Yesterday I wrote about one parish’s innovative and very Catholic approach to Vocation Bible School, and soon afterward I found that my own parish–actually just one parish north here in the Diocese of Arlington–had been featured recently on the mystery worship shopper website Ship of Fools.
It’s pretty rare to see an all-positive review of a parish on the website, but the mystery worshipper was apparently thoroughly pleased with her experience.
Particularly gratifying was the juxtaposition of elements that some would like to keep asunder: friendliness, concern for the poor, art, the pipe organ, and solid preaching.
You don’t need to have guitars to be friendly, if you have priests who take plenty of time after Mass to talk to everyone and get to know them. And in this parish, stained glass windows and hospitality for the homeless go hand in hand.
The photos accompanying the article are “before” photos that don’t take into account the recent sanctuary renovations, as documented on NLM a few years ago.
St. Mary’s is an old and pretty parish by American standards, and in a nice area, but the standards it sets for excellence are not governed by those circumstances. What is important here is having everything that is good and Catholic, all at the same time. There are those liturgical activists who would like to oppose concern for the poor against formality in worship, or friendliness against beauty, or welcoming against doctrine. That’s not at all necessary, and hasn’t been in the Catholic Church, ever.
We truly can have it all.
"We truly can have it all." If only in reverse. The statues of Joseph and Mary belong on opposite sides, as do the ambo and sedilia. (I'm just up the road. All they had to do was call and ask.)
SS. Peter and Paul in downtown Detroit was built as the in 1848 and was also the Cathedral for a time. It has a Marian side altar on the right and a Josephine side altar on the left. There seems to be no hard and fast rule on the placement of such statues, and there are numerous other instances of the Marian altar or statue to the right, with Joseph to the left. If you think differently, please cite the authoritative regulations.
Charles:
Much of the Roman liturgical tradition did not rely on "authoritative regulations," but was governed by customary law. I couldn't tell you which books I saw or read from the time I was preparing for First Communion more than fifty years ago, where it was always portrayed that way. I suspect there are exceptions, which is why I wish I could cite something. Now you know why I didn't feel the need to before now. Thanks for responding.
DLA
Actually, the placement of the Sanctuary statues is not an error. Historically, it replicates the placement dating back to the 1827 church and the subsequent renovations of the 1860s and 1880s under the hand of local architect and parishioner, Phillip Dwyer. The firm of Gardiner Hall (North Bethesda, MD) shows this comprehensive renovation on their website — http://www.gardinerhall.com/Pages/ecclesiastical…. — but one must scroll down to the middle of the extensive ecclesiastical portfolio.
Should you wish to know more about the original history — http://www.amazon.com/St-Marys-Catholic-Alexandri… — this volume contains the very early photo documentation showing the placement of the devotional altars in the church. Alas, the Gothic tracery was lost to earlier post-Vatican II "recovations" when the church was under another diocesan jurisdiction. The history is also available from the parish Rectory office (703-836-4100, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekdays) for much less than the price quoted on Amazon.
THE CHANT MUSIC SOUNDS GOOD, BUT REMEMBER', CATHOLICS ARE "NOT " THE SINGING TYPE, THEY LIKE TO BE IN GOD'S HOUSE TO PRAY, NOT BE LIKE THE BAPTISTS AND OTHER TYPE SINGING GROUPS !
WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET THAT; CATHOLICS LIKE TO PRAY, NOT SING SO MUCH, BUT THEY LOVE TO HMMMM ALONG AS A "GOOD " CHOIR DOES THE SINGING ,.. GOT IT ?……
GET A GOOD GROUP TO DO THE SINGING, GET THE CHILDREN TO SING AT CHILDREN'S MASSES AND AT MASSES FOR THE DECEASED AND THINGS WILL GET BETTER.
I'M AN OLD CRADLE CATHOLIC TELLING YOU THIS,… IT WORKED FOR ME IN MY DAY AND IT WILL WORK FOR TODAY'S CATHOLICS !!! ENOUGH SAID ! THANK YOU . PAT
Pat, you may not know this, but if you write in FULL CAPITALS on the internet, it represents shouting. Don't be rude: turn off the Shift Lock.
— admin
The convention of placing the Marian altar on the left as you face the sanctuary derives from the fact that this side is the side of priority, the Gospel side. This has unfortunately been gradually lost, and today one can find the ambo placed on either side. There is a traditional complication of this concerning the pulpit: in cathedrals, the bishop's throne was placed on the Gospel side, which left the pulpit on the opposite side. The Gospel, however, was always read from that side, the epistle being read from the opposite side.
The two largest Catholic churches in London, Westminster Cathedral and the Oratory, both have the Lady altar to the right of the sanctuary. So does Our Lady of the Assumption, Warwick Street. The Birmingham Oratory has the Lady Altar to the left, but at the Oxford Oratory the Lady chapel is again to the right. The problem with this post is that in future I shall be making a note of its placement wherever I go to see if I can discern a trend. Up till now I had never given it a thought.