Adventures in Washington, D.C.

Adventures in Washington, D. C.

Day 2

    We spent the afternoon at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  It is also known as “America’s Catholic Church.”  Words truly can not describe the beauty of this church.  When we as Catholics speak of God’s Church this is what I will see from now on.  It is all of what it means to be Catholic.  Catholic means universal church.  It is that.  It is beautiful and the mosaic tile work is not only exquisite, but it represents Catholics around the world.  We even got to see Our Lady of China in mosaics.  It was breathtaking and to see our Asian princess underneath it was amazing.  Every finite detail of this mosaic work is so hard to describe.  Each scene, each person, represented with millions of pieces of mosaic tile. 
    As you walk through the Basilica there are also statues. In every form that you can imagine. They are marble, bronze, and even some that looked gold leaf.  They are large and small. They too have just amazing detail. As you walk through you realize that the entire shrine is dedicated to the Holy Family and particularly Mary, the mother of God. 
     Many non-Catholics do not understand the relationship the Church has with Mary.  Mary was called by God to give birth to His son.  She brought the Church into being and that is why she is seen as such an important part of the Church.  She brought us into God’s family by giving birth to Jesus.  Without Jesus, Gentiles would not have become Christians.  Mary was called and she answered yes.  She is the bridge between David and Jesus.  She brought us into the family.  We do not worship her, we show gratitude, enormous gratitude for what she did for all of us as Christians.  As we continued to tour, I stopped to look at each statue, each mosaic, to see not only the artistic beauty but the meaning behind each scene, each statue, each architectural detail.  I tried to just quietly take it all in(which I should add was very difficult when standing next to a whinny chatty cathy).  As we went from small shrine to small shrine, I was just amazed. 
     I have always been drawn to “the Pieta”.  Since the first time I saw it I have wanted to venture to Rome and see it first hand.  I would love to just touch it and feel every single detail, but I believe you can go to jail for that.  I feel such a connection to the statue.  I have always felt connected to Mary since the loss of our son and that just says it all for me.  The look of distress on Mary ‘s face, the lifeless body of her son on her lap.  It all screams everything I felt the day our son died.  I am sure I had that look, uncontrollable pain, excruciating heartache and exhaustion.  Mary is just done, but the agony of loss won’t let her rest and she just cradles her sons lifeless body.  She knows He is gone, but her mothering heart won’t let go of Him.  She just can’t let Him go.  If she let’s Him go then it is “truly” finished.  In her mind, at that time, she was in the present and He was dead. She could not let Him go.  Some deaths are ones you can rejoice in because of long suffering and age, but when you bury your child, that is a different deal.  It is not a rejoicing moment.  I think Mary felt great loss and Michelangelo captures this in the artwork.   The Basilica has its own version of the statue.  I was just in awe of it.  I just sat there and took it all in.  I quieted the chatty and just looked at every detail. It was breathtaking.
    Once I saw this I assumed that nothing else could compare, but I was wrong.  As you make your way through the Basilica you realize that you are being watched from above.  There are angels, and scenes of all kinds on the ceiling of the Basilica. The Basilica is built in true Church form- it is indeed built in the shape of a cross.  If you look at it from above it forms two distinct crosses.  One cross is inside the other cross.  It is an amazing architecture design.  And when you come to the North apse, you see are once again in awe.  Before you is this enormous mosaic and it is titled “Christ in Majesty”.  The Lord’s image flows from the ceiling to midway down the wall.  Underneath Him is what appears to be the Trinity.  It is breathtaking because it shows you in bright visual detail the amazing enormity of our LORD and Savior.  It is just amazing.  I would recommend that all Christians take the time to visit the Basilica when they are in Washington. 
     We attended Mass before we left.  It is not the structure that makes the Mass so incredible, it is the members of the Mass.  As you look around you realize that probably a majority of the people around you are from somewhere else. That just like you, they have come to worship while on vacation.  They are fellow Catholics and they are worshiping here, with you, as a member of “the universal church.”  This is my favorite part of being Catholic.  Anywhere you are in the world, when you worship and take Communion you are among family.  It is overwhelming to even comprehend how amazing that is.  Many Christians I know do not even attend church when they are out of town or on vacation.  In the 21st Century, Catholics can go on-line to websites such as masstimes.org.  These sites give Catholics a list of churches around the world.  Today, we can give the zip code or city of where we are going and within minutes we have a list of local parishes and the times of the Masses held at that church.  It is amazing and more proof that the Internet is not all bad.  We try our very best to attend Mass wherever we  happen to be when we are out of town.  We have been to Mass in Tennessee multiple times, in North Georgia where we attend we even know details about the priest and his family because of our attendance over the years.  We even attended Mass in China.  I still love that story.  I feel blessed to be a part of such an incredibly large body of Christians world wide.  Wherever the road takes me, I know that I will not be far from my fellow Catholics.  I find great comfort and peace in knowing that.  I thank my Heavenly Father for bringing my Catholic husband into my life and giving me my Catholic roots.