One of the beautiful things about our Catholic faith is that we are always surrounded by great, inspiring stories. Every stained glass window, statue, tradition, smell, picture and architectural detail tells a great story. There is purpose to every movement to the liturgy. There is meaning in every brush stroke and piece of glass.
The problem is that not many people know the meaning, purpose or story. And if you don’t know the meaning, purpose or story, then all of these beautiful things are reduced to a matter of taste. They like the the art based on how it looks with the carpet. Or the architecture based on how modern or in-style it looks.
We’ve lost our sense of one of the most beautiful dimensions to our Catholic Faith: Its story. In the Catholic Church, a statue is never just a statue. A building layout is never just functional. A picture is never just aesthetic. But if people don’t know that, then it doesn’t do any good. And that’s a shame when this meaning, purpose and story is actually something that attracts many to the faith and inspires many more to stay in it.
Do you know the story of your parish? And I don’t just mean the story of how you raised some funds and built a new building and hired so-and-so all that. I mean the story of why your baptismal font looks the way it does? And is placed where it is placed? Or why there are (or aren’t) altar rails? Or why the tabernacle looks the way it does? Or why the saint on the wall is holding a flower? Or what the inscription on the altar means? Or why the building is laid out how it is? Or about the Saint your parish is named after?
This is all really neat stuff! It’s a great shame these treasures are rarely being shared! We don’t have to go to the Sistine Chapel to experience this dimension of the faith. It is all around you and you don’t even know it…buried in the familiarity of your everyday Catholic experience. I hope more pastors will take some time to tie in some of the story of their parish into their homilies and other activities in the parish. I think it would really help parishioners value their parish and their faith a whole lot more.
I started thinking about all of this after watching a new DVD/TV series called “The Faithful Traveler.”
The Faithful Traveler™ TV series takes you on a fun and faith-filled tour of amazing churches, shrines, and places of pilgrimage throughout the United States!
Join the show’s host, Diana von Glahn, as she explores the glories of the Catholic Church through the art, architecture, history and doctrine behind these inspiring sites.
I’ve watched the first few episodes already and have learned a lot! Here’s a little preview:
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Absolutely true. Art has been one of our greatest strenghts as Church, all throuout our history. It has been the way we glorify God and teach the truth.
The background music spoils it all.
“The background music spoils it all.”
Agreed! The series seems like a great concept, at least from the trailer. But why do we have to “dumb down” these kinds of things with cheesy “hip” music? Isn’t Sacred Music at least part of the beauty and “story” of the art and architecture of our churches? It should be. It is sorely lacking in many many parishes.
Hi all!
Thanks Matt, for mentioning our series.
To respond to the two comments about the music, if you’ll look on our website, we have a page that lists all of the musicians whose music we use in the show. The site is here: http://www.thefaithfultraveler.com/music/
On this page, you’ll see that we don’t only use contemporary music in The Faithful Traveler, but a combination of traditional and contemporary music, for a mix that is reflective of life itself—it’s varied. We’ve got classical instrumental, schola, accapela latin, irish music, rock, ballad… you name it! It all depends on what’s going on in the show.
To directly respond to the comment by Greg, using contemporary music doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not a production is “dumbed down”. I wrote all of the scripts for The Faithful Traveler and edited all of the shows. I chose all of the music. A lot of research and hard work went into this series, as well as a lot of prayer and love. To dismiss our efforts at spreading the story of our faith just because you don’t like a song I chose is hardly charitable and Christ-like. Given that these comments are on the website of a Catholic newspaper, I would expect more of its readers.
People have different tastes. And while we are trying to reach a large audience by using a variety of music, we also chose music that we liked ourselves. I didn’t pick one song I didn’t like in our series. And I was blessed to be able to work with all of the creative and generous musicians who allowed us to use their music. All of them are Catholic, and all of them are doing what they can to spread the Gospel message. To evangelize. If you don’t their music or style of music, I hardly think that means it’s dumb. It just means it isn’t your cup of tea.
From a production perspective, if we only used sacred music in our series, it would be slow and meditative.
And while that, in and of itself, isn’t bad, from an entertainment point of view, it can be very boring. We wanted to show that being Catholic doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be somber and quiet all of the time. Being Catholic is JOYFUL! It makes you want to jump and dance and sing! And, yes, sometimes it makes you want to quietly meditate. But our show isn’t about meditating or praying. It’s a travel show, and it’s meant to be lively.
I encourage you all to give The Faithful Traveler a chance. It’s still airing on EWTN, Mondays at 1 pm EST. Check it out!
And thanks, Matt!
I like the music but the show is much more than that. The music is a background for introducing me to new parishes. Thank you for creating such an entertaining and educational show. Looking forward to seeing more episodes. - Jean
The music enhances the beauty and the message this lively, refreshing program conveys.
If there are 100 views on religion in the world, there are at least that many views on music.
If the entire program was interlaced with ‘Dona Nobis Pacem’ as background music, the vigor, the pace, the spirit and the energy of the sights and exciting destinations would be subdued.
The music is energetic and upbeat, and in no way contradicts or disrespects the Holy message of the program, nor does is detract from the idea for all of us to explore our faith, explore our country, and learn from and enjoy the fabulous architecture, history and power of the beautiful buildings, locations and destinations that ‘The Faithful Traveler’ brings into our hearts, our homes and our lives.
God Bless you all, and God Bless the work of ‘The Faithful Traveler’ and Diana.
I’ve been introduced to new contemporary Catholic musicians as a result of this show and Diana’s hard work. Great job, Diana!
I have watched several episodes of The Faithful Traveler on EWTN and have even purchased the first season’s DVD.I think the music choices are wonderful and fitting! The music in no way “spoils” or “dumbs down” the programing.I feel that it is in step with the discussion of the architecture and history of each site.I’m hoping for a season II!!
Way to go Diana!!
I agree that the variety of music makes it wonderful and more accessible to the diverse society we have today…in addition, from an artistic perspective, the videos are masterfully and intelligently shot. They are meaningful and rich in content and spiritually edifying in the beautiful way in which they bring shrines and sacred spaces - otherwise possibly never seen - into the homes of viewers.
Here in Brooklyn, our diocesan cable station, NET (New Evangelization Television) has a very good series called “City of Churches,” spotlighting some of the rich history of our diocese.
Check it out: http://netny.net/cityofchurches/
Dcn. Greg
I’m not sure how great music could “spoil” something cool like this just because it wasn’t written hundreds of years ago and played on an organ. Why not see it as an opportunity to learn about the Church and to learn about some wonderful modern day Catholic musicians?
There is a resurgence of Catholics dedicated to the Catholic vision of beauty. Two of our representatives will be on Fr. Benedict’s show tonight. In the meantime, feel free to visit:
thesacredarts.org
-God Bless!
I apologize for the uncharitable tone of my words. Diane, it was not my intent to impugn the entirety of your significant and worthy work. I should have chosen my words more carefully. Tonight’s episode of “Sunday Night Live” with Fr. Benedict Groeschel as well as the website referenced above; thesacredarts.org, make the point I was trying to convey but in much kinder terms.
Hi Greg,
No worries. :) And I agree with you completely that sacred music should play a larger part of our worship. I love singing in Latin, and so prefer it during Mass! But, like I said above, our show isn’t Mass. It’s a travel show, so it’s meant to have a more lively feel. But we do use plenty of sacred music. For instance, Mark Nowakowski from the Foundation for the Sacred Arts, (who posted above) allowed us to use some of his beautiful music in a few episodes. I don’t think he’ll take offense when I say none of it is “hip”, but it is amazing. :) We also feature some of the artists who are a part of the Foundation—like Anthony Visco, in our St Rita episode. He designed much of the art in the new shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in WI.
Give the show a chance. You might not like all the tunes we use, but I’ll bet you’ll like the show. In fact, if you email me your address, I’ll send you a free set of DVDs, just because now I’d love to know what you think after you’ve seen the actual show (instead of this promo piece I put together for a film festival).
Go here: http://www.thefaithfultraveler.com/contact/
And if anyone else is interested in buying the DVD set, we just announced that shipping is free on sales of our DVDs from now until Christmas, in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe (I have a special devotion to her).
Thanks to everyone who supported the show here! You guys rock. :)
Thanks Diana (sorry for misspelling your name). That’s very gracious of you and really not necessary. I’ll look forward to continuing our conversation outside of this thread. God bless!
Wow, this looks awesome! It looks like it captures one of my favorite hobbies, exploring Catholic churches around the U.S. Usually I have to explore them online because I can’t afford to visit in person, but in a few days I’m actually leaving to visit NYC and will be visiting the Seton Shrine and St. Pat’s.
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