Catholic Church interiors: The Floor
by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B. | 07/28/2024 | A Message from Our PastorDear Parishioners,
Continuing my catechetical reflections on Catholic Church interiors, this week I want to focus on the floor. Quite a few years ago, while I was a young monk living at St. Procopius Abbey, it became time to replace all the carpet throughout the monastery. Those of you who have been to the abbey may have observed that there are two main types of flooring throughout the building; quarry tile, which is in the majority of rooms thereby creating an atmosphere of stark simplicity with excellent acoustics, (perfect for Gregorian Chant), and carpet which is in the bedrooms, cloister hallways and other spaces where a softer, quieter atmosphere is desired.
In an effort to involve the monastic community in the decision making process of selecting new carpet, the abbot called a meeting of all the monks and displayed samples of the various options. This attempt may have been an example of the proverbial, “be careful what you invite people to discuss,” because it lasted for well over an hour. Monks, who I thought would have cared less about the carpeting, suddenly had opinions of varying intensity with varying amounts of information. After a time of lively sharing one of the older more frustrated brothers asked, Why was it so necessary to spend all this time talking about what’s under our feet? No one at the time answered his rhe-torical question, but days later I found myself responding, We spent this amount of time talking about what’s under our feet because it matters. It matters what’s under our feet. It matters what we stand on, walk on, kneel on, and, in those less fortunate moments, fall on. Flooring matters.
In the book of Exodus, when Moses encountered the Divine and terrifying presence in the burning bush, God commanded him to remove his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Centu-ries later, when the rabbis pondered this biblical scenario, they queried as to why God would have designated one specific spot as “holy” when in fact, all the earth was holy since it was a product of God’s creative hand. The story of creation narrated in the book of Genesis already decreed that God looked at everything he had made and found it very good. How then could one place be holier than another so as to warrant the removal of one’s shoes? The rabbis answered their question by first affirming the universal holiness of all things and all places that God created. Sinful humanity however, so often blinded by its own prejudices and limited perceptions, does not always recognize this divine holiness. It is necessary therefore, to designate (or consecrate) particular places and spaces as holy for the purpose of reminding humanity of the holiness that is universal, permeating the whole created world. The so called “sacred places” are holier not by virtue of their quality, but by virtue of their quantity. In other words, they can be numbered, quantified, so that their invisible quality of holiness might not go unrecognized.
During the initial Church Enhancement meetings for our parish we spent a great deal of time discussing flooring possibilities. St. Joan of Arc church was always a carpeted space since the time of its construction in 1976. During this period of liturgical transition, many churches opted to install carpet. It was an appealing option for some because it created a warm, hospitable atmosphere which Catholics in this country were attempting to create after centuries of, what some considered, cold, distant and inordinately formal liturgies. It was not long however, when the disad-vantages of carpet began to surface. For one thing, it compromised the quality of acoustics that professional musicians deemed important. Carpet absorbs sounds. Music, whether instrumental or vocal, is not able to reverberate throughout the worship space as easily lending beauty to the rites. Music oftentimes sounded lifeless and trite. Hard surfaces, such as those created from materials like terrazzo however, enhance the sound of music giving it a lively quality and deepening its tones. It tends to make a deeper impression on the hearers.
Another disadvantage to carpet is its limited lifespan. Depending upon how many people regularly walk on its surface, carpet typically has to be replaced every ten years, making this a costly item for a parish. Initially it was less expensive to install, but in the end it became one of the greater expenses. Furthermore, carpet is difficult to maintain and far less sanitary than other materials.
Urging our design committee to recommend a material other than carpet, we were left with the following options: terrazzo, vinyl, ceramic, wood and marble. Each had advantages and disadvantages, but after weighting our findings, there was no doubt that terrazzo was preferable because it was durable, beautiful, the easiest to maintain and the most environmen-tally friendly. This would explain why it is the flooring found in so many public buildings and institutions such as, churches, airports, transpor-tation centers, schools, hospitals and corporate offices.
As a material terrazzo is a composite of chips of marble, granite, quartz, glass, shell and other substances. This dry aggregate is then combined with an epoxy matrix that is poured in place. Brass or other metal dividers are used to divide the sections on the surface and provide the possibility for creative, decorative designs such as patterns or logos. While some believe that terrazzo is a slippery surface, especially when wet, a water-based, anti-slip sealer is applied after the terrazzo compound is ground and polished making it far less hazardous than many people realize.
With the exception of the sacristy, children’s chapel and reconciliation rooms, all the flooring in our newly enhanced worship space will be terrazzo. This includes the baptismal font as well. The rich and creative use of color that terrazzo allows, is transformative of the church interior. Most noteworthy are the intertwining green and gold bands that wind their way down the main aisle giving this processional aisle a prominence and dynamic quality that evokes movement and journey. At the journey’s end, symbolized just before ascending the sanctuary which represents the antechamber of heaven, there is a medallion of a Benedictine Cross, also of terrazzo, that sets this area apart for the special ritual actions and rites of passage that take place there, e.g., weddings, funerals, baptisms, First Com-munion.
So to answer the initial question posed by the monk from St. Procopius Abbey, Why spend all this time talking about what’s under our feet? The answer is, it matters because it brings significant qualities to the action of our worship that help to make this experience truly more human and truly more divine.
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