Thursday, May 15, 2008

A new Rennaissance in Church architecture?

(Brendan)

I think it's happening. Cases in point (all currently under construction): The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Lacrosse, WI, St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Farragut, TN, and Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA.

Check out the links I attached to each name above, you'll be amazed and encouraged. Each link has some very recent pictures of the construction of each church; I love these pictures! All three of these churches prove the point that "it" can still be done today (that is, truly beautiful, sacred, awe-inspiring, and catechetical church architecture).

I am most partial to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as it is relatively close to the Twin Cities and I CANNOT WAIT to make a pilgrimage there with the family. And, even better, Anthony Visco, whom I've previously featured on this blog, and is an e-mail pen pal of mine, and whom we are eventually having create a sculpture for our chapel, is creating almost all of the sacred art for the Shrine! He's e-mailed me pictures of what he's done on a regular basis, and it's amazing. This one church has the potential to reignite interest in, and patronage of, sacred art and architecture for the Catholic Church in America. Praise the Lord!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I found your blog while "blog perusing" and I've been following your housing adventure. I respect what you are doing with your home and with your family but just have one question regarding catholicism (sp?). How is a "church" which is entitled a shrine and shrine to someone OTHER than a member of the trinity not idol worship??

Brendan Koop said...

Great question. A "shrine" typically is a place that contains a relic or sacred image of a saint. Saints are never to be worshipped, but they are due "veneration," which means that it is right to honor them just as we would honor a family member that has gone before us. In this particular case, the Virgin Mary appeared to a peasant named Juan Diego in the 16th century in Mexico at a time of unspeakable evil in that area (see the movie "Apocalypto"). Human beings were being sacrificed to false gods at a rate of tens of thousands a month. When the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego and left the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe along with other miraculous events, it ushered in a period of great conversion to Christianity (some estimate as many as 9,000,000 people converted to Christianity as a result of this apparition). A great book on this is "Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Conquest of Darkness" if you ever want a fascinating, short read. In any event, this is why the Catholic Church has proclaimed Our Lady of Guadalupe (which is simply St. Mary in the instance of this apparition) as the "Patroness of the Americas" in that God sent her to sow the seeds of Christianity that has repercussions even today in the number of Christians in all of the Americas. So, long story short, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe has a replica of the miraculous image the Virgin Mary left on the tunic of Juan Diego, and presumably has relics of the apparition, and it's a worthy church to allow veneration (honor) to Mary for facilitating so many conversions to her Son. It is also appropriate to ask for Mary to pray for more conversions and conversion of our society to her Son. The shrine itself, though, would never be used to worship Mary; masses said there are always to worship Christ.

Long answer, but I hope this answers your question.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your answer. I understand what you are saying regarding the shrine and the saints (while I still don't wholly agree with it). Another question -
Since Mary has passed on into heaven, how can she pray for things? Can I ask my deceased grandfather (that I know without a shadow of a doubt is in heaven) to pray for things as well?

Brendan Koop said...

Another good question. We know that those in heaven pray and that their prayers are heard by God (cf. Rev 8:3-4 and Rev 5:8). We also know that heaven is not bound by time or space as we on earth are, and so those in heaven have no limitations in order to hear the prayers of others and pray for them in turn. There is only one Church, and it includes those who are united with it on earth and in heaven. And just as Paul encourages us to pray for him and each other (cf 1 Tm 2:1-4, as well as Rom 15:30–32, Eph 6:18–20, Col 4:3, 1 Thess 5:25, 2 Thess 3:1), our brothers and sisters in the faith who are in heaven (and are indeed more alive than we are, and enjoy the beatific vision of seeing God face to face) are in an even better position to pray for us. I personally want as many people praying for me as possible, and Mary in a special way, as she bore the Lord in her womb and has a special relationship with Christ as his mother.

Anonymous said...

When we marry we cleave from our family to become one with the other person. With Jesus being the bridegroom of the church and seeing as he spoke of leaving your family to follow him and denied his mother/brothers special access to him during his life - Why do we assume that Jesus and Mary now have a "special" relationship? (sorry that I don't have verses sited...I can provide if you want.)

Brendan Koop said...

Thanks again for your questions. I don't think you would be able to support the statement that Jesus "denied his mother/brothers special access to him during his life" with any Biblical evidence. Though it is true that we must put our relationship with God first above all, and that we may even forsake our family to grow deeper in relationship to the Lord, that does not mean we do not love our family and maintain a special bond. First and foremost, what I was referring to was that Mary bore Christ in her womb, which, irrespective of her interpersonal relationship with Jesus, already makes her the most important human being (other than Jesus) in history. She bore the incarnation of God in her womb, that's an amazing thing that we'll never be able to fully comprehend. So that fact alone means that Mary has a special relationship with Christ. Though this makes intuitive sense, I don't think this point need distract us away from the original point that the saints in heaven pray for us, and Mary is certainly a saint.

Second, and not meaning to take us far off topic, but just to clarify, Jesus did not have "brothers" in the sense of other children borne by Mary. The aramaic word for "brother" is the same word for "cousin", and so when translated is typically kept always as "brother" regardless of whether it means "cousin." The early Church fathers are nearly unanimous in maintaining the perpetual virginity of Mary, and there is much supporting evidence surrounding this. Again, a totally different topic.

Anonymous said...

"While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, 'Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.' But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' And pointing to his disciples, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

Matthew 12:46-50, Mark 3:31-35, and Luke 8:19-21

Brendan Koop said...

Right, but you may be reading an interpersonal element into that passage that I don't think is there, in the sense that though Christ was making a teaching point regarding doing the will of the Father it says nothing of his interpersonal relationship to his Mother, nor does it say that he does not love her as a son loves a mother. You or I wouldn't equate our relationship with our mothers with that of a friend or acquaintance, and Jesus, being also fully human, wouldn't have done so either. Since he is also God, though, it is true that anyone who does the will of the Father has a special relationship with him.

Anonymous said...

Oh the glory of interpretation :)
I take the passage to mean something entirely different than you. To me, he is implying something interpersonal or at least conveying that his own mother is no more important to him (in this situation, if not in whole) than any other believer. I agree that I wouldn't equate my relationship with my mother the same way with friends/acquaintances and for that reason if I was in that situation I would say immediately "Well, don't just stand there bring my momma to me!!". Especially if most of my time was spent traveling around teaching and being geographically separated from my family. I don't take the same interpretation that the main point of the passage is to teach doing the will of God, but rather that anyone can be a true kindred of Jesus if you are a believer and doing his will.

Brendan Koop said...

One thing to remember is that Mary's special place among the saints is a teaching of the Catholic Church that's based on far more than one simple verse but on the totality of scripture and revealed truth, including some very proscriptive allusions to Mary in the book of Revelation. So though any one verse can be debated in meaning, a verse must also fit with the clear teaching of the totality of scripture, and the witness of those closest to the time that Jesus lived also provide ample reference for determining what Jesus meant in his teachings. We also can't interpret it the Bible in a vacuum, but in reference to all of scripture and with careful mind to the teaching authority that Christ gave the Church (protected by the Holy Spirit) to faithfully protect the deposit of faith so that we don't have to debate meaning of verses.

Anonymous said...

Are you suggesting that verses aren't open to interpretation? Just clarifying...
I'd also like to clarify that I don't mean any disrespect to Mary, or to your veneration of her. I'm (obviously) not catholic, but am a strong christian with many questions about catholicism. While I don't think I'll ever wholly agree with The Catholic Church in it's entirety, I love learning new aspects of Christianity and you (and your wife) seem like good, intelligent, strong believers to ask questions of. Thanks for being open to my inquiries :)

Brendan Koop said...

You are correct that scripture is open to some personal interpretation (the Catholic Church certainly doesn't have a "book of interpretations" indexed to every verse), but Catholics do believe that the teaching authority of the Catholic Church is protected from error in safeguarding the truth of scripture, and that does mean in certain instances the Church does specifically state that there is only one correct interpretation of a passage in scripture (Mt 16:16-18, or Jn 6 for example). The verse you cited doesn't fall under those proscriptive situations, but nonetheless as a Catholic I also compare the passage of scripture to the totality of scripture and also look to see how the Church teaches on the subject. Without an institution that safeguards the truth, you end up with millions of Christians interpreting the Bible in any way they please, all of them saying that they were led to that interpretation by the Spirit, and all of them thinking that they are aligned with what is true (even in totally contradictory beliefs).

Your questions are very good ones, and very common. I hope you keep coming back to the blog. I also commend you for the thoughtful way you have dialogued and I can tell you are open to searching for the truth. God bless you!!