19 St Martin-in-the-fields, London

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 Despite its name, this church is in Trafalgar Square. It played a big role in looking after soldiers during the First World War. Dick Sheppard, one of the most well-known English pacifists, used to be parish priest.


Information in English 

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Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

106 - Paris 12th arrondissement -Church of the Holy Spirit. Half Byzantine, half reinforced concrete

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  The Holy Spirit doesn’t have that many churches dedicated to it/him/her/them. Generally disguised as a dove or a tongue of flame, the Holy Spirit is the third bit of the Trinity. It is rather less well-defined than the other two bits : God the Father, creating universes quickly before having a day off, and God the Son, gurgling in the straw when he’s not bleeding out on the cross or giving moral guidance, bread and fish to large crowds. But there are people working hard to define the Holy Spirit more carefully. In Christian theology, pneumatology is the study of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Half of   you think I am making this up, but I’m not. Anyway, Saint Peter and a bunch of others have more churches than him/her/it/them. This church is a twentieth century one in Paris, not far from the bookshop La Brèche ( https://la-breche.com/ ) It has kind of sepia frescoes on some of the walls, a colourful fresco of Saint Peter in his fave position, and a very origin...
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50. Montreal, Basilica of Notre Dame. Coolest Gothic revival pulpit

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  Montreal, Basilica of Notre Dame. Coolest Gothic revival pulpit   The wikipedia article says that the interior of the church is « one of the most dramatic in the world », and dead Gothic. Gets eleven million visitors a year, and last year I was one of them. My favourite ever pulpit. If you’re gonna preach   Good News About Eternal Life, you might as well do it perched on some decent furniture.   The stained glass windows here don’t bother with Bible stories, but depict scenes from the history of Montreal.   The other major highlight is the extra chapel behind the altar  through a corridor, which is has a modern bronze altar piece which is totally stunning. It represents humanity’s journey towards God, passing through childhood, adulthood and old age. In this chapel, the Stations of the Cross are well worth a look.   Information in French Information in English Information in Armenian  
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86 Paris, Montmartre, The Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The Gospel is sport!

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 86 Paris, Montmartre, The Basilica of the Sacred Heart This tremendously famous church, which towers over Montmartre in Paris, is more directly political than most. It is often said to have been built as revenge against the Paris Commune, an insurrection during which the workers controlled Paris for a couple of months and showed the wonderful possibilities of workers’ power before being massacred by the authorities. This is not 100% true, in that the plans to build this church were decided before the Paris Commune. Nevertheless, the right wingers of the time certainly presented the church, and the worship of the sacrament in it as penance for the terrible sin of workers’ insurrection. As a result the church is cordially detested by many left wing activists in France (even more than the significant minority of left activists here who cordially detest any religious building). Shortly after the building of the church, it was the site of the National Vow, which again was a very co...
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