Do you guys think that the way they used to make Church’s had a Spiritual aspect to it? I’m not talking about modern day Churches that look more like houses then they do a place of worship. I’m talking about old Churches that still have the Stained Glass Windows, and the different geometrical shapes to it.
I personally think so, but I want to hear what others have to say.
Certainly a lot of church architecture has been designed to foster spirituality and reverence. However, it can foster those things but it cannot cause them. Our parish church in Alexandria, Virginia, was a big cinderblock box. Yet it was a parish with reverence and, shall I say, love.
In Catholic Matters, Father Richard John Neuhaus (a Catholic priest and former Lutheran pastor), wrote that St. John’s, a Lutheran church, “was behind locked doors an empty auditorium awaiting its next use. But the [Catholic] cathedral was sacred space.” People and their prayers and worship “did not make the space sacred.” It was made sacred by the presence of Jesus.
It’s interesting that you mention churches that look like houses. I hadn’t thought of that, but now it occurs to me that early Christians worshiped in their homes, according to the Bible.
There are beautiful churches of modern architecture. The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, comes to mind. It fosters spirituality and reverence. And although people’s actions to not intrinsically make a space reverent, their behavior can contribute to reverence or diminish it.
One church I attended for years in Virginia met for a long time in temporary spaces until a new church could be built. It met in a funeral parlor chapel, a former gym, and a former sporting goods store. None of these places had anything like sacred architecture, but Jesus was present, and reverent behavior and dress were expected. Ushers had to wear a tie. My current parish church in Pennsylvania has traditional architecture and reverent behavior, but the ushers sometimes wear shorts and T-shirts. To me it diminishes the atmosphere.
So that’s my long answer to your question! Any space where Jesus is present is sacred, be it a classical cathedral, a modern church, a house, or a catacomb. Where He is present, we should give Him our best—our best behavior, dress, music … And the church building can encourage this, but I think that our response to His presence is most important.
Thanks for this question. The Church has always represented more than the building, but I believe we tend to misinterpret the “Glorification” aspect. Affordability has always been an important consideration, but the Church seems to have adopted the glorification, which is mis placed. Consider ourselves as the workers from the architect and engineers to those handling the most menial tasks - the investment of “Human Dignity.” How many of them were investing their love and lives in their work. Why have we never heard more about the people, many of whom spent their lives working on that one project? I have visited several famous churches and seldom have found any reference about the people that created them. I recently had the opportunity to visit the Sagrada Famalia in Barcelona, Spain, which is unlike any other church I have ever seen. It is breathtaking. The building itself tells its own story in hundreds of different ways - no two people can have the same experience. There is no uniformity, but always symmetry. You can feel the human presence that has gone into its construction. The workers themselves, from many different places live close by and their children go to the school that was built on the site. The building itself promotes the glory of Human Dignity praising their Creator with the gifts they have been given.
This is a very important question.
There are many ways in which the traditional styles of church architecture were spiritual. They were meant to be sacramental (visible signs of invisible grace).
To give just one example: the traditional floor plan of a church was in the shape of the cross. A long nave with two transepts, with Jesus (in the priest; on the altar; in the tabernacle) at the head. That’s because the Church is the Body of Christ. The faithful are members of the Body (and hence take their place along the body of the cross), with Christ being the Head.
Many other examples could be given.
Unfortunately, modern architecture has often downplayed, ignored, or even denied that there is meaning in the building itself.