Many bloggers who write from a distance have the audacity to judge a building based on pictures and news reports. Both Whispers and the American Papist are young catholics who seem to make gossip their hobby, and they are host to many comments calling the Cathedral hideous, and a monstrosity. Well, last Thursday I was a participant in one of the most beautiful liturgies I have ever been part of. It was an amazing event.

First of all, the building sings. The acoustics are wonderful andf the sound of singing in the place is worthy of any cathedral.

Secondly, the heart of any worship space is the people. No one who was there had a single word of complaint.

Yes, I am a bit more traditional. This might not have been what I would have built. But I believe this is a place for the ages, and future ages will judge it differently after it has had years of experience. Cathedrals are built over hundreds of years.

But for now, at the dawn of the 21st century, the Cathedral of Christ the light is the jewel of Oakland.

One of my favorite moments at the dedication was the anointing of the altar and the wallls. There are twelve candles that circle the cathedral and each one is labeled with the name of an apostle. During the dedication the walls were anointed with chrism.

I love the Stations of the Cross at the Cathedral. They are the work of the same artist that rendered the Crucifix and the Statue of Mary. They are at the level where they can be handled by the people as they are making the way of the cross. I would love to witness these bronze stations in a hundred years after they have been made smooth by the devotion of generations of people.

The art in the Cathedral is beautiful. This modern creation has the Diocesan patron St. Francis De Sales holding the first cathedral, and St. Joseph holding Mission San Jose.

This image of the return from Egypt is in the Holy Family Chapel.

The Cathedral makes use of Natural Light. This can bee seen in this amage of the Cathedra, the Bishop's Throne.

The baptismal font has water from the Jordan river, from St. Peter in Rome, from Lourdes, from Lake Merritt, and from the fonts of all the parishes in the diocese.

The Ambry:

The altar is surrounded by four large Candles. The Ambo rises from the Choir. The Crucifix towers over the Ambo.

The midday sun fills the Cathedral with natural light. The space is warm and inviting.

The Eucharistic Chapel:

The Mausoleum is beneath the Cathedral. The altar from the old cathedral is directly below the main altar. This is where the Casket is placed for the Rite of Committal. Light from the Cathedral bathes the Mausoleum with light.

The image of Christ in Glory, an image over the door in the Chartres Cathedral, towers over the altar. It is nearly 60 feet tall in the 90 foot Omega Window and is made from 94,000 small holes digitally placed in the metal and then covered with glass. Sitting in the pews it seems as if the image is projected on the screen. This, I believe, is to become the signature image of this Cathedral. A Photograph does not do it justice. To stand in the cathedral is to lift up your eyes to this wondrous image of Christ the teacher reigning in Glory. An immature blogger from the other coast disrespectfully called this "whatever that is."

A lot of the criticism of the so called American Papist who has little respect for the teaching office of the church stemmed from an inaccurate and unfair article in the New York Time about a healing garden that was initiated by victims of sexual abuse from priests in this diocese. They designed it. It is not finished yet and will be ready for its dedication in October. Here we see a CNN reporter sitting in the garden. He was there to do interviews about the cathedral, but their report is mainly on this garden, because the media seems only able to focus on that scene.

The light of heaven, the light of Christ; when looking up it appears that the heavens are about to open.

The Alpha Window:

On Aug. 4, Bishop Vigneron received a decree from the Apostolic Penitentiary in Rome. Signed by Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, the decree recognizes the dedication of the Cathedral of Christ the Light on Sept. 25 and gives those in attendance the favor of a papal blessing with provisions for a plenary indulgence.

The indulgence is gained through and conditioned by a sacramental confession, the celebration of the Eucharist, and by prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father.

The indulgence is also extended to those who have an intention to participate and are unable to attend, especially due to health considerations. These persons are encouraged to participate, in part and at delayed times, through television, radio or the Internet.

In fact, the papal blessing with the plenary indulgence is extended to all of the Christian faithful who would want to participate in this singular event for the diocese. Again, the provisions are the same as for those in attendance -- sacramental confession, the celebration of the Eucharist and prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father, all in a spirit of detachment from sin.

This form of apostolic blessing will become part of the rhythmic breathing of our cathedral. A diocesan bishop within his own diocese may offer the papal blessing with plenary indulgence three times a year on solemn feasts.

After prayerful considerations and consultation, Bishop Vigneron has determined that the three feasts that occasion this blessing are: The Epiphany, feast of the Cathedral of Christ the Light; Easter, the summit of the Church's liturgical life; and Sts. Peter and Paul, to celebrate the great apostle of Rome and the great missionary of the Church.

It is in a spirit of anticipation, we watch and wait for the events that will dedicate the Cathedral of Christ the Light and receive abundant blessings.

I have the honor of having one of my psalms sttings being chosen for the dedication of the Cathedral of Christ the Light.

Psalm 95 was chosen from the Common of the Anniversary of the Dedication of a Church by the Music Committee of the Cathedral of Christ the Light. This setting, Psalm 95-Venite Exsultemus was composed using Mode IV. Using Gregorian modes emphasizes the primacy of the human voice. Normally it is to be sung without accompaniment, but can be accompanied by bells used sparingly.

Mode IV, also known as "deuterus plagius," centers around recitation on la and final on mi. In his work on Gregorian Chant, Willi Apel alluded to the similarities between the primal chants and the cantillation formulae of the Yemenite Jews. It is interesting that the formulae for the Roman Canon; the "Crucem tuam" of Good Friday, the Gloria, Sanctus & Agnus Dei of Mass I "Lux et Origo" for Easter and the Easter morning Introit "Resurrexi" are all Mode IV. The Responsory formulae, which many scholars believe to be among the most ancient chants, provide more finals for Tone IV than any other. These things lead me to ponder the theory that the formulae for Tone 4 may be among the most ancient.

I understand that Janet Whitaker, music director of Corpus Christ Church in Oakland will be the cantor/ psalmist.

The entire psalm can be found here:

Psalm 95 Venite.pdf

I served at the old Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales 1989 to 1991 as the Director of the Choir. Now standing inside the new Cathedral I can say it is a big improvement.

Pictures do not really do the place justice. But still, that will not prevent me with sharing a few pictures of it.

The exterior of the building does not do much for me. Standing nearby it seems like a solid wall of glass that disappears in the clouds, without form or substance. It is only in standing back, across the lake that you see the building's purpose. The banks and office buildings dot the landscape, and this sits among them as a shining jewel, a lantern, that stands out from these square buildings with its own unique shape, The name, Christ the Light, really fits this picture.

Inside, though, the light on the natural wood is warm and inviting. The awesome image of Christ in Glory from Chartres towers over the congregation. Walking inside your eyes are instantly drawn upward by this imposing image and by the light streaming various places in the building.

Yesterday, after the morning Masses we headed to Oakland for the Festival of Light. We parked near the new cathedral and then waited for buses to take us to the site of the former Cathedral.

There we were led in prayer by the retired Bishop, Bishop John Cummins, and by Bishop Allen Vigneron. Standing near Bishop Vigneron is Fr. Paul Minnehan, the Cathedral Provost.

Then the procession proceeded eight blocks to the new Cathedral. Each Parish had a banner with its parish name on it, and a parish representative carrying a pitcher of Holy Water from the Baptismal Font at our parish.

The procession of banners:

Procession of Holy Water:

Water from Lake Merritt, from the font of St. Peter in Rome, from the Jordan River and from Lourdes were mixed with water from the fonts of the 84 parishes in the Diocese.

pouring the holy water:

Blessing the Crucifix:

The Crucifix:

Bishop Vigneron speaks with the congregation after the final blessing. Pictured near him is retired Bisho[p John Cummins.

The interior:

It was a great trip, very restful. The last day started early. Security, passport control, etc was all designed to make us feel very insecure. Other than that it was an uneventful trip. It was good to be home.

The last few weeks have been pretty hectic with some significant funerals and then the start of School. It almost does not pay to be away when the piles of mail get so high in the absence. Rome is one of my favorite places and I hope to return there before long.

The Sunday bells at the Vatican are the best. It is clearly a joyful sign. They start ringing at 9:30am and continue for a half hour. I now do something similar for 10minutes prior to the weekly solemn liturgy, much to the annoyance of the parochial vicar.

Today we celebrate Mass in the chapel of the house. Then we went off to the beach where we had a marvelous pranzo. The fish was wonderful.

The rest of the evening was like this: Nap, packing, vespers, packing, dinner, packing. I did not want to go home.

Day 11 was the beginning of my last weekend in Rome. I had been to St. Peter and St. Paul, so it was about time for me to visit the other major basilicas, St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. These are also significant sites on any Gaspar tour.

St. Mary Major

Just around the corner from St. Mary is a little church called Santa Prassede. This place has some marvelous mosaics. It also has the relic pillar of the scourging. It was in this church that Gaspar's parents were married.

About two blocks from Santa Prassede is the Carmelite Church of San Silvestro and Martino. It was here where St. Gaspar was baptized. The font is still there along with a marble marker commemorating the occasion.

From there I walked leisurely up Via Merulana toward the Basilica of St. John Lateran. It was here that St. Gaspar was ordained to the Diaconate. The place was jammed with young people. It was during World Youth Day and the Roman young people who did not travel to Australia gathered for a rally here and were watching a live feed from Australia.

I need a sign like this for our church:

Because of the crowds I did not stay long at the Lateran, so decided to head down the street to visit Santa Croce. I am standing waiting for the light, when I catch sight of someone across the street who looks vaguely familiar. As he crosses the street toward me I recognize Don Gennaro, our former Vice Moderator. He was out for a walk since this is not very far from our House at Via Narni.

Santa Croce is where the relics of the Holy Cross are kept. It was here that St. Gaspar made his retreat before his ordination. His uncle was a monk of this congregation, and Gaspar preached the Lenten retreat there ten years in a row. It seems the monks were selling the fruits of their large garden while I was there.

While walking back to Lateran I decided to look for the Makkarone restaurant where we had our worst meal on New Year's of 2007. I discovered that the restaurant was no longer in business. We were thankfully never to have a meal like that in Rome again.

I made my way back to the Vatican and did the last of my gift shopping in a bookstore near where I was staying. Then Steven decided to take me to one of his favorite restaurants. It is a place called "Tony and Dinos" and it was a short walk from the Vatican. There were no menus. Steven just said, "Do what you do." They over did it. We were so full that it would have been impossible to down a main course. Well, they made sure not to let us leave until we had downed two grappas.

When we got home it was time for a Solemn High Nap.

There was not need for food the rest of the Day. Late afternoon saw the evening news on the BBC, vespers, some reading and then off to bed, apparently not without taking some more pictures.

After Mass we retired to a little coffee bar across the street from the Vatican for some coffee. Then I spent some more time in the Basilica and the square taking pictures. In the square I saw a man taking a picture of his family with a camera just like mine. Passing by I noticed they spoke English and we compared notes on our various cameras. I ended up taking a picture of his family with his camera, and he snapped a picture of me with mine. In the Basilica, I was able to spend some time at the tomb of John Paul II before the place got crowded. I also purchased a few more gifts in the Vatican gift shop for the people back home.

Next I headed over to Teatro Marcello and the Basilica of San Nicola in Carcere. It was in his apartment at Teatro Marcello that St. Gaspar died. At San Nicola he preached at the foundation of the Arch-confraternity of the Precious Blood on December 8, 1808, an event for which we celebrate the 200th anniversary this year.

The sacristy:

San Nicola there was an attendant who was offering tours of the crypt. It was a great explanation of the foundations of the place which was built in the early centuries on the ruins of three Roman Temples. The pillars are seen in the walls of the Church, but the foundations of all of the other pillars are visible in the crypt. The blue outlines the area of the church.

Also in the crypt are the remains of an early byzantine chapel. He said that the Madonna in the Church was found there and removed in the 1800s and placed in the upper Church. It is a favorite image of mine. I have photographed it many times. He was amazed to see that I had the image on my Blackberry.

The image once was part of this early Byzantine Chapel:

The image now hands in the upper church. This picture was taken of the image before they covered it with protective glass:

This was the stuff of pilgrimage. This place figures significantly in the beginnings of our community. Here is the crucifix before which Gaspar preached the memorable sermon on the foundation of the Arch-confraternity.

After touring San Nicola in Carcere, and spending some time in prayer there I took a walk through the surrounding neighborhood. The place is very different than it was in Gaspar's time, having been altered considerably by Mussolini. I took a picture of Teatro Marcello where Gaspar died, and the Church of San Angel in Pescherria where his funeral was held.

Back home we had a delightful Pranzo, Sausage, and peas with Pasta, and plenty of the finest local vino. This was followed by doing dishes and requisite siesta. At lunch we pondered the significant difference between a siesta and a Solemn High Nap.

I must have had some opportunity for afternoon picture because the collection this day includes my favorite picture:

Later in the Evening we chanted Vespers and headed over to another favorite Roman eatery. These are places without menus. All we said was "Do what you do." I think Steven referred to this place as "Mama's" although that is not the name of the place. She did mother us. She place a few simple antipastos on our table with Water and wine, and then she wheeled up a cart with eight more and two different kinds of bread. It would have been enough for a full meal, but we also had a main course of Meatballs served with chicory. There was no room for dessert, which she was not happy about.

yesterday I had tried to post but it would not let me. Come to find out that it posted three times, but they were not complete posts.

RC had taken up migrating everything over to MT4. He has too much time on his hands. Anyway I am grateful that he put the blog back together. That funky modern set of tree graphics was just not going to cut it.

Today I did not take any pictures, just a few shots of the dawn.

Then a simple day:

We also visited my favorite Restaurant, and I think that most of the pictures will be from there. Yep, did not have my camera in hand during the Mass.

I slept in today. I was surprised when I rolled out of bed as late as 6:00am. But then I did not set an alarm. We were not going to do Morning Prayer until 8:30am so had plenty of time to wake up, get cleaned up and chant Matins.

We skipped Mass this morning because the plan was to drive up to Giano and celebrate Mass there before heading off for the finest pranzo on earth.

Well, traffic was going to be the story today, both to and from Giano. The reasons were unexplained in the morning, but it took nearly an hour just to leave Rome. On the way home it was an accident. But the hour and a half trip turned into about 3 hours both directions.

So we get to Giano late, and of course, we were not permitted to celebrate Mass because they were all at Pranzo. So we were told to come back at 3:30. So we headed up the mountain to have Pranzo first.

After we finished we had plenty of time to have a reasonable fast, and Don Luciano was waiting for us when we arrived. He even stayed around to concelebrate with us. We did a lot of Latin, so he had an easy time. He stumbled a bit with the English parts.

After Mass it was the long trip home. We were pretty tired. Did some watering of plants, washing of laundry, but basic relaxing with a few books was the story for the rest of the evening. There was no dinner as lunch was pretty substantial.

I suppose you were wondering if there were any pictures:

They do not start baking the bread they put on your table until you get there:

Kathy, too bad you were not there. Your favorite: bruschetta.

Then the pasta:

and mixed grill:

Taking our leave. We met there an older diocesan priest from the region and his friend from Colorado.

Then back to San Felice:

St. Felix whose tomb is here. Also St. Benedict as this served as a Benedictine Monastery for centuries.

The sacristy:

Detail from the sacristy:

My favorite depiction of the Madonna, is up on the second floor of the cloister:

My favorite image of St. Gaspar is just around the corner. The Madonna is from 1494. The St. Gaspar is a modern 20th Century depiction.

Don Luciano waves arrivederci:

Time to turn out the lights:

It was an early morning as usual, chanting Matins as dawn break, and joining in the chapel to sing Lauds and Mass. After breakfast, I took in another early morning inside St. Peter to get some pictures of the light streaming in.

One picture that I hoped to capture with my new lens was a shot of the Holy Spirit Window.

Today, I had tickets to the Scavi Tour. This is maybe the fourth or fifth time I have been down in the excavations under St. Peter. Each time is a little different, but each time is always an affirmation of faith as we visit the tomb of St. Peter.

We came out after the Scavi tour near the tomb of Pope John Paul II. I really have no doubt that one day we may officially name him as St. John Paul II, the Great. With this in mind, I handed one of the Petrini my Precious Blood Chaplet that I carry in my pocket, and he laid it down on the tomb. I was impressed with the way he would do this very reverently, spending just a few seconds in reverent prayer, before lifting it up and handing it back to me. I have no doubt that one day I may consider this chaplet in my pocket as a 3rd class relic of this great saint of our time.

I met this newly married couple from Kansas who were in Rome on their honeymoon. This was Tuesday and they had only been married two days. I asked her if she had a rosary with her. She produced it from her purse. I told her what I had done with my chaplet and encouraged her to do the same. He took off his scapular and with the Rosary handed it to the Petrini. They were quite thrilled with this little addition to their vacation and wondered how I would have come up with this. They asked if I was a priest and I admitted I was a Pastor from California. They asked for and received my priestly blessing on their marriage.

Later, I headed over to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in St. Peters, and spent a holy Hour there, praying the Precious Blood Chaplet.

During the early part of the afternoon I was introduced to some of the more reputable shops near St. Peter, a bit farther off the tourist path. While doing this I ran into the newly married couple from Kansas having a typically Roman Pranzo in the sidewalks cafes of Rome.

After a nap and some reading, we prepared another typical Roman/American BBQ: Steaks, Pesto Spaghetti, roasted Zucchini, and plenty of Scotch, wine and grappa.

It was a cool night, and there was no need for the air conditioner as I drifted off to sleep.

There are some people who think our Paschal Candle is too large....

It was a very full day. The day broke early and Matins and Lauds were chanted alone today. We were all off to different places for Mass. I had the outstanding honor of beginning the day with Mass for the Missionaries of Charity who serve the poor and the hungry who are near the Vatican. Mass was in English. The sisters were from India and from eastern Europe.

I thought this morning was part of God's divine sense of humor. So I am to preside at Eucharist and preach a short homily to Mother Teresa's sisters and the Lectionary gives me this as the Gospel text:

After Mass I headed over to St. Peters, right next door, and took some pictures in the quiet and empty basilica.

After a restful walk through the Cathedral, there were some pilgrims attending various Masses in the early morning and the place was very quiet, I headed over to this little coffee bar near the Jesuit generalate for some breakfast. On the way I noticed this little Romanesque church was open.

This Church is completely surrounded on three sides by this building. The Building is home to a few Vatican Dicasteries, Congregation of Saints, the Congregation for Legislative Texts, as well as home to a few cardinals. It is not a parish, but apparently it was given by John Paul II a to serve as an International Youth Center. It was very quiet while I was in Rome because all the Youth were in Australian for Word Youth Day, but today it was showing a little life and I got to go inside and look around. It is beautiful inside, and very peaceful.

After breakfast it was off to the Liturgical Candy stores:

Gammarelli is a famous store. They make the cassocks and the vestments for the Holy Father and they traditionally have the ready the three cassocks for a newly elected Pope. I purchased my cassock from them in 2001.

This store is is near the Sopra Minerva Basilica that is the tomb of St. Catherine of Siena. It is also very near the Pantheon. There is, alsong this street, many little shops that have priestly or liturgical items. There were some specific things I was looking for and I went to each store about two or three times. I found an ostensoria at Barbiconi that was reasonable, and there was another store that had a small stand for it.

I already had about four of my shirts from Barbiconi. They were purchased in 2001 and are beginning to show some signs of wear. Today I purchased three shirts, as well as an Alb, a surplice, cinctures, a few icon gifts, as wells as the ostensoria.

This all made for a very full morning. Also in the midst of this morning I was beginning to get some news from home. One parishioner in assisting the set up for one of the Masses inadvertently had knocked over the paschal candle. The Candle sits on the top step next to the Font, and fell toward the congregation, down three steps to the floor. The Candle shattered into a thousand pieces, the solid brass follower had a severe dent, the bobeche was folded in half, and the candle socket was broken cleanly from the stand. It is pretty expensive to replace a custom candle, but replacing the brass parts was very expensive. It was probably providential that I was in Rome.

We went to lunch at Ristorante Polese, a place near Chiesa Nuovo I had been to before. and then head home for a little nap. In the afternoon we were to go to St. Paul Outside the Walls for a little pilgrimage, and I will share pictures of that in the next post.

After the pilgrimage we came home for a Pot Roast dinner, and then we all retire for the night.

Oh, the bells! You can tell it is a Sunday in Rome. All the Church bells in the vicinity ring their bells. There are a lot of churches in the vicinity. The high bell, the one on the left, rang continually for about 15 minutes. The sound was beautiful and fitting for the specialness of the day.

There was just the few of us, but lauds and Mass were chanted together. As usual, it was simple, beautiful and simply beautiful.

After Mass we headed off to Scarpone for Pranzo. Great lunch, great wine, but I think it was the dessert that gave me a buzz. It was a rum soaked dessert, and I do mean soaked.

After lunch we took a long walk through the largest landscaped park in Rome, the Doria Pamphili gardens.

We did some touring of other ecclesiastical sites but the skies were threatening rain so we headed home.

After heading home it ewas time for a nap. When it was time for supper, there was no need for food as lunch had been pretty substantial.

As night fell, the local parish of Our Lady of Mt Carmel had a procession. The Carmelites put on quite a show.

I went to bed about 9:00pm but was awakened at 11:30 pm by some loud noises. I went outside to enjoy a bit of the light show before returning to bed.