We've spoken in the past here on a few occasions about what might be done in parishes that are designed from a modern perspective to re-enchant them, at least to some degree.
This can be an easier process when one is going to permanently alter the church, but it is also possible to work in the context of temporary circumstances.
A member from the The Lake Charles Latin Mass Society emailed me tonight to share their "altar-ation" for the celebration of the classical Roman liturgy.
Here is the parish sanctuary as it stands:
As you can see, one of the very most modern styles of sanctuaries with everything, including the altar and cross offset. In the background, a modern art like banner.
Now, here is what they do for the classical use. They add a full size altar frontal, place the candlesticks upon the altar, move the cross directly behind and in the centre, remove the flowers and they have also placed some decorative panels behind which work in such a way to give the illusion of extending the visual space of the altar (and which also seem to have a joining piece which hold the actual candlesticks.
The result:
Very encouraging -- and one never knows, this is where we can also consider that the type of setup being employed for the classical use here could eventually also be used for the modern use -- all of which would be very much in the mind of Benedict as part of a possible cross-fertilization to re-assert a hermeneutic of continuity.
