Cathedral of the Sacred Heart

This is a really nice cathedral! I remember going to mass here when I was a freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University. I stayed at Brandt Hall. The cathedral was only a minute away walking distance. This is a very traditional church. It’s very beautiful! Definitely a place to see when you’re in the Richmond area. The only con that I have is that it is usually hard to listen to the sermons. They only have one speaker near the front of the church. When someone speaks, it echoes throughout the whole church, making it really hard to hear what that person is saying. Other than that, the Cathedral of the Sacred is a great landmark in Richmond.

Christmas Eve 4:00
I wanted to attend a more formal Christmas Eve service and arrived at 3:30. It was a beautiful service!
It was standing room only! Next year we need to arrive at least an hour before the service to get a seat. We viewed the service on a TV in an overflow room. Not the same as being in the sanctuary but lesson learned. Get there extra early!

The head of the parish council, summarizing her bona fides as a Catholic and parishioner, shared with the congregation that her children were baptized and confirmed at the cathedral, that she was blessed in holy matrimony there, or whatever, and that her mother was resurrected there. RESURRECTED! So now I take my mother there all the time.
What good shepherd let that sheep wander astray, I wonder? Mind you, we’re not talking about a poor soul trembling in the back of the church, but a parish officer, an exemplar of the faith! This particular kind of christian formation, or lack of it, is indicative of the anything-​goes Richmond Diocese, that seems to abhor any intellectual rigor. Feed my sheep, the exhortation goes. Not here. Come to church to feel good about yourselves, ye anointed. You won’t be challenged here!
But the worst part is the music. The music director has no sense of propriety, and will fancy up any hymn to the sacred and divine as if he’s competing at a bad youth group talent show. It would be laughable if it weren’t so wrong. He’s truly bad, but no one hears it. (See the preceding paragraphs.) Instead, his showy, formulaic portamenti place his «virtuosity» on display, and everyone takes pride in their worship.
(There might be a couple of pitfalls there, for the penitent, but they’re an extinct species, anyway.)
Overall, though, the masses don’t take too long, and Father Golden isn’t entirely insufferable, and there generally isn’t that weird pandering to children you find elsewhere.

I wouldn’t consider myself a super Catholic but I do try to hit up Mass every weekend and enjoy old classic hymns from childhood.
Pros:
Homilies are usually not too long and seem relevant and not too preachy.
One of the Priests has an accent like Ogie from Waitress.
Not too sparse and not too crowded
Cons:
Some of the song selections seem kind of difficult to sing, IMO
A lot of masses have a speaker at the end, not always to ask for money, but not a highlight for me
Corny: They always like to ask who the visitors are and we acknowledge them with clapping. I just think it’s really corny, but maybe some people like it.
There is a parking lot about 2 blocks up on Floyd, the VCU V V lot that is available for masses.