St. Mary's Cathedral Osaka

I went to St. Mary's Cathedral Osaka yesterday because I got an idea suddenly one day before that I'd like to have a quiet time by myself somewhere in a sacred place. I normally visit Shrines and Temples, but this time No. And then I came up with this idea.

There are several small churches in my town. However I thought that it might not be open to public all the time, especially for those who are not a baptized christian compared to the counterparts in Western societies. Since I vaguely remembered that there is a Cathedral in Osaka, I looked it up on the Internet, and found St. Mary's Cathedral Osaka. I just thought that it must be much easier to get in.



Thanks to my former career as a tour escort, I might have visited various Churches in the world more than non-christian do. Every time I went there, I was with my client during the tours. However I used to try to find a church where I find myself alone for silence and take a rest in my own free time.

Even though I'm not a christian, I feel very close to the Jesus Christ and Christianity. I learned a little bit about the life of Jesus Christ even from TV Animation, ”飛んでらハウスの大冒険 (The Flying House)” when I was a kid. I don't know why I was fascinated by the program and kept watching it.



Sometimes I feel that I might have been a Christian somewhere in one of my past lives, and that the things are not strange to me at all. I just can't recall my past memories, but I unconsciously follow my past practice somehow...

I'm a Japanese and was born in Japan for this life, and my ideas toward the religious faith is based on Shintoism and Buddhism. However I don't belong to anything, and am very flexible to religious differences. It might be a radical idea, but we don't need any religions, and don't need to belong to any of them as long as we just have a innocent faith for one divine truth and wisdom.



I made the sign of the cross before stepping inside as Christians do, and sat on a chair alone in the Cathedral. Nobody else was inside. I looked at a painting of Maria and Jesus which looked like a mosaic. I didn't check it closely. And then I looked up at Jesus sculpture crucified on the cross hung on the ceiling. A while later meditating, I unconsciously fell asleep for 10 min or so which was really relaxing.

Then I started taking photos inside and outside of the Cathedral. At the first glimpse of the appearance, I had an image of Islamic Mosque design. I mean the image of the colors. And the inside, it was a modern with some paintings, sculptures and stained glasses which was telling the life of Jesus Christ.



I found a really good place to be by myself. Nobody bothers my silence. Even if there were anybody in the church, I'm sure that no one would try to reach break the silence.

Sometime very soon, I will find myself in the Cathedral again for this amazing holy silence.



Masami