2010 Collage Concert at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Photo (c) 2010 by Dee Ann Young.
Prepare for “Chant & Contemplation”
We hope you’re looking forward to your experience at our Collage Concert performances! There have been several features in the local papers that can prepare you as far as what to expect from our programming. The stained glass windows in the cathedral tell the story of Mary’s emotional journey, and the music you’ll hear takes a similar emotional arc. You can read more about that in the articles linked below.
J.A.C. Redford’s “Rest, Now My Sister”
15 Bytes, Becky Durham
Utah Chamber Artists Brings “Collage” to Cathedral
15 Bytes, Jennifer Napier-Pearce
Taking Listeners into the Darkness and Back Again
Salt Lake Tribune, Catherine Reese Newton
Utah Chamber Artists Open Season Next Week with Popular Collage Concerts
Reichel Recommends, Edward Reichel
Another thing you might want to consider when coming to our Collage Concerts is learning a bit about the Cathedral of the Madeleine. If you arrive early you may want to stroll past the fourteen stations of the cross painted by Utah artist Roger (Sam) Wilson in 1992 and 1993. These new stations, starting at the northeast end of the building, begin with Jesus in the Garden of Olives and end with the burial of Christ.
Stephanie Asalone, a UCA audience member and frequent visitor of the Cathedral of the Madeleine wrote the following to provide some history of the stations of the cross and their meaning to the church members:
Stations of the cross are found in all Catholic churches and many Episcopal/Anglican churches. The death of Christ and the events leading up to it, known within the Catholic Church as ‘the Passion’, has played a central role in the church’s theology for centuries. In the early church, a popular pilgrimage for believers involved visiting Jerusalem to walk the route Christ took through the city to Golgotha and his crucifixion, venerating various spots along the way where significant events were believed to have happened. Obviously, such a journey incurred significant expense, giving rise, over time, to the idea of ‘miniaturizing’ this experience locally for believers.
The earliest examples of such practice come from the Franciscans, who began administration of Christian sites in the Holy Land in the 14th century, and started creating duplicate sites in Europe a couple hundred years later. These were outdoor shrine series, suffering a high degree of deterioration due to exposure to the elements, and presenting the clear need for better shelter to allow the devotions to continue. Responding to this need, in the year 1686, Pope Innocent XI granted permission to the Franciscans to install the shrines inside churches, which is where they typically have been located ever since.
The spiritual value of the Stations of the Cross centers on the opportunity for the practitioner to meditate on the key moments of Jesus’ final hours by viewing artistic representations of these moments, often in the form of paintings or statuary. In the modern church, fourteen stations have become the norm, and include, among other points, Christ’s condemnation, Simon of Cyrene’s temporary carriage of the cross, Christ’s three falls under the cross’ weight, the crucifixion, and placement of the body into the tomb. The stations follow a chronological order, usually starting on the left side of the worship space (facing the altar) and either crossing the back wall and onto the right-hand wall, or on the left and right walls only.
The stations inside the Cathedral of the Madeleine are some of the more colorful and unique to be found. Though they are highly stylized, these stations are part of a heritage of memorialization of the events surrounding Christ’s death which has become a Catholic standard. Like the stations of the cross in churches everywhere, they are intended to remind an ever-busier and more distracted world outside the church doors that the events of two millennia ago are still relevant, and are worthy of the silent pondering and gratitude of seeking souls.
