Why The Darkness

[FredS]

Catholics and Orthodox still incorporate incense in our liturgical worship.

I've told this story before, but I only have a few worth telling so they are oft repeated.

I was at a retreat with the monks at Conception Abbey in Northern Missouri once. Our dormitories shared common bathrooms and I preferred not to foul them if you know what I mean. I'd been there a few times before and knew of some tunnels the monks moved about in during inclement weather or even if they just needed to get quickly from one building to another, and I knew of a bathroom tucked away down there so I was often walking around there in the dark at odd hours. One morning I'm down there and I smelled smoke. Like a legit fire, not hippy sandalwood incense, so I followed my nose and found a monk (I startled him actually) watching over some incense smoldering away in a muffin pan. Turns out there was an even more secret door that lead up to the alter and they used it to remove the incense after mass. I don't recall if he told me it was RCC policy not to dowse the incense or if it was just their tradition to let them smolder down to nothing on their own. Regardless, he had to attend to it. Seemed like a solemn affair and he politely asked me to skedaddle.

[Del]

Catholics and Orthodox still incorporate incense in our liturgical worship.

I've told this story before, but I only have a few worth telling so they are oft repeated.

I was at a retreat with the monks at Conception Abbey in Northern Missouri once. Our dormitories shared common bathrooms and I preferred not to foul them if you know what I mean. I'd been there a few times before and knew of some tunnels the monks moved about in during inclement weather or even if they just needed to get quickly from one building to another, and I knew of a bathroom tucked away down there so I was often walking around there in the dark at odd hours. One morning I'm down there and I smelled smoke. Like a legit fire, not hippy sandalwood incense, so I followed my nose and found a monk (I startled him actually) watching over some incense smoldering away in a muffin pan. Turns out there was an even more secret door that lead up to the alter and they used it to remove the incense after mass. I don't recall if he told me it was RCC policy not to dowse the incense or if it was just their tradition to let them smolder down to nothing on their own. Regardless, he had to attend to it. Seemed like a solemn affair and he politely asked me to skedaddle.

Perhaps short-straw monk was sent down to burn incense due to something concerning their secret-tunnel bathroom.

[Del]

She doesn't want anything with a liturgy.

I know what you're saying here.

But there is no such thing as a church without a liturgy.

Yes, I'm pedantic.

Nah... you just understand Christian worship.

"When you gather to remember Me in worship... DO THIS."

Prayer gatherings are a great, good thing.... monks gather often daily to sing and pray together. But that isn't "worship."

[joegoat]

She doesn't want anything with a liturgy.

I know what you're saying here.

But there is no such thing as a church without a liturgy.

Yes, I'm pedantic.

I've used that argument. I got an eye roll.

[joegoat]

The fog machine though . . . that could easily turn in to a big stone if it draws attention to the wrong thing. Although, the early church often worshipped in smokey, dimly lit houses and even caves.

For many centuries after the Apostolic Era of persecution, churches were still dimly lit by candles and oil lamps. Gothic architecture technology required thick walls and small windows.

Modern lighting is.... modern.

With so much mention of light in scripture, I'm sure they did the best they could at the time.

[joegoat]

She doesn't want anything with a liturgy.

I know what you're saying here.

But there is no such thing as a church without a liturgy.

Yes, I'm pedantic.

Nah... you just understand Christian worship.

"When you gather to remember Me in worship... DO THIS."

Prayer gatherings are a great, good thing.... monks gather often daily to sing and pray together. But that isn't "worship."

The earliest non cannon writings we have from the early church very much mimic the liturgy used by the orthodox churches today. I don't think an orthodox Christian of today would feel out of place in the early church.

[coco]

Because it's more like a movie theater

Because it's more like a dance club

Because it's more like a concert

Because it symbolizes the light of the world entering into the darkness to overcome the darkness.

Because the early church worshipped in the darkness of the catacombs, so the church today must worship in darkness.

Because God didst give the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night and the disco ball to be a light unto the church.

[Del]

Modern lighting is.... modern.

With so much mention of light in scripture, I'm sure they did the best they could at the time.

Natural light. For long centuries, Christian worship was early on Sunday morning. Church buildings face the East, and the morning light illuminated the sanctuary.

I've read some comments from pre-industrial saints regarding how wonderfully a church could be lit up for Midnight Mass at Christmas. Old churches I have known (built over a century ago) often have antique candelabras which were deployed as needed. Not as bright as modern light, but I'm sure it was more beautiful.

Chesterton remarked about the use of theater limelights in non-Catholic churches of his time. "....and if we (Catholics) had a light to cast about, we wouldn't shine it on the preacher."

[tuttle]

She doesn't want anything with a liturgy.

I know what you're saying here.

But there is no such thing as a church without a liturgy.

Yes, I'm pedantic.

I've used that argument. I got an eye roll.

If, for whatever reason, you're interested, there's a book called Christ Centered Worship by a fellow named Chappell. He parses through liturgies from the early church onward and shows how each incorporated similar structures, even if they have more or less 'content'. The point being, that even a church that says they don't have a liturgy, has a liturgy. Could be a bad one, but they have one. Usually what they mean in reality is that they don't have a thought through liturgy. They have order, they have rituals, but they haven't thought through the implications (good or bad) in how the liturgy formatively edifies (or stupifies) the church.

So the ironic thing is that the choice for lights out during worship is a liturgical choice. There is a formative effect from that ritual.

[Del]

So the ironic thing is that the choice for lights out during worship is a liturgical choice. There is a formative effect from that ritual.

There is no avoiding this. Lex orandi; lex credendi. Literally, "the law of prayer = the law of faith." The way we order and conduct our worship has a direct effect on how we believe and behave as Christians.

I haven't observed many evangelical services to know much about the variety of usages.

Dim lighting can mean a variety of things.
- Perhaps it is combined with silence or a spirit of quietude to promote interior prayer.
- Perhaps it is combined with spotlights to direct attention to the speakers or musicians on a stage, or to some focus of liturgy (such as the consecration before the Lord's Supper).
- Perhaps it helps viewers to read song lyrics projected on a screen, or to highlight the jumbotron in the megachurch.

In any case, it's a damn good question to ask why it's so dark inside.
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As much as the Catholic Mass strives to be uniformly celebrated throughout the world, there is still quite a bit of variation from parish to parish, and from priest to priest.

I prefer a Mass that is quiet and reverent. I come to meet and receive Jesus; that's all I want.

Some priests seem to think that worship is "boring." So they ad lib a bit too much and try to keep things light and goofy. I hate that.

The parish's choice of music is another variable. I prefer some moments of comfortable quiet for prayer, especially after Holy Communion. The best is a gentle choir piece from the loft in back, in Latin; one that doesn't strive to be a "performance." When I visit a church that has a piano up front in the sanctuary, I know that I'm going to be drowned in piano playing during every moment of Mass.... this parish is afraid of silence. I'd have to white-knuckle my way through this one. (The otherwise-great parish near my home is a piano-banger. I travel to avoid it.)

A church's architecture and decoration has as much effect as the music and lighting. We all know what a Catholic Church looks like -- the altar, the Tabernacle, the Crucifix, with religious art and stained glass up and down either side. This is not mere custom or taste.... this is liturgical.

A chapel of Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity is sparely appointed with mats on the floor for sitting, a simple altar, a crucifix on the wall. Painted on the wall next to the crucifix are the words, "I thirst." A statue of Mary somewhere, and a few vases of fresh garden flowers (in season). At first glance, it is very apparent that they take their poverty seriously. Their lives of faith and their liturgical practice are suitably connected.

I have stepped into a few cute little Pentecostal churches with little more than a drum set, a projection screen, and a barstool in front of the folding chairs. I get that singing is central to their worship.... but this atmosphere informs their whole faith, whether they realize it or not. On one hand, it reflects an admirable spirit of holy poverty. On the other hand, it lacks some visual indication of "This space is set aside for the worship of Jesus Christ."