Cathedral Statue. Photo: M. Imlay
Los Angeles is known throughout the world as the City of Angels, a fact reflected in this blog’s title. But as your humble blogger has pointed out before, the city’s founders didn’t really name their pueblo for the angels, but for the Virgin Mary (aka, Our Lady of the Angels).
As a reminder of this oft-forgotten bit of trivia, Dateline>City of Angels is proud to introduce That’s Our Lady — a new, occasional feature focusing a lens on various religious and secular depictions of OLA throughout our region.
And what better place to start than the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, located downtown at Temple and Grand?
In crafting this statue to adorn the cathedral’s great bronze doors, the artist deliberately combined diverse characteristics mirroring every race and culture. The result is a Mary that transcends ethnicity — a Madonna for all Angelenos.
Not to get all religious on this blog’s readership or anything, but the statue obviously conveys deep spiritual meaning as well. In ancient Christian tradition, the Messiah will return from the east. Here Mary faces that direction to bask in the first rays of dawn. As the sun sets, her halo imparts a glow reminiscent of another Marian title: Evening Star.
To learn more about this statue, click on the Art navigation button at the cathedral’s official Website.
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