Not So Ugly Churches

To follow on the last post, here are some churches that exhibit an exhuberant reflection of their Christian Faith. The beauty of the Divine Life within bursts out into three dimensions to engage all the senses for the glory of the Triune God, the Creator of all that is true and beautiful.

These are both Byzantine Catholic Churches. Pictured are St. Elias the Prophet Ukrainian Catholic Church in Brampton, Canada (outside Toronto) and Annunciation of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church in Homer Glen, Illinois. The Eastern Catholic Churches in the West have their own very unique struggles. Declining numbers in many areas of the country, strongly ethnic parishes not often integrating "outsiders", questions of identity, the need to reclaim lost traditions ... ... The hope for any renewal lies in a profound response to the reforms of Vatican II. The chaos and litugical disruption in the Latin Rite following Vatican II has not been generally experienced in the Eastern Churches. To the contrary many of the Eastern Churches have returned to the Eastern roots that they had lost through "Latinizations" over several centuries.

These two churches are exemplary of the positive fruit born out of Vatican II for the Eastern Catholic Churches.