Mark Anchor Albert remembers quite clearly when the inspiration for a walk and Mass in honor of the Blessed Mother began to take shape.“I had begun my own law firm,” smiles the veteran downtown lawyer and Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels parishioner. “And in prayer, I promised that if I were successful in my own firm, I would devote myself to promoting the Blessed Mother as a way of giving thanks for helping me to maintain my faith.”The fact that the third annual procession and Mass (scheduled Sept. 14) is at hand speaks certainly to Albert’s business success, but in a larger way, he believes, “to the power and grace present in Our Lady,” who he says has seen him through some challenging times.The walk, from Queen of Angels Church (La Placita) to the Cathedral, actually commemorates a tradition tied to the founding of Los Angeles in September 1781 by a group of 44 settlers and soldier escorts, who walked nine miles from San Gabriel Mission to what is today the north end of downtown. (The full name of the new town was “El Pueblo de Nuestra Se√±ora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porci√∫ncula”; see pages 10-11 for more on Los Angeles’ founding.)“That first procession,” Albert points out, “was very multicultural, and very mixed in economic status — Spanish aristocrats, descendants of African slaves, mestizos, Indians, people of various professions and trades. So the fact that we have this event really ties us, as the most multicultural city and archdiocese in the world, to our founding roots.”The 2013 event will include a number of top civic and law enforcement officials, and the consul generals of several countries. Virtually every Catholic lay service organization — including the Knights of Columbus and the Orders of Malta, Holy Sepulchre and St. Gregory — is represented in the foundation leadership as well as the event.In fact, a number of foundation leaders are members of the Order of Malta, who minister annually to the sick and infirm at Lourdes, France. It was in 2008, at the 150th anniversary of the Blessed Mother’s apparition at Lourdes, that idea for a local procession began to take shape.“Several of us came together,” says lawyer Nancy Iredale, a foundation director and vice president, “in the interest of wanting to do something positive in our community, something that would bring back the enthusiasm for being Catholic and involved in our local church. And it made sense that in the City of the Angels, we should come together around Mary, the most perfect adorer of the Holy Trinity.”But organizers stress that this event is for the entire city — rich and poor, lay and religious, all ethnicities.“We are bringing everyone in the Catholic community together around one source: the Blessed Mother,” Albert points out. “We are in the midst of the Year of Faith, in which we are all called to evangelize both practicing and non-practicing Catholics. And there is no stronger force when it comes to uniting people than Mary.”The Procession and Mass in honor of Our Lady Queen of Angels begins with a 3 p.m. blessing and invocation at Queen of Angels Church, 535 N. Main St., followed by the procession to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles. Rosary is at 5:15 p.m., followed by Mass with Archbishop José Gomez presiding and a Fiesta for Our Lady at 6:45 p.m. Information: (213) 687-2645 or www.thequeenofangels.com.{gallery width=100 height=100}gallery/2013/0906/qofa/{/gallery}