Christ is risen! Happy Easter!
Last week I shared some photos from the stark Passion Facade of Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Not all is doom and gloom at the Basilica, of course, and, in fact, visiting the church is a amazingly uplifting experience.
The Glory Facade remains to be built, so we still can only imagine what is planned to be the most beautiful part of the whole project. But enough parts of the Basilica already suggest the victory of the Resurrection. High above the scenes of the Passion, in fact, one can see the women visiting the now empty tomb and, above that, a bronze figure of Christ ascending.
When I visited Barcelona in March, spring was just starting to clear its throat to announce its arrival. In the park next to the Sagrada Familia, I looked up the names of some of the local flora and fauna I stumbled upon. My app told me that the blossoming tree I saw was a “Judas Tree” and the parrots chirping in its branches were “Monk Parakeets.” Seems like the sort of detail Gaudí would have loved.
(Below, in addition to images of the Sagrada Familia from up close, is a shot from the rooftop of Barcelona’s Cathedral in the Barri Gòtic, the city’s old town.)
Alleluia, alleluia!
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Tony Lusvardi, S.J. 