When the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster cannot even dress himself for Vespers, you know something's terribly wrong. The Cathedral, once a centre of liturgical excellence fit to compare with Westminster Abbey itself, is just an embarrassment these days, in large part due to the actions and ideology of Cardinal Heenan. But doesn't Vinnie look rather silly in bright red and pink! From both an aesthetic and liturgical point of view, Vincent's attire is an aberration. It could almost be a parody of itself. Couldn't you imagine his vestments on shew in the window of a fancy dress shop? The man himself at a Tarts 'n' Vicars do? "What are you, then?" "Oh, I'm the gay prelate!" Whatever happened to the dignity of a winter cassock of rose merino wool, and a violet cope? Bright pink is not a liturgical colour, and to pair it up with bright red just makes him look like a clown. And look at the plywood over the magic door of mercy! O tempora! O for the palmy days of constancy, tradition and dignity!
Unfortunately, good taste isn't a prerequisite to ordination. A fact which is painfully evident in most Roman parishes. It's no doubt a product of the Low Mass mentality.
ReplyDeleteSome of the finest churches I have visited have been in the Baroque style. San Lorenzo in Turin is a good example. And I am not so utterly opposed to Baroque as people think. I just cannot abide the kind of tyranny that says that it is the ONLY legitimate liturgical and aesthetic ethos. If people want Baroque, let them have Baroque. But I will not suffer the kind of condescension of people that say that I am not entitled to my own mediaeval aesthetic and standard.
ReplyDeleteThis thread demands this fantastic and wonderfully obscure mash-up.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZexkm544-g
It says that the video is unavailable but I'm guessing it's that song from Funny Face?
DeleteOops! It is the audio to K. Thompson's screen test for what became "Funny Face" in which she combines "Think Pink" and "'S Wonderful." It is fantastic, though the mashup itself did not appear in the movie. You can also find an extended version of Think Pink on youtube which was apparently recorded (and even shot) for the movie, but the middle part was edited out of the final cut.
ReplyDeleteIt morphed from introit to 'Antiphon at the Introit' in 1962MR and remained the same in 1970MR and its successive editions.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair to the Archbishop, he does not look absolutely thrilled by his pink get-up.
ReplyDelete