Wow, Another Vatican II Complete Waste of the Laity’s Money on Multiple Renovations of a Once Spectacular Cathedral in Patterson, New Jersey

What's the difference between a 'liturgical expert' and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist.

From Southern Orders

By Fr Allan J. McDonald

The Deacon’s Bench blog had a story on permanent deacons ordained on Saturday at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Patterson, New Jersey. This is the photo that accompanied the story:

To me, while far from ugly, it appeared that a modern look was imposed on a classic Gothic cathedral. Thus I googled for more photos of the cathedral and found these:

The original look:

But then, I discovered a 1970’s debacle of a renovation, typical for that period, a very, very, very costly that more than likely alienated and anger a goodly number of laity in that diocese. It is kind of like, but not as bad, as the debacle of a renovation disgraced Rembert Weakland visited upon Milwaukee’s Cathedral: Here it is:

But then, there was a realization how horrible this 70’s renovation was and thus even more money was used to kind of restore it in the last two years or so. The result is more traditional to say the least. This photo, compared to the deacon ordination one, shows the new baldacchino which was not envisioned in the original look of the cathedral, but is stunning:

But which is nicest and would it have been better to leave good enough alone and just worry about upkeep and maintenance of a building of this nature:

Before:

After:

After and After again:

Dear God, how much did all of this cost compared to simply maintaining the original and perhaps tweaking it here and there?

Here is a nicely done video of the cathedral today and you can see the choir loft and organ are restored. The rector is certainly engaging and personable, but at Mass I would find him too distracting. At the Ordinary Form of the Mass, celebrants think they must be charming, good looking, engaging and even in ritual overpower it with all of those "qualities." The rector seems to do this. It comes from the Sulpician late liturgist, Fr. Eugene Walsh. He did more to corrupt the Mass and architecture than most any other liturgist. I knew him personally, and he fit the bill of  a liturgist being a terrorist but the difference being, you could negotiate with a terrorist. God rest Fr. Walsh's soul.