In Carroll's Crypt, The Last Goodbye

“What the Temple of Jerusalem is to the Israelite,
what St Peter’s Basilica in Rome is to the faithful of the church universal,
such is this cathedral to the American Catholic....”

Though that line was uttered by the first cardinal to be born of the nation's Premier See, a century later, it would become almost loudly etched upon the heart of the "imported" heir who'd follow in James Gibbons' footsteps, who now likewise takes his rest in the heart of American Catholicism's founding fold, but only after he passed that quote and the life it contained to so many of us.

Here, from the mother-church of these shores – the Baltimore Basilica he so lovingly and faithfully restored as a gift for the future – the fulfillment of William Cardinal Keeler's last wish: the 14th Archbishop's burial in its crypt alongside the founding pastors of these United States – the first such moment in seven decades... and one only come to pass after a quick tour was given the newest of the line, just recently arrived from Cathedral Street's now-spinoff in Washington:



To be sure, there's an epilogue to all this, for the man and the moment... but when it comes to an era of history – and, in this instance, a piece of one's own life – as ever, if it's fleeting clickbait you're looking for, you've come to the wrong place.

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