Parish Church Research Articles

The Orientation of Romanesque Marian Churches in Soria (Spain)

This work studies orientations of 150 parish churches with Marian dedications in the province of Soria, Spain, grouped into subsamples according to Romanesque chronology and dedication to the Marian advocation of the Assumption. The hypothesis of observing local sunrise for aligning churches versus solem orientem during a restricted Romanesque working calendar (i.e. excluding winter and harvest-time) is assessed via a large number of simulated probability densities of declinations, allowing for the application of the confidence envelope method. It was found that the hypothesis cannot be discarded for Romanesque churches with Marian dedications other than to the Assumption, alignments to sunrise on specific Marian feast days being absent in these churches. In contrast, the null hypothesis of the working calendar can be discarded for the Romanesque churches dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption. As shown in previous studies, about 50% of these churches show intended alignments, of which two thirds are toward the sol aequinoctialis and one third to sunrise on the feast day (15 August). This last alignment pattern is a singular feature of the advocation of the Assumption, and its use in Spain cannot be older than the mid-to-late twelfth century. The theological or theoretical foundations for this practice are unknown. The paper shows that the methods used by archaeoastronomy for the quantitative statistical assessment of null hypotheses are powerful tools for inferring alignment patterns of cultural relevance.

Ivan Fyodorov’s Psalter with Book of Hours as a Miscellany: Composition and Sources

Purpose. The article studies the features of composition and structure of Ivan Fyodorov’s edition the Psalter with Book of Hours, which is considered as a particular version of the Augmented Psalter miscellany.Results. Authors analyze main components of the edition from the point of view of their correspondence to the manuscript and early printed tradition of the Augmented Psalter of the 15th – 16th centuries and search for their possible sources. The article reveals peculiarities of composition of the texts in the Horologion part and suggests that the miscellany was specially adapted to the needs of parish churches, in which there was no need or possibility to celebrate the daily divine worship prescribed by the Jerusalem Typicon. The article identifies possible sources of the foreword part to the Psalter and concludes that Ivan Fyodorov was guided by the contemporary manuscript tradition of Augmented Psalter, but the selection and composition of the texts are original and do not yet find exact correlations in manuscripts and early printed miscellanies. The article analyses the features of composition of the superscriptions to psalms and their sources that were the commentaries of pseudo-Athanasius of Alexandria and superscriptions probably based on the glosses reflecting the exegesis of Theodoret of Cyrus.Conclusion. The authors conclude that the edition of Psalter with the Book of Hours stands out among its contemporary manuscript and early printed analogues by its original compositions of the foreword part and particular edition of the superscriptions to psalms.

Parish transformations and revolution, or Reformation of the Unreformable

The author examines the monograph by A.L. Beglov, dedicated to the evolution of the church parish in the history of Russia, and focuses primarily on the turbulent period of the early 20th century. At that time, the issue of parish reform acquired an acute political character. Two points of view emerged, essentially diametrically opposed: public and synodal. According to the author of the article, the politicization of the issue blocked a constructive discussion of ways to resolve the problem.

Church surroundings as spaces with a health-promoting function – possibilities and dilemmas

Motives: Climate and socio-economic changes exert a negative influence on human health, both physical and psychological. Therefore, various solutions are needed to address this problem, and the spaces surrounding religious sites should be analysed to determine whether they can improve health. Can plant and garden arrangements accompanying parish churches have health-promoting properties?Aim: The aim of this work was to answer the above questions by analysing selected parish churches of the Lublin Archdiocese.Results: An analysis of the compositional structure of vegetation and the functional-spatial arrangement of religious sites revealed that these spaces have vast, albeit not fully utilised potential. Despite the fact that these spaces are addressed predominantly to believers, their unique features can promote recreation and even improve health, regardless of one’s religious beliefs and practices.

Venice at 60: Article 5 and the acceptable limits of use

The Venice Charter is central to modern conservation, and foundational for ICOMOS specifically; yet its contemporary relevance is debatable. These and other issues were discussed by ICOMOS in Budapest 20 years ago, in a conference marking the Charter’s 40th anniversary. However, questions remain as to its ongoing significance. As Bogusław Szmygin asked in 2004, does the Charter remain the ‘Decalogue' of the conservation discipline, or has it itself become a ‘Historical Monument’?The Venice Charter as a product of high modernity, with its belief in a definitive break with the past and an overcoming of tradition. The paper assesses the Charter’s ongoing relevance in relation to one pressing issue in contemporary conservation, the limits to the acceptable use of – and change to – historic buildings (Art. 5), and using an example of recent change to an English parish church. The paper argues that the acknowledged need for the interpretation of the Charter requires a hermeneutically literate approach which acknowledges the limits of a scientific/technical reading of any historic monument – the Charter included – and the importance of a dynamic understanding of the living tradition that is conservation. It concludes that the Charter remains a central text for the conservation discipline, which itself is a tradition in good health, and for that very reason its status will continue to be fiercely debated.

A large church in a village that failed to become a city

The Oude Jeroenskerk in the South Holland coastal village of Noordwijk is the largest, and one of the most perfectly preserved, late medieval village churches in the provinces of South and North Holland. Compared with the village in which it stands and the village churches in the surrounding area, the Oude Jeroenskerk is not just beautifully proportioned, but above all remarkably large. This phenomenon – a large church in a small settlement – is clearly interesting, yet it has never been the subject of specific research. Following the miraculous discovery in 976 of the bones of Jeroen, a missionary murdered in 856 by the Norsemen, the ancient Nordcha settlement developed into a place of pilgrimage with urban tendencies. The subsequent ‘discovery’ of Jeroen’s skull in around 1316 furthered the growth of both the village and the church. On 1 April 1398 the village was granted a city charter, but this was subsequently withdrawn on 12 March 1399.The applicants’ right to make such an application was challenged and those involved had plainly underestimated the costs associated with city status. What remained was an under-construction large church, which was eventually completed in around 1500. The construction and appearance of the Oude Jeroenskerk would seem to have been heavily influenced by the count and the local nobility, beginning with Count Dirk II, who granted permission to erect a church in 976. The architects of the brick church are unknown, but it is conceivable that the first element, a tower (1260), was the work of the master craftsman Albrecht van Velsen. In the same period he was involved in the erection of the Leeuwenhorst Cistercian convent in nearby Noordwijkerhout. The phase in which the church acquired its three-aisle, pseudo-basilica layout was possibly initiated by Count Albrecht van Beieren (1336-1404). It was he who heeded the desire of a group of ambitious villagers to elevate their village to the status of a city. This assumption is based on remarkable similarities in floor plan and elevation with the Sint Jacobskerk in ’s-Gravenhage before its radical renovation between 1434 and 1492. It is assumed that the transept (1389) in that church was commissioned by Albrecht. It was during Albrecht’s period of office that the current choir of the Oude Jeroenskerk was built (1389-1405), followed by the transept and three-aisle nave (1415/1425-1444/1500). The Sint Jacobskerk became the main church, located in the administrative heart of the county. The Oude Jeroenskerk remained an important pilgrim church up until the Reformation. A church of substantial proportions that reflected contemporary urban aspirations and still looks like an urban parish church. In terms of materials and detailing it was simple and sober and as such comparable with village churches in the surrounding area and with the Sint Jacobskerk in ’s-Gravenhage until the latter’s reconstruction in 1434. Noordwijk had the potential to grow into a small city. It had the status of a place of pilgrimage, was a religious centre and boasted a relatively large population, including members of the nobility. A large church capable of accommodating local residents and pilgrims corresponded with the urban ambitions of a group of locals. Although those briefly realized ambitions were soon dashed, what remained was the Oude Jeroenskerk: a gothic, pseudo-basilica cruciform church with a square-based tower incorporated on three sides in a three-aisled nave.

The architecture of the Franciscan convent and the parish church of Saint John the Baptist in Kraljeva Sutjeska

The architecture of the Franciscan convent and the parish church of Saint John the Baptist in Kraljeva Sutjeska

Pengaruh Kompetensi Sumber Daya Manusia, Gaya Kepemimpinan dan Pemanfaatan Teknologi Informasi terhadap Kualitas Laporan Keuangan Gereja Paroki Wilayah Kota Maumere

The aim of this research is to determine the influence of human resource competence, leadership style and use of information technology on the quality of financial reports of Parish Churches in the Maumere City area. This research uses an associative quantitative approach. The population in this study was the Financial Council taken from 5 Parish Churches in Maumere City, namely 32 respondents. The sampling method used in this research was saturated sampling so that the number of samples obtained was 32 respondents. The data collection process was carried out by distributing questionnaires to respondents, where the research instrument used a Likert scale. The data analysis technique used in this research uses a multiple linear regression analysis model with the help of the IBM SPSS Statistics 26 program. The results of this research show that the variables of human resource competency, leadership style and the use of information technology partially and simultaneously have a significant effect on the quality of the Church's financial reports. Maumere City Parish.

German Charity and Mutual Aid Societies in St. Petersburg (late 18th ‒ early 20th centuries)

The study of charity in the Russian Empire has an extensive historiography. The specifics of its implementation in various ethnic groups are often beyond the scope of the study. The purpose of this research is to identify German charitable organizations that have become the elements of the civil society that has been formed in the capital. New forms of unification of citizens and colonists became one of the manifestations of modernization, which was later adopted by other groups of metropolitan residents. The basis of this research is made up of various types of published and archival sources, some of which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. German charitable organizations have existed in St. Petersburg since the 1770s. Initially, they arose at parish churches and had religious orientation. Since the 1860s, German artisans and colonists initiated creation of funeral registers, which have been widely distributed throughout Russia since the 1880s. Being independent of the state, charitable organizations and mutual aid societies became an important indicator of the modernization of Russian society in the 19th and early 20th century. The article is intended for specialists and anyone interested in the social history and history of Russian Germans.

Perspectives of sacred buildings adaptation on the example of large churches of the Czestochowa Archdiocese

The largest church buildings were erected in Poland during the communist when there were many difficulties in obtaining planning permission for churches. When a building permit was finally granted, extremely large buildings were often built, “just in case” as it were. Today, these buildings are usually too large for their users. The problem of large churches, of which there are a great many in Poland, will be discussed with particular reference to the Archdiocese of Czestochowa, where there are 8 churches with a usable ground floor area of nearly 1000 m2 or more: six in Czestochowa, one in Zawiercie and one in Radomsko. Five of them have two levels. After redrawing the boundaries and a subsequent reduction in the parish area, the number of parishioners is too low to cover the cost of their maintenance (heating, lighting, ongoing maintenance) and repairs. This is a serious problem for the administrators of these facilities. Finding a way out of this situation is a major challenge. It is necessary to look for opportunities to use these huge spaces for other purposes, which do not conflict with a parish church’s fundamental role. Already existing solutions in some churches and potential opportunities to develop some of the premises for other needs of local communities are presented in the paper

FROM CHAPEL TO CONVENT: UNVEILING TOLISA'S FRANCISCAN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE

<p class="TEXT">This article examines the establishment and architectural evolution of the Convent and Parish Church of the Assumption of Mary in Tolisa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from its medieval origins to its status as a National Monument and important convent in Bosna Argentina. Along with the development process from the first chapel that led to the full-size convent, it traces its history through the Hungarian, Ottoman, and Austro-Hungarian periods, highlighting the pivotal role of Josip Vancaš in the church renovation, blending historicism with contemporary trends. The ensemble, emblematic of Franciscan legacy and cultural significance, attests to the endurance of faith amidst historical flux. This study offers insights into Tolisa's broader cultural milieu and architectural heritage through meticulous analysis of architectural elements and historical narratives.</p>

Spår av förändrande materialitet i en sockenkyrka under senmedeltiden. En fallstudie av Åseda kyrka

Traces of changing materiality of a parish church during the late Middle Ages – A case study of the church of Åseda. Åseda is located in the vicinity of Växjö in Småland, and during a restoration of the church in 1936, various archaeological objects werefound. These finds have been dated but never discussed in-depth by anyone. This article aims to further the understanding of this church by analyzing stained window glass, coins and what has been interpreted as the remains of a triumphal wall.The nave and western part of the chancel date back to the end of the 15th century, but there is evidence that an older church is located in the same location. The three categories of materiality are not discussed to contest the dating of the 15th-centurychurch. Instead, this article focuses on the reflection of Medieval society and the perception of the church, which can be interpreted through studying these objects. The three chosen categories of archaeological finds help shed light on the churcholder than the one dated to the late 15th century. Changes to the church architecture and contacts with other areas are highlighted by studying objects not directly tied to the construction of a church. These changes must have radically changed how the parishioners perceived the church.

Solid Mass And Plain Exterior: The Ecclesiastical Architecture Of William Wardell In Victoria

ABSTRACT William Wilkinson Wardell was one of the most important architects of colonial Australia. A Catholic convert who had already extensive experience in working for the Catholic Church in England, Wardell relocated to Melbourne in 1858 with a large number of architectural drawings for ecclesiastical structures proving he was a distinguished Gothic revivalist. In Victoria, he established an extraordinary partnership with the first Catholic Bishop of Melbourne, James Goold, and despite being busily engaged at the Public Works Department, for over ten years he also maintained a successful private practice working on more than a dozen church commissions in the Gothic Revival style. Drawing on archival research including surviving architectural drawings, diocesan correspondence, and nineteenth century newspapers, the article reveals Wardell’s ability in blending English, Irish and French medieval Gothic elements that appealed to the local congregations for his Australian church designs. Furthermore, it demonstrates that his substantial parish churches manifested the strength and permanence of Catholic religious tradition, ultimately helping Bishop James Goold to lay strong foundations in the establishment of the Catholic Church in Victoria.

The parish church of empire: sculpture and imperialism at St Paul’s Cathedral, c. 1796–1916

The introduction provides an overview of the special issue and situates it in the context of the AHRC research grant from which it originated and in the broader historiographic context of sculpture at St Paul’s Cathedral in the period from the arrival of the first quartet of monuments in the 1790s to the midst of the First World War. The introduction notes the comparative marginalization of sculpture studies at the cathedral, in comparison to studies of the architectural fabric of the building and its mosaic programmes, and of imperial sculpture within the broader scholarship on nineteenth-century British sculpture. The introduction lays out the variety of materials and genres of sculptural commemoration at St Paul’s, emphasizing the sculptural quality of the artists and artworks involved. It explores the particular place of slavery and abolition within the pantheon, and the way in which the pantheon ranges across the entirety of the British imperial world, from North America to South and Southeast Asia, from Australasia and Antarctica to Africa.

Exploring the responses of non-churchgoers to a cathedral pre-Christmas son et lumiere

Two conceptual strands of research within the field of cathedral studies have theorised the capacity of Anglican cathedrals to engage more successfully than parish churches with the wider non-churchgoing community. One strand has explored mobilising cathedral metaphors, and the other strand has explored the notion of implicit religion. Both strands illuminate the power of events and installations to soften the boundaries between common ground and sacred space. Drawing on a quantitative survey among 978 people who attended the pre-Christmas son et lumiere at Liverpool Cathedral during December 2022, the present study analyses the qualitative responses of 123 participants who never attend church services. Three categories of themes emerged from these data, concerning the Cathedral itself, the installation, and discordant experience.Contribution: Situated within the science of cathedral studies, this article draws on original qualitative data to illuminate the experiences of participants who never attend church services when engaging with the pre-Christmas son et lumiere at a major cathedral. Conceptualised within the framework of implicit religion, these data confirmed how the son et lumiere succeeded in softening boundaries between the sacred and the secular and provided a deeply moving experience. As one participant said, ‘I am not religious, but I had the best experience ever’.

Remote sensing, archaeology and historical records: looking for 1624 earthquake traces in San Giorgio parish church of Argenta (Italy)

The present work is part of a research program financed by INGV in order to look for traces of earthquakes occurred in the past on historical buildings. At that aim, a method based on remote sensing techniques was proposed and applied to San Giorgio parish church in Argenta (Ferrara, Italy). That church was chosen because of notable availability of historical and archaeological material, already catalogued in the past years, allowing the identification of structures belonging to periods before and after the 1624 earthquake. Data provided by terrestrial remote sensing techniques (digital photogrammetry supported by laser scanning) made possible the recognition of patterns that could be due to that strong seismic event or, in general, to one or more calamitous events. The results show that the proposed method can provide potentially useful data to help confirming or excluding historical hypotheses or helping to fill information gaps. However, it should be stressed that the proposed approach does not enable the identification of unknown seismic events, providing instead data that can be associated with already known events.

Siedem dokumentów i listów Mikołaja Krzysztofa „Sierotki” i Albrychta Władysława Radziwiłłów z końca XVI i początku XVII wieku dotyczących dziesięcin i innych świadczeń dla kościoła w Czernawczycach i prepozytury Św. Barbary w Brześciu

The present paper contains an editing of seven documents and letters concerning the tithes from Radziwiłł’s estates near Brest for the Catholic parish church in Čarnaŭčycy and St. Barbara provostry in Brest. Senders were two members of the Radziwiłł family: Mikołaj Krzysztof “The Orphan” and Albrycht Władysław and addresses parish priests and land-stewards. This documents are interesting sources of knowledge about relations between them and landlord’s activity in the field of solutions to the disputes about tithes.

„Našlaičiams vaikams reikalinga pagalba“: pamestinukų žindyvės Vilniuje XVIII amžiaus antrojoje pusėje

The article focuses on the wet-nurses for foundlings in Vilnius in the second half of the eighteenth century when the number of children abandoned by their parents grew significantly. Wet-nurses who nursed foundlings have already received some attention in previous historiography, however, there have been no attempts to more thoroughly explore who were the women employed by hospitals and other charitable institutions as wet-nurses, what were the conditions of their employment, and how important could the income earned from this work have been in supporting their households. The research, based primarily on two distinct lists of foundlings and wet-nurses from 1789 and 1790 (see apendices), reveals that the wet-nurses were married Catholic women who had given birth several months earlier. The sources show that, throughout the second half of the eighteenth century, their monthly payment of 8 złotys remained unchanged despite inflation or other economic processes as well as the the increase in demand of women able and willing to work as wet-nurses for foundlings when the numbers of abandoned children grew significantly. Nevertheless, such employment provided women with, albeit low, but permanent and–if the nursling did not perish early–lasting income. The research demonstrates that at least some of the wet-nurses were married to artisans and merchants, and resided in Vilnius and its suburbs, not, as was usual in other European regions, the countryside, although there are indications in later sources that foundlings were actually placed with nurses of the surrounding countryside. The registers of baptisms and marriages reveal that at least some of these women were married, baptized their own children at the parish church of St John, and acted as godmothers to the children of other parishioners. However, the data on the social status of women employed as wet-nurses for foundlings is insufficient to confirm that–just like in other European cities–they were destitute and came from the lowest strata of society.

Kult Matki Bożej Nieustającej Pomocy w koś­ciele Redemptorystów w Krakowie-Podgórzu

The picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Podgórze was painted in 1903 in Rome, blessed by pope Leon XIII on 18 April and brought in the same year to Krakow by Father Bernard Łubieński, who was greatly involved in popularising the worship of Virgin Mary related to the painting. The Redemptorists linked their apostolic work with Mary Our Lady of Perpetual Help from the beginning. The painting had already been known to the inhabitants of Podgórze, since its paper copy was hung in the parish church. A turning point in the growth of the worship of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was the introduction of the service known as constant novena, which involves group prayers before her icon on the selected day of every week­ to request some special grace.

The reconstruction and conversion of St Clement's parish church in Wieliczka in the 19th c. and the financial contribution of the salt mine to the restoration of the temple

From the 15th century the parish provided pastoral care for miners from the Wieliczka salt mine, in exchange for which the mine board paid salt fees (since ca. 1703 in cash) to the provost and was obliged to participate in the church's upkeep costs. In 1772 the obligations were taken over by the Austrian administrators of the Wieliczka mine, hence the participation of the Salt Mine Board in the costs of reconstructing the church following the destruction caused by the subterranean tremor in the 1780s.