A Treasure To Be Shared

Say 'no' to communion in the hand... to say 'yes' to the profound adoration of God by receiving the Holy Eucharist on the tongue. I mention, for example, a change not proposed by the Council Fathers or by the Sacrosanctum Concilium, Holy Communion received in the hand. This has contributed to some extent to a weakening of faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This, and the removal of altar rails and kneelers in church and the introduction of practices which oblige the faithful to sit or stand at the elevation of the Sacred Host, weakens the genuine significance of the Eucharist and the Church’s profound sense of adoration for the Lord, the Only Son of God. Albert Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith (November, 2007) | Behind communion-in-the-hand – I wish to repeat and make as plain as I can – is a weakening, a conscious, a deliberate weakening of faith in the Real Presence.  Father John Hardon, S.J., November, 1997 |  One receives in the mouth what one believes ...

The continuing saga of ridiculous constructions in your modern forward-thinking parish. An altar that doubles as a ping pong table for youth nights. A drum set mounted on a rising platform for the Feast of the Ascension. A pulpit, altar and lectern that recess into the floor so that the priest and liturgical dancers (or break dancers) can move about unhindered during homilies and the Offertory procession. A ceiling sprinkler system that doubles as a fire suppression system and Holy Water distribution system. Pop-up bowling pins located at the altar steps so the centre aisle can be used as a bowling lane... for youth nights. Tablet holders with power outlets and cup holders in the pews. A communion buffet so that communicants can wander past and self serve. A digital altar frontal for changing thematic backgrounds. An air conditioner built into the pulpit... for cool(er) clergy. Retractable pews and flooring to accommodate several curling lanes when the Scotties Tournament of Hearts nee...

There are new churches designed by tradition-minded architects that capture the true, the good and the beautiful.  Many Catholic churches of a contemporary design, however, lack a sense of the holy in their design. They hardly evoke the thought that Almighty God is worshipped therein, and that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is Present - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity - in the tabernacle. Which is to say, God is there! And! - God Present, might it be appropriate to acknowledge the sanctuary as the heart of the universe? The centre of time? The soul of eternity? The hope of Christians? Though there are many God inhabited sanctuaries, they are all one because God is One. God is not divided. The one Sacrifice of Calvary is manifest throughout time. The Mass unites the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection all-in-one. The Mass is not a repetition, but an entering into the Paschal Mystery. As eternal, the Mass re...

Köln | Hohe Domkirche St. Petrus Gargoyles and grotesques are carved figures and faces that are found on churches and other structures.  The term gargoyle is often used to refer to both gargoyles and grotesques. A gargoyle is a decorated waterspout that extends from a roof and directs rainfall away from a building's walls, protecting them from harm. The name comes from the Old French word  gargouille , meaning ‘throat’. A grotesque is a decorative carving with no drainage function. The great age for gargoyle and grotesques was really the later-medieval period, the later Gothic. - cf. Alex Woodcock, cathedral stonemason and author of Gargoyles and Grotesques (Bloomsbury). There is no shortage of humour among designers and carvers. Ely Cathedral Paisley Abbey | Nice to see contemporary beasts finding a home. Tony Blair? Washington Cathedral | The Reverend Vader presides. Canadian Parliament A legend arose around St. Romanus (7th Century AD), the former chancellor of the Merovin...

Church Mag |  Eric Dye With roles renamed  (New Liturgical Moments: Mass Roles Renamed), perhaps it's time to retitle bits of the building? Some revisions will be familiar given decades of prior use. - - - As it was: parish office And is now: command, confusion and control centre was: confessional is: TARDIS (Tell All Reconciliation Discussion In Seclusion) was: altar is: buffet screenshot | CC Watershed (nice footwear to boot) was: nave is: worship space was: sanctuary is: worship space was: crying room is: bawling baby bunker was: side chapel is: auxiliary worship space was: statue or Stations of the Cross is: visual devotional aid(s) was: predella is: stage was: altar rail is: refer to Spirit of Vatican II wreckovation manual was: baptismal font is: Primary Sacrament of Initiation Immersion Cistern was: retable is: regrettable (regret+table) was: tabernacle is: Bread box "Tabernacle", Iesu Church in Donostia by Rafael Moneo Photo by Simoncio was: vestibule is: foyer w...

Marko Rupnik, "artist", former Jesuit, accused serial abuser. ROME (AP) — The Jesuits said Monday that a famous artist priest is definitively expelled from the religious order for sexually, spiritually and psychologically abusing women(.) Catholics are saying that Rupnik's "art" should be removed because of his character, or lack thereof. To do that for that reason is a weak argument for removing his mosaics, etc. A better argument for removing his work from churches and other buildings is because his work is of low artistic merit. In other words, his work does not rise to the level of art. Rupnik's works have figures with large eyes. The eyes are solid, opaque, and disturbingly vacant. The eyes of C-3PO convey more feeling than do Rupnik's eyes. Are we meant to find ourselves in those eyes? So much of human warmth and compassion is conveyed through the eyes. What of divine warmth? Again, Rupnik's work falls short of conveying mercy, divine or human....

Saint Clare | 2022 The Catholic Church has always seen art as an integral part of its liturgical worship and recognized the power of Beauty to evangelize. The visual arts flow from the wellspring of the Sacred Liturgy, and both the Church and her artists flourish when this is understood and embraced. - The Catholic Art Guild/LAJ You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? - St Matthew 7:16   (I)n your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence(.) - 1 Peter 3:15 Let us ask ourselves: Does our service give reason for the hope that is in us? Does the beauty we manifest give reason for the hope that is in us? Does our art (paintings, windows, music, architecture) given reason for the hope that possesses us in Christ? Liturgical blandness, architectural flaccidity (yes, that is a word...) and sterile homileti...

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. O MARY, OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM, who didst grant Richeldis a vision of thy house in Nazareth, and who didst entrust her with the mission to build thy shrine, we beseech thee to intercede before the throne of God for assistance to help us build a house of prayer wherein the true, the good and the beautiful celebration of the sacraments ordained for our salvation may be conducted unto the glory of God. We humbly beseech thee, O Mary Most Holy, to pray that God grant to us the wisdom to do His will at all times, and the grace to diligently work to build a house of prayer, a home for all who thirst for truth and who hunger for righteousness and healing; a home for vocations to the priesthood, religious and married life; a home for families who love God and neighbour. May God grant us the strength to persevere in our quest to honour Him by constructing a church worthy of His Name. Pray, O Blessed Lady, that God will in...

But the ethos of the modern world is precisely synthetic and grounded in a false imitation. Ancient mimesis sought to emulate in the microcosmic world of man the “music of the spheres” and to align the human realm with the divine. But modern imitation is Titanistic insofar as it begins and ends with a repudiation of the normativity of the formal structures of existence and thus seeks to make everything plastic and fungible in the interests of “control and domination”. - Larry Chapp The Church has relied on vivid imaginations nurtured by a continuous recollection of prior explorations in art, architecture and music, bound to the will of the Chief Architect, the Holy Ghost, so that contemporary expressions may become part of the language of worship, to infuse the imagination with authentic desire for holiness and to lead souls to God. We live in times, however, when cheap imitations abound, and Catholics are all too happy, it seems, to endorse the plastic and trivial. Church official...

https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/1236?lang=en In Search of a Liturgical Patrimony: Anglicanism, Gallicanism & Tridentinism A la recherche d’un patrimoine liturgique: anglicanisme, gallicanisme et tridentinisme Peter M. Doll Published in Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique, XXII-1 | 2017 French Journal of British Studies ABSTRACT In common with other churches of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, the Church of England identified its own worship with that of the ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and of the early Church. In the aftermath of Queen Mary’s restoration of Catholicism, the Church of England’s liturgical identity was also dominated by a severe Puritan reaction against all Catholic forms. In the last decade of Elizabeth’s reign, however, an ‘avant-garde’ of clergy emerged committed to greater ceremonialism in worship according to the Book of Common Prayer . The Laudian high churchmanship that emerged from this beginning was a movement in tension, looking...