Pope Benedict, Good Liturgy, Sacred Art and the Divine Mercy Image Comments

Pope Benedict XVI, at the turn of the millennium, in one of his best known books, "The Spirit of the Liturgy" wrote extensively on the need for sacred art in every Catholic Church. He wrote of the misunderstanding of Vatican II and how the removal and destruction of images, in his own words, "left behind a void, the wretchedness of which we are now experiencing in a truly acute way". Not only is the Divine Mercy image most appropriate for Divine ... Continue Reading

11 - 14 of 14 Comments

dee
3 years ago
Thought you would like to read this in your spare time.
D
K. C Thomas
3 years ago
i find in some churches in India a large number of statues. Will it not look like a museaum , if the number is large ? Another thing I notice is that the feet of the statue of saints like St Anthony are almost eroded by kisses by the devotees. In some churches the statue of Mother Mary is draped in colourful Saree. Will it not be disracting the attention of the congregation. ? There is nothing more important or deserving our attention and worship than the Eucharist and its importance may be inadvertently downgraded by more statues and their ornamentation. Let us have statues but not many to harm the simplicity and concentration
james baysson
3 years ago
I agree with Colleen. Too many parish churches are making the church look very barren. I can understand going for simplicity and charm but there has to be art. Art doesn't necessarily mean going all gold and silver of something extravagant. But at least paint a sacred image for the altar background wall, have flower arrangements which don't necessarily cost that much or simple things like that.
Colleen Cresswell
3 years ago
I wish to the Parish Priest of my local Catholic Church would read this. We had a new "modern" church foistered on us and he & his cronies keep telling us how "beautiful" this abomination is. I believe that Jesus feels locked up in a prison cell that they call a church. The only adornment inside the church is a very beautiful crucifix which hangs from the ceiling. There are no other adornments in the church at all. No flowers even. He does have statues & stations of the cross in the "gathering space" However if there a a lot of people walking through with you the stations & the statues are hidden from sight. At least a quarter of the congragation is looking at the Altar from the side/to the back. The Blessed Sacrament is a "space behind the Altar, separated by glassed-in iron gates. Again no flowers, just an ugly tabenacle. Jesus must be bereft. It is truly the most ugly church I have ever been in. My family along with so many other families have left this parish & gone to other parishes in the area. But I have to say that I really resent the fact that I have had to do this. I pray for this man every day and hope that he will come to realise that his church is really very very ugly..

Prev 12Next

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment