About Saint Dominic Church in Washington, D.C.:
Saint Dominic Church was founded in 1852, organized by Rev. George A.J. Wilson, and opened on March 19, 1854. As the congregation grew, it was recognized that a new sanctuary was needed to hold all the congregants. This new church was dedicated on June 13, 1875 by James Roosevelt Bayley, Archbishop of Baltimore.
After President James A. Garfield was assassinated on July 2, 1881, St. Dominic’s joined other local churches in an “Appeal to Heaven” in praying for the president, with Rev. Fr. Rochford delivering a sermon denouncing the assassination and praying for the president’s recovery.
On March 12, 1885, the interior of the church was destroyed in a fire. The fire broke out shortly after 10 A.M. in the boiler room on the west side of the church basement. It spread into the church above, eventually engulfing the altar. The church’s engineer, Florence McCauliff, housekeeper Kate Duffy, and Officer Burns of the nearby First Precinct Station House rushed to the sanctuary to save articles from the fire. They did not leave until they were driven out by the flames. Officer Burns sustained serious burn injuries to his hands and wrists, but the three were successful in removing everything of value from the altar.
The fire brigade succeeded in extinguishing the flames before the church was completely destroyed, but broke holes in the roof and stained glass windows in the process. Somber and tearful parishioners gathered outside the burning church. At 2:00 P.M., when the fire was finally extinguished, they walked into the ankle-deep water inside and carried out everything they could move. The event caused an estimated $50,000 (equivalent to approximately $1,657,036.08 in 1985 value), worth of damage to the church, including the total loss of an organ and the destruction of a stained glass window over the main entrance. Members of the local community—both Catholics and non-Catholics—banded together to raise funds, and rebuilt the church in a remarkably short time.
Some of the stained glass windows in the sanctuary date back to 1875, when the church was constructed. The central window above the main altar depicts the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is immediately flanked by a window of the Blessed Virgin Mary and another of Saint Joseph. The latter was a gift from Ellen Ewing Sherman, wife of General William Tecumseh Sherman, and mother of Thomas Ewing Sherman, S.J. In addition, the sanctuary has two windows depicting Saints Dominic and Thomas Aquinas.
Besides the sanctuary windows, others also date to 1875, including a large rose window portraying St. Cecilia, as well as windows depicting St. Peter, St. Paul, and Dominican shields. However, the majority of the church’s stained glass windows were installed in 1965 and created by the Heimer Company. The windows depict scenes from the life of St. Dominic and other Dominican saints.
One of the more unusual of the windows is entitled “The Vision of Blessed Joanna”. This refers to a dream experienced by Joan of Aza, the mother of Saint Dominic, before his birth.
In the dream, she saw a dog with a torch in its mouth, setting the world ablaze.
This dream is interpreted as a prophecy of Saint Dominic’s future role in igniting the world with the light of sacred truth.
As we know, he would become a powerful preacher and teacher, spreading the word of God and leading many to Christ.
An organ made by Hillborne Roosevelt of Roosevelt Organ Works, the cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt, was installed in the parish in 1887.
The church bell, cast in 1898 by McShane Bell Foundry, Baltimore, MD (America’s last Church Bell foundry), bears the following inscription:
Laudo Deum verum, plebum voco, conjugo clerum, defunctos ploro, pestem fugo, festa decoro, funera plango, fulgura frango, sabata rengo, excito lentos, dissipo ventos, paco crucentos (I praise the true God, call the people, gather the clergy. I mourn the dead, drive away pestilence, grace festivals. I lament at funerals, shatter lightening, sound the coming of the Sabbath. I arouse the indolent, dissipate the winds, and appease the vengeful).
There are three Shrines here within Saint Dominic Church in Washington, D.C.
Saint Martin de Porres Shrine: A sculpture of Dominican Saint Martin de Porres, by Dominican artist Thomas McGlynn, O.P., is featured in a shrine blessed on February 6, 2018 in memory of former pastor Fr. Norman Haddad, O.P.
Saint Jude Shrine:
The National Rosary Shrine of Saint Jude was established in Washington in the early 1930s. In the fall of 1998, the Dominican Fathers of the Province of Saint Joseph decided to combine the Rosary Shrine of Saint Jude, which had been founded in the 1920s in Detroit, Michigan.
Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary:
To the right of the grand altar is a smaller altar depicting the Blessed Mother giving the rosary to St. Dominic. The spread of the Rosary, a Marian devotion, is attributed to the preaching of Saint Dominic.
St. Joseph
To the left of the grand altar is a smaller altar with a statue of St. Joseph, spouse of the Virgin Mary, and protector of the child Jesus.
Lourdes Shrine
A plaque attests that the “New” Lourdes Shrine was erected in memory of Rev. Charles H. McKenna, O.P..
Relics
The church hosts a number of relics, including a relic of the True Cross, a relic of St. Jude Thaddeus, a relic of the manger and a relic of St. Martin de Porres.
President Lyndon B. Johnson and Saint Dominic Church:
President Kennedy was shot on November 22, 1963 and Johnson technically became President (note: according to the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, if the President of the United States is incapacitated, the Vice President immediately assumes the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. The Vice President serves as Acting President until the President declares in writing that they can resume their duties, or if Congress (by a two-thirds vote in both houses) determines the President is still unable to discharge their duties. Of course, the death of J.F.K. made the latter unnecessary.
When J.F.K. died some two hours after being shot, to make it official, and perhaps to reassure the nation that the government would continue as usual, a swearing-in ceremony was hastily arranged.
The Oath of Office was administered to Johnson on Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas. He was sworn in using a Catholic Missal rather than the traditional Bible. The Missal was found on a side table in Kennedy’s Air Force One bedroom and was mistaken for a bible.
Lyndon B. Johnson occasionally visited Saint Dominic’s during his tenure as President of the United States. Johnson was a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and was baptized in that faith, but was known to attend services of different protestant denominations as well as Catholic Mass. LBJ would make frequent visits to St. Dominic’s to pray and reflect with the friars, and Luci often asked her “Little Monks” to pray for the President during the Vietnam War. His interest in the Catholic Church began when he was younger, and developed over time; although he received instruction to become a member of the church from a friar, he never formally entered.
He also attended Mass at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Stonewall, Texas when he was at his ranch.
He would maintain an interest in the faith through the rest of his life and would have a Catholic service said at his graveside: Rev. Wunibald Schneider, delivered the invocation at his graveside service.
The graveside service was held at the Johnson family cemetery on the LBJ Ranch. Billy Graham also spoke at the graveside service, according to the LBJ Presidential Library.
His daughter, Luci Baines Johnson, converted to the Catholic faith at age eighteen in preparation for her marriage at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Traveling to Saint Dominic Church in Washington, D.C.:
Address:
501 6th St SW
Washington, DC
Phone: +1 (202) 554-7863
Fax: +1 (202) 554-0231
email: Office@StDominicChurch.org
Click here for the official website of Saint Dominic Church in Washington, D.C.