St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows

St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows is a Nashville landmark and one of the first Catholic Church buildings constructed in Tennessee. The church served as the second Cathedral of the Diocese of Nashville from 1847-1914. The oldest extant church building in downtown Nashville, St. Mary Church dates to 1844-47. 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.

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. St. Mary's celebrated its 165th anniversary in 2012.

Parking in the Lot next to St. Mary

Saturdays:
Free parking in the church lot until 6:30 pm for St. Mary masses and events.

Sundays:
Free parking in the church lot until 3 pm for St. Mary masses and events.

Volunteer at St. Mary

Bishop Richard Pius Miles, OP is one of the unsung heroes of American Catholicism, and especially of its move beyond the Appalachians.  He was the first Bishop of Nashville and heroically erected the Church of Tennessee, enduring great hardship. 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.   Read more