About Our Patroness
Mary the Mother of Jesus, has received many different titles over the centuries. Some come from her personal life and her role in our salvation: “Mother of God,” “Mother of Sorrows” or “Our Lady of the Assumption.” Some of these titles come from the tradition of asking Mary to pray for us in intercessory prayer to God for our needs. Examples of these would be: “Mary, Refuge of Sinners” or “Mary, Mother of Good Counsel.” Sometimes these titles refer to her appearance in a famous apparition such as “Our Lady of Guadalupe” or “Our Lady of Lourdes” or “Our Lady of Fatima.” The title of “Our Lady Queen of Angels” refers to Mary’s place of honor with her Son in the Kingdom of Heaven where Christ is King and Mary is Queen. It is a place of honor because she is placed over the wonderful creatures of God called angels who serve as God’s messengers and as guardians for individuals.
The reason for giving our parish Our Lady as our patroness under the title of Our Lady Queen of Angels probably can be found in the Franciscan history of California. On September 4, 1781 a group of settlers along with Franciscan priests and Spanish soldiers founded the City of Los Angeles. Following the custom of the Franciscans to name the places they settled after the saint whose feast day was that particular day of the founding the Franciscans named the new settlement: El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora, Reina de los Angeles. The town of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels. The town became the city of Los Angeles named after Our Lady Queen of Angels. The original church still standing in downtown Los Angeles is dedicated to her honor. The new Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles standing nearby is entitled Our Lady of the Angels in deference to the older church.
The feast of Our Lady Queen of Angels dates back to before the days of St. Francis. By the year 1045 there was a chapel in Assisi called “Our Lady of the Angels” because of the belief angels had appeared there. By the time St. Francis arrived in 1207 the church had fallen into disrepair. Jesus appeared to Francis there and asked him to repair his church. Francis thought the Lord meant the physical building which he immediately began to do. Only later did Francis realize the Lord meant that he was to repair the Church as a Community of believers. In this little chapel known as the Portiuncula (or little portion) Francis received his vocation to follow Christ and it was here in 1208 that he founded his order of franciscans and then later the Poor Clares and here he held several chapters or meetings of the community. In 1226 he died in an adjoining room to the chapel. You can still visit the original chapel which is now entirely enclosed and covered by a much larger church building on the plain at the foot of the hill leading to Assisi.
The Feast of Our Lady Queen of Angels is celebrated today on August 2 each year.
