Who wrote this post for you, Jack in the Box?  It's clearly a cut and paste job.  

To Neil Obstat: Yes indeed, it seems that Jack in the Box has been everywhere! "He" also wishes to be like Forrest Gump, and is attempting to live in total isolation. That say the Peace Mass occured in the aftermath of a riot in Los Angeles. Should it not been commentated? This Peace Mass was unorthodox, should a report of it be swept out of sight of a blog-site that precisely is geared against everything that is Consiliar?

Something must be added to this report. Cardinal Mahony spoke before the Mayor's speech. I admit to not remember what he said. I only remember that he used the word "demonization" as a lament. On the other side, since he was carrying a hand-held microphone, and was able to walk while speaking to the public, I remember that he went to the far-end of the sanctuary in order to explain what a large modern-art painting represented. This large modern art-painting represents the super-imposition of both the maps of Jerusalem and of Los Angeles. I have no idea why the Cardinal explained this to the public of this Peace Mass. Perhaps a member of this forum may give an explanation...

I am fully aware of the sinister rumors that float around Cardinal Mahony. That he is a Satanist. This rumor comes mainly from the novel titled Windswept House by the late Malachi Martin, where the Hollywood Cardinal evocates the Cardinal of the Western Province. This very controversial novel seems to prove to have some truth because the ficticious characteres of a Black Mass that occured simultaneously at two locations, one at the Saint Paul's Chapel in the Vatican, with the other location being a satellite chapel in the United States did occur as per an investigation by the Italian magazine Chiesa Viva (the article as yet to be translated in English). The names of Cardinals Otaviani, Villot, Bernardin and of several bishops are denounced as being a part of this said Black Mass that enthroned Satan on the week following the election of Pope Paul VI. That say, I discard this said rumor of "Satanism" concerning Roger Cardinal Mahony, however I may not omit to report what I saw in Los Angeles during those few days of social unrest.

Lastly: I have spend many hours in the Cathedral of Los Angeles. Sometimes with binoculars; sometimes mesuring certain dimensions; finding its orientation regarding the True North (not the magnetic North); looking at the decorations; questioning the location of the Shrine of Saint Bibiana who is at the opposite of the sanctuary; etc. I have no intension to write anything about what I noticed, except that Saint Teresa of Avila seems honored with a permanent bronze, and this goes to the credit of the Cardinal.

To Capt McQuigg: I do not have photographies. The bronze that honors Saint Teresa of Avila is not in the nave but by the stair that goes down towards the crypt.

The bronze is about an ectasy of the Saint when she watched the glorious coronation of Our Blessed Mother as Queen of the Angels and of the Saints. An exerpt of the Saint's writings is engraved on the bronze.
That say, the Blessed Virgin Mary is not significantly represented in the nave nor the sanctuary (if she is, because I do not recall). I guess the presence of many angels are supposed to mark the presence of the Mother of God, but this is suggestive. The nave is ornated with a series of tapestries representing many saints and blessed, including Pope John XXIII. Those panels of tapestries are a part of the permanent fixtures, but they could be replaced, or "flipped" from their fasteners in a matter of minutes for a different kind of Mass, which fits the Consiliar tone of the moment. A shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe stands outside in the courtyard. The tabernacle is in a separate chapel outside of the periphery of both the nave and the sancturary, and it is necessary to climb a few steps to access it in the most direct way.

I personally like the general modern architecture of this whole edifice. It reminds me of being in the canyons of the Mesas of the Hopi Indians. It is very private in spite of having large bay-windows by its northerly side, because no-one from the outside can see what is been done inside due to the intrication of the many walls. As a Cathedral, its architecture, deemed chaotic, is the subject of controversy. Tradition in Action wrote a piece on it, but I think that a lot more can be said.

One thing is of the most striking: It is the Crucifix. I noticed a small trap-door located near the foot of this cross, which, from my personal view at seing the devil at every corner, made me think that this "trap-door" is to cover a well to implant the Crucifix up-side-down, for the reason that this trap-door has the exact same dimensions of the section of the Cross of the Crucifix. Naturally this is just an opinion.

I inquired to one security-guard, if there were tunnels giving discreet access to the sacristy from either a nearby multilevel parking (a part of the property) or to the other infrastuctures of Bunker Hill. I received a negative answer, however the codes of each cities require that all construction blue-prints be archived. I have no access to those docuмents, but if someone has, this may answer some interesting questions. It is published that the ground of the Cathedral, which cost $250 millions to built (an astronomical sum) was erected on a land donated by Jєωs. For this generous donation, we must thank our brothers who have not yet been enlightened by the Gospel.

The "statue" of the Blessed Virgin Mary is modern, and is somewhat androgenous. This said statue is not inside the Cathedral, but stands above the main porch. Our Lady of the Angels is therefore relegated to being a greeter.

There are a few things mentioned here (above) that I am unfamiliar with, but I
will keep them in mind and at the next opportunity will try to get some answers
for you.  It may be a few months, though.  





The rumored statue of the Virgin Mary (it doesn't look like her) is found outside
the main entrance, above the doors.  It faces south, exposed to the weather:  
rain falls on it (three to five times a year in L.A.!), the sun shines on it daily, and
the wind and birds have open access to it.  It leans forward as if it is about to fall
on those walking through the doorway.

                               

                       The statue in question is above the doors              Caption on NCR:
                           (which don't look like "doors" here)          "I kind of like the statue of Mary."

Side view: Travel brochure view:

View as you're walking in at dusk:  

And finally, one more:  
The posture of the hands reminds me of the Paul Bunyan Muffler Man who holds a car tire in his hand...............  :rolleyes:
                                                                           


Here is a shot showing the hallway to the downstairs, where Jack said there is a statue of St. Teresa. I see a small, dark metallic statue at the top of the stairway, but it's too small to identify, and there have been no other views of this:


Here is the source website. If you want an enlargement, open the photobucket
image by clicking here, then hold CTRL and press + repeatedly to enlarge the
image.  The statue is in a plexiglass case, and appears to be either St. Joseph or
a walking St. Jude or St. Christopher.  But I doubt it would be Christopher because
Mahony and his ilk banished St. Christopher in 1962, the Year of Infamy.


I have never seen any statue of St. Teresa of Avila there, nor could I find any
hint of her in this church using the Internet.  There are very few traditional
images to be found inside (or outside, actually).  Here is one rare example, all
alone in a practically empty room:

                                   
From the main entrance is the South Ambulatory and along the wall is a mini chapel in honor of Our Lady of the Angels. The beautiful statue of Mary by Italian artist Professor Eugenio Pattarino was commissioned by Cardinal James Francis McIntyre in the 1950s.

That ^ is from a tourist website, written by a non-Catholic, apparently, because it's
not a "mini-chapel" but an isolated, minimalist shrine with two prie-deux (I have
to give the photographer above credit though, for crawling on the floor to the
right side so as to get a shot in line with Our Lady's face -- but he should have
used a flash to kill some of the dark shadows on the statue, for the two faces
are not lit up at all, and that's no good for saints' photos!!):

                                               
Note: This is one of the few places you will find kneelers in the so-called Cathedral.




                                         What passes for 'art' at the so-called Cathedral?
                                               





Some of the things the so-called Cathedral is missing:

Stations of the Cross (they are in 'exile' in the stuffy crypt 'chapel' downstairs, which doubles as a clutter storage room - seriously!)

Stained glass windows (the 'most special feature' of the building is the 'magnificent' (?) alabatster windows, but salvaged stain glass windows from the desecrated and abandoned St. Vibiana's Cathedral are found in the basement mausoleum, viewable only one at a time, since they are at the end of hallways)

Holy water fonts (you have to ask, hunt, beg, borrow or steal to find one, and it will not be anything like what you would expect, for you have to go out of your way to use it - not conveniently located by any means)

Confessionals (there are dedicated "rooms" for this, kind of like a doctor's office examination room, with a door on the back wall for clandestine escapes)

Altar stone, required for valid Mass (see 'altar' below)

Tintinabulum (actually a fixture for a basilica, but you would think a cathedral.... naaah)

Communion rail (this 'relic' of the distant past was shed in the wake of Vat.II)

Vigil candles (probably because the insurance liability is just too expensive)

Visible tabernacle (you have to do another Sherlock Holmes to find it, and you must keep a very 'open mind' because it does not LOOK like a tabernacle - it has something in common with the Los Angeles River: if you blink, you'll miss it!)

Statues of saints in plain view (you have to go into remote corners and turn to face away from the sanctuary to see any statue other than the curiously abstract Crucifix, and there is only one that I know of, St. Teresa of Avila, in the back, near the stairwell)

Any connection with Catholic Tradition - except for kneelers! (IMHO - this building seems to be much more like a ѕуηαgσgυє than a Cathedral, for the Crucifix seems to be out of place)


The bride's court tries to run through the anti-gravity prayer chapel without levitation:
                                 
Sorry, that was from nearby Disney Concert Hall, not the so-called Cathedral. I got carried away....


An example of imagery found (sparsely) in this building:

Left Inner Door, beginning first row on left, top to bottom - (viewable from outside
the Church - where there is no salvation? OOPS! Can't say that. Shame on me.)

1. Goose
2. Southwest Indian Flying Serpent
3. Chumash Man
4. Peacock Barge
5. Griffin
6. Chinese Turtle
7. Ibis
8. Griffin
9. Fish
10. Hand of God
11. Eagle (St. John the Evangelist)
12. Dove
13. Bee
14. Celtic Serpents
15. Stag
16. Croatian Cross
17. Chumash Condor
18. Peacock
19. Falling Man
20. Tree of Jesse

Of these 20 things, three are specifically Christian (Tree of Jesse, Hand of God,
Croatian Cross), three more can be thought of as being Christian (eagle, dove
and fish), while the remaining 14 are pagan symbols.

The "altar" is a 9-inch thick square slab of solid red Turkish marble.  It was
originally called "the Table," but after about three months of continuous outrage
by the Los Angeles faithful who paid for it, Mahony (not "Mahoney") capitulated
and changed its name officially to "altar."  I know for a fact that it does *not* have
any altar stone.  If you are confused by that sentence, and think, "But it IS a
stone, so how could it not HAVE stone," or whatever, look up "altar stone" and
learn something.  When you're done, you'll probably know more than Mahony
does about altar stones!  HAHAHAHAHAHA

                                     

                           That's a stupid picture of the altar - let me find a better one...

This is a ring-around-the-altar ceremony:

And here is the altar surrounded by the
famous Freemason Format of Four
Candles (at the 4 corners) with the
Crucifix, mounted in BACK:  
                                                           

The Crucifix, with details almost discernable:

Crucifix appears to be up close but really it's far away:

The online photos I could find do not show much detail of the Crucifix. The
Cathedral website provides much more detail in words than pictorially:

   

The crucifix is of human scale in order that it can be approachable and accessible to worshipers, especially when they kiss the feet of Jesus on Good Friday. The perspective is intentionally distorted so that there is a sense of awe that comes from looking up at Jesus. The hands are strong and the proportions are not exactly anatomically equivalent, but rather are meant to be expressionistic.

Toparovsky constructed the basic shape of the 6'6" human form as one piece out of wax, clay, chicken wire, foam, tape and plastic tubing. He used burlap and wax on the outside surface which let the bronze casting show the texture of the burlap, allowing the representation of flayed skin.

Inspiration for the crown came from the crown of thorns, the common plant name for the Latin, euphorbia mili, which grows in the Holy Land. It is big, thick and has enormous thorns.

Before designing the crucifix the artist read the book, A Doctor on Calvary, by Dr. Pierre Barbet, a French surgeon in the early 20th century who spent fifteen years researching exactly what happened to Christ during the crucifixion. Toparovsky recalls, "It was so hard to read because crucifixion is so brutal." After having read the book, he says, "It was impossible for me not to really feel the suffering," to really understand "that I could embrace everything that was hard in my life, everything that had ever been hard in my life." This helped him "to be the biggest, most open channel for portraying Jesus that I could in my life."

This would not be complete without a few pics showing the interior and exterior:

 

View from Crucifix:  

 




The one thing that is rather nice is an item that is quite old: surprise, surprise!
It's the 17th century, gilded, Spanish Baroque Retablo, found at the "end of the
south ambulatory of the Cathedral." Curiously, the niches on the right and left
are 'empty' like you might expect to see in a refurbished hotel or remodeled old
Spanish villa (where an empty niche long ago used to have a statue).

                                           



Closeup of the REAL Crucifix (why didn't they put this one in the front?? Oh, never mind.....)