In [an] out of the way alcove [in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angeles in Los Angeles] is a plain marble tomb with “Saint Vibiana” inscribed on it. There is nothing explaining who this Saint is, and why he, or she, was placed here, just the tomb and two individual kneelers. Intrigued, I pulled out my smart phone and did an internet search. Here’s an excerpt of what I found from the Cathedrals of California website:
“We know next to nothing about Saint Vibiana. Yet for nearly 120 years her name was attached to the Catholic cathedral in Los Angeles, and today her tomb is in the crypt of the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angel. Who was she?
She is an enigma. She is nobody and everybody. Her feast is celebrated only by us here in Los Angeles. Because we don’t know the details of her life, in one way it is difficult to ascribe to her particular virtues we can imitate. Yet in another way this makes it easier for us to identify with her. She stands for all of us, the insignificant ones who will never be written about in history books. Our lives may not be widely known, but they are known to God, who has called us each by name from before the beginning of time.
When we stand before the Tomb of Saint Vibiana, let us imagine our parents, our grandparents and great-grandparents. In many ways, they are like Vibiana, unknown to the world but beloved by God. To a world obsessed with celebrity, they are nobodies; but in the eyes of God, they are precious beyond all imagining.”
It makes perfect sense that the Patron Saint of Nobodies has been enshrined in the city that thrives on celebrity. Whether or not you’re Catholic, or even a Christian, Saint Vibiana is a symbolic reminder that we are all necessary, important, and worthwhile, forever encouraging us to relinquish of our foolish desire to ruthlessly compare ourselves to others.
