Founded: August 28, 1923
Location: 2515 West Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Los Angeles
Our Lady of the Angels Region: Deanery 15

In 1923 the population of Los Angeles was less than one million, and the city had a brand new stadium: the Memorial Coliseum, opened in May to help accommodate the Olympic Games nine years hence.

The new Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego, under Bishop John Cantwell, had just been created a year earlier (as had Monterey-Fresno). Just three weeks after the feast day of the Transfiguration, August 6, 1923, a new parish not far from the new stadium was named to honor that significant event in the life of Christ.

As related in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus took the Apostles Peter, James and John to a high mountain where he was transfigured and "his face shone like the sun and his garments became glistening white." According to the writings of St. John Chrysostom, the presence of Moses and Elijah with Christ represented the Law and the Prophets, the living and the dead. Before that small group of Apostles, Christ was shown to be the Messiah, greater than the Lawgiver (Moses) and greater than the Prophets (Elijah).

Therefore it was not Jesus who was changed on Mount Tabor; it was the Apostles. By the fifth century the feast was already celebrated in the East and in 1457 Pope Callistus III instituted the general observance for August 6. Although no record explains the choice of this feast day for the parish, the selection is fitting in that this church in many ways "transfigured" the area and the people who longed for a church.

Parishioners originally used a three-story building at Browning and Western for Masses, social events and a rectory with the help of the founding pastor, 53-year-old Father John Cotter. One year later, he built a "new church" at Van Ness and Santa Barbara and the old building was moved to the new property. In 1930 he was transferred to San Diego, where he became the Vicar General of that diocese and died in 1956 at age 81.

The next pastor was Irish-born Father James Buckley who ministered for the next 35 years through tremendous changes and challenges. Ordained in 1920 in Dublin, Father Buckley was previously pastor at St. John Chrysostom where he had built a church and school. At Transfiguration he completed the parish plant at Santa Barbara and Roxton Avenues, despite the challenges of the Depression, and by 1937 the parish boasted one of the finest churches in the city. Archbishop Cantwell (the diocese became an archdiocese in 1936) dedicated the new church in 1938. Father Buckley was named a monsignor in 1957 and died in 1965 at age 70.

During his pastorate, the beautiful mural painting of the Transfiguration was painted above the church's main altar. American artist Velda Buys Gateley spent seven years painting the murals for the church after spending ten years of research in Christian art.

Msgr. Michael O'Callaghan, native of County Cork and a canon lawyer, served the parish for five years, and was succeeded by Father John Hanly. A native of County Roscommon, he was ordained in 1950 for Los Angeles and was an associate at five parishes before his appointment at Transfiguration. During his 15-year pastorate, the parish celebrated its golden jubilee Mass with Cardinal Timothy Manning. Father Hanly described the parishioners as "wonderful people and staunch supporters of the parish school." He retired as pastor emeritus in 1987 and died in 2000 at age 76.

When Father Jarlath Dolan was named pastor in 1987, Santa Barbara Avenue had been changed to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, but the parish school was still under the direction of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet who started the school in 1937. Father Dolan, another Irish native, served as associate director on the Marriage Tribunal before his assignment at Transfiguration where he served until 1995. He is currently pastor at Blessed Junípero Serra, Camarillo.

Msgr. Robert Howard, a native of Indiana, alumnus of Cantwell High School and St. John classmate of Cardinal Roger Mahony, headed the parish for six years. Previously pastor at Mother of Sorrows in L.A. and St. Finbar in Burbank, Msgr. Howard retired in 2004.

The current pastor, Father Richard Martini, was born in Santa Monica and graduated from Loyola High School. He was ordained in 1980 and directed the Office for Vocations for seven years prior to his appointment at Transfiguration. "This is a wonderful parish," he says, "and I have been taken in as part of the family. In this parish God happens."