Our Lady of Angels

Beacon Hill's field trip was a double-whammy: Lady of Angels Cathedral + Joni & Friends, a resounding success and rewarding on many levels.

First, we were going DOWNTOWN, such as it is; the original church bordering Japanese town, always stuck out as an anomaly to me. We boned up on Ojai artist, John Nava, and his vision for the Belgian tapestries which softened the cold interior space of CA mission-colored concrete.
Unlike other towns, LA was not previously anchored by a cathedral, not that OLA - its-next-to-freeway status - accomplishes this. But since my own church meets in a warehouse on the outskirts of Camarillo - bordered by a railroad, not highway - I let out a huge exhale, upon entering a sacred space, again.

The tapestries feature official saints and commoners alike

with a red marble slab bookending the entrance's baptismal pool.

The children were encouraged to climb, touch, feel almost everything, underscoring the tactile dimension to iconic Catholicism versus Protestantism's mental abstraction which Umberto Eco wrote of years ago now, comparing Mac computers to PCs. Touchscreen technologies only further the argument and, Apple, it appears, is dominating.
Erlinda, our able guide, is a born native and will be buried in the crypt space below - 5500 spots available, along with Gregory Peck. The children loved knocking on the hollow, unoccupied spaces.
Perhaps, my favorite spot was the chapel dedicated to St Joseph and the topic of adoption:
Really, Christ is the adopted son and "prototype" of a renew humanity - birthed at the cross; the water and blood of his wounds conjuring the birth of Eve via Adam's side.

Joseph above & the children below:

Reliefs from the original church

I asked Michael and Jack if this reminded them of the cathedrals in Europe. They replied matter of factly, "No." It did for me, however. Here and there, these are houses of worship doubling as tourist spots.

Our modern condition.