I cannot say enough good things about Bill Strub. He was my mentor at the altar when I was a boy. Bill passed away earlier this year at age 98. This saintly man was my first mentor at the altar when I began serving Mass at age 9. Bill was there in November 1988 when I s…
In Memoriam: Mr. William "Bill" Strub: Aka "The World's Oldest Altar Boy" Passes at Age 98
I cannot say enough good things about Bill Strub. He was my mentor at the altar when I was a boy. Bill passed away earlier this year at age 98. This saintly man was my first mentor at the altar when I began serving Mass at age 9. Bill was there in November 1988 when I s…
The Portico of the Angers Cathedral
As one walks
along the north bank of the Maine river towards the Pont du Verdun, the eye is
drawn to the slender spires of the Cathedral of St Maurice, perched upon the
hill that dominates the old town of Angers. A pedestrian boulevard steeply climbs
the hill, the Montée St…
Substantial Architectural Progress at Clear Creek Abbey
The Abbey of Our Lady of Clear Creek is a Benedictine monastery situated in Oklahoma, USA, This particular Benedictine monastery has been focused on the building of more substantial monastic buildings, including the abbey church, and as part of the latter project they recen…
On Liturgical Beauty and False Stylistic Absolutes
If you want to see a bit of what at least some of the earlier part of the twentieth century Liturgical Movement considered "ideal" then this photo from a 1942 issue of Liturgical Arts Quarterly (LAQ) is instructive. Of course in saying this it must be noted that …
Christus Vincit: Music for the Feast of Christ the King (Part 1 of 2)
Guest Article by Thomas Neal The feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King is a relatively recent addition to the liturgical calendar. Promulgated by Pope Pius XI with his encyclical, Quas primas , in 1925, the feast was assigned to the last Sunday in October immediately before…
Papal Ceremonial: The Sedia Gestatoria
Traditions from the East such as the sedia gestatoria or "triumphal chair," stir the human spirit and speak a language of oriental beauty and refinement. And they reflect something rare today - the common sense acquisition of a special kind of otherworldliness. …
The St. Philip Chasuble
Only just yesterday we featured a number of our contemporary vestment designers' approaches to the gothic revival and on the very same day the following appeared on Sacra Domus Aurea : a silk chasuble in the sixteenth century Neri cut complete with embroidered orphreys a…
Recent Gothic Revival Vestment Work of Note
Today I thought we would turn our attention to a few contemporary approaches to the gothic revival in the area of vestment design. To my mind, these represent some of the most successful and interesting approaches in recent memory insofar as they all reclaim some of the mor…
Before and After: St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Lambertville, New Jersey
Quite frequently our before and after series features significant architectural renovations. Other renovations don't require quite this level of intervention but do demonstrate the important of colour and decoration in the overall effect. The following, undertaken by wa…
Beautiful New Church Completed: St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Charlottesville, Virginia
More good news. St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish , the Dominican chapel under construction in Charlottesville, Virginia (Diocese of Richmond), has at long last been been completed after five years of anticipation. It was dedicated on Sept. 20 by Bishop Barry Knestout a…
Saint Teresa of Avila's Biretta: A Brief Introduction to the Iconography of St. Teresa of Avila as Doctrix Ecclesia
It might be shocking to some (in particular those outside of the Hispanic world) to come upon an image of St Teresa wearing the biretta, which generally considered an exclusive item of clerical vesture. We must nevertheless remember that the biretta is the common ancestor o…
Vatican II Peritus Monsignor R.G. Bandas on Dogmatic Principles and Sacred Art
Monsignor Rudolph G. Bandas (1896-1969) was one of the great ones, a loyal and orthodox American theologian who attended every session of Vatican Council II as a peritus (expert). He was a member of two commissions during the Council, one on dogma and the other on seminari…
Distinctive Shades of Liturgical Colours in Eighteenth Century Vestment Work
Arguably the tastes of the later 19th and 20th centuries combined with the industrialized, catalogued religious goods industry and its novel notion of "ecclesiastical fabrics" contributed (as I have argued before) to a flattening of our perception of liturgical co…
Four Cardinals, Four Violet Chasubles of the Eighteenth Century
It has been a little while since we last checked in on some historical vestment work so for today I thought it might be of interest to look at four different chasubles, each coming from the eighteenth century, each bearing the arms of a cardinal, and each of a different cha…
St. Joseph's Seminary in North Carolina
Perhaps the most exciting building project of the year award goes to St. Joseph's College Seminary in the Diocese of Charlotte. They have done a terrific job. Hearty congratulations to the diocese and many thanks to everyone who dreamed big and worked hard to make this…
Simplicity Without Iconoclasm: Duncan Stroik Considers the Unintended Repercussions of a Classic of the Liturgical Movement
In the following piece, originally published in the 2013 issue of Sacred Architecture , architect Duncan Stroik consider the merits -- as well the unintended (and arguably undesirable) implications of Geoffrey Webb's work, The Liturgical Altar. It's a work I myself f…
The Renovation of the Chapel of a Carmelite Monastery in Michigan
A little known Carmel of Discalced Carmelites in Traverse City, Michigan (Diocese of Gaylord) is garnering attention among traditional Catholics and young women discerning. It has an interesting history -- it was founded by nuns who came originally from Mexico, fleeing per…
Before and After (and Before): Santa Maria in Cosmedin
Many of our readers may not be aware that the minor Roman basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, as it is seen today, was not how it looked for the period of about 200 years -- most of the 18th and 19th centuries. Like so many churches of Rome, the original church facade und…
Maria Hilf Chapel at Church of St. Agnes (Ecclesia Sanctae Agnetis)
The church of St. Agnes in St. Paul, Minnesota is an outstanding parish with the most impressive sacred music program I have seen anywhere in North America. It is also one of the most beautiful churches in the United States and the most significant of south German baroque …
Some Recent Contemporary Vestment Work
I thought we should check in with some of our bespoke vestment designers and share some of their recent work. We begin with Sacra Domus Aurea who recently shared this beautiful violet cope. The cope includes beautiful plum coloured velvet inserts with a rich violet and gold …
Catholic Architect Erik Bootsma of TAC & Notre-Dame Offers Online Course on Classical Architecture
During my studium days in Rome I had the opportunity to meet a great many talented young up-and-coming classical architects of the Catholic world. One of my favorites is Erik Bootsma , a convert to the Catholic Faith who studied in Rome as a Notre-Dame graduate student. Er…
A Carved Lindenwood Rood - European Craftsmanship Destined For Texas
The German litugical art firm, ALBL Oberammergau and, American firm, Gardiner-Hall Associates , have collaborated on a project destined for the new St. Philip's Catholic Church in Lewisville, Texas. Gardiner Hall was chosen by the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas and the pas…
