Friday, November 28, 2008

What is wrong with this picture?


He is the rock. Meanwhile, discount store values and discount store trappings: today it's all about IKEA and Wall-Mart and the epiphany of world Calvinist worship.
This photo was taken at a Franciscan parish in Rome. The ordinary postconciliar flux of causes and effects is well known to everyone and needs no rant here.
St. Dominic's first way of prayer was to humble himself before the altar as if Christ, signified by the altar, were truly and personally present and not in symbol alone. This is why the altar is of stone, this is why it is permanent and this is why the tabernacle is fixed to it.
The next time you find yourself before a cardboard altar such as this do penance and pray these words: Ventus et mare obediunt ei (The wind and sea obey Him).

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cmmmon, A-list altars are always passed over for takcy ones!-(

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Main Altar, and worthless Protestant style Vatican II altar in front of it.

In agonizing as to why that there is such a crisis in the lack of priestly and religious vocations, the Pope should look no further than the altar.
I am often disgusted by photos I've seen of great Cathedrals, Basilicas, and even just parish Churches in Europe and the USA. There they have their beautiful and in some cases monumental sanctuaries and high altars....magnificent works of art on which the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered by hundreds of holy priests for centuries (or in some causes only for decades).
But nearly ALWAYS, in front of these awesome testimonies of love for God unused for years, we have the horrible, plain, Protestant style table altars of Vatican II.

No wonder there are no vocations to the priesthood. To go from the ultimate expression of love for God in the Holy Mass exemplified by the magnificent high altars in so many Churches and parishes, to a cheap table that is always seen in most Protestant "churches", is reason and explaination enough as to answer the questions as to the sources for the profound crisis in vocations, religious life, and Mass attendance in the Catholic world.

Anonymous said...

This is a common sight, unfortunately, all throughout Rome. It used to bother me quite a bit until I began to consider that at least in the vast majority of the beautiful Roman Churches, the high altar, communion rail, side altars, etc. remain (albeit in a sad, museumesque kind of disuse.) In all too many American churches and oratories, although not as old as Rome but important nonetheless in their artistic beauty, many altars have long since been destroyed and the sanctuaries badly wreckovated.

To "correct" the situation in the average Roman church, after the necessary change of heart, all it involves is a few men moving out the portable furniture. Conversely, in American churches, renovation involves much more work, expense, and shrewd diplomacy to avoid the wrath of liturgy committees and diocesan offices of worship.

Anonymous said...

What church is this?

Derik said...

disposable altar? do they come with fake relics too? do they come already assembled and with the linens?

Anonymous said...

Text without context is pretext! Though this is ugly, the photo you show is a side altar in the Basilica of the XII Apostles, the General Curia of the Conventual Franciscans. It follows many other minor Basilicas in mistakes made after VatII. Show some charity in your comments. We're not all FSSP priests, but we do still have the faith and love the Church, and believe it or not, celebrate the EF as well! Fr B OFM Conv

Anonymous said...

No taste.

Anonymous said...

"Text without context is pretext! Though this is ugly, the photo you show is a side altar in the Basilica of the XII Apostles, the General Curia of the Conventual Franciscans."

It doesn't matter if it is administered by the Franciscans, if it is the cathedral of a prominent diocese, or if it is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace itself. It is tasteless and wrong. Fortunately, most of the modern intrusions in the churches of Rome are removable. Hopefully the Conventual Franciscans have an epiphany and see how unbelievably distasteful this really is!

John Paul Sonnen said...

A friend of mine says the disposable altar was only put up in 2001.

Anonymous said...

As a former sacristan of Ss Apostoli, I can assure you John, your friend is wrong, it dates back to the 70s! For heaven's sake, readers, with all the rot we have to put up with in the West one would have thought that a simple side altar in a church where Mass is celebrated so beautifully wouldn't be such an issue! Come to Australia and I can show you a thing or two to really whinge about! Fr B OFM Conv