The Monastic Church
The Architect's Reflections on the Second Anniversary
of the Trappist Abbey Church Dedication
David Richen is a dear friend of our community
and the architect for our Master Plan Renovations.
A few days ago when Abbot Peter asked me as the church’s architect to give a personal reflection on this second anniversary of its dedication, he shared with me that one of the monks recently told him that he loves the church and that it reminds him of “praying in a garden”. To hear this brings me great joy! Hopefully, this last week or so with the church filled with moonlight as well as sunlight, the feeling is enhanced of being a creature of nature such as you do when in a garden.
In Psalm 19 we sing, “The heavens speak of the Creator’s glory and the sky proclaims God’s handiwork”. The church is conceived as an open vessel for the prayer life of the monks which centers around the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours. These periods of prayer and hymns celebrate all aspects of creation including dawn, day, dusk, and the dark of night as well as the natural and liturgical seasons of the year. The church is designed for the monks and their guests to experience the wonder of these times with special attention to lighting, views, and a blurring of the difference between “inside” and “outside”.
Whereas in the old church, which I loved as did all of you, the “outside” was not apparent… in this new church it has been invited in to reflect our evolving awareness of our connection to all living things and the infinite universe beyond. This awareness is vital to our survival and that of our beloved earthly home. This awareness is also at the root of mysticism in all religious traditions and is where we, of all these traditions, will ultimately come together.
If you have ever looked at the incredible images from the Hubble telescope or those from an electron microscope you cannot help but be deeply renewed in the mystery, beauty, and majesty of God’s creativity. These recently revealed images are expanding our awareness of God’s magnificent creation beyond our visible and familiar world. This is the new language of theology. This is where science and religion will come together to solve our world’s intractable problems. This is the cutting edge. One of my favorite quotes from Einstein is as follows:
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. (Those) to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, (are) as good as dead: (their) eyes are closed.”
This church is a testament to the Guadalupe Community’s belief that we need to move in the direction of letting the light of God’s creativity into our individual and communal lives. It is a place to experience and reflect with gratitude upon the wonder and awe of God’s handiwork. Most of the ancient Psalms sung in this church had their origins as an art form out of this impulse to thank God for wondrous works. This building hopes to do the same in our time and place.
In the Old Testament we are told that our relationship between each other and God began in a beautiful garden. To see this church as a place to cultivate, grow, and deepen our relationships with God, others, and our planet is to honor the original creative intent and ultimate purpose. This impetus will be continued when in the next phase we expand the cloister Garth and it becomes a microcosm of that original garden.
I end this short reflection with a deep sense of gratitude for having the opportunity to bring about this place together with all of you and those who have gone before us and have moved from the “inside and outside” (wherever that garden may be!) and who all are here celebrating with us this morning.
+ J. David Richen