Holy Rollin': Our Lady of the Bright Mount, Pope John Paul II Was Here

From the Acropolis of ancient Greece to Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral, man's desire to connect with the Divine might be most beautifully expressed through architecture.  The act of creating a building in which to perform holy rites, a building in which to display religious relics, a building in which parishioners and nonbelievers alike can find beauty, really gets us feeling all "holy-rolly" from our heads down to our heels.

Our Lady of the Bright Mountain Parish - Los Angeles, CA
(Source)

The simplicity of Our Lady of the Bright Mount's boxy, mid-Century exterior belies an interesting history.  Built in the front yard of what was once Fatty Arbuckle's West Adams estate, the church and its Edwardian-era grounds are now the home of the Los Angeles Polish Festival.   Every year, Southern California's Polish population flocks to get a taste of the homeland and an audience with His Holiness.

As Our Lady of the Bright Mount is a Polish parish, it is small wonder that Pope John Paul II is considered quite the celebrity.  His lifelike statue lovingly greets all visitors to the forecourt of the church.  His lofty positioning only meant that Cynthia had to give me a boost so I could kiss his ring.

Aside from the gaudy chandeliers and colorful iconography, the airy, light-filled sanctuary, with its angled
roof and beamed ceiling, could pass for the modernist stylings of many working architects of the 1950s-60s.
A fan of Eastern-European religious art (and gaudy chandeliers), I was in Holy-rollin' heaven!

The ceilings, the structure, the materials are all textbook Mid-Century Modern architecture.  It is the windows, however, that distinguish Our Lady of the Bright Mount as a wacky tacky landmark.  Echoing Eyvind Earle's art direction in Sleeping Beauty (1959), the stained glass artwork of this church masterfully straddles the aesthetic line between Medieval and mid-Century. 

 Like a large-scale illuminated manuscript, the expansive windows of Our Lady of Bright Mount
make up three of the church's four walls.  From indoors or out, the windows truly illuminate  heroes
of both The Bible and of Poland (see the Polish Coat of Arms below).

It was exciting to find the artist's signature in a pane of the window.
Ludwik Wiechecki, do you think he might be Polish???

A search returned very little about the artist except that he was part of the poster art
movement in Poland that existed during and survived both the Nazi occupation and
communism.  It appears he moved to America and accepted stained glass commissions
for the Paul L. Phillips Studio of Pasadena, CA before he died in 1988.

While she was clearly inspired by the images in the stained glass,
 I nevertheless asked Cynthia why she was praying.  After her "amen"
she simply told me, "Man, 'We got to pray just to make it today!'"

I was praying that I could take "Mother Mary of the Stony Grotto" home with me.
Raised outside of the Catholic tradition (rest assured, some of my best friends are Catholic),
I was surprised to fall so completely in love with the statue; it is the glorious, starry halo back-
lighting the bougainvillea that I really wanted.  Her ever-watchful eyes would have made
stealing her that much more difficult!

"Pray" - MC Hammer

The bonus of attending the Los Angeles Polish Festival at Our Lady of the Bright Mount Parish is that the church is immediate neighbors with the striking, stony, brutalist facade of Holman United Methodist Church - which makes it terribly convenient when one has to run next door to borrow a cup of holy water (for an exorcism or whatnot).  As if tmy hunchback wasn't enough incentive, that double-boomerang bell tower alone has Mr. Tiny ready to become a modernist Quasimodo!

I suppose it is impossible for me to convert to Polish, but maybe if I convert to Catholicism I'll be a little bit closer.  Does Our Lady of the Bright Mount Parish (not to mention its next door neighbor) have you seeking sanctuary?  Do you have any cool churches in your neighborhood?  Do you attend an architecturally-significant church (for more than just the free communion)?  

Our Lady of the Bright Mount Parish

3424 W Adams Blvd

Los Angeles, CA

(323)734-5249

polskaparafiala.org

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

A Town Called Odd

Fearing that the forgone conclusion of their town's fate would be unqualified obscurity, the citizens of a tiny town in rural West Virginia decided to give their town an unusual name; they settled on something that was just weird enough to garner the attention of passing motorists - Odd.  There is nothing particularly strange about the sweet, albeit backwater, little hamlet of Odd, WV.  The houses are well-maintained.  The brooks are in a constant babble.  The sunlight, dappled by the fluttering leaves, turns the landscape into an ever-changing, impressionist masterpiece.  The quaint, brick post office, the most significant building in the city limits, is the centerpiece to what would otherwise be a completely-unremarkable town.  The only thing that really sets Odd apart from the surrounding communities is, well, it's odd name.  How could we continue to call ourselves denizens of wacky tacky if we failed to make the trek to a town that, outside of its name, would be surely be missed by travelers who had the audacity to blink.  Cheers to Odd for putting itself on the map!

Perhaps I should have let the sign speak for itself.
But when in Odd, do as the Odd folks do, right?

As we wound our way through the hairpin turns of the narrow-laned road to Odd, we saw one of our favorite signs, "Estate Sale."  We pulled over and, of course, found a few necessities for my sister's home.  The best part was meeting the charming family who had recently lost its 92-year-old mother but had reconvened at the family home to disperse the remainder of the estate.  While most of the children (now into their sixties and seventies) have left Odd to create lives in other towns and other states, it was wonderful to talk to them about the truly idyllic experience of growing up in Odd.  They sat on the porch reminiscing and celebrating their mother's life as well as their own.  As we left, one of the daughters handed my nephew an ornament from her mother's Christmas tree.  It was one of those delightfully-unexpected experiences that made an oddball excursion to Odd a poignant and meaningful moment. 

It became more of a challenge with every church that we
passed to distinguish an odd church from the Odd Church.

Some of the cities in my neck of the woods have names that can be difficult to pronounce but I can't think of a single one that has an "odd" name.  Do you have any odd towns near you?  Do you think I should be flattered or offended that they asked me to be the "New face of Odd?"

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

A Little Church for Big Sinners!

Some of my very favorite wacky tacky entries are the drive-bys - the ones where a quick five minutes does the trick before you have to hit the trail again.  The truth is that roadside attractions are in necessity in breaking up the monotony of a lengthy road trip or even just a morning commute.  Sometimes, when you're on the road, you just need a small dose of wacky tacky to recharge your own wacky tacky battery; when that little bit of wacky tacky is teamed with a little bit of the spiritual, then all we can say is "Hallelujah!"

Like an celestial island in the middle of a bottomless sea of iniquity, stands The Little Tree Church in Tustin, CA.  Sitting serenely, if diminutively, in the parking lot of the Jamestown Village Shopping Center, The Little Tree Church has only been in existence since the 1960's, but its roots are planted far more deeply in the rich soil that is Orange County history (the full history of TLTC can be found here).  The tiny church was built as a tribute to the landowner's grandmother's childhood church and was originally built around an existing oak tree.  The tree has subsequently died and been removed, but fortunately, the church remains.

Having just been a guest at two very wonderful, yet extremely different, weddings, I must coin a new phrase, "To each his own."  I, however, having been blessed with an extraordinary imagination, can just imagine what a sweet and simple ceremony could be held within the walls of The Little Tree Church.  With a few friends who are presently engaged, we wanted to go inside and scout the location, but the door was locked.

"Sanctuary, sanctuary!!!"
  Seriously, the only time I have ever
been told that I look like someone famous is when a little
 kid told me that I looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame!

Side note: I picked this sweater up at some random men's
 fashion store at an outlet mall; I was on the fence about it, so
 I'll let you be the judge.  Does it give the impression of
(a) a vintage knit or (b) something Cliff Huxtable would
 wear on his day off?

From what we understand, The Little Tree Church has a maximum capacity of eight people - six congregants, preacher, and organist.  The inside of the chapel is available for viewing, but we arrived on a whim (after business hours) so we just had to envision the inside.  It's traditional New England styling led my thoughts directly to the chapel in Pollyanna.  Indeed, Hayley Mills is never far from my mind, but can't you just see self-righteous Aunt Polly telling Pollyanna not to stare at the orphans while Reverend Ford "sermonizes something fierce?" 

Reverend Ford's (Karl Malden) sermon from Pollyanna

If you're driving on the 5 freeway through Tustin and you need a wacky tacky fix, or just a moment of reflection, stop by and see The Little Tree Church.

The Little Tree Church

C St

Tustin, CA

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny