(LifeSiteNews) — Old churches were constructed by Catholic communities for the sake of giving praise and glory to God. Oftentimes, these churches are shut down due to factors such as low Mass attendance, only to be either sold to non-Catholics or torn down.
My guest today on this special episode of The John-Henry Westen Show is Terry Barber of Virgin Most Powerful Radio. He tells me the story of how he bought Sacred Heart of Jesus Chapel in downtown Covina, California, from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and gives me a tour of the Virgin Most Powerful Radio studios.
Discussing the history of the chapel, Barber tells me that it was built for $16,500 in 1911, and currently hosts Masses for the Anglican Ordinariate, the Maronites, the Melkites, as well as the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM). Barber also explains to me that the chapel sees over 200 funerals per year, serving as income for the upkeep of Virgin Most Powerful Radio, and hosts conferences and retreats.
He also tells me that the chapel was the only Catholic church in Southern California to not close its doors during the COVID lockdowns, with some people travelling up to 400 miles one way to go to confession. He explained that despite the legal trouble, he would leave the church open again.
“God is really using this, and I think … this is something that even a guy like me can do,” Barber explains about buying the church. “Basically it takes someone who says, ‘Look, I want to preserve the faith. And right now in the Church, this is a crisis mode.’”
Barber bought the chapel 25 years ago for $500,000. Telling me the story of how he bought it, he explains that a group of people asked the pastor if they could have Mass said in the chapel. According to the pastor, the chapel was going to be put up for sale to pay for a new parish hall.
Barber’s brother told him the story, and Barber sought to purchase the building. Barber feared the sale would fall through, however, as his relationship with Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles was not on good terms. His wife, however, dispelled this fear, telling him that the angels would take care of the purchase so that “the cardinal would never know who bought it.”
“And what’s interesting is we closed the escrow and the real estate representative for the diocese called and said, ‘Hey, the boss wants to see who bought the church because we can’t find the documents you sent me. Can you send them to me again?’” Barber recounts.
Barber also tells me about how a month after he bought the chapel, the pastor at Sacred Heart church in Covina, built in the 1970s to replace the chapel, told him that a group of men prayed the Rosary in front of the stained glass window of the Sacred Heart and buried a statue of the Holy Family beneath it. They prayed it would be spared from destruction and that an orthodox group would use the chapel for the greater glory of God.
Telling me about the chapel itself, he explains that the woodwork is original, and that the contractors working on the building’s maintenance hold that it could not be done today. The stones used, according to Barber, were also drawn to where the chapel stands by horse-drawn buggies from the San Gabriel Mountains.
“I just think that we as Catholics have this apostolic succession in our minds,” Barber explains. “Our Church goes back to the time of Christ. So this church, 100 years from now, please God, people will continue to be going to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, they’ll be making visits to the Blessed Sacrament, they’ll be going to confession.”
“We’ve got the model on how to raise the funds to justify buying a church,” Barber continued.
Later in the episode, Barber takes me into the building that houses the Virgin Most Powerful Radio studios. Explaining the history of the building, Barber tells me it was built the same year the chapel was, and was used to teach catechism, saying, “We’re doing Baltimore Catechism lessons for the world in a building that was used over 100 years ago to teach the faith.”
For more about the chapel and how Barber bought it, and how people can buy churches themselves, tune in to this episode of The John-Henry Westen Show.
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