Every great city requires at least one great cathedral. But it takes a very special, almost magical, plan to fling a mass of grey, lifeless stone into the sky in a heroic act of cathedral building.

Blessed as it is with a 19th century past, Vancouver's finest great church barely made it into the last century. Constructed in the years 1899-1900, its plan and lines by architects T. E. Julian and H. V. Williams are in the Gothic Revival Style. While old photos and old memories of Vancouver place the spires of the Holy Rosary above the tips of the nearby forest trees, and compared its mass among the largest structures in the early city, it has now seemingly been made to appear smaller by the growth of commerce and empire building. High-rise buildings continue to close in on every side, with the latest project at this writing filling up the block across from the cathedral's eastern tower.

While diminished in size by its brassy neighbours and drowned out by the howl of traffic during working hours, a passer-by can still appreciate the cathedral's serene beauty. During and early morning or evening stroll past the church, with a bit of a breeze ruffling the pigeons and a slight whisper of the wind in the towers high above, the observer realizes the continuance and permanence of this structure.

The cathedral almost seems to be saying to its adjacent towers:

"Fine, you have your day in the sun, because I'll still be here when you're long gone."