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| Art and the Liturgical Environment Committee ALECContact Fr. Michael 865.5745 if you want to join us. Activities Completed The mission of the Art & Liturgical Environment Committee (ALEC) is the designing and implementing of liturgical themes for the Sanctuary, atrium, and Mary Chapel areas for the liturgical "seasons" of the year: Advent, Ordinary Time, Christmas, Lent, the Triduum, Easter, and Pentecost. We will catalogue existing liturgical art and identify religious icons and ancillary symbols to display around a parish that is named after an Archangel, under the auspices of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and gifted with diverse ethnicities. We seek parishioners to beautify our worship spaces:
Do you have an interest in stained glass, statues, or mosaics? Then join us. Or perhaps you could help place flowers and hang banners 6-8 times a year. We put up decorations for all the liturgical seasons of the year: Advent Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. Join us. We need you for our DECORATING SUB-COMMITTEE. Please contact Ida Smythe if you would like to be involved in decorating the church.
ALEC Planning Process Incorporate our 2 different inspirations at St. Raphael 1. Review ecclesial documents 2. Look at the theology behind the documents 3. "incarnate" as praxis the living, visible side of the theology in the documents "In every Church building, art and architecture become the joint work of the Holy Spirit and the local community. They come together in order to prepare a place to receive God's word in Scripture and Eucharist."
God Beauty and Art When we are in the presence of something beautiful, or are creating something beautiful, we become more aware, more able to see deeply into the beauty of God's world. Our hearts are enlarged. And with this awakening, this enlarging of ourselves, our horizon is expanded. We become more aware of not only the creative act, but of the Creator. We can appreciate these words of St. Augustine in a more complete way through our expanded awareness: Beautiful is God, the Word with God ... He is beautiful in heaven, beautiful on earth, beautiful in the womb, beautiful in his parents' arms, beautiful in his miracles, beautiful in his sufferings, beautiful in inviting to life, beautiful in not worrying about death, beautiful in giving up his life, and beautiful in taking it up again; he is beautiful on the cross, beautiful in the tomb, beautiful in heaven. Listen to the song with understanding, and let not the weakness of the flesh distract your eyes from the splendor of his beauty. Whenever we awaken beauty, whether through creating a work of art or simply appreciating God's creation, we help to make God present in the world. Everything is beautiful; the whole secret lies in our awareness of God's presence in that beauty. As men and women of faith, we can use this gentle reminder to pay attention, to manifest God's beauty in our own lives. For even we radiate that same beauty of creation. Our beauty is gift from our Creator.
Resource Books Built of Living Stones: Art, Architecture, and Worship (USCCB) To Crown the Year: Decorating the Church throughout the Seasons (Mazar) The Color of Light: Commissioning Stained Glass for a Church (Hall) Handouts and Articles Religious Produce News (May 2007), "Stained Glass for any Church Budget" (by Gerald Schantz) 19871101 St Raphael Dedication 19871115 News & Observer Article
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