Cathedral Our Lady of Angels

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California Address: 555 West Temple Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 Type: Roman Catholic Church Architect: Rafael Moneo Opened: 2002

General Information

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is a 3,000 seat Catholic shrine that reflects this region's heritage. The Cathedral was designed by an award-winning Spanish architect, Rafael Moneo. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is the first Cathedral to be built in the United States in over a quarter of a century, and the first in the new millennium. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and seat of its archbishop, who is currently Cardinal Roger Mahony. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels opened in 2002.

History

In 1996, the City of Los Angeles condemned the St. Vibiana’s Cathedral in Downtown Los Angeles because of the extensive earthquake damage from the Northidge Earthquake. The estimate to refit would have cost a minimum of $18 million. In addition to the cost to refit, the capacity of the old cathedral was inadequate for the current and future needs. The archdiocese decided to find a new site for a new cathedral. Cardinal Roger Mahony announced the location of the new site and revealed the new name would be Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. This title had been approved by the Pope in 1945 (anticipating unfulfilled plans for the reconstruction of St. Vibiana’s). The name reflects the original name of Los Angeles, El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles, “City of Our Lady, Queen of Angels.”

The consecration and dedication of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels was on September 2, 2002. It is home to the relics of Saint Vibiana, brought from Rome by Thaddeus Amat y Brusi, the first bishop of Los Angeles. The new cathedral is 58,000 square feet and accommodates 3,000 worshipers. The structure will be able to last for five centuries.

Architecture

For the design for the cathedral, Rafael Moneo used elements of postmodern architecture. He chose "Light" and "Journey" as his unifying themes. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels is an impressive and unusual building that makes minimal use of right angles. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels is 12-story building on a 58,000 square foot complex. Moneo made a conscious choice of not having the entrance directly on the street. He believed that worshipers and visitors will travel a spiritual path; each step will be a transition from the secular to the sacred. For the design for the cathedral, Rafael Moneo used elements of postmodern architecture. He chose "Light" and "Journey" as his unifying themes. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels is an impressive and unusual building that makes minimal use of right angles. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels is 12-story building on a 58,000 square foot complex. Moneo made a conscious choice of not having the entrance directly on the street. He believed that worshipers and visitors will travel a spiritual path; each step will be a transition from the secular to the sacred.

The main sanctuary is 333 feet long. This was purposely one foot longer than St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. The internal height varies from 80 to 100 feet. The more traditional stained glass windows were replaced with alabaster. The Cathedral uses the largest amount of alabaster in the country. This allowed the interior with soft, warm, subtly multi-hued illumination.

The pews and organ are wood, and the Baptismal Font is granite. The organ has 105 ranks of pipes and was built by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders of Lake City, Iowa. Some of the pipes were retained from the 1980 Austin organ from St. Vibiana's Cathedral. The exterior of the main sanctuary materials are concrete, the floors are stone, the ceiling is wood and the roof is copper. The interior of the main sanctuary is decorated with three sets of earth-toned tapestries by painter John Nava. There are 25 tapestries titled the Communion of Saints, depicting 135 saints and blesseds from around the world, on the side walls. Behind the baptismal font are the five Baptistery Tapestries, which depict the Baptism of Christ. On the east wall are seven Altar Tapestries feturing a schematic map of Los Angeles converging with a Cosmateque design.

The bronze doors and Virgin Mary over the entrance were designed by Robert Graham, a local California sculptor. As with many features of the cathedral, the statue of the Virgin Mary is not traditional. She is not wearing a veil. Her arms are bare, outstretched to welcome all. From the side can be seen a thick braid of hair down her back that would suggest an Native American or Latin woman. Other features such as eyes, lips and nose convey Asian, African or Caucasian features.

The bronze doors do not have the expected biblical scenes, instead are decorated with cultural and symbolic images. Christian mystical numbers are incorporated into the images. At the bottom of the inner doors there is a grapevine that contains 40 ancient symbols including eagle, griffen, goose, ostrich, Southwest Indian Flying Serpent, bee, dove, Chinese turtle, and the dolphin. Above this are 15 manifestations of the Virgin Mary from Europe and the New World.

Gardens  

Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels is located on 2.5 acre plaza that includes cathedral proper, several gardens and water features, the Cathedral Center (gift shop, Galero Grill, conference center, and cathdral parish offices), and cathedral rectory. On the north side of the main sanctuary is the Meditation Garden. This garden has circular pool and Stations for the Cross for private meditation on Jesus’ suffering and death. The trees and plants used in the Plaza carry inherent meanings regarding Scripture and Catholic garden traditions.

The Cathedral Olive Garden is by a few names such as the Sculpture Garden or Children’s Garden. This garden is complete with animals sculptures based on biblical scriptures. The animals were designed by a children’s book artist. This garden is meant to be a play area for children.

Mausoleum

On the lower level of the Cathedral is the mausoleum. There are 6,000 masoleum cripts and columbarium niches for burials. 

There are a number of prior Bishops and Archdiocese buried in the crypt mausoleum which include:

• Saint Vibiana, patron saint of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
• Thaddeus Amat y Brusi, first Bishop of Los Angeles
• James Cardinal McIntyre, first Cardinal Priest Archbishop of Los Angeles
• Bishop Juan Arzube
• Bishop Thomas James Conaty
• Bishop Carl Anthony Fisher

The laity are permitted to purchase burial crypts or niches for their own use or use of their family members. The mausoleum features a number of stained glass windows that were originally installed in the Saint Vibiana's Cathedral. There were two new windows featuring guardian angels were placed at the entrance of the crypt mausoleum. The restoration of the old Cathedral and the new windows were done by The Judson Studios.

References

1. ^ a b c d e "Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels". http://www.olacathedral.org/. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.
2. ^ a b "Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels". wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Our_Lady_of_the_Angels. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.
3. ^ a b "Jose Rafael Moneo Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels". wikipedia.org. http://www.arcspace.com/architects/moneo/cathedral_feat/. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.
4. ^ a b "Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, Los Angeles". wikipedia.org. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/usa/los-angeles-cathedral-of-our-lady-of-the-angels. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.