www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall This is a Catholic Cathedral?

Now, that looked like a sacred space!

THIS is GORGEOUS!

This gives new meaning to the phrase "HOUSE of the Lord" Click on the words "slide show"...

http://www.popejohnxxiiiparish.com/

Yes, I know, I have been there a couple of times over the years. It is okay inside despite being round. The altar is visible from all vantage points. It was originally supposed to have revolving pews!!!

The old stained glass icons are kept downstairs, because they are works of art, belonging to one of the most famous architects of the United States, despite being works of art that are not particularly pleasing to the traditional Byzantine eye...though, if I remember correctly, they weren't horrific.

Frank Lloyd Wright agreed to designing the church because his wife was Russian Orthodox.

Alice

Did anyone ever see the monstrosity errected by himself JPII.
Believe it was called Nova Huta. I dont really see what architecture has to do with Orthodox Faith. Its Faith not the building.
We are after all living in a new millenium.
Stephanos I

Re: Paddy's Wigwam
This is an earlier project [holywhapping.blogspot.com], and this is what the Anglicans built [en.wikipedia.org].

Re: Taj Mahoney
This is an alternative proposal [holywhapping.blogspot.com] (post factum).

I was watching a show about India the other day on the Travel Channel and the travelers went into a B'hai "cathedral" ... on the outside it looks like a lotus flower and on the inside it looks a lot like this.

So this Cathedral is a mix between the Crystal Cathedral and a B'hai temple. And it is pretty ugly to top it all off.

Sad.

It is also interesting to note that in the book about Mother Angelica and EWTN, Raymond Arroyo mentions that Mother Angelica built the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament (including the cloister and both the upper and lower churches) for $50 million dollars. A truly beautiful sacred space that reflects the Catholic Mass and the purpose of the Mass. And it was considerably less expensive that the monstrosity in the original article.

If this thread interests you, I highly recommend reading Michael Rose's book:

"Ugly As Sin: Why They Changed Our Churches from Sacred Places to Meeting Spaces and How We Can Change Them Back Again"

Here is a link to the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Ugly-As-Sin-C...mp;s=books&qid=1182265105&sr=8-1


Monomakh

I have been told it is an expression of the theology of the church, like the liturgy and icons.

If one is solidly, solidly, grounded in the spiritual life, surely they can reach out to Heaven and to our God even within the unembelished confines of a jail cell.

A church, however, is not supposed to be a space like that. It is supposed to be a space that transcends earth and enables those who come seeking God, and who may not be fully grounded in their faith and spiritual life, the opportunity to experience the sacred.

One of the great attractions of the Roman Catholic faith has always been the great reverence of its liturgy and sacraments, and the beautiful pageantry and spaces devoted to God.

When that is taken away, as it is in many places, one is left with nothing more than a Calvanist type temple. However, the spirituality and approach of Catholicism is very different from that of such Protestant denominations.

I know personally, the difference I felt at a RC church in the 'nouveau auditorium' shape and style which had electric candles and only a huge crucifix to decorate its space, and the difference I feel when I am in St. Patrick's Cathedral. When one enters the latter, one immediately senses that they are in a sacred and special place...a place of great hush, great reverence, great awe, and deep prayers. The holiness I have experienced in that great edifice is incomparable...tourists walking in awe and reverence, looking at all the small chapels of saints with their tasteful stone sculptural figures and real votive candles, and faithful from all walks of life, sitting, gazing, praying, meditating....

I remember the first time I brought my daughter there when she was about five years old. This little girl had already been to churches in Greece, and ofcourse in New York where we live. Upon entering, she gasped "this is the most beautiful church I have ever seen". Such is the immediate feeling of the Divine that an ecclesiastical space is supposed to invoke.

Just my two cents, because I always loved the traditional RC churches I have visited in many countries, and am dismayed that those in this country who have been born into the faith, (unlike me who is an outsider), have no love for their beautiful architectural and religious artistic patrimonies.

Alice

P.S. In Greek Orthodox churches that have mimicked the awful 1960's and 70's modern styles that the RC suburban churches embraced so readily, there have been efforts to restore touches of the traditional as much as possible. Why don't the RC churches, for instance, commission beautiful stone statuary, medieval religious tapestries, and stained glass windows, etc. to place inside the churches. The eclectic look of modern w/traditional can be done quite beautifully and successfully.

Ahh yes, the whale carcass project. I forgot that this was taking place in Oakland.

Give me 1% and I'll build them a real Cathedral.

Gordo

Zenovia,

I heard the statue referred to once as "Our Lady of Vulcan"...


Gordo

Personally, I think it looks like a Jawa Sandcrawler. I made that observation on a blog this morning, and someone created this:

[Linked Image]



Gordo

As a fan of the newer Star Trek series, I can appreciate that!

Alice

Dear Joe,

My cousin's father-in-law was the architect that approached Frank Lloyd Wright. They did not believe that he would accept the project, but he did. It seems his wife was a Russian Orthodox. My cousin said that the church cost $1,000,000, which at that time was a phenominal amount of money.

Now this should be interesting! The church, according to Wrights design, was to have four large motors turning the dome during the liturgy. Each motor would have cost $1,000,000, so it was never completed. Thank heaven!

The last time I visited, I found out that Wright was not too smart an architecture. Considering that he became well known for having designed the building that survived the Tokyo earthquake, he didn't have the sense to realize that Milwaukee doesn't have the climate to sustain a concrete dome. Every few years, they have to pay a quarter of a million dollars to have it repaired.

As for the icons on the iconostasis, I'm not too fond of the one's that were placed there by the priest. I don't recall the old one's of Frank Lloyd Wright, but some of our more current iconographer's works, would have blended better with the interior.

I know that you haven't been inside, but the church is basically all balcony. Everyone is assured of being able to see the liturgy. It holds about 1,000 people and is blue and gold...or so I recall. I think it's beautiful, although I'm not sure if it can be considered a Byzantine church.

God Bless,

Zenovia