The beautiful church thread: please post photos / links to beautiful Catholic churches!

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benedictgal said:
Actually, because it was built in 1912, that should count as a building of historical importance. It is the exterior that most concerns the Texas Historical Commission, not so much the interior. Although, for those of us who love the older churches, the interior is just as important.

Too bad you don’t have pictures of what it originally looked like back in 1912. Personally speaking, what I mean by wreckovations is the “modern” stuff that has been added. Even with the best of intentions, it manages to remove the beauty of the original. I went to visit St. Mary’s University with some high school students and we went into the old chapel. As a priest friend of mine is wont to say, “the vandals invaded” the space and gutted the interior of an otherwise beautiful structure, yanking out the communion rail, putting in strange looking pews and making it look just awful.

By hurricanes, I was referencing the one that hit Galveston in 1900 and succeeding ones.
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The exterior is 100% the same, it has not changed over the years according to photos and the Archdiocese. I started going to mass at Scared Heart in 1993; three years after the work was done so I did not get the chance to see the original high altar in person. However, I did saw what it looked like a video a few years ago, It looked very close to the Heinz Chapel in University of Pittsburgh that was posted in this thread. I like how it looks today, I guess I’m not very old school.

Are you from Texas? You seem to know a lot. Maybe you can help get Sacred Heart added as a historical landmark.

Edited, I just saw that you are from Laredo.
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
what kind of church is it? It is beautiful.
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From the website
Various religious services are held in the chapel, but it does not belong to any denomination. From its beginnings, the chapel was intended to be interdenominational.
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The chapel is open daily throughout the year except for University holidays, and it hosts approximately 1,500 events annually. More than 100,000 people participate in religious services, weddings, concerts, classes, memorial services, and guided tours. Many simply seek its peace and beauty as a refuge.
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The best thing is the stain glass.

Check it out. heinzchapel.pitt.edu/architecture/windows.html

Whenever I went there the peace was amazing. Even though it is not a church for just one denomination, you can feel God in there.
 
I want to thank all of you who have been part of this thread over the months…I have so enjoyed looking at so many of these beautiful cathedrals and churches.

(I find myself enjoying the more traditional ones more so then the modern ones, but that is in keeping with my personal tastes in so many things)

The more elaborate and ornate ones remind me of how the Lord was Hebrew and for them, the center of their lives and their worship always centered on the Temple. It too was very elaborate and ornate.

For me, that just is one more echo of how the Church is reflective of Her King.

And it reminds me that those who belly-ache about how elaborate many of the older churches are and all the monies donated to build such structures doesnt represent who Christ was and what He taught forget that, quite the contrary. Jesus WAS Hebrew. The Temple ment everything, was the center of their very lives.

So our structures should reflect that as well. At least I think so.

Thanks again!!
 
I’ve never been to this church but it looks amazing. St. Francis de Sales Oratory, St Louis, MO
 
 
Saint wannabe,

Thanks for posting the link to the Divine Mercy monstrance. It is beautiful. For people in Chicago who don’t know, this monstrance is located at St. Stanislaus Kostka church, right off the Kennedy Expwy on Chicago’s near north side. And the great thing is that there is Eucharistic Adoration 24/7. There is a guard on duty in the evenings, so the church is always open!

St. Stan’s is the oldest Polish church in Chicago and it shows its years. It is in need of clean-up. However, it has beautiful murals, stained glass windows that portray to original fifteen mysteries of the Rosary and church lights that were made by Tiffany. The centerpiece, though, is the monstrance that the link shows. All this for the honor and glory of our Lord.

God bless,
Dan
 
ElizabethPH said:
St Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church, Eureka Springs Arkansas USA
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BEAUTIFUL church. We crossed the border into Arkansas when we were in Missouri last summer and happened upon it. It was a great little church. The priest’s cat was sleeping the lovely gardens outside when we got there. 😃
 
Makes me want to visit all these lovely cathedrals! After Mass today I was taking in my own parish building and found myself grateful for it’s beauty. Our Stations of the Cross are our stained glassed windows that line both sides our of church. Our big Crucifix that hands over our alter.

I’ve been in other parishes where there is no crucifix. There is either just a simple cross or our Risen Lord. But no crucifix.

I found that odd, and in a very real way “not” Catholic. Hard to explain.
I’ve come to appreciate some of the disappointment and discouragement of many in the post V11 era…Fortunately for me, my local parish isnt all that progressive in it’s approach
 
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