I wish I could say I loved it. It's a little too heavy for my tastes and for my short attention span. Don't get me wrong, I really really love ornate churches, but this one is a little too ornate for me.
In fact, it was probably the Polish poor who built that church, giving over all their luxuries and jewelry and a penny here and there to build a grand house of worship! Our church in Chicago is an ornate Polish-built church and it's very like the one above, a little less overall, but that same idea.
I love baroque, but this is one overstuffed mess — nor has it benefited from post-conciliar liturgical confusion. There doesn't appear to be a chapel for reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, so where's the tabernacle? The sanctuary lamp is present, but not lit, leading one to suspect that this church (built by German-speakers?) is rarely or no longer in use. The crucifix is little more than a feeble gesture, under-proportioned and all but swallowed up in the cluttered background. What's a book — any book — doing parked dead center of the altar, in the place reserved for the Holy Sacrifice, and what does such protestant positioning tell us about the Catholic faith of those currently in charge of the building? Why are flowers placed on the mensa? What kind of liturgy can be celebrated with just the two less-than-wonderful candlesticks, supporting those Pottery Barn pillar stubs? On the (cheesy) frontal, why does the chi rho surmount the triangle representing the Blessed Trinity?
This is a stunning setting that could be made very worthy if tidied up by the removal or repositioning of offending elements, but as it appears in this photo, regretfully, the first word that comes to mind is "decadent". The second is "badly embalmed". Sorry.
January 15, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Makes one want to become a Catholic, if one weren't Catholic already.
January 15, 2012 at 6:42 pm
How much for luxury box seating on the second level?
January 15, 2012 at 7:35 pm
I wish I could say I loved it. It's a little too heavy for my tastes and for my short attention span. Don't get me wrong, I really really love ornate churches, but this one is a little too ornate for me.
January 15, 2012 at 8:00 pm
where is this at? i love a beautiful Church!
January 15, 2012 at 8:01 pm
They must have failed to feed the poor!
January 15, 2012 at 9:26 pm
It is apparently in Poland. Poles love their churches!
Cathy J
January 15, 2012 at 9:36 pm
@ Rebecca Taylor
LOL.
January 15, 2012 at 10:52 pm
In fact, it was probably the Polish poor who built that church, giving over all their luxuries and jewelry and a penny here and there to build a grand house of worship! Our church in Chicago is an ornate Polish-built church and it's very like the one above, a little less overall, but that same idea.
January 16, 2012 at 12:55 am
Regina, are you by any chance a parishioner of St Michael the Archangel on South Shore Drive?
January 16, 2012 at 4:49 pm
I love baroque, but this is one overstuffed mess — nor has it benefited from post-conciliar liturgical confusion. There doesn't appear to be a chapel for reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, so where's the tabernacle? The sanctuary lamp is present, but not lit, leading one to suspect that this church (built by German-speakers?) is rarely or no longer in use. The crucifix is little more than a feeble gesture, under-proportioned and all but swallowed up in the cluttered background. What's a book — any book — doing parked dead center of the altar, in the place reserved for the Holy Sacrifice, and what does such protestant positioning tell us about the Catholic faith of those currently in charge of the building? Why are flowers placed on the mensa? What kind of liturgy can be celebrated with just the two less-than-wonderful candlesticks, supporting those Pottery Barn pillar stubs? On the (cheesy) frontal, why does the chi rho surmount the triangle representing the Blessed Trinity?
This is a stunning setting that could be made very worthy if tidied up by the removal or repositioning of offending elements, but as it appears in this photo, regretfully, the first word that comes to mind is "decadent". The second is "badly embalmed". Sorry.
Romulus
January 16, 2012 at 8:11 pm
The second word under the photo is Wroclaw, a city in western Poland, followed by pl. a designation for Poland.
January 16, 2012 at 11:10 pm
Saw this on Fr Longenecker's blog. I thought someone said it was a Lutheren church