About Saint Mary of the Seven Sorrows Catholic Church in Nashville, Tennessee:
Saint Mary of the Seven Sorrows is one of the first Catholic Church buildings constructed in Tennessee, dating from 1844-47, and served as the second Cathedral of the Diocese of Nashville from 1847-1914. Its architect was Adolphus Heiman, a German immigrant who designed several major Nashville buildings, including the State Asylum, during the late antebellum era. Heiman chose a Greek Revival temple style for St. Mary, which features a gable front entrance of two fluted Ionic columns supporting a classical pediment.
Richard Pius Miles, O.P. (1791-1860), the first Catholic Bishop of Nashville, is primarily responsible for the construction of St. Mary Church. Consecrated bishop at Bardstown, Kentucky in 1838, Miles arrived in Nashville that same year and was the only Catholic priest in the state of Tennessee. He led the state’s growing Catholic population until his death in 1860, when he was buried beneath the cathedral. He was a kind, pious, and loving man whose life was utterly dedicated to the Lord and his Church.
Though he died in 1860, his body was found to be incorrupt in 1972.
In 1926 the Nashville firm of Asmus & Clark renovated both the exterior and interior of St. Mary, finishing the west facade in local limestone and altering the original octagonal belfry. In 1972 the congregation moved the cast iron casket of Bishop Miles to a small chapel in the church’s northwest corner.
Traveling to Saint Mary of the Seven Sorrows Catholic Church in Nashville, Tennessee:
Physical Address: 328 Rep John Lewis Way North, Nashville, TN 37219-1604 Mailing Address: P.O. BOX 190606 Nashville, TN 37219
Tel: +1 (615) 256-1704 Fax: +1 (615.)256-7307
Email: office@stmarysdowntown.org