October 9, 2011

St. Louis Catholic Church
Cathedral City, California

Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death...He is the only canonised king of France; consequently, there are many places named after him,...Louis's piety and kindness towards the poor was much celebrated... He went on two crusades, in his mid-30s in 1248 (Seventh Crusade) and then again in his mid-50s in 1270 (Eighth Crusade)...Louis' patronage of the arts drove much innovation in Gothic art and architecture... (Wikipedia Link.)

"In February 1948 St. Louis Parish was formed and the first Mass was celebrated by Fr. Joseph Leissler who was appointed Pastor and served for 24 years.  Masses were celebrated in different areas until May 23, 1948 when the first permanent building was established.  The original St. Louis Church building was a 150' x30' military hospital ward.  Part of the building was partitioned off and became the church, the other part was used as the parish hall.  On February 10, 1949 St. Louis Church was dedicated and blessed... (REF)

Eiffel Tower Style Steeple

St. Louis Catholic Church at 68633 C Street,  was designed in 1973 by architect Joseph F. Dameron and built by the Phillips and Warren  construction company. It was completed in 1974.   Because it was named for St. Louis the steeple was imported from France and created to imitate the Eiffel Tower. The stained glass windows of the church are set in cement accents, as is pictured below next to the side door of the sanctuary.   Inside the sanctuary are a statue of the Sacred Heart that was added in 2010,   a statue of the Virgin of Guadeloupe, and statues of the Holy Family.



Sanctuary Side Door

The Stations of the Cross were created 1995 to 2000.  They were positioned through out the courtyard at the request of the parishioners, making possible mediation at any time of the day.

"Veronica wipes the face of Jesus"

Station VI

Court Yard Shrine

Lang Hall was built in the year 2000.  The downstairs is composed of education classrooms.  The upstairs is designated for social events.

Lang Hall

The congregation of St. Louis Catholic Church consists of 2600 families.  The sanctuary has a capacity of 600.  One well known parishioner was Frank Sinatra.

Thank you: To Rosie Luca in the church office for describing the church and

                 e mailing REFERENCE information.

Photos: Taken in February 2011 by SW.
Note: For information about Cathedral City see Blog Post September 25, 2011.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Louis

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Prayer

God, be with the persecuted Christians through out the world. Amen (SW.)