Admittedly, this Englishman reporter doesn't know that Saint Peter's isn't a cathedral and it isn't the pope's cathedral. It is a mere Patriarchal Archbasilica of the major kind, but I digress.
But look at the glorious Italian chaos in the midst of such splendor. Oh how I miss this. It fascinates me to no end still. It has to be the Italian in me!
But notice too, how the Holy Father is carried down steep steps in the sedia gestatoria! Wow!. It must be the only fun the pope has! It is scarier than a roller coaster! I kid you not!
I wonder how tomorrow's opening of the holy door will look compared to the splendid Roman Catholic chaos below?
16 comments:
How's the basilica application going for St. Joseph's?
For the opening of the Holy Door in 1983, Pope St John Paul II used the tripled-barred Leo XIII ferula, which looks magnificent in the photos (http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/crosses/papal.html). It would be nice to see it in use tomorrow, but that's pretty unlikely (though I wonder if Msgr Marini suggested it to the pope?).
I was wondering about the basilica application too, though I guess these things take a couple of years to go through all the approval stages.
You wonder what it will look like!
It's a stretch but let me guess. Francis will be in some cheap unlined excuse for a cope. He will be wearing that brown stripped mitre that goes with nothing. He will NOT kneel. He will be surrounded by Protestants, Jews, Muslims etc, and Kasper, Marx and Baldassati, Wuerl. Francis will speak on climate change and the evils of Catholic bishops who actually believe in the Catholic Faith and have been so mean to divorced people and the poor. Did you know that bishops who actually believe in the Catholic Faith hate poor people and actually kick them and refuse them food because they are too busy sitting on the chair of Moses judging other people. Call me psychic but I'm betting I hit the nail on the head. Oh and he will probably announce he is getting rid of mandatory celibacy for priests.
Wow, Anon 11:16, I can just imagine how pi**ed God would be about that UNLINED EXCUSE FOR A COPE !
I'm thinking that rather than you hitting the nail on the head, somebody might have hit you on the head.
I'm not calling you psychic. My good manners prevent me from calling you what I really think.
Anon 11:16 is wrong. Francis will be wearing clam diggers and a Harry Belafonte shirt. He will be surrounded by is favorite people , ie. poor divorced people living in adultery who are transgender Catholics who became Protestant.
God isn't p*ssed about a cope. He is probably upset about a pope trying to teach that adultery is fine.
Obviously God doesn't care about appearances.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+28&version=RSVCE
Has any group of people in history ever destroyed it's language, music, and symbols, to the extent, and with such breakneck speed, that our Popes and bishops have (during the past 50 or so years) in regard to Latin, Gregorian Chant, and the Church's "symbols" (as seen in the video that Father McDonald posted?
Pax.
Mark Thomas
It's really not too obvious here most of the time that "God doesn't care about appearances" Jon. A great deal of conversation goes on about lace and hats and vestments and outfits and costumes and buildings and railings and copes and tiaras and mantums and on and on.
I have upset folks here before by talking about what kinds of clothes Jesus might have worn... a bit shabby and frayed...needing washing...sort of stinky....
If He walked into many churches today, He'd probably get quite a few dirty looks.....
Gob and others of low intelligence, Priestly garments are not the same thing as everyday appearance apparel. They represent our glorifying God in our very best way as we are commanded to do in Scripture. If you do not think that God cares about the finer points of worship, then you need to re-read the Torah. The garments are for us, not God..they remind us of His majesty and might and of our need for His sovereignty. Our vestments, architecture, Church adornments, and liturgy cannot come close to what His Holiness demands, but we try to make it the best we can give because that is what we are commanded to do...not for God, but for us. Though these things may appear garish or ornate to some who do not understand, we are actually offering them in great humility for we know how little they are, after all, and how humbled we are before Him. They also remind us of the Glory that awaits us in the resurrection and in His Kingdom...if you believe in that sort of thing.
Well, Gob, I think you had better read Exodus and perhaps you might see that God does care about what priests wear - he set it all out when the ark of the covenant was set up in the tabernacle. Plenty of gold and finery mentioned there when it came to the Ark of the Covenant. And as regards vestments:
"And thou shalt speak to all the wise of heart, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s vestments, in which he being consecrated, may minister to me. 4 And these shall be the vestments that they shall make: A rational and an ephod, a tunic and a strait linen garment, a mitre and a girdle. They shall make the holy vestments for thy brother Aaron and his sons, that they may do the office of priesthood unto me. 5 And they shall take gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen. 6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen, embroidered with divers colours. 7 It shall have the two edges joined in the top on both sides, that they may be closed together. 8 The very workmanship also, and all the variety of the work, shall be of gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen."
And that's only the vestments - the gold and jewels God didn't stint on when it came to the Ark of the Covenant where He dwelt. You just prove that you don't know scripture at all. God is unchanging - do you think He expects anything less of his priests now than he did then? I don't think so.
I'd be very interested to know when you and your wife exchanged rings were they gold or made of pottery? or was it "No, no, only fine gold and diamonds for my beloved" and yet you appear to begrudge the finest to God ...
Much of the "finery" employed by prelates symbolizes earthly power and glory and was adapted by the Church from European royal courts. Jewels, gold and silver cloth, ostrich feather plumes have nothing to do with giving honor to God. Rather, they are intended to magnify the one who owns, controls, and uses them.
As to the requirements of Scripture, why are the commands that we forgive those who harm us, welcome those who are alien to us, feed those who are hungry, house those who are homeless, etc., set aside while we search for more twice dyed scarlet fabric with which to adorn our leaders?
Pope Kiril was right, as was Pope Paul VI. Sell the gee-gaws and feed the hungry.
Anonymous @ 7:46, It does not have to be either/or. It does not matter where the "finery" was borrowed or adapted from...the purpose in the Church is as I stated above. The first command of Scripture is to believe on Him who was sent, next, to repent and believe the Gospel, next is obedience. The rest follows from that but is not primary.
We can each follow whomever we wish or just try to find our own way. Some of you seem to choose to follow the men in the fancy outfits. It looks like Pope Francis wants to try to follow Jesus. I think I'll try to follow Pope Francis.
Basilicaship is moving very, very slowly at a snail's pace, with some procrastination for the past year, but eventually, God willing!
Anonymous @ 7:46 AM
Pope Kiril? So the Holy See is to now take advice from a fictional Pope(although one who sounds eerily similar in sentiment to our present Holy Father)? He of course is not to be confused with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. Can you believably conceive in your mind that the Patriarch would follow in the footsteps of this fictional Bishop of Rome and sell off the Holy Icons of the Russian Orthodox Church? Or Pope Francis sell off the Holy artifacts of the Catholic Church? All the great churches and cathedrals on Europe and elsewhere, and what they contain, the ornate vestments and altars, the royal finery, the silver and gold, are to be properly seen as our giving back to God (however inadequately) the best that we can from the work of our creative power and talent because He, being God is most worthy of this.
These things also exist to symbolize and represent to us something of the Glory of Heaven. As Gene commented above, these things serve to remind us of the Glory that awaits us in the resurrection and in God's Kingdom..
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