The Cathedral: Symbol of Paradise
The Cathedral is a figure of the City of God, the Celestial Jerusalem, an image of Paradise, as the liturgy of the consecration of churches affirms.
Its lateral walls are representations of the Old and New Testaments. Its pillars and columns are the Prophets and Apostles that sustain the cupola, where Christ is the center. The stained-glass windows that separate us from the storms and let the light pour over us are the Doctors. The threshold is the entrance to Paradise embellished by stone statues, painted and gold bas-relief sculptures, and rich bronze doors.
The House of God must be illuminated by the rays of the sun, resplendent with charity like Paradise itself, because God is Light, the light Who gives beauty to everything that exists. For this reason the internal illumination of the cathedral should be augmented, making the windows as large as possible, from the top of the great arches to the cupolas.
Hugh O’Reilly
#architecture #symbolism
The Cathedral is a figure of the City of God, the Celestial Jerusalem, an image of Paradise, as the liturgy of the consecration of churches affirms.
Its lateral walls are representations of the Old and New Testaments. Its pillars and columns are the Prophets and Apostles that sustain the cupola, where Christ is the center. The stained-glass windows that separate us from the storms and let the light pour over us are the Doctors. The threshold is the entrance to Paradise embellished by stone statues, painted and gold bas-relief sculptures, and rich bronze doors.
The House of God must be illuminated by the rays of the sun, resplendent with charity like Paradise itself, because God is Light, the light Who gives beauty to everything that exists. For this reason the internal illumination of the cathedral should be augmented, making the windows as large as possible, from the top of the great arches to the cupolas.
Hugh O’Reilly
#architecture #symbolism
‘Be Sober and Watch’
- vigilance in the symbol of a gargoyle
Fr. Marian T. Horvat, Ph.D.
Walking through one of those huge and terrible malls the other day, I noticed a shop filled with gargoyles, those strange misshapen creatures with their “astonishing and deformed appearance,” as St. Bernard of Clairvaux described them. As a medievalist, my attention was caught. I entered the store and found a wide menagerie of creatures to place in your garden, set on your desk, adorn your fountain, and become your “little friend” or mascot.
My first reaction was shock to find that these monstrous creatures were being sold as a kind of new pet for the home without any reaction of indignation. A quite different mentality is nourishing the celebration of these figures, a mentality that reflects a modern spirit opposed to the Catholic spirit that gave birth to these bizarre beasts.
The first purpose of these creatures for the medieval man was didactic – to teach. Unlike modern man, medieval man did not create their monsters to be the stuffed-animal companions or like extra-terrestrial friends for their children. Instead, their express purpose was to frighten, to startle man amid his everyday life. These fantastic beasts were destined to be a clear and constant reminder that the devil and original sin exist. Alongside the beauty and splendor of the magnificent cathedral, the serpent lurks. They were born from a mentality that understand the need for constant vigilance. Just as the brilliant stained glass window was the Gospel in crystal, the gargoyle elucidated in stone those grave words of St. Peter: “Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour.”
This is also how the medieval artists would depict the torments of Hell, a topic modern Catholic artists avoid for fear of frightening children – and adults. How horrible and barbarian, they shudder, contemplating images like the famous Trinity College Apocalypse scene, where an angel thrusts the beast into the Hell-Mouth while vultures feed on the corpses of kings, captains and even priests and bishops. Such pictures encouraged viewers to think about the final consequences of their behavior. Hell, like sin, is a reality. And figures like the gargoyles serve to remind man of the battle he must wage while he fights the good fight on this earth, which is a battleground, not a paradise or utopia.
Thus, the gargoyle reflects a mentality that understands God as the exemplary cause, the model of the universe. Hell itself was created by God, and can reflect His justice in punishing. So, in this sense, the ugly and horrible can be an expression of His just chastisement. It is interesting to consider that in the cathedral, in addition to the indisputable symbols of the goodness of God, we can observe the harmonic contrary of this as the expression of His justice. This expression of the contraries – justice and goodness – gives a broader understanding of Him.
Inferior symbols can help us to understand superior symbols, and in this hierarchy of symbols we have a mirror of God. This creates a state of mind where we are constantly making relationships between all things, in which the model of everything is the Creator. This sane way of thinking, when it exists as it existed in the Middle Ages and promises to exist in the days ahead, is reflected in the art, architecture, fashions, manners and customs of a people. Modern man, like medieval man, needs transcendent values that become concrete in symbols. And these symbols should serve to reflect God and to act as a constant reminder of the Creator
#symbolism
- vigilance in the symbol of a gargoyle
Fr. Marian T. Horvat, Ph.D.
Walking through one of those huge and terrible malls the other day, I noticed a shop filled with gargoyles, those strange misshapen creatures with their “astonishing and deformed appearance,” as St. Bernard of Clairvaux described them. As a medievalist, my attention was caught. I entered the store and found a wide menagerie of creatures to place in your garden, set on your desk, adorn your fountain, and become your “little friend” or mascot.
My first reaction was shock to find that these monstrous creatures were being sold as a kind of new pet for the home without any reaction of indignation. A quite different mentality is nourishing the celebration of these figures, a mentality that reflects a modern spirit opposed to the Catholic spirit that gave birth to these bizarre beasts.
The first purpose of these creatures for the medieval man was didactic – to teach. Unlike modern man, medieval man did not create their monsters to be the stuffed-animal companions or like extra-terrestrial friends for their children. Instead, their express purpose was to frighten, to startle man amid his everyday life. These fantastic beasts were destined to be a clear and constant reminder that the devil and original sin exist. Alongside the beauty and splendor of the magnificent cathedral, the serpent lurks. They were born from a mentality that understand the need for constant vigilance. Just as the brilliant stained glass window was the Gospel in crystal, the gargoyle elucidated in stone those grave words of St. Peter: “Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour.”
This is also how the medieval artists would depict the torments of Hell, a topic modern Catholic artists avoid for fear of frightening children – and adults. How horrible and barbarian, they shudder, contemplating images like the famous Trinity College Apocalypse scene, where an angel thrusts the beast into the Hell-Mouth while vultures feed on the corpses of kings, captains and even priests and bishops. Such pictures encouraged viewers to think about the final consequences of their behavior. Hell, like sin, is a reality. And figures like the gargoyles serve to remind man of the battle he must wage while he fights the good fight on this earth, which is a battleground, not a paradise or utopia.
Thus, the gargoyle reflects a mentality that understands God as the exemplary cause, the model of the universe. Hell itself was created by God, and can reflect His justice in punishing. So, in this sense, the ugly and horrible can be an expression of His just chastisement. It is interesting to consider that in the cathedral, in addition to the indisputable symbols of the goodness of God, we can observe the harmonic contrary of this as the expression of His justice. This expression of the contraries – justice and goodness – gives a broader understanding of Him.
Inferior symbols can help us to understand superior symbols, and in this hierarchy of symbols we have a mirror of God. This creates a state of mind where we are constantly making relationships between all things, in which the model of everything is the Creator. This sane way of thinking, when it exists as it existed in the Middle Ages and promises to exist in the days ahead, is reflected in the art, architecture, fashions, manners and customs of a people. Modern man, like medieval man, needs transcendent values that become concrete in symbols. And these symbols should serve to reflect God and to act as a constant reminder of the Creator
#symbolism
Ecce Verbum
The Precious Medieval Symbolism of the Mass Emile Mâle,The Gothic Image: Religious Art in France of the 13th Century (In describing the importance of symbolism to the medieval man, Emile Mâle gives the example of how the medieval man saw the liturgy of the…
The works of the old liturgiologists, despised since the 17th century, should undoubtedly be counted among the most extraordinary books belonging to the Middle Ages. Nowhere else is found such forceful radiance of soul, which transmuted things material into things of the spirit.
The vestments worn by the priest at the altar and the objects used in the ritual of the Church are other symbols. The chasuble, worn over the other vestments, is the charity that is above the precepts of the law and is itself the supreme law.
The stole that the priest passes around his neck is the light yoke of the Master, and as it is written that the Christian should cherish that yoke, the priest when putting it on or taking it off kisses the stole.
The Bishop's mitre with its two points symbolizes the knowledge he should have of both the Old and the New Testament, while the two ribbons attached to it are a reminder that the interpretation of Scripture should according to both letter and spirit.
The sanctus bell is the voice of the preachers. The frame to which it is suspended is a figure of the Cross, and the cord made of three twisted treads signifies the threefold interpretation of Scripture, in a historical, allegorical and moral sense. When the cord is taken in the hand in order to move the bell, it is symbolic expression of the fundamental truth that the knowledge of the Scriptures could conduce to action.
Such constant use of symbolism will astonish those unfamiliar with medieval writers. One should not, however, affect to see in it, as did the Benedictines of the 18th century, nothing but the mere play of individual fancy.
Symbolic interpretations were doubtless never accepted as dogma, but for all that it is noticeable that they seldom vary. For example, in the 13th century Gulielmus Durandus attributes the same meaning to the stole as does Amalarius in the 9th. But the interest here lies less in the interpretation itself than in the attitude of mind that it presupposes. What is significant is the scorn for practical things, and the profound conviction that, by reaching out to the immaterial through the material, man might have fleeting visions of God. And herein lies the true genius of the Middle Ages.
#symbolism #mass
The vestments worn by the priest at the altar and the objects used in the ritual of the Church are other symbols. The chasuble, worn over the other vestments, is the charity that is above the precepts of the law and is itself the supreme law.
The stole that the priest passes around his neck is the light yoke of the Master, and as it is written that the Christian should cherish that yoke, the priest when putting it on or taking it off kisses the stole.
The Bishop's mitre with its two points symbolizes the knowledge he should have of both the Old and the New Testament, while the two ribbons attached to it are a reminder that the interpretation of Scripture should according to both letter and spirit.
The sanctus bell is the voice of the preachers. The frame to which it is suspended is a figure of the Cross, and the cord made of three twisted treads signifies the threefold interpretation of Scripture, in a historical, allegorical and moral sense. When the cord is taken in the hand in order to move the bell, it is symbolic expression of the fundamental truth that the knowledge of the Scriptures could conduce to action.
Such constant use of symbolism will astonish those unfamiliar with medieval writers. One should not, however, affect to see in it, as did the Benedictines of the 18th century, nothing but the mere play of individual fancy.
Symbolic interpretations were doubtless never accepted as dogma, but for all that it is noticeable that they seldom vary. For example, in the 13th century Gulielmus Durandus attributes the same meaning to the stole as does Amalarius in the 9th. But the interest here lies less in the interpretation itself than in the attitude of mind that it presupposes. What is significant is the scorn for practical things, and the profound conviction that, by reaching out to the immaterial through the material, man might have fleeting visions of God. And herein lies the true genius of the Middle Ages.
#symbolism #mass
Ecce Verbum
The Precious Medieval Symbolism of the Mass Emile Mâle,The Gothic Image: Religious Art in France of the 13th Century (In describing the importance of symbolism to the medieval man, Emile Mâle gives the example of how the medieval man saw the liturgy of the…
symbolismofchurc00dura.pdf
17.1 MB
'The Symbolism of the Church and the Church Ornaments'
A translation of the first book of the "Rationale Divinorum" written by Bishop William Durandus
The Rationale Divinorum Officiorum is arguably the most important medieval treatise on the symbolism of church architecture and rituals of worship. Written by the French bishop William Durand of Mende (1230-1296), the treatise is ranked with the Bible as one of the most frequently copied and disseminated texts in all of medieval Christianity. It served as an encyclopedic compendium and textbook for liturgists and remains an indispensable guide for understanding the significance of medieval ecclesiastical art and worship ceremonies.
Online version:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43319/43319-h/43319-h.htm
#symbolism #architecture
A translation of the first book of the "Rationale Divinorum" written by Bishop William Durandus
The Rationale Divinorum Officiorum is arguably the most important medieval treatise on the symbolism of church architecture and rituals of worship. Written by the French bishop William Durand of Mende (1230-1296), the treatise is ranked with the Bible as one of the most frequently copied and disseminated texts in all of medieval Christianity. It served as an encyclopedic compendium and textbook for liturgists and remains an indispensable guide for understanding the significance of medieval ecclesiastical art and worship ceremonies.
Online version:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43319/43319-h/43319-h.htm
#symbolism #architecture