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by Blackfox
When I was young, everyone - and I mean E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. - went to church on Sundays. To not go demanded an explanation. It has been almost 70 years since I set foot in St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral but I can assure you that, back in the day, every Sunday service (five of them: every hour starting at 7 am) was well attended and the 11 am service was packed.
Look at the founding dates of these churches (and these are just a few of the many churches that I passed on my way to school: about 2.5 km);St. Thomas Anglican 1879
St. Catherine of Alexandria 1845 (Catholic)
St. George's Anglican 1792 (bell tower completed 1845)
Knox Presbyterian 1859
These churches, for the most part, were well designed by the most talented architects of the day and constructed by the finest artists and artisans. They would have been very expensive to build. But the population of St. Catharines, back then, was only about 6,000. To do this, not only would the churches have had to have widespread popular support but they would have needed huge financial support from the town's elites. That these churches were built is proof that they reflected the popular will. Everyone did sing from the same hymn book. Such an enterprise would not be possible today with such a fractured culture.
The big question is: What happened to religious culture between then and now? Why are the pews empty? A part answer is: two World Wars and the return of the hundreds of thousands of tired and bitter returning soldiers suffering from physical and moral exhaustion.
Another part is the post-war Marxist infiltration of the political and educational culture. The Marxists took full advantage of this post-war exhaustion and began to sing their siren song promising a peaceful and prosperous post war utopia. All everyone had to do was to give up all of their old ways which was, to the Marxists, the cause of all wars and injustice. In other words: they asked a morally exhausted society to commit cultural suicide. The soldiers were too sick and tired of conflict to resist. A Christian based moral system was told to submit to the new enlightened political and economic based moral system.
And just what was the basis of this new system? It was Marxist Egalitarianism aka: communism. But it was a political system that dared not speak its name so they called it Progressivism. Under this new system all belief systems would be equal (except for Progressivism, of course, which would be more equal than the others).
It all sounded so "fair" and who would dare to speak out against this new "fairness"? Naturally, their seductive, but ever so subtly threatening, radical agenda was met with very little opposition.
If the men returning home from war were exhausted then the women who waited the many years for the men to return were fed up with war. They would embrace anyone who promised a new way to settle disputes and the Progressives promised a new, more enlightened way to a permanent state of peace and prosperity. And so, the agents of Progressivism entered the Church unopposed.
And, lastly, the Churches seemed unable to grasp how the big wars had spiritually exhausted their congregations. They could have combated the Marxists by carrying out a post-war spiritual renewal but they failed to do so. Even worse, some priests actually embraced the new doctrine.
Now the pews are empty, and the country as a whole, is paying the price.
Above: St. George's Anglican church in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario - plans to build started circa 1796 to accommodate Irish and other immigrants who were imported to help build the Welland Canal. By 1801 a wooden structure had been completed but it burned down in 1836. It was replaced with a stone church in 1840 but the bell tower completion had to wait until 1845.
The first Catholic Church in St. Catharines was opened in 1829. It was a wood structure on the same site as the present cathedral and it was called St. John’s because the Anglicans were already using the name St. Catherine for their church in the town of the same name.
That church was burned down by an arsonist on August 23,1842. A new church was built and opened on June 10 1845. The new church was now dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria. The Catholic was free to use the name since the Anglicans, after their church had burned down, built a new church which was named after St. George thus freeing up the name of St. Catherine.
You will notice that St. George's Anglican Church bell tower and the St. Catherine of Alexandria Church were completed at the same time. My guess is that St. George's (formerly known as St. Catherine Anglican Church) exchanged the rights to the St. Catherine name, to the Catholic Church, in a quid pro quo for the funds necessary to complete the bell tower.
The above photo of the church interior is almost exactly as I remember it except that the pulpit is missing. It would have been beside the pillar just above the people in the picture and the alter with tabernacle, which was a very large edifice, would have been just under the large stained glass window at the front of the church. The entrance to the sacristy was just to the right of the alter. The overall gravitas of the church was much more imposing then.
All of the statues, paintings, and stained glass windows of Christian religious figures took our religious abstractions and displayed them in beautiful representational forms. This was true of all the churches but was especially so in the Catholic churches.
Knox Presbyterian Church opened in 1860. Bottom photo taken in 1910.
St. Catherine of Alexandria 1845 (Catholic)
St. George's Anglican 1792 (bell tower completed 1845)
Knox Presbyterian 1859
These churches, for the most part, were well designed by the most talented architects of the day and constructed by the finest artists and artisans. They would have been very expensive to build. But the population of St. Catharines, back then, was only about 6,000. To do this, not only would the churches have had to have widespread popular support but they would have needed huge financial support from the town's elites. That these churches were built is proof that they reflected the popular will. Everyone did sing from the same hymn book. Such an enterprise would not be possible today with such a fractured culture.
The big question is: What happened to religious culture between then and now? Why are the pews empty? A part answer is: two World Wars and the return of the hundreds of thousands of tired and bitter returning soldiers suffering from physical and moral exhaustion.
Another part is the post-war Marxist infiltration of the political and educational culture. The Marxists took full advantage of this post-war exhaustion and began to sing their siren song promising a peaceful and prosperous post war utopia. All everyone had to do was to give up all of their old ways which was, to the Marxists, the cause of all wars and injustice. In other words: they asked a morally exhausted society to commit cultural suicide. The soldiers were too sick and tired of conflict to resist. A Christian based moral system was told to submit to the new enlightened political and economic based moral system.
And just what was the basis of this new system? It was Marxist Egalitarianism aka: communism. But it was a political system that dared not speak its name so they called it Progressivism. Under this new system all belief systems would be equal (except for Progressivism, of course, which would be more equal than the others).
It all sounded so "fair" and who would dare to speak out against this new "fairness"? Naturally, their seductive, but ever so subtly threatening, radical agenda was met with very little opposition.
If the men returning home from war were exhausted then the women who waited the many years for the men to return were fed up with war. They would embrace anyone who promised a new way to settle disputes and the Progressives promised a new, more enlightened way to a permanent state of peace and prosperity. And so, the agents of Progressivism entered the Church unopposed.
And, lastly, the Churches seemed unable to grasp how the big wars had spiritually exhausted their congregations. They could have combated the Marxists by carrying out a post-war spiritual renewal but they failed to do so. Even worse, some priests actually embraced the new doctrine.
Now the pews are empty, and the country as a whole, is paying the price.
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Above: St Thomas’ Anglican Church was completed and had its first church service in October 1879. It is built in the Richardson Romanesque style (I will do a post on this at some point) and has many beautiful stained glass windows.
The first Catholic Church in St. Catharines was opened in 1829. It was a wood structure on the same site as the present cathedral and it was called St. John’s because the Anglicans were already using the name St. Catherine for their church in the town of the same name.
That church was burned down by an arsonist on August 23,1842. A new church was built and opened on June 10 1845. The new church was now dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria. The Catholic was free to use the name since the Anglicans, after their church had burned down, built a new church which was named after St. George thus freeing up the name of St. Catherine.
You will notice that St. George's Anglican Church bell tower and the St. Catherine of Alexandria Church were completed at the same time. My guess is that St. George's (formerly known as St. Catherine Anglican Church) exchanged the rights to the St. Catherine name, to the Catholic Church, in a quid pro quo for the funds necessary to complete the bell tower.
The above photo of the church interior is almost exactly as I remember it except that the pulpit is missing. It would have been beside the pillar just above the people in the picture and the alter with tabernacle, which was a very large edifice, would have been just under the large stained glass window at the front of the church. The entrance to the sacristy was just to the right of the alter. The overall gravitas of the church was much more imposing then.
All of the statues, paintings, and stained glass windows of Christian religious figures took our religious abstractions and displayed them in beautiful representational forms. This was true of all the churches but was especially so in the Catholic churches.
Knox Presbyterian Church opened in 1860. Bottom photo taken in 1910.
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