Extra, Extra, Read all about it !
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Location
400 Michigan Ave NE, Washington, DC 20017
My Reflection
A Brief History
On August 15, 1913, Bishop Thomas J. Shahan took his idea of building a national shrine to show respect to the Immaculate Conception to Pope Pius X. After he presented his idea, the pope had said yes and supported the construction of the national shrine. Bishop Thomas J. Shahan then asked the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of America to give the southwest corner of their campus to begin the construction of the shrine. Then, in 1915, Bishop Shahan chose Father Bernard McKenna of Philaelphia to be the first director of the shrine, and oversee its construction, after Bishop Thomas J. Shahan's death on March 9, 1932. On September 23, 1920, James Cardinal Gibbons who was the Archbishop of Baltimore, had blessed the stone foundation. But, construction was stopped because of the Great Depression, and the coming of World War 2. Afterward, in 1953, under John Noll, American bishops, they promised/pledged to raise the final amount of funds to complete the shrine. The dedication of the Great Upper Church was on November 20, 1959, thousands of bishops gathered there along with their Catholics. Although the construction of the nation shrine seems as if it had finished, still goes on today
Construction of the national shrine
Layout of the national shrine
The shrine today
This September........
What's going on?
On Wednesday, September 23, Pope Francis will be coming to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to preform the First-Ever Canonization on American ground.
Who is he & why?
http://www.nationalshrine.com/site/c.osJRKVPBJnH/b.4747303/k.C02F/Visit.htm
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/usa/washington-basilica-of-national-shrine
"Junipero Serra." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 08 May 2015.