Cathedrals

Recently, LA Catholic posted a comparison of photographs, between the cathedrals of Cologne and Los Angeles. I was reminded...

In the early 1950s, my Dad's USAF Reserve unit was called up, and he was sent to Germany with the Allied Occupation. Being newly married and faithful to his calling, he eschewed the usual merriment of the conquering soldier, in favor of sight-seeing. He toured not only Germany, but Switzerland and the Netherlands. He took many beautiful color slides depicting every slice of life he could find, from the tulip fields of Holland, to the Swiss Alps from overhead. On one occasion, he visited the magnificent cathedral in Cologne. Sustaining only moderate damage during the War, it was already repaired by the time of his visit. He met with a priest-friend of his, a classmate from his seminary days. On a Sunday morning, at a side altar, the priest said a private Mass, and Dad was his acolyte.

To this day, it is a proud feature of the skyline of Cologne. Would that the City of Angels had benefitted from the same.