocese of Cleveland, most recently at St. Joan of Arc Parish in Chagrin Falls.
At the St. Edward Worship Site, Chuck Szabo serves as Music Director, Organist, and Choir Director, having served since November 2012.
Music for the Rite of Marriage
The cathedral maintains a detailed music policy for weddings. Music is performed by live musicians; pre-recorded tracks are not played, and the Cathedral Music Director must be employed to play the organ or piano, with a Cathedral Cantor singing all of the Mass parts. The published list of preludes, bridesmaids' processionals, and the bride's processional includes works by Bach, Pachelbel, Purcell, Mouret, Campra, Charpentier, and Stanley. For the Preparation of the Gifts, choices include vocal solos such as Schubert's Ave Maria, Bach's Bist du bei mir, Franck's Panis Angelicus, and Rutter's Thy Perfect Love, or congregational hymns such as In Christ Alone, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, and Lord of All Hopefulness. The Cathedral Music Director provides twenty minutes of prelude music as guests are seated, with the option of additionally hired instrumentalists, especially strings, featured at that time.
The Seven Sacraments
The liturgical life of the Catholic Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments. The cathedral offers preparation for Baptism (arrangements made with the rectory at least four weeks in advance, with parents and godparents participating in the baptismal preparation program), Confirmation (celebrated with eighth grade students in the spring), First Holy Communion, Reconciliation (celebrated on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. and Saturday mornings from 9:15 to 9:45 a.m., with communal celebrations during Advent and Lent), Anointing of the Sick (communal celebrations in the spring and autumn, with individual celebrations upon request), Holy Orders and Religious Life (any woman desiring affiliation with a religious order, and any man desiring to become a priest, permanent deacon, or brother, is welcome to discuss his or her vocation with Monsignor Siffrin), and Marriage (arrangements made with Monsignor Siffrin at least six months before the wedding, with engaged couples participating in a diocesan preparation program).
The Annual St. Edward Clambake
Each year since 1938, the parish has hosted the St. Edward Clambake, a tradition with deep roots in the Northside community. It began as a men-only neighborhood fundraising event where beers were purchased off a local distributor's truck, clams prepared in a neighborhood home, and card games enjoyed into the wee hours. The first clambake, organized by Monsignor William Nash and Fr. Delbert Cook, drew more than four hundred people to the parking lot of St. Edward. The Renner brothers supplied all the beer free of charge, and the ticket price was $3.00. Today the clambake is a widely anticipated and sold-out clam and chicken dinner for everyone, and serves as a reunion of friends, neighbors, and associates. Initially the proceeds helped establish new parishes, with the Newman Center at Kent State University among the earliest beneficiaries. Today, funds assist with the various missions within the parish churches. The dinner is held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Social Hall, with a menu of bags of clams, chicken, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, coleslaw, and dessert, plus wine, beer, and soft drinks.
Friends of the Cathedral and the Fitzsimons Scholarship
The purpose of Friends of the Cathedral of Saint Columba is to provide a visual reminder of beloved deceased not only on special days such as birthdays and anniversaries, but throughout the year. Once a month a Mass is celebrated for the repose of the souls of the Friends, and on June 9, the Feast of Saint Columba, the intention of the parish Mass is for the Friends, followed by a small luncheon. Membership is annual, commencing any time of the year, with a donation of $50.00 a year, and friends remembered are not necessarily parishioners of St. Columba.
The parish also administers the William Fitzsimons Memorial Scholarship for parishioners planning to attend either Cardinal Mooney or Ursuline High School. Forms are available in the sacristy pamphlet rack and through the rectory, with applications due each spring.
Staying Connected: App, Bulletins, and Giving
Parishioners and visitors stay in touch with the cathedral through several channels. The myParish App delivers messages straight to a smartphone, with access to parish information, communication within parish groups and ministries, and prayer guides; iPhone and Android versions are available. The parish bulletin is published weekly and archived online going back to 2019, with current and past bulletins available for download. Online giving is offered through a secure PayPal gateway, allowing credit card donations to support the parish with streamlined processing and record-keeping.
The parish also maintains a YouTube channel and two Facebook pages, one for Saint Columba Cathedral and one for the St. Edward worship site. Visitors can sign up for the parish email list and One Call Now phone messaging, and submit prayer requests, sick and homebound notifications, and parish registration updates online or through the parish office at 144 W. Wood Street, Youngstown, OH 44503, telephone 330-744-5233, email parish101@youngstowndiocese.org.