It's a church!
Well, that's the artist's design above but here's how it looks (below) now that it's built.
Todd at Catholic Sensibility has more.
The fourth largest Catholic worship space in the world opened on Saturday, October 13 at the Fatima Shrine in Portugal. It seats 9,000 people! Holy Family in Concord seats about 530.
And Al Gore will love it! Consider this:
The Times of London reports that the new $113 million Church of the Holy Trinity at Fatima, Portugal, is a 130,000 square-foot structure that can accommodate 9,000 worshippers. And those visiting the church seeking a renewal of faith will also experience the benefits of renewable energy: The electric power for the new structure will be supplied by solar panels on the church's rooftop.Thoughts?
I like your LINKS cufflinks! Hope the Sox will bounce back in Cleveland! As for the new church in Fatima, I would not particularly wish to worship with 9,000 people. I cannot understand how so many people are drawn to Fatima and Lourdes and other places where apparitions have been seen or healings have occurred. It is a kind of faith that I don't seem to have. I pray, but I don't feel the desire for this type of prayer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Daisy, I'm not sure I would find the same sense of community in such a large space. One of the things that fosters my worship is the sense of community that I feel at Holy Family.
ReplyDeleteI had heard about The Church of The Holy Trinity at Fatima, Portugal from a dear friend, who is from Lisbon. She saw part of the service at the new Fatima Shrine via satellite and she was telling me how it seats 9,000 people. That is quite impressive, indeed, but I couldn't quite imagine it. Now, looking at the photograph of the shrine, reminds me of Grace Chapel (Baptist) in Lexington. To be honest, worshiping with 9,000 or 9 people doesn't bother me. What I don't care for is the fact that the inside looks like a high school auditorium and not a church sanctuary. Also, I have been to St. Anthony's Church (Portuguese)in Cambridge and that, too, is a church "in the round". It has multi-levels and I don't find it warm and inviting. This type of atmosphere doesn't make me feel as though I'm in a church setting. I am so used to seeing paintings of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus and beautiful stained glass windows depicting different parts of the Bible stories and those things, alone, give me the peace, love, and warmth in my spiritual journey with the Lord.
ReplyDeleteHowever, getting back to the Lady of Fatima, on Saturday evening at 6:30, there was a service at the Fatima Shrine of the Xaverian Missioners in Holliston. The church service was held inside, which is a very small space and it was filled to capacity. Following the church service, there was a parade (for lack of a better term) to the "Lady". We all got our candles which lit our way from the shrine to around the large stone rosary, where the rosary was prayed, to the entrance of the statue of the "Lady". I attended the service with, again, my Portuguese friend who, by the way, is a great believer in the Lady of Fatima because she feels that this saint has helped her in many ways during her longtime illness. There were many nationalities at this service: Portuguese, Italian, Vietnamese, African, Polish, German, Indonesian and all of these people said the Ave Maria in their own language. It was a very nice and uplifting experience for me.
I had never been to a religious service at the shrine, although, I have gone there many times to accompany my friend when she felt that she needed to see the "Lady" for whatever reason.
If you've never been to the Fatima Shrine in Holliston, you should go, not necessarily to a church service -- (although the shrine is open for prayer and to light candles) -- but, if you would like to go for a nice walk (good exercise) and to just feel at peace in the beautiful surroundings of statues, trees, flowers, candles, and a gift shop!
PEACE!