Mass at the Cathedral
A Lenten sacrifice?

When you hear the word “cathedral,” does your mind immediately spring to images like these?


















Or, does your imagination conjure up something like the edifice below?

I was in Las Vegas over a weekend recently. During my previous two or three visits, I attended Sunday Mass at the Shrine of the Holy Redeemer at one end of the Las Vegas Strip. This time, because it was closer to where I was staying, I went to Guardian Angels Cathedral.

Built in 1963, I could only imagine some modernist bishop rushing home from the 2nd Vatican Council to get to work on this place. It almost looks like it was decided not to put the steeple on top of the church.

Interestingly, it seems to me that Holy Redeemer Shrine down the Strip (built primarily to serve the out-of-town visitors) is actually larger inside.

You know you're in trouble when you walk in and see a full drum set assembled in the "choir section" of the sanctuary. Thankfull, they weren't used at the Mass I attended.

The interior of this place is your typical, mostly unadorned, sans altar railing, post-Vat2 decor. Front and center behind the plain altar is the plain presider's chair with a gold wall behind it. The altar is flanked on each side by two large statues of winged angels, the guardian-type, one would assume (although I don't see them in the accompanying photo from the Internet). I never did see the tabernacle.

The Stations of the Cross are worked into the stained glass windows on either wide, but pretty much like the style of the painting behind the altar. Though not as dark, the artwork all looks like a collaboration between Edvard Munch and Heironymous Bosch.

The corpus on the large cross hanging over the altar (also unseen in this photo) has Our Lord's arm outstretched, eyes open, a face without agony or anguish, and wearing a loin cloth that almost looks like it was designed by Jantzen. The whole arrangement gave me the impression Jesus was getting ready for a swan dive from the high board.

All that said, the New Mass had pluses and minuses. The processional hymm was "On Eagle's Wings," which was not a good first sign for a traditional caveman. The first reading was by some older woman who obviously felt her dramatic inflections added to the epistle. Quite the contrary. The second reader did a better job without the histrionics. The rector of the church was the celebrant and gave a decent homily on Lenten sacrifice.

I guess they try to squeeze every penny out of the visitors, who made up the majority of those assembled (per a poll taken by the priest), because the collection basket came around three times.

The female cantor, wearing an alb, had a beautiful voice and -- hold your breath -- sang both the Sanctus and thre Agnus Dei in Latin. Sadly, few in the post-Vat2 congregation knew the words and were unable to sing along. Another highlight was the celebrant lightly chiding, but chiding nonetheless, those who left Mass early. When was the last time you heard a priest do that?

It is, however, always edifying to go to a vacation spot like Las Vegas and see the large number of travelers who make time to attend Mass. Still, Sunday obligation fulfilled, I left looking foward to next Sunday back at the traditional Mass.