Press title above from actual article. Below is my astute commentary on selected photos:
You or your ancestors build this beautiful church:
Then a committee led by a misguided pastor says Vatican II mandated that the new and improved Liturgy had to have a sanctuary that conformed to the demands of Vatican II, so mega bucks are spent to throw out the old (anti Amoris Laetitia btw) and spend more mega bucks for the modern new and improved, which really isn't and really angered and alienated a significant number of parishioners who grieved the destruction of the original beauty of the church:
But then there was an attempt at improving the debacle a bit later and this money spending spree produced this better but still horrible look:
But then, because of Pope Benedict's "renewal in continuity" hermeneutic, the pastor gets mega bucks from his parishioners, which would not have been required if the new and improved had not been shoved down the throats of Catholics of the 1970's, who had lies told to them that Vatican II mandated that Catholic Churches had to be renovated for the new Liturgy and so they wasted their contributions for the renovation pictured above. But now with yet more money from generous parishioners they now have this, with the altar railing on the way:
My only question is this: was the old altar put into a basement all these years only to be brought back upstairs or is the altar and reredos a glorious new work duplicating the old. It appears to me to be A painted wood carving not marble. I am sure no one was angered or alienated by the current renovation.
10 comments:
The first attempt at "renovation" is clownish looking. Think of all of the money waste and heartache created by these misguided philistines. But thanks be to God that this awful trend is being reversed in many Catholic sanctuaries.
Wonderful restoration! While the main altar is worthy of comment, one should not ignore the restoration of the two side altars that match the style of the main altar.
Loving the side altars as well very traditional but where is the communion rail?? Does this church offer the TLM? The church before wreckovation looked very German or Polish Gothic from our immigrant ancestors who toiled with little they had money wise to build these beautiful churches to God only to be destroyed after Vatican II. Restore the TLM now!!
When studied closely, this is not the same altar. There are details in the original missing in the current and visa versa. The distinction is particularly noticeable if you study the inner turrets at the top of the reredos.
During the earlier part of the 1900s, particularly when wars and certain regimes made getting materials into the U.S. difficult to impossible, many sanctuary furnishings were made of spun fiberglass that was then marbelized. From a distance, they look stunning with amazing detail because you could effectively mold just about any shape. Up close, they lack the depth of natural stone. Pieces made this way will have significant heft. This possibly could be made of that material. Carved wood altars/reredos mostly originated in Germany/Poland and a significant number of these were stained with gold leaf. This was very common particularly in Polish churches up here in the northeast.
A parish near here, called a little jewel box by some tourists, was recovated but not near as bad as this, later pastor wondered in a sermon what ever happened to all the altar backs and fret work from the altars that he had seen in old pictures. Several weeks later according to him, an elderly penitent (long since deceased by the time of Fr Later telling this to me), came to confession and told him, Fr X told us men to take all the altar pieces out to a field and burn them, we hid them and burned scrap lumber, they are hidden in my barn, I can dig them out if you want, Then asked if he sinned by disobeying Fr X. Fr Later gave him absolution, but told him not to worry. Such was the trouble and distress caused by recovation, poor man said it had bothered his conscience for decades
By the way, this renovation is stunning. No issues whatsoever.
The previous renovation, not the worst that I've seen but, certainly was out of place here.
While I very much like Duncan Stroik's "recipe" for his designs, this....really it's a restoration, not a renovation, lacks the confusion and compromise of 2 altars , sacrifice and "repose" (excluding the liturgical considerations for a cathedral situation). To me, this is complete, back to where started and is a cohesive, properly ordered space.
The altar railing is on the way. I don't know about the EF there, I suspect it is since the altar can only accommodate ad orientem for both forms. So it seems to me that both forms would be celebrated there. Perhaps they have a portable altar that can come out for the OF facing the congregation if a priest or bishop insists on it.
A lot of churches and convents who are restoring their high altars have over the years found them in basements of churches or closed churches which the local Bishop would not mind giving them to traditional churches. Many are of the white Gothic marble made by immigrants or imported from Catholic Germany during the last two centuries. So many wonderful German Catholic Gothic churches in Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Ohio and Illinois.
Bee here:
I think this restoration is more beautiful than the original, which does not seem to have the lovely paintings on the walls behind and above the altar, or the crucifix in the center of the altarpiece. The one thing tragically missing is that very beautiful statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that was on the right side of the altar. I hope it's somewhere else in the church.
And it looks like they may have to do something about the sanctuary furniture too. But what an improvement this is!
And re: the Egyptian at August 18, 2020 at 12:31 PM who tells the story about the parishioner not burning the reredos of the original church as ordered, but hiding it...recently I commented on another post here, "The question remains why the implementation was so radical, causing huge destruction of the faith lives of many, and how clergy, regardless of the protests of the laity, acted like adult children of still living elderly parents deciding it was time to to toss all (or almost all) of their parents belongings because THEY (the kids) didn't like them. Time to update, mom and dad...you're living in the past! Time to throw out your junk!"
They threw out not only the material belongings (altars and reredos, beautiful ornate vestments, altar linens, statues, chalices, patens, monstrances, candlesticks, and accessories hit the dumpster,) but the spiritual and liturgical treasures as well. And just as in a family, not everyone sees that stuff as junk.
God bless.
Bee
Great news! This above mentioned parish of St.Wenceslaus in Wahoo Nebraska now has a 12:00 "Traditional Latin" Mass Deo Gratias!!! p.s. the communion rail is on its way too!
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