The St. Margaret of Castello Lay Dominican Pro-chapter is bringing back the basilica tours during the Great Falls Balloon Festival, last offered in 2015.

Tours are scheduled from approximately noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 19 and 20. Free van rides will be offered between the Oxford Street entrance to the festival and the Basilica and back.

Four members of the St. Margaret of Castello Lay Dominican Pro-chapter, from left, are Joyce Fountaine, Sr. Jacqueline Provencher, Claude Mailhot and Denise Mailhot. Submitted photo

Members of the Lay Dominican chapter and other volunteers have been rehearsing and developing material on the history and architecture at Sts. Peter and Paul Basilica on Bartlett Street in Lewiston. Topics being covered will be the outside art and architecture, into the church through the nave and sharing on the intricate wood work, the elaborate granite construction and the history of the unique Casavant pipe organs, according to a news release from the chapter.

Entering further into the Basilica will be an opportunity to learn about the large Rose Window, the stained-glass windows, as well as carvings and other art work. The history of the building will be shared, along with the Catholic liturgical signs and symbols of the faith.

Following a tour through the central nave will be a walk through the “nerve center” of the Church at the Sacristy and a peek into the religious traditions of the Dominican friars in the choir room behind the main altar, where the Liturgies of the Hours were prayed as a group six times per day.

Tours will conclude downstairs in the Church Hall with light refreshments and table displays of Lay fraternities of the Carmelite Order, the Franciscan Order, the Dominican Order along with a Catholic Q & A table and a display of the apostolates of the Knights of Columbus.

Free van rides will move between the Basilica and the festival entrance approximately every 10 minutes. Donations will be accepted to help the chapter with various tour expenses.

To learn more about the Dominican Laity at the event or email BlMargaretopmaine@gmail.com.

For more information about the tours, call Claude or Denise Mailhot at 207-786-3380.

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