Not To Be Confused With the Anna Baptists

Visitors to St. Lambert’s church in Münster, Germany may notice something odd about the building’s facade. Three gleaming iron cages, 7 feet tall and a yard wide and deep, hang empty from the church spire. Once home to the mutilated bodies of three revolutionaries who shaped one of the strangest chapters in the Protestant Reformation, the cages have hung there for nearly 500 years. They remain on the spire as a testament to their former occupants’ experiment in religious utopia—and the tremors they sent through German religious and political life for years after their occupants' deaths.

Here's where things went south for the citizens of Münster:

 On February 11, 1534, the Münster city council granted full religious toleration to Anabaptists, who began referring to Münster as the “New Jerusalem.” They sent out messengers far and wide to recruit new believers to the city. As the month went on, armed city employees reportedly moved through the city warning those who refused adult baptism to flee, reportedly crying "Get out of here, you godless. God will punish you!" When Matthijs arrived, he delivered a sermon calling for the execution of Catholics and Lutherans alike. He preached, "Everywhere we are surrounded by dogs and sorcerers and whores and killers and the godless and all who love lies and commit them!" When the execution idea failed to fly, his advisors convinced him to settle for expelling the Catholics and Lutherans from the city.

It turned out poorly for the Anabaptists in the end:

With von Waldeck's victory, events took an even more gruesome turn. On January 22, 1536, the prince-bishop gathered a crowd in front of city hall to see Jan of Leiden, Knipperdollinck, and Kretchtinck tortured and killed. Executioners ripped the flesh from their bodies with hot tongs for an hour before stabbing them each in the heart. Their bodies were bound into iron cages and then hoisted from the tower of St. Lambert’s church.

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Amiens in France

 Wikipedia link here.

Back in the 1990s, there was a cleaning program underway on the exterior. Midway through the project, scientists discovered something pretty intriguing on the western facade: traces of paint. Further tests were done, and they were able to determine how the western facade was painted back in the 13th century! Then they figured out a way to project the light of the colors very precisely onto the building.

And the Invasion Continues

Muslims are converting a former Roman Catholic church into mosque. The plan, approved by US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board, is funded by U.S. tax dollars.
Syracuse is the new Dearborn and there are many others forming. Refugees have been pouring into the U.S. and they are 75% Muslim. Some countries will only take Christians. We do the reverse.
An historic Catholic Church, Holy Trinity, was purchased by a Muslim and is being renovated by the Muslim community with tax dollars.

More than 10,000 crosses were painted over inside  and six on the outside were cut down. These are historic crosses.
The new owners are erasing, not only crosses, but the historic and rich history of the Italians and Germans who once worshipped there. All trace will soon be gone from this historic church.
No pictures or video of the crosses being removed were allowed to be taken but the crosses have to be stored somewhere on site.
Throughout Europe, thousands of churches have closed and they too are becoming Mosques and we now see them in Brooklyn, Long Island and in many towns and cities in America.
The Muslim community in Syracuse has largely grown because of Catholic Charities which has become a paid conduit for the refugees.
About a thousand refugees a year pile into this poor area with substantial sums going to the Catholic Church. They received a $3 million dollar grant last year.

And to Think I saw It On Mulberry Street!

 SOHO is short for south of Houston Street, which is pronounced HOW-stun.

SOHO (WABC) --

You might be used to seeing farm animals in New York City, particularly if you head to the Bronx or Central Park zoos. But you might be surprised to find a trio of sheep taking up residence in Nolita.

And they're just as useful as they are cute.

"These are the friendliest sheep in New York," said Frank Alfieri, of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral.

They are the only sheep south of Houston Street, and they are named after the streets that border their temporary home. There's Mulberry, Elizabeth and Mott.

"It's become almost something that's expected when people come here," Alfieri said. "And when they leave, people are upset."

They are temporary residents of the church cemetery, where they have become very much a part of this community. Even the locksmith pitches in.

"He alarmed their pen, put cameras that we monitor all the time," Alfieri said. "We've got a virtual shepard."

Alfierie says this is actually the second set of ewes to pass through, after a similar troupe called the graveyard home last fall.

"The people who tend to the property said, 'Oh what if we retire, what would you do?'" Alfieri said. "Pastor, Monsignor Sakano said, 'Oh, I'll get sheep.'"

And sheep there were, making the lawn mower obsolete. Their arrival coincided with the Feast of San Gennaro and the restoration of the church, and when the trio showed up about two months ago, the grass was about 10 inches high.

They've been busy.

"They love it," Alfieri said. "I think they're not going to be too happy when they leave."

Their departure date is July 10, when they'll head back to the upstate farm they came from. But maybe, just maybe, come September, a new set of lambs will appear.

Places NOT to See in New York City

The Church of St. Francis Xavier (55 West 15th Street), a Roman Catholic parish in the Jesuit tradition, strives to be a prophetic, welcoming community, and an inclusive witness to the presence of Christ Jesus in our midst. Mindful of our utter reliance on God, and need for God’s grace, we rejoice together in our celebration of the sacraments and proclamation of the Gospel. As a people of hope, we commit ourselves through prayerful and creative discernment to respond to God in our time by: being a respectful community where seekers and their questions are welcomed, where injustice is challenged, where the poor, the alienated and the marginalized find a home, and where people are refreshed, reconciled and renewed.

What it looks like now that the Jesuits have gotten done with it:

 Luckily, they found room for the jazz band.

 

Funny....They Don't LOOK Muslim

Two Christian churches have been burned in Chile on March 31, the fourth and fifth alleged arson cases in 24 hours. The perpetrators, according to International Christian Concern in their April 7 report, are supporters of the Mapuche, an indigenous people who are said to be trying to get rid of those who practice religion that contradicts their beliefs.

"We never imagined that these attacks would occur in our community. There is no conflict in our community," Pastor Jose Dario Pineda said, as quoted in the report by ICC. "We are all Christians and live in peace."
The first of the two cases is the burning of the Catholic church of Santa Joaquina. A pamphlet was reportedly found with the words "grandparents and ancestors have also been burned to death." This has led to speculations of the Mapuche being responsible for the fire as the note is presumed to be referring to the violence experienced by the indigenous people's ancestors under Spanish rule.

Ferial Four!

Church Madness has reached the Ferial Four semifinals!

The Ferial Four:

 St. John Cantius (Chicago, Ill.)
 National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception – Upper church (D.C.)
 Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery (Hanceville, Ala.)
 Cathedral of the Madeleine (Salt Lake City, Ut.)

St. Augustine Goes to England

I had no idea that St. Augustine went to England...then it dawned on me that he isn't St. Augustine of Hippo, He's St. Augustine of Canterbury!


A short walk outside the Roman walls of Canterbury is St Martin's, the oldest Church in the English speaking world. St Bede says that it was in use in late Roman times but had fallen out of use until it was restored by Queen Bertha, the Christian wife of King Ethelbert, in about 580. When St Augustine arrived in 597, his community of monks enlarged the Church to make use of it for the choir offices and it was here that Ethelbert was baptised.

Since the Reformation, the Church has been in use as an Anglican Church and continues to be a parish Church today. The visitor is welcomed by one of a team of volunteers who are enthusiastic and knowledgeable. In the photo above, you can see the red, flat Roman bricks that were re-used in the walls, and the saxon buttress which was part of St Augustine's extension.

Among the many features of interest is the Squint, an angled hole in the western wall of the Church which was provided for lepers to be able to see the Mass being celebrated. I suppose this was a medieval effort at providing disabled access.

On The Waterfront, 1954

An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses.

Father Barry, played by Karl Malden

 

 

 

 The role played by Karl Malden was that of Father Barry, who was based on a real priest - Father John Corridon. According to Wikipedia:

Father Corridan

Son of a County Kerry-born policeman in New York's Harlem, Corridan graduated from Manhattan's Regis High School in 1928. Father Corridan was assigned to the Xavier Institute of Industrial Relations on Manhattan's West Side in 1946. He became a passionate advocate of reform in the International Longshoremen's Association waterfront union.
Father Corridan collaborated with Malcolm in Johnson's articles on waterfront corruption. He was the subject of a 1955 biography, Waterfront Priest by Allen Raymond. The introduction of the book was by Budd Schulberg, screenwriter of On the Waterfront, who described how he met with Father Corridan frequently in researching the screenplay.
Schulberg described Father Corridan as a "tall, youthful, balding, energetic, ruddy-faced Irishman whose speech was a fascinating blend of Hell's Kitchen jargon, baseball slang, the facts and figures of a master in economics and the undeniable humanity of Christ."
Schulberg wrote that Father Corridan "led me to understand that there is nothing unusual about a Catholic priest's involving himself in moral issues that find practical form in the daily lives of his parishioners."
According to a 1983 article in the New York Times, Father Corridan's work was instrumental in formation of the New York-New Jersey Waterfront Commission aimed at curbing waterfront crime. Father Corridan, then retired, told a Times reporter that he believed that conditions on the waterfront had changed over the years.

The exterior shots of Father Barry's church in the movie is Our Lady of Grace in Hoboken, NJ (where the movie was filmed).

Interior shots of the church were filmed at St. Peter and Paul in Hoboken.

Things I Can't Explain

An entire Facebook Community dedicated to "Churches That Look Like Chickens".

 

Venice

One of my favorite writers and bloggers, James Lileks just visited Venice. Here's a part of what he had to say....

If you walked 100 paces you’d find another (Church), and another beyond that; if the door was open, the crepuscular interior had visual riches that stunned you to silence and reverence — if not for God, then for the mind of man who could conjure such froth and frosting out of stone, throw the ceiling high in the air, and decorate it with clouds and robed saints twisting up into the empyrean beyond. They are places of joy and wonder.

They are also deserted.

 Not just because showtime comes later. In Europe you get the sense that religion is an outdated operating system that won’t load on modern terminals. There’s no way Venice, a city of 50,000 souls — roughly, Fargo, N.D., in 1976 — can support this many enormous churches. The weekly take on Sunday isn’t enough to cover the cost of floor wax, let alone patching a roof from the days of Christopher Columbus.

 A storm rose around six, and apocalyptic clouds rolled in and lanced the sea with lightning bolts....
 
I took shelter in a church by our hotel, expecting the usual astonishments, and was not disappointed. An altarpiece depicting the life of Moses rose above like stone smoke unraveling into the heavens. Heard some Latin; in the corner, a priest was finishing Mass for a half-dozen people. So it wasn’t over for them after all. There were still a few who came here for shelter. Afterward the priest and the congregants had a conversation, and I eavesdropped.

They were all Americans.

Catholicism - If It Were Easy, Everybody Would Do it!

Antarctic churches and chapels. We have the only one in an ice cave.

This cave church with walls made of ice is the Southernmost place of worship of any religion in the world. It is the permanent Catholic church for an all-year round Argentinian base and scientific research station founded in 1955 on Coat’s Island. As a result of its latitude, both day and night here are four months long and the night sky often displays the aurora australis.

Now You See It....Now You Don't

Saint Jacques in Abbeville, France

The Church of Saint Jacques in Abbeville is located in a neighborhood spared by the bombings which destroyed 80% of the city in 1940. It was built in a neo-Gothic style by the architect Victor Deleforterie, a follower of Viollet-le-Duc, on the site of the previous Medieval church which was demolished as its condition was considered too risky (already !), and was consecrated in 1878.

Over the past few years, particularly since 2005 when a part of the bell tower fell during a storm and made a hole through the roof, the church’s condition has rapidly deteriorated

A study was begun in 2005 (when the Church wasn't really considered dangerous), but by the time the study was complete THREE YEARS LATER, it was too late. So symbolic of the Catholic Church's fate in Europe, it was simply torn down. The end. 

Ut Est Multus of Viaticus!

From the Old St. Mary's Church in Over-the Rhine, Cincinnati.

Hurray, Latin Masses! They are the masses with the moola!

There was a time when we used to break out the Hispanic Mass donations in the St. Joseph's bulletin until it got too embarrassing.

American Cardinals and Titular Churches

The American Cardinals with titular churches in Rome went to them on Sunday to say Mass. Cardinal O'Malley was in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria:

Cardinal Dolan visited the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe:

Renovation Plan

St. Mary's Church in the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin is planning a renovation. I was struck by how much the "BEFORE" picture looks like our St. Joseph's:

And now, what it WILL look like:

The Basilica of St. Anastasia

 

The Associated Press reports:

"Italian archaeologists last month unveiled an underground grotto that they believe ancient Romans revered as the place where a wolf nursed Rome's legendary founder Romulus and his twin brother Remus.

A few feet from the grotto, or "Lupercale," the Emperor Constantine built the Basilica of St. Anastasia, where some believe Christmas was first celebrated on Dec. 25."

We talked in class about how Catholics co-opted some pagan festivals. In this case, it was the festival of the sun god - remember, the winter solstice is when days start to lengthen. Light comes to the world...sounds like as good a time as any to celebrate the birth of Christ.

But as Sister Mary Martha points out, Christmas wasn't really that big of a deal to Catholics (even though it's been a Holy Day of Obligation since the 5th Century). It was (and is) EASTER that's the big deal. St. Augustine wrote, "We are Easter people, and alleluia our song." Why? Because without the resurrection, Christ's birth means much less.