On May 17, after the 10 AM Mass, we are honored to welcome Mr. Mark Scott Abeln, who will be on hand to present and autograph his brand new book, Catholic St. Louis, A Pictorial History. Mr. Abeln has generously donated the net profit of books sold on this occasion to The Friends of St. Francis de Sales, Inc. We are grateful for Mr. Abeln’s generosity, and also for this excellent undertaking which illustrates and preserves the history of the Catholic Church in St, Louis. Everyone is cordially invited to come meet Mr. Abeln after Mass, and to purchase a signed copy of his book ($32.95) to benefit the Oratory’s restoration effort.
Review of the Book
Catholic St. Louis: A Pictorial History by William Barnaby Faherty S.J., with photography by Mark Abeln (Reedy Press, 2009) has just been published. It is a collaborative effort between a noted historian of St. Louis, Fr. William Faherty, S.J., and a noted native photographer and blogger, Mr. Mark Scott Abeln (“Rome of the West,” www.romeofthewest.com).
The narrative of Fr. Faherty in this book is typical of his other works on the history of Catholic St. Louis: factual and colorful interweaving of people and events which filled the quintessential American immigration story of the Nineteenth Century. The photographic artistry of Mr. Abeln is also typical of his many published works on the Internet: technically superb, and artistically provocative.
This collaboration proves the inadequacy of the cliché, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” While each of Mr. Abeln’s color photographs illustrates beautifully various St. Louis area churches, the collection of these photos, taken as a whole, says far more than the sum of its parts. When combined with a historical narrative, the synergistic result is an account of a people who formed the rich fabric of St. Louis society.
The history of St. Louis is Catholic Americana at its very best. It is a story featuring a cast of characters who sequentially dominated the St. Louis scene for more than a century, and left their individual marks on the building of America – from frontier schools and hospitals to universities. It is also a story of the Universal Church at its best. Although they came from many lands in Europe – France, Belgium, Ireland, and Germany, they shared one common frame of reference: the Church.
Mr. Abeln’s photography of the edifices of faith illustrates beautifully the complex diversity of St. Louis’ people and their past. More than that, his photography captures a sense of the sacred which is the essence of Catholic architecture.
By its nature, most Catholic churches, particularly those of past centuries, are photogenic. Tradition, form, and function have always combined to express an other-worldly beauty. Mr. Abeln’s selection of subjects illustrates more; he is able to bring forth dignity and beauty to show a truism: a Roman Catholic church is never empty, even when it is devoid of human presence. In addition to architectural details, the depictions include many solemnly decorated altars, stained-glass windows, side altars, and statues. The Real Presence is always accompanied by saints and angels – visibly represented by the statues and stained-glass representations, and invisibly by the collective consciousness of Catholic tradition. The collection of photographs manages to show this.
In this collection of photographs, there emerges an additional element which is not easily captured on paper. Through these beautifully composed photographs of sacred space, Mr. Abeln is able to show a dignity which beckons – an irresistible invitation to go visit the actual place, to be near the real altar, thus giving a new meaning to the American evangelical protestant term “altar call.” In contemplating these images, the reader gets the sense that, indeed, the Altar calls.
This book may be enjoyed on several levels: as a pictorial record of St. Louis’ rich Catholic history, or, with quiet contemplation, as a reminder to all Catholics that there are sacred spaces, likely inside our own neighborhood parish church, where we will find peace and solace.
