Re: Re: reorganisation and destruction of irish catholic churches
@johnglas wrote:
searbh: My recollection of this practice is that it isn’t at all accidental and has deep theological roots. As many (but not all!) medieval churches were cruciform (cross-shaped) in imitation of Calvary, so the nave was seen as Christ’s body, the transepts as his outstretched arms and the choir as his head, inclined to one side after death. Perhaps a better expert than me can give you a fuller explanation, but that’s how I’ve always understood this ‘misalignment’.
gunter: Torphichen’s well worth a trip, if not a mass! (It’s in a quite Prod part of West Lothian.) As for Mr Myers – a ranter and I thought he was grossly unfair to Liam McCormick – you can crit his style, but many of his churches are an effort to achieve a ‘new vernacular’ for his times (although from what I’ve seen in illustration the interiors are a bit bare and disappointing, if dramatic).
On the subject of misalignment, Praxiteles has been looking around for an online version of William Durandus Rationale which may very well give you an exposition of its symbolism along the lines that Johnglas mentioned. So far, only book three has turned up which is posted as a preview of more to come:
