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Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy
This unique book delves into the deep meanings of liturgical art and architecture, and by association, the Sacred Liturgy itself. It is meant to help pastors, architects, artists, members of building committees, seminarians, and everyone interested in liturgical art and architecture come to grips with the many competing themes which are at work in church buildings today. The object of Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy is help the reader to drink deeply from the wells of the tradition, to look with fresh eyes at things thought to be outdated or meaningless, and glean the principles which underlie the richness of the Catholic faith.
- GenresArchitectureReligion
256 pages, Hardcover
First published November 9, 2009
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About the author
Denis R. McNamara
5 books4 followersB.A., History of Art, Yale University; M.Arch.H. and Ph.D., Architectural History, University of Virginia.
His articles and reviews have appeared in Arris, Chicago Studies, Communio, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Assembly, Sacred Architecture, Letter and Spirit, and Environment and Art Letter.
Dr. McNamara's academic specialties include the theology of liturgical art and architecture, classicism, and sacramental aesthetics.
He's a member of the Society of Architectural Historians, Society for Catholic Liturgy and the Institute for Classical Architecture. He serves as assistant director at the Liturgical Institute of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake / Mundelein Seminary, and as a liturgical design consultant.
His articles and reviews have appeared in Arris, Chicago Studies, Communio, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Assembly, Sacred Architecture, Letter and Spirit, and Environment and Art Letter.
Dr. McNamara's academic specialties include the theology of liturgical art and architecture, classicism, and sacramental aesthetics.
He's a member of the Society of Architectural Historians, Society for Catholic Liturgy and the Institute for Classical Architecture. He serves as assistant director at the Liturgical Institute of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake / Mundelein Seminary, and as a liturgical design consultant.
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August 31, 2018
The Liturgical Movement of the twentieth century – culminating in the Second Vatican Council and its constitution on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium – sought to engage the faithful in “more full, conscious, active and fruitful participation” of the liturgy. Denis R. McNamara argues in Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy that beautiful church architecture, based on true principals, serves this aim by giving to glorify God and sanctify God’s people. The book is well organized, progresses logically and is chiefly persuasive. The opening sections make compelling arguments for beautiful churches and establish objective criteria for beauty. The later sections, which explore scripture, theology, the classical tradition and the twentieth century, provide quite a bit of exposition but architectural facts, “styles” and details are never the main point of the book.
In the opening section, McNamara addresses a subjective approach to beauty. He argues that the transcendentals of beauty, truth and goodness are integrally united. First, he writes that beauty is the compelling power of truth. Beauty has the power to make the truth of the Gospel visible and to draw people to Christ. McNamara wants to move past arguments over historical styles and “pre” vs. “post” Vatican II by founding architecture on a more solid foundation than tastes. Calling church architecture “the built form of theology”, he draws on Aquinas and Vitruvius among others to propose three main criteria: integrity, proportionality and clarity.
Integrity means that the church should be whole and have everything a church ought to have. He gives the example of a church without an altar as being incomplete. Proportionality demands both the literal proportions to make aesthetic sense and for the dignity of the architecture and materials to match the dignity of its use. Clarity requires that people be able to understand what a building is. He believes that when people say a church “doesn’t look like a church” its because one or more of these aspects is lacking. Ultimately, McNamara urges using these principals to bring a discussion to the underlying meaning of architectural choices. The ideas here won’t end arguments, but McNamara provides bases for more fruitful dialogue – and hopefully more beautiful churches.
In order to fulfill the promise of the Council, McNamara argues that liturgical art and architecture must be renewed by rediscovering its “deep theological underpinnings.” If church architecture is the built form of theology, then muddled or missing theology cannot produce great churches. Church Architecture covers all of salvation history – from before the Beginning all the way to the Heavenly Jerusalem. He splits this vast expanse of time and eternity using three traditional eras: shadow – the era of the Old testament, image – the age of the Church which looks forward to the heavenly reality through images and sacraments and reality – the fullness of Heaven.
In the New Covenant, where Jesus is the temple and the faithful are “living stones,” many question whether physical architecture is important after the destruction of the temple. McNamara provides three reasons why buildings continue to be important in the age of the Church which are rooted in the three eras. A beautiful church recalls and honors the temple. Indeed, McNamara provides good reasons for why today’s church buildings incorporate both temple and synagogue. Second, a “churchy” church is a visible sign that Christians are gathered in a particular place. This can be a powerful image that God is no longer bound to one place but the fulfillment of the great commission to spread the Gospel to all peoples is underway. Finally, church architecture provides the faithful with a foretaste of the Heavenly liturgy and joy. It has the power to conform people to Christ and to motivate them to build his Kingdom. Proportionality is used well here when McNamara points out that small parishes should not be grander than the Cathedral and that he is not calling for “mere sumptuous” spending. Instead, using stewardship and prudence, good architecture should express the important role of a church in public and private lives.
The remaining sections cover the classical tradition, icons and imagery and the twentieth century. They contain a lot more exposition than argument, but are still oriented toward creating a culture of “more beautiful” architecture in the Church. I found these chapters to be very engaging and inspiring.
The book, agreeing with the Council, does not propose any “style” as more Christian than another. Instead, he writes that the truth can be beautifully manifested in infinite ways. However, in these later portions he does argue that the criteria established earlier on do help evaluate whether a design expresses the truth of the Catholic faith.
Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy is – like the architecture it hopes to promote – an inspiring read. It is not an architectural manual or dictionary. The reader won’t be able to go and design an iconic church after reading it. McNamara writes about the why of church architecture. While he is definitely coming from a more “traditional” outlook, he is never polemical. By moving criticism to more objective criteria, he is able to give a fair shake to modern architecture and is open to attempts at creating new styles and idioms. He provides a compelling argument that church architecture can be a vital tool of evangelization and sanctification in the world. Catholic Church Architecture is a worthwhile read for the sake of enjoyment. For those in the midst of a building project the book should be required reading.
In the opening section, McNamara addresses a subjective approach to beauty. He argues that the transcendentals of beauty, truth and goodness are integrally united. First, he writes that beauty is the compelling power of truth. Beauty has the power to make the truth of the Gospel visible and to draw people to Christ. McNamara wants to move past arguments over historical styles and “pre” vs. “post” Vatican II by founding architecture on a more solid foundation than tastes. Calling church architecture “the built form of theology”, he draws on Aquinas and Vitruvius among others to propose three main criteria: integrity, proportionality and clarity.
Integrity means that the church should be whole and have everything a church ought to have. He gives the example of a church without an altar as being incomplete. Proportionality demands both the literal proportions to make aesthetic sense and for the dignity of the architecture and materials to match the dignity of its use. Clarity requires that people be able to understand what a building is. He believes that when people say a church “doesn’t look like a church” its because one or more of these aspects is lacking. Ultimately, McNamara urges using these principals to bring a discussion to the underlying meaning of architectural choices. The ideas here won’t end arguments, but McNamara provides bases for more fruitful dialogue – and hopefully more beautiful churches.
In order to fulfill the promise of the Council, McNamara argues that liturgical art and architecture must be renewed by rediscovering its “deep theological underpinnings.” If church architecture is the built form of theology, then muddled or missing theology cannot produce great churches. Church Architecture covers all of salvation history – from before the Beginning all the way to the Heavenly Jerusalem. He splits this vast expanse of time and eternity using three traditional eras: shadow – the era of the Old testament, image – the age of the Church which looks forward to the heavenly reality through images and sacraments and reality – the fullness of Heaven.
In the New Covenant, where Jesus is the temple and the faithful are “living stones,” many question whether physical architecture is important after the destruction of the temple. McNamara provides three reasons why buildings continue to be important in the age of the Church which are rooted in the three eras. A beautiful church recalls and honors the temple. Indeed, McNamara provides good reasons for why today’s church buildings incorporate both temple and synagogue. Second, a “churchy” church is a visible sign that Christians are gathered in a particular place. This can be a powerful image that God is no longer bound to one place but the fulfillment of the great commission to spread the Gospel to all peoples is underway. Finally, church architecture provides the faithful with a foretaste of the Heavenly liturgy and joy. It has the power to conform people to Christ and to motivate them to build his Kingdom. Proportionality is used well here when McNamara points out that small parishes should not be grander than the Cathedral and that he is not calling for “mere sumptuous” spending. Instead, using stewardship and prudence, good architecture should express the important role of a church in public and private lives.
The remaining sections cover the classical tradition, icons and imagery and the twentieth century. They contain a lot more exposition than argument, but are still oriented toward creating a culture of “more beautiful” architecture in the Church. I found these chapters to be very engaging and inspiring.
The book, agreeing with the Council, does not propose any “style” as more Christian than another. Instead, he writes that the truth can be beautifully manifested in infinite ways. However, in these later portions he does argue that the criteria established earlier on do help evaluate whether a design expresses the truth of the Catholic faith.
Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy is – like the architecture it hopes to promote – an inspiring read. It is not an architectural manual or dictionary. The reader won’t be able to go and design an iconic church after reading it. McNamara writes about the why of church architecture. While he is definitely coming from a more “traditional” outlook, he is never polemical. By moving criticism to more objective criteria, he is able to give a fair shake to modern architecture and is open to attempts at creating new styles and idioms. He provides a compelling argument that church architecture can be a vital tool of evangelization and sanctification in the world. Catholic Church Architecture is a worthwhile read for the sake of enjoyment. For those in the midst of a building project the book should be required reading.
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