Holy Architecture in the Church. The qualifications to speak | Heathens Begone

Holy Architecture in the Church.

The qualifications to speak authoritatively on how a church ought to look are fullfiled by St. Charles Borromeo. He was an expert in architecture and in liturgy, in priestly formation, in art and music and more, his ability in dogmatic theology was used frequently at the Council of Trent, the document he wrote is called Instructiones Fabricae et Supellectilis Ecclesiasticae / Instructions on the Building and Furnishing of Churches 1577. He wrote it so that it could be applied to cathedrals, monasteries and humble parish churches,


Everything should be used to reflect the perfection of heaven. St. Charles strove to integrate all the visual arts (such as sculpture and stained glass) with the preeminent auditory arts (hearing the text of the Mass, music, the sermon) so that everything was in harmony with and in support of: First is the Mass, and then come singing, then sermons and instructions, then at last come statues and paintings and long etc.. He did not favor any particular aesthetic style. Romanesque, Byzantine, Gothic, Baroque—many styles could be used to achieve this harmony,