The Current features a monthly column designed to articulate and cultivate our rootedness in our Catholic faith.
Included here will be reference to current events, teachings, and discussion of our relation to the greater Church.
More Church: October 2020
2020 / 2019
So, what are the Fifty Catholic Churches to See Before You Die? As we enter this month of commemorations, of considerations of death and of our hopes of a heavenly inheritance, perhaps such a theme is appropriate to consider, to ponder a part of our heavenly inheritance here on earth. The British journalist Elena Curti recently published a book of this title on churches in her own country, inviting readers, as Archbishop George Stack notes in his foreword, to not miss these “great architectural treasures of England and Wales, yet hardly known and rarely explored.” We find many parish churches on her list, as well as several English Benedictine sites. She has written for "The Tablet" for nearly twenty years, including many articles on church heritage and preservation. She notes to Crux: “I’m hoping that my book will encourage many more people to visit not just the 50 but do some exploring of their own.” The Current decided to take this cue and do its own exploring, posing the question to our monastic community: which churches might make your list? Do you have a “top three” churches you would propose, that people might like to visit, that may have particular significance to you? We excluded our own Abbey’s Church of Saint Gregory the Great, while it may well hold pride of place on such a list, and sought beyond our own cloister what holy places made the lists of our monks.
Perhaps we should begin “at the top” so to speak, with Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This headed Fr. Gregory’s list. He notes, “Lord Byron, in his Childe Harold described visiting St. Peter’s and experiencing his soul so expanded that he felt as though he could die and encounter God face-to-face and not be destroyed.” Father Gregory also wanted to draw our attention to St. Saba, on the pico Aventino in Rome. While he suggests that there is “not much special about this little early Christian church,” it maintains for him a personal impact: “every time I enter it, something in the center of my soul becomes very peaceful.” He remarks on this same experience (“can’t say why”) whenever visiting St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Newtown, Connecticut.
St. Rose of Lima, Newtown, Connecticut,
exterior lit by luminaries
Basilica of Notre Dame in Montreal
Prior Michael first mentions the Basilica of Notre Dame in Montreal, particularly noting its “stunning lighting and architecture, inside and out.” Moving from north to the south, second on his favorites list is El Santuario de Chimayó, in New Mexico. He refers to it as “the Lourdes of America,” finding it to be “beautiful in its faithful simplicity and in the faith of the people who visit.” And thirdly, though we have excluded our own Abbey church, we will allow his devotion to the Saint Louis Abbey Church, “the most prayerful space I have ever been in.” Prior Michael comments that its “concrete design was proposed by the architect of Portsmouth Abbey’s Church, Pietro Belluschi.”
Mosaic in San Clemente, Rome;
the three historical levels of the basilica, all on the same site, are depicted in the sketch
Father Edward notes that the Basilica di San Clemente, a minor basilica in Rome, shows the history of the Church in three archaeological levels: an 11th-12th century basilica at ground level, built on top of a fourth century basilica, built on top of a 1st century Roman street. St. Cyril (with St. Methodius called the Apostles to the Slavs, noted for developing the Cyrillic alphabet to communicate the faith) is buried there, as is first-century pope St. Clement, whose relics were brought back to Rome by St. Cyril.
The Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede, Seville's Cathedral, provides Fr. Edward's second mention. He remarks: "It is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world, built to incorporate elements of a preceding Islamic mosque, including taking the minaret, building it a bit higher, and converting it into a bell tower. Christopher Columbus is buried there, since Seville served as the Spanish city through which the New World was administered."
Interior and exterior views
of the Seville Cathedral
Father Edward thirdly notes the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, "a Church that served as the Cathedral for my home diocese growing up, and introduced me to the grandeur of Church architecture." Fr. Edward sees in the basilica, "the way a building, through its size and beauty, can speak of God's omnipotence, but also, through the mosaic's covering the entire Church, portray God's love and care for humanity."
His impressions of this church resonate with Brother Sixtus, who also mentions this basilica, a "magnificent and awe-inspiring church, with its unparalleled collection of Ravenna-style mosaics within an amalgamation of Byzantine and Romanesque architecture."
Brother Sixtus remarks that the basilica "was my beloved parish home for many years before I entered the monastic life." A particularly significant and unforgettable experience for him was the Evening Vespers "led by St. Pope John Paul II in January 1999, which I attended during his Papal Visit to the Americas."
The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Mexico City, also retains special significance for Brother Sixtus, who had the opportunity to travel to this sacred site. He shares that the culmination of his pilgrimage to the site "was attending Easter Sunday Mass on April 3,1983, reverencing the image of Our Lady on Juan Diego’s miraculous cloak just seven years after the structure was completed, and witnessing entire families approaching the plaza and church on their scratched and bleeding knees."
A Benedictine chapel marks Brother Sixtus' third entry: the Chapel of Christ the Word, at the monastery on the Monte Cassino Mission, in Macheke, Zimbabwe. The monastery is a foundation from Ampleforth Abbey in England. Brother Sixtus writes: "In contrast to the many beautiful, expensive and well-appointed churches in which I have prayed throughout the world, this simple monastic chapel may be the one I miss most with its simple hand-made wooden ambo and altar, its vestments and vibrantly colored altar cloths of the most dazzling African designs, the abundance of flowers culled from the grounds outside, and playful indigenous grey vervet monkeys tap-dancing across the metal roof as we monks tried to maintain our concentration below."
Old Saint Joseph's Church, the National Shrine of St. Joseph in the Old City of Philadelphia, makes the list for Brother Benedict. It is, he says, "a beautiful Ignatian Church; I have always felt home when I went there during my time in Philadelphia." The present structure is the third on the site, having been constructed in 1839, though the original parish dates from the early 1700's.
LINKS: Old Saint Joseph; Wikipedia
Brother Benedict also draws our attention to two churches dedicated to Our Lady. The first, appropriate to our present day, is dedicated to Our Lady of Good Health (Our Lady of Velankanni). The main Church, in Velankanni, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, is located on the land where apparitions to two separate young boys are said to have occurred in the 16th century. The site is now known as "The Lourdes of the East," from its frequent visitation by pilgrims. The second Marian Church is in Brother Benedict's hometown in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. The Vailankanni Shrine in Port Blair plays an important part in Catholicism in the region.
The apostle Thomas has a strong connection to India, and Brother Benedict notes three holy sites dedicated to this saint. Saint Thomas Basilica is located on the site where the apostle is said to be buried. Saint Thomas Mount, considered the site of his martyrdom, draws many pilgrims. And at the "Little mount of Saint Thomas" one finds a cave where the tradition teaches he hid from a local king. These three sites are all located in the city of Chennai.
LINKS:
Saint Thomas Basilica;
Saint Thomas Mount;
The Little Mount