The Way of the Broken Cross

St. Paul’s Cathedral
127 NW 7th Street
The Way of the
Broken Cross
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
405 235-3436
stpaulsokc.org
Wearing the Cross
A new edition of the Broken Cross, taken from
the one that Nick Irza gave to Dean Back, has
been molded. The Broken Cross bears witness
to the Body of Christ in an exploding universe.
Many have found the Cathedral to be a
holy and gracious place and our parish to
be a warm and inclusive community.
Come see for yourself
at the corner of NW 7th & Robinson
since 1903
Wearing the Broken Cross does not proclaim
ourselves as superior believers who have arrived
at a wholeness of truth. It does help us to identify with the Lord who subjected himself to the
sins and sufferings of fragile humanity.
The Broken Cross tells of our commitment to
serve one Lord despite our fractured condition.
It tells of standing together in the midst of
trauma and violence. It tells of abiding faithfully
even in pain and suffering. It tells of cherishing
community in a world that continues to dissolve
into isolated pieces of conflicted thoughts and
alienated feelings. It tells of our shattered but
enduring hope of Anglican unity. It tells the
truth about lives broken by poverty, war, terrorism, disease, hunger, bigotry and natural
disasters. It tells of our sacred mission to face
the forces of sin and death not by merely wearing, but truly bearing, the Cross of Christ.
May it shine forth as the SON RISE of faith,
hope & love above all that oppresses human
beings around the world.
The Episcopal Church Welcomes You
Visit, explore & grow
Sunday Schedule
8 A.M. 9 A.M.
10:10
11 A.M.
5 P.M. Holy Eucharist Rite 1
Holy Eucharist Rite 2
Church School & Adult Classes
Holy Eucharist Rite 1
Cathedral @ 5 Services
1st Evening Prayer & Music Lab
2nd & 4th Taize H.E.
3rd Parish Evensong
5th Choral Evensong
Ancient Roots of
the Celtic Cross
The round center of the cross comes from the
Sun. On dark, rainy, Celtic islands the sun could
not be taken for granted. Pre-historic humanity
struggled for survival through long cold winters.
A gleaming sunrise was a gift to be treasured. In
the precarious struggle for life and warmth, the
soul was revived by the sun's power even at the
lowest ebb of the winter solstice. By spring, no
matter how bleak the world, the power of life
could not be resisted.
When Christianity came to the Celts, it was not
difficult to present the message of the Son of
God rising over the forces of sin and death Did
we not see the light enter the tomb in the heart of
winter? Did we not feel the bursting vitality of
resurrection green from the buried seed?
The Broken Cross Story at
St. Paul’s
The Celtic Cross Over Our
Cathedral Entry
When you enter the Cathedral you are crossing
under the sign of a Celtic Cross high above on
the facade. It is passage into a larger reality.
You pass from cold death into warm life.
Through this doorway you leave a world of decreasing time, health and vitality. You enter into
a gracious holy place of increasing life, joy and
love. Whatever sins and sorrows, burdens and
fears you bring; you are borne, healed, released
and reconciled by the one who has passed before us. For this is the passage, passion and
crossway of Christ. “Come to me, you that travail and are heavy leaden, I will refresh you.”
With each crossing through the Cathedral door
you partake of resurrection. With each entrance
into the presence of God, you lose what you
possessed in self-centered isolation. Life expands into what you share with sun, earth &
ancient primal peoples; what you share with the
men, women and children of this present time;
what you share with numerous tongues, tribes,
languages & nations of all times; and what you
share with the communion of saints and the
host of heaven beyond time. Each passage
through the ‘Son Rise’ becomes the way of
moving through mortal existence and into abundant and eternal life.
Our stone cross
was an old cross
when the Cathedral was new in
1903. It was likely
donated from a
northeastern
church. It stood
atop the Cathedral façade for almost a hundred
years. On April 19th, 1995 it was broken by the
Murrah Building bombing. An arm fell off at the
time of the blast. A local dentist, Dr. Nelson
Smith, photographed the remaining stone
through a telescopic lens. It was from this photograph that we discovered the
extensive damage. The remaining cross, though broken
into many parts, remained
standing.
This cross became known as
‘The Broken Cross’. This
image became our central
symbol and the logo for
our Cathedral Restoration. It proclaimed, that
although deeply
broken, we are
profoundly alive
as the Body of Christ.
It would be over seven years and over seven
million dollars before the Cathedral facilities
would be restored. A local artist and member of
our Cathedral parish, Nick Irza, offered to cast
the image of the Broken Cross into silver. He
made them available for sale with a portion of
the income going to the Cathedral. Our 1999
fundraising booklet included the photo of the
Broken Cross and a scanned image of a silver
cross.
Gathering the Fragments
The fragments of the Broken Cross were built
into the masonry wall above the gate of our east
garden memorial tower. This Cross is forever a
part of who we are. The broken stone speaks
God’s word to the broken hearted:
The Lord Has Borne Our Grief
&
Carried Our Sorrows
The Murrah Memorial Gate honors those killed
on April 19th, 1995. It contains one circle for each
person who died. The sunburst over the gate
symbolizes the resurrection from the dead. Ancient tradition identified “Paradise” as a beautiful garden. So it is that our garden welcomes
precious souls to enter through the memorial
gate. It is an earthly glimpse of our Lord’s promise:
Today you will be with me in Paradise