I don't know if I am being too harsh or not, but isn't the design of a church supposed to edify your soul? Looking at this Cathedral, I wouldn't even know that it was a Cathedral. In fact I even asked other people if they could tell at all that it looked anything like a Cathedral, and the answer was a big fat, "No." The tower might make you think that it is a Church, but not a Catholic one. It is probably the first of its kind in the world. Again, I hope not to sound too harsh, but I also hope that it's the only one.On top of that there is the statue of the Blessed Virgin above the entrance to the Cathedral. Is it just me, or does she not look at all like the Blessed Virgin?
I've heard of this statue as referred to "Man-hands Mary." In my opinion, the Cathedral of Our Lady Queen of the Angels should have a statue of Mary, veiled, with arms covered, with hair down over the shoulders, and with Angels. There is a reason why she has been depicted that way for so long: because it is beautiful. That's what the example of woman should be: beautiful. Not manly. If we are supposed to separate ourselves from this world, then why are we using its ways as a template for our Cathedral Churches? I am not really sure. And modern art is supposed to be beautiful?But, in looking at the old Cathedral, I am even more sadened because it is beautiful.
It elevates your eyes to the heavens, and on the way, you run into the cross. The cross is at the apex, as it should be, not in the middle of the wall to get lost in the glass. And you know that looking at the bell tower on the rear of the cathedral, that the main altar is right underneath. You can see the cross on the outside and the place of crucifixion on the inside. What more do you want out of a simple cathedral? Not to mention that it being turned into a performing arts center.St. Vibiana...ora pro nobis
3 comments:
There is a church similar to something like that where I live (Singapore) but I still feel the sancitity. For this church, it's hard to even tell that it's Catholic. (Which is the great thing about Catholicism.. the sense of history will always be there, even in its architecture.) I personally think that tradition church architecture is beautiful in itself AND modern art is beautiful in itself -- but not together.
Goodness! I thought there that statue was that of a male saint! I wasn't thinking of the hands, either; when I saw that it was Mary I was thinking, "Where are her hips, then?" As a design student, I look at the human figure and its shape of the human body and one can easily determine hips, whether or not her clothes are trying to accentuate or hide it.
Such are the fruits of heterodoxy. Pray for the archdiocese of Los Angeles and especially for Cardinal Roger Mahoney. They need it.
Before meals, right after saying the standard "Prayer Before Meals," the Crusaders have a list of things we pray for and Cardinal Mahoney (as of Friday) and the Archdiocese of Los Angelos (as of a few months ago) were added to that list.
The Lord knows what he is doing in all things, sometimes we just have to pray harder for some.
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