21 December 2009
Pr. McCain Also Showed Me
this beautiful altar from the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wolfenbüttel - a Church that was built by Lutherans in the height of the years of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Stunning, absolutely stunning. No question what was believed about the Eucharist that was served from that altar:
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9 comments:
Magnificent!
I don't think I could concentrate on the service! My mouth would be agape, and my eyes looking upward, and round and round. Could one ever get used to it?
Mary
But, again, we must lament the fact that they did not allow adequate space in the chancel for the praise band.
Indeed, Christopher!
Mary, I'm not sure. But I do know that the MUSIC of the liturgy at the time was just as breathtaking as the artistry in the Sanctuary. They both cry out together: "My soul now praise thy Maker, let all within me bless His name!"
Paul, that's what they made the balcony for...
Looking at the pic again, it looks like there are two altars. One which is against the wall which has the crufixes and another one in front so as to allow the priest/celebrant to face the people. I wonder when the second one was put in.
Yup, I noticed that too, Chris. Typical Vatican II crap!
Now you're getting it, PW!
All seriousness aside though (please indulge me a youth spent never missing a Steve Allen show) isn't it telling that a choir -- with all that means as to the music -- is heard but unseen from the balcony, whereas a "praise band" is right up front, not to mention the absence of an altar altogether in the denoms from which we have borrowed the practice.
Vatican II crap indeed. Blech.
This is a photo of the sanctuary at St. Stan's in Cleveland. I've been there, it is magnificent but they, too have abandoned the "high altar" for the "people's" altar. Well, at least this parish has been designated a shrine church and is on the historic register so the VII wreckovaters can't come in and dismantle it.
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/14618825
The historic Lutheran altars are splendid. We have nothing to apologize for.
Christine
This brings back memories, as I used to live a few minutes' walk from this church. Constructed during the early 1600s, it was the first large Lutheran church built in Germany after the Reformation. The organ dates from 1620 and was built under the supervision of Michael Praetorius, chapel master to the Duke of Brunswick, whose palace is just a short walk from the church. Praetorius is supposed to be buried beneath the instrument. The organ has been enlarged over the centuries and now has four manuals and about 90 ranks (53 stops). The nave is great for organ sound, too, with a reverberation of about five seconds.
The church was closed for several years during the 1980s for renovation. I suspect that is when the altar was, ahem, altered. It was quite an expensive renovation, by the way. The ventilation system alone cost over half a million dollars to design (not including construction). It was worth it, though, as it keeps the floor and ceiling temperatures within one degree Celsius of each other winter and summer, all without the use of fans, which were deemed too noisy. Compare St. Mary's in Lübeck, where, a guide told us, it costs over $5,000 to raise the temperature in the church one degree Celsius (this was nearly twenty years ago).
St. Mary's, like nearly all the state Lutheran churches, has suffered from poor attendance. When I lived there in the 1990s, a typical Sunday would see perhaps forty people in attendance, and I suspect several of them were tourists. My wife and I sang in St. Mary's choir, but attended the local SELK church. We could do that because the choir sang for services only a couple of times a year. No point in singing more often, as most of the choir members didn't attend church. We rehearsed weekly, though, and put on some nice concerts. The cantor there is a truly outstanding musician and a great improviser on the organ.
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