Gift shop now open at Cathedral of the Madeleine

Friday, May. 13, 2022

SALT LAKE CITY — A new branch of Magdalene Religious Goods at the Cathedral of the Madeline provides visitors with mementoes of their time there, as well as spiritual aids for regular worshippers.

“Everybody knows that when you got through a museum or a cathedral in the rest of the world, at the end of the tour is a gift shop, so that’s the idea,” said Father Martin Diaz, rector of the cathedral. “Rather than starting our own gift shop, we contracted with Magdalene Religious Goods for them to operate a branch of their store here.”

When there are no weekend concerts, the cathedral offers guided tours each Sunday at 12:15 p.m. The cathedral is also one of the major stops on daily city bus tours. Those visitors have the option of taking a self-guided tour of the cathedral.

Over the years many visitors have asked for a gift shop at the conclusion of their tours of the building, Fr. Diaz said. To accommodate that request, the cathedral has offered a limited number of items in a gift cart at the Saturday vigil and Sunday Masses. The rest of the week, a few items were available at the cathedral office.

To provide space for the new store, a nursery and bathroom in the cathedral basement have been reconfigured.

With the new store, cathedral-themed merchandise such as coffee cups, magnets and water bottles now are available. It also offers postcards, cathedral choir CDs, a DVD about the Madeleine Choir School and books about the cathedral, along with novenas, rosaries, prayer books, Bibles and holy cards in English and Spanish.

“I just think it’s a great way to evangelize in some ways, to have a store available for people to come down and get novenas or rosaries,” said proprietor Jacque Smithe, who attends daily Mass at the cathedral.

Initially, the store will be open Saturday evenings and Sundays after Mass. 

“We have a tremendous number of visitors at the 11 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Masses,” Fr. Diaz said.

Smithe will run the store, which opened April 30. 

“I just think it’s a nice way to reach out to the community, especially visitors who would like to browse in a gift shop,” she said. “We’re excited.”

Any proceeds from the venture will go towards funding the parish and cathedral, Fr. Diaz said. 

Magdalene Religious Goods will continue to offer a full range of books and religious items at its main store at 836 East 3300 South, Salt Lake City.