hurches must be regulated in their scale and decorations
(as was the case formerly) by the means and numbers of the
people; it being always remembered that the house of God
should be as good, as spacious, as ornamented, as circumstances
will allow. Many a humble village church, of rubble
walls and thatched roof, has doubtless formed as acceptable an
offering to Almighty God (being the utmost the poor people
could accomplish) as the most sumptuous fabric erected by
their richer brethren. Everything is relative; a building may
be admirable and edifying in one place, which would be
disgraceful in another. As long as the Catholic principle exists, of
dedicating the best to God, be that great or little, the intention
is the same, and the result always entails a blessing. But this
does not afford the slightest ground for a pretext, urged by
some wealthy persons in these days of decayed faith, that it
does not matter how or where God is worshipped, and that four
walls are equally well adapted for the purpose with the most
solemn piles. God expects, and it is beyond contradiction
His due, that we should devote to His honour and service a
large portion of the temporal benefits we enjoy. While, therefore,
it would be both absurd and unjust to expect more than
what the station and means of persons enable them to contribute
towards the erection of churches, it is a horrible
scandal, and a fearful condemnation, that many persons of
wealth and influence do oppose the Catholic principle, of
making the house of God the centre of earthly splendour; and instead of contributing to this great and holy work, try to
excuse their conduct by urging the miserable arguments of
Protestants on these matters. While for the gratification of
their own personal vanity, or the indulgence of their luxury,
no expense can be too profuse, it is lamentable to look
around on the various buildings used for Catholic worship in
this land, and to see how few among them are at all fitted,
either, by their arrangement or decoration, for the sacred purposes
for which they are intended. [pp. 11-12]
Bibliography
Pugin, A. Welby. The Present State of Ecclesiastical Architecture in England. "Republished from the Dublin Review." London: Charles Dolman, 1843.
Last modified 22 November 2004