A day of contrasts

Four places of worship in Valencia, 2 parochial churches, one cathedral and a basilica. Art, sculpture, reliquaries, gold, silver, history, beauty, statues of Mary, gospel writers, saints, angels, the crucified Christ, people at Mass and at prayer and yet despite all these beautiful things dedicated to the worship of God, the place that for me had the greatest spiritual resonance was the one that retained its gothic style and had a simplicity uncluttered by richness and opulence in the Iglesia de Santa Catalina (Church of St Catherine). This was a church that seemed to be a place dedicated to prayer and service rather than a veneration of artefacts (but perhaps that is just my primitive Methodist roots coming out).

The Cathedral contains a chapel which houses The Holy Grail.  This is a chalice that dates to the first century but was embellished with gold and precious stones in later centuries. If it is the cup that Jesus used then it’s veneration can be understood as a vessel  that holds the mystery of faith. Other places also claim to have the grail. I suppose we will never know.

The picture below is of the rose window in the Cathedral. I was struck by how from the outside of the building there are no colours to be seen. You had to be on the inside to see the beauty of the window in all its Technicolor. Perhaps faith is sometimes like  that. People on the outside of faith, looking in can’t see what there is to it, but to dare to enter in is to discover a life full of richness and colour.