{"id":4907,"date":"2016-08-01T07:17:24","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T13:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=4907"},"modified":"2016-08-01T05:39:56","modified_gmt":"2016-08-01T11:39:56","slug":"a-tour-of-holy-doors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/a-tour-of-holy-doors.html","title":{"rendered":"A tour of Holy Doors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Finally getting around to posting some pictures from the vacation, where the Holy Year added another dimension to the various stops at churches.<\/p>\n

Our first Holy Door stop: the stumbled-upon\u00a0St. Nicholas<\/a> in Amsterdam, where, when we visited on a Monday and they advertised mass in English on Tuesdays, I realized I should have looked a little harder for English-language mass times in the area, the day before, as it seems like the Roman Catholic church(es) in Amsterdam and elsewhere have a significant immigrant\/expat population (here\u2019s a surprising long list of English-language services<\/a> that I\u2019ve since found).<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1126<\/p>\n

Midday mass was just about to start so I didn\u2019t take pictures, and it was raining, so none from the outside, either. \u00a0But here\u2019s an image from Wikipedia:<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ABasilica_of_St._Nicholas_(interior)._Amsterdam%2C_Netherlands%2C_Northern_Europe-2.jpg;
https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ABasilica_of_St._Nicholas_(interior)._Amsterdam%2C_Netherlands%2C_Northern_Europe-2.jpg; By Mstyslav Chernov (Self-photographed, http:\/\/mstyslav-chernov.com\/) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>According to Wikipedia<\/a>, the church is not spectacularly old, only dating from 1887, which makes sense given that Catholics were not allowed to worship publicly until the 19th century or thereabouts.<\/p>\n

And \u2014 bit of unseemly schadenfreude here \u2014 this church was unmistakably open for business, where both the historic Protestant churches in the city center had been turned into museums.<\/p>\n

Our second stop: \u00a0Antwerp.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: \u00a0admission to the church as a tourist is about EUR 5 per person. \u00a0However, if you go in through the Holy Door, it\u2019s free.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1231\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1224\" \"IMG_1225\" \"IMG_1226\"<\/p>\n

What was interesting about this church was the fact that its history<\/a> was filled with destruction and rebuilding \u2014 first a fire and restoration, then a plundering with the Reformation, followed by another plundering with the French Revolution, so that the artwork (including Ruebens) is a mix rather than being in some fashion \u201cauthentic\u201d to its original construction. \u00a0What I particularly liked was the extensiveness of its painting and other decoration, not just in terms of paintings but painted\/decorated walls \u2014 such a contrast to the modern notion that churches must be sparse.<\/p>\n

The church seemed to be actively attempting to straddle the line between tourist destination and House of Worship. \u00a0There are plenty of museum-ish explanations of the history of the building and the art, and there\u2019s a lot to see, art-wise, but there are nice invitations to prayer, and several side chapel areas reserved for prayer. \u00a0And the side door that\u2019s designated the Holy Door takes you to a side area with, again, more invitation to pray and a priest on-duty for confession.<\/p>\n

Next:<\/p>\n

The Trier cathedral<\/a> \u2013 \u201cthe oldest church in Germany\u201d or maybe in all of Europe north of the Alps, or outside Rome, I forget which, and I left the Rick Steeves guidebook at our last stop in Germany, to reduce the weight of our luggage ever so slightly.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1253\" \"IMG_1255\"<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0075\"<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0064\"<\/p>\n

The building has a really cool history, what with having been built initially at the direction of Helena, the mother of Constantine, but with endless additions over the years. \u00a0And it has a pretty major relic, the Holy Robe<\/a> that Jesus is said to have worn before being crucified. \u00a0Interestingly, the church doesn\u2019t stake a big claim on its authenticity, but promotes it as symbolizing the unity of Christians because it was a \u201cseamless garment.\u201d \u00a0The cathedral is connected to the next-door Liebfrauenkirche<\/a>, and the Holy Door is a door to the connecting area between the two churches.<\/p>\n

Next, Strasbourg<\/a>: \u00a0big, touristy, Gothic.<\/p>\n

They took the concept of \u201cdoor\u201d a bit figuratively, designating a side chapel area instead of an actual door. \u00a0This was probably the best solution to the fact that the remainder of the cathedral itself was mobbed by tourists.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1855\" \"IMG_1854\" \"IMG_1853\" \"IMG_1845\"<\/p>\n

Next, Augsburg: \u00a0three<\/strong> Holy Doors! \u00a0Though they took a different approach altogether, naming three major churches as \u201cHoly Doors\u201d but having no designated \u201cdoor\u201d or other indicator of the door-ness of the church anywhere around. \u00a0We found the list online, and I suppose the assumption is that you\u2019d learn about it at your parish, rather than stumble upon it. \u00a0These were also not tourist destination-churches, since Augsburg isn\u2019t a major tourist destination.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the odd thing is this: \u00a0the \u201cofficial\u201d Holy Door is the Augsburg Cathedral. \u00a0But there are multiple other sites at which you can \u201creceive the plenary indulgence,\u201d according to the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here is the \u201cKobel<\/a>,\u201d an old pilgrimage church that just happens to be in my husband\u2019s hometown in suburban Augsburg, on a hilltop overlooking the city.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1313\"<\/p>\n

Here is the Basilica of St. Ulrich and Afra, where we attended the \u201cMass of the Nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1338\" \"IMG_1919\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1916\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1920\"<\/p>\n

And, eh, there\u2019s the Augsburg cathedral, of which we took no pictures, because it wasn\u2019t nearly as nice as Ulrich & Afra. \u00a0The brochure we picked up about it described it as what amounted to an extended effort at \u201ckeeping up with the Joneses,\u201d trying to remodel and add on in each successive building style and in the end never creating anything remarkable.<\/p>\n

Last stop: \u00a0Munich. \u00a0Holy Door on the side of the church, with nothing remarkably Year of Mercy-ish inside except a brochure rack.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1518\"<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1507\"<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s your Holy Door tour 2016.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Images: \u00a0own work except as noted.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finally getting around to posting some pictures from the vacation, where the Holy Year added another dimension to the various stops at churches. Our first Holy Door stop: the stumbled-upon\u00a0St. Nicholas in Amsterdam, where, when we visited on a Monday and they advertised mass in English on Tuesdays, I realized I should have looked a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":4908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[433,415],"class_list":["post-4907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-jubilee-year","tag-vacation-2016"],"yoast_head":"\nA tour of Holy Doors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Finally getting around to posting some pictures from the vacation, where the Holy Year added another dimension to the various stops at churches. 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