A Stab at Romanesque

This is the result of my recent attempts at some sort of a Romanesque style for church design. Of late, I have showcased both Gothic and Baroque church schemes, but this is my first go at the Romanesque (or, more appropriately-termed neo-Romanesque). The Romanesque is sometimes favored by church builders because it is relatively cheaper to construct than the more flowery Gothic and Baroque styles. However, with the absence of much ornament, the Romanesque must rely on its own noble simplicity in order to help create the sacred character of the space. This, of course, means that the Romanesque must be more carefully executed than the other styles.

I have tried to remain as simple (but not minimalist) as possible in this design. The main form is that of a simple hall church with one central aisle and low secondary aisles. Buttresses, which I am not sure I am happy with, help support the walls which are heavily fenestrated while adding to the massiveness of structure which is a hallmark of the Romanesque style. The interior volume is sculpted by a vaulted ceiling penetrated by the rounded vaults that accommodate the large windows. The sanctuary is placed in a dignified apse that breaks up the monotony of the far wall.

The exterior is clad in golden sandstone or brick and finished with limestone, adding material variety to the simple form. An Italian-inspired bell tower anchors the horizontal volume and helps make the complex a landmark in the cityscape and streetscape.

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The Hosts of Heaven, Exult!

A Happy Easter to All! Below is the text of the Exultet, a solemn hymn sung during the Easter Vigil by a deacon before the lighting of the Paschal candle before the Liturgy of the Word (which on this, the most sacred of nights, consists of nine readings and eight Psalms). Pictured above is the ceremony known as Holy Fire which occurs during the Easter Vigil held at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (where Christ's tomb is located). One lit candle is brought to the sanctuary, and the congregation gathers and lights their own candles until the room is full. 


Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven, exult, let Angel ministers of God exult, let the trumpet of salvation sound aloud our mighty King’s triumph! Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with light from her eternal King, let all corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom and darkness. Rejoice, let Mother Church also rejoice, arrayed with the lighting of his glory, let this holy building shake with joy, filled with the mighty voices of the peoples.

(Therefore, dearest friends, standing in the awesome glory of this holy light, invoke with me, I ask you, the mercy of God almighty, that he who has been pleased to number me, though unworthy, among the Levites, may pour into me his light unshadowed, that I may sing this candle’s perfect praises.)

(V/: The Lord be with you.
R/: And with your spirit.)
V/: Lift up your hearts.
R/: We lift them up to the Lord.
V/: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R/: It is right and just.

It is truly right and just, with ardent love of mind and heart, and with devoted service of our voice, to acclaim our God invisible, the almighty Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, his Son, his Only Begotten. Who for our sake paid Adam’s debt to the eternal Father, and pouring out his own dear Blood wiped clean the record of our ancient sinfulness. These then are the feasts of Passover, in which is slain the Lamb, the one true Lamb, whose Blood anoints the doorposts of believers.

This is the night, when once you led our forebears, Israel’s children, from slavery in Egypt and made them pass dry-shod through the Red Sea. This is the night that with a pillar of fire banished the darkness of sin. This is the night that even now, throughout the world, sets Christian believers apart from worldly vices and from the gloom of sin, lending them to grace, and joining them to his holy ones. This is the night when Christ broke the prison-bars of death, and rose victorious from the underworld. Our birth would have been no gain, had we not been redeemed.

O wonder of your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling, to ransom a slave you gave away your Son! O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer! O truly blessed night, worthy alone to know the time and hour when Christ rose from the underworld!

This is the night of which it is written: The night shall be as bright as day, dazzling is the night for me, and full of gladness. The sanctifying power of this night dispels all wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty. On this, your night of grace, O holy Father, accept this candle, a solemn offering, the work of bees and of your servants’ hands, an evening sacrifice of praise, this gift from your most holy Church.

But now we know the praises of this pillar, which glowing fire ignites for God’s honour, a fire into many flames divided, yet never dimmed by sharing of its light, for it is fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious.

O truly blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth, and divine to the human. Therefore, O Lord, we pray you that this candle, hallowed to the honour of your name, may persevere undimmed, to overcome the darkness of this night. Receive it as a pleasing fragrance, and let it mingle with the lights of heaven.

May this flame be found still burning by the Morning Star: the one Morning Star who never sets, Christ your Son, who coming back from death’s domain has shed his peaceful light on humanity and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen

Spy Wednesday

I hope everyone's Holy Week is progressing well. The Wednesday of Holy Week is traditionally called Spy Wednesday - the name refers to Judas Iscariot going to the high priests and setting in motion the events of Christ's passion which will begin in earnest tomorrow evening when we leave the season of Lent and enter into the Triduum (Latin: the three great days).

Judas is an intriguing figure in the New Testament, and like it or not, most of humanity has something in common with him. Legends and pious tradition claim that Judas was a Levite, a scholar, and one of the most educated of Christ's Twelve Apostles. Christ evidently saw promise in him, as He called Judas into the first generation of priestly ministry as an Apostle. Yet, Judas betrayed his Lord for thirty measly pieces of silver.

If anything, Spy Wednesday should be a day where we reflect how our actions have betrayed God. Each time we sin and disobey God, we are like Judas setting into motion the painful drama of the death of our Lord. Jesus bore all of our betrayals on the cross. He was our paschal sacrifice, substituting himself in atonement for our transgressions. Since his sacrifice was once and for all, we can take hope in the fact that Christ has born all of our evils before. We need only repent and accuse ourselves in humility in order to be free of their weight on our soul. And what a relief repentance is!

This past Monday I went to confession for the first time in a very long time. I was practically sweating bullets waiting outside of the makeshift confessional set up in the sacristy. While in the process of confessing, however, it felt at times like my sins were trying to escape as I was saying them - that in truly acknowledging what I have done and what I have failed to do - I was cleansing my soul of a disease. I was admitting my betrayals of Christ; and Christ, through the ministry of the priest, was restoring me to himself. At the absolution (the point during confession when the priest, through the power of Christ and his Body, the Church, absolves penitents of their sins), I felt such a rush of relief flood over me. As I left the church that day, I felt a bit like skipping.

Our betrayals of Jesus can be forgiven, and in that forgiveness we are able to be restored by the grace of God to his family. We need only admit that we've done something wrong. This can be a very difficult thing to come to terms with. Perhaps we are like Judas - we are too smart for God, we know that our way is best and that our personal convictions our never wrong. Of course, the Biblical record tells us where this, the deadly sin of pride, gets people: expelled from Eden, drowned in a Flood, forbidden entry to the Promised Land, exiled to Babylon, etc. If we can admit we are wrong, we can admit that we are fallen. If we can admit we are fallen, we can seek to better ourselves and receive the sanctifying grace available to us through the cross of Christ.

"Go, and sin no more." - John 8:11

Hosanna to the Son of David

"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" - Matthew 21:6

Palm Sunday is always bittersweet. We echo the joy of the crowds in Jerusalem, who welcomed Christ as the Messiah, yet we know - like Christ knew - that it would end with another procession, a long arduous procession toward agonizing death. Of course, as Christians, we know that his death is what gives us hope for life. The obedient self-sacrifice of Calvary is the eternal gate for the salvation of mankind. Through the great salvific act of Jesus Christ, the cross - an instrument of torture - became a sign of triumphant joy.

That of course, will all be reflected upon in due time. Worth noting at present is the entry of Christ and the prophecies and allusions his passage into Jerusalem recalls. In the verse at the top of this post, we read that the crowd is shouting to Jesus as the "Son of David." We recall from the prophecies read during Advent that the Messiah was to be born of the House of David in Bethlehem, the city of David. We must recall the the Old Testament was not abolished or ignored by Christ, it was fulfilled by Christ. So, we can conclude (and indeed, Catholic thought agrees) that King David was a type of Christ and that Christ would in turn be a perfection of King David.

David, of course, was King of Israel when it was at the height of its power. From his lowly origins as a shepherd, he was chosen by God to lead the nation, and was eventually victorious over the forces of Goliath and the Philistines. He brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (and his son Solomon built the temple for it). His authority was far reaching and he entered into a covenant with God who promised that he would "Establish your throne forever." David was also the author of many, if not all, of the Psalms; the words of which point to the future Messiah to save the world.

Christ fulfills the role of David in many ways. Jesus, known as the good shepherd, came to defeat the forces of sin through a battle (the pain of his Passion), and establish the eternal kingdom of God. David bringing the Ark to Jerusalem is fulfilled by Jesus, the law of the new covenant, entering Jerusalem in victory. And, we should not forget the universal kingship of Christ whose laws are just.

As the redemption of Christ is a universal gift for all, we must avail ourselves of it. The first step is Baptism, which incorporates us into Christ's Body with great joy - akin to the rejoicing of the crowds in Jerusalem. But, though we are members of the Church by virtue of the waters of baptism, we must continue to grow and learn to carry our crosses, even through the hardest times, for we know that at the end there is life. Carrying our crosses and living united to Christ is guided by the law of God fulfilled by Jesus, the King of All, Good Shepherd, and Son of the Living God.

Happy Birthday to the Pope

Today is the 84th birthday of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. Born in Marktl, in Bavaria, Germany to Georg and Maria Ratzinger, Joseph Ratzinger lived much of his early life with the desire to become a priest. His seminary studies were interrupted by his forced conscription in the German Army during World War II. No ideological sympathizer with Nazism (his cousin with Down syndrome had been taken to a concentration camp), he deserted his unit toward the end of the war, and was eventually allowed to return to his theological studies. He and his brother Georg were ordained on the same day as priests of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

His priestly ministry centered on his teaching at various universities throughout Germany. He participated in the Second Vatican Council as an assistant to the Archbishop of Cologne. In favor of the reforms of the Council, he nonetheless wished to not break from the past as other, more radical theologians had desired. This position in the middle of the two extremes of modernism and traditionalism in the Church remains central to his papal ministry today.

In 1977, Ratzinger was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising by Pope Paul VI. He served as archbishop from then until 1982, when he was made Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope John Paul II, which caused him to move to Rome. As Prefect, he upheld the orthodox Catholic faith by reinforcing traditional views on priestly ministry, marriage, birth control, and other moral issues.

Ratzinger was elected pope during the Conclave of 2005, following the death of John Paul II. His firm defense of orthodoxy, coupled with his theological intellect, made him an appealing candidate. He took the name Benedict XVI because of his admiration for St. Benedict, an early monastic reformer and co-patron of Europe, and for Pope Benedict XV who worked tirelessly for peace during World War I.

Presenting the faith as the ultimate source of fulfillment in life has been a hallmark of Benedict's papacy. His three insightful encyclicals (letters on doctrine), have revolved around faith, hope, and love in the Christian faith as the ends to which all men aspire. His apostolic visits around the world have been marked with this message, delivered in a gentle and caring manner, contrary to the means of many of his detractors. Benedict has the heart and mind of a professor, who is proposing the faith to a classroom that has fallen asleep.

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At the start of his pontificate, Benedict did not impress me. I am not sure why, but I feel like it was due to my immaturity in my faith at that point in my life. As I have grown over the past few years into someone striving to take his faith more seriously, I have begun to appreciate more and more just how blessed we Catholics are to have a Pope like Benedict. The man is astoundingly intelligent (don't believe me, read some of his writings), has a caring heart for the entire world, and desires the unity of the Church as a force for Christ for fallen humanity. He has defended the moral positions of the Church with clarity, charity, and submission to the Gospel and Tradition, confounding many who see him as cold and autocratic. He is truly a "humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord," just as he said on that April day in 2005 from the balcony of St. Peter's. 

"May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies." - Psalm 40:3

(Picture taken from our friend Ross at subtectummeum.tumblr.com, because it is the most awesome picture of the Pope I have ever seen.)

The New Mount Carmel of America

Exciting news has come to my attention! The order of Carmelite monks is overflowing with vocation requests, many from young men seeking the authentic life of community and prayer fostered by monasticism. The order has outgrown their previous monastery, and is in the process of building a beautiful new home in the foothills of Wyoming.

The massive complex will house a large abbey church with room for all of the religious of the community as well as space for 150 lay worshipers. The monks will live in small cells with a sleeping area, bathroom, and small garden. Eating, praying, and working will all be in common in large communal spaces. The life of the monks, of course, will revolve around prayer and the liturgy. They will sing the Divine Office (the daily prayer of the Church) in community and have mass each day. As such, the abbey church is the center of the complex.

This monastic community is a phenomenal advance for the Church in the United States. In the Middle Ages, during the last great monastic revival, monasteries became centers of learning and shared knowledge about God. New monastic communities, such as this one in Wyoming, can become symbols of the prophetic witness of the Church and be used as a way to save the West from its moral decay, or at least resurrect it to new life when it dies. This, I remind my readers, is how monastic communities of Ireland helped rebuild Europe after the fall of Rome.

Of course the architecture must be mentioned. This complex is absolutely visually stunning, a fitting tribute to God in a spectacular natural landscape. The style is French Gothic, emblematic of the great monasteries of Europe and of the timeless nature of the Church's message. McCrery Architects of Washington, DC, are the brains behind the architectural design, and more can be had at their website, found here.

Images are taken from the New Mount Carmel of America Foundation's website, which can be found here.

Neo-Gothic Distractions

Readers may recall my post concerning the church of St. Vincent Ferrer in New York City from last week. In a spirit of Gothic revival that inspired that ecclesiastical monument, I have designed a church similar. Shown is a section-cut through the nave of the church so that the apse (the rounded end of the church where the sanctuary is located) is visible. Inspiration was drawn from the Chapel of Versailles (though that chapel is in fact Baroque) and the Sainte Chapelle - the crowning glory of the French Gothic. At the center of the sanctuary is a large freestanding altar, while a secondary high altar with the tabernacle is located at the far edge of the apse. The altarpiece, imagined as a carved wood installation, reaches upward toward the windows which represent heaven. The crucifix is located at the crown of the altarpiece, where the figurative heaven and earth meet (as Christ's sacrificial act reunited us with God). Niches to the left and right of the altar - above the gallery arches - would contain images of the Twelve Apostles.

The presider's chair and altar server's stools are located to the left of the altar, while a carved wooden ambo (more popularly, though incorrectly, known as a pulpit) sits to the left of the altar, projecting into the nave on a raised platform.

This is my first true attempt at anything in a Gothic style, and I feel like I may have tried to incorporate too much. However, I have always been drawn to the Gothic's spiritual foundations as a style that wished to make present the church as the heavenly Jerusalem coming down from heaven. More to come...

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Pilate and Mary

It struck me the other day that Mary and Pilate are the only two mortals mentioned in the Creed. It is interesting indeed how these two offer fundamentally opposed realities for us to choose between each day in our lives. For a refresher, here is the chunk of the Creed that is relevant:

For us men and our salvation, he came down from heaven, by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sakes he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures.

On the one hand, we have the supreme Christian example of our Blessed Mother, Mary. She, in accepting the Lord (the first person to ever have this privilege), devoted herself to a life with Christ - through good times and through the bad times. Her life was intimately tied to Truth itself, Jesus, the divine logos, the Word made flesh. In taking on this phenomenal challenge of Christian life, Mary was assured that it was not going to be all sunshine and rainbows. When Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple, Simeon, the priest had this to say: Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed." (Luke 2:34-35).

The phrase 'and thy own soul a sword shall pierce' stands out to me as a prophecy that would send others running. In this modern world of ours, pain and suffering are seen as things to be avoided, covered up, suppressed, ignored, and if possible, defeated. Not so for Mary. For her, the suffering and sorrow prophesied by Simeon was something that she would eventually have to face full-on without any help of pain-killers or anti-depressants. She witnessed the crucifixion and passion of her own son, the ultimate sorrow of human history, with courage and dedication. The truth revealed by Christ: the truth of agony of sin and the joy of redemption, was experienced by the Blessed Virgin in its entirety. She, like the Church, reflected the truth of the Son in her actions. She clung to the truth revealed by God, even on the hill of Calvary, though the sorrow pierced her own soul.

The actions of Pontius Pilate, on the other hand, are far more indicative of many people in today's world. During the course of Jesus' trial, Pilate asks "What is truth?" This question, though one of the central questions of the meaning of our existence, was not asked in a truthful way. It was asked ironically to truth itself. Pilate, a middle manager of the Roman Empire, was not interested in truth; he was interested in his job. He, in his position of authority, had the opportunity to uphold the truth of Christ's innocence, but instead decided to save his reputation and Roman employment. In the end, he was ruined: legend has it that he committed suicide after being relocated to Gaul.

How many people today are like Pilate? Many ignore truth to have a convenient, pain-free life. How many people just ignore the entire concept of truth altogether? The problem of course, is that without any common recognition of truth, reality falls apart. When people ignore truth as revealed by both God and nature, they are free to imprison themselves in their own self-constructed realities. Pilate, in his denial of Christ and his caving to Jewish pressure, was acting under selfish motivations that would save him from suffering. However, the question must be asked: if one can't suffer for truth, what will one end up suffering for?

Mary, on the other hand, had a firm grounding in the truth revealed by God - the entire truth of human and divine existence, which due to the sinful nature of things includes the dreaded s-word - suffering. However, Mary's suffering was not in vain. In her clinging to the truth, she was able to rejoice in the triumph of Christ and unite herself to God more fully in her glorious Assumption at the end of her earthly life - a far more palatable end than that of Pilate.

So, when we see what the Creed says, we can see the two fundamental paths open to us each day. We can be like Pilate, deny truth, ignore our God-given reason, forget our purpose, fall to selfishness and end in ruin. Or, we can accept Jesus, the logos of God, whole and entire, and follow wherever it may lead, even through the valley of the shadow of death, until He calls us home.

The first image is of Our Lady of Sorrows, from an Alsatian altarpiece. The second is 'Ecce Homo' by Antonio Ciseri

St. Vincent Ferrer, New York City

Today is the feast day of St. Vincent Ferrer, a 15th Century Dominican who ministered in Spain. The structure at left is the marvelous Neo-Gothic church of St. Vincent Ferrer in New York City. The church was designed by famed church architect Bertram Goodhue and was built in 1918. It bears a striking resemblance to the architect's work on the Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago, which can be seen here.

The attached priory serves as the headquarters of the Eastern Province of the Dominican Order in the United States. An interesting fact is that Andy Warhol would often attend mass at St. Vincent Ferrer, though he was never Catholic. Proof, I suppose, that beautiful architecture can transcend religious divisions.

Technische Universität Graz, Spring 2012

The Murinsel, an architectural intervention in the Mur River, Graz

Well folks, the decision has been made: I am officially beginning to take the steps necessary to study in Graz, Austria next spring semester (more specifically, from February to June). This was a tough choice to make, and I must remind my readership that it is in no way binding.

For now, I have a lot of meetings to get to and a lot of logistical nonsense to sort through. Wrangling some sort of studio credit (in English) out of the whole ordeal is my chief concern at the moment. Once I figure out that I can fill up a four class schedule (one German, two architecture, and one other class), I will begin the application, which is due August 15th.

I am understandably excited about the prospects of this endeavor. I think it would be just awesome to spend a semester in a place that I love, where I would actually have to integrate with the culture and live like an Austrian student. It is at once a bit scary but also very thrilling. The experiences (especially with the language and culture) could help change my life. And, no offense to any Ball State abroad centers or things like KIIS, but I really want to get out there and find my own way in a way that only an exchange program like ISEP can provide. Matter of preference, I suppose.

Styrian countryside, near Graz

As for location: Graz is the second-largest city in Austria and is located in the southeastern state of Styria (Steiermark, in German). It is a hilly region that stretches between the Alpine Austrian heart and the border with Slovenia, Croatia, and Hungary. Vienna, the Austrian capital, is two hours north, while Salzburg is three hours west, Venice is four hours south, and Budapest five hours east. Graz itself is a well-preserved Medieval town of typical Austrian elegance and charm. There is the token castle, a treasure trove of fine churches, and enough Baroque street scape to keep your humble scribe busy doodling for quite some time. The immediate surroundings of Graz are mainly vineyards (I can see my mother's face turning green with envy already), as Styria is Austria's chief wine-producing region. In fact, southern Styria is often termed "Austrian Tuscany."

Graz is home to two major universities; the Karl-Franzens Universität Graz and the Technische Universität Graz (TUG). The Technische Universität is where I will be enrolled (hopefully, of course), while I will also have the opportunity to take a class or two at Karl-Franzens Universität, which is the school more focused on the humanities. TUG is one of only two technical universities in Austria, and draws many students from both Austria and the surrounding European community. In corresponding with a current CAP student who is in Graz now, I learned that he has had the chance to meet and get to know people from as diverse places as Serbia, Croatia, and Nigeria.

Of course, Graz's location makes it an ideal home base for trips around the region. Me and my fascination with Google Earth have developed ideas for trips to such places as the Austrian Alps, Vienna, Salzburg, Budapest, Venice, Slovenia, Croatia, and Prague. Hopefully time and money will permit these excursions, as I believe that travel to other places is an essential part of studying abroad.

I suppose that is all for now, but I will, patient audience, keep you posted as to my endeavors in this regard. Pray for me, that I might be blessed with a smooth transition into this process.