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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2015 15:37:42 GMT
I can't imagine this thread will create much in the way of discussion, but I am curious nonetheless. Do you prefer being at church when it is bright, dark, or do you not really care?
I was at Mass last Sunday (of course), and because of how cloudy it was, it looked quite dark inside the church. I do like how the church looks on sunny days, when the rays are shining through the glass like a holy cliché. Still, I think I much prefer being in church when it's dark. The atmosphere seems very different. It almost seems more peaceful and... contemplative? I think that's the right word. There's something rather intriguing - perhaps even inspiring - about being in a dark place with a few light sources to slightly light the place.
What about any of you?
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Post by maolsheachlann on Jul 28, 2015 15:43:03 GMT
I am going to vote "bright", although I'm coming at it a little bit from the side, since it's more that I like to go to Mass EARLY. I don't care too much about whether it's dark or bright.
I like morning Mass, the earlier the better.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2015 15:50:09 GMT
What time do you go to Mass Maolsheachlann? If you go really early in Winter, it might still be dark.
Or if you ever visit church in the evenings, of course.
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Post by hibernicus on Jul 28, 2015 18:48:14 GMT
I would say when it's bright.
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Post by maolsheachlann on Jul 28, 2015 18:49:30 GMT
I usually go at ten on Saturday and half-ten on Sunday. On weekdays I go to 1:05 Mass in UCD, though it's only celebrated in term (and on holy days out of term).
Come to think of it, I can give an emphatic "yes" to your question. I do prefer Mass when there is sunlight outside. I like coming out to the sunlight. The only exception is midnight Mass.
One of the joys of discovering my faith was discovering the Easter Vigil. But that's usually at dusk, isn't it? The paschal fire is usually lit while it's still bright out, and even leaving the church it's still quite bright.
I prefer cinema in the day-time, too, and one of the reasons is because I like going out into the sunlight FROM the dark. A Catholic writer I don't like much wrote a book of movie reviews called Mornings in the Dark; I glanced through it and didn't like it any more than his fiction, but the title is good.
It may seem irreverent to mention the cinema here. But I think the cinema served me as a kind of sub-religious experience, even a sub-liturgical experience, for a long time.
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jaykay
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Post by jaykay on Jul 29, 2015 13:14:04 GMT
I have no preference, really, although when the stained glass in a church is of good quality I do like to see light streaming through it. However I dislike strong artificial lighting, and I've found that the lighting schemes in a lot of churches are far too glaring for my liking, some having the sanctuary practically floodlit like a film set (then again, given the "look at me - actor" mentality of many clergy maybe that's entirely intentional).
If there's a need for illumination, be it either on a dull day or when it's actually dark outside, then I would prefer the lighting to be on the dim side. In a traditional church, where there will usually be side altars and shrines with candles, their lights really give that sense of devotion, which I find very calming and prayerful.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2015 13:26:04 GMT
That sums up how I feel about it jaykay. I prefer the dim lights, though I just prefer the church in the dark in general. It's almost symbolic, with the dark outside, and the light inside. Ha ha.
Unfortunately my church doesn't have stained glass. Not the very obvious kind at least.
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Post by Ranger on Jul 29, 2015 15:22:26 GMT
What jaykay said.
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jaykay
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Post by jaykay on Jul 29, 2015 15:22:15 GMT
Yes, I strongly agree about the symbolic effect, Antaine. Our local Dominican church has instituted Adoration over the last year and on darkening winter late afternoons, with just the Monstrance on the Altar flanked by its candles, and along with the (numerous) candles at the shrines, the atmosphere is... special.
Hopefully not quite off-topic, I was talking to one of our priests recently and he commented that the "Benedictine arrangement" of 6 candles has another good effect, for him anyway, in that the 4 extra candles over the previous arrangement of 2 at extreme ends of the (quite large) altar gives additional light for him to read the Missal. He also said, tongue not quite in cheek, that it helps cut down on the lighting costs, particularly at weekday early Masses, since the church is very big and very expensive to keep lit! By default, the early Masses, in winter anyway, are said in semi-gloom. Hope they don't get insurance claims from people falling...!
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Post by maolsheachlann on Jul 29, 2015 20:21:12 GMT
I like bright churches lit by electric light.
My favourite sacred space is the chapel in the Ilac Centre. Antaine's question has made me realise that possibly the main reason I like it is because it has no windows. It makes it seem more eternal.
My favourite Mass ever was a Mass celebrated at 7 a.m., in a hotel conference room, at a pre-marriage conference.
I often say that I am aesthetically Protestant, maybe even aesthetically Nonconformist.
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jaykay
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Post by jaykay on Jul 30, 2015 0:41:05 GMT
Interesting, Maolsheachlann. I also have a certain yen towards plainness, in terms of design. Too much stained glass can be a bit much, all right. The Wren City churches in London were all originally brilliantly lit by clear glass - or as near as they could get to it back then. The light of Reason and all that, as opposed to the "gloom" of Popery. And, come to think of it, the original Cluniac churches were pretty much "bare bones", pure white stone with the only decoration maybe a bit of blackstone banding in the arches, as in Paray-le-Monial. Austere isn't in it, but the purpose was to reflect natural light. Getting way off the point here, maybe. Still, our Church has a place for everything... in its proper place.
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Post by michael77 on Aug 27, 2017 19:15:06 GMT
I would have to vote shadowy. I like it when most of the church is in darkness, but some things are partly visible. It makes me think of the spiritual manifestations in the physical world.
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Post by hibernicus on Sept 1, 2017 21:38:36 GMT
On reflection I would say it depends on on the style of church. Gothic is certainly more impressive in the dark, neo-classical and modern style in the light.
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Post by hibernicus on Nov 21, 2018 22:38:17 GMT
Oddly enough this thread recurred to my mind when I was at Mass in St Kevin's last Sunday and struck by how the winter sunshine streaming through the windows illumined the priest at the altar. Memory plays strange tricks - I thought I had said "dark" because of the contrast with the lighted interior. (I was in Galway recently and when walking past the cathedral after dark, I noticed that while by daylight it looks overbearing, the stained glass windows lit from inside after dark have a magical effect.)
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