February 23, 2024 — The Jesuits’ St. Ignatius Loyola Parish in Sacramento will mark its 70th anniversary with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Jaime Soto, of the Diocese of Sacramento, on March 8 at 5:30 p.m.
He will be joined by former pastors of St. Ignatius Parish as concelebrants of the Mass. The parish, founded by the Jesuits in 1954, today serves approximately 3,000 families in the greater Sacramento area.
As part of the anniversary celebration, the existing statue of Our Lady of Lourdes in the church’s shrine of the Blessed Mother will be moved in a festive procession to St. Ignatius School on Thursday, March 7. During the anniversary Mass, Bishop Soto will bless a renovated shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe inside the church.
Fr. Tom Lucas, SJ, pastor, designed the shrine. Its wall is covered with blue Spanish tiles, and two hand-forged iron candle holders in the form of rose bushes flank a glass mosaic of the Mother of the Americas. Fr. Lucas, a stained glass artist, hand cut and set the mosaic image, comprised of almost 200 pieces of stained glass.
Fr. Lucas said his devotion to the image springs from summers of working with Mexican Franciscan Sisters at the Casa de los Pobres in Tijuana, Mexico. “She promised to enfold us all in her mantle and to be mother of all in need,” he said.
Source: Diocese of Sacramento
