Rhabanus
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@Praxiteles wrote:
Here we have three photographs of St. Finnbar’s in Bantry built 1837 by Brother O’Riordan
1. Shows the original interior of the church.
2. Shows the present interior of the church after a series of works carried out in the 1940s (which are unfortunate)
3. The outside viw of the church.
It would appear that the altar rails are also due for demolition in Bantry.
If only it could be restored to its pristine purity! The ceiling over the sanctuary seems odd, though, both in the original disposition and subsequently in the renovation of the 1940s. In fact, in the latter the ceiling, although arched, seems even lower than before. Had there been some kind of canopy or gallery over it in the original arrangement?
I wonder what happened to the panels that flanked the sanctuary. They were replaced later by stations of the cross. The side altars installed later do little to enhance the sanctuary. Perhaps the pulpit may turn up in the basement or in a garage nearby. One can only hope.
Can a moratorium on wreckovation of historic churches not be invoked?
@Praxiteles wrote:
Just get a look at this mouthful of guff published by Paddy Jones on the webpage of the National Center for Liturgy.
The extract is taken from the minutes of the 2006 meeting of the Liturgical Commission of the Irish Bishops Conference chaired by the bold bishop himself:
“The decision of An Bord Pleanála to refuse planning permission for the liturgical reordering of St Colman’]http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://www.liturgy-ireland.ie/gradua1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.liturgy-ireland.ie/liturgy-newsandviews.html&h=1536&w=2048&sz=168&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=upbEycWjec7BMM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522%2BSean%2BTerry%2522%2Bliturgy%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN[/url]
Whoever is paying the Guffmeister to bray on as he does is not getting his money’s worth – unless of course he is loooking for cheap entertainment.
Here is a striking example of the Guffer’s din: “The sanctuary designed in the 19th century is certainly inadequate.” By whose standard? The Guffster fails to point out exactly HOW the sanctuary of St Colman’s cathedral Cobh is “certainly inadequate” or by what criteria this charge is being made. Is the reader supposed to accept without question or comment this claim based, not on a well-reasoned argument invoking specific liturgical legislation or pointing to logistic inadequacies, but on the sole authority of Guffer Jones? Arguments based exclusively on authority are the weakest of all arguments. Interested readers would prefer an argument supported by facts, logic, and reason to the unsubstantiated claims of a surpliced Svengali.
Let’s consider some serious liturgical reasons for wreckovating Cobh cathedral. Is the diocese pullulating with so many candidates for the priesthood that the sanctuary affords inadequate space for so many prostrate bodies? If this were a real concern, then the candidates could prostrate themselves in the sanctuary and down the main aisle, using the aisle parallel to the Communion rail (where visible) for the overflow number of ordinandi.
Does liturgical legislation identify specific directions that leave Cobh cathedral in violation of liturgical law? Does the present arrangement prevent the sacraments and other spiritual goods of the Church being giving to the faithful? Just the facts, please.How, Paddy dear, is the sanctuary of Cobh cathedral CERTAINLY INADEQUATE for the liturgy of the Catholic Church today or tomorrow?
And what prattle will he be uttering after the coming motu proprio will have been issued in May 2007? Perhaps on that ground alone, Cobh cathedral may be the only cathedral in Ireland NOT in need of any renovation whatsoever. Never mind the dangers threatened by the cold snap of a distant winter, Prax. The dotards comprising the HACK may not survive the Second Spring.
Perhaps the Guffer agrees after all with Oscar Wilde’s Lady Bracknell: “I dislike arguments of any kind. They are always vulgar, and often convincing.”
Direct me to the “No Guff” zone, please.
@Praxiteles wrote:
Here is the Pastor of Liscarroll (the one in the middle).
And who is the striking figure on the pastor’s right (viewer’s left)? The Lord High Executioner? The Lord Bishop? Or The Lord High Everything Else? Whoever he may be, the mobile telephone attached to his belt denotes a personage of high importance.
Sicut invenitur in pagina sacra: “Ubicumque fuerit corpus, illuc congregabuntur aquilae.” (Mt 24:27)
Looks like a meeting of the local Sanhedrin. Do they often meet like this in the wilderness?
“When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?”–From Macbeth (I, i, 1-2)
I hope someone donates a few pence so that the doors can be sanded down, stained, and varnished.
The present colour of the doors appears to be purple. Is this in honour of “the fruit of the vine” or of “Barney the Dinosaur”? Is the pastor there on magic mushrooms? I should be more traumatised by entering through doors of that colour than might have been any of our medieval forbears by passing under the terrible scenes in stone relief of The Last Judgement over the portals of such magnificent cathedrals as that of St Mary Magdalen, Vezelay, FR.
Those scenes in all their medieval horror at least provoked timor Domini, rather than just turning the stomach in sheer revulsion.
How can the local parishioners stand idly by whilst this iniquitous scheme comes to fruition? Is rural Ireland in danger of losing its fight as well as its faith?
@Praxiteles wrote:
Praxiteles has just been given the attached rough drwaings of St. Joseph’s Church, Liscarroll, Co. Cork.
It is the next victim of the communistical Cloyne HACK.
The first picture shows the general layout at present.
The second one shows what the HACK wants to do to “communize” worship there: demolish the present sanctuary, the altar, the tabernacle and of course the Altar Rail.In their place comes the desolate sanctuary area (with the steps removed -just like WIll Dowsing), a central altar, chairs and the baptismal font right inside the front door (a fire-hazard?).
The original sacristy is to be demolished and replaced by a “L” building to incorporate meeting-rooms, etc (stange that they should need this with the school hall just next door).
@samuel j wrote:
Combine all that with madcap schemes by certain Bishops to waste time and peoples hard earned money and you alienate even those with Religious literacy…. not the way to go…….
Indeed. Vatican II called on all in the Church, prelates and people alike, to read the signs of the times and to give the appropriate witness. Perhaps with increasing age, more are afflicted by macular degeneration – or could it have been undiagnosed dyslexia – reaching back several decades?
@THE_Chris wrote:
Sad really, compare this ->
https://archiseek.com/content/attachment.php?attachmentid=4701&stc=1&d=1177522834
to this.
https://archiseek.com/content/attachment.php?attachmentid=4655&d=1176834980
🙁
Part of the problem of course is IGNORANCE gingered up by a generous dollop of arrogance and just a hint of malice. Has anyone read the results of polls recently conducted in Ireland, the UK, and the USA? Religious illiteracy, as the analysts indicate, gives rise to dire consequences in civil society. Architects, artists, and generally aware folk ought to sit up and take notice. I provide below the results of the poll, courtesy of Zenit, a rather worthwhile news agency (with free subscriptions!) working from Rome:
Religious Illiteracy
Ignorance a Growing ProblemROME, APRIL 23, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Religious ignorance, even of the most basic concepts, is on the rise according to some recent studies. In Ireland, once renowned for its Catholicity, a poll revealed that 95% of adolescents could not name the First Commandment.
The poll was carried out on a nationally representative sample of 950 people, by Lansdowne Market Research, for the Iona Institute and the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland. Information on the poll was released by the Iona Institute on April 9.
The results showed that knowledge of Christianity is highest among those over 65 and lowest among those in the 15-24 age group. For example, 77% of the over-65 group could name the authors of the four Gospels, but only 52% of those 15-24 could.
When it came to naming the three persons of the Holy Trinity, 76% of those over 65 got it right, but this dropped to 47% among those aged 15 to 24. Asked how many sacraments there are in the Catholic Church, 63% of the over-65 group correctly answered 7, but only 38% of the 15- to 24-year-olds got it right.
“Some knowledge of Christianity should be part of general knowledge because Ireland has such a deep Christian heritage,” commented David Quinn, director of the Iona Institute in the April 9 press release.
“From a Church point of view, there is obviously a correlation between knowledge of the faith, and practice of the faith,” he added.
The poll results sparked off a debate over what to do about religious education. John Carr of the Irish National Teachers Organization called for an overhaul of the religious education system, and the introduction of an instruction in specific faiths, reported the Irish Times newspaper April 14.
The article also reported that Brendan O’Reilly, national director of catechetics for the Church, admitted that the current religious education programs, which date back to the 1970s, are in need of review. He said they are working on a new syllabus, due to be completed in about 18 months.
According to another report also published in April, this time in England, one-third of the adult population has no contact with any church, apart from baptisms, weddings and funerals. “Churchgoing in the U.K.” was published by Tearfund, an agency working in the field of relief and development. The organization works in partnership with Christian churches.
Half Christian
The report is based on a representative poll of 7,000 adults. In general the report found a split between personal belief and involvement in a church. Many Britons declare themselves Christians, and high percentages of people say they pray with some degree of regularity. Yet, this does not translate into a regular religious practice in terms of participating in a church.
Among the highlights are the following points.
— Christianity is the predominant faith in the United Kingdom with 53% of adults claiming to be Christian. Other faiths account for 6%, and 39% claim to have no religion.
— Figures for those who actively practice are lower, with 7.6 million, 15% of the adult population, attending church monthly. This includes 4.9 million who go weekly. If what the report terms “fringe and occasional churchgoers” — 5 million adults — are added, then 26% of adults in the United Kingdom go to church at least once a year.
— On a regional level, among those who attend on at least a monthly basis Northern Ireland had the highest level of regular churchgoers, at 45% of adults. Then there is a big drop to the next-highest, Scotland, coming in at 18%. England follows, with 14% and Wales is last, with 12%.
— In England, the city of London stands out, with 20% of the adult population being regular churchgoers.
— Two-thirds of adults in the United Kingdom, 32.2 million people, have no connection with church at present, or with another religion. This group is evenly divided between those who have been in the past but have since left — 16 million — and those who have never been in their lives — 16.2 million.
“This secular majority presents a major challenge to churches,” the report comments. Of this group the study found that the great majority, 29.3 million, “are unreceptive and closed to attending church; churchgoing is simply not on their agenda.”
This challenge is also set to increase over time. Older people are more likely to belong to the Christian faith. Three-fourths of those 65-74, and 82% of those over 75 are Christians, compared with an average 53%. Only one-third of those 16-34 are Christian, and for those aged under 45 the nonreligious outnumber Christians. Regular churchgoing plummets to only 10% of those 16-24.
The report did, however, reveal that there are opportunities for the churches, if only they can work out how to reach those who are open to participating. Based on the poll results, among adults who have no experience of church attendance, there are 600,000 who are open to going in future. While of the group who have left a church there is a sizable number, 2.3 million, who are also prepared to return in the future.
Faith formation
The United States also came in for a critical look at the state of religion with the publication in March of the book “Religious Literacy” by Boston University professor Stephen Prothero. In general, he says, Americans have a higher level of church attendance than in other Western countries. Nevertheless, they do not fare so well when it comes to religious knowledge.
The book cites a number of polls and other material revealing similar findings to those discovered in Ireland. Thus, while 20 million bibles a year are sold in the United States, many people are unable to name the authors of the Gospels or one of the apostles.
Similarly, they run into difficulties when asked to list at least five of the Ten Commandments. Ignorance is even more prevalent when people are asked about any of the non-Christian religions.
Prothero warns that religious illiteracy is more dangerous than other forms of ignorance, given religion’s important role in culture and as a force in the world. Whether we want to understand the past, or contemporary debates ranging from bioethics to foreign policy, we need to have some knowledge of religion.
Religion, Prothero argues, will be one of the “key identity markers,” of the 21st century. In a nutshell: You need religious literacy in order to be an effective citizen.
When it comes to identifying the causes of religious illiteracy, Prothero attributes it to a variety of causes. In academic circles, the culture tends to be persistently skeptical of religion, so both textbooks and classes tend to ignore religion, thus leaving students ignorant of religion’s role.
Churches too have played a part. Religious education in recent decades in many of the Christian denominations has left a lot to be desired, favoring the touchy-feely over imparting a solid knowledge of the Bible and doctrine. Parents also come in for criticism from Prothero, for not instructing their children sufficiently in religion.
One of the ways to overcome religious illiteracy, Prothero recommends, is to focus on secondary schools and colleges. Teaching religion in public schools should not be seen as breaching the Church-state divide. This teaching would be of a civic, not moral, nature, in order to ensure a basic education in Christianity and major world religions.
For those who have already finished school, then he urges them to see the attainment of religious knowledge both as a personal challenge and a civic duty. Recommendations that one can only hope will not fall on deaf ears.
ZE07042329@Praxiteles wrote:
The picture of the sanctuary of Christ the Saviour in Moscow shows quite clearly just how much nonsense it is to suggest that the Altar must be “hugged” in order to have “a particiopative and fruitful liturgy”.
The liturgical ideologues cannot explain to us how the Orthodox can have a truly participative liturgy when the altar cannot even be seen and the central doors that you seen in the picture are close and the curtains drawn.
The iconography of the ceiling of the chancel is also interesting: it depicts teh Holy Spirit’s life giving activity on the church below. The figure of the dove is surrounded by the Apostles and the saints in heaven. The sme iconographic scheme is to be seen in the ceiling of Michaelangelo’s dome in St. Peter’s in Rome.
Unfortunately, this transcendent aspectof the liturgy is totally lost in the mundane, banal, mutual-back-scratching-navel-gazing trumpery oficially promoted by the likes of the materialist Cloyne HACK!
Note, too, that the Eastern churches (Orthodox and Catholic alike) have retained the venerable custom, ruthlessly discarded by Western know-alls, of veiling the sacred; hence altars, tabernacles, sanctuaries, evangeliaries, clergy, nuns, bridal couples, are all veiled – not out of shame but out of reverence and love!!
The new iconoclasts delight in stripping everything: altars, pulpits, tabernacles, sacred persons. The only object to have escaped their violence seems to be brides. How long this custom will prevail in the materialist, narcissist, and pragmatic climate now in vigour remains to be seen. The bottom line with these HACKs is formlessness at all cost and the eradication of the sacred. THIS MUST BE OPPOSED. THE SACRED MUST BE REDISCOVERED AND HONOURED.
@Praxiteles wrote:
Vicino da Ferrara’s Crucifixion of 1465/70
Of course there is always the famous Tree of Life in san Clemente, Rome, which depicts Christ on the arbor vitae flanked by Our Lady and St John.
@Fearg wrote:
Former Pulpit from Armagh Cathedral:
In Situ:
[ATTACH]4659[/ATTACH]
and this is what became of it (think its part of the canopy):
[ATTACH]4660[/ATTACH]
Is that a pair of overalls suspended from within the tester? The once-beautiful marble appears to have been scorched. Had a fire occurred in Armagh Cathedral? Or might the canopy have provided a sheltering lea for some vagrant’s bonfire.
This is an utterly damning photograph.
@james1852 wrote:
I agree totally with you Rhabanus, everything you say can apply to Ireland too.
Friends in Australia confirm similar trends there, but Cardinal Pell, the archbishop of Sydney, is making a serious impact at least in Catholic education and bioethics. Unlike many ecclesiocrats, he is eminently capable of thinking “outside the box” and approaches challenges in creative and interesting ways.
In addition to his outstanding contributions in strengthening Catholic education and addressing pressing questions on bioethics in Oz, Cardinal Pell has been chairing the Vatican’s Vox Clara committee, which is supervising the accurate translations of the liturgy submitted by a newly revamped International Commission on English in the Liturgy [ICEL]. His plan is to have Pope Benedict XVI inaugurate the newly translated Mass at World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney. Then, at long last, the Catholic faithful in the English-speaking world will be able to hear an accurate translation of the Latin response Et cum spiritu tuo to the Pope’s greeting: “The Lord be with you.”
A courageous man who brings intelligence, moral integrity, and wit to his high office, Cardinal Pell has become a national figure in Australia and is renowned the world over as a prominent Catholic leader. It would behoove some of the Obadiah Slopes of today’s clerical society to take a leaf from Pell’s hefty tome, leave off being such cringing lickspittles to the secular agenda, and start challenging the insipid nostrums of the times. After all, isn’t the role of the Church to be a thermostat rather than a thermometer? Otherwise, what’s the point of it?
@THE_Chris wrote:
Why do they often put structures in front of stained glass windows? Seems the height of daft to me.
Barbarism: the combination of ignorance and arrogance lashing out against intelligence, design, and order.
Occasionally the absurd notion conveniently styled “political correctness” sticks a spanner into the works, as is evident in recent bowdlerisations of hymns and liturgical prayers.
In the 1960s and 70s a sustained animus against “stained glass windows” resulted in the actual “boarding up” of sets of stained glass windows in North America. One striking example of this barbarity occurred in one of the chapels in the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. These windows have only just recently been uncovered to reveal a series of saints portrayed in beautiful stained glass. The reaction against stained glass manifested itself in the use rather of “coloured glass” without the details involved in actual “stained glass.” Here naive, unprofessional “folk” art was preferred to the excellence of a centuries-old genre of art. In some cases not only was coloured glass used, but also chunks and lumps of amber or alabaster were simply bunged into place and stuck there by lead or some other substance. Iconography was rejected in favour of amorphous blobs arranged in incohate sunbursts or blob bursts. One seminarian in the 1980s described the overall effect in rather graphic terms. “It looks as though Walt Disney threw up.” And so it did.
In most parts of the western world, the 1960s and 70s witnessed a wholesale rejection of authority (religious, civil, political, educational, ecclesial) marked by a concomitant decline in moral, artistic, cultural, and professional standards. The result is the chaotic mess we now face in the Church, civil society, health care, and daily business. Perhaps things have not declined in Ireland with such rapidity, but Canada and England have an appallingly derelict health care system and one can scarcely transact any business on Monday morings or Fridays. The decline in church attendance in those countries is taking a huge toll inasmuch as few children attending Catholic schools are actually being educated in the Catholic religion – how can it be conveyed in Catholic schools when the majority of those employed as instructors are living in irregular unions and themselves do not fulfill their religious obligations? Nemo dat quod non habet.
You have seen the disarray of ecclesiastical authority in Ireland, It is by no means confined to the Emerald Isle.
How could a pastor of souls commission the boarding up of part of a chancel window of high artistic and historical quality? The answer may be too chilling to take on an empty stomach. I suspect, though, that at least part of this answer has its roots in “The Age of Aquarius.”
John Paul II called for a re-evangelisation of the west. Not a bad place to start. If the Church is to experience the second spring which that great pontiff anticipated, then those who value art, beauty, order, and truth had better step up to the plate and start batting. Who’s on first?
@Praxiteles wrote:
It turns out that the chancel window seen in the photograph was installed in 1886 and is by Mayer of Munich as are the Stations of the Cross erected at the same time.
At the present time the chancel window looks odd. The reason being that a wall was built in front of it in the 1970s -as part of a particularly bad reordering- which obscures at least six feet of the lower part of the window.
AHA!! Now this clarifies much. If you will recall, I criticised the present dimensions when the chancel window of St Mary’s Buttevant first appeared on this thread. I complained that the figures are placed too low in relation to the window’s arch. The additional six feet of window below the figures would resolve the problem quite nicely.
Glad to learn that it wasn’t just my imagination.
Anyone have photos of the window in its pristine condition?
@corcaighboy wrote:
Interesting….his reassignment would certainly ease some of the tension and allow for a return to something approaching normality. A fresh start…let’s hope so!
A blessed relief for all concerned.
@Praxiteles wrote:
Just what is the matter with these morons who allow such degenerative processes to go unchecked. For a moment I thought this photograph came from Cobh Cathedral….
Again, more irresponsibility on the part of the local authoroites vis-a-vis the fabric of the cathedral.
Oughn’t the faithful and committed clergy to combine efforts to inaugurate a national society for the preservation of church fabric in Ireland? Qui custodiant custodes?
As for Fearg’s observation about the rose in the north transept of Monaghan being off-centre, I suspect that this is so because, as mentioned much earlier on this thread, in medieval liturgical reckoning the north was associated with destruction (often in the form of Viking or other barbaric invaders), obsolescence (figures of the Old rather than the New Testament), and imperfection awaiting redemption. The Gospel was proclaimed in the direction of the north in the teeth, as it were, of the devil himself. This constitutes a shift in perception from the patristic era when, according to St Cyril of Jerusalem (Mystagogical Catechesis I, the west represented the region of the devil (and the decline of light), whereas the east represented Paradise, the sun serving as a natural icon for the risen Christ. Hence the Christian practice of celebrating the Eucharist in the direction of the Risen Lord (Oriens) who will come at the end of time as Judge of the living and the dead. The Church turns in joyful expectation of this Second Coming when the Sun of Justice, Jesus Christ, will reveal Himself in the full resplendence of His sacred Majesty.
Has anyone photos of the stencilwork that presumably adorned the walls of the clerestory and nave of Monaghan?
What a pity that the sanctuary was gutted.
The disintegration of the floor mosaics both in Monaghan and Cobh calls for deliberate measures.
@Praxiteles wrote:
The Chapel in Markree Castle – which seems to have a new paint scheme.
I presume that the chapel is about to be the venue of someone’s wedding. Hence the choir cluttered with seats, each row marked by a white rose.
On the altar (covered with a vaguely ironed white horse-blanket rather than a frontal or antependium) stands the infamous “marriage candle” contraption. Having spotted, in an earlier photo, this johnny-come-lately incursion into the rite of matrimony, I had chosen the better part of valour and drew a discreet curtain of charity across it. Now that it has cropped up yet again 🙁 , however, I now feel duty-bound to denouce this bit of liturgical gimmickry.
The duffers and the guffers will wax on eloquently about the significance of this new-fangled contrivance. If this newly-minted “tradition” is followed to the letter, the mothers of the bride and of the groom are each supposed to place a lighted candle (taper) on the candelabra shortly after marching down the aisle before the pageant really gets off the ground by the entrance of the bride. The individual tapers blaze throughout the introductory rites, the liturgy of the Word, and the exchange of vows. Once the vows have been pronounced and the rings blessed and exchanged, the bride and groom are to approach the altar of sacrifice, take the candle placed there by their respective mothers and together light the central candle (usually a pillar candle) which is sometimes called the Christ-candle. They may either extinguish the tapers or replace them in their original position, pro opportunitate, depending on local custom, the liturgical season, the pronouncement of the national episcopal conference, the whim of the pastor, or the capacity of the bride and groom.
Quite apart from the mess made by all the wax drippings on the altar cloth, the frontal (or horse-blanket), the priestly vestments, the bridal gown, the sanctuary rug or floor, etc., this ‘little rite within the rite’ is expensive. The purveyors of ‘holy hardware’ sell this frippery for a pretty penny, and one can only just hear them snicker up their french cuffs when they see the pastor, or worse the bridal couple, turning up to cart off more pillar candles and tapers.
I am dismayed that there have not been more conflagrations caused by this device, given its proximity to veils and vestments no less than its natural proclivity to tip over from having been set nervously in place by the trembling hands of the bridal couple.
Whatever happened to REAL traditions in the marriage ritual? – such as the priest wrapping his stole round the hands of the couple after the vows, as he states “What God has joined, let no man put asunder” or having the bridegroom and bride set the ring first on their partner’s thumb until the words “In the name of the Father,” then move it along to the forefinger “and of the Son,” then the middle finger “and of the Holy Spirit” and then finally on the ring finger: “Amen.”
My theory is this: once the guffers strip away the truly symbolic elements of the rite, they feel the urge to fill the void with something else – usually something of their own contrivance, which causes more work and expense for others.
These types never seem able to work with an established “script” – they need to improvise, then they canonise their own aberrations and quirks.
“What a lot of nonsense!”
@Praxiteles wrote:
Here is a picture of the interior of the Chapel at Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. It was built in 1839 to specifications by Patrick Byrne who had consulted A.W.N. Pugin on the design of the chapel. The High Altar encases a pietà by John Hogan and is flanked by two angels also by Hogan. Does anyone have any idea as to it present condition – if for no other reason than the fact that Mother Teresa of Calcutta began her religious life here in 1928.
Were the statues of Our Lady Immaculate and St Joseph always in their present location? Would they not have had their own altars, perhaps in lateral chapels down the nave? The colours of the statues are gentle and subtle. Nevertheless, they seem to be slightly out of place in these corners.
The marble work in the sanctuary is admirable. The mosaic of the triumphal arch, too, frames the sanctuary quite handsomely.
The priedieux or prayer desks are an improvement over the pews in Kylemore.
Is that a carpet on the floor of the nave?
@Praxiteles wrote:
Here we have a view of the interior of the cothic chapel at Kylemore Abbey andnwhat has happened to its interior:
Re Kylemore in its present get-up:
Are visitors supposed to be impressed that the remodellers somehow like Victoriana? – note the potted palms arranged as though this were a neoGothic conservatory or solarium. The triptych missal stand could substitute as a music stand. Flute and cello duet, anyone,? Let me ring for Jeeves to fetch the tea and little cakes.
Oh Guinevere!!!
I think ake’s take on it says it all.
@Gianlorenzo wrote:
The section of the Guidelines relating to the Catholic Church were drawn up under the guidance of Fr. Paddy Jones, Bishop John Magee and some friends following a number of meetings they had with the then Minister Martin Cullen. All very cozy.
As for steaming into battle, the church authorities in Cobh never really entered into battle in any meaningful sense as they were so confident they would get their way. They believed this up until June 2nd last year when the ABP ruling finally came out. If you were at the hearing in Midelton you will have seen that they made no attempt whatsoever to answer any of the points put up by An Taisce, The Georgian Society or the Friends. They saw no need to explain what they meant by “Liturgical Requirement”, and appeared confident that the Guidelines they had been involved in writing would be sufficient to win the day.
It is one of the stranger aspects of this whole saga that never has any member of the diocesan clergy felt the need to explain to the people what they meant by Liturgical Requirement – they just kept repeating the phrase as if that sufficed in itself.I wonder whether Tautology 101 may not have been one of the cumpulsory courses at Maynooth.
Didn’t one of the rectors of that place upset the apple cart and retire to the west coast – not of Ireland but of a strange land across the sea?
Just take a look at the quadrangle in what was once the glory of the Irish priesthood. They ought to name it Tautological Gardens.
@Praxiteles wrote:
Here are some shots of the interior of Holy Trinity in Adare, Co. Limerick.
Unfortunately, the plaster was inexplicably removed from some of the walls in the 70s(80s
Most interesting.
Palms:
full marks for the elegant silvern Rood (Crucifix flanked by the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist).
stately high altar
scrollwork over triumphal arch: Quam dilecta tabernacula tua Domine Deus virtutum “How lovely are thy dwelling places O Lord God of Hosts” Ps 83 (84)
veiled tabernacle
candlesticks on the retable (with protection of the flame from back draft)
slender pinnacles in silver admitting light from the east window
beautiful stencilwork on the ceiling of the sanctuary
communion rail
even the new altar looks like an altar instead of a disproportionately square butcher’s block.
plaster in the central aisle of the nave between the arches: great potential here for stencilwork and medallions of apostles or saints.rocks:
removal of the plaster in the sanctuary and on the walls of the outer aislesneeds a competent architect to restore its full glory.
Where is James 1854? His firm would be an ideal place to start on this restoration.
