carved Halloween pumpkins on the altar

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Threads like this cause me to thank God for our parish. You’d never see anything like that here.
 
HerrZJA said:
Having seen quite a few decorated-up altars in my day, I’m not sure that a jack o’lantern would be any more of a liturgical abuse than whole squashes or flowers or some of the other things I’ve seen.
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I disagree, that is, if you are referring to fall displays that are near the altar not on it. I don’t see anything wrong with using God’s creations of natural plants as fall decorations and that includes pumpkins, whole sqashes, gords, corn, and such. We have had nice fall displays, usually on Thanksgiving day, however, these are placed NEAR the altar, not on it. Having carved pumpkins on the altar to be used as candle holders does not sound right at all. I have not even seen flowers on the altar since many decades ago. Jack-o-lanterns are more associated with Halloween. The Church does not celebrate Halloween. Having Jack-o-lanterns on the altar is just plain stupid and may even be liturgical abuse if there has been a directive given regarding flowers or arrangements on the altar.
 
I really don’t see why a pumpkin would be more or less offensive than using flowers to decorate the church. I guess my biggest surprise is the fact that the church has lit pumpkins because most insurance companies would deem them a fire hazard. Candles in public places usually need to be in a flame retardant holder. Depending on the level of moisture still in the pumpkin that might not be very safe.
 
Iheartcoffee said:
I really don’t see why a pumpkin would be more or less offensive than using flowers to decorate the church. I guess my biggest surprise is the fact that the church has lit pumpkins because most insurance companies would deem them a fire hazard. Candles in public places usually need to be in a flame retardant holder. Depending on the level of moisture still in the pumpkin that might not be very safe.
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Nobody asks their insurance company’s permission to make a jack-o-lantern. That being said, I think a pumpkin is going to be pretty moist for a pretty long time.
 
Randy_Carson said:
How serious do others see this?

If I saw this, I might approach the altar, bow to the tabernacle, remove them from the altar and dump them in the trash or woods outside.

Anyone have a problem with me doing that?
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I’d say that pumpkin lanterns on the altar (or even just in the sanctuary) is pretty dreadful. Pumpkin lanterns (regardless of any historic origins) are associated with evil spirits. Completely out of place at Mass. I think I’d remove them if that happened in my church.
 
Randy_Carson said:
How serious do others see this?

If I saw this, I might approach the altar, bow to the tabernacle, remove them from the altar and dump them in the trash or woods outside.

Anyone have a problem with me doing that?
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I don’t think it is right for one to do that, considering that it is not yours and you did not put it there, but I would not be surprised if someone did do that. Growing up I have observed a lot of lay-busybodies doing all sorts of things that should be reserved for the priest at modern churches. This behavior would fall into that category.
 
KrazyKat said:
Hard for me to believe that the pumpkin is actually on the altar. This would definitely be unacceptable.

Lord Jesus Christ have mercy.
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The pumpkins were on the altar with a carved design that you could take either as a cross or not …one of those how you view it …there were plastic leaves as
Well…
.
 
Can anyone tell me what caerem . epics ,ll xxv2
Is…
It is a description of what candles can go on the altar
Is it a Vatican document , canon law or what
 
Carved pumpkins on top of the altar? Shame on those who did something disrespectful inside a Catholic church, especially in the sanctuary.:mad:
 
franciscangirl said:
The pumpkins were on the altar with a carved design that you could take either as a cross or not …one of those how you view it …there were plastic leaves as
Well…
.
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Taken in context, it was probably a cross. They should not have been on the altar itself. They might have been appropriate elsewhere in the sanctuary or in a display elsewhere in the Church building.
 
franciscangirl said:
Thankyou…and just to be clear the pumpkins were ON the altar with plastic leaves…
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Yeah, on the altar is one thing, in the sanctuary another.

Regardless, the appropriate action take here is NOT to just start grabbing things off of the altar. The appropriate thing is to respectfully consult the pastor about it. If there’s still a problem after that, then one should contact the diocese.
 
franciscangirl said:
The pumpkins were on the altar with a carved design that you could take either as a cross or not …one of those how you view it …there were plastic leaves as
Well…
.
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This is so wrong. The level of disrespect to The Lord is beyond words. To take no action at all is beyond my comprehension.
 
These kind of things do not surprise me; if a parish vulgarizes its sanctuary space by removing the sanctuary veil, iconostasis, altar rail, what have you depending upon liturgical rite, things like this are inevitabilities because the sense of sacredness dissipates as barriers of space are removed. Vulgar objects should never be placed on the altar and it pains me to hear this.

That being said, I suggest you go speak with the priest. Ultimately, for better or worse, he decides what is on the altar [unless a superior tells him otherwise].
 
MorEphrem said:
These kind of things do not surprise me; if a parish vulgarizes its sanctuary space by removing the sanctuary veil, iconostasis, altar rail, what have you depending upon liturgical rite, things like this are inevitabilities because the sense of sacredness dissipates as barriers of space are removed. Vulgar objects should never be placed on the altar and it pains me to hear this.

That being said, I suggest you go speak with the priest. Ultimately, for better or worse, he decides what is on the altar [unless a superior tells him otherwise].
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The priest was furious and removed them thank God…it was a liberal nun that , knowing some people would be offended ,placed them just before mass…
 
tobbias88 said:
Old churches in Europe often had (rude???) carvings of demons/gargoyles etc all over the show. Check out Sheila-na-gig…weird!!
There would have been no pictures, statues, paintings, etc in original Judeo- Christian churches. Bells were originally pagan…certainly not Jewish. So lots of pictorial cultural things have crept in over the centuries. **But as Jesus maintained: Don’t sweat the small stuff.**Some kid labored hard to carve that silly thing to please Jesus…not you.
We can’t all be Puritans…too many Latins around. LOL. Try Mexico on the Day of the Dead if you like monsters. Enjoy your pumpkin and take that mote out of your eye. There’s the scent of PC in the air.
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Interesting, been looking through the Gospels and have yet to find Jesus saying any such thing. 🤷

And what exactly would you consider “small stuff”? I’m pretty sure the Catholic Church has, in fact, sweated the “small stuff” in its entire history. If they didn’t, it would be “anything goes”, right? It seems this thread is less about whether or not pumpkins should be on the altar, but more about how far can we push the limits yet still be respectful to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
 
What if it had been something like this, instead? More appropriate or not?

 
VeritasLuxMea said:
What’s the difference between a pumpkin and a flower? If flowers are OK, why wouldn’t pumpkins be? :confused:

What?!??!!
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And while we’re at it, let’s just go down to the produce section at the local grocery store and raid the vegetables to make a broccoli and green been decoration for the altar…
 
YoungTradCath said:
And while we’re at it, let’s just go down to the produce section at the local grocery store and raid the vegetables to make a broccoli and green been decoration for the altar…
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I think pineapples would look better myself.
 
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