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10gr8kids
Guest
I’ve heard this comment before and I thought it was strange that they didn’t worry about how elaborate their own house was.
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pablope
Guest
zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m1/splndr.html
The External Splendor: Art and Architecture
Sometimes we see the Church in less than holy conditions. We see ourselves, we see other people, we see priests and sometimes we see bishops whose lifestyles are not up to the Gospel standard. Yet as Chesterton said, “The Catholic faith even when watered down can still boil the world to rags.” It’s true that the Catholic faith right now is still alive no matter what struggles we face, no matter what internal defections we’ve experienced. The Catholic Church is strong with divine power. This is manifest in so many ways; you can see the splendor of the Church.
Let me just take you through a few of the steps that I took in discovering the splendor of the Catholic Church. The first thing that struck me as an outsider, really as an antagonist, was, “Wow, look at their art and look at their architecture.” If you just judge from human standards apart from Scripture, apart from faith, you’ve got to admit as one author said, “The Catholic faith has the power to produce civilizations and not just denominations.” You look around and even if you hate icons, even if you despise statues and regard them as idols, nevertheless, oh can those Catholics erect fine statues!
But what stands out in my memory during that whole three or four day experience was the time that I spent with a lot of my non- Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ touring St. Peter’s or just walking around the Vatican or even taking a trip down the streets of Rome. It was interesting. There was one man in particular – I won’t mention his name – he’s very high up in a certain Southern Baptist convention. At the beginning of the week he was sharply antagonistic, especially when he found out that I was not only a Catholic but a convert from evangelical Bible Christianity. It didn’t help that my father in-law was the head of the group. He went after me, and I’m German enough to go right back after him. So we had a ball for about 3 1/2 hours the very first night. He made it clear to me that this was tantamount to apostasy. I began to watch his whole attitude change in the next two or three days. He made no bones about it. The Pope was pretentious; the Pope was really wrong in claiming to be the infallible Vicar of Christ. But as we toured through St. Peter’s together, you could hear his own hushed awe as he saw these gorgeous mosaics, the sculptures, the architecture. I kept chiding him with a certain gentle persistence. Where has Protestantism produced this sort of architecture, this sort of art? He admitted that there is nothing to compare.
After the meeting we all came back. They were talking about Pope John Paul II; they were talking about the halls and the rooms. It was an unbelievable experience. I pray that everybody would have an opportunity at some point to make a pilgrimage to Rome to see Mother Church in this sort of external splendor. There’s no question about it. It can impress the most antagonistic anti- Catholic, as it impressed me. But it’s not enough just to show off your artistic and esthetic beauty; there has to be something more.
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Bonocorium
Guest
That’s true. The apostles no doubt used pure doctrine as the method to gain converts, despite being poor. St Peter really demonstrated this.
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Church_Militant
Guest
If building an ornate and beautiful structure in honor of God is so wrong, then why did God himself decree the details of the temple in Jerusalem?
Remember also that there is a similar criticism made in the New Testament in the following passages.
Matthew 26:9
John 12:5
Mark 14:5
Remember also that there is a similar criticism made in the New Testament in the following passages.
Matthew 26:9
John 12:5
Mark 14:5
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lifeandhope
Guest
As a life-long evangelical, the many churches I 'worshiped in were at best slightly decorated with fake greenery and perhaps a Christmas tree in December, and at worst were large gyms and multipurpose rooms with bare walls and no ornamentation. I never understood there to be a problem with this, until I converted to Catholicism over a year ago and began worshiping in an environment that was truly conducive to worship. It is quiet and prayerful when you go in, the holy water at the door reminds me of my baptism, the candle at the tabernacle reminds me of God’s presence, the beautiful Stations of the Cross carvings allow me to make the stations in prayer, the colorful stained glass portrays biblical scenes, the beauty of the vestments and robes help bring me in to the current season of worship. I have never experienced worship like I have in the Catholic church and that is one of the main reasons I understand that I will be Catholic the rest of my life. I don’t see it in dollar signs, although I understand the cost of many of the items we have in our parrish. But rather I see it as this is the best we have to offer God in our worship and it sets our hearts upon just a little taste of the splendor of heaven and of our God.
For years I have made jewelry and I always use real stone and metals, glass, pearl–anything genuine. I was appalled by the cheap plastic rosaries sold in stores–even the expensive ones were made of nothing more than plastic, maybe cheap glass beads. So I switched from jewelry and I have made dozens of rosaries of various stones and wood; some favourites are an amethyst rosary, olivewood rosary, garnet, bluestone, brownstone… they’re all my favourites! There is something deeper about praying while holding fine, cold stones that came from the earth God created instead of a plastic bead made in China. That is kind of how I view the churches–the beauty enhances prayer and worship and reminds me of the GREATNESS of the God I love and serve.
For years I have made jewelry and I always use real stone and metals, glass, pearl–anything genuine. I was appalled by the cheap plastic rosaries sold in stores–even the expensive ones were made of nothing more than plastic, maybe cheap glass beads. So I switched from jewelry and I have made dozens of rosaries of various stones and wood; some favourites are an amethyst rosary, olivewood rosary, garnet, bluestone, brownstone… they’re all my favourites! There is something deeper about praying while holding fine, cold stones that came from the earth God created instead of a plastic bead made in China. That is kind of how I view the churches–the beauty enhances prayer and worship and reminds me of the GREATNESS of the God I love and serve.
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pablope
Guest
That is right…that is why, there is also the liturgy and worhsip…which are part of the splendors of the Church.
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Bonocorium
Guest
I am no church history expert, but at what stage of the history of the Church did the splendors and riches etc come in?
Does the church have any position on how exquisite the earliest Masses were? I mean if the earliest Masses were conducted in simplistic environments like people’s homes, with just a crucifix and a few icons, surely God would not mind if people prefer to conduct Mass in a simple humble church, which would mimic the earliest Christians more.
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Rolltide
Guest
Keep in mind that the earliest Christians were also persecuted, so you couldn’t really worship the way you wanted to until it was legalized. The discovery of even a simple decoration could lead to your arrest and execution. The first churches were built around the time of the Edict of Milan under Emperor Constantine in 313 AD, Almost from the get-go, they were elaborate. Hagia Sophia, built under Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the early 500s, remains one of the grandest Christian structures in the world, and could hold over 25,000 for a service. The basic Roman philosophy was that since after Christianity became the official religion of the empire, why build many small plain churches when you could build one large elaborate church, and actually get more bang for your buck, so to speak? The bigger churches took longer to build and had more finery, but because of the excellent materials used, actually lasted FAR longer and required less maintenance and replacing. So, despite a larger up-front cost, they tended to save money in the long run.
In the Middle Ages, the construction of a cathedral was one of the greatest things your town could do. It took hundreds of years to build theses structures, so you guaranteed high paying skilled jobs for centuries. The construction of cathedrals actually eliminated huge amounts of poverty in most cities in which they were built, because the need for employment was so high. So, rather than needing monks to hand out charity, you had the church providing jobs and a living.
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Church_Militant
Guest
I like this.
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TexCatholic4JMJ
Guest
My mother was an evangelical for a time in her life, but toward the end of her life, returned
to the Catholic Church. She said she felt at peace the moment she walked into church and did not sense that reverence in her “plain auditorium-like” church.
I met a man when we were working at the polls one time and when he found out I was a
Catholic, he told me that he loved to just go sit in the Cathedral during the day. He said
there was a feeling he experienced there that he did not feel in his church. I lost track of
him, but I have prayed that he would “return home” and discover the “why” of his feeling.
We were not able to discuss during that brief time because it was toward the end of the
day and things got too busy.
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guanophore
Guest
It was with the Edict of Milan, when Christianity became de-criminalized. At that point, Christians who had been worshipping in secret began to take over Pagan worship sites and buildings. They began with the decorations, and built upon and over them to make them conducive to Catholic Mass.
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latingirl
Guest
Ever heard of the Temple of Solomon?
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Brandall
Guest
Sorry I’m so late to this party but I ran into it while looking for something else and wanted to contribute.
The Temple (a grand tent) from Exodus was what came to my mind too. This tent and it’s possessions would have cost millions of dollars just in raw materials alone. The silver that was used for the bases, at today’s silver melt prices would exceed 3.5 million dollars.
They build this exquisite temple (tent) using the finest materials. The ark of the covenant was lined with gold, inside and out. There were images of angels made of gold. The rings holding the fabric of the tent to the frame were gold. Lamps were gold, Lamp stands were gold, etc, etc.
Here was a small “nation”, wandering the desert and they were using their most valuable items, by God’s command, to build a temple that he considered worthy.
On top of that, they were destroying food in the fire as a sacrifice to God. Nope, not the lame animals, only the animals without defect could be sacrificed to God.
I’m not sure why God wanted it so grand but the temple (still just a very nice tent) was a grand place built to God’s specification. Maybe he was teaching the Israelites to trust him - I really don’t know. Does God and his son deserve a grand temple? I think so. Does that take money away that could be used for the poor? I don’t think so. God is God, when he needs more money for something, he will show his people a way to produce it.
btw, I’m more than likely entering RCIA in August. I’ve seen some modest protestant churches and some grand ones.
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PastorBonus
Guest
What you may not understand is that those bascilicas and cathedrals aren’t built by the Church because it has treasure money stocked somewhere in the Vatican. They are supported financially by the parishioners who wish for the churches to be built. Rich and poor, young and old, all wants the churches built. Wouldn’t it be strange if instead of building the cathedral the parishioners want to build, the priest asked instead for the millions of dollars to be given out to the poor. Keep in mind that much of these millions also come from the poor within the Church who wants their cathedral to be built.
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brierpatch1974
Guest
I admit I have never seen a new Catholic Church built in my area. Most are old and very beautiful and only a few of them to begin with. Now I do see baptist churches being built all the time around here and they do not deny their are keeping up with the jones so to speak. Everything they take in goes to being bigger and better and you never see them doing any charity works anymore. They fight among he selves so much and are constantly separating to go their own way. Jealousy over control is rampant.
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