2010 August archive at Being Frank

Archive for August, 2010

Aug

Teschemakers, the altar and a few good men (generically speaking)

By Marty Rethul 21 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

To set the scene – Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, Teschemakers:

St Patrick’s Teschemakers was a Catholic school for girls, run by the Dominican Sisters just south of Oamaru. It was founded in 1912 by Dominican nuns from Dunedin, and lasted until 1977, when the doors of the school closed for the last time. Teschemakers continued as a centre of spiritual retreat and religious study. Finally, the site was completely closed in 1996, and sold in 2000. Now, the chapel at Teschemakers (Our Lady of the Rosary – built in about 1916) was sold along with the other buildings, although the Dominican order has retained ownership of the altar (one assumes with the gradine and reredos), various statues, the rimu choir stalls et al.

The chapel is very beautiful – given the closure of the school it seems to have avoided much of the iconoclasm rife in New Zealand in the late ’70s and early ’80s, much in the same way as the chapel at Erskine College in Wellington survived destruction. You may view more pictures of the chapel here:

Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel Teschemakers

Or here: Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel 2

Wow, right? Just to put the issue into sharper relief, here are some shots of Holy Name parish – the proposed new site of this altar:

Holy Name parish, Dunedin

Leaving for the moment the dreadful aesthetics of the building itself, how on earth is something like a Carrara marble altar supposed to look like anything other than an altar ripped out of its natural home, and placed artificially in this unspeakably awful setting?

This month, the Dominican order has given permission for the altar (and other elements of the chapel to which they retain the right) to be removed and transferred to Holy Name parish in Dunedin. This has caused something of a furore. People are – not unnaturally – perturbed to see that the architectural integrity (aside from anything else) of this beautiful chapel is being compromised in this way. The altar was donated in 1926 by the Hart family and is made from Italian carrara marble – it was shipped to New Zealand in 19 crates to be made up as a ‘kitset’. One assumes that this would have included the beautiful gradine and reredos, not to mention the altar rails (the latter are now gone). No expense was spared for Our Lord by this family!

Here are some links to articles about the issue (there are many from the Otago Daily Times by the way):

Homepaddock article – North Otago vs the Nuns

Otago Daily Times article 1

Otago Daily Times article 2

The latest article on it is here (probably the best in my opinion): Otago Daily Times article 3

The issue has galvanised Oamaru, and the old girls and supporters of Teschemakers. So much so, that John Campbell even decided to run an report on it for Campbell Live:

Altar-cation in Oamaru church

So, there are a few questions:

1. Should this altar be moved? Claims that it will be used for Mass are, to me, not entirely relevant (because if it is, then what happens to the current altar at Holy Name? Either way, an altar will no longer be used for Mass somewhere along the line). It is, of course, possible that the current altar is actually a table, without relics – why change now? You people built Holy Name parish, stick with what you’ve got – you wanted it, after all.

2. How far does architectural integrity override other concerns? Would ripping out the altar (already moved forward away from the gradine and reredos, one assumes in the ’70s), the rimu choir stalls and other marble stands irreperably compromise the integrity of the chapel? A no-brainer for Marty this one. This altar was intended for this chapel, and has been there a long time.

3. If the altar is to be moved, why not the gradine and reredos? What point is there in separating them (although the same point could have been made in relation to moving the altar forwards in the first place).

4. Is this just another example of our post-conciliar mania for destruction?

5. Can it not be negotiated that the chapel be put back to use? Is there some Catholic with the vision to put Teschemakers back into use as a Catholic venue? Can not this site be restored to us? Can the altar be used again, in its intended setting, for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? Surely this could be negotiated with any new owner?

6. Can we not leave one chapel unmolested by the post-conciliar iconoclasm? Can we not retain the integrity (already compromised) of this chapel? Surely we don’t have to detroy every physical link to our past (be it historical, liturgical or cultural)?

7. Surely, until there is a clear need, there is no need to remove these items at this point in time? If it becomes clear that the new owners of the site (when they become apparent) wish to change the chapel, or use it for some clearly profane purpose, or compromise it in some other way, then there would clearly be a need to remove certain things. As it stands, there is no need.

To the Dominicans: why not leave it as it is? I thought we left the garish behind at the close of the 1980s? Which, in truth, is what Holy Name parish will become (well – more so, anyway) if the altar makes its way there. It will be a stark reminder – as stark as any, in that setting - of the beauty and discernment we once had. Why not leave it as it is?

The interesting thing, in relation to the Dominicans and Teschemakers, is this: in January of 2009, a statue of St Dominic (which, with its plinth, stood over 2m high) in the grounds of Teschemakers, was vandalised beyond repair. The statue’s head and hands were smashed, and the remains of the head were found by a neighbour sitting on a fencepost. It had been installed in 1939 and was also made of Italian marble. You can read more about it here.

Sr Mary Horn of the Dominicans said that this vandalism of the statue was:

…just shocking. Everybody loves it. It’s a very beautiful piece of art. It’s very special to the ex-pupils, to the sisters.

The article continued (it seems, paraphrasing Sister Mary):

Whoever was responsible had no respect for beauty, art, tradition or history.

I agree, sister, and I would beg the Dominican Order not to be condemned by these same words.

Aug

Heritage

By James the Least 1 Comment

Categories: Being Frank...

I took my son to the Maritime Museum here in Auckland recently – a place I knew of, but had never visited. I’d like to say that I’m a bit of a history buff, but I’m not really; I just find the old photos and drawings of places I know as they were over a hundred years ago fascinating.

The Maritime Museum has a lot of displays focusing on the history of New Zealand, and how important ships of every kind were to the development of our country. From the early explorers, to the ships carrying immigrants, to the whalers and traders – they all played their very important part. I didn’t need to go to a museum to remind me of that, mind you, as I think every Kiwi knows something about the stories of Abel Tasman and James Cook…if not Maui! ;)

Then I got to thinking about the similarities with my faith. Every time I attend Mass at my local parish church, or visit Catholic churches and cathedrals around the country and the world, I see “exhibits” in the form of stained glass windows and other artwork that reminds me of my heritage as a Catholic. The prayers, the form, the structure, the rituals – all are reminders and connections into a wider reality…one that dates back thousands of years, and something that defines the lives of many billions of people throughout the ages.

So, while I don’t want to equate church buildings to museums, I do think that it is often interesting to look at early sketches of Auckland at the very end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. If you get any of the drawings taken that show the landscape of the city, you’ll clearly be able to make out the Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Joseph sitting tall above every other building in the city. From very early on in our history as Kiwis, the Church has been there as a reminder that no matter where we are on this planet God gave us, we are still connected to Him, and to those who have gone before us.

And I quite like that. :)

Aug

Like having your socks on in the shower

By Joan of Arc 7 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

“It was like having your socks on in the shower – something just didn’t feel right”.

I borrowed this quote from someone speaking in a slightly different context, but it perfectly describes my experience of a service last week at a Baptist church (or, I should say, ‘auditorium’, as it was signposted). Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking the Baptists – I know a few, including family members, and they are all wonderful faith-filled people. My struggle was with the physical church – the auditorium. There was no altar, no crucifix (or even cross) to be seen, no holy images, icons, stained glass windows. Where was the colour and light? I missed the familiar faces of Mary and Joseph. And, of course, the biggest difference was the lack of tabernacle. Instead, our place of worship consisted of rows of chairs facing a stage furnished with a microphone and some instruments, all surrounded by bare walls.

At one point I had to smile when a fellow Catholic came down from the stage and turned and bowed. I looked around thinking ‘what is she bowing to?!’ (not that I can talk since I’ve almost-genuflected several times at movie theatres). Ahhh, Catholic habits :)

Anyway, my point is that it felt to me that something important was missing. I am so used to a church environment which draws me into a sense of the holy, an intense awareness of the presence of Christ, and the sacredness of the place where we gather to worship. There is something about beauty that draws us closer to God.

The words of the pastor, while nice and full of scripture didn’t seem to be ‘at home’ when preached from the stage in front of the drum kit. There was no visual beauty to match the literary beauty of the scripture passages. I’m not saying that the scripture lost any of its meaning, or that Christ’s presence was any less. He certainly was present in all of the people gathered there in faith. I’m just saying that something didn’t seem right.

A few years ago I read a book by an ex-nun turned atheist who claimed that the aesthetics of church and liturgy (images, music, incense) only trick us into ‘feeling’ that God is present. This made me think about how much I rely on these things for my experience of God, but mostly it just made me feel sorry for this woman whose faith was not deeper than what she experienced in church. It may seem like I’ve just changed sides in my own argument but I guess what I’m saying is that while these things are not necessary for faith they sure bring something special to it.

Aug

The Ultimate Man-cation: where you can strip yourself and women of their dignity

By Voice in the wilderness 3 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

I was listening to Australia’s Cradio the other day and on the Weekly Edition they were talking about the Lynx deodorant’s new “Lynx Lodge”, the place for the ultimate “man-cation”.

The lodge is for males only, and offers “kayaking, pool, golf, fishing, dirtbike riding and volleyball games, along with a spa and jetty”. But thats not all… Guests are also treated to on-the-spot back rubs on request, breakfast in bed and “sexy wake-up calls” from lodge staffers and a team of part-time models on hand to look after male visitors. Evening entertainment includes mud wrestling and games of Twister.

The whole idea promoted around Lynx is that if you wear the deodorant you will then be surrounded by hot girls. And I guess the Lodge tries to do just that. When asked what activities are available at the lodge, the woman on the promo video says “we’ve got everything from a jetty, to a hot tub filled with gorgeous girls”.

According to the Lynx Lodge website, this is all in an effort for men to get back to their “primal roots”.

How do they exactly get back to their primal roots at the lodge? Is it the way that all the staff are stereotypical beautiful women? The way men can expect on-the-spot back rubs on request, breakfast in bed and “sexy wake-up calls” from lodge staffers with a team of part-time models on hand to care for their whims. The site is full of sexually suggestive images of the staff doing different activities around the lodge.

If not getting back to their primal roots, the other reason to go to the Lynx Lodge is liberation (“a refuge”) from their partners and the chores of romantic walks, shopping and sharing their feelings. But don’t worry girls, your men are well looked after in the Lynx staff hands.

Lynx is owned by Unilever, which is the same company that also owns the brand Dove and its “Campaign for Real Beauty“. Dove seeks “to raise self-esteem by encouraging girls and their role models to embrace their unique beauty” through mentoring programs and Love your Body days, trying to make a difference through acknowledging the beauty and natural diversity of all body shapes and sizes in order to prevent eating disorders

Does Unilever seek to bring down women’s self esteem and ideas of natural beauty through the Lynx ads so that they can then bring them up again through Dove?

If girls can do anything… why do they need to wait on men, being sexually suggestive and available, all so men can get back to their primal roots?

If girls can do anything… why are girls encouraged to have healthy self esteem and ideas of natural beauty, while also trying to compete and being surrounded by “Lynx girls”

For all the “harm” that the Catholic Church is apparently doing to women and the feminist cause, what Lynx and all the other brands, advertising and media in our culture today is doing is much worse and a much bigger threat to the future of our women and society. As the parent of girls, I am worried that girls are surrounded by these attitudes, images and contradictions from age zero, no matter how much we try to shelter them.

How do we change this? Perhaps a boycott of Lynx and Unilever is in order. But in today’s society this raises more questions when we live in a place where large companies own multiple brands and multiple contradictory messages. Unilever owns many of the common brands we would know today. What a complicated world we live in. Dove seeks to change the world and its expectations of beauty. Lynx seeks to satisfy men’s primal interests. Can a brand really make such a difference?

This is where messages like John Paul II”s Theology of the Body are really needed in society. But that is a whole other blog post…

Aug

“Now you’re just making up rules! Who made you Judge Judy and executioner?”

By Methuselah's Beard 168 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

“Judge not lest ye be judged” has to be one of the more well known verse in the Bible along with “It is better to live alone in the desert than with a crabby, complaining wife”. It’s an interesting verse though (the one about judging, not the crabby wife) because what I’ve always wondered what it really means.

As Catholics there are some who like to think that we have received the gist of how things are supposed to be from JC, the apostles, the early Church Fathers, Popes, etc. We like to think we know what’s right and what’s wrong (no grey areas) and maybe, just maybe, sometimes we think we’re too good for this crumbling morally fetid world (crumbly like cheese mmmmmm) and all its excesses. We speak out against the vices of the world and condemn its practioners. We try our best to spread the Good News of the Catholic Church because woe to those who do not hear us and convert. It is our right after all as guardians of society.

Oh I know it’s not always like this. But I think more often than not we are inclined to speak out against things that we perceive to be wrong based on what we know of Catholic teaching. It is admirable and I think this is something that we should be doing. But we can only apply our imperfect understanding of God’s law to what we see happening before us. We don’t have all the details and we don’t have all the facts. We want to see things in black and white. Is it zeal or is it arrogance? We can cajole, advise, guide, speak out and but surely judgement should be left to the chief judger.

Aug

Mass facing away from God

By Filia Day 16 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

Has anybody ever been to an ad orientem Mass?

Ad orientem means “towards the East”, and catholic Mass has been traditionally celebrated facing the East, and the Rising Sun, Christ. When a Church doesn’t face East, Mass was celebrated ad Deum, towards God, with everybody facing the Cross, the sign of the Passion and the Second Coming.

I sometimes follow this blog site (link below) and Fr Z had an interesting entry about how Vatican II never suggested Mass “facing the people”, versus populum. So how did we end up with Mass facing the people?

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/08/quaeritur-where-did-mass-facing-the-people-come-from/

Have a read, and see what you think.

Have people been aware of this?

Aug

Existentialistic Mr Fox and Nihilism for Kids

By Inkling 22 Comments

Categories: Being Frank...

There are few things more disappointing than going to see a movie of a much-beloved book and finding that it has been mauled to shreds by millionaires who care about as much for the story as they do for the kids who will watch it.

It is usually essential when adapting a book to a screenplay to be allowed to change and alter the events and even the story itself to make a more visually interesting film – or simply to make the story ‘work’ in the visual medium.

However, even the most liberal proponents of the ‘artistic license’ should be incensed at what Wes Anderson has done to the classic and much-beloved children’s tale, ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’. Where was the love between the creatures, the joy, hope and resourcefulness that so characterises Dahl’s novel? The camaraderie, the brilliance in the face of scarcity, the captivating story of triumph in the face of hopelessness has been utterly destroyed for the sake of promoting Existentialism.

Instead of a clever series of underground passages, the animals end up living in a depressing modernised sewer. The animals are no longer rabbits and foxes and badgers; they are ‘wild animals with strange latin names’. The story has been pumped full of extraneous stuff which destroys any vestiges of storyline; it has a dissatisfying ending, and a tangle of unresolved problems, domestic conflicts and utterly depressing characters that resemble the loveless dysfuntional Royal Tenenbaums, or the purposeless marine biologists of the Steve Zizou variety. But what angered me most was the fact that this had all been targeted at children; the most impressionable audience of all, and who are unable to think critically and discern the ridicule and philosophical nuances in the animals’ rapid-fire mumbling dialogue. I hope most kids just don’t get it. I’m sure most of them won’t.

When Mr Rat dies, one of the characters says (as they watch his body float away down the sewer), that at the end of it all “we are all just dead rats behind a takeaway store”. If there can be a central ‘message’ in this existentialistic film, I suppose this is it. But one must pause to ask – what are the implications of spreading a philosophy and mindset based on hopelessness? Consider the recent news that the suicide rate in New Zealand is double the road toll. I would also pause to ask why the filmmakers themselves feel the need to create films – from whence comes this sense of purpose?

Give me a film like ‘Bella’ or ‘Life is Beautiful’ or even ‘Blood Diamond’ any day – these stories of redemption are inspiring – you leave the theatre wanting to make the most of life; to accomplish things and to live well! Purpose in life, hope, joy and love; surely this is what we should feeding children’s minds with; surely this is what builds community.

Irony, nihilism, and existentialism have coloured many films over the past couple of decades; the results have been dissatisfying and fairly depressing film-going experiences.

LA Weekly Film critic Manohla Dargis called this trend ‘the new nihilism’; ‘a cinema that encourages our sadism, our scorn, and worst of all, our total disinterest toward the world, other human beings, and just maybe ourselves”.