During Mass Are Statues of Saints Distracting You?

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SirWillliam said:
Beautiful statues of Mary and St. Joseph don’t distract me at all. If anything, they help to
get me into a more spiritual mood, and they add to the beauty of a Catholic mass. My parish has 2 gorgeous full-sized statues of angels in white and blue on either side of the alter. My parish is St. Madeline, and there are two large paintings of Mary Magdalene showing important events in her life on either side of the immense cross of Jesus which hangs directly on the wall behind the tabernacle table.

I’ve been in some Protestant churches which don’t have statues or even stained glass windows, and I think they’re simply very boring and don’t have any way to get you into a spiritual mood. I think religious art is the same as religious music, it just elevates your mind spiritually and, at least in my case, aids me in saying prayers and celebrating the mass.
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Welcome to CAF SirWilliam, my parish is also St. Madeleine, she is the patroness for all of Utah.

To the OP: We have statues all over the place, but closest to the altar are Ss Peter and Paul, two statues of angels on either side of the sanctuary, shrines on either side, an icon of the Good Shepherd in the east transept, a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the west. Murals cover the entire front of the sanctuary.That’s just what is up front. There are times when the Church is lit up so bright, with all the stained glass, paintings, murals, statues that it feels like we’re encased in something surreal.

They are not a distraction. As someone already said, they are inspiring.

But, this is from a person raised in Mormonism where no art or decorations are allowed inside of a chapel. An exception might be given for one small print of Jesus. Very bare, very plain. It would make me very sad to belong to a parish that looked like that.
 
ConstantineTG said:
There are no statues in the parishes I attend which is what it should be 😉
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Constantine is of course Eastern Catholic, and his parishes are undoubtedly covered floor-to-ceiling with icons. Sacred images are designed to uplift and instruct the faithful. They serve an invaluable teaching purpose at all times, and they permit us to meditate on Christian mysteries during the liturgy. If church were full of ads for restaurants, or popular Disney characters, that might be considered distracting. But Biblical images and saints are part of the holistic worship and teaching capacities of the Church. We definitively settled this in 787 with Nicaea II, and only Jews and Protestants and Muslims will disagree with that.
 
Thanks for all the replies. My thoughts are the same as many of you. I thought maybe my head is off or something.
 
Elizium23 said:
Constantine is of course Eastern Catholic, and his parishes are undoubtedly covered floor-to-ceiling with icons. Sacred images are designed to uplift and instruct the faithful. They serve an invaluable teaching purpose at all times, and they permit us to meditate on Christian mysteries during the liturgy. If church were full of ads for restaurants, or popular Disney characters, that might be considered distracting. But Biblical images and saints are part of the holistic worship and teaching capacities of the Church. We definitively settled this in 787 with Nicaea II, and only Jews and Protestants and Muslims will disagree with that.
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Jews do use some iconography… ancientchristiandefender.blogspot.ca/2008/10/jewish-iconography-in-ancient.html

Our parish isn’t covered in iconography. Those are lucky parishes who either have the funding to get an iconographer to do it, or would have a parishioner who is an iconographer who would work on the whole temple for free (or minimal fee). But we have at least the Great Feasts covering our walls and a huge icon of the Eucharist at the back wall of the altar/sanctuary.
 
I think it’s pretty obvious I’d much rather be in the top cathedral. Can you tell me what
Basilica/Cathedral that is? It’s so unbelievably beautiful: it looks like it must be in Europe.

Thank you,
SIrWilliam
 
They don’t bother me. In the Latin Catholic examples in this thread, the statues are not at eye-level directly next to the altar. Not all parish churches are cathedral sized, and the woman in the OP’s example may have been thinking of specific examples where placing statues on the altar would be distracting in that it would be crowded. Give her the benefit of the doubt.

My parish does have statues of Mary and Joseph on the rerdros. They are actually rather uninspiring as art goes, but I would not suggest moving or removing them. 😉

In the “bad” example, the white church, it may be lovely to have the sun shining in and soothing to be in the space. It might also be decorated with flowers very beautifully for Holy days - I can imagine it being quite beautiful at Easter. No, it’s not my favorite looking church, but it is certainly not the worse I have seen!
 
Thumblessprimat said:
So I recently had a post on what reasons a diocese might prohibit or discourage a parish from not having statues of saints more specifically Ss Mary and Joseph in the traditional positions on either side of the sanctuary. I received a reply from someone working for the diocese with involvement and authority. She did not say that there is any rule that mandates where the statues should be, but she said that it’d be better if they are not “front and center.” I don’t agree with her. This is her opinion.

I can understand why it might not be a good idea to have several statues of the same saints, but I don’t see how having a statue of the saints mentioned above in a traditional set up would cause a distraction in celebrating the Eucharist. I would like to know what your thoughts.

Do statues of Mary and Joseph distract you from the Mass if they were in sight?
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On the contrary, to me they, along with other statues and images (like stained glass or paintings) of saints, add a great other dimension and meaning to the Mass, reminding me that I am “surrounded by a cloud of witnesses,” and am part of the “communion of saints,” that I am connected to my fellow Catholics in Heaven,-that the pilgrim Church on Earth is connected to the Church triumphant in Heaven, who may also be worshiping in about or in the same way there as described in the Book of Revelation, which is what the Mass was partly modeled after. In fact, my priest took a group of new parishioners and I on a tour once pointing out the stories behind all the saints that are depicted in our church, and it really did drive that point home and make me just love the Catholic faith that much more!!

-Chris
 
Mrs_Sally said:
They don’t bother me. In the Latin Catholic examples in this thread, the statues are not at eye-level directly next to the altar. Not all parish churches are cathedral sized, and the woman in the OP’s example may have been thinking of specific examples where placing statues on the altar would be distracting in that it would be crowded. Give her the benefit of the doubt.

My parish does have statues of Mary and Joseph on the rerdros. They are actually rather uninspiring as art goes, but I would not suggest moving or removing them. 😉

In the “bad” example, the white church, it may be lovely to have the sun shining in and soothing to be in the space. It might also be decorated with flowers very beautifully for Holy days - I can imagine it being quite beautiful at Easter. No, it’s not my favorite looking church, but it is certainly not the worse I have seen!
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This was included in my original Email to the diocese which she replied to, "I am concerned about this subject as our new church building does not have Mary and Joseph in the front of the church interior at the sides of the sanctuary like it used in the old church building. The statues helped me to pray and focus on Jesus, and without them in plain view to me the church feels cold. Is there a guideline, rule, or code that does not allow for the statues of these saints to be positioned like this? "
 
Thumblessprimat said:
This was included in my original Email to the diocese which she replied to, "I am concerned about this subject as our new church building does not have Mary and Joseph in the front of the church interior at the sides of the sanctuary like it used in the old church building. The statues helped me to pray and focus on Jesus, and without them in plain view to me the church feels cold. Is there a guideline, rule, or code that does not allow for the statues of these saints to be positioned like this? "
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Sounds like you asked the right question and she did not reply with a specific ruling. There is a document about sacred art. it has been linked on many threads here, but I don’t recall the name off the top of my head. Maybe try the USCCB site.
 
The statues are a distraction to “active participation” as is popularly misinterpreted, but in fact contribute to worship; and, like stained glass windows, they visually present faith in the Incarnation. The changes to the Mass made several decades ago were thought to open the language of the Mass and liturgical participation to the lay people, but unfortunately some people thought that in order to emphasize these words and actions fully, and to engage everyone in corporate worship (facilitated by the front-and-center priest), surrounding “distractions” had to be removed. Some parishes still operate under these liturgical conditions.
 
Not distracting at all. The statues in my church are towards the back hung on a wall next to the doors.
 
Mrs_Sally said:
They don’t bother me. In the Latin Catholic examples in this thread, the statues are not at eye-level directly next to the altar. Not all parish churches are cathedral sized, and the woman in the OP’s example may have been thinking of specific examples where placing statues on the altar would be distracting in that it would be crowded. Give her the benefit of the doubt.

My parish does have statues of Mary and Joseph on the rerdros. They are actually rather uninspiring as art goes, but I would not suggest moving or removing them. 😉

In the “bad” example, the white church, it may be lovely to have the sun shining in and soothing to be in the space. It might also be decorated with flowers very beautifully for Holy days - I can imagine it being quite beautiful at Easter. No, it’s not my favorite looking church, but it is certainly not the worse I have seen!
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👍
 
Windmill said:
Hmmmmm. Let’s see. Where would you rather attend Mass:

Here (click to enlarge):

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Lazio_Roma_Gesu1_tango7174.jpg/250px-Lazio_Roma_Gesu1_tango7174.jpg

or here:

http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/jubilee/jubileeint.jpg

Both are Catholic. Which draws you up in prayer? Which manifests God’s glory better?
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Oh, Windmill, you know I want to go to the church on the top; it is utterly beautiful. The bottom one looks like the protestant church I left two decades ago!
 
Mrs_Sally said:
Sounds like you asked the right question and she did not reply with a specific ruling. There is a document about sacred art. it has been linked on many threads here, but I don’t recall the name off the top of my head. Maybe try the USCCB site.
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Her words in case I alter any meaning by only revealing bits: “In fact, it’s better if they aren’t front and center—anything that would distract from the celebration of the Eucharist belongs in a different, reverent place.”

I feel uncomfortable putting up an entire Email as I don’t want this to be about her, and I want to be careful to avoid any unintentional backbiting.

While assuring me that the builders and designers paid careful attention to the guidelines for art and achitecture provided by the U.S. Biships, the reference she gave me was this, Built of Living Stones: Art, Architecture and Worship (2000).

I’m sure they followed guidelines, but I think there is room for devotional things that help with actual participation in the Mass.
 
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