Prayers to The Saints for The City of the Angels

I know that like so many people, I'm stunned and upset by the fires in the greater Los Angeles area.  I lived there for a long time, so it's especially troubling to me and very easy for me to put myself in the shoes of everyone going through this.  I have several good friends there that I'm concerned about.  I worked in the entertainment industry.  This is going to effect it and the people who work within it.  It's frustrating.  It's wildfire.  No matter how hard we wish, we can't change or stop it.  So, the only thing we can do is hope and pray.  I was shocked when I heard that Runyon Canyon was in flames.  That park is literally two streeets above where I used to live on Franklin Avenue.  

In the above photo, my cat, the late, great Paco; is lying on the bed in my bedroom on Franklin. Above his head, to the left was a long window.  If I still lived there and looked out that window over the past couple of nights, I would've seen a glowing orange/red sky and probably ash floating down and embers as well.  It's crazy.  
So, I just thought that in writing this I could express my concern and frustration and desire to help.  Los Angeles, for all it's supposed immorality and wicked ways, has perhaps the most religious name of any city in the United States: El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles del Rio Porciuncula.  In English: The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the River Porciuncula.  I guess the LA river was once called the Porciuncula. so that water is built into the name I will see as a good omen.  And there has always been talk of "revitalizing" the LA River; and I really hope that happens.  There are parts of it that have sort of gone back to the wild and if you visit them, it is something to see.  Filled with wildlife and birds who have returned to disused parts.  It really is a case of "build it and they will come."  How cool would it be to float on an inner-tube on a lazy river ride through the heart of Los Angeles?  It can be done.  A river runs through the heart of Roanoke city and in the summer, tons of people do it.  It's really kind of awesome and I think really brings a sense of community.

How cool would that be in Los Angeles?
I said that no matter how hard we "wish" we can't change or stop fire.  I should clarify that what I meant is that we can't stop it from happening. It's Nature (usually, hopefully)/ But the professionals out there who brave their lives fighting fires like this; well, they're the ones we depend on to change and stop it.  So it also for them that I want to invoke the Saints and Angels for everyone battling this: physically, emotionally, financially...
Santa Monica.  Here's another water connection.  Santa Monica, the city, is named for a spring that was named "Las Lagrimas" in the 1700's by Father Juan Crespi because it reminded him of the tears of Saint Monica, which she shed for her "wayward" son, Augustine.  I was delighted to see these springs still exist; something I did not know until just now.

I was just writing the other night about a premiere I attended in 1992 at Grauman's Chinese Theater, which is a stone's throw from where one of the fires broke out.  Billy Crystal was at that event with his family and I heard last night that he had lost his house, which is, of course, tragic.  I'm happy they are safe.  This fire was also very close to the Hollywood sign, which some have erroneously reported caught fire.  I don't want to lecture here; but I do think this might be a good time for the industry to examine it's tendency to destroy the world over and over and over again in movies.  You know, by the third or fourth Roland Emmerich flick, I know I was over it.  But I won't dwell on that.
Los Angeles is a town full of actors, filmmakers and writers and TV, too.  So, here are some more Saints that I know I'll be praying to tonight and in the coming months.
Saint Genisius, Patron Saint of Actors:

St. Francis de Sales, Patron Saint of Writers (one of several, most who seem to have been bald):

St. Clare of Assissi, Patron Saint of Television:

Saint Veronica, Patron Saint of Filmmakers and Photographers (as she had wiped Christ's face and His image remained):

And finally, Saint Florian, who is the Patron Saint of Firefighters:

And so fire summons fire.  And hopefully fights fire.  And ignites HOPE.
I hope this message helped someone.

Chris Reidy
1/10/25
www.pacificresearch.org/a-river-runs-through-it-revitalizing-the-los-angeles-river/#:~:text=In%202007%2C%20the%20city%20of,Master%20Plan.”%20All%20of%20these