The Recovering Choir Director

…and its attempts to thwart the Spirit of the Council. Chironomo alerts readers to section 124 of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Liturgy:

Ordinaries, by the encouragement and favor they show to art which is truly sacred, should strive after noble beauty rather than mere sumptuous display. This principle is to apply also in the matter of sacred vestments and ornaments.

Let bishops carefully remove from the house of God and from other sacred places those works of artists which are repugnant to faith, morals, and Christian piety, and which offend true religious sense either by depraved forms or by lack of artistic worth, mediocrity and pretense.

And when churches are to be built, let great care be taken that they be suitable for the celebration of liturgical services and for the active participation of the faithful.

I am reminded of Catholic Church Conservation, a blog whose author does almost too good a job of highlighting actions that fly in the face of the section quoted above - and is therefore a blog I do not visit because it’s too hard for me to stomach (your mileage may vary).

It will be a fruitful exercise to keep this passage in mind, and to participate even more fully, actively and consciously, when praying for your ordinary bishop when he is mentioned at Mass in the General Intercessions and the Eucharistic Prayer - especially if liturgical affronts to beauty run rampant in your diocese.