A Hothouse Chapel in Hurricane Alley ("Ugly As Sin" At Ave Maria U.)

CruxNews.com ^ | 3/26/2004 | Michael Rose

[AAABEST]

What do you call the communities that attend the SSPX chapels?

Uh let's see. People that worship Jesus maybe?

In any case, it really doesn't matter what I, or you or anyone else "call" them. Rome isn't (and never has) called people who choose to worship at Society chapels "schismatics", so people on internet forums shouldn't either.

[Desdemona]

My expert contacts fail me....

There is so much out there, it's impossible to be expert at all of it.

[Maximilian]

Watch that condescending tone, Max.

Re-reading my post, I can see that it did sound condescending, for which I apologize.

I've read his books.

Then what about the issue of objective standards? Are there objective standards for church architecture, or is it strictly one's subjective impression? If there are objective standards for what qualifies as "Catholic church architecture," does this glass hothouse meet those standards or not?

[Dajjal]

Bumpus ad summum

[CARepubGal]

About fell out of my chair laughing! Catholic Architecture is usually way more inspiring than this!

[Antoninus]

My letter:

Dear Ave Maria,

I saw the model of the chapel that was proposed for Ave Maria. I must say that the design is just awful and very discouraging. It is a classic example of catering to a fad that will only look ridiculous 100, 50, or even 10 years from now. Our local library succumbed to such a fad in the 1970s and what we were left with was a building was "hip" for about 15 minutes and afterwards became a joke--and an expensive one, as it needed to be replaced 30 years later.

I would urge you--beg you--to reconsider the plan, or even scrap it all together. A beautiful chapel that follows traditional Catholic Church design would be a jewel at the center of an authentically Catholic college. It would also be a link to 2000 years of Catholic architecture, rather than a paean to a decadent, ever-changing, hip-happenin' church that changes its culture--and teachings--with the ebb and flow of the pop-culture.

Again, I beg you, do not make that mistake.

AMDG,

etc.