Putting Art in Its Place - New Evangelizers

This Lent instead of giving something up, I decided to add something huge to my spiritual life. I decided to try to tackle reading as much of the Vatican II documents as possible. So far I have read 7 out of 16 of the documents and have learned more information than I could have imagined possible.

I must say that my favorite piece of information learned so far has been one of the teachings about sacred art and sacred furnishings in Sancrosanctum Concilium (Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy). In Chapter 8, #125, it explicitly states that sacred images should be placed so that they may be venerated but should be moderate and relative positions should reflect right order “for otherwise they may create confusion among the Christian people and foster devotion of doubtful orthodoxy.”

This means that the Church is stating clearly in black and white that we Catholics do not worship images and are not to give them any more credence than merely veneration. To venerate means to respect or to give honor like the honor we would pay to photos of previous US presidents or a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr.

In my home, I have a habit of always placing images of Mary higher than any other Saint and images of Jesus or crucifixes higher than all other images. I feel that this reflects the right order mentioned above and that it teaches my children that Mary is the most special person and that Jesus is above all others without my ever saying a word. This also shows visitors to my home who I place first in my heart and reminds me daily Who is the highest.

With all of the misunderstandings from within and without the Church about sacred images, I see now that a perusal of documents such as these is necessary for all faithful Catholics in order to fully understand the faith. I recommend that you print and read some of the documents when you have a chance. Choose the most interesting ones first and then work your way down. They are available for free at the Vatican website.

Copyright © 2013, Alicia Hart

Alicia Hart

Alicia Hart is the crafty Catholic multicultural mom of three boys. She became Catholic in 2007 after a life of longing for the faith. To see her crafty ideas and reviews written from a Catholic viewpoint, visit her at her blog, Through My “I”s. Her Catholic crafts can also be found on the first Monday of every month at CatholicMom.com. Alicia can be contacted for questions and comments at [email protected]