Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
ISSN# 1535-9387
Issue 14 2008
CATECHISMUS IN LAPIDEM
Therefore, though it is God who takes the initiative of coming to dwell in the midst of men, and he is always the main architect
of this plan, it is also true that he does not will to carry it out without our active cooperation. Therefore, [we are] to commit
[ourselves] to build Gods dwelling with men. No one is excluded; every one can and must contribute so that this house of
communion will be more spacious and beautiful.
--Benedict XVI
People often ask me why we have
not been building beautiful churches
in recent decades. It is not a simple answer of course: there are the changes
from Vatican II; the embrace of modernism by the architectural profession;
the expense of craftsmanship; the parsimony of the faithful; and the belief
that the church is merely a functional
building. Today, when laity and clergy
alike desire to build beautiful churches
again they are confronted with a limitation that their great-grandparents
did not have to contend with: the strict
monetary policies of the diocese.
These requirements, which are often
seen as more binding than papal encyclicals, vary greatly across the country.
They usually reect some mix of cash,
pledges, and loans. At the extreme
there are dioceses that require their
pastors to have one hundred percent of
their budget in cash and pledges before
the architect can nish the drawings.
In that scenario, is it any wonder that
our modern churches do not inspire?
Most of us could not have bought our
houses if we had to have fty percent
cash down. So why does the Church require that of the house of God? To make
matters more difcult, parishes are expected to pay their mortgage off in ve
years. Again, an impossibility for most
families but considered reasonable for
parishes!
This scenario helps to explain why
churches are so cheap and ugly today,
and why many built in recent decades
are falling apart. Many parishes in the
suburbs are lled with young families,
creating the need for larger churches
and schools. Yet, these same families
are the ones least likely to make a substantial contribution. The limitation
of clergy often means that the bishop
wants the parish to build a new church
with seating for twelve or sixteen hundred peoplethe equivalent of a cathedralusually with the budget of a nice
gymnasium. Even if they wanted to,
parishioners could not afford to build
a church like their grandparents did in
part because of the requirement to have
fty percent of the cost up front and to
pay back the mortgage in ve years.
On the cover: The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC.
Photo by Nicole Gingras.
Duncan Stroik
July 2008
SACRED ARCHITECTURE
ISSUE 14 2008
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
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Pope Benedicts rst visit to the U.S. W Ave Maria Oratory dedicated W New church of Our Lady of Fatima W
St. Teresa of vila Basilica W Chicagos Holy Name Cathedral closed W Chinese shrine still stands W
Westminster Cathedral in need of repair W National Shrine of St. Katherine Drexel W
Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration to build new convent W Shrine of St. Francis to be restored W
Pope celebrates Mass ad orientem W First church in Qatar W Barat College chapel may be demolished W
ARTICLES
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The Living Heart of Our Churches: The Placement of the Tabernacle . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Giles Dimock, OP
The Virgin and the Heavenly Hosts: Liturgical and Devotional Art . . . . . . . . . Denis McNamara and Duncan Stroik
Lights of Faith: Stained Glass Windows as Tools for Catechesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carol Anne Jones
Sacred Art Institute Now: a Mandate of Vatican II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hugh J. McNichol
The Christian Scandal in Dialogue: a Return to Sacred Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Paul G. Monson
D O C U M E N TAT I O N
28 W Homily at St. Patricks Cathedral, New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . His Holiness Benedict XVI
BOOKS
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Redeeming Beauty: Soundings in Sacral Aesthetics by Aidan Nichols, OP . . . . . . . . . . . . reviewed by Daniel McInerny
A Glimpse of Heaven: Catholic Churches of England and Wales by C. Martin . . . . . . . . .reviewed by Roderick ODonnell
From Abyssinian to Zion: Manhattans Houses of Worship by Donald W. Dunlap . . . . reviewed by Matthew Alderman
Sir Ninian Comper: an Introduction to his Life and Work by Symondson and Bucknall . . . reviewed by Timothy Hook
Americas Church: the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception by Gregory W. Tucker . . . . . .reviewed by Fr. Dan Scheidt
From the Publishing Houses: a Selection of Recent Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . reviewed by Sacred Architecture
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S A C R E D A R C H I T E C T U R E
O R G
E W S
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The quasi-parish of Ave Maria
Oratory was dedicated by Bishop Frank
J. Dewane of the Diocese of Venice, FL,
on March 31, 2008. The bishop anointed
the new church and altar during the
inaugural Mass. The quasi-parish,
equivalent to a parish, will serve the
students, faculty, and staff of Ave Maria
University and the residents of the town
of Ave Maria.
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The largest Hindu Temple in America
has just been completed in Lilburn,
GA. Built entirely of gleaming limestone,
marble, and Indian pink sandstone, using
traditional construction methods, the
suburban Atlanta temple was completed
in just eighteen months for a cost of $19
million. Each stone of the temple was
carved by hand by native craftsmen in
India, shipped to the U.S. stone by stone,
and assembled according to numbers
assigned in Indian workshops. No steel
or concrete was used in the construction
of the temple, which features nine domes
and ve spires.
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The Cathedral of St. Paul, MN, celebrates
one hundred years of service to the
people of Minnesota. The cathedral
in the city of the same name was built
under the direction of Archbishop John
Ireland and designed by the French
architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray.
The archbishop initiated the project for
the cathedral and its sister church, the
Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, in
1907, despite criticism that the project
was untenable. Archbishop Ireland
urged children at their confirmation
The Hindu Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in to donate one dollar to the project,
Georgia was built using traditional methods emphasizing that every member of
the diocese could be proud to have
of construction and hand-carved stone.
contributed to such a great project.
Photo: Daniel Cook
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A re caused by lightning has severely
damaged the historic St. Alphonsus
Catholic Church in the heart of St. Louis.
The church was at rst condemned, but
should be back in operation with the help
of parish members and insurance. The $7
million effort to rebuild includes repairs
to the roof and tower and replastering
the ceiling vaults.
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Photo: BBC
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Photo: Asianews.it
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The Pew Forum on Religion and
Public Life surveyed thirty-five
thousand Americans and put forth a
comprehensive new study giving a
detailed picture of the religious identity
of the U.S. The Catholic population
today totals 24 percent, a decrease from
the past but partially offset by the large
immigration of Catholics, especially
Latinos. The study shows that the total
Protestant population stands at 51 percent
of the total population, but is comprised
of one hundred denominations amongst
which Christians switch freely. Though
the Catholic population has shrunk
to 23.9 percent, it still nearly rivals
or exceeds the three main groups of
Protestants, Evangelical Protestants
at 26.3 percent, mainline Protestant
churches at 18.1 percent, and historically
black churches at 6.9 percent.
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The former Archbishop Quigley
Preparatory Seminary High School in
downtown Chicago has been preserved
by the Archdiocese of Chicago. The
former high school, which closed in
2006, will become the new Archbishop
Quigley Center, intended to become
ofces for nearly 250 employees formerly
employed at the Archdioceses Pastoral
Center. Along with Quigley, an 1864
building on Lake Shore Drive will be
renovated to become ofces for another
150 employees, consolidating several
ofces and preserving historic buildings
in the process.
Photo: ivycatholic.blogspot.com
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Many of Englands cathedrals are
imposing cover charges on visitors,
often up to 5.50 ($11). Despite aid
from the official Church of England,
Englands sixty-one cathedrals are
continually in need of money and major
repairs. Other cathedrals have been
inventive in ways to make money, such
as charging for parking or renting space
for conferences. The trend may reect
the general distancing from religion
that has become characteristic of British
culture.
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Robert Venturi has been commissioned
to design the chapel at the heart of
Episcopal Academys new campus
outside of Philadelphia. The school,
founded in 1795, with an enrollment of
one thousand students had outgrown
its previous facilities, where the school
had been since 1921. Venturi, a graduate
of the school, designed a chapel to
harmonize with the designs of three
other architecture rms hired to design
the remaining other buildings on the
new 120-acre campus some fteen miles
from the heart of Philadelphia. The
chapel project is expected to cost $8.5
million and is planned to open for the
beginning of the 2008 academic year.
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The sisters of the Poor Clares of
Perpetual Adoration have begun
construction of a new convent in the
desert near Tonopah, AZ. Enclosed
and separated from the outside world,
the nuns will live in a cloister, complete
with chapel for their daily devotions
and masses. A public chapel is planned
for 150 worshippers to pray though
separated from the sisters. The chapels,
designed by SSPW Architects and Steven
Schloeder of Phoenix, AZ, have been
designed in the manner of medieval
churches built in the times of St. Francis
and St. Clare and are expected to cost
$12 million.
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The Diocese of Cleveland will join
numerous other dioceses across the
U.S. closing parishes. Bishop Richard
Lennon announced this past year that
at least twenty-three parishes, or 10
percent, will be closed, consolidated
or reorganized in response to nancial
difculties in the diocese.
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The University of Dayton is planning to
renovate its Chapel of the Immaculate
Conception as part of a new campus
master plan. Changes for the 1869
chapel could include expansion of
the capacity from 350 seats to 500,
the addition of a new baptistery, and
increased accessibility for the disabled.
An anonymous major league donor
has supported the project, and although
no total cost has been released, the
university is prepared to fundraise for
a multimillion dollar project. The
university has hired Rafferty Rafferty
Tollefson Lindeke Architects of St.
Paul, MN, and liturgical consultant Ken
Griesemer of Albuquerque. Griesemer
said of the project, Jesus was radically
inclusive, so I think our parishes should
be radically inclusive.
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For the first time since the seventh
century, Catholics will have a home
in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar.
The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary
constructed early in 2008 is the first
Christian house of worship in the
Muslim state in over fourteen hundred
years. The church is forbidden to display
spires or crosses but will be home for the
tiny nations small Catholic community,
which consists mainly of immigrant
workers and expatriates who work for
the oil industry. Over fteen thousand
worshippers attended the dedication
Mass at the church, presided by Cardinal
Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation
for the Evangelization of Peoples, over
three times the churchs capacity.
Writing for
LOsservatore
Romano, Bishop
Athanasius
Schneider of
Karaganda,
Kazakhstan, says
that Catholics who
truly believe in
the Real Presence
of Christ should
kneel and receive
Communion on
their tongues.
Bishop Schneider
posed to the
faithful, Wouldnt
it correspond better
Barat Colleges Sacred Heart Chapel
to the deepest
may be demolished despite protests.
reality and truth
about the consecrated bread if even The historic Sacred Heart Chapel at
today the faithful would kneel on the Barat College may be demolished
ground to receive it, opening their as part of a redevelopment of the
mouths like the prophet receiving the shuttered Illinois college. In April
word of God and allowing themselves 2008 the city of Lake Forest approved
the final development plan for Barat
to be nourished like a child?
Woods, a development project for
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twenty-three acres of condominiums,
overturning two previous decisions by
its own preservation commission that
denied the demolition. Lawsuits led
by the Landmarks Preservation Council
of Illinois and the National Trust have
been led against the city of Lake Forest
to seek administrative review of the
decision, but the trial has been delayed
until January 2009. The Barat Education
Foundation is nding new homes for
the statues and other religious artifacts
from the chapel, and plans are being
made for the removal of the stainedThe Roman Catholic church of Our Lady
glass windows. The demolition may be
of the Rosary in Doha, Qatar is the rst
called off as a result of the failure of the
Catholic church in the nation.
entire condominium project.
Photo: Asianews.it
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The first Roman Catholic seminary
in the Balkan nation of Serbia began
construction in August of 2007.
Theodore Cardinal McCarrick presided
over laying of the foundation stone in
Subotica, Serbia. The seminary is the
rst in Serbia proper, lling a need for a
local seminary as all of the six seminaries
in the former Yugoslavia lie in other
now independent states. Catholics
are still a small minority in the state,
where Orthodox account for 85 percent
of the population, but the seminary is
important to maintain a unied teaching
and pastoral program for the diocese.
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R T I C L E S
T HE L IVING H EART
OF
O UR C HURCHES
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Fr. Giles Dimock, OP STD is an adjunct
professor of the Sacraments and Liturgy
at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
After studying at SantAnselmo in Rome,
he received the Doctor of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St.
Thomas, the Angelicum, in Rome.
email: grdop@hotmail.com
13
R T I C L E S
T HE V IRGIN
AND THE
H EAVENLY H OSTS
Duncan Stroik: A reader of the Zenit a mistake because it puts devotional in my mind. Philosophically, I have
News Agency liturgy column asked imagery in the area that is meant to be difficulty with that. It is interesting to
whether the image of Divine Mercy primarily liturgical. They work togeth- bring up the Madeleine at Salt Lake
may be hung behind the altar, if it is er but are not interchangeable.
City because I would think having a
against liturgical
prominent patron
rules. Fr. Edward
above the altar
McNamara anwould always
swered:
be problematic if
While it is not
one wants to emforbidden to display
phasize only the
an image of Christ,
heavenly liturgy.
Mary or a saint
Doesnt she get
behind the main
too much attenaltar, in modern
tion? In my view,
churches this is
no, but I like
usually reserved for
Chiesa Nuova and
the churchs patron.
SantIgnazio in
At the same time,
Rome, as well as
the apse may be decthe many Marian
orated with murals
churches, such
and mosaics figuras Santa Maria
ing several personin Campitelli in
ages. Therefore, I
Rome where the
would say that the
small devotional
image of Divine
image of the Virgin
Mercy would not
gets enshrined in
normally be set up
a large Baroque
behind the main
altarpiece.
altar unless the
Are the images
church was dedicat- Salt Lake City Cathedral is a good example of the liturgical image the whole heavenly o f s a i n t s a n d
ed to this devotion.
founders up high
ensemble is present Mary Magdalene appears over the altar as the patron of the
How can one
in St. Peters devochurch, but understood to be part of the larger whole.
say you should
tional or liturgical?
not have an image of Christ behind the
So to have Christ seated on the throne The four doctors, the floating cathedra,
altar? What do you think?
surrounded by angels and saints is fine and the Holy Spirit in St. Peters? The
behind the altar. The imagery is of the four evangelists under a dome? Does
Denis McNamara: It seems to me that heavenly liturgy, of which the earthly the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel
there is some distinguishing going on liturgy is a part. Therefore there is no seem to reflect the heavenly liturgy? I
between a devotional image and a litur- conflict. A devotional image, however, guess it does. What about the painting
gical image. The Divine Mercy image should be in a devotional area and not of the Nativity below the apse mosaics
is a devotional image. The heavenly be set up so as to compete with the in Santa Maria Maggiore? What about
liturgy as described in the Book of Rev- liturgy and its appointments. A subtle the painting of St. Andrews crucifixion
elation is liturgical. Typically, having distinction, but a very important one, I and statue ascending in SantAndrea al
Quirinale? Most high altarpieces from
the patron saint behind the altar seems think.
the Renaissance and the Baroque; or
to be to only one part of the liturgical
imagery. Salt Lake City Cathedral of the Duncan Stroik: I think what you say is images of the Assumption above a high
Madeleine is a good example. There the a well-reasoned argument and I believe altar; the Ges with its painting of the
whole heavenly ensemble is present, a good way to develop the iconogra- circumcision and statue of Christ in
and then Mary Magdalene appears over phy of a church. On the other hand, I front of it (seems to have been removed
the altar, emphasized since she is the am not sure that there is or should be and replaced with the painting these
patron of the church, but understood to a tension or division between the litur- days); most side chapels, which we
be part of the larger whole. To have her gical and devotional when it comes to today think of as devotional but were
alone would be a sort of contraction or the art of a church. It gets back to the also built for the liturgy, albeit normalminimalism of imagery. To have some either/or viewpoint and overempha- ly private.
Rather I think that these themes can
other devotional image there would be sizes the church building as liturgical
14
In many Marian churches such as Santa Maria in Campitelli the devotional image of the
Virgin is enshrined in a large Baroque altarpiece.
be seen as congruent with, if not part
of, the liturgy. Stations of the Cross
connect us with the Passion, which we
celebrate in a small way every Mass.
The saints worship with us. We come to
honor them during and outside of Mass
and ask for their intercession. I have no
problem with people who bring prayer
cards or a rosary with them to Mass.
Likewise, it is very nice when praying
outside of Mass to have the altar, ambo,
and tabernacle present. I do not even
mind when people come in during
Mass to light candles at side chapels. It
was the experience of this that supposedly caused Cardinal Mahony to ask
the architect Rafael Moneo to create the
devotional hallway before and separate
from the nave at the Los Angeles Cathedral.
To me it is one of the glories of the
Western Church that we have such a
variety of ways of integrating iconography into a church, unlike the East,
which has tended more to having a
regula or formula, albeit an elegant and
clear one.
Do any of the great Renaissance or
Baroque churches of Europe follow
your schema? Dont most of them do
something else? Is it more of a Byzantine or early Christian view that gets
expressed at other times and particularly in the twentieth-century liturgical movement? I guess one of my other
concerns is that the labeling of devotional art has been used by the modernists to strip the churches of imagery.
R T I C L E S
15
Photo: rosita_65it@ickr.com
R T I C L E S
16
IN
R T I C L E S
17
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18
A
stimulant to reflection.
R T I C L E S
19
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all:
The people of the
Middle Ages knew
that their cathedralchurch wasa
symbol within their
city of the Heavenly
Jerusalem
Awestruck, the
pilgrim would
pass, as it were,
through the gates
of Paradise into
the heavenly city
itself, with its walls
opened up and
set with glittering
jewel-like stainedglass windows
which diffuse a
mystic and divine
essence: light.30
Light, then,
f
o
rmed
the
The rose window at Chartres Cathedral.
medium and
the Faith and sacred mysteries taking message for illiterate Christians of the
place in the church became much more Middle Ages, using narrative and metthan visual curiosity but a kind of par- aphoric imagery to convey the truths of
ticipation in the truths being visually the Faith while steeping the faithful in
presented. Abbot Suger best summariz- the spiritually evocative experience of
es this mystical participation through the beauty of God with a mystical atsight with respect to viewing stained mosphere created by jewel-toned picglass windows: The great church tures written in light, as well as subtly
windows are the Divine writings that changing colors in the air and on interilet the light of the true Sunthat is to or stone walls. The faithful, accustomed
say, Godinto the churchthat is to to learn aurally, received the message
say, the hearts of the faithful.29
of the Gospel verballybut with reinMalcolm Miller, an expert on the forcing visual images created by light,
Chartres windows, concludes his book sources of beauty and awe that, it was
explaining the significance of each believed, could mystically connect the
window with a chapter on The Heav- eyes of the beholder with the truths
enly Jerusalem. Of all the sources of depicted, and thus remain lifelong resubject matter, Miller cites the Book of minders of catechetical knowledge and
Revelation as the greatest inspiration of of the experience of God.
1. Rom. 10: 17 (Douay-Rheims Version).
2. Luke 10: 16.
3. Lawrence Lee, George Seddon, and Francis Stephens, Stained
Glass (New York: Crown Publishers, 1976), 124.
4. The reader is encouraged to consider that illiteracy in those
times should not be viewed pejoratively, since it did not
necessarily correspond to any deficiency in intelligence or
ability to learn or retain concepts. Most people in the working
(and often ruling) classes were aural learners, accustomed to
being educating through verbal instruction, hearing the hours
of their day marked by bells, standing in Church to listen to
long sermons and liturgies, and being apprised of news and
advertisements by official criers in the marketplace or town
square.
5. Sir Philip Sidney, An Apology for Poetry, in Critical Theory
since Plato, ed. Hazard Adams (New York: Harcourt Brace
Jovanonich, 1971), 158.
6. Hendrik Willem van Loon, The Arts: Written and Illustrated
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1939), 205.
7. Sarah Brown, Stained Glass: An Illustrated History (London:
Bracken Books, 1992), 38.
8. Sabrina Mitchell, Medieval Manuscript Painting (New York:
Viking Press, 1965), 22.
9. John Harries, Discovering Stained Glass: A Shire Guide; Revised by
Carola Hicks (Princes Risborough, UK: Shire Publications, 2001),
20
32-44.
10. E. R. Chamberlin, Monastery and Cathedral, Art and
Architecture of Christianity, ed. Gervis Frere Cook (Cleveland, OH:
The Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1972), 55.
11. Lee, Stained Glass, 14.
12. Jean Villette, Guide des vitraux de Chartres (Rennes: OuestFrance, 1987), 144.
13. Christopher Hughes, Typology and Its Uses in the Moralized
Bible, The Minds Eye: Art and Theological Argument in the
Middle Ages, ed. Jeffrey F. Hamburger and Anne-Marie Bouch
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006).
14. Brown, Stained Glass, 58.
15. Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints,
trans. William Granger Ryan (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 1993).
16. Janetta Rebold Benton and Robert DiYanni, Arts and Culture:
An Introduction to the Humanities, vol. 1 (Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 1998), 382.
17. Lee, Stained Glass, 32.
18. Ibid.
19. On a tour of Canterbury Cathedral in June, 2004, the veteran
guide pointed to the oldest surviving stained-glass windows,
demonstrating how the priest would use them as teaching tools
during his Sunday sermon.
20. William Hone, ed., Ancient Mysteries Described (London, 1823),
W
Carol Anne Jones holds a Masters in Medieval and Renaissance Literature from the
University of Virginia and is currently
pursuing a Masters in Systematic Theology at the Notre Dame Graduate School of
Christendom College. Her writing credits
include articles in Crisis, Catholic Faith,
Celebrating Life, and America. She
serves as director of religious education at
St. Louis Parish in Alexandria, VA.
email: Coronae_rosarum@cox.net
193.
21. Benton and DiYanni, Arts and Culture, 371.
22. James Rosser Johnson, The Radiance of Chartres: Studies in
the Early Stained Glass of the Cathedral (London: Phaidon Press,
1965), 7.
23. Ibid., 21.
24. Abbot Suger, Book of Administration, quoted in Johnson, The
Radiance of Chartres, 24.
25. Benton and DiYanni, Arts and Culture, 381.
26. Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, Electronic Text Center,
University of Virginia Library, http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/
boethius/boetrans.html (accessed March 30, 2007).
27. Sears Reynolds Jayne, trans., Marsilio Ficinos Commentary on
Platos Symposium: The Text and a Translation, (Columbia, MO:
University of Missouri, 1944), 140.
28. Benton and DiYanni, Arts and Culture, 381.
29. Chamberlin, Monastery and Cathedral, 31.
30. Malcolm Miller, Chartres Cathedral, (Andover, UK: Pitkin
Guides, 1996), 93.
31. Lee, Stained Glass, 27.
R T I C L E S
A MANDATE OF VATICAN II
Hugh J. McNichol
Anthony Viscos Descent of the Holy Spirit at the Rosary Walk at the Shrine of
Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
liturgical spaces or the commissioning
of sacred art. Most clergy with which I
am familiar do not know the difference
between Baroque and Bauhaus but they
insist on making the decisions about
church design and architecture.
The Fathers of the Second Vatican
Council did not intend for this to
happen. When proclaiming an appreciation of art and artists the Council
Fathers envisioned a partnership
between the communities of Church
and artisans. Such a relationship is to
21
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22
R T I C L E S
expression. Rarely in
States Bishops need
our modern United
to establish an instiStates do we place
tute that promotes
a high regard on arand fosters an appretistic craftsmanship
ciation of all of these
that includes mateartistic disciplines.
rial quality. This disNot only would such
regard for humanly
a school of sacred art
created things quite
provide much needed
honestly is refleceducation for clergy
tive of the dangers
and faithful alike, it
of secular humanism
would provide a crethat present themative incubator for
selves to Catholiecclesial art. Artisans,
cism. An individuals
clergy, faithful people
essential value and
would all have vast
worth at times are
resources available
neglected for more
to further appreciate
collective goals,
and explore the relaand the dignity of a
tionship between the
Pendentive canvas by Anthony Visco, depicting St. Cyril of Alexandria,
human persons life
Church and Artistic
Doctor of the Church, before its installation in the dome of the Shrine of
and work is someexpression. Such a
Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, Wisconsin.
times disregarded.
relationship would
In a time when more is best, biggest
provide opportunity for cooperation would also help a considerable bit if
with all parties to explore artistic ex- parish communities were involved in is better, most expensive is best and
pression and its age-old relationship to a catechesis regarding the importance mechanical engineering is superlative,
of quality in our liturgical and sacred perhaps we should pause and rethink
the worship of God.
We are 40 plus years since the end of arts. Quite frequently, our post-Indus- our Catholic appreciation of human
the Council and sacred art still does not trial society prides itself on the expedi- labor. Sacred Art in our liturgical achave a domestic United States academy ency of just about everything. It would tivities is reflective of mans deepest
for its study and development. Since be an enriching insight for parishioners desire to pursue an understanding of
the close of Vatican II hundreds if not to understand the difference between God. Sacrosanctum Concilium implied
thousands of Catholic churches have mass produced religious materials, there is an interconnected relationship
been renovated, renewed, restored or and the essential quality and dignity of between art and religion, the Church
even ruined by a disregard for their ar- handcrafted articles destined for sacred and the Artisan, and the Artisan with
the Church community. It is an approchitectural and artistic integrity.
priate time in the 21st century to revisit
As a result, we have neglected as a
the Churchs appreciation of artistic
Church to appreciate our own gifted
expression with a manner of material
Catholics that worship God through
integrity. We have had enough of mass
their artistic expressions. At the same
produced religious art, inferior repretime, the responsibility for the creation
sentations of quality materials and the
of liturgical and sacred art has been
exclusion of Catholic artistic talents. It
consigned to companies that masshas been 44 years since the Holy Spirit
produce religious articles for hundreds
through the Second Vatican Council inof Catholic churches throughout the
spired Sacrosanctum Concilium. It is time
world.
we implemented and paid attention to
In addition to the initiation of a
its significant message.
school for sacred arts, every parish
community is best served by trying to
incorporate local artists into all of their
W
projects. It seems that the notion of
community also involves appreciating
the fields in which all of our parishioners labor.
Hugh J. McNichol is a freelance Catholic
Education of priests and faithful
author, businessman, and educator. He
should not be a subject that is overwrites daily for the Catholic News Agency
looked. Sacrosanctum Concilium also
in his column, Nothing Left Unsaid! He
recommends that clergy and future
received his education in philosophy and
clergy be educated in an appreciation
theology at the Saint Charles Borromeo
of all of the arts. This is not something Center panel of triptych of the Holy Family Seminary in Philadelphia, and is an enthat the Fathers of the Council considthusiast of American Catholic culture and
at the chapel at Murray Hill Place, New
ered optional, it was part of the decPhiladelphia history.
York City, by James Langley, 2005.
larations of Sacrosanctum Concilium. It
email: hugh.mcnichol@trinettc.com
23
R T I C L E S
T HE C HRISTIAN S CANDAL
IN
D IALOGUE :
or centuries, three signs have emperor to articulate his point. Rarely, clarity. Thus, as the religion of the Inencompassed the convergence of however, was the questions asked, carnation, embracing the mystery of the
cultures around the Mediterranean. Why a Byzantine? Surely another sup- logos assuming flesh, Christianity must
The cross, the star, and the crescent posed bigot from another unenlight- uphold and restore the prominence of
identify the intermingling of Christian, ened era could serve a similar purpose. sacred images if it is to gain credibility
Jewish, and Islamic civilizations. In However, I believe there is something with other religious cultures and avoid
our day, a fourth dominant sign has deeper lying underneath this figure. appearing as just another faade of
emerged, at least in the West. It is Indeed, the use of a Byzantine in an creeping secularism. Christianity is and
the sign of secular nothingness. This essay on de-Hellenization is, well, should be a scandal among the three
sign stands for the abolition of the quite appropriate. Merely setting foot religious signs, embodying not just a
other three, assuming a
sign, but an image of the
sort of immunity from
invisible God who became
them as it asserts itself as
incarnate, the splendor of
intellectually and culturally
the Father in Christ, the
superior. It maintains that it
true Imago Dei.
is, not only the culture, but
In this article, I wish
the one and only rational
to identify iconoclasm as
culture, a culture of the
a particular aspect of the
cult of humankind. In our
process of de-Hellenizapostmodern age it has
tion within the Church
come to permeate human
and to propose a remedy
life, so that one often must
to it through a Byzantine
approach. It is to make a
straddle a cultural fence in
case for the restoration of
schizophrenia, assenting
sacred images, i.e., icons,
to faith while functioning
statues, mosaics, carvin a secularized society
ings, stained glass, and
severed or at least hostile
paintings. My emphasis
to religious inuence.
is a return to the creedal
On September 12, 2006,
anticipation of the resin Regensburg, an Italurrection of the body as
ianized German called
made manifest in our art,
secularisms bluff. In his
Merely setting foot in the Hagia Sophia, one awes at the Byzantine
the mirror of our idenaddress, Pope Benedict
achievement of integrating faith and reason in communicating the
tity. Thus, we shall first
XVI pinpoints secularhuman with the divine.
examine the bizarre iconisms false objectivity as it
holds reason hostage and presupposes in the Hagia Sophia, one awes at the oclasm of our day, proceed to recall the
its incompatibility with faith. More- Byzantine achievement of integrating theology of St. John of Damascus to free
over, Benedict calls the bluff of those faith and reason in communicating the us from this quagmire, and then relate
within the Church who seek something human with the divine. As pontiff of the this to Benedicts call for authentic diasimilar in relegating religion to morals West, Benedict, I believe, was pointing logue.
rather than doctrines. This he names a to this second lung of Christianity as
process of de-Hellenization, or the one not to be forgotten. Our lingering The Confusion
About forty years ago, Loraine Casey
eradication of reason from faith. His image of Byzantium is the triumph of
point is that if there is to be any cultural its iconography, and it is this aspect of walked into her small parish church
dialogue, not only among the sons of Eastern Christianity upon which I wish in rural North Dakota to discover the
high altar missing. It was simply gone.
Abraham, but also across the divide to to expound.
the secular world, Christianity, for its
Amid a sort of iconoclasm in the No warning, no reason, no discussion.
part, must remain steadfast to its Greek West in the past half century, Christi- For a woman who had prayed her
integration of faith and reason, mani- anity, or at least Catholic Christianity, whole life in front of the altars crucifested in its conviction that Gods own has compromised its authenticity in fix, with its humble adornment of small
reason and word, his logos, became in- abandoning, or at least hesitating with statuettes, the absence of the churchs
carnate as the Son of God.
regard to, its tradition of sacred images. centerpiece, replaced by a bare sturdy
Benedicts speech was met with Yet intercultural dialogue depends table, was agonizing. The side altars
a cacophony of reactions, especially upon genuine respect, and respect were also missing, along with Mary
with respect to his use of a Byzantine comes not from obscurity but from and Joseph. The scapegoat for such an
24
R T I C L E S
Photo: army.arch@ickr.com
abomination became the faceless edicts say, St. Patricks in New York and Our tee, rarely the consensus of the parishof a distant Vatican II, which came to Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. Our ioners. It is a top-down approach, the
figure as a sort of culprit in her mind.
architecture may be advanced, but do assurance that we know better than
From the Eternal City to this prairie we advance our faith? We speak no you. Oddly enough, Emperors Leo III
outpost, the state of the liturgical longer of domus Dei but of a gather- and Constantine V took similar stances.
reforms in the past half century can ing space. The fear of the distraction The desecration of the apse mosaic
only be described as utter confusion. from the Lords Supper has ironically of the Theotokos in the Hagia Sophia
The questions swirling around the shifted our focus away from the heav- was, after all, an imperial decision. In
the West, Charlemagne and
removal of sacred images
the Libri Carolini adopted a
in the Catholic world, essimilar, albeit less severe,
pecially in the West, proposition. Yet the notion of
gressed from a dumbstruck
sacred images as the liber pauWhat happened? to a more
perum, the book of the poor,
earnest Why? The answer
holds a significant degree
concocted to both questions I
of truth. Icons have always
call the doctrine of distracenjoyed the devotion of the
tion, a pseudo-teaching that
masses over the learned. The
has become almost sacred
iconodules were irate monks,
itself. Its adherents mainnot court bureaucrats. So it is
tain that sacred images are
today that the cult of icons
dangerous distractions from
has caught our attention once
the Mass. They obscure the
again, as John Paul II notes
deeper spiritual meaning
in his apostolic letter Duobehind the Eucharist. Both
decim saeculum (1987). Oddly
little Johnny in the pew, as
enough, however, we do not
well as his father, get lost
know why they are good,
in the figures of saints and
why they should be loved,
angels soaring above them,
if they are to be venerated
failing to concentrate on the
and not hidden in a closet.
ambo and the altar. A misWe need a reason for our faith
interpretation of the noble
tradition and its iconograsimplicity 1 of Sacrosanctum
Concilium became the license
phy. For this, let us turn to
for a fresh coat of whitea Byzantine, St. John of Dawash.
mascus, for a theology that,
Today little has changed.
as Benedict asserts it should,
In 2007 we are not only coninquires into the rationality
fused but strangely bipolar.
of faith 3 and provides an
In the city of St. Paul, MN,
antidote to our iconophobia.
for instance, the cathedrals
Here I do not attempt to reinterior directs ones gaze to In St. Paul, MN, the Cathedrals interior directs ones gaze to a invent the wheel but rather
a magnificent baldacchino
point to the fact that the tire
magnicent baldacchino below mosaics of the sacraments.
below mosaics of the sacis flat, and St. John offers the
raments. At the opposite end of the enly banquet in the New Jerusalem to method to patch the hole.
same boulevard, the new altar of the the guy sitting across from us. Do we
renovated seminary chapel purposely worship in a house of God or a house A Ressourcement to the Byzantine
directs attention away from the apse of man for God?
In On the Divine Images, St. John of
frescos toward a new organ, where
Perhaps one could go further to ask, Damascus counters the rampant iconoonce the portal stood. More often than is our age one of neo-iconoclasm? 2 clasm of his day. As a monk in Palesnot, church renovations trump restora- Some would contend that this is too tine, John encountered the abolition of
tions and continue to cleanse sanctuar- severe. Regardless, contemporary Ca- icons in both the empire and Islam. The
ies of statuary, paintings, altarpieces, tholicism is at least iconophobic. It iconoclastic controversy centered on a
and stained glass. Alcoves stand bare. hesitates in fear of offending the doc- similar concern for distraction, only its
Crucifixes, piets, monstrances, and trine of distraction. Although we have focus was on the nature of worship. Let
stations of the cross are remnants left not gone to the extent of the imperial us recall the arguments of the iconofor auctions and eccentric art collectors. iconoclasts of the sixth century, smash- clasts. First, the prohibition of graven
Even in the erection of new cathedrals, ing icons and torturing monks, the re- images in Ex 20:4 is to be heeded.
bare, chic designs neglect thought of jection of sacred images in past decades Likewise, Pauls command to worship
color and image. Almost everyone reeks of a similar elitism. Decisions to God in spirit (Phil 3:3) points to
knows of at least one old Gothic church whitewash or minimize images, such as Gods invisibility and incomprehenrazed for the construction of a cube (to experienced by Mrs. Casey, are usually sibility, whereby the spiritual is supeuse a Weigelian image). An inescap- the incentive of a zealous pastor, an es- rior to matter. A true image, moreover,
able discontinuity emerges between, teemed liturgist, or a forgotten commit- must have the same essence of Christ if
25
R T I C L E S
it is to be venerated, which the icon cer- before the icona proskynesisthat quickly adds, The man who refuses
tainly does not possess. Finally, icons venerates the sacred image with the to give this image due honor, is an
tend toward the heresies of Nestorius honor reserved for kings in Scripture, upholder of the devil and his demon
and Eutyches, confusing and dividing while absolute worship or latrea (adora- hosts.8 Instead, the icon brings us
Christs divinity and humanity in de- tio) is reserved for God alone. Likewise, understanding of the union and our
picting one nature to the detriment of veneration of an image passes through salvation.9 It is indeed necessary for
the other.
to its prototype, that is Christ, the understanding the invisible, that we
In contrast, John conare able to construct unstructs his apologia for
derstandable analogies. 10
icons upon Dionysius the
It is this understanding that
Areopagites notion of creleads to the reason behind
ation as a theophany as
our faith, which is to set us
well as St. Basils distinction
free in our worship of what
that the honor paid to the
we cannot see. Thus John
image passes on to the proexhorts us to Fear not;
totype, and he who reveres
have no anxiety; discern
the image reveres in it the
between the different kinds
hypostasis [or person] repof worship.11 These words
4
resented. John develops
resonated at Nicea after his
these theologies to lay the
death.
framework for the Second
Another man known to
Council of Nicea in 787, arexhort the faithful to fear
ticulating both a distinction
not is the late John Paul II,
of types of worship as well
who revisited the iconodas insisting that the Chrisule triumph in Duodecim
tian must venerate icons
saeculum, marking the
in light of the Incarna- The new altar of the renovated seminary chapel purposely directs attention anniversary of Nicea in
tion.
1987. He insists that for
away from the apse frescos [above] toward a new organ in front of the
In regard to the iconCatholics, Church art
original entrance [below].
oclasts first point, John
must aim at speaking
asserts that Gods command
the language of the Incarnawas against idols and not
tion and, with the elements
strictly images, such as the
of matter, express the One
seraphim of the ark. Likewho deigned to dwell in
wise, with the coming of
matter and bring about our
Christ, we have received
salvation through matter acfrom God the ability to
cording to Saint John Damdiscern what may be repreascenes beautiful expressented and what is uncircumsion. 12 The Polish pontiff
5
further advances the theolscript. Johns argument
echoes that of Benedict, that
ogy of icons as a needed testhrough Christ, Gods logos,
tament to human dignity in
Christianity is a religion of
a secular age:
faith and reason, and reason
The rediscovery of the
helps direct our faith. In reChristian icon will also help
sponse to the iconoclasts
in raising the awareness of the
second objection, John is not
urgency of reacting against
trepid but rather boisterous
the depersonalizing and at
in his joy in the Incarnation:
times degrading effects of the
[N]ow when God is seen in the esh image of the Father. The icon is not a
many images that condition our lives
conversing with men, I make an stationary block of painted wood; it is
in advertisements and the media, for
image of the God whom I see. I do a window into heaven. The window,
it is an image that turns towards us
not worship matter; I worship the however, does not depict a human
the look of Another invisible one and
Creator of matter who became matter nature, but the person of Christ, the
gives us access to the reality of the
for my sake, who willed to take His union of both his divine and human
eschatological world.13
abode in matter; who worked out my natures. The icon thus portrays not the
This eschatological world is none
salvation through matter. Never will nature but the hypostasis, the person- other than the Communion of Saints
I cease honoring the matter which hood of Christ as articulated at Chal- partaking in the same adoration of
wrought my salvation! I honor it, but cedon. All the more, in communicating Christ. Paragraph 135 of the U.S.
not as God.6
the person of Christ, the icon is not only bishops Built of Living Stones states:
This leads us to Johns third coun- licit, but required. The Christian is com- Since the Eucharist unites the Body
terargument, that there are different pelled to worship the union through of Christ, including those who are not
degrees of worship.7 One bows down veneration of its image, for, as John physically present, the use of images
26
A
in the church reminds us that we are
joined to all who have gone before
us, as well as to those who now surround us.14 Sacred images provide the
context for the Eucharistic feast, calling
to mind the presence of something
eternal. The Church is not only
here but beyond.
R T I C L E S
scandal. If the Church follows secularisms push toward a de-Hellenization, to an exclusion of reason from the
divine, toward an unintelligibility of
her faith, she cannot meet other faiths
in genuine dialogue.17 As Benedict notes, secularism is not competent of such dialogue, for [a]
reason which is deaf to the divine
and which relegates religion into
the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue
of cultures. 18 Without images,
we too are deaf to the divine and
succumb to an empty, moralistic religion. We become a body
without Christ. Unless we are authentic to our religion we cannot
be authentic with other religions.
We become hollow, like the cult of
secularism, confused about who
we are. Our sign, the cross, is to be
more than a quaint plus sign; it is
to be an intersection of faith and
reason with the human and the
divine. It is to be the scandal, in
the words of St. Athanasius, that
God became man so that man
might become God.19
Photo: Erik Bootsma
27
O C U M E N T A T I O N
T HE J OY B ORN
OF
F AITH
28
Photo: AP nj.com
Perhaps more than any other church in the United States, this place is known and loved
as "a house of prayer for all peoples." Each day thousands of men, women and children
enter its doors and nd peace within its walls.
to proclaim the gift of life, to serve life,
and to promote a culture of life. Here
in this cathedral, our thoughts turn
naturally to the heroic witness to the
Gospel of life borne by the late Cardinals Cooke and OConnor. The proclamation of life, life in abundance, must
be the heart of the new evangelization.
For true lifeour salvationcan only
be found in the reconciliation, freedom
and love which are Gods gracious gift.
This is the message of hope we are
called to proclaim and embody in a
world where self-centeredness, greed,
violence, and cynicism so often seem
to choke the fragile growth of grace in
peoples hearts. Saint Irenaeus, with
great insight, understood that the
command which Moses enjoined upon
the people of Israel: Choose life! (Dt
30:19) was the ultimate reason for our
obedience to all Gods commandments
(cf. Adv. Haer. IV, 16, 2-5). Perhaps
we have lost sight of this: in a society
where the Church seems legalistic and
institutional to many people, our
most urgent challenge is to communicate the joy born of faith and the experience of Gods love.
I am particularly happy that we have
gathered in Saint Patricks Cathedral.
Perhaps more than any other church in
the United States, this place is known
and loved as a house of prayer for all
peoples (cf. Is 56:7; Mk 11:17). Each day
thousands of men, women and children
enter its doors and find peace within
its walls. Archbishop John Hughes,
whoas Cardinal Egan has reminded
uswas responsible for building this
venerable edifice, wished it to rise in
pure Gothic style. He wanted this cathedral to remind the young Church
in America of the great spiritual tradition to which it was heir, and to inspire
it to bring the best of that heritage to
the building up of Christs body in this
land. I would like to draw your attention to a few aspects of this beautiful
structure which I think can serve as a
starting point for a reflection on our
particular vocations within the unity of
O C U M E N T A T I O N
29
O C U M E N T A T I O N
30
T O M ANIFEST T RANSCENDENCE
O O K
E V I E W
S ACRAL A ESTHETICS
by
Daniel
W
Dr. Daniel McInerny is associate director
of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and
Culture.
email: mcinerny.3@nd.edu
31
O O K
E V I E W
A B ROAD C ANVAS
S ACRED A RCHITECTURE
IN
B RITAIN
A Glimpse of Heaven: Catholic Churches of England and Wales, by Christopher Martin. English Heritage, 2006.
(US: July 2008). 224 pp. ISBN UK:
1850749701/US: 190562462X. $30.00.
Reviewed by Roderick ODonnell
32
detail, and liturgical and ritual elaboration. This artistic lavishness was often
in tension with the tastes of the clergy
and of church repository art. It was the
aim of all-reforming movementsthe
Gothic Revival, the Arts and Crafts,
the twentieth-century Liturgical Movementto educate the former and
eradicate the latter. The best examples
achieved bothPugin, J.F. Bentley,
Giles Scott and Weightman and Bullen.
Much of the text is therefore about
furnishings and atmosphere, most engagingly at Chideock, Dorset, an existing vernacular building adapted by
the patron and decorated by his family,
and with most romanit at Brompton
Oratory, although the re-ordered St.
Joseph chapel (2005 by architect Russell
Taylor) is missed.
The splendor of such new classicism
at the Brompton Oratory stands in contrast with the doleful list of episcopally
sanctioned vandalism (re-ordering)
that followed the Vatican Council. But
since 1994, works to listed churches
and cathedrals must obtain agreement
from the diocesan Historic Churches
Committees, which have gained wide
respect. The excellent reintegration of
the interior of the Greek Revival style
St. Francis Xavier, Hereford, (1838) is
a hopeful indicator of the future, at a
church that the bishop wanted to close
and sell. The Jesuit churches in Liverpool and Manchester, which came
within an ace of closure in the early
1980s and 1990s, have been restored
with English Heritage and Heritage
Lottery Fund money, and now fulfill a
very wide apostolate to the universities. This partnership between clergy,
the people of God, and the patrimony authoritiesthe Historic Churches Committees, English Heritage, the
Lottery, and the local planning authoritiesmust be the way forward.
This lavish picture book will be a fillip
to those who both use and study this
Catholic patrimony.
W
Dr. Roderick ODonnell, a Vice-President
of the National Trust, is a member of the
Brentwood Historic Churches Committee
in the United Kingdom.
email: view.roryodonnell@aol.com
P INNACLES
AND
O NION D OMES
M ANHATTAN S H OUSES
OF
OF
O O K
E V I E W
N EW Y ORK
W ORSHIP
33
O O K
E V I E W
S OUL R EFRESHMENT
as St. Cyprians, Clarence Gate, (19023) and his 1893 paper Practical Considerations on the Gothic or English
Altar were highly influential. Yet,
while having earned recognition for pioneering a shift in the perceived focus
of the liturgy from the reredos to the
altar itself, Comper soon considered
34
C REATING
F AMILY A LBUM
O O K
E V I E W
nis wrote: I am completely disconcerted when I encounter the aggressive modernist with the conscience
of a Puritan or a Trappist monk who
refuses to make a sinful compromise
with beauty.
Due to the outbreak of World War
I and later of the Great Depression,
progress on the National Shrine was
slow and fitful. The ceremonies and
fundraising surrounding the laying
of its cornerstone in 1920 characterized the shrine as a war memorial. A more winsome appeal to
ten thousand Marys of America
paid for the golden onyx altar of the
crypt church, which was completed
in 1924. Nonetheless, the nations
perilous economic circumstances
throughout the 1930s and the seemingly endless disagreements concerning the shrines relation to Catholic University and to the financial
support of the bishops of the United
States threatened the future of the entire
project. Tucker conveys well how ambitious building projects, even ones with
the noblest spiritual aims informed by
faith, can be faced with the prospect of
death by ten thousand doubts.
And yet Tucker also highlights the
crucial importance of prophetic individuals, raised up in the darkest hour,
whose faith succeeds in rallying the
multitudes to push forward toward the
goal. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s,
for example, the heroic efforts of men
like Bishop John F. Noll of the Diocese
of Fort. Wayne (founder of Our Sunday
Visitor) and Bishop Fulton Sheen recatalyzed interest in continuing construction of the National Shrine, particularly
as an appeal to (and eventual thanksgiving for) Our Ladys intercession in
overcoming the respective threats of
Nazism and Communism. Commending Marian devotion as the most efficacious weapon against the latter, Sheen
declared dramatically in a televised
fundraising broadcast from the Shrine:
Thirty-seven out of one hundred
people in the world today are beaten
by that hammer and cut by that sickle.
There is danger that we might be engulfed by these barbarians. If there
be this evil thing marching through the
world, it is fitting that we make some
35
O O K
E V I E W
36
F ROM
THE
O O K
E V I E W
P UBLISHING H OUSES
A S ELECTION
OF
R ECENT B OOKS
37
O O K
E V I E W
F ROM
THE
P UBLISHING H OUSES
A S ELECTION
OF
R ECENT B OOKS
W
Historic Sacred Places of Philadelphia, by
Roger W. Moss. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; University of Pennsylvania
Visions of Heaven: The Dome in European Press, 2004. 314 pp. ISBN 0812237927.
Architecture, by Victoria Hammond, $34.95.
photographs by David Stephenson.
Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton ArThe volume Historic Sacred Places of
chitectural Press, 2005. 192 pp. ISBN Philadelphia would make a welcome ad1568985495. $60.00.
dition to either the casual architectural
fans coffee table or in the reference
Visions of Heaven is an attractive section of any architects library. The
volume of photographs taken in various book profiles the history of over fifty
churches, mosques, synagogues and houses of worship in seven sections of
palaces throughout Europe. The book the Philadelphia. Each church or synaconsists almost entirely of photographs gogue is documented with full-color
taken directly below the center axis of photographs, historic images and welldomes. The images are of high quality researched histories and architectural
and show a great variety of periods and descriptions.
styles of domes and crossings found
W
in Catholic and Orthodox churches
as well as exquisite domes of several
Spanish mosques. A short foreword
precedes the photographs and a brief
historical essay follows to give context
to the photography.
W
Englands Abbeys: Monastic Buildings and
Culture, by Philip Wilkinson. English
Heritage, 2007. 216 pp. ISBN 185074944.
$40.00.
Philip Wilkinson has produced a
fine book for the enthusiast of English
monastic architecture in Englands
Abbeys: Monastic Buildings and Culture.
The book is divided into three sections,
the first dealing with the history and
development of the Monastic Abbey in
England, complete from the first mis-
38
SACRED ARCHITECTURE
Creativity, innovation, a new song, a new culture and the presence of the entire
cultural heritage are not mutually exlusive but form one reality: they are the presence
of Gods beauty and the joy of being his children.
~Pope Benedict XVI
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