The Sagrada Familia temple has lit up, for the first time this Sunday, the illumination of the four towers of the Evangelists. An architectural ensemble, which culminated last September with the crowning of the towers of Saint Matthew and Saint John. The milestone was preceded by the celebration of a solemn mass officiated by the apostolic nuncio Bernardito Auza and concelebrated by Cardinal Joan Josep Omella and the auxiliary bishops of Barcelona. Afterwards, the new sculptures were blessed. These pieces play a fundamental role because they surround the tower of Jesus. Their illumination could be followed from the street and will be lit every night until after Christmas.
The works on the towers of Mark and Luke, traditionally represented with a lion in the case of Mark and a bull in the case of Luke, were completed in 2022. Those of Matthew and John, with a tetramorph of an angel and an eagle, respectively, remained to be completed, reports ACN.
The four towers are crowned by the four winged figures of the tetramorph, by sculptor Xavier Medina-Campeny, with which Christian iconography has represented the narrators of the life of Jesus.
According to the Bible, the evangelists were those who wrote the texts describing the life of Jesus. In this way, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John represent the word of God. And they do so by spreading it throughout the world. That is why, from level 135 of the temple, each of them points to one of the four cardinal points: Saint Luke oriented to the north, Saint Matthew to the south, Saint Mark to the west, and Saint John to the east.
Therefore, these four elements will not be fully complete until the completion of the central tower, that of Jesus. LThe forecast is that it will be finished in 2026.
Precisely, Joan Josep Omella took the opportunity to convey to the apostolic nuncio, Bernardito Auza, the desire to have the presence of Pope Francis. "I have already told the nuncio to tell the Pope that we await him for the blessing of the last tower," he said. "Let's see if we can achieve it, we have to ask the Sagrada Familia," he added.
The lighting of the temple, with the four towers of the Evangelists, has been followed by a crowd of curious onlookers. Most have immortalized the moment through their mobile devices. Regarding the illumination of these figures, there is an important difference compared to the star of Mary, because the latter carries light within it. In the case of the evangelists, they are illuminated from the tower.