Heading to the Cathedral
After our drive to the Cathedral, we noticed even more statues whose fingers had been stolen. We came to the conclusion that it must be a "Fresno thing." The man who walked out of the Music Ministry Department as we were commented on one of the statues shared that they have to replace the fingers 6-10 times a year. He also shared that the brass plaques were stolen on a regular basis, but the recycle companies don't end up taking them. It ends up being a bother for the churches were it happens.
We started to walk into the Cathedral to view the inside when we noticed, to our surprise, that a mass was starting a 4:15 PM. That seemed early to us, but with another one in Spanish at 7 PM, the early start time made sense. We didn't want to be walking around taking pictures during the mass, so we decided to go outside and view what we could. We were again surprised with different things.
Our first surprise was a negative one. There is a Catholic bookstore next to the Cathedral, and it had an Open sign posted in the window. Unfortunately, when we went up to the door, it was closed on Saturdays. Someone must have forgotten about the sign. We were disappointed but continued to walk around the Cathedral.
We started to walk into the Cathedral to view the inside when we noticed, to our surprise, that a mass was starting a 4:15 PM. That seemed early to us, but with another one in Spanish at 7 PM, the early start time made sense. We didn't want to be walking around taking pictures during the mass, so we decided to go outside and view what we could. We were again surprised with different things.
Our first surprise was a negative one. There is a Catholic bookstore next to the Cathedral, and it had an Open sign posted in the window. Unfortunately, when we went up to the door, it was closed on Saturdays. Someone must have forgotten about the sign. We were disappointed but continued to walk around the Cathedral.
Tyson found a metal door, which seemed to lead to a side entrance to the Cathedral and actually tried to break through the locked door in his excitement. We were confused about why he was so excited, but he encouraged us to hurry to the next door, which seemed open, so that we too could see what he was looking at. As we rounded the corner, I wasn't sure why he was so excited, but then I saw what you see to the right. It is a cross of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, who have a community in Modesto and who installed a similar cross at our parish, St. Joseph's! We never expected to find a similar cross here in Fresno.
Our surprised continued with the "Avenue of the Saints", a small passage packed full of different statues, including one that Tyson said was the most Franciscan statue of St. Francis that he has ever seen. You can see some of the other statues in the slideshow below.
We still had plenty of time before the mass was over. It addition it was about 95 degrees. We decided that the best thing to do was to go in search of ice cream, snow cones of something refreshing. None of us knew Fresno well enough to know where to go, so we trusted in Google Maps. It took us a little ways before I noticed a sign in Spanish advertising snow cones. We immediately pulled into the shade to park and worked out helping the non-Spanish speakers figure out what the choices were. Francesca opted for her traditional Diet Coke, but the guys each ordered a snow cone. I got my favorite flavor, tamarind, while the other two got a special vanilla flavor that was highly recommended by the owner of the establishment. We all ended up very refreshed, but I think that Francesca cheated herself out of a real treat.
Our surprised continued with the "Avenue of the Saints", a small passage packed full of different statues, including one that Tyson said was the most Franciscan statue of St. Francis that he has ever seen. You can see some of the other statues in the slideshow below.
We still had plenty of time before the mass was over. It addition it was about 95 degrees. We decided that the best thing to do was to go in search of ice cream, snow cones of something refreshing. None of us knew Fresno well enough to know where to go, so we trusted in Google Maps. It took us a little ways before I noticed a sign in Spanish advertising snow cones. We immediately pulled into the shade to park and worked out helping the non-Spanish speakers figure out what the choices were. Francesca opted for her traditional Diet Coke, but the guys each ordered a snow cone. I got my favorite flavor, tamarind, while the other two got a special vanilla flavor that was highly recommended by the owner of the establishment. We all ended up very refreshed, but I think that Francesca cheated herself out of a real treat.