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| Our Lady of Czestochowa, St. John Cantius Church, Chicago, IL. (photo by Betty Parquette) |
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| Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Springfield, IL. (photos by Betty Parquette) This is the Cathedral for the diocese of Springfield, Illinois. The ceiling was fashioned after the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, Italy. To be honest, I've never truly been drawn to the interior here. I prefer the womb-like quality of Gothic style churches. They give me a sense of the warmth of a mother. My affection however has changed as of late for our cathedral. One evening Mass in early summer, while safe inside our Mother Church, the skies darkened and thunder rumbled outside the safety of those walls. As I looked up towards the ceiling I had a profound sense of being inside Noah's Ark. The more I gazed, the more I recalled the plans for the Ark which God so meticulously gave instructions for, and how the models have looked by those attempting to recreate it's features. A profound sense of kinship with our ancestors in faith arose within my soul, giving me a safe and secure awareness of being within those walls with Christ (in the Eucharist) at the helm. This experience of being on the ship was not the first I've had in the past year. On November 2nd, All Souls Day, I had the blessing of being in Chicago at St. John Cantius for a Requiem Mass. Having the opportunity to explore those hallowed walls, my attention was drawn to the side altar which focuses on Our Lady of Czestochowa. She and the infant Jesus are completely adorned, or better yet, encased in gold and gems, lovingly provided by the faithful. This encasement completely caught me...there was something God was trying to tell me here; some lesson to be learned from fiction to reality; a truth to be told, but what was it? I sat, prayed, and listened...and then I had it. Pirates of the Caribbean! Yes I know this seems a long-shot but please amuse me. The past couple of years my kids would get all bent out of shape because I'll start a movie they love smack-dab in the middle. I'm just trying to get a feel for it and really don't mind spoilers. "No"! they tell me, "You've got to watch them from the beginning"! So, watch the Pirates I did...twice over just to understand them, and although I still am a bit lost through some of it, I've been left with two profound lessons that I hope stick with me down to my very marrow. First lesson: the souls who fear death on the ship of Davy Jones are enslaved to him until their debt is paid. The longer those sailors are enslaved to his ship, the more encased or encrusted they become as the barnacles and and other such urchins latch on to them. As years pass, they even become encased within the very wood of the ship. Lesson two: the old seadog Boot-Strap Bill (who has his share of barnacles) is on the stern of The Flying Dutchman (Jone's ship). Prisoners are escaping and he confronts Commodore James Norrington, who has finally decided which side of the fight he will take. As the two face off, Bill is heard repeating something to himself, as if he also can't decide which side to be on. "Part of the crew...part of the ship...part of the crew...part of the ship." We all face daily the decision of which 'crew' we choose to be a part of. Do we fear death? Does fear dictate to us as we make decisions, ones that leave us with a great debt? Again I look at Our Lady and Jesus, encrusted in gold and gems. Not just a part of, but one with. One with each other, one with the saints. Indeed, the entire altar they grace is surrounded with a cloud of witnesses. Those saints who did not fear death, but instead lived a life honorable to God and dying an honorable death to Life. The icon is surrounded with the reliquaries of saints and set in an altar that for the life of me looks just like a ship! This imaging doesn't stop at the altars of our churches. The altar rails (where they still exist) remind me of the rails of a ship and the safety they offer. Our Captain comes to us at the rail...to feed us, nourish us for our voyage. He gives of His very self to secure our safety. He is the Captain of the Barque of Peter, the safest vessel of the seas. As He guided Noah's Ark to safety and dry land, so will He guide us through the rough waters of this world to a life with Him in Eternity. If only we would choose to be... One with the crew...one with the ship. One in the Body of Christ. |
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