The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1960-02-05
JOSEPH BREIC
Our Shrine
For The World

There is a glorious house of God in the New
World today which seems to me to speak to all be-
levers, quietly and yet maiestically. telling them that
the Church which was breathed into life by the Risen
Christ is their Church-the Church of each, the
Church of all,
There is Il kind of divine appropriateness in the
fact that the National Shrine of the Immaculate Con-
ception is in the capital of the United States of Amer
lea, the nation made-theologically made--of people
from many nations and races.
In the deep religious principle that all men are
created equal and endowed by their Creator with GER
tain inalienable rights, the Fathers of this country
found the White-hot flame of truth that could weld
SO astonishing a political unity.
TIE NATIONAL SHRINE, massive and yet grace
fully soaring, strikes me as if it were a visible promise
Of, and preparation for. some great moment in his
tory when mankind will unite spiritually, in an even
profounder sense than Americans are united in
America.
Not alone Catholics, but Jews and Protestants,
and members of the Orthodox churches, and Mos
lens, too-indeed every one who is of good will. might
well feel, | think, somehow mysteriously and happily
at home in this noble basnica standing white against
the blue sky above Washington.
To right and to left of the great entrance, the
chiseled figures of the Apostles receive the visitor;
and beside each Apostle there is a Prophet of the Old
Testament who guided and admonished Israel in max
ing straight the way of the Lord.
THE ARCHITECTURE of the shrine is both east
ern and western. 1t is Byzantine and it is Roman, and
there are Gothic touches. And the soaring Knights
Tower, like a lance tipped with the blue Of Our Lady
and topped with a splendid cross, is Moorish.
Lifting my eyes to gaze up to where it seemed
to touch the heavens, | almost waited for the voice
Of a muezzin. summoning the people to chant the
praises of Allah, of God who is God.
In Statuary, in carvings, and in word and symbol.
the greatest servants of God of all times and places
are honored here. The blue dome, in serene ~splendor,
seems to float aloft like the planet Earth, humanitys
global home, held ~tenderly in the hand of God:
THERE IS T in the western hemisphere,
so far as | know, to compete with this church edifice
in aWeinspiring but gentle grandeur. For hours | look.
ed at it from this vantage point and that; and when
my time ran out, | wanted to stay and go on looking.
Canada and the United States are the only cour-
tries have seen. But | have pored over photographs
and paintings of the worlds noblest buildings; and |
will beg leave to hold that the National Shrine of the
Immaculate. Conception is second to none in beauty.
Those who know my devotion to the Virgin who
is mankinds Princess, shining like snow in the sun
with Gods graces, will understand that | cannot eX-
press myself more strongly than this: the National
Shrine is a worthy tribute to Mary.
WASHINGTON ITSELF has long been a shrine to
me. In the Lincoln and jefferson memorials, and in
the shadow of the White House, the Capitol and the
Washington Monument, ! have renewed, time after
time, the inspiration of America.
Now the national capital is more a shrine than
ever before. This very great basilica, created by
American Catholics to express their love for the Son
of God and His Mother, does not belong to them alone.
1t belongs to the nation. and it belongs to the world:
and | believe that its universally will be recognized
more and more as pilgrims from many lands go to il,
as surely they will.