Basilica of the Sacred Heart
When given the task to choose a church that I am familiar with, I was very inclined to choose my parish at home, as I’m sure many people have done. My home parish is St. Annes Catholic Church in Oswego, IL. I would define it as more of a communal church, which makes sense considering it is the home parish of many growing families in the area. The communal nature allows everyone to “gather around the Table of the Lord” and enter into a “paschal living room” (Kieckhefer 53). Despite the many fond memories I have of this parish, over the past couple years I have seemingly made a new home for myself at Notre Dame, and therefore decided to analyze the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Its architecture and unmatched beauty offer a lot to unveil. The Basilica of the Sacred Heart, as a whole as well as in its particularities, allows us to make “transparent the invisible” (MacNamara, 16).
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart here on Notre Dame’s campus is in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places that I’ve ever attended mass. Many of my group members discussed the various famous churches, chapels and parishes they’ve been able to visit across Europe, but I have never had the opportunity to make it to these places, though I hope to in the future. Each of them reminisced on the overwhelming beauty they encountered, but I’d argue that one must experience the liturgy in the space in order to experience the full potential of its beauty. Although “matter matters”, I certainly believe the senses must be engaged in full to experience beauty in its entirety (O’Malley Lecture). For this reason, I will recount the beauty of the Basilica from times I have attended mass.
First off, we must note that the Basilica is a Neo-Gothic Sacramental church, clearly marked by its increasingly tall ceilings and pointed top, drawing the eyes up even from the outside. The structure of the exterior is akin to a cross, clearly with symbolic intention of the holiness of the space. The height of the building itself is noteable, because it stands at 230 feet, while the main building, with Mary at the top, stands only 187 ft (Nd.edu). The height of the basilica makes it a powerful and eye catching piece of architecture, and when one looks up at the iconic dome, cannot help but looking further up to the cross atop the Basilica. While the university is of course focused on education, symbolized by the main building, we are reminded of the 5 pillars of a Holy Cross Education as our eyes are drawn further up to the basilica’s peak. This is only one of many examples of the basilica allowing “invisible realities to be given material dimension” (O’Malley Lecture). Another neo-gothic characteristic of the basilica is unquestionably the stained glass windows, 116 to be exact. Therefore, there is no true natural light coming into the space, but rather stories told through the positioning, order of size, figural and numerical relations of these many stained glass pieces and the light that shines through (Kemp, 43).
Entering in, the eyes are yet again drawn upwards to the murals spanning every inch of the ceilings, which in themselves would take pages and pages to analyze. Through the lens of Kieckhefer, we are able to ‘read the church’, in all of its intricate beauty.
Upon entering the large, heavy doors at the front of the building, we see the focal point of the altar, centered at the end of a long main aisle. This brings us to the first aspect of pattern that Kieckhefer discusses: spatial dynamics. The way the basilica is laid out, with a main aisle leading to the alter as well as 2 side aisles, resembles a processional nature, as one proceeds “past the baptismal font, along the peripheral pathway, into the congregational seating in the central area, then futher in to the sanctuary and the altar” (Kieckhefer, 26). Through this procession style of seating and altar placement, we are, in a way, walked through symbolic reminders of some of the other sacraments on the way to the altar. Most evidently, we pass the baptismal font on the way to the altar, reminding us of the congregation we joined and the vows we made in the sacrament of baptism. All of these symbols help to prepare us for the ultimate sacrament of the Eucharist, celebrated at the altar. It is also notable that the baptismal font is completely in line with the altar, symbolizing the clear path Christ has laid out for us to meet him and become one in his body and blood through the Eucharist. This reality brings to mind two more of Kieckhefer’s patterns for reading a church: symbolism and a centering focus. Before this class, I would have never considered the placement of various elements of the church being meaningful, or intentionally placed, but I am becoming much more attuned to the particularities of every element of the physical church as well as the liturgy itself. As we discussed with Gadamer, play is “movement with intention and reason” (Gadamer). I feel that we experience this playful movement when we watch the priest process from the back of the church to the altar. Although this happens at the beginning of every Catholic mass, regardless of location, this procession is seemingly more beautiful, at least to me, while sitting in the pews of the beautiful basilica.
Despite the numerous times I’ve attended mass at the basilica, I seem to always find something new to contemplate. From the murals on the ceilings, to the pillars, rounded arches, statues, the relic room, etc, there is always something new to catch Christ’s gaze back at us, and for us to discover some veiled truths. A personal goal of mine at some point in the coming years is to attend mass in the crypt, which is a small chapel in the basement of the Basilica. I feel as though this is an ultimate depiction of the idea of something veiled. A hidden, simplistic chapel underneath one of the most beautiful churches in the world is sure to be a memorable experience.
