The tension among worship-liturgy-form in catholic religious architecture

About St. Anthony of Padua parish church (1994-2007)

Abstract

The reason for being of the liturgy and worship implemented in the program of the project, and put in tension with the spatial models derived from the architectural forms that celebrate faith and praise the Creator God, make these same architectural forms are perceived as values ​​or goods, both material and spiritual. Because by glossing Jean Hani we could say that sacred art is the vehicle of the divine spirit, since the artistic form allows us to directly assimilate the transcendent and suprarational truths; and it is that the purpose of art consists in revealing the image of the divine nature imprinted in the created, realizing visible objects that are symbols of the invisible God. The architectural forms thus conceived - and art in general - possess what we can call a sacramental value. They are a celebration, and from that perception, a church is not simply a building, nor a monument, but a sanctuary, a temple. Its purpose is not only to gather the faithful, but to create for them an atmosphere that allows grace to manifest itself better. This comes from Christian theology and relates in one way or another to aspects of the tradition of universal and local symbolism - the theological and cosmological - such as ritual orientation, the identification of the temple with the body of Christ (which it is when the Latin or even Greek cross passes), the rich symbolism of the elements that intervene in the holy sacrifice of the mass centered around the cross, etc.

But I think - and that is what I would like to make clear here - that identity also manifests itself through historical and current architecture through collective and individual perception and emotion. It is through liturgy and worship that this identity perception is made possible in the temple. It is not the simple cultural visit, much less the mass tourist visit in which there are some quick explanations to get immediately to another monument: not at all. The perception of Catholic theological and cosmological value occurs primarily through liturgy and worship.