The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-11-17
CATHOLIC CHURCH ARCHITECTURE

Il AA OA l. LIN l. " A1
with the spirit of true religion. True
Catholic art must not only be good
art as such, conforming, to all esthet-
ical principles, but it must be relig.
ious and Catholic art as we'll. If it
lis the former merely and not the lat
tier, it must fail in it's main purpose
Just as the spiritrof the Church is at
variance with the spirit of the world,
80 must her art be differentiated from
that aof the world. This is why we
have Aspecial church music and why
secular and operate music has been
banished from the choir. 1t is obvi-
Ious therefore that the design and
lplan of the Catholic church cannot
FOLLOW that of theater or a picture
Iauditorium, no matter how cozy and
comfortable they are, and yielding as
they do an unobstructed view to
every part of the interior. Shall we
have. columns In our churches or not,
to instance only one question? If the
true nature of church building is ig-
nored and considered simply from the
standpoint of an auditorium, and not
sacred temple then of course COL
umns are a nuisance and should not
be tolerated, and the theater or audi
torium type would then be frankly
admissible. Your sense of reverence,
however, for the house of God, re-
jects | am sure, at once, any type or
style that approaches even remotely,
that of public theater or place of
entertainment, as being entirely un
worthy and unsatisfactory as a
church. We do not go to a church
to be entertained, or to have the ears
tickled with operate music, but to
worship God, to get away as far as
possible from the influence and i'm
pressions of the world, and all that
it stands for. That is why the move
ments for laymen's retreats have be-
come so popular to earnest-minded
Catholics; they wish to get away en-
tirely from worldly influence and the
false perspective that it creates in
our minds of the four last great
things. The art of the Church must
therefore be distinctive, Catholic to
the core, in full harmony with the
mind and teachings of the Church.
Catholic Art Must Be Truthful.
What then are some Of the charac-
teristics of true Catholic architecture?
How may we judge it? First of all
it must be truthful, sincere, free from
shams or affections in design and
construction. 1t must be expressive
of it's noble purpose, esthetically, as
well as practically. What do we mean
by truth in architecture? We mean
that all material used in construction
or decoration must be in reality what
it pretends to be, no more, no less.
No imitation marble, galvanized iron,
or other cheap subterfuges and shams
are allowable. All arches and piers
must be of masonry and not hollow
shams built up of metal, lath and plas-
ter, and afterwards painted to simu-
late marble or stone. The Temple
of Cod the Author of Truth, must be
temple of truth, structurally and
artistically. How much more elevat.
ing our arts, and how much more en-
nobling our architecture would be,
were they purged from their deceits
and freed from their untruths. 1t is
not too much to say that Christian
architecture and it's attendant arts
will never. again be worthy of the
service to which they are dedicated
until the Lamp of Truth" Eliminates
every work of the architect and the
artist. AS Ruskin pertinently re-
marks: IF there were no other causes
for the failures which have marked
every great occasion for architectural
exertion, these petty dishonesties
would be enough to account for all.
1t is the first step and not the least
toward greatness to do away with
these; the first, because evidently and
easily in our power. We may not be
able to always command good, or
beautiful, or inventive architecture,
but we can command an honest ar
CHlICCLUIO, luO Iu6dS6IuOoS VI pONCIIy
may be pardoned, the sternness of
utility respected, but what is there
but scorn for the meanness of decep-
tion?" 1t must be borne in mind that
honest architecture and building can
not be achieved without considerable
sacrifice. On the one hand, sacrifice
must be made OF many personal ideas
and predictions; and, on the other
hand, liberal offering of money must
be made, perhaps involving a sacri,
flee of some of our cherished Injuries.
Even the simplest treatments of the
humber materials suitable for use in
church building, put. together loving
ly and truthfli1ly, are. likely to cost
more in thought andamoney than the
shams and subterfuges which are
now too often looked upon as clever
and pretty And let us be assured
that until such multitudinous shams
and subterfuges are stamped out oi
Catholic church architecture, it will
never again assert its dignity in the
sight of man or it's worthiness in the
sight of the Great Architect.
To adhere re1igiouS1y tn truth ir