Dear Jim,
Having recently attended a church dedication (3+ hours) I can address
some of your questions. I trust you weren't referring exclusively to
medieval dedications as I missed most of those.
The church is question was that of Saint Joseph Abbey in Covington LA,
where I live. It was built in the early part of this century and was
sumptuously decorated by a Dutch benedictine Dom Gregory DeWit. Time and
smoke from copious incense plus Louisiana humidity took their toll and
the murals in the church needed a facelift, so a major renovation was
done. The monks (particularly Abbot Patrick, a liturgist) realized that
their church had never been dedicated, so a grand ceremony was planned.
Of course the building had been in constant use for many years prior to
dedication; otherwise the entire congregation would have processed into
church. As it was, the procession was long enough! The walls of the
church were anointed and everything that moved was incensed. The music
was to die for and the 3+ hours flew by.
I'm not sure about "consecration" of a church, if it's the same as
"dedication," but I think not. I suspect that altars must be consecrated
before any use, and perhaps the whole building. I suggest that you visit
Saint Joseph's website: www.stjosephabbey.org. Be sure to visit the
mural gallery. There may also be an e-mail link. However tomorrow I have
liturgy class with Abbot Patrick and will make a point of asking him if
and how consecration differs from dedication.
If a church is desecrated, there is undoubtedly a liturgy to clean
things up but I don't know what it's called. As I mentioned I'll be at a
seminary college tomorrow and will find out.
Thanks for your patient answers to my questions. Hope I could return the
favors.
Kathryn
[log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> Esteemed List,
> For years I have been coming across references to both church
> dedications and church consecrations without thinking much about
> them. The two terms, indeed, appear in many instances to be used
> almost interchangeably. Does anyone know just how the two
> expressions are related to one another. One possibility, I guess,
> would be that the dedication was the same as the original
> consecration, as opposed to subsequent consecrations, after murders
> in the cathedral, etc. And did building activity in churches
> necessitate re-consecration?
> Thanks in advance for any replies.
> Jim Bugslag
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