Faith-Inspiring Architecture
by Pat Gohn in Faith on Thursday, August 06, 2009 6:00 AM
My paternal roots come from France, land of inspiring cathedrals like Notre Dame, Chartres, and Lourdes. When visiting France as an adult, Notre Dame was my first stop. I was entranced by its beauty and heritage, especially its magnificent stained glass. My neck ached from long sessions looking up, using my binoculars to sight the details of its famous rose windows.
I had forgotten the awesome power of Church architecture to inspire and teach. The small church I grew up in was short on ornamentation and stained glass. But Catholics in my New York suburb raved about the glories of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan. Visiting “St. Pat’s” as a small child, wandering it cavernous womb, was exhilarating. Its triumphant structure inspired me to worship God within its walls.
Structure, like inspiring architecture, can be beautiful as it is functional.
Beauty and Function
The structure of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches by it beauty and simplicity. As I get to know its structure, I am easily taught by it. As I dwell in its pages, I am inspired to pray and worship and lead a better Christian life.
The CCC is designed with four pillars, or four parts. These four sturdy pillars hold the structure together in a unified way.
Part one, The Profession of Faith, deals with beliefs and divides into two sections. The first section teaches fundamental theology that relates to a person’s desire to know God, and how God answers that desire through revelation of Himself. The second section contains the twelve articles of the Creed.
Part two looks at The Celebration of Christian Mystery, also in two sections. It first discusses the how’s and why’s of Catholic worship. Then it explains the Seven Sacraments in depth.
Part three is Life in Christ. Section one covers the morality and dignity of human life. The second section elaborates on The Ten Commandments.
Finally, part four is dedicated to Christian Prayer. The first section outlines what prayer is and why we need it. The second offers a powerful treatise on the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father!”
The CCC’s four pillars uphold all the Catholics beliefs I’ll ever need to know in order to live a Catholic life gracefully (with the sacraments), morally, and prayerfully. After all, that’s what catechism means: a summary of instruction for the faithful. My faith cannot grow without it.
Just as four walls uphold the roof of my home, the four pillars of the Catechism are the bulwarks or buttresses of the cathedral of faith. Walking amid these pillars I observe the finer details of the CCC’s interior.
The Catechism’s design raises eyes to the beauty of truth and reason wedded to faith. As one views the grandeur of a cathedral as a whole, its many intricacies delight the senses. Its structure educates both intellectually and aesthetically.
Pillars of Our Faith
And just as a cathedral would fall to ruin without one of its main supports, my Christian life would crumble devoid of one of these catechetical pillars. This shows that unity exists within the parts of the structure. It is a unity presented as an organic whole. For example, the Trinity is a continual perfect unity of One God with three distinct Persons.
This principle of organic unity also flows within Catechism as stated in CCC 11:
This catechism aims at presenting an organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental contents of Catholic doctrine, as regards both faith and morals, in the light of the Second Vatican Council and the whole of the Church’s Tradition. Its principal sources are the Sacred Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, the liturgy, and the Church’s Magisterium.
Christ at the Center
Lastly, the centerpiece of any cathedral is not its pillars, but what they shelter: its altar, tabernacle, and cathedra, or chair, of its bishop. Just the same, what we find at center of the Catechism is heart of God who longs to dwell, not within a building, but within our own hearts.
May we find Him under the shelter and inspiration of the Catechism’s four pillars of belief, grace, moral values, and prayer.
Want to read more? Try CCC 2645:
Because God blesses the human heart, it can in return bless him who is the source of every blessing.
—Pat Gohn is a wife & mother celebrating 27 years of Catholic family life. Her Catholic writing, podcasting, and ministry life are found at PatGohn.com.
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