The following Catholic News Agency story appeared on September 5.
Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles has dedicated a new permanent chapel inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels that houses a piece of the Tilma of Saint Juan Diego.
“Our Lady of Guadalupe has always had a special place at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and in the hearts of the faithful throughout our Archdiocese,” the archbishop said Sept. 2.
He said “thousands” of people have venerated the Virgin Mary’s image and the relic of the tilma at the cathedral, which marked its 10th anniversary the same day as the chapel dedication.
“We pray that this new chapel and this anniversary will inspire us to live our faith with new joy and new strength,” Archbishop Gomez said.
The archbishop blessed the new chapel and placed the relic in a new golden reliquary in the heart of a bronze sculpture of St. Juan Diego. The statue depicts saint at the moment he opened his cloak, on which the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe miraculously appeared in 1531.
A mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe, made in Rome, rests above the sculpture.
In 1941, the Archbishop of Mexico City gave the tilma relic to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles after then-Archbishop John Cantwell’s pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
The relic played a central role in the Aug. 5 Guadalupe Celebration at the Los Angeles Coliseum, which attracted over 70,000 faithful.
The new chapel was designed by the firm of Dario Bucheli and Associates. Father José Castaño consulted on the design. The Knights of Columbus and Bill and Helen Close supported the construction of the new chapel.
For original story click here.
Our Beautiful Mother Mary’s birthday Saturday….thank you God the Father for giving her to us.
Now, if we can only get Archbishop Gomez to have a regular TLM at the cathedral as the Holy Father has suggested.
Pope Benedict XVI did not “suggest” an EF Mass be celebrated at COLA. That’s not true. If there is sufficient demand for the EF Mass at COLA that would be fine but I rather doubt that’s the case.
I don’t see the benefit of celebrating the EF Mass for 50-100 people in a cathedral that can hold 3,000 when they folks could easily attend athe EF Mass at another venue.
I would rather have 50 or 100 devout and loyal Roman Catholics that truly believe in the faith and in the Holy Father than 3,000 nominal Catholics that don’t believe.
oh, dear.
i didn’t realize i was a nominal catholic if i heard mass in english.
does this make the pope a nominal catholic for celebrating mass in german?
Now that it is a little harder to get to the shrine in Mexico, we have a shrine of our own here in the U.S. — a wonderful idea. I hope they do not divide the tilma into too many pieces, though, or the original could be harmed. It would be great to see a picture of the statue with the relic. Perhaps we should say a chaplet to Our Lady of Guadalupe for the conversion of All politicians and ourselves, too.
By the way, I hope Angelo is doing well. Has anyone heard from him?
That tiny piece of the Tilma was gifted to the Archdiocese of LA in the 1950’s and has long been reserved in the Archives at Mission San Fernando de Espana.
Great to hear that a piece of the tilma is being honored at the Cathedral.
We once read that, in earlier times when the tilma was not protected like it is now, that devotees would cut off a piece of the cloth as a souvenir and that the tilma would “heal itself” or become whole again. Don’t believe it was anything like instantaneous but over time. Any truth to this or is it just a myth?
It can also be a great blessing to read the most literal transcript of St Juan Diego on his encounter.
Hopefully, this Chapel will help to overcome that horrible statue of what is supposed to be Our Blessed Mother over the door of the Rogmahal!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Mr. Fisher, you should locate a book called Miraculous Images of Our Lady. I am truly stunned that you do not understand how sacred the image of Mary is. It does not matter really what it looks like. Some of the images that have miracles attached to them are fairly primitive.
I probably understand more than you do how sacred images of Our Blessed Mother are, and that is why I and many others, including bishops and priests abhor that statue over the Bronze doors paid for by abortionist politicians money. The first person to call me on it described it as a “Butch Madonna”. Until I actually saw it myself, I had a hard time believing that even Cdl. Mahony would allow such an abomination.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Mr. Fisher, you just called an image of the Blessed Mother an abomination. And then signed it yours in Their Hearts. You called the Madonna, the Mother of God, “Butch.” It is not OK; it is blasphemous. Blasphemy is showing contempt for God or for things that are holy. This is a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Maybe you don’t like it; Maybe priests and bishops don’t like it. But it is a statue of Our Lady. She is represented there. Remember what happened with Our Lady of Good Council?
I just looked at images of it … Have they arrested the sculptor yet? Kenneth, is that what is also referred to as the “vishnu” there? I’ve heard from eye witnesses that there is a vishnu carving on the door but have not found it on google images.
remember ye well, o critical ones, how the gothic architecture was maligned in its day, when it was new!
now it adored.
“If there is sufficient demand for the EF In the COLA that would be fine but I rather doubt this is the case.”
Una Voce Los Angeles submitted about 1400 petitions for the Latin Mass, and Una Voce Ventura over 600 signatures. In the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which has 5,000,000 babtized Catholics, we have access to everty-Sunday EF masses only in Alhambra (St. Therèse, 1:00 pm) and San Buenaventura mission (1:30 pm). As far as I known Abp. Jose Gomez has not dignified these legitimate petitions with an answer so far.
So, Rodda, my wife and I have to do the pilgrimage to Ventura Mission twice a month. Despite it requiring one and a half hours driving each way from Pacific Palisades to Ventura, a Missa Cantata is really worth it to us. Bishop Gomez has the heart of a Mahoney when it comes to the TLM.
On this Year of Faith having a dedicated TLM side Chapel in this cavernous Cathedral would seem a no-brainer.
Why would COLA have a EF side chapel? Has anyone actually determined if there is sufficient demand at COLA?
I think they stopped the EF Mass at Mission San Fernando due to lack of interest. You can drive to Ventura but there are closer EF Masses to you.
Very true about Archbishop Gomez, as I always state just because you hear the word “conservitive” does not mean TRADITIONAL!! Sadly he is no friend of the TLM, this is very clear. Now, if you want to see a Bishop who is and who celebrates the TLM on a regular basis please check out The New Liturgical Movement and see the “new” cathedral that Bishop Athanasius Schneider is about to consecrate in Karaganda Kazakhstan today the 9th of September. He has written a book about the sin of receiveing Holy Communion in the hand and has celebrated the TLM from Latvia to Germany to Kazakhstan. He is young and full of vigor to save souls and promote the TLM where ever he travels, please pray for this holy priest and bishop. You may also read and see more at Rorate Caeli.
The episcopacy today seems to be all about fear rather than love, although it calls it love. And the fear is of the govt and loss of revenue. Or maybe it’s the fear of millions of Catholics losing their sense of the smiley face — Loki is two faced, as it is either winning or losing, like a two sided coin. Loki is a mythological god of many regions of the globe, and called by many names. The most common name in English is “luck”. The east asians have their version called yin/yang. Some day God willing those living today will be blessed to see actual holy bishops do what is holy instead of creating charades of what they imagine it might be like.
K, it is important to understand the difference between criticizing a work of art as being unworthy of admiration or perhaps unworthy, as in the case of the Madonna, of representing Our Lady visually. It is not blasphemous to find a work of art unattractive, unworthy, or even offensive. I did that when I objected, as an artist working in mosaics, to the horrifying mosaic depiction of the Madonna surfing, and I do not waver in the least in my devotion to Our Blessed Mother. In fact, it is my veneration of Our Lady that led, in the main, to my objection to such a blasphemous depiction and the sacreligious placement of the image on public property, which is in itself an illegal move. I feel Kenneth’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary has inspired a more fervent objection to the depiction than he would have had were he simply rejecting on aesthetic grounds a statue of an ordinary person. Your reaction to his objection surprised me, and I think you are saying that criticizing any and all depictions of Mary are to be considered worthy because of the subject, regardless of how objectionable they may feel to the viewer on grounds of aesthetics, even if the depictions are irreverent. I cannot support your criticism of Kenneth’s opinion and feel that he has the right to express his personal disaffection for the work of art without being accused of being less than respectful of Our Lady.
I do not doubt that you and Mr. Fisher have a great devotion to the Blessed Mother. There have been blasphemous depictions of Our Lady and our Lord. This is not one. We cannot let our sensuality interfere with our understanding. We all have depictions of Jesus and Mary that we prefer. I understand that Mr. Fisher feels the depiction of her in Robert Graham’s Our Lady of Los Angeles is atrocious and unworthy of Her Holiness. But instead of saying “I don’t like it” he called it an abomination, which in a religious context says more than just that it is aethetically displeasing to him. And “butch” means a lesbian.
“This is not one” “and “butch” means a lesbian” Yes, the lavender mafia does include those activists who are radical feminist lesbians. These same destructive activists are trying to change the beautiful face of Mary so they can change the face of marriage and change the face of the family. k is just deflecting and protecting.
Catherine, I am not deflecting and protecting and I am certainly not a feminist or a radical or a lesbian nor a member of any mafie of any color. If you are saying that Robert Graham or Cardinal Mahoney were “destructive activists who tried to change the beautiful face of Mary so they could change the face of marriage and change the face of the family”…well, you would have to offer some kind of proof of that. I cannot find the quote but many years ago I read something that said that every image of Jesus and Mary is sacred and that She is represented by them, no matter what people think of the artwork. That is what I am trying to say, but I cannot find the source. It may have been in a book about the miracles that have occured at Marian shrines or with Her statues. There are truly many. It also may have been at the National Basillica of the Immaculate Conception. There are many different images of Mary there. If you have never been there, please try to find a way to get there. All true daughters of Mary, like yourself, should visit Her and Her Son there.
I will try to find the quote. Also, I seriously prefer traditional images of Mary. It always bothers me when She is bare-headed, too. There is one in a church near me that I am always tempted to produce a veil and put it on her.
k, Sculptor Robert Graham was educated at the San Francisco Art Institute. His second wife, animal rights activist Angelica Huston, can be viewed on Youtube video with lesbian and gay rights activist Rosie O’Donnell discussing women’s reproductive health rights. As for Robert Graham himself, after his death the Los Angeles Times quoted his artist friend Ed Moses as saying, “He will make a mark historically as a sculptor…the museums don’t understand this yet but they will.”
Another friend of Robert Graham said, “Women were “the obsessive focus of his work.” Graham was sometimes criticized for those sculptures which depicted women in the nude and headless. But those figures were incredibly naturalistic….People sometimes saw them as icons of sexuality but if you look at them, you see individual personalities.”
Well k, from what his close friends say, even the museums were not that impressed or particularly fond of this artist’s work either. How interesting it is that Robert Graham seemed to know how to naturally depict all other women except the traditionally natural depiction of the Mother of God. One of the interesting choice of words that was used to describe Our Lady’s pose above the bronze doors is “Confident.” k, Does that word describe the unique individual personality of the humble handmaid of the Lord? “Be It Done Unto Me According To Thy Word?” k, Lesbian activists hate the word humility. k, If you don’t think for one minute that this amazon dominatrix posed statue is not the destructive influence of the many Rosie O’Donnell and Angelica Huston type of activists within our own Church, then you are choosing to remain blind.
Catherine, wow! I agree with those who say that you would not know it was Mary unless someone told you. But I don’t know what a lesbian amazon dominatrix looks like, so I never got that out of it, either. She is supposed to be clothed with the sun, I guess that is why she is wearing that dress. We didn’t want her nude-that would be blasphemous. The book on amazon says that this was the first clothed female Graham had ever sculpted.
Catherine, google Our Lady of Confidence. You will like it much better, I think.
So, we’ve got political correctness defining how we must think and feel about art. Be sure to click heels together also.
Not political correctness. Holiness.
yes, JLS, the pope has asked you to pursue holiness.
think of the painting “the madonnA of the streets,” and ask youirself if this is disrespectful?
some religious art i find atrocious, but that’s just me – others find it edifying. i prefer old-fashioned churches, but others find new-fangled churhes inspiring.
NOW, if something is mocking religion, that’s a whole ‘NUTHER story…
Gratias, you may be gratified to learn that the Extraordinary Form of the Mass is also offered every day in Ventura County as the first Mass of the day at the beautiful new chapel of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, located on the campus of Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula. During the week, Latin Mass is at 7:00 a.m., and on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, it is at 7:15. If you or your children are seeking an outstanding education from an extraordinary and truly Catholic college, this remarkable college is a Catholic parent’s dream come true. Attending any of the daily Masses at this classically beautiful chapel is a joy spiritually and aesthetically speaking as well, for students and all those associated with the college, and for visitors as well. Check out the Thomas Aquinas College website for details.