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    My November goal...






    16 July 2009

    To think!

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULA — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 12:17 am

    And to think… this beautiful church… yes… church… almost burned down!


    • • • • • •

    57 Comments »

    1. Burned down? I never knew hadron supercolliders were that dangerous.

      Comment by joe — 16 July 2009 @ 12:21 am

    2. Are you sure?

      C.

      Comment by Chris Altieri — 16 July 2009 @ 12:34 am

    3. I didn’t think that Legos could burn.

      Comment by Donald — 16 July 2009 @ 12:59 am

    4. Is there a saint that does the opposite for St. Florian?

      Comment by jamie — 16 July 2009 @ 1:09 am

    5. Glad to see the Dalek school of architecture is still popular… Exterminate!

      Comment by Jeff M — 16 July 2009 @ 1:28 am

    6. I wouldn’t mind seeing this boat…er church, sinking.

      Comment by Brendan — 16 July 2009 @ 1:47 am

    7. Was that shot taken before or after the conflagration? Perhaps that’s what was left after it melted.

      Comment by Bill White — 16 July 2009 @ 2:35 am

    8. I never realised Churches could be so visually repulsive…

      Who exactly is authorising the errection of such hideous looking Churches?

      Comment by Sarah — 16 July 2009 @ 2:39 am

    9. I was wondering where the missing key on my keyboard had gone.

      Comment by Toby — 16 July 2009 @ 3:10 am

    10. Of course it almost burned. Not too many fire houses left near those old roadside attractions on route 66!

      Comment by Jim — 16 July 2009 @ 4:03 am

    11. Did the photographer get a utility company building by mistake?

      Comment by Sharon — 16 July 2009 @ 5:00 am

    12. It is a giant cistern … (see the inlet at the top). I can’t see the button though …

      Perhaps too, that is how it was saved from fire …

      Comment by Peter — 16 July 2009 @ 6:14 am

    13. Thank you, Father Zuhlsdorf, for quoting my article on this discovery of the real meaning of Le Corbusier’s church. I would like just to add the video I realized in order to explain the mithraistic simbology of the church: http://fidesetforma.blogspot.com/2009/07/le-corbusier-e-il-culto-mitraico.html

      Thanks a lot for your constant work for the benefit of the Church.

      Best regards in Domino Iesu,

      Francesco Colafemmina

      Comment by Francesco Colafemmina — 16 July 2009 @ 6:19 am

    14. My gosh! Toby is right!

      Comment by Rosie — 16 July 2009 @ 6:20 am

    15. It’s an awful building consecrated as a church.

      It seems a revamped homage to the Zoroastrian faith dualistic and stargazering of the old Assyrian state cities of Lagash, Uruk and Ur, that Abram and his family left behind to follow a Divine Covenant.

      Not very pious, really.

      Isn’t it?

      Comment by Miguel Serrano Cabeza — 16 July 2009 @ 6:34 am

    16. It looks like an outhouse

      Comment by ignatiangroupie — 16 July 2009 @ 6:50 am

    17. The “slide and lever” structure on the front side gives it the appearance of a massive ars nouveau toaster. That or some kind of ADM grain storage bunker.

      Comment by Chironomo — 16 July 2009 @ 7:00 am

    18. Gad is that damn thing is ugly, what a missed opportunity. After viewing the clip from Francesco Colafemmina, I am convinced it is a pagan temple, look at all the pagan priests up fron….., opps, sorry extraordinary minsters, guess it is a sort of “church” no pagan would need that much help

      Comment by David Osterloh — 16 July 2009 @ 7:19 am

    19. Okay this gets my award for the ugliest church in the universe.

      Comment by Fr. AJ — 16 July 2009 @ 7:44 am

    20. No, it didn’t burn down, but it’s amazing what tornadoes can do to buildings.

      Comment by TNCath — 16 July 2009 @ 7:50 am

    21. I know where I’ll be when the nuclear war begins!

      Comment by Cosmos — 16 July 2009 @ 7:53 am

    22. Burn? Oh, you’re silly, Father. Everybody knows submarines can’t burn!

      Comment by Andy — 16 July 2009 @ 7:56 am

    23. Actually, with that side arch and roof vent it looks EXACTLY like a potato storage barn. Not exactly inspired, is it? Not by God anyway.

      Comment by James — 16 July 2009 @ 7:57 am

    24. I would like to see the worship space contained inside.

      Comment by Joe — 16 July 2009 @ 7:59 am

    25. Maybe the parishioners started the fire.

      Comment by RichR — 16 July 2009 @ 8:02 am

    26. That looks like a cruel joke!

      Comment by Padre Steve — 16 July 2009 @ 8:03 am

    27. It’s sad when any church burns down. Even if it’s the First Church of Buckethead.

      Comment by Chris M — 16 July 2009 @ 8:17 am

    28. Even Fire was at a loss on how to approach it o.O

      Comment by Indelible Inkstain — 16 July 2009 @ 8:22 am

    29. Looks like Picasso’s version of R2D2…

      Comment by Art — 16 July 2009 @ 8:24 am

    30. I wished it had.

      Comment by ssoldie — 16 July 2009 @ 8:35 am

    31. It’s the redesigned 2009 Jawa Sandcrawler:
      http://images.google.com/images?q=jawa%20sandcrawler&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi

      Comment by JohnE — 16 July 2009 @ 8:39 am

    32. I can think of a few worse fates than fire for this “Church”.....

      Comment by Mitchell NY — 16 July 2009 @ 8:46 am

    33. I was thinking pagan worship also. Where is the crucifix and tabernacle? Which side is the BVM side and which is the St Joseph side? I believe it said Cattolica which is Italian for Catholic. But my favorite post is from JohnE and the JAWA sand crawler. Do you think they say May the force be with you instead of let us pray?

      Comment by Michael P — 16 July 2009 @ 8:52 am

    34. no, no, no…it’s a space relic of one of the docking stations from the exploded Death Star. Note the fuel port at the top?

      Check out the top right hand corner of this satellite photo….

      http://www.lunaentertainment.com/Blogger/DeathStarSurfaceCG.jpg

      I always knew that Rev. Wilhuff Tarkin made it out safely…

      Comment by Fr. Deacon Daniel — 16 July 2009 @ 8:55 am

    35. not reading Italian I presume the article says “the concrete scaffolding around the space elevator chapel will be removed by firefighters.”

      Comment by Joe — 16 July 2009 @ 9:13 am

    36. It didn’t burn down?

      What a shame.

      Comment by LCB — 16 July 2009 @ 9:17 am

    37. And to beautifully burn down this church, I think, YES!

      (it’s sort of a palindrome of FrZ’s statement…)

      Comment by Pseudomodo — 16 July 2009 @ 9:18 am

    38. Proof someone was a crystal-meth user. Where do these bishops find these losers? Weirdos after their own hearts obviously.

      Comment by Matt Q — 16 July 2009 @ 9:34 am

    39. There was an old woman who lived in a shoe…

      Comment by John — 16 July 2009 @ 9:55 am

    40. They should place Voltaire’s remains there and give the Paris Pantheon back to the Church.

      Comment by Disgusted in DC — 16 July 2009 @ 10:12 am

    41. It looks like a pedestal to the Gateway Arch in St Louis.

      Comment by Peggy — 16 July 2009 @ 10:20 am

    42. Here’s an article in English about Le Corbusier’s “church”: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/arts/design/30ouro.html.

      Comment by Bill White — 16 July 2009 @ 10:36 am

    43. Isn’t it great that when they scrap nuclear powered aircraft carriers, they are able to put the discarded superstructures to some use? Look at this and then see the photos of Cdl. Pell saying Mass at the high altar and TELL ME THESE TWO ARTICLES REFER TO THE SAME RELIGION

      Comment by William H. Phelan — 16 July 2009 @ 10:56 am

    44. Dear friends, I translated the article. You can find it here: http://fidesetforma.blogspot.com/2009/07/on-le-corbusiers-observatory-church.html

      Comment by Francesco Colafemmina — 16 July 2009 @ 11:18 am

    45. If at first you don’t suceed…

      Comment by Drew — 16 July 2009 @ 12:25 pm

    46. What about this one in Oakland. It looks like a giant nuclear cooling tower.
      http://povcrystal.blogspot.com/2009/03/oakland-cathedral.html

      Comment by Dove — 16 July 2009 @ 12:52 pm

    47. While I dislike le Corbusier by hearth, i wouldn’t make any jokes about church burnings in Western Europe. Just this week an attempt at arson a catholic church in Spain (on Sunday, while Mass, if I understood it right)
      was barely avoided … and it not the only incident (but the gravest) this year in Spain. See http://www.abcdesevilla.es/20090713/nacional-madrid/intentan-quemar-iglesia-majadahonda-200907131717.html?cambio=1&urlini=www.abc.es

      Clouds of storm are forming again … be watchful

      Comment by Penitent — 16 July 2009 @ 1:01 pm

    48. Penitent – “...i wouldn’t make any jokes about church burnings in Western Europe. Just this week an attempt at arson a catholic church…”

      Amen to that! Church burnings are not any sort of joking matter.

      We just had a scare in eastern Massachusetts not two weeks ago. It looks as though someone tossed a couple of Molotov cocktails in through an open church window on a Saturday night. Fortunately, they failed to ignite anything.

      Comment by Charivari Rob — 16 July 2009 @ 2:02 pm

    49. It’s not a church building. It was designed as a Church but eventually built by the municipality. Secularism in France keeps it from being a Church.

      Comment by Tzard — 16 July 2009 @ 2:04 pm

    50. I’m grateful for the translation since I do not know French. The astronomical (astrological) component of the church is actually quite fascinating and would be completely in keeping with some of things you’ll occasionally find in medieval church-cathedral buildings, except for the regrettable Cathar/Gnostic bit. There is, alas, a gulf between the whimsical gargoyles of the old stonemasons and the gnostic syncreticsm of the contemporary freemasons.

      On the other hand, how does one deal with classical-style churchbuilding which occasionally made references to the defunct pagan Roman deities?

      Comment by Disgusted in DC — 16 July 2009 @ 2:44 pm

    51. @tzard.
      The history of this building is rather complex so I suspect ownership also. In any case, in France since 1905 every religious bulding belong to the State and are only on lease to the Church. I’m not sure about churches buildt afterward, but my recolection of the french law makes me think it’s indeed the case

      Comment by Penitent — 16 July 2009 @ 2:51 pm

    52. Not funny. Give R2D2 his foot back.

      Comment by Heather — 16 July 2009 @ 3:21 pm

    53. We just had a scare in eastern Massachusetts not two weeks ago. It looks as though someone tossed a couple of Molotov cocktails in through an open church window on a Saturday night. Fortunately, they failed to ignite anything

      Rob… that was in Brockton, wasn’t it? I used to be Organist at St. Colman of Cloyne (now All Saints I believe…) on the East Side and was interested in what the verdict was. Was this a gang related event? Things are still as scary as ever in Brockton it seems…

      Comment by Chironomo — 16 July 2009 @ 3:41 pm

    54. to quote my collage age son, what bird crapped that ;>)

      Comment by David Osterloh — 16 July 2009 @ 4:14 pm

    55. Chironomo – “Rob… that was in Brockton, wasn’t it? I used to be Organist at St. Colman of Cloyne (now All Saints I believe…) on the East Side and was interested in what the verdict was. Was this a gang related event? Things are still as scary as ever in Brockton it seems…”

      Yes, it was in Brockton. St. Edith Stein Parish, the St. Edward Church building.

      It made headlines here in Boston for a day, then dropped off the radar. All I’ve heard is that the incident is being investigated by local, state, and federal authorities (and the Archdiocese, of course).

      The parish priests moved Sunday Mass outside or to a school gym while the church was being examined that morning (July 5th). They are back in the building for Mass now, but I believe it is being kept shut/locked more of the day, when I gather it had previously been open for people to stop in and pray. So, you see, damage has been done.

      I posted about it in the prayer requests thread at the Catholic Online Forum (http://forum.catholic.org/viewforum.php?f=47 see “worrisome incident”). If there are any developments or updates, I’ll try to post them there.

      Comment by Charivari Rob — 16 July 2009 @ 4:44 pm

    56. Maybe that was one of the droids the Storm Troopers were looking for. Good grief!

      Comment by Brian — 16 July 2009 @ 6:00 pm

    57. What a tragedy! To think that it ALMOST burned down!

      Comment by Tantumergo — 16 July 2009 @ 8:13 pm

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