St. Mary's Church
Andorra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Originally intended to be the new Cathedral Church of Christ for the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, St. Mary's Church, Andorra, Philadelphia is a curious building. Construction was halted by the effects of the Great Depression and World War II. Changing political weather within the diocese eventually caused the project to be abandoned leaving only the Lady Chapel which was constructed on the same axis but beyond the chancel of the original plan.

The name given the Parish when it formed on the grounds was St. Mary's, and when it moved into the unfinished shell for a while was given the name St. Mary's at the Cathedral, later just St. Mary's Church after the Diocese did finally establish a cathedral elsewhere in Philadelphia.

Considering that the ceiling of the main body of the proposed cathedral would have been a good bit higher that the ceiling vault of the present St. Mary's, had it been completed, would have been larger than any other cathedral structure in the US.

With the establishment of the Parish of St Mary’s at Cathedral Village, the chapel was remodeled in the early 1980’s to better address the building’s unfinished form into a more user friendly space that it retains today. The limestone walls have been complimented with recent stained glass windows, west wall skylight and the new PJM pipe organ retaining minor material from the Moller originally installed. What has resulted is a small stone chapel with a cathedral-height ceiling and effective natural lighting.

As the completed chancel included organ chambers for a cathedral size organ, space for expansion was not a problem. The first organ in the church was a five-stop Artiste organ by M.P. Moller built in 1981. Patrick J. Murphy and Associates, Inc. have enlarged and re-voiced to become an instrument of 20 stops with 23 ranks. Initially rebuilt in 1998 the instrument sustained serious water damage only months after work was completed and a second, more ambitious rebuilding was undertaken in 1999. Additional windchests were constructed in our shops to accommodate the 15 new stops. New stops include a 16' Posaune, 8' Clarinet, 8' Oboe and III-IV Mixture. Additional upper work was included in the form of a 2 2/3' Twelfth, 2' Super Octave, 2' Blockflote, 1 3/5' Tierce, and 1 1/3' Larigot. A Celeste was also provided to match the 8' Gemshorn. The Pedal received a 16' Trumpet and 16' Spitz Principal extensions. New Peterson combination action and Multiplex relays were installed within the rebuilt console. A revised internal layout utilizing the newly constructed Swell box contributed in improving the dynamic versatility of the organ. This imaginative tonal design was then completely voiced and finished on site by James Gruber with assistance from Wesley Parrot the organist at St Mary's, and Patrick J. Murphy. The result is a very colorful "miniature cathedral" sound that match's the cathedral flavor of St. Mary's Church.

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