Tour of Saint Barbara Catholic Church

I don’t get tired of saying that I love that Catholic parishes remain open all day so that any person can seek refuge at any time.  If for whatever reason, you don’t have a space at home where you can be alone with God just stop by any Catholic Church and you will find yourself in a place that is so conducive to prayer.  Each parish is so unique, the inside structure and décor varies – in some you can almost get a feel for the year it was constructed based on the inside construction.  I am fortunate because I have many parishes minutes away from where I live and due to my Sunday commitments I alternate as to where and what time I attend Mass.  I also, have options when I want to be alone with God (which makes me quite spoiled), thus I thought I would do a series giving you tours of the parishes where you will most likely find me.

Stole this pic from their website, all others are mine.

The first parish that I went into when I came back to the Catholic Church was Saint Barbara in Santa Ana.  My brother invited me to a retreat with a young adult group he was involved with, the group being part of this parish community invited me into the parish’s life.  At the time I was still attending protestant churches, but I was feeling a tug, like the Eucharist calling me home.  Thus, I found out when the parish was hosting confessions and with all the insecurity and fear in me I went into the confessional for the first time since my first communion at the age of seven.  In that confessional I found God’s mercy and a priest who guided me back home.  Therefore, Saint Barbara Parish will always hold a special place in my heart.  There I have been a lector, minister of hospitality, JPC prayer warrior, secretary of the parish council, and most recently RCIA catechist.  Since it’s the first Catholic Church that I attended as a revert I thought I would start my blog tours with this one. Let's begin...  

The outside has this beautiful shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes which is always kept surrounded by flowers that parishioners continue to bring her throughout the year.  You can always catch people praying here.  It's one of my favorite spots. 

The inside is very big and in the customary shape of a cross with the altar being the head.  It was constructed in 1962 and since it's been host to a large thriving community.  The Vietnamese being the largest, which I find so encouraging when I go to services in that language because the church is bursting with people, as large as the building is people still stand on Sundays due to not enough pews.

Curiously, the parish doesn't have an image of its patron saint, Saint Barbara, which I found a little odd.  It does however have two (new) screens which come in handy in translating the readings when I go to Mass in Vietnamese or to guide people in prayer.

This parish doesn't have a separate chapel that hosts the tabernacle, rather the body of Christ is kept underneath the crucifix behind the altar.

It has beautiful carved and colored Stations of the Cross.

 In a separate alcove at the back of the Church there's an altar to pray, honoring the Vietnamese Martyrs.    

Finally, though not much to look at - this door leads to the confessional where I had my first confession as an adult.  It's also the place where I found a lot of healing and direction from an elderly priest who has since completed his journey on earth.  

Though now I mostly only attend this parish to help with Catechism- it will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the place where a lot of my initial conversion occurred (smile).