Sacred Space: An Aesthetic for the Liturgical Environment (University monograph series)

"An aesthetic", says Father McNally, "is a way of perceiving reality with a certain preference for order. A church is a particular product of a way of preferential perception of reality. The two "ways" may have nothing in common. In fact, the church might be built according to a preferential perception considered by very few to be aesthetic. This book is essentially a discussion of the two questions: what is sacred space? and, how does a community make a sacred space? The research done on the churches themselves is included in an extensive appendix so that the reader might be spared the emotional exhaustion of virtually visiting forty-three works of art at one sitting. However, the examination of sacred space, with these examples at hand, might very well clarify the specifics of the questions. My purpose in visiting forty-three churches has been to define an aesthetic for sacred space".Dennis McNally is the author of 'Sacred Space: An Aesthetic for the Liturgical Environment (University monograph series)' with ISBN 9781556051548 and ISBN 1556051549.