National Shrine

I took my mom to visit the Catholic National Shrine in DC. In 35 years of my living here and her visiting, we'd never gone together. 

Although I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic school through high school and have a nun as an aunt, I'm not a church goer and live happily as an agnostic. I did light a candle for my buddy John and sat still for a little while, reflecting. The fact that the choir was rehearsing for Xmas helped.

That being said, I love that church. It's beautiful for its bright mosaic work all over, its secluded nooks and side chapels, its crypt (see extra), and just an overall lightness that makes it feel human scaled. It's an interesting contrast to the stately cathedrals of Europe (or DC's National Cathedral), which I always found to be 'cold' and forbidding. 

If you'd like to see more of it, here's the link