New Church--there is hope!

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Sr_Sally said:
I haven’t been to the church yet, so I can’t say from my own experience. It appears from the pictures that the set up is very similar to what we see on the EWTN Masses where the celebrant does have his back tot he tabernacle–except that there appears to be more room in the sanctuary. Our Bishop is very orthodox, so I’m sure that no one knowingly violated any GRIM standards.

It’s interesting to me that we get all kinds of people complaining about modern ‘big box store’ style churches and then when a beautiful church like this is built, there is still complaining. Not sure exactly what is expected, a cathedral in every parish? :rolleyes:
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In years past (and in some places today) the tabernacle was typically an integral part of the high altar which was positioned against a wall. The only way a priest could celebrate a Mass on such an altar is by directly facing the tabernacle while celebrating the Mass on the mensa of the altar just below the tabernacle.

Along the way the Church allows the Mass to be celebrated with the priest facing the faithful. In some cases the mensa was simply pulled away from the rest of the altar and it became the altar. In other cases the old altar was left untouched and another altar (or “table”) was placed in front of it. The Church realized that not only was it not a great idea for the celebrant to have his back to the Blessed Sacrament, it was also fairly incongruent for the Blessed Sacrament to confected on the altar with the Blessed Sacrament right behind the celebrant reposed in the tabernacle. Certainly not an optimal situation.

So the Church set some instructions and guidelines for relocating the tabernacle to a dignified and reverent location. This was done during a particularly septic period of our Church’s history and the results were (in some cases) horror stories about tabernacles being relegated to broom closets, chapels a 1/2 mile away, now unused confessionals, the pastor’s office, etc.

The response by some was predictable and emotional – “put the tabernacle back where it belongs!” Not once do they acknowledge that the configuration of the altar has changed dramatically in most cases, nor do they acknowledge that only when the Church’s instructions and guidelines were ignored did we see the above horror stories.

I am always happy to see the tabernacle optimally located and it’s neither in a former broom closet nor is it behind the altar on or near the credence table.
 
dandn5000 said:
Does anybody here happen to know what that says? I fed it into a Latin translator, and it came out with a badly mangled version of what was heard at Jesus’ baptism(the This is my son, with whom I am well pleased).

Anybody have a clearer translation?
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Baldacchino?

Its an italian word click on it to find out.
 
THurifer2 said:
Baldacchino?

Its an italian word click on it to find out.
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No - sorry, should have been a bit clearer. I meant what was inscribed on it. Looks like Latin, and when I fed it into a translator, I got enough to deduce that it was from Jesus Baptism but with a lot of gibberish in it as well.
 
dandn5000 said:
No - sorry, should have been a bit clearer. I meant what was inscribed on it. Looks like Latin, and when I fed it into a translator, I got enough to deduce that it was from Jesus Baptism but with a lot of gibberish in it as well.
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:o 😊 :o
 
THurifer2 said:
Fantastic Church!!! Abosolutely LOvely.

I love the angels near the tabernacle…It reminds me of the Ark of the covenant…even the baldichino over the tabernacle is great.
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Yes, the angels are beautiful. The church has many other statues also. So NICE! I’ll be able to give a better description of everything when we attend Mass there sometime after Easter.
 
I know how we can fix the problem of having the Priest’s back to the Most Blessed Sacrament…it is shameful to have the tabernacle off to the side, hiding in some side Chapel, as if it were something we didn’t want anyone to see…no, it should return to its place of Glory on the center of the Altar…for everyone to see…then in order to keep the priest from turning his back on It, the priests can return to celebrating Mass Ad Orientem. Quick fix…no problems
Fillmont said:
Do you happen to know if the priest will have his back to the Blessed Sacrament while he celebrates the Mass? I’m curious how the design of this parish church comports with the GIRM?

GIRM 315. It is more in keeping with the meaning of the sign that the tabernacle in which the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved not be on an altar on which Mass is celebrated.
Consequently, it is preferable that the tabernacle be located, according to the judgment of the Diocesan Bishop,

a. Either in the sanctuary, apart from the altar of celebration, in a form and place more appropriate, not excluding on an old altar no longer used for celebration

b. Or even in some chapel suitable for the faithful’s private adoration and prayer and which is organically connected to the church and readily visible to the Christian faithful.
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Perhaps another solution would be to leave the tabernacle in its traditional location, front and center of attention to the entire building. Before each mass, how hard would it be to have a solemn procession relocating the Sacred host to an auxilliary tabernacle, perhaps in the sacristy. Part of the closing hymn procession could then be the restoration of the host to the prominent tabernacle. Would be a nice way to remind everybody of the sacred presence of Christ and the need for our behavior to conform accordingly. It would also return the geometry of the church to one which glorified the Eucharistic Christ ALL the time, not just during mass.
 
michaeldaniels said:
I know how we can fix the problem of having the Priest’s back to the Most Blessed Sacrament…it is shameful to have the tabernacle off to the side, hiding in some side Chapel, as if it were something we didn’t want anyone to see…no, it should return to its place of Glory on the center of the Altar…for everyone to see…then in order to keep the priest from turning his back on It, the priests can return to celebrating Mass Ad Orientem. Quick fix…no problems
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I don’t think that going backwards forty years just so that the Tabernacle can be behind the altar without the priest having his back to it is a little much. As I understand it, the practice of having the tabernacle away from the altar(as in to the side) originated because in some churches, the Tabernacle would be on the altar, and it wasn’t appropriate to have the Body of Christ on the altar as the priest was consecrating hosts. Didn’t quite work.

Besides, I don’t believe that the Tabernacle’s best place is to be right behind the altar. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to have it in another prominent location, such as directly to the side, so that it is always visible? Even if Mass was celebrated ad orientem, the tabernacle would still be obscured by the priest.

As Fillmont said, the best place for the Tabernacle in a modern church is often not directly behind the altar, but in another suitable and prominent place, because the layout of the sanctuary has changed drastically since many older churches with their Tabernacle directly behind the altar were built.
 
dandn5000 said:
As Fillmont said, the best place for the Tabernacle in a modern church is often not directly behind the altar, but in another suitable and prominent place, because the layout of the sanctuary has changed drastically since many older churches with their Tabernacle directly behind the altar were built.
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There you go. There’s the problem. If we just started to build real churches again, with appropriately designed sanctuaries, we would get back to the way altars should look:

realnews247.com/tridentine_altar_2.jpg
 
QUOTE=dandn5000;3309620]As Fillmont said, the best place for the Tabernacle in a modern church is often not directly behind the altar, but in another suitable and prominent place, because the layout of the sanctuary has changed drastically since many older churches with their Tabernacle directly behind the altar were built.

There you go. There’s the problem. If we just started to build real churches again, with appropriately designed sanctuaries, we would get back to the way altars should look:

 
THurifer2 said:
Fantastic Church!!! Abosolutely LOvely.

I love the angels near the tabernacle…It reminds me of the Ark of the covenant…even the baldichino over the tabernacle is great.
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I was thinking the exact same thing.

I do not believe there is an equivalent prayer in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite but a prayer from the Extraordinary Form comes to mind:

**Take away from us our iniquities, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may be worthy to enter with pure minds into the Holy of Holies. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

**James
 
belgianwaffles9 said:
There you go. There’s the problem. If we just started to build real churches again, with appropriately designed sanctuaries, we would get back to the way altars should look:
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Why is it that having the altar pushed up close to the reredos and having the priest facing away from the people the “right” or “real” way? Is it because that was the way it was when you were a kid, or that’s the way it was forty years ago?

I am unable to think of any reason why we should go back to celebrating the Mass exclusively ad orientem and having the same ornate style of sanctuary. As far as I can tell, the drop in vocations has been due to ****** catechesis, not having the priest facing the people.

I happen to like having the Mass celebrated facing the people, because it makes it easier to see. I’m a visual person, and me being able to clearly see the goings-on at the altar actually does enhance the sacrifice of the Mass for me - I’ve seen several TLM’s on YouTube and the like(yes, I’m fully aware that its not the same thing), and I find myself distracted because all I can see when the camera looks towards the altar is the priest’s back.

However, I am not going to say “Well, the sanctuary should only be set up in this particular manner, and Mass should only be said facing the people.” I am not going to say “The only “real” sanctuary setup is having a freestanding altar and a simple/no reredos.” That’s not my call to make, and both styles can lend themselves to beautiful places of worship, and both are equally conducive to worship.

Therefore, I fail to see why we should consider an old and certainly beautiful style and setup of sanctuary the only “real” style and setup. Having too many options can certainly be an issue(see the number of abuses in many OF parishes), but I see no reason why this should be an area where the option should not exist.
 
Congratulations to the parishoners at Holy Trinity!
Seriously, can’t anyone just ever say, “congratulations on your new church, it demonstrates the hard work, prayer and determination of your community to build a permanent place of worship?”
Gotta love that new church smell too 🙂
 
It is truly a beautiful church!!! I prefer the older churches but this one is warm and lovely!!!
 
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