The Real Thing

I am sporadic when it comes to watching television or movies. I can go a long time without watching anything and then I go on little binges and samplers.

Mrs. Nod happened to be watching a TV series called Legend of the Seeker which is your usual fantasy knock-off story. I watched for a little while, then got an overwhelming urge to see Lord of the Rings again in the middle of the show.  Tolkien's world is a deep, complex, fully realized, and ultimately Catholic thing. When you read the novels or watch the movies you come away with a deeply satisfying feeling like after a sumptuous meal.  You know that there is something there.  This other fantasy tripe - not so much.

Similarly, going to adoration or receiving Jesus in the Eucharist produces the same sensation. You know it's Real. I pass a half dozen generic Christian churches on my way to Mass. I often wonder what it would be like to go their services. This one would have great music, that one would have an inspiring preacher, and yet another might have great fellowship. It might be novel for a bit, but it would ultimately pale because they wouldn't have the Real Presence. I liken it to the feeling of walking into the Church on Good Friday and seeing the tabernacle open and empty - there is an almost physical ache of loss.

I wonder what it would be like if all those other churches I pass on Sundays were Catholic. (I'd be walking to Mass for one thing.) Then I shrug and move on.

Ain't nothing like the Real Thing.

Northern Mass

This past week we took the whole Nod clan up north to Massachusetts for my sister's wedding and a family vacation. In the middle of Cape Cod is the town of Osterville where there stands a modest little Catholic church, Our Lady of the Assumption.

I must confess to having some assumptions of my own prior to going up there. We actually live in the Arlington Diocese which is fairly conservative. My neighbor is from Massachusetts and she regularly regales me with tales of its liberality. Combine this with reports of strange liturgical abuses from the Northeast, and I have to admit to being nervous about going up there for Mass.

"Form and matter. Form and matter.", I kept muttering to myself. All we need is a priest with correct intention to say, "This is my body" over a simple wheat host and we have a properly confected Eucharist. Everything else is of lesser account, although I pray fervently not to be subjected to liturgical dancing or Wonder bread.

I don't insist on Latin only, or the extraordinary form; I don't demand organ only music, or exclusively male altar servers. I won't refuse Eucharist from an extraordinary minister who is not a priest, and I won't pitch a fit in public if people hold hands during the Our Father. I certainly have my preferences, but other than following the rubrics of Mass, most of these things are not my responsibility -- those are on the various priests and bishops.

So I was pleasantly proved wrong at Our Lady of the Assumption. (Hey, I can admit I was wrong.) The church itself has a semi-classical architecture, although I couldn't tell you what specifically. (Ask Denis McNamara, he might know.)


There is a large crucifix in the center over the altar, and a tabernacle prominently displayed. It has cute little confessionals on each side of the church with a draw curtain for privacy. One side is face to face, the other is a traditional little wooden kneeler - so little, in fact, that I slipped off it when I knelt down and made a big noise. The priest chuckled at me a little. "Maybe you should have chosen the chair."

It is simply and tastefully decorated and populated mostly by a bunch of gray-hairs. They have holy hours for vocations, a "Deus Caritas Est" Study Group to study the Pope's encyclical, and have even had a Eucharistic procession.

My only complaint is fairly minor. Some priests, like this one, have a penchant for giving an overview before the Gospel and readings are read. Rubrics aside, I find it slightly annoying and a bit tell-them-what-you're-going-to-tell-them, tell-them, tell-them-what-you-told-them Army style. To be fair, I've seen this in my own Diocese once or twice.

The most important thing is that Jesus was there. Simply, wholly, eternally. The priest absolved sins compassionately, Mass was celebrated reverently, and a wedding was performed validly. What more could you ask?

Grotto Me This

This year Mrs. Nod and I celebrate 14 years of marriage.

We have a tradition of trading off planning our anniversary and this year was Mrs. Nod's turn. Instead of a big fancy dinner, she chose time away from home and a spiritual theme. This was our first trip away from home without any children since we started having them. Oooh! Aaah! The novelty!

This was an overnighter and mini-retreat for the two of us - just time to spend alone and at our own pace, nothing formal.She chose the National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes in Emmitsburg, MD. The weather was fine and the place is beautiful and peaceful. There is a garden walk up to the Grotto that features the Stations of the Cross on one side, and the Mysteries of the Rosary on the way back.


Halfway up is a small chapel, the Corpus Christi Chapel, that is "just big enough to change your mind in" where the Eucharist is reserved in the Tabernacle. Kneeling in front, you are about four feet from His Presence. There is a sign there, saying "You are now alone with Our Lord ... don't you have anything to say to him?".

The Grotto is a replica of the original one in Lourdes, France where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, saint and incorruptible.

There is actually an indulgence of 500 days attached with visiting the Grotto as long as you go to Mass, Confession, pray for the Pope, and say a Hail Mary and invocation. 500 days! And we visited there twice. Yeah, baby, that's 1000 days off Purgatory for free -- I think I may need it.

We visited on the Feast of Divine Mercy, which is our (liturgical) anniversary. We were finishing up the Divine Mercy novena, so we hit Mass at St. Anthony's at the bottom of the hill and Confession at the Grotto. An indulgence trifecta! Woot!
The next day we also visited the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, which is practically down the street in Emmitsburg. I'm not sure of the architecture type (neo-classical?), but the interior was designed by Italian and German artists.




St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's remains are entombed behind a marble slab in a side chapel in the Basilica. They have a reliquary that you can reverence and a novena to pray for intentions. The stained glass windows above her tomb show her order, the Daughters of Charity, performing the 7 works of mercy. (Click for larger image).

The very top of the dome features a fresco of the holy family. You have to crane your neck for a good look. I got a better look by taking a hi-res photo and looking at that.


All in all, it was a very sweet way to spend your anniversary with the one you love: good job, hon.

Signs and Symbols: Pelicans

Of all the great imagery we have for Christ and his sacrifice for his bride, the Church, none springs to mind as little as the Pelican.

Lambs, crosses, bread and wine, the ichthys fish -- all these are very common images. But a number of other images have also been used throughout the centuries to represent Christ including birds, such as the mythic Phoenix and the pelican.

In the case of the pelican, the belief was that the bird would wound herself to feed her young with her own blood. This self-sacrifice naturally called to mind His death on the cross and so became a symbol for Christ.
This weekend, Mrs. Nod and I went to the Basilica of the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native born saint in America. I found this etching of a pelican in the window pane of the entry door to the Basilica.


Things that are otherwise mysterious gain a new light when the proper signs and symbols are explained.

Awesome Architecture: St. Matthew

I went to the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington D.C. for the holy day Mass today.



Holy Smokes, this place is gorgeous! I had a hard time not gawking during Mass, but gawked to my heart's content afterward. Its design is a hybrid of Byzantine and Romanesque architecture; and although it's a fair debate on whether you prefer Romanesque or Gothic, the main point is that good church architecture necessarily raises your mind to God. In this case the architecture literally forces you to raise your head to take it all in -- everything worth seeing is above the 50-foot mark.

The forms and symbols used in building all mean something liturgically speaking. For a fuller treatment of the subject, I recommend asking an expert: Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy by Denis McNamara.

This one was my favorite, and since it is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I thought it particularly appropriate. There's radiant joy on her face. "The statue by Gordon S. Kray shows this caring Mother reaching down to fallen humanity and pointing to her ascended Son. This is a very unusual depiction of Mary placed here in 1984."


I got some low-res photos with my trusty camera phone, but I recommend the higher-res photo tour that the Cathedral offers.



The music was provided by a cantor and an organ; it was so exquisitely beautiful it makes your heart ache. If all that beauty is an inkling of what life with God is like, then bring it on!
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Update: D Mac has more on church architecture transformations; this one is on a slightly smaller scale.

National City Christian Church

Designed by prominent architect John Russell Pope in Neoclassical style, the National City Christian Church is a sight to behold. Located in Washington DC at Thomas Circle, NW.

More info and background at Architect Design. Built in 1930 and finished in the 1950s. Prominent Presidents LBJ and Garfield were members here. They even have their own stained glass windows. A little unorthodox perhaps, but beautiful.







Full immersion baptistry. They accept infant baptism, but don't practice it; they usually wait until the "age of consent".


They Looooooove their organ. This whole place is one big organ showplace.




Very impressive white stone exterior. Very. Tall.