Pictures: Dedication of Magnificent Thomas Aquinas College Chapel

One photo begins to tell the story:

Good heavens that's a gorgeous sight!

More from eyewitness AmP reader James Layne (photograph credit - Tommy Duffy):

[There was a] Solemn High Mass offered at Thomas Aquinas College after the dedication of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel. There is a picture also of the dedication Mass (Coutesy of Thomas Aquinas College), as well as a link to find more pictures of that Mass. Saturday the dedication Mass was offered and Sunday a Solemn High Mass was offered by Father John Berg, Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter with Bishop Cordileone in Choir. The 11 a.m. Ordinary Form Mass was offered by Bishop Cordileone liturgically ad orientem (facing the altar) in Latin. [More on his blog, Faithful Rebel.]

What an honor to have new Churches of such beauty dedicated to the glory of God on our shores!

"Pope Benedict calls on society to reconnect beauty to truth and goodness"

You know, if society has some free time this week:

Although the world is immersed in images, it can be empty of beauty, Pope Benedict said today in a message he sent to the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts and Literature as it explores the relationship between aesthetics and ethics.

... Pope Benedict also calls on contemporary reasoning to rediscover the link between beauty, truth and goodness. "And if such a commitment applies to everyone," the Pope asserts, "it applies even more to believers, to the disciples of Christ, who are called by the Lord to 'give reasons' for all the beauty and truth of their faith." (CNA)

Which reminds me....

Picture: Medieval Catalan Pantocrator Art

The Blog of the Courtier has an interesting post on the history of the Pantocrator theme in the art of the Catalan Pyrenees in the medieval ages. My favorite:

More here.

Of course, my personal favorite Pantocrator is in Florence, Italy. I took a photo of it when I had the opportunity of seeing it in person a few years ago, and subsequently turned it into a desktop wallpaper. If only the shot hadn't turned out slightly fuzzy. I am rather pleased it somehow is featured on the first page of Google Image search when you look for "Catholic wallpaper." I think it's a good entry.

Has anyone else discovered beautiful Catholic desktop wallpapers? Drop a link in the combox!

Oakland Cathedral revisited: "There is no prayer there"

The comment thread on my original post about Oakland's new "Cathedral of Light" has about 90 comments at this point. My editorial observations were minimal, but that didn't stop several people from claiming positions for me (and strongly disagreeing with ... the positions they thought I held).

This thoughtful post by "Vitruvian Duck" gets closer to identifying the concerns I had when I first saw pictures of the cathedral. He received his Masters degree from the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, one of the best (if not only) classical schools of (Church) Architecture in the country.

He visited Oakland recently and made observations philosophical and personal:

"... of modern society we can say 'there is no prayer there'. Men and women bustle about downtown skyscrapers, office workers drone on in the vast oceans of concrete found in office parks across the country.

Rarely, if ever, do they hear the ringing of the bells marking the liturgy of the hours. Rare is the visual reminder that they are called to higher things as they drive past a church, and when we build churches like the new Cathedral of Christ the Light, we are accentuating the problem. Our churches are not inviting people into them. Most of the time, people don't even know what that building is, and what it's for. 'Is it a dentist's office?' 'Is it a museum?' 'Is it a hospital?' 'Oh, that's a church?! I never would have guessed!'

... during the 2 hours or so we were exploring the Cathedral, I didn't see a single person in prayer. Not so surprising. I don't feel compelled to pray at office buildings, either."

Christians are called to be salt and light to the world (Mt. 5:13-16), and I just can't help but feel that this Cathedral of Light is salt that has lost its flavor.

Ph/t: Margaret Cabaniss of Inside Catholic.

Picture: Thomas Aquinas College's beautiful chapel

Can you believe a church this beautiful is currently under construction in the United States?

We have Thomas Aquinas College to thank. More photos here.

Picture: Mangificent Church in Oxford

Your moment of liturgical zen, brought to you by the New Liturgical Movement:

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