National Catholic Register, Angelo Stagnaro: Many people, Catholic or not, are unaware that the city of Los Angeles is dedicated to and named after the Virgin Mary. On September 4, 1781, Spanish governor Felipe de Neve, with the assistance of two Franciscan priests, gave the village its official name, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula which translates to mean “The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of the Porziuncola River.” Porziuncola, is a small church in the village of Santa Maria degli Angeli, (Italian: St. Mary of the Angels…there’s an obvious pattern here) located two miles north of Assisi, Umbria, Italy; the place where the Franciscan movement started. The word porziuncola is an Italian word meaning “a small portion of land” and refers to the fact that a Benedictine abbot of Monte Subasio gave the chapel to St. Francis of Assisi in 1208 on condition that the saint made it the motherhouse of his order. Read full article here.
