But it screams for the EF Mass and traditional altar candles arrangement.
UPDATE:And here it is thanks to Deacon Fritz Bauerschmidt, a nicer altar arrangement with an EF Mass.They do celebrate the EF Mass, FrMJK states they have a new organ only recently installed.
From “I’m fed up with ugly churches”: Little Flower Church in Richmond Heights (a suburb of St. Louis) Missouri. This round planned church was built in the late 1940's a few decades before the liturgical reforms and churches with this sort of design becoming widespread.
14 comments:
One positive is that the communion rail has been retained
Pierre--too right mate! The first thing I noticed was the communion rail! Kudos to the priests who have retained it.
I'm not much of a fan of "theater in the round" church buildings, but this building is rather striking, both inside and out. It doesn't look like an architectural experiment perpetrated by an atheist, but an actual church. Yet is also has a strangeness to it. If I drove by without seeing a sign, I might think it's a Rosicrucian Fellowship building or a Christian Science "church". Still, I like it.
Then again, who cares what I like?
Many years ago, I was visiting Petaluma, California, a charming town north of San Francisco. I wandered into the town's "big" parish church, St. Vincent de Paul. I was floored! It was not the MOST beautiful church I had ever been in, but it was profoundly lovely. But what really struck me was the statuary, the stained glass windows, the central tabernacle and the COMMUNION RAIL. My first instinct was to write to the bishop to thank him for preserving the Church and not going after some postconciliar wreckovation. I decided not to write however. The way things go in our church, that probably would have sent this church to the top of the list for "updating".
I was once in this church for a funeral many years ago. Whoever was the pastor who built it, was forward looking. It is different from most churches in the round, i.e. large solid altar, a prominent pulpit, which I hope they use, the communion rail, which I hope they use, many niches for statues of the saints, the stained glass and many side chapels. If I remember correctly, there is a side chapel dedicated to the Holy Souls. You hardly ever see that today, since of course when we die, we all go right to Heaven.
Appears Byzantine to me, with perhaps a dash of Americana Alamo for local flavor, but appears a holy place rather than airport terminal.
The Templars had round churches but they didn't plonk the sanctuary in the middle, which is a twentieth-century fashion.
The ciborium magnum in this church reminds me of a garden gazebo.
I'm not sure...
There is something intriguing about the design and the realization of that vision that does make me want to like it. And there are elements that I like very much such as the lancet arches, the ambulatory, the small chapels, and the use of what appears to be cast concrete to simulate cut stone. I also like very much the open back pews - they give a lightness to the space.
There is, though, a coldness about the overall effect, one that would be improved by using a color on the ceiling such as the blue that is used in what appears to be the Sacred Heart chapel. Most of the interior lighting seems to be that which is reflected from the torchiers - they are especially wonderful! - so I can understand not wahting to use a darker ceiling paint. But I bet a good lighting designer could come up with a solution that, with 2500 Kelvin LED lightng, would warm up the space greatly.
There's a YouTube video of the new Kegg Organ that has just been installed in the last week, and the acoustics of the place seem quite good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T3OqfnXW0E
You can get some idea of the preconciliar vibe by looking at their Sunday EF Mass: https://youtu.be/nJ02dezoUKk
Wow! Thank you Deacon Fritz.
Agree with Fr. MJK. To write more would only be to parrot his thoughts.
The new organ installation video was just posted 2 days ago.
The EF altar arrangement is a huge improvement.
I watched the video and didn't notice any guitars. The accompaniment sounded more like a harmonium or electronic keyboard. The small choir managed the Gregorian Introit but balked at the Gradual and Alleluia. They sang these to a simpler chant with a strong melodic outline.
I have no idea who composed these, but for relatively inexperienced singers they are a better bet than simply falling back on singing the Propers in psalm tone.
John you are right, my hearing must have been distorted but I went back and listened again and it isn't guitar.
Post a Comment