The other day I stopped off at Ghent which is halfway between Bruges and Brussels. I had booked an early evening Eurostar to Ebbsfleet so I had time for lunch and reasonably unhurried visits to three of the Churches in the City. The first was the Cathedral of St Bavo. Here is the stunning High Altar, facing towards the East:
Turn around, face towards the West, and you can see where Holy Mass is said now:
At the Church of St Michael, there is again a very fine High Altar:
But the banqueting chairs, and the table with pot plant and nylon candlesticks are still obviously bringing in the crowds:
Something I have observed before in Belgian Churches is that some of the candlesticks are in rebellion. While the priests are away, they creep stealthily towards the people's altar, hoping to make enough (Gh)ent-like progress until they have formed a Benedictine arrangement.
Perhaps future years will see them gain confidence and vault onto the High Altar. At one of the side altars, I noticed that the altar cards were joining in the conspiracy, though sadly if you look very closely, you'll see that it is so long since they were used that they have forgotten which sides to go on:
A few other points of interest: the Church of St Nicholas:
The pulpit of St Michael's:
The extraordinary baptismal font at the same Church:
And finally, a picture of Cornelius Jansen:
I overheard a tour guide say the name Jansenius and so made sure that I took a photo. (Sorry about the quality: it was quite high up on the wall.) I was eager to tell Fr Briggs about this discovery but felt I should check the facts first, since I know that the famous author of the Augustinus was Bishop of Ypres but didn't know he had anything to do with Ghent. Fortunately the internet saved my embarrassment - this was Cornelius Jansen the Elder who was the first Bishop of Ghent: he died a few years before the other Cornelius Jansen was born.
POSTSCRIPT
Sorry, I forgot to mention that I did go in and see the famous altarpiece at St Bavo's. (That was actually the principal purpose of my stopping there on the way home from Bruges.) It is always thrilling to see something like this for real when reproductions of it are so familiar. Here is one from the Wikimedia Commons.
The Ghent Altarpiece article on Wikipedia has a summary of the painting's travels and return. Here is a link to a site with close-up pictures of all the different panels.
7 comments:
So lovely and so nice to think of you visiting, hope you had a swift safe journey home!
@Father Finigan
Thank you for this great post, I loved the photos, and I think you should be appointed as the first official photographer for the Catholic Guild of Bloggers.
Our Lady of the Rosary ( http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/2011/05/visit-to-tomb-of-blessed-john-paul-ii.html ) pray for us!
PAPA VERO ORA PRO NOBIS!
Ah! So that's the good news from Ghent to ...Blackfen?
'I sprang to the stirrup..'
Well done!
Any obvious difference between Flemish and Walloon decorations? Or is Belgium united in this respect?
I haven't noticed any differences - I think that most of western continental Europe is united in this respect. In England we have actually destroyed altars - an unintended long-term consequence of Catholic emancipation whereas Church buildings in other countries are subject to stronger state control which has, paradoxically, prevented them from being wrecked.
I know Ghent pretty well and will be getting married in the Sint Martinus Kerk (the oldest church in the city). It's true the churches are quite beautiful (if you like that sort of thing) but practically empty. The average age of the congregations is 60+ and the Church is all but dead in Flanders. It's an area which seriously needs to be re-evangelised. I hope many people will stop in Belgium to spread the Good News (I know my group will be!) on their way to see the Holy Father in Madrid this summer.
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