During his recent trip to Spain, Pope Leo visited Barcelona to bless the newly completed “Tower of Jesus,” of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia. The basilica was designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, who began working on it in 1883, and today it is the city’s most iconic building. Its exterior currently features facades that depict the birth of Christ and His crucifixion, with the final judgment facade still unfinished. Inside, massive pillars rise from the floor to the ceiling like giant trees, with light from stained glass windows filtering down like sunlight through a leafy canopy. Along with scripture, Gaudi’s greatest source of inspiration for his architecture was nature, understood as God’s creation. In this way, he was like those who built the great gothic churches of the Middle Ages, who intended their projects to be images of the divinely created cosmos. But Gaudi employed modern engineering techniques to design a medieval-inspired building with greater structural simplicity and harmony. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI offered a meditation on the relation between the interior and exterior of the basilica: “[Gaudi] made stones, trees and human life part of the church so that all creation might come together in praise of God, but at the same time he brought the sacred images outside so as to place before people the mystery of God revealed in the birth, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this way, he brilliantly helped to build our human consciousness, anchored in the world yet open to God, enlightened and sanctified by Christ. In this he accomplished one of the most important tasks of our times: overcoming the division between human consciousness and Christian consciousness, between living in this temporal world and being open to eternal life, between the beauty of things and God as beauty.” Gaudi’s Catholic faith deepened as he worked on the basilica. He gave up the lavish lifestyle of his youth and became known for his habits of intense prayer and fasting, immersing himself in scripture and liturgy. In 1926, at the age of 73, he was struck by a city tram on his way to confession. Because of his shabby appearance, witnesses mistook the famous architect for a beggar. He was taken to a hospital for the poor where he died a few days later. Last year, in recognition of Gaudi’s personal holiness, Pope Francis declared him a “Servant of God,” formally opening his cause for sainthood.
Parking Lot Update
The repaving of the parking lot at St. Cecilia’s is scheduled to begin this week, and to finish by mid-August, before school begins. The work will take place Mon-Fri, with sections of the lot accessible on weekends, which means the parish’s normal weekend Mass schedule, as well as weekend weddings and baptisms, will not be affected by the work. Our regularly scheduled 7:30am weekday Mass, however, will be moved to St. Gabriel’s for the duration of the project. Thanks to our Greek Orthodox neighbors, who have kindly offered to make their parking lot available to us as needed, we expect to be able to schedule funerals at St. Cecilia’s. Finally, when visiting the campus in the upcoming weeks, please exercise proper caution and patience, keeping in mind that it is an active work site. In the upcoming weeks, we plan to use the bulletin and parish website to communicate progress as well as any changes that might affect access to our facilities. If you have any questions, please contact the parish office.
posted 6/20/26
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 