Favorite Quotes Realting to Sacred Places

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North_Coast

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I’m working on a project where I’d like to have several wonderful quotes from Fathers of the Church or other saints concerning the sacred quality and reverence which ought to be paid to churches. I’m having an easier time finding quotes relating to reverence for the Eucharist than reverence for places of worship. I’m sure there are many, many wonderful examples out there. Would you mind sharing your favorite?
 
That’s a tough one. Everyone is expected to have respect for the church. I doubt you will find much here.
Here’s a story though.
God spoke to St Francis of Assissi asking him to rebuild my church. The church where he lived was a bit delapidated so he sold some of his fathers property and started repairing the church. Then he realised God wanted him to repair the whole church.
 
Would quotes from the Bible do? I love some of the Psalms -

"I rejoiced when I heard them say ‘Let us go to God’s house’ " (Psalm 122)

or these ones:

“O God, you are my God, for you I long
For you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
Like a dry, weary land without water.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.” Psalm 63: 1-2

“Open the gates of victory; I will enter and thank the LORD.
This is the LORD’S own gate, where the just may enter” (Psalm 118)
 
North_Coast said:
I’m having an easier time finding quotes relating to reverence for the Eucharist than reverence for places of worship.
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It’s hard to separate the two. The reason we have reverence for places of worship (I am speaking of Catholic churches which house the Real Presence of Christ) is precisely because Jesus is present there, most notably in the Eucharist.

Here are a couple of quotes from Saint Josemaría Escrivá:

“Don’t be so blind or so thoughtless that you fail to ‘go into’ each tabernacle when you glimpse the walls or the steeple of each house of our Lord. He is waiting for you.” (The Way, #269)

“As you make your usual way through the city streets, aren’t you happy when you discover another tabernacle?” (The Way, #270)

The following excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church may be of interest as well:

1180 When the exercise of religious liberty is not thwarted,56 Christians construct buildings for divine worship. These visible churches are not simply gathering places but signify and make visible the Church living in this place, the dwelling of God with men reconciled and united in Christ.

1181 A church, "a house of prayer in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved, where the faithful assemble, and where is worshipped the presence of the Son of God our Savior, offered for us on the sacrificial altar for the help and consolation of the faithful - this house ought to be in good taste and a worthy place for prayer and sacred ceremonial."57 In this “house of God” the truth and the harmony of the signs that make it up should show Christ to be present and active in this place.58

1186 Finally, the church has an eschatological significance. To enter into the house of God, we must cross a threshold, which symbolizes passing from the world wounded by sin to the world of the new Life to which all men are called. The visible church is a symbol of the Father’s house toward which the People of God is journeying and where the Father "will wipe every tear from their eyes."65 Also for this reason, the Church is the house of all God’s children, open and welcoming.

You may want to check the original sources cited in the footnotes in these paragraphs. This page of the Catechism can be found at vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s1c2a1.htm .
 
LilyM said:
Would quotes from the Bible do?
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“Keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 26:2)

How lovely your dwelling, O LORD of hosts!
My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD. My heart and flesh cry out for the living God.
As the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest to settle her young, My home is by your altars, LORD of hosts, my king and my God!
Happy are those who dwell in your house! They never cease to praise you. (Psalm 84:2–5)
 
Thanks for all the great sources! It’s not hard finding usable quotes from the Bible, and I am planning to use many of those. What I was looking for were statements or writings from Church Fathers or other saints. Ideally…it would be a figure also held in high esteem by our Protestant brothers, but that’s not really necessary. Saint Francis’ call to rebuild the church is a possibility, except that he misunderstood the initial instructions… Thank you again for the assistance.
 
North_Coast said:
Thanks for all the great sources! It’s not hard finding usable quotes from the Bible, and I am planning to use many of those. What I was looking for were statements or writings from Church Fathers or other saints. Ideally…it would be a figure also held in high esteem by our Protestant brothers, but that’s not really necessary. Saint Francis’ call to rebuild the church is a possibility, except that he misunderstood the initial instructions… Thank you again for the assistance.
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Well, not a Saint speaking, but here is a hymn that was used WEEKLY when I was a teenager in the Lutheran Church. Protestant to the core:D

digitalhymnal.org/dhymn.cfm?hymnNumber=692
 
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