Wayne+Kleppe2

= "Marionnette" =

Preface, The Antichrist (Freidriche Nietzche)
The hall becomes illuminated with the faint echoing of children playing in the court yard, as a man enters, pushing his way through the hand carved doors. He pauses to bless himself with the holy water to the left of the doorway, while muttering to himself some precari entreat (1), and begins his excursion by moving toward the apse (2). Wandering aimlessly, he soon finds himself kneeling at an alter to the church's patron saint, Mary mother of Jesus. He breathes deeply and begins in prayer (offering his devotion to some stone figure that only reciprocates in a manner that he himself understands). He is to be later found rising, then exiting, to return to that from which he came.

Following solemnly in a similar path, a woman enters, during the man's brief time at the alter. She kneels peacefully and sits at the edge of the church's nave (3), crossing her hands as she commences in prayer. From first glance, she appears to be a nurse. She smells like death and does not wear her sorrow well. She lays forward, crosses her arms and speaks softly to herself.


 * = [[image:IMG_3379.JPG]] ||
 * = example: plan of Chartres Cathedral ||

The church is mostly empty and despite the fans (which are raised more then three stories high), the air is still and humid. Three alters stand to the left and right of the dominant center alter, which is reserved for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. With the exception of the softly lit alters no lights are present but that which shines through the stained glass (beautiful in colour; excellent in craftsmanship).

The alter to the left, referred to by the church's patrons as the Perpetual Help Shrine, is endowed with an iconic painting of Mary Mother of Jesus holding the supposed Holy Child, Jesus Christ. She is surrounded by two archangels. On the left is Michael, who is clenching an urn filled with the gall that the Roman soldiers mockingly offered to Jesus while he was on the cross. Michael also holds a lance to represent that which was used to pierce Jesus' side. To the right of Mary, Gabriel is depicted carrying a cross and four nails. While in arms of of his mother, Jesus is shown with one sandal practically falling off--he runs to her at the sight of the angels. Six long-stemmed candles flicker quietly under the painting, and to the left and right stone statues are patiently waiting. To the sides of each statue are vases, each one over flowing with crutches and canes (as some form of testimony to the cures that the prior bearers have received, complements of their faith). Lastly there are five rows of candles, twenty wide in front of each statue (slightly short of two hundred candles). These candles are meant for the church's patrons in prayer, only fifteen of which are already lit.

Two altars to the right of the Sacred Heart are faintly gleaming in the dully lit hall. The first altar, in order from left to right, is the Purgatorian altar (4) and the second is an altar devoted to Saint Joseph (5). The Purgatorian altar has several paintings that depict angels aiding those in need. Another painting shows the crucification of Jesus. In the front of the painting there stand an urn and six candles. The altar committed to Saint Joseph bears a similar style of ornamentation, minimal but direct and efficient.

The side aisles of the church are lined, roughly six feet high, with morals depicting the walk of christ (making reference to the journey he took to be crucified). Dull in colour and stylistically Gothic, they are striking.

There is a podium placed slightly off center, to enable one to view the altar of the Sacred Heart of Jesus during service. Ornamented with several varying roman-numricals, a book with pages opened to an "alpha (left, 6) / omega (right, 7)," symbols and flowery-like decoration around the base and top (alluring to Arabic-style calligraphy), the podium is entirely carved from stone. Standing next to it, there is placed an American flag. This is were the alleged segregation of church and state is ever so evident, waving aimlessly with nowhere to go.

The pews (8) are almost unbearable to sit in. Carved from wood, with a vertical backing, they are not meant for comfort. They are ornamented with only a single flower carved at the ends of each pew, each one looking similar to the one prior and the one following.

Another man enters to participate in a fashion that corresponds to his predecessors. Starting through the wooden doors, he then pauses, blesses himself and enters (offering himself to the supposed hands of God). Moving forwards up the left aisle, as so many before, he stops next to the pew and kneels in prayer. He then continues to migrate left to the altar reserved for the church's patron saint, Mary mother of Jesus. He crosses his hands, bows his head and begins to pray. The nurse unfolds her hands and walks over to kneel next to the man, as if quietly offering some kind of unspoken sympathy.

The Architect and The Beggar: The "Gothic-style" began in the French king's domain (Paris), circa the twelfth century, as a sign of the church's power and dominance. Quickly spreading throughout Europe for roughly two hundred years, aspects of the style are still prevalent in modern architecture today. Originating from the word "Goths"--historical Germanic tribes--Gothic architecture's primary features include: overly dramatic scale, elaborate colour (mostly found throughout the stain glass windows), strong light sources and the sense of transparency.

The huge detailed cathedrals built during this time followed all of the above criteria. They not only became the center of artistic patronage, but the main source of town meetings (while identically functioning as "towns within towns"), despite the fact that traditionally the people opposed such monumental structures because of the increase in taxes.

The builders themselves identified with Solomon, who in the Old Testament supposedly built the First Temple in Jerusalem. People from all occupations, including carpenters, blacksmiths, architects, and priests, took part in the construction of a cathedral, as all of them were church-goers. The primary structural devices most notably used, in no specific order, were: pointed arches, ribbed groin vaulting (9), flying buttresses (10), and triforiums (11), along with the cross being the base for all layouts of any cathedral. All of these are still prevalent to this day.

"The divine order of the natural world is expressed in geometry."


 * = [[image:FlyingButtress,Westminister_Abbey.jpg]] ||
 * = example: Gothic-style flying buttress ||

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End Notes: (1) precari entreat: latin, "precari (prayer, beseech)" - "entreat (implore)" (2) apse: a large semicircular or polygonal recess in a church, arched or with doom roof, typically at the eastern end and usually containing the main alter (3) nave: the central part of a church building, intended to accommodate most of the churches congregation. (4) Purgatorian alter: an alter for those who are waiting, derived from the word "purgatory - a place or state of suffering, perpetual waiting" (5)Saint Joseph: husband of Mary, mother of Jesus (6) alpha: first letter in the greek alphabet, denotes the first in a series (7) omega: twenty fourth and last letter in the greek alphabet, last in a series (8) pew: a long bench with a back placed in rows in the main part of some churches (9) ribbed groin vaulting: arched structures used for, mostly, courtyard and outdoor support (10) flying buttresses: used to transmit the thrust of a vault across an intervening space (aisle, chapel, and so forth) (11) triforiums: composed of three parts, pillars

Bibliography:

Stokstad, Marilyan, David Cateforis, and Stephen Addiss. Art History (Hardcover). New Jersey: Prentice Hall; 2nd edition (2002)

"Our Basilica-1." The Mission Church. 27 June 2008. 

"Our Basilica-2." The Mission Church. 27 June 2008. 