A month or two ago when the foundation of the new chapel provided only a ground level outline of the building, it seemed to me rather small. I had to go back to the drawings and check the measurements to reassure myself that the new chapel would indeed provide the extra space we needed. Now that the walls are up, however, and there is a partial roof over the sacristy wing, the space seems impressively large. It is a paradox of our perception that enclosing a space can make it actually seem larger rather than smaller. Space is a matter of psychological perception as much as it is of physical cubic feet.
Space is also a sacred or spiritual reality as much as it is a physical one.
A newly acquired book for our library is the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery . Given my preoccupation of late with church architecture it is not surprising that in browsing its pages I paused to read attentively the article on sacred space. The article defined this as a place where God is encountered in a special or direct way and a point of reference to which people return. Interestingly, this return can be made not only physically but also in memory. A sacred space can be so internalized that one can go there, can orient oneself toward it, even when not physically present.