I love the tongue in cheek humour in that observation. On the other hand, that ugly cube thing and kindergartner level altar cloth decoration did deserve an obliteration.
God does speak, so you never know. I just read numbers 16 last night, and God clearly does not take the ordained priesthood lightly. I certainly will be more careful with blessed objects from now on.
If you look closely you will see that the high altar is also free-standing. The main altar in a cathedral quite often is, since the Blessed Sacrament is not reserved on or behind it.
The cube took a direct hit from the flèche but being a solid lump of granite it survived (unfortunately).
A lot of the 'medieval' features are 19th century pastiche, the work of Viollet-le-Duc who was a prominent Gothic revivalist who restored the cathedral after the ravages of two revolutions. The spire or flèche was his idea of what a medieval construction should look like.
This invites comparisons with AWN Pugin, although Pugin built from scratch (the Houses of Parliament and many Catholic churches).
KTO has put on YouTube a video showing the last service before the fire (weekday Vespers). It involved two clerics and a sole cantrix who sang psalms in French, without antiphons, to non-Gregorian melodies, with organ accompaniment (in Holy Week!). It was a performance, not a service, and quite frankly embarrassing.
It reinforces my point about the poor quality of the liturgy in ND. Those who remember how things used to be must weep. Westminster Cathedral has daily Vespers, and I can assure you that it is nothing like this. Admittedly Westminster has a choir school and lay clerks, but given the amount of money that will be spent on the restoration of ND some thought should be given to restoring what the cathedral was originally built for.
6 comments:
Deus Vult!
I love the tongue in cheek humour in that observation. On the other hand, that ugly cube thing and kindergartner level altar cloth decoration did deserve an obliteration.
God does speak, so you never know. I just read numbers 16 last night, and God clearly does not take the ordained priesthood lightly. I certainly will be more careful with blessed objects from now on.
So Father M wants the freestanding altar gone in such way from his church?
If you look closely you will see that the high altar is also free-standing. The main altar in a cathedral quite often is, since the Blessed Sacrament is not reserved on or behind it.
The cube took a direct hit from the flèche but being a solid lump of granite it survived (unfortunately).
A lot of the 'medieval' features are 19th century pastiche, the work of Viollet-le-Duc who was a prominent Gothic revivalist who restored the cathedral after the ravages of two revolutions. The spire or flèche was his idea of what a medieval construction should look like.
This invites comparisons with AWN Pugin, although Pugin built from scratch (the Houses of Parliament and many Catholic churches).
KTO has put on YouTube a video showing the last service before the fire (weekday Vespers). It involved two clerics and a sole cantrix who sang psalms in French, without antiphons, to non-Gregorian melodies, with organ accompaniment (in Holy Week!). It was a performance, not a service, and quite frankly embarrassing.
It reinforces my point about the poor quality of the liturgy in ND. Those who remember how things used to be must weep. Westminster Cathedral has daily Vespers, and I can assure you that it is nothing like this. Admittedly Westminster has a choir school and lay clerks, but given the amount of money that will be spent on the restoration of ND some thought should be given to restoring what the cathedral was originally built for.
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