Many thanks for that. As a Catholic with joint Welsh-Irish heritage and a devotion to St Bede & St Cuthbert on account of studying in Durham, I am thinking of paying some of these sights a visit.
Spot on. You do find offerings at Ladyewell in North West England, which is a well-visited shrine - Catholic though, which I think is the difference. The protestant or unbelieving English find all that a little too distasteful. Anti-Catholicism has deep roots. I'm church crawling this weekend and while many of the churches feel dead and empty, every so often you come across once which isn't, which is clearly well used and loved by its parishioners, where prayer is still offered. I came across one yesterday, with a few icons, a prie-dieu and candles. Rare but good to see.
I am in Ponta Delgada in the Azores where I have been living for three years now, today I went at 6 am to a church, Igreja de Sao Jose, where people were singing songs around a figure of Christ that they call Christ of the Miracles, or Santo Cristo dos Milagres as there is a major festival of the same name here right now.
I came to this island from the U.K. because there is little faith or empathy left there now, the slow decline of faith that perhaps started in 1536 when Henry threw religious orders out of the U.K might be nearing completion. It was mirrored here by the dissolution of monasteries between 1832-1834, but people kept their faith alive in so many ways and empathy for others is still strong. It did however remove the rudder from the ship that we could call their society, which is something I am looking into, but something in these people keeps the candle burning, which makes it feel a lot better to be here than by the flickering flame in the U.K.
The time is right to light that candle again my friends x
Some yrs back I was in Faial (where my Grandfather was born) there was a procession honoring a feast day of Mary, people of all ages- many children too, were singing and walking together as the statue bedecked with flowers was carried along the shore. What struck me was how natural it all seemed..how the generations- teenage boys and grandmothers seemed to be comfortable together. Coming from the States this show of religiosity and multi generational participation would be nearly impossible... and open to ridicule. And what a loss for us in our 'advance' secular, well educated world.
There were so many people involved with the festival here that it has influence on every age, parents taking children by the hand whilst the children wear little costumes that are the same as the adults, young people playing music through to old folks sitting in their spot on the festival route that will have been a family tradition for generations.
There is also a strong will to question the Catholic faith though through a millennial cult called the The Cult of the Holy Spirit, or the Culto do Divino Espírito Santo. This was inspired by Christian millenarian mystics who wanted the church to be a little more socialist, so every year they elect their Emperor in every little sect that they have on the island whilst going on to feed everyone on the island for one day in the year.
I will go to Faial this year as I hear such wonderful things about the place, will you be returning?
Epic post. In my limited experience churches without the eucharist present feel empty. It must take a strong will to ignore all of those holy sites or maybe it's just indfference.
I think, if it ever is revived, it will take a different form. Protestantism has stripped the saints out of faith and left it between man/woman and God. I say that as one whose Presbytarian grandmother would talk in fearful tones of the "statues" and "bodies on crosses" in Catholic churches, and drag me across the road if she ever saw a nun coming. Interesting that people do still throw money. But then we tend to assume money is the only thing with any value any more. On another note, I am eagerly awaiting the first Book Club. I have finished the book in the last few days but it made me so angry and frustrated and I am keen to explore why.
Living in Cornwall we are blessed to see glimmers of the old magic. Some of the hundreds of holy wells and churches still have a sense of enchantment. I have been going to St Eunys well to pray since our son suffered with severe autism after vaccination. It hasn't cured him but gives great peace to share suffering with others in spirit at least.
What you say about Britain o would relate to Britain being further ahead in "modernizing" than any other nation. I mean here culturally, spiritually, philosophically. It's no accident that evolution appeared here (and in particular it's "devil's gospel" aspect, the aggressive assertion that Galapagos finches have forever debunked any and all religious faith). I mean, French enlightened would have loved to get there first, but they didn't.
This modernization involves a breakdown of all groups and traditions, but not in the high brow philosophical sense; instead in the middle brow business sense. We break everything down to it's parts, we know how much everything "is worth", and then we move on with our lives, unencumbered by superstition. This has proved much more effective than a philosophical/political attack, for two reasons: 1. It invites everyone to take part, in the name of profit. Not harming anyone, just agree with the reduction/quantification of everything and move on with your life. This is participatory, you are not just being lectured at, you are being invited to efficiency. 2. It doesn't require a positive solution, so it gets away with demolishing the old and not really proposing anything in its place. This can be done precisely because a "normal person" in Britain isn't called to pompously denounce all of judeochristian ethics (that would organically invite the question what ethics do we use instead). No, judeochristian ethics are mostly ok as a social compromise, it's just that they don't really "mean" anything and they are not "true".
I think the whole post truth ethos is possible only if you allow yourself to play it both ways. Otherwise it's too awkward and ridiculous to gain any massive traction.
Again, Dawkins is a fantastic incarnation of all that. He wants cathedrals and judeochristian values, but as long as we understand they are not true 🤣
Why am I saying all that? To say that Britain is further along in a process that (the mainstream of) most nations are in, including if course Greece and Romania (although there are other kinds of reserves there, too). This can be used for good. British people, like you, Paul, are in a unique position to talk insightfully about what modernity really is, and what it does down to the street, family, school, even subconscious level - and I don't mean in a militant, propagandistic way, but in a well rounded, thoughtful way. (Which of course you have been doing.)
Moreover, I feel great sympathy because it can show how empires/civilizations decay. I'm not taking a shot here, analyzing the Anglosphere in the last few years gives a different, detailed insight to medieval narrations of phase transitions of a society, met with pestilence and war etc. This can happen, even to reasonable people, even to scientific people, "even to us". It did happen in the past, and we can see how it can spiral out of control, despite the over abundant human capital, arguably in place in competent institutions precisely to guard against that. In a sense, Constantinople in 1199 was not very different from NY today...
All this to me brings a sense of humility... A striking example why we need God's illumination above everything else, and how our own efforts will always be limited by our passions and logismoi -- not so much our intellectual or material resources...
And there is room for good. Did you see Russell Brand recently? :) I have no opinion about the specifics, but certainly people feel the need for better... And that is good.
Some have a far darker view of Darwin's religious inclinations and contend that, like his father, he was a Freemason, and thus a closet adherent of Luciferianism:
I first encountered this contention in the sort of horror documentary/confession/exposé put together by Altiyan Childs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPisjVhIZSc) where he claims (tries?) to expose a worldwide conspiracy of Satanists within the core of Freemasonry who run more or less everything. I watched some of this (it's freaking 5+ hours long) again a few nights ago, in fact, as it's enjoyable in the same way picking at a scab can be enjoyable. It bothers me that I still can't figure out if what is claimed in this video is simply nuts or is more or less true.
Well, the boiling over from a biology thesis to a metaphysical / religious one is very conspicuous, and not at all necessary from the science point of view (even if you are willing to accept all his particular conclusions). So, in that sense, there is definitely a demonic aspect to it. And the phrase "devil's gospel" is from one of the early proponents of Darwinism, ie it was very conscious and deliberate...
Funnily, I found the single least believable part of the whole thing the fleeting image of Sinead O'Connor (in the nearly endless sequence of images of famous people displaying "hidden hands" and "all-seeing eye" symbols). And the reason is this: there is no way at all Sinead would not have told everyone under the sun if she had been recruited into this at any point. Though I suppose that's what tearing up the Pope picture might have been.
*Sigh*... as I said, as with most such conspiracies there's just no getting to the bottom of it.
Sinead O Connor tearing up a picture of the Pope reflects the very widespread turning away from the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. She would not be unusual or out of place, here now, if she were still alive.
The paedophilia of some priests and the scandals of the orphanages and Mothers and Babies homes where the nuns behaved sadistically and cruelly to the children and mothers, is not forgotten here. Once pious Christians and people of solid faith just turned away and have never gone back.
Yes, I know all this. I was just trying to imagine Sinead ever joining a secret Satanic society in order to have a successful music career, and never speaking of that, as Altiyan Childs implied in that video. He also showed a Pope or two, implying they were in on it too. As I said, it struck me as an obvious red flag that much of what Childs was implying was not true.
The O Connor family lived quite close to where I live. They were a gifted family. Joseph wrote wonderful novels, my favourite being Star of the Sea.
Sinead was gifted and highly intelligent. She may have had an artists vision of the world and expressed herself best in music, but like many gifted people she may have also been disturbed by the world and had some issues. But she was never satanic. Never. She was kind.
Have you visited Holywell in North Wales? The town takes its name from the 7th century St Winefride’s Holy Well.
It's a beautiful place. People went for healings until the 20th Century. They have a small museum charting the history of the place which includes a pile of ancient crutches.
When i visited last week, ladies were praying whilst circumnavigating the pool (they were in the water, which was freezing cold). Others were lighting candles in the chapel.
You really should visit. It will make you feel more hopeful.
There are still well dressings, blessings, and 'Spa Sundays' in quite a few places up North: some secularised and some more traditional. In fact, I know of three wells with some sort of annual custom attached to them within a couple of hours walk of here.
I'm not sure I can see any revival though: most of the population is in cities, and the holy wells there are more neglected. Even out here in the sticks, the celebrations are more about community and history than anything else. They're important things too, but the holy and healing aspects are downplayed at best.
I was initially surprised that you think you have to leave the country to see this landscape is haunted by Christianity. I thought that was the single most obvious thing about it. On reflection, though, I think you're right. Most of the environmentalists I have known, for example, seem in love with an idea of the landscape but uneasy with the real landscape itself. From a secular or 'new age' perspective, the intertwining of history and land is not easy to see.
I often wonder about the crisis to meaning making pipeline. I see it a lot on communities of homesteaders for example. And in my neighborhood in Chicago I can feel a kind of palpable Renaissance of civic meaning, maybe post pandemic.
Thank you for this thoughtful piece. As someone raised Catholic, and now part of a Baptist congregation, your essay surfaces ideas and questions that I wrestle with at times... Are there physical places that are more spiritually important, significant, than others? If Christian believers are indwelt with God, what is the importance (or need) of statues, icons, symbols, wells, etc as a focal point of meditation on God?
Dear Patrick, the answer to your question starts with the reality that we are embodied beings, and that the Incarnation has ramifications. Christian faith was never meant to be all in our heads. God bless you.
I appreciate your reply Dana, thank you. I agree that our faith was never meant to be just in our heads. The ways that can play out in one's life is the puzzling piece.
My understanding, still evolving, is this: there are no 'sacred places' in Christianity in the same sense that there would be, say, in paganism. God is 'everywhere present and filling all things', in the words of the Orthodox prayer. In that sense, a 'holy well' is not 'holy' in and of itself, but because it has been blessed and sanctified to a particular saint or purpose.
My understanding is that creation itself - material reality - is inherently holy because, like all humans, it is an icon of God. The Orthodox venerate icons, which protestants often don't like, but we don't do it because we 'worship' them or regard the wood and paint as inherently 'holy.' We do it because through them we venerate what they portray. They embody and help us to connect with Christ, the saints, the Theotokos and the heavenly realm. Similarly, a holy well, a rag tree, a statue.
We can, if we want, strip all this away, as protestantism has done. We will then be left with ourselves, our Bible, our prayers and a desacrilised world. The problem is that that world will then become just so much material 'matter' to be used and abused as we see fit. Whereas before there was a sense, through our ceremonies and holy places and pilgrim paths and the rest, that God was embodied within it.
I appreciate the thoughts. For what it’s worth, my ending up in a protestant congregation was not because of a deliberate rejection of my childhood Catholicism, but an unexpected path that my life took after some years of spiritual apathy. As such, I don’t have a strong opinion one way or another on the idea of holy places, venerating icons, etc.- just a genuine curiosity (and openness) about it. I suspect there are many like myself in various protestant communities who would not necessarily be hostile to the idea.
I would agree that one of the negative consequences of the spread of protestantism has been a diminishing of the sense of the supernatural (or “desacrilised world” as you put it), and I would agree that the rejection of statues, icons, etc. likely played a role in that.
On the other hand, when those things ARE stripped away, I would take slight issue with the idea that we are then merely left with “ourselves, our Bible, our prayers and a desacrilised world”… particularly the “ourselves” part. If followers of Christ are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, we are not merely ourselves, but a new creation, sealed by the Helper… and called to live and worship and serve in community; we are no longer our own. Needless to say, we don’t always live up to that ideal...
What a question! I love green men. I have a collection of them at home, in fact. Their presence in churches is fascinating. Maybe I'll write about it. It's not at all clear what they symbolise/
My vestal of the French Republic sister-in-law spends a fair amount of time visiting churches in France from an historical perspective. She will go through with a guide book, and she is very eager to visit the old churches, but she is rabidly anti-clerical, although baptized Catholic by her parents.
For many intellectuals in France, the Catholic faith has been relegated to the past, and in a museum where they visit occasionally, but with guide books. You could say that visiting churches from this perspective is like going to a museum, and being historically informed.
This approach to the faith does not appeal to me, but I am hard pressed to say what DOES appeal to me these days in a country where so many people are abysmally ignorant about the Christian faith in its Catholic form., and often proud of it.
I know that I believe right now that in Western Christianity, Catholicism represents perhaps the greatest legacy of Rome, and that conversion to it comes hardest to secular rationalists, which is maybe why it is so rabidly attacked...still.
Thank you Paul, I've been waiting for a Welsh Holy Well! My Dad lives in South Wales where I was brought up and I went to St. David's as a child. Obviously, now I'm Orthodox the place has a totally new meaning and lure. When I next see my Dad, I will be making a pilgrimage to St. David's and the well, to leave an offering. After all, the largest avalanche can start with something small. There is a prophecy that Britain will not prosper (spiritually? - I don't know for certain) until we venerate our Saints. Anyone else care to join?
This has been on my mind too. I’m going to seek out holy wells close to me and also focus on venerating early saints from the British Isles. Perhaps there is a way to breathe spiritual life back into places…
I spend a lot of time visiting Anglican churches and holy wells. As a Catholic, I gravitate to the most ancient and say a prayer wherever I go. So I'm with you on this!
Our Lady of Penrhys, a statue overlooking the Rhondda valley, stands near a holy well with a well house and a chapel: both I believe added to in the 19th century but originally medieval. I think it's fairly well known to Welsh Catholics, with pilgrimages arranged annually. I've seen the statue but not the well, alas.
I'm not, but I lived and worked there for 8 years: at the foot of the valleys really (Llantrisant). A lovely area - as is the Rhymney valley - I have many good friends there. Visited Porth today in fact!
Thanks for this observation, Chris. It's feeding into a few thoughts on the emptying out of 'church', specifically the one to which I've gotten to be Treasurer by default. But, to your thought here- when we in the States succumbed to the (almost) 'worship' of The Economy and The Market to solve all our problems, I think we've given over our responsibilities to neighbor, community, and The Almighty in the way the Gospels instruct. And Isaiah (to name just one prophet), too. Perhaps folks in Eastern Europe saw, first-hand that 'belief' in some modernisms of a 'rational' economic system, devoid of 'superstition' was going to literally create a "New Man' - and created a contorted version of the same old one that was willing to murder their brother to their benefit? I think that we, the economic 'winners' in the 'successful' West (or Midwest, in my case) are still thinking we 'deserve' it all for our good work. And superior zip code. Thanks, again.
Many thanks for that. As a Catholic with joint Welsh-Irish heritage and a devotion to St Bede & St Cuthbert on account of studying in Durham, I am thinking of paying some of these sights a visit.
Spot on. You do find offerings at Ladyewell in North West England, which is a well-visited shrine - Catholic though, which I think is the difference. The protestant or unbelieving English find all that a little too distasteful. Anti-Catholicism has deep roots. I'm church crawling this weekend and while many of the churches feel dead and empty, every so often you come across once which isn't, which is clearly well used and loved by its parishioners, where prayer is still offered. I came across one yesterday, with a few icons, a prie-dieu and candles. Rare but good to see.
I am in Ponta Delgada in the Azores where I have been living for three years now, today I went at 6 am to a church, Igreja de Sao Jose, where people were singing songs around a figure of Christ that they call Christ of the Miracles, or Santo Cristo dos Milagres as there is a major festival of the same name here right now.
I came to this island from the U.K. because there is little faith or empathy left there now, the slow decline of faith that perhaps started in 1536 when Henry threw religious orders out of the U.K might be nearing completion. It was mirrored here by the dissolution of monasteries between 1832-1834, but people kept their faith alive in so many ways and empathy for others is still strong. It did however remove the rudder from the ship that we could call their society, which is something I am looking into, but something in these people keeps the candle burning, which makes it feel a lot better to be here than by the flickering flame in the U.K.
The time is right to light that candle again my friends x
Some yrs back I was in Faial (where my Grandfather was born) there was a procession honoring a feast day of Mary, people of all ages- many children too, were singing and walking together as the statue bedecked with flowers was carried along the shore. What struck me was how natural it all seemed..how the generations- teenage boys and grandmothers seemed to be comfortable together. Coming from the States this show of religiosity and multi generational participation would be nearly impossible... and open to ridicule. And what a loss for us in our 'advance' secular, well educated world.
There were so many people involved with the festival here that it has influence on every age, parents taking children by the hand whilst the children wear little costumes that are the same as the adults, young people playing music through to old folks sitting in their spot on the festival route that will have been a family tradition for generations.
There is also a strong will to question the Catholic faith though through a millennial cult called the The Cult of the Holy Spirit, or the Culto do Divino Espírito Santo. This was inspired by Christian millenarian mystics who wanted the church to be a little more socialist, so every year they elect their Emperor in every little sect that they have on the island whilst going on to feed everyone on the island for one day in the year.
I will go to Faial this year as I hear such wonderful things about the place, will you be returning?
Epic post. In my limited experience churches without the eucharist present feel empty. It must take a strong will to ignore all of those holy sites or maybe it's just indfference.
I think, if it ever is revived, it will take a different form. Protestantism has stripped the saints out of faith and left it between man/woman and God. I say that as one whose Presbytarian grandmother would talk in fearful tones of the "statues" and "bodies on crosses" in Catholic churches, and drag me across the road if she ever saw a nun coming. Interesting that people do still throw money. But then we tend to assume money is the only thing with any value any more. On another note, I am eagerly awaiting the first Book Club. I have finished the book in the last few days but it made me so angry and frustrated and I am keen to explore why.
I had a similar reaction to the book. . .
Living in Cornwall we are blessed to see glimmers of the old magic. Some of the hundreds of holy wells and churches still have a sense of enchantment. I have been going to St Eunys well to pray since our son suffered with severe autism after vaccination. It hasn't cured him but gives great peace to share suffering with others in spirit at least.
Christ is Risen!
What you say about Britain o would relate to Britain being further ahead in "modernizing" than any other nation. I mean here culturally, spiritually, philosophically. It's no accident that evolution appeared here (and in particular it's "devil's gospel" aspect, the aggressive assertion that Galapagos finches have forever debunked any and all religious faith). I mean, French enlightened would have loved to get there first, but they didn't.
This modernization involves a breakdown of all groups and traditions, but not in the high brow philosophical sense; instead in the middle brow business sense. We break everything down to it's parts, we know how much everything "is worth", and then we move on with our lives, unencumbered by superstition. This has proved much more effective than a philosophical/political attack, for two reasons: 1. It invites everyone to take part, in the name of profit. Not harming anyone, just agree with the reduction/quantification of everything and move on with your life. This is participatory, you are not just being lectured at, you are being invited to efficiency. 2. It doesn't require a positive solution, so it gets away with demolishing the old and not really proposing anything in its place. This can be done precisely because a "normal person" in Britain isn't called to pompously denounce all of judeochristian ethics (that would organically invite the question what ethics do we use instead). No, judeochristian ethics are mostly ok as a social compromise, it's just that they don't really "mean" anything and they are not "true".
I think the whole post truth ethos is possible only if you allow yourself to play it both ways. Otherwise it's too awkward and ridiculous to gain any massive traction.
Again, Dawkins is a fantastic incarnation of all that. He wants cathedrals and judeochristian values, but as long as we understand they are not true 🤣
Why am I saying all that? To say that Britain is further along in a process that (the mainstream of) most nations are in, including if course Greece and Romania (although there are other kinds of reserves there, too). This can be used for good. British people, like you, Paul, are in a unique position to talk insightfully about what modernity really is, and what it does down to the street, family, school, even subconscious level - and I don't mean in a militant, propagandistic way, but in a well rounded, thoughtful way. (Which of course you have been doing.)
Moreover, I feel great sympathy because it can show how empires/civilizations decay. I'm not taking a shot here, analyzing the Anglosphere in the last few years gives a different, detailed insight to medieval narrations of phase transitions of a society, met with pestilence and war etc. This can happen, even to reasonable people, even to scientific people, "even to us". It did happen in the past, and we can see how it can spiral out of control, despite the over abundant human capital, arguably in place in competent institutions precisely to guard against that. In a sense, Constantinople in 1199 was not very different from NY today...
All this to me brings a sense of humility... A striking example why we need God's illumination above everything else, and how our own efforts will always be limited by our passions and logismoi -- not so much our intellectual or material resources...
And there is room for good. Did you see Russell Brand recently? :) I have no opinion about the specifics, but certainly people feel the need for better... And that is good.
Some have a far darker view of Darwin's religious inclinations and contend that, like his father, he was a Freemason, and thus a closet adherent of Luciferianism:
https://www.jesusisprecious.org/evolution_hoax/charles_darwin.htm
I first encountered this contention in the sort of horror documentary/confession/exposé put together by Altiyan Childs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPisjVhIZSc) where he claims (tries?) to expose a worldwide conspiracy of Satanists within the core of Freemasonry who run more or less everything. I watched some of this (it's freaking 5+ hours long) again a few nights ago, in fact, as it's enjoyable in the same way picking at a scab can be enjoyable. It bothers me that I still can't figure out if what is claimed in this video is simply nuts or is more or less true.
Well, the boiling over from a biology thesis to a metaphysical / religious one is very conspicuous, and not at all necessary from the science point of view (even if you are willing to accept all his particular conclusions). So, in that sense, there is definitely a demonic aspect to it. And the phrase "devil's gospel" is from one of the early proponents of Darwinism, ie it was very conscious and deliberate...
Thanks for the link, it sounds worth checking out
Funnily, I found the single least believable part of the whole thing the fleeting image of Sinead O'Connor (in the nearly endless sequence of images of famous people displaying "hidden hands" and "all-seeing eye" symbols). And the reason is this: there is no way at all Sinead would not have told everyone under the sun if she had been recruited into this at any point. Though I suppose that's what tearing up the Pope picture might have been.
*Sigh*... as I said, as with most such conspiracies there's just no getting to the bottom of it.
Sinead O Connor tearing up a picture of the Pope reflects the very widespread turning away from the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. She would not be unusual or out of place, here now, if she were still alive.
The paedophilia of some priests and the scandals of the orphanages and Mothers and Babies homes where the nuns behaved sadistically and cruelly to the children and mothers, is not forgotten here. Once pious Christians and people of solid faith just turned away and have never gone back.
Yes, I know all this. I was just trying to imagine Sinead ever joining a secret Satanic society in order to have a successful music career, and never speaking of that, as Altiyan Childs implied in that video. He also showed a Pope or two, implying they were in on it too. As I said, it struck me as an obvious red flag that much of what Childs was implying was not true.
The O Connor family lived quite close to where I live. They were a gifted family. Joseph wrote wonderful novels, my favourite being Star of the Sea.
Sinead was gifted and highly intelligent. She may have had an artists vision of the world and expressed herself best in music, but like many gifted people she may have also been disturbed by the world and had some issues. But she was never satanic. Never. She was kind.
Have you visited Holywell in North Wales? The town takes its name from the 7th century St Winefride’s Holy Well.
It's a beautiful place. People went for healings until the 20th Century. They have a small museum charting the history of the place which includes a pile of ancient crutches.
When i visited last week, ladies were praying whilst circumnavigating the pool (they were in the water, which was freezing cold). Others were lighting candles in the chapel.
You really should visit. It will make you feel more hopeful.
There are still well dressings, blessings, and 'Spa Sundays' in quite a few places up North: some secularised and some more traditional. In fact, I know of three wells with some sort of annual custom attached to them within a couple of hours walk of here.
I'm not sure I can see any revival though: most of the population is in cities, and the holy wells there are more neglected. Even out here in the sticks, the celebrations are more about community and history than anything else. They're important things too, but the holy and healing aspects are downplayed at best.
I was initially surprised that you think you have to leave the country to see this landscape is haunted by Christianity. I thought that was the single most obvious thing about it. On reflection, though, I think you're right. Most of the environmentalists I have known, for example, seem in love with an idea of the landscape but uneasy with the real landscape itself. From a secular or 'new age' perspective, the intertwining of history and land is not easy to see.
I often wonder about the crisis to meaning making pipeline. I see it a lot on communities of homesteaders for example. And in my neighborhood in Chicago I can feel a kind of palpable Renaissance of civic meaning, maybe post pandemic.
Christos Anesti!
Alithos Anesti!
Thank you for this thoughtful piece. As someone raised Catholic, and now part of a Baptist congregation, your essay surfaces ideas and questions that I wrestle with at times... Are there physical places that are more spiritually important, significant, than others? If Christian believers are indwelt with God, what is the importance (or need) of statues, icons, symbols, wells, etc as a focal point of meditation on God?
Dear Patrick, the answer to your question starts with the reality that we are embodied beings, and that the Incarnation has ramifications. Christian faith was never meant to be all in our heads. God bless you.
Dana
I appreciate your reply Dana, thank you. I agree that our faith was never meant to be just in our heads. The ways that can play out in one's life is the puzzling piece.
My understanding, still evolving, is this: there are no 'sacred places' in Christianity in the same sense that there would be, say, in paganism. God is 'everywhere present and filling all things', in the words of the Orthodox prayer. In that sense, a 'holy well' is not 'holy' in and of itself, but because it has been blessed and sanctified to a particular saint or purpose.
My understanding is that creation itself - material reality - is inherently holy because, like all humans, it is an icon of God. The Orthodox venerate icons, which protestants often don't like, but we don't do it because we 'worship' them or regard the wood and paint as inherently 'holy.' We do it because through them we venerate what they portray. They embody and help us to connect with Christ, the saints, the Theotokos and the heavenly realm. Similarly, a holy well, a rag tree, a statue.
We can, if we want, strip all this away, as protestantism has done. We will then be left with ourselves, our Bible, our prayers and a desacrilised world. The problem is that that world will then become just so much material 'matter' to be used and abused as we see fit. Whereas before there was a sense, through our ceremonies and holy places and pilgrim paths and the rest, that God was embodied within it.
I appreciate the thoughts. For what it’s worth, my ending up in a protestant congregation was not because of a deliberate rejection of my childhood Catholicism, but an unexpected path that my life took after some years of spiritual apathy. As such, I don’t have a strong opinion one way or another on the idea of holy places, venerating icons, etc.- just a genuine curiosity (and openness) about it. I suspect there are many like myself in various protestant communities who would not necessarily be hostile to the idea.
I would agree that one of the negative consequences of the spread of protestantism has been a diminishing of the sense of the supernatural (or “desacrilised world” as you put it), and I would agree that the rejection of statues, icons, etc. likely played a role in that.
On the other hand, when those things ARE stripped away, I would take slight issue with the idea that we are then merely left with “ourselves, our Bible, our prayers and a desacrilised world”… particularly the “ourselves” part. If followers of Christ are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, we are not merely ourselves, but a new creation, sealed by the Helper… and called to live and worship and serve in community; we are no longer our own. Needless to say, we don’t always live up to that ideal...
What do you make of the 'Green Man' in English spirituality? Is it a recognition of the sacredness of the natural world/
What a question! I love green men. I have a collection of them at home, in fact. Their presence in churches is fascinating. Maybe I'll write about it. It's not at all clear what they symbolise/
I love them too! Please write that book! I want the first copy!!
My vestal of the French Republic sister-in-law spends a fair amount of time visiting churches in France from an historical perspective. She will go through with a guide book, and she is very eager to visit the old churches, but she is rabidly anti-clerical, although baptized Catholic by her parents.
For many intellectuals in France, the Catholic faith has been relegated to the past, and in a museum where they visit occasionally, but with guide books. You could say that visiting churches from this perspective is like going to a museum, and being historically informed.
This approach to the faith does not appeal to me, but I am hard pressed to say what DOES appeal to me these days in a country where so many people are abysmally ignorant about the Christian faith in its Catholic form., and often proud of it.
I know that I believe right now that in Western Christianity, Catholicism represents perhaps the greatest legacy of Rome, and that conversion to it comes hardest to secular rationalists, which is maybe why it is so rabidly attacked...still.
Thank you Paul, I've been waiting for a Welsh Holy Well! My Dad lives in South Wales where I was brought up and I went to St. David's as a child. Obviously, now I'm Orthodox the place has a totally new meaning and lure. When I next see my Dad, I will be making a pilgrimage to St. David's and the well, to leave an offering. After all, the largest avalanche can start with something small. There is a prophecy that Britain will not prosper (spiritually? - I don't know for certain) until we venerate our Saints. Anyone else care to join?
This has been on my mind too. I’m going to seek out holy wells close to me and also focus on venerating early saints from the British Isles. Perhaps there is a way to breathe spiritual life back into places…
Perhaps indeed! It seems Paul has planted a seed here. Now it needs some help to grow...
I spend a lot of time visiting Anglican churches and holy wells. As a Catholic, I gravitate to the most ancient and say a prayer wherever I go. So I'm with you on this!
Our Lady of Penrhys, a statue overlooking the Rhondda valley, stands near a holy well with a well house and a chapel: both I believe added to in the 19th century but originally medieval. I think it's fairly well known to Welsh Catholics, with pilgrimages arranged annually. I've seen the statue but not the well, alas.
If you are from the Rhondda, we were neighbours. I was brought up in the Rhymney valley.
I'm not, but I lived and worked there for 8 years: at the foot of the valleys really (Llantrisant). A lovely area - as is the Rhymney valley - I have many good friends there. Visited Porth today in fact!
I know it well!
I've seen the same things while in formerly communist Eastern Europe. The old religion has new life there; in the West it's dead.
Thanks for this observation, Chris. It's feeding into a few thoughts on the emptying out of 'church', specifically the one to which I've gotten to be Treasurer by default. But, to your thought here- when we in the States succumbed to the (almost) 'worship' of The Economy and The Market to solve all our problems, I think we've given over our responsibilities to neighbor, community, and The Almighty in the way the Gospels instruct. And Isaiah (to name just one prophet), too. Perhaps folks in Eastern Europe saw, first-hand that 'belief' in some modernisms of a 'rational' economic system, devoid of 'superstition' was going to literally create a "New Man' - and created a contorted version of the same old one that was willing to murder their brother to their benefit? I think that we, the economic 'winners' in the 'successful' West (or Midwest, in my case) are still thinking we 'deserve' it all for our good work. And superior zip code. Thanks, again.
God bless you, Paul. You give me hope.