Interview with Dome Designer of the National Shrine

Some news on the home-front, but significant for the Church in America.

See the dome which is empty? The picture doesn't show it well - but it's by far the largest in the church. It is the last and final internal beautification project of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.

Local blogger William Newton interviews one of the CUA students competing to design it:

Ryan and his colleague, John-Paul Mikolajczyk, gained national attention for the liturgical furniture they designed, which was used by Pope Benedict XVI for the Papal Mass here in Nationals Stadium last April. Ryan is currently pursuing graduate studies in architecture at Catholic University of America.

Ryan and JP were recently short-listed as one of four entry finalists in a student competition for the conceptual design of the interior of the Trinity Dome of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception here in Washington, D.C. Images of their submission appear at the end of this interview. The Shrine, which was named a minor basilica in 1990, is the largest church in the Western Hemisphere. The enormous central Trinity dome remains unfinished on the interior of the church and is the subject of this competition, which will be decided on March 23rd.

[Read the interview and scroll down to the bottom for pictures of their proposal.]

The Dome Competition has its own page on the Catholic University of America website.

[Photo credit: mbell1975]

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!

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.

Pictures: Oakland's "Cathedral of Christ the Light" open to the public

This weekend the Diocese of Oakland opened its $190-million-dollar, Cathedral of Christ the Light [Wikipedia entry] to the public. Rocco has an extensive post about it. Because pictures are worth a thousand words...

Back view (?):

Top view:Crucifix: The bishop's coat of arms, as displayed in the cathedral behind his chair (see photo of the chair):(Click on pictures for image source)

See also pictures of the exterior cross, altar-in-the-round, and whatever-this-is.

And how did the San Francisco Chronicle decided to title its article on the new Cathedral?

"New Oakland cathedral aims to unify Catholics"

Well, at least some Oakland Catholics will now be able to feel unified with Catholics in Los Angeles.

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: Houston's New Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart

Houston's new Cathedral is first seeing the light of day:

A slideshow of 49 more pictures here. Whispers has thorough coverage. The $65m cathedral will be dedicated this Wednesday, with 60 bishops attending. This is the first "mother-church" dedicated since the "Taj Mahony" opened in 2002. Oakland's Christ the Light will be dedicated in late September 2008.

Pictures: A Tale of Two Cathedrals

Exhibit A: Oakland's Cathedral of Light:

Exhibit B: Houston's Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart:

(Not to get too punny, but you're welcome to draw your own conclusions.)

More from Rocco.

Now that's a Church.

Not to say that other churches aren't churches. But some certainly get closer to the ideal of "perfect church" than do others. Gerald would be pleased, I'm sure. And sure enough, this one is in Austria:

"Two priests pray in the church of the the monastery of Heiligenkreuz, south of Vienna during a media tour, on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007,. Pope Benedict XVI will visit the monastery during his three-day visit to Austria from Sept. 7 to 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Hans Punz)"

I love the name as well, Heiligenkreuz (="holy cross"). Here's its wikipedia entry. The church does indeed contain a relic of the True Cross, originating from Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, King of Jerusalem and given to duke Leopold V in 1182, who donated it to the monastery six years later. It was put on public display in 1983.

Video: The Transformation of an Altar

Fr. Z has an amazing find that I'd like to share with my readers. As he explains it:

This is a 5:25 length video of the transformation of a typical modernistic free-standing altar into a very beautiful ad orientem altar. The setting is a church in France where the FSSP are able to work. The French text says the transformation took 15 minutes. The video is accelerated. This could be VERY instructive for priests in parishes. VERY instructive. I recommend you make this little video known and loved.

The video, at the very least, shows the stark contrast between the modernist and traditional aesthetic and perhaps gives some hope of reclaiming beauty to those currently worshiping in desacralized churches.

Isn't that wonderful? The only thing I could hope for would be that the pews shown at the end of the video were chock full of the faithful. Oh well, in time.