The Church and Pandemic.

St. Mary's Cathedral, Diocese of Cheyenne Wyoming.

When this particular blog was started back in 2011 its stated purposes was simply to depict churches and not to otherwise comment.  And, during the time this blog has been up, that's largely what it has done. Indeed, at this point it not only depicts the architecture of numerous churches around the west, but also religious houses belonging to several other religions.  So, it's pretty much stuck to its task.

Perhaps inevitably, however, it strays from time to time with comments.  Indeed, a blog on religious structures is going to have, at some point, a hard time not commenting on something with a religious theme.  When we've done that, we have tried not to make proselytizing arguments of any kind, but rather comment on issues where issues appear. Frankly, in at least one case, we pulled back on one such draft item and never posted it as it had the appearance of going perhaps where it should  not, if it was going to remain consistent with the theme of the blog.

Be that as it may, there are items from time to time that are commented upon as comments.  And often they involve Catholic themes when they do, as we are Catholics.  Indeed, the original about section of the blog, where it now states;

This blog is a collection of photographs of churches, and sometimes a bit more, that we find interesting. It isn't an attempt to catalog all the churches in any one town, or even of any one area in a town. The selection of churches featured is simply our own choice, based on churches we find architecturally or historically interesting for one reason or another.

it once stated:

This blog is a collection of photographs of churches, mostly Catholic, and sometimes a bit more, that we find interesting. It isn't an attempt to catalog all the churches in any one town, or even of any one area in a town. The selection of churches featured is simply our own choice, based on churches we find architecturally or historically interesting for one reason or another.

That turned out never to be true, actually as the very first 2011 set of photographs included more Protestant churches than Catholic ones.

Anyhow, quite often when we may have been tempted to comment on a supposed controversy it was as controversy that wasn't.  A lot of the common comments a person hears on religious topics in general and Catholic ones in particular are wildly wrong as a rule.  The often repeated story about the rise of the "None's", for example, is grossly misreported and actually doesn't amount to anywhere near as much of a story as its made out to be.  Tales of Catholic dissention are typically fairly off the mark itself and indeed the concepts surrounding it are often not at all understood by the leadership of the Church within the Church, as perhaps best exemplified by the leadership of the German church which is strangely stuck in the liberal 1970s rather than the increasingly conservative 2020s.

Anyhow, if there's a lesson here it's that crises come and go, and often they go without having amounted to anywhere near as much as they were thought to be at the time of their onset.

All of which argues for not posting this comment here.  But, as the saying goes, fools rush in . . . 

The crises this time is a real crisis, although even right now the full dimensions and parameters of it are not known and they will not be until the crisis is over.  And that crisis is, of course, the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020.

All around the United States, as the serious nature of the spread of COVID 19 became apparent, things have been shutting down as state and local governments shut them down.  The Federal Government has been less clear about its desires and goals in regards to this, and has generally followed the states.  Be that as it may, generally, most states went from warnings to be careful to orders to shut things down.  In my own state, this occurred in a series of events that took place over about a three week period and it will now extend to the end of April.  Our state isn't shut down completely, but most public gathering places, including churches, are now subject to orders that basically require them to close for the stated public emergency duration.

Switching from the general to the particular, I'm going to only address this in the context of the Catholic Church and explain my reasoning for doing so. All around the country churches have been adjusting to this change, with difficulty.  A lot of churches of all denominations (and I'll bet this is true of non Christian religions as well) have gone to televised and Youtube services.  Indeed, I visited with several friends, Catholic and non Catholic, who have experienced this with mixed results.  But departing from that, for members of the Apostolic Churches this is a particularly difficult time for a variety of reasons all of which is based on the fact that they're understanding of the sacraments varies from the Protestant churches and even varies from those Protestant churches that are very closely based on the Catholic Church.  The simple reason for that is that members of the Apostolic Churches are deprived of the core of their faith if they can't receive direct communication with their clerics.

When this crisis arrived here, the first thing that was done was the suspension of the "greeting", that being the handshake that was introduced into the Latin Rite after Vatican Two, borrowed from the practice of a greeting that is found in the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches (interestingly those Protestant churches closely based on the Catholic Church followed suit and introduced it at the same time in some instances).  I frankly don't like shaking hands and wouldn't care of that practice disappeared forever, so I sure didn't miss that.  At the same time, Communion from the cup was suspended in the Latin Rite.  I don't know about the Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church or the Orthodox, but I'd note that at least the Eastern Orthodox in Rome, Italy, at about the same time refused to alter the Eastern practice in which the Host is served from the chalice with a small spoon, a very intimate and distinct practice in the East.  I frankly don't even know if there's a way that, in the East, that could be validly altered.

Next, however, came the end of Public Masses. 

And following this, has been controversy.

The suspension of Public Masses in our Diocese was thought to be limited, at first, to just that, and indeed that's exactly how the Parish Priest presented it.  Public gatherings, he noted, would be stopped, including the Mass, during the emergency period noted by the Bishop, but everything else would go on.  He'd do the Stations of the Cross and if people were there, so be it. He'd continue to hear Confessions as well.

This contrasted with the neighboring Diocese of Salt Lake, where by that time everything, including Confessions, had been stopped.

Cathedral of the Madeline, Salt Lake City Utah.

I found the thought of the Diocese of Salt Lake halting Confessions to be shocking, but the Diocese of Wyoming soon clarified and made it clear that its Priests were to do the same.

Now, prior to that clarification there were a few days of confusion.  It was clear that everything had been stopped at one parish and not another as different Pastors no doubt interpreted the order in accordance with its spirit or letter.  The Diocese soon made it clear, apparently, what was meant.

So all the sacraments (maybe) have been ceased, and not just here, but in most places.  Maybe everywhere.

No Baptisms, no marriages, no Last Rights (apparently, but I'm not really sure, and apparently not everywhere), no Masses, and no Confessions (save perhaps by appointment).

But was that the right thing to do?

I really wondered right from the onset.  I get it, and I particularly get it about the Public Masses.  But I don't think this was done well, and frankly, in looking at it, I think there were real mistakes made in this approach.

I'm apparently note the only one as a real debate has broken out among deep thinking Catholics on these topics including those in the Catholic pundit class, the Canon Law class, and the laymen class.  I've heard arguments on both sides, and frankly I'm in the camp that thinks the Bishops made real errors in their approach.  Not only do I think that, but this is another area where the current American Bishops are really not measuring up.  And there, it's yet another area where the lay members of the Church appear to be ahead of their Bishops in some things. 

Interestingly, while I don't follow it, apparently the same debate and criticism is going on in Anglican circles. At least one critic who jointly follows Anglican and Catholic issues (which must make him an Anglo Catholic type of Anglican) is very much doing the same.

Phil Lawler, who writes at Catholic Culture, perhaps can be viewed as summarizing the loyal but critical laymen class.  He's written at least two articles on the topic, including one entitled When Our Churches Open Up Again.  In that article he addresses a variety of topics, starting off with this one:

Why did you forbid the administration of the sacraments? For reasons of public health— and in many cases, because of emergency government regulations— you were forced to curtail public ceremonies. But were you forced to issue a blanket prohibition? Weren’t there ways to allow some acts of public worship, with appropriate safeguards? Did you explore those possibilities thoroughly? 

Just a few months ago, at the Amazon Synod, we heard pleas for the ordination of married men, based on the argument that the faithful must have access to the sacraments. 

Why wasn’t the same imperative felt during the pandemic: the need to take special measures to ensure that the sacraments were available?

That really hits the nail right on the head.

The problem is that there's really no good reason for the way that this was done in some instances.  Catholics were simply told that their Church was not going to provide sacraments.  Any sacraments.

The degree to which this is a serious matter cannot be overstated.  The sacramental life of the Church is very broad and not limited to Sunday "services". This provides the essence of the vast gulf between most Protestant denominations and the Apostolic faiths.  Apostolic Christians can get by without Sunday Masses or Divine Liturgy (in the East), but they don't hold that things can generally be done by laymen and their understanding of Ordination is vastly different than that of Protestants.  

Apostolic Christians hold the sacraments to be divinely ordained and only capable of being bestowed by a Priest.  Baptism, for Catholics and the Orthodox, isn't a ceremony, it's a sacrament that changes the subjects relationship with God.  Catholics and Orthodox baptize at birth due to the danger of death, to ensure that should that disaster fall upon an infant, they're sinless soul will go on to enjoy the full benefits of the next life.  Catholics generally hold that an unbaptized infant is of course sinless and trust in the Mercy of God to provide for the departed child, but there's no definitive teaching on exactly what that means.

There is one on what dying in a state of mortal sin means, however, and unlike some Protestants there's no view that a person can just get right with God once, or perhaps again and again, and it'll be okay.  Apostolic Christians don't believe that once a person is saved, their salvation is guaranteed, it can be lost, and they therefore take very seriously Christ's commission that his Apostolic ministers could bind and loose, forgive and not forgive.  Hence the institution of Confession.

Many would point out, and have in other context beyond that, that a Catholic can make an act of "Perfect Contrition", and the Pope has pointed this out in this crisis. But, while my view may be a hard one, an act of "Perfect Contrition", in which a person prays their guilt and is perfectly sorrowful and repentant of it, is not easy to do.  Indeed, the Church does not require Perfect Contrition for Confession.  Merely being concerned about the impact of sin in the next world is regarded as sufficient for a Catholic to receive absolution in Confession.  Perfect Contrition is obviously much better, but it's not regarded as necessary.  To receive remission of a person's sins when Confession is not available, Perfect Contrition is required.

The suggestion of Pope Francis in regard to this is nice and pastoral, but it frankly will be taken by many as an adoption of the Protestant view.  "Well, I said I was sorry so God forgives me and that's good enough".  Not hardly, in the Catholic view.  Indeed, most Confessors will relate that certain sins are confessed extraordinarily frequently in spite of their serious nature, and some seriously religious Catholics confess the same ones again and again.  Simply saying we'll all get through this and get back to normal doesn't acknowledge that what we are going through is extraordinary and some people are going right to the grave with their sins unconfessed.

Indeed, suggestion that a person simply adopt an attitude of Perfect Confession reduces the seriousness of sin in the way that secularized Christians take it, which is the polar opposite of how the Apostolic Churches view it.  Contrary to fundamentalist Protestant Christians, Apostolic Christians do not hold that there's a vast number of rules (although they're frequently criticized by Protestants who don't grasp what Apostolic Christians believe), but they do hold that there are sins that are very serious.  Unlike at least one local Protestant minister who takes the view that St. Paul's admonitions are mere suggestions, Apostolic Christians don't.

A suggestion that achieving forgiveness is really easy all on your own, while not intended, ignores that Apostolic Christians have always strongly held that achieving forgiveness of sins is easy, but it usually requires a Priest.  Now some will accidentally assume the opposite, and beyond that, in at least much of the U.S., there are no scheduled Confessions as it is.

There's still resort to scheduled private Confessions but people are likely to be hesitant to take that step, particularly in the Latin Rite where not having to do a face to face Confession is protected by Canon Law.  Beyond that, there's a large number of basically observant Catholics who are in the practice of confessing once a year, prior to Easter.  Indeed, when I was a kid, the common belief was that a person had to Confess during the Easter season.

At least Dr. Edward Peters believes that its not possible for a Priest's right to hear Confessions to be suspended, which is not the same, I'd note, about cancelling regularly schedule Confessions.  He notes:

1. Some bishops think they can suspend the celebration of Confession in their diocese or otherwise forbid their priests from hearing confession and granting absolution because of the pandemic. I think this is wrong. 

All pastors have “faculties” (i.e., necessary but, in all respects relevant here, sufficient authorization) for Confession by law (c. 968) and most other priests (e.g., associates) have faculties by formal grant of their bishop (c. 969); once acquired, moreover, such faculties remain effective unless, say, the pastor is removed from office (c. 975, which assumes the process for pastor removal outlined in cc. 1740-1747 has been applied) or the bishop has revoked the grant to a specific priest “for a grave cause” (c. 974, which assumes that “pandemic” satisfies as ‘grave cause’ to strip priests of their faculties for Confession, a claim for which I find zero evidence in the literature).

In our Diocese I believe private Confessions, i.e., ones scheduled with the Priest privately, can still be done.  This would suggest that Last Rights would likewise be available here, as those are always done just that way.

A lot of this could have been easily addressed by the Bishops by providing, when they dismissed their parishioners for that last Public Mass, that the presiding Priest was authorized to give a General Absolution.  Regarding General Absolution, Lawler noted:

If the precepts of the Church are important, why didn’t you address them in your public statements? Catholics are under a solemn obligation to attend Mass on Sunday. When you made it impossible to fulfill that norm, did you assure the faithful that they were dispensed? A diocesan bishop has the authority to allow for general absolution. When you forbade sacramental confessions, did you encourage your priests to offer general absolution?

The Last General Absolution of the Munsters. This famous painting depicts a real event during World War One in which a Catholic Chaplain gave General Absolution to an Irish unit from Munster, many of whom were killed in the battle occuring minutes afterwards. 

General Absolution is a long established practice in which a Catholic Priest can forgive sins, often to a collection of people, immediately prior to some event for a grave reason.  The penitent is obligated to confess the sins they would have confessed next time they go to Confession, but the forgiveness is real and should the person pass before that next Confession occurs, it's a good and valid Confession.

General Absolutions are really common in warfare but they can be authorized for other reasons.  For some reason, it didn't occur to the Bishops to authorize their Priests to given General Absolution for those who were at Mass that last Sunday.  They no doubt thought that things would be opened back up in a couple of weeks.

When they weren't, they should have authorized the Pastors to give General Absolutions even if it meant violating the Governor's orders.  

Being called to be a Priest is called, no matter what a person might think, to a certain type of heroism.  Indeed, it's worth noting that right now an Antiochian Orthodox Priest is being considered for the heroic deed of hearing Confession during the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu Epidemic even thought that ultimately cost him his life.  Another example would be St. Damien De Veuster, the Belgian priest who died ministering to lepers who became afflicted with the disease himself in the course of doing that.

St. Damien De Veuster shortly prior to his death.

That may sound harsh, and the point isn't that Priests should go out and get killed in the epidemic. . .but Christ did provide that we were to minister to the sick and that entails risk.

Right now, in contrasts, Pastors are responding differently and in a confusing manner.  One local Priest immediately started a Youtube channel which is excellent, with his Sunday Mass going up Saturday night, no doubt recorded at his Saturday Mass of anticipation.  It's excellent. The Diocese has its televised Mass which it has had for years, but which compares poorly, but at least is there. The two other local Parishes are silent so far, including one that was clearly being turned into a Parish with a dedicated Hispanic ministry. What do those Parishioners do now?

A lot more need to be done, if even only to have all the Parishes on Youtube.  But its more than that which is cried for, and part of that is providing the sacraments that would normally be provided, save except for the Public Masses.  If that entails risk and heroism, well being a Priest isn't a normal job.

The Bishops, who are Priests, should know that.  American Bishops haven't looked all that great in recent years and few have looked heroic (although some have).  This was an opportunity for them to really rise to the occasion. So far, few have.

A few have even suspended the Lenten obligation of meatless Fridays. This is really going a bridge too far.  Latin Rite Catholics once had meatless Fridays all year long, imposed as a law of the Church during that period during which that amounted to a real penitential sacrifice.  Suspending what little remains of this when it entails sacrifice once again suggests that we really shouldn't have to suffer at all for our Faith. 

Indeed, right now, the Faithful are, but because of duties being suspended, not the reverse.  And the Church has looked as if it has sort of checked out during the crisis, much like movie theaters that are closed for our safety.  

Some of this is necessary.  Not all of it is. This wasn't well done.

It was Cardinal John Henry Newman who observed that "to know history is to be Catholic".   While no doubt some would dispute that, there's a large element of truth to it.  Unfortunately, the Church here seems to have forgotten its own history.  The history of Apostolic Priests who endured sickness to minister to their flocks is a strong tradition of the Church which seems to have been suspended during the COVID 19 crisis.  It's certainly a legal action by the Bishops, but the history of such prior actions should give a person pause. As theologian Dr. Edward Peters has observed, the Papal suspension of sacraments during the early Reformation spawned crisis in England was also legal, but the action did not bear fruit and arguably the opposite was the case.

Of course, all of this was done just a couple of weeks ago.  There's time to adjust course.   And with it looking like much of the country will be shut down longer than originally thought, this would be a good time to do that.

Latter Day Saints, East Casper, Wyoming

This very unusual looking Latter Day Saints building is in East Casper.  I don't know the vintage of the building, but almost all of the buildings in this part of Casper were built during the 1960s.

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Casper Wyoming

This is another Lutheran Church, this one from a different branch of the Lutheran faith, in east Casper, Wyoming.  The church is a modern architectural structure.  I'm unaware of when it was built, but it was likely in the 1960s.

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Casper Wyoming.

This is Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Casper, Wyoming which is a North American Lutheran Church member.  This church is fairly modern, although I don't know the date of its construction.  Occupying a hill in east Casper, the church has an attractive external appearance.

First Church of the Nazarene, Casper Wyoming

This church is one of a couple of protestant churches located in the Allendale region of Casper, Wyoming.  I'm not sure of its vintage, but by appearance it likely was built in the 1950s, about the same time that Allendale expanded as what was originally an unincorporated portion of Casper.

The Church of the Nazarene is an offshoot of Methodism.

Sunrise Baptist Church, Casper Wyoming

This small Baptist Church in south Casper has a location that gives a good view of Casper Mountain, although its unconventional shape doesn't have any windows.

Other than its denomination, and its unconventional architecture, I don't know anything else about this particular Casper church.

The Diocese of Cheyenne suspends public Masses due to the Coronavirus

Yesterday we reported on some regional actions by Catholic churches to address the Coronavirus.  Since we made that post, the Diocese of Cheyenne has suspended public Masses due to the virus, effective as of the Masses today.

It's now known when they'll resume.  Confessions remain unaltered for the time being and the directive does not extend to other Catholic observances.

Lex Anteinternet: Sunday Morning Scene: The Church and the Pandemic...

Lex Anteinternet: Sunday Morning Scene: The Church and the Pandemic...:

Sunday Morning Scene: The Church and the Pandemic

Diocese of Cheyenne:

From: Bishop Steven Biegler

Date: March 13, 2020 Re: Obligation to attend Sunday MassAs the Coronavirus continues to spread throughout the United States, the Diocese of Cheyenne is committed to taking all reasonable precautions to prevent transmission of the virus. In addition to the directives issued on March 3, 2020 (summarized below), from March 13 to April 8, 2020, a dispensation from the obligation to attend Holy Mass (canon 1245) is granted to:

• those of any age who are ill, and • those with an underlying health condition, such as chronic lung disease, COPD, asthma, etc. • Moreover, any person over 60 years old may choose to use this dispensation.Stay home if you are sick or in a high-risk category, since this virus is primarily transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Sunday Mass is broadcast on K2 (ABC) at 9 AM.CORONAVIRUS PRECAUTIONS • Mandatory hand-washing for all ministers and thorough washing of all liturgical vessels. • Permission to suspend Holy Communion from the Chalice accompanied by encouragement to receive Holy Communion in the hand and not on the tongue. • Permission to suspend physical contact during the Sign of Peace. • Permission to empty Holy Water fonts.

Please note: these precautions are of limited effectiveness. They are no substitute for staying home when you are ill. We will continue to monitor the progression of this disease and make appropriate recommendations. Clergy and lay leaders are to make prudent decisions so that non-essential gatherings are avoided. In addition to the effect on physical health, I am concerned about the social and economic impacts of this outbreak. Isolation and loneliness are already experienced by so many people. I encourage clergy to discuss with Finance and Pastoral Councils how the parish might offer outreach to those who are affected by social isolation or how they could collaborate with the local community to provide support to those needing financial aid because of health care costs or lack of employment. Please offer the following or a similar intention at Masses: For all people affected by COVID-19 or any serious illness, the elderly and homebound, as well as all medical personnel and caregivers for the sick.

Archdiocese of Denver:

The bishops of the three dioceses of Colorado have announced that all public Masses have been canceled, effective immediately. This includes daily Masses. Parishes offices will remain open for now. More information will be posted shortly….NOTE: When Mass is unavailable, the Catholic faithful are dispensed from their Sunday obligation.

This decision was made was made in the interest of the common good after the governor of Colorado ordered the cancellation of all public gatherings of 250 or more people. We are acting out of prudence and in charity to our communities to do our part to mitigate the spread of this virus. We have the examples of countries from around the world, where those who took proactive steps quickly are seeing far better outcomes. 

Diocese of Salt Lake City:

Based on Bishop Oscar A. Solis’ consultation with senior diocesan staff and the announcement from Governor Gary R. Herbert regarding the precautions to be taken with regard to the coronavirus disease, Bishop Solis is suspending the public celebration of worship, including Sunday, weekday and other Holy Masses from March 14 to March 31, or until further notice.During this time, Catholic school facilities will close and instruction to students will be provided remotely. Each individual school will contact parents and inform them of how instruction will be delivered at home for each grade level.The Utah Catholic Schools do not have any confirmed cases of COVID-19, but some students and family members have been quarantined due to their possible exposure to the virus.All other parish or school meetings, public gatherings and other events also are canceled. Funerals and weddings are to be postponed when possible; otherwise, these are to be limited to immediate family members only.Private Confessions will depend on the availability of the priest.Churches may remain open for personal prayer as appropriate; holy water fonts must be emptied to help avoid transmission of virus.By reason of this emergency, a general dispensation is given from the Sunday and Holy Day obligation. Catholics are asked to pray at home, with the rosary, biblical prayer, personal devotions and/or to devoutly watch televised Masses. It is appropriate to pray for the healing of those suffering the current outbreak of illness, for health professionals, public officials and those serving the common good, and to ask that our merciful and loving Father will strengthen our faith and trust in His goodness and divine providence. “In view of the very serious development of the growing, unpredictable and uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus and with an abundance of caution, it is critical to have clearly defined measures to guide us in facing this pandemic and protecting everyone,” Bishop Solis said. “It is no longer about containment of the spread of the disease but preventing the loss of lives and the greater well-being of the faithful.”

City Park Church, formerly First Presbyterian Church, Casper Wyoming

This is City Park Church, and was formerly, as noted below in the original entry, the First Presbyterian Church.

This Presbyterian Church is located one block away from St. Mark's Episcopal Church and St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, all of which are separated from each other by City Park. 

The corner stone of the church gives the dates 1913 1926. I'm not sure why there are two dates, but the church must have been completed in 1926.

This century old church became the home of the former First Baptist Church congregation on February 28, 2020, and as noted in a thread we'll link in below, had been experiencing a lot of changes prior to that.

The original entry here was one of the very first on this blog and dated at least back as far as January 25, 2011.  While the architecture hasn't changed at all, with the recent change our original entry became misleading to an extent.

Related Threads:

Grace Reformed at City Park, formerly First Presbyterian Church, Casper Wyoming

Changes in Downtown Casper. First Presbyterian becomes City Park Church, the former First Baptist Church.

Lex Anteinternet: Today is the last day of Butter Week (Maslenitsa, ...

Lex Anteinternet: Today is the last day of Butter Week (Maslenitsa, ...:

Today is the last day of Butter Week (Maslenitsa, Мaсленица, Масниця, Масленіца) for 2020

Taking A Snow Town, 1891

Butter Week?



Yes, Butter Week, or Butter Lady, Crepe Week or Cheesefare Week, or in Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian respectively;   Мaсленица, Масниця, Масленіца.

Maslenitsa, 1878.

Maslenitsa.



What is Maslenitsa?



Well, earlier this past week we discussed Clean Monday, the first full day of Great Lent for the Eastern Rite, including those who are Eastern Rite Catholics and Eastern Orthodox observing the "old Calendar" in liturgical terms.  For those in the Eastern Rite who are in the new calendar, which this past Monday would have been part of, this week was last week.  In other words, for those Eastern Rite on the old calendar, Clean Monday is this upcoming Monday and Great Lent starts tomorrow.



Maslenitsa is, therefore, sort of a week long Slavic Mardi Gras and indeed shares the connection with the same set of foods, fats, and stuff made with them.



And it was also a week long celebration, as the pre Lenten celebrations are to some extent in some Latin Rite countries.  Except, appropriate for its region, it featured traditionally a lot of winter games.



Of course, the Communists put a damper on all of this, given its religious nature, but it never went away.  And as Christianity has revived in the Slavic regions following the downfall of Communism, it's religious nature and the tradition is reviving.

Lex Anteinternet: Ash Wednesday

Lex Anteinternet: Ash Wednesday:

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday for those churches that follow the Catholic Latin Rite's liturgical calendar, which includes a fair number of Protestant churches.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent for Western Christians, Lent being the (approximately) forty day long penitential season preceding Easter.  Great Lent, the Eastern Christian seasons, precedes Ash Wednesday and commences on Clean Monday for Eastern Christians on the new calendar, but not on the old calendar which has, of course, which departs from the calendar we're otherwise familiar with.   The day is named for the Catholic practice, which is observed by at least some Anglicans and Lutherans as well, of placing ashes on the foreheads of those who come to the Ash Wednesday service, with the reminder being made that from ashes you were made, and from ashes you will return.*

For Latin Rite Catholics, Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinence.  I.e, they eat only one full meal on this day and it can't include meat, which under Latin Rite Catholic rules does not include fish.  For Eastern Christians a much stricter Lenten fast and abstinence set of rules applies.  This sacrifice serves the purpose of being penitential in nature.

It also serves to really set Catholics apart, as fasting and abstinence are the rage in the west now, but for purely secular purposes, not all of which square with science or good dietary practices.

For the members of the Apostolic faiths, Lent also serves as a time in which for penitential reasons they usually "give up" something.  A lot of people have a really superficial understanding of this, assuming that Catholic "give up" desert or chocolate or something, and in fact quite a few people do something like that. Indeed, as an adult I've been surprised by how many Catholics (usually men) give up drinking alcohol, which means that frequent consumption of alcohol is pretty common society wide in a way that we probably underestimate.

Indeed, just recently, on that, I was asked by an exuberant Catholic Midwestern expat, who seemingly has no boundaries at all, on what I was "giving up" for Lent. This was the week prior to Ash Wednesday at which time I wasn't particularly focused on it myself.  The same fellow asked at least one Protestant what she was giving up, with that Protestant being a member of one of the American millennialism religions, to receive a totally baffled reply.  Indeed, I'm sure they don't celebrate Lent at all, so the question was odd.  Anyhow, he was giving up alcohol and asked if I'd like to join him, to which I absent mindedly said sure.  Later he was wondering if I thought it would be tough, which I'm sure it won't be at all and I'll have to find something else to mark Lent really.  But that sort of "giving up" line of thinking is very common.

In a lot of Catholic cultures the Lenten penitential observations have traditionally been much stronger, which helps explain Mardi Gras as we just discussed.  Even well after the Latin Rite rules were very much relaxed, in many Catholic areas, including Catholic areas of the United States, people engaged in much more extensive penitential observations with the "giving up chocolate" type thing really sort of an introduction to the practice.  In Louisiana, without going into it too deeply, there was traditionally a big spike in births nine to ten months after Easter, which reflected a very widespread serious observation among Catholic couples as to their penitential practice, for example.

Some of that is really coming back, which reflects an interesting trend towards a deeper understanding of their faiths by members of the Apostolic faiths and even a return of Lenten traditions in some Protestant ones.  During the full "Spirit of Vatican Two" era there was a lot of attention devoted to not giving anything up but rather to work on some spiritual need.  I.e, be self reflective and work on what that lead you to.  At the same time, the misuse of the word "fasting" became very common, with there being advice, even from the clergy, to fast from things other than food or drink.  You can't really fast from sinful behavior, or from narcissism, for example.  You can't even "fast" from the Internet, although "giving it up" for Lent might be a darned good idea (one that I really ought to consider, probably).

A lot of that is now passing and there's been a real return to more traditional observations of Lent, including fasting but also forms of dedicated worship and observation.

Which brings me to the next thing about "giving up".  One feature of this season is that many Apostolic Christians, as it is the season of repentance, have used the season to break bad conduct when there's support, spiritual and temporal, for doing it.  People with alcohol problems will use it to break them, smokers will quit smoking during Lent so they can quit smoking.  And sometimes people with serious attachments to sin take it head on during Lent, with some people I've known even announcing the renouncement of what are very serious sins from a Christian purpose over Lent in the hopes of breaking from the permanently. And many who do that, succeed at doing that.

Which in turn takes us to our final observation.  This season, which is lead by the Apostolic faiths but which is observed by at least some of the Protestants as well, tend to turn the self indulgent retained Puritan abstinence on its head.  I've noted this before, but North American and the Northern Europe may have strayed enormously from Calvinist influence in terms of faith, but not in terms of the concept that public suffering is really necessary.  That retained concept explains in large part the real focus in these lands, as opposed to others, in "giving up" something for no real purpose other than the sense it must be done.  People give up all sorts of things that Apostolic Christians around the world give up for forty some days, and often on a declared permanent basis (they fail at it more often than not), with it being notable that the purely secular nature of that makes it shallow from the onset.  Indeed, plenty of people who will spend Lent scoffing at Catholics for Lent will spend part of the season or all of it on some no carb, or no meat, or whatever, diet, for no real reason other than a constructed one. Suffering, in many instances, is the ultimate goal of those efforts, but suffering without something to redeem it.

For Apostolic Christians, all fasts are followed by feasts, and that's something to remember.

_________________________________________________________________________________

*I don't think this is a practice in the East and its not a requirement for Catholics, something that in fact even confuses some Catholics.  Ash Wednesday is widely observed by Catholics and the placing of the ashes isn't restricted to Catholics.  Perhaps for that reason quite a few Catholics assume it is a Holy Day of Obligation.

One thing of note here is that Ash Wednesday also serves to point out to everyone who is a Catholic, as if a person has ashes on their head, they're probably Catholic, although not necessarily.  By the same token, if you are known to be a Catholic and don't make it to Ash Wednesday you'll tend to get comments about it.

Lex Anteinternet: Fat Tuesday

Lex Anteinternet: Fat Tuesday:

Fat Tuesday

Bear guiding.  A Polish Shrove Tuesday tradition.  No, I don't understand it.

Yesterday I marked Clean Monday.



Today is Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras.



The day marks the day before Ash Wednesday on the liturgical calendar of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church.  Like the other major day noted in the United States, setting aside Christmas and Easter, which derives from the Catholic liturgical calendar, St. Patrick's Day, the day is celebrated widely in the US by folks who have no idea whatsoever what it marks.



The day is called "Fat" Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, in French as it marked the day when people in Louisiana, French speaking Catholics, attempted to use up excess fats in their household that would otherwise go to waste during the Lenten season.  The Lenten Fast in the Latin Rite is much less strict than it once was, so this isn't a problem today, but the tradition of having a big pre Lenten celebration remains.  In its original form, it was a major Franco North American celebration, but wasn't the sort of weird event its devolved into, featuring topless women and beads and the like.  Indeed, quite the opposite is true.  It had a religious nature to it.



This is also true in many other predominantly Catholic countries around the globe.  In Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries the day is also widely celebrated, with the use of a term which actually very closely approximates Mardi Gras or the use of the term Carnival, which means "to put away meat", derived from Latin.  Carnival is celebrated in some Catholic European cultures under that name as well, including southern Germany.  Germans also call the day Fastnachtsdienstag, Faschingsdienstag, Karnevaldienstag and Veilschendienstag.  The day is marked by a partial day off from school as well as parades and the observance of some distinctly odd German customs.



In English speaking countries where, outside of Ireland, the Reformation took them out of the Catholic world in the 1500s, the tradition none the less remains, reflecting how strong the Catholic customs were even where Protestantism came in.  Shrove Tuesday is widely observed in Anglican circles. "Shrove" in this context derives from an Old English word for "absolve", and it reflected the day which people reflected on their lives and resolved to work on them over Lent.  Lent is still a penitential season in the Anglican Communion, but has been much less observed than in the Apostolic faiths where its a major seasons.  Having said that, at least by observation, there seem to be a revival of Lenten observation in Anglican circules.



In English speaking countries today is also Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day for the same reason that French speaking countries call it Mardi Gras.  Pancakes are made with fat and flour and there was an effort to use up fat by making big pancake breakfasts on this day.



Nearly every country with a Christian heritage, except perhaps those in North American, have a celebration on this day with a strong regional, national and Christian aspect to them, including those nations who followed Luther into the Reformation. The Icelanders, for example, feast today with salted fish and meats.  It's interesting how widespread this custom is, and in some ways makes the American celebration of it seem a bit poor in comparison, outside of those areas of the Louisiana and Texas where the locals are celebrating it for real.



As a final note, why would people be so focused, as part of this, in using up the household fats and meat?



Well, before refrigeration, and with a stricter fast in place, those things weren't going to last until after Easter.

Lex Anteinternet: Today is Clean Monday. . .

Lex Anteinternet: Today is Clean Monday. . .:

Today is Clean Monday. . .

in those Eastern Rite Churches that are part of the Catholic Church in predominantly Latin Rite countries.  For Eastern Rite Churches that use the old calendar and for the Orthodox Clean Monday is on March 2, a week from today.

Clean Monday is the first day of  Great Lent in the East (although technically it actually starts the Sunday prior) and marks the beginning of the Lenten Fast, which is much broader in the East than the West.  Shellfish are the traditional entre, as they're an exception, and darned near the only one, to the prohibition on meat in the Eastern fast.



It's also a day of celebration and a public holiday in quite a few Orthodox nations and features the flying of kites, as its the traditional first day of spring in those cultures.



Don't get a celebration on a day commencing a long fast?  Well, its a fast with a purpose, not because of dietary fad or some public agony virtue signaling effort.  And ultimately, although it'll be forty days later, it'll be followed by a feast.

Changes in Downtown Casper. First Presbyterian becomes City Park Church, the former First Baptist Church.

I debated on whether to put this entry here or on our companion blog, Lex Anteinternet.  In the end, I decided to put it up here first and then link it over. This will be one of a couple of posts of this type which explore changes, this one with a local expression, that have bigger implications.

When we started this blog, some of the first entries here were on churches in downtown Casper.  These included the First Presbyterian Church and the First Baptist Church, with buildings dating to 1913 and 1949 respectively.  First Baptist, it should be noted, has occupied their present location, if not their present church, for a century.

Indeed, while I wasn't able to get it to ever upload, I have somewhere a video of the centennial of the First Presbyterian Church from 2013, featuring, as a church that originally had a heavy Scots representation ought to, a bagpipe band.  Our original entry on that church building is right below:

First Presbyterian Church, Casper Wyoming

This Presbyterian Church is located one block away from St. Mark's Episcopal Church and St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, all of which are separated from each other by City Park.

The corner stone of the church gives the dates 1913 1926. I'm not sure why there are two dates, but the church must have been completed in 1926.

Well, since that centennial, First Presbyterian has been going through a constant set of changes, as noted in our entry here:

Grace Reformed at City Park, formerly First Presbyterian Church, Casper Wyoming

This isn't a new addition to the roll of churches here, but rather news about one of them.  We formerly posted on this church here some time ago:

Churches of the West: First Presbyterian Church, Casper Wyoming: This Presbyterian Church is located one block away from St. Mark's Episcopal Church and St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, all of whi...

People who have followed it would be aware that the Presbyterian churches in the United States are undergoing a period of rift, and this church has reflected that.  The Presbyterian Church, starting in the 1980s, saw conflict develop between liberal and more conservative elements within it which lead to the formation of the "moderate conservative" EPC.  As I'm not greatly familiar with this, I'll only note that the EPC is associated with "New School Presbyterianism" rather than "Old School" and it has adopted the motto  "In Essentials, Unity; In Non-Essentials, Liberty; In All Things, Charity. Truth in Love.".

The change in name here is confusing to an outsider in that this church is a member of the EPC, but it's no longer using its original name.  As it just passed the centennial of its construction, that's a bit unfortunate in some ways. 

We'd also note that the sought set of stairs is now chained off.  We're not sure why, but those stairs must no longer be used for access.

The changes apparently didn't serve to arrest whatever was going on, as there's a sign out in front of the old First Presbyterian, later Grace Reformed, that starting on February 23, it'll be City Park Church.

City Park Church, it turns out, is the name that the congregation that presently occupies another nearby church, First Baptist Church, will call its new church building, which is actually a much older building than the one it now occupies, which is depicted here:

First Baptist Church, Casper Wyoming

This is the First Baptist Church in Casper, Wyoming. It's one of the Downtown churches in Casper, in an area that sees approximately one church per block for a several block area.

This particular church was built in 1949, and sits on the same block as Our Savior's Lutheran Church.

What's going on?

Well, it's hard to say from the outside, which we are, but what is pretty clear is that the rifts in the Presbyterian Church broke out, in some form, in the city's oldest Presbyterian Church to the point where it ended up changing its name, and then either moving out of its large church, and accompanying grounds, or closing altogether.  I've never been in the building but I'm told that its basement looked rough a couple of years ago and perhaps the current congregation has other plans or the grounds and church are just too much for it.  At any rate, the 1949 vintage building that First Baptist occupies is apparently a bit too small for its needs and it had taken the opportunity to acquire and relocate into the older, but larger, church.  It can't help but be noted that both churches have pretty large outbuildings as well. Also, while they are both downtown, the 1913 building is one of the three very centrally located old downtown Casper churches, so if church buildings have pride of place, the Baptist congregation is moving into a location which has a little bit more of one.

While it will be dealt with more in another spot, or perhaps on Lex Anteinternet, the entire thing would seem to be potentially emblematic of the loss that Christian churches that have undergone a rift like the Presbyterian Church in the United States has sustained when they openly split between liberal and conservative camps.  The Presbyterian Church was traditionally a fairly conservative church, albeit with theology that was quite radical at the time of its creation.  In recent years some branches of that church have kept their conservatism while others have not and there's been an open split.  As noted elsewhere this has lead in part to a defection from those churches in a lot of localities, and a person has to wonder if something like that may have happened here, as well as wondering if the obvious fact that a split has occurred would naturally lead to a reduction in the congregation as some of its members went with the other side.  We've noted here before that the Anglican Community locally not only has its two Episcopal Churches in town, but that there are also two additional Anglican Churches of a much more theologically conservative bent, both of which are outside of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming.

A person can't really opine, from the outside, if something like this is "sad" or not, but it's certainly a remarkable event.  We've noted church buildings that have changed denominations of use before, but this is the first one where we've actually witnessed it.  And in this case, the departing denomination had occupied their building for a century.

Wamsutter Baptist Church, Wamsutter Wyoming.

Side window view of the Wamsutter Baptist Church in Wamsutter, Wyoming.

Not all of the photographs on this site are works of art, to be sure, in part because we sometimes end up with photos taken simply when we can. This is one such example.

Lex Anteinternet: January 6, 1920. Peace Secured. Protestants Unite? Suffrage Advances

Lex Anteinternet: January 6, 1920. Peace Secured. Protestants Unit...:

A historical item from one of our companion blogs of potential interest here:

January 6, 1920. Peace Secured. Protestants Unite? Suffrage Advances.

The headline news for this day, January 6, 1920, was that a treaty was to be signed between the victorious Allies and the Germans.  Or, more properly, a protocol to the Versailles Treaty

More properly, this was an amendment to the Versailles Treaty altering and amending some of its terms.  Germany's reluctance to enter into a protocol had lead the Allies and Germany back to the brink of war several months earlier, an event now wholly forgotten, but in the end the amendment had been worked out.



The U.S. Senate had not ratified the original text and would still not be ratifying the treaty in its entirety.



The Casper paper was also reporting that a new Wyoming corporation had been formed to build or take over the manufacturing of the Curtis Aircraft line.  I've never heard of this before and Wikipedia sheds no light on what was going on with this story.  Does anyone know the details?

Also making headlines was an effort to unite the nation's Protestant churches into a single organization. The headlines are apparently a bit misleading as they would suggest that the individual denominations were set to be united, which was not the proposal.



Also misleading, today, is the use of the term "United Church of Christ". That denomination would not come about until 1957.



On the same day, Kentucky and Rhode Island passed the 19th Amendment.

Suffrage supporters watching the Governor of Kentucky sign his state's passage of the 19th Amendment.

And Walt experienced something that I routinely do a century later.

St. Peter's Catholic Church, Carpenter Wyoming

This is St. Peter's Catholic Church in Carpenter, Wyoming. The Church is served by St. Paul's parish in Pine Bluffs, which is the closest Wyoming town to Carpenter.

As with the Methodist Church in Carpenter which is discussed immediately below,  I don't know the age of this Prairie Gothic style church in tiny unincorporated Carpenter.  My suspicion is that the church is nearly as old as Carpenter, but I don't have the immediate information on that.

Carpenter United Methodist Church, Carpenter Wyoming.

This is the Carpenter United Methodist Church in Carpenter, Wyoming.

Carpenter is a very small, but still there, town in southeastern Wyoming.  Indeed the town is almost in Colorado and and is has much of the character of western Nebraska.  Founded as a railroad town, the town hangs on in spite of its very small size and is quite isolated.

This church was obviously built early on as a Prairie Goth style church and then modified, probably in the 1970s, to have a new entry way.  The entry way is architecturally inconsistent with the remainder of the church so the exact thinking of the addition isn't obvious to an outside viewer.

Emmanuel Baptist Church, Casper Wyoming

Not the best photograph, by any means, we admit.

Emmanuel Baptist Church in North Casper, Wyoming.

Lex Anteinternet: Sunday Morning Scene: Denver Catholic Register, December 1919

Lex Anteinternet: Sunday Morning Scene: Denver Catholic Register, D...

Sunday Morning Scene: Denver Catholic Register, December 1919.

Holscher's Hub: Pentax: Built like a tank

Holscher's Hub: Pentax: Built like a tank: So states a professional photography blog naming the Pentax K1 full frame one of the three bests cameras of 2019. And they are. The revi...