Facts About Staten Island Church

By Elsa English


Churches are important for Catholics and Christians, just as mosques are for Muslims and temples are for Buddhists. These are special places of worships people come to fulfill religious duties as part of their faithful obligations. They come in all sizes, they come in all forms. They have distinct characteristics, yet they have their own uniqueness that make them just perfect for the purpose by which they are made. Very beautiful churches abound the world, including Staten Island church.

The architecture of these buildings are as old as the centuries old religion itself. Roman Catholic Churches are well known for their complex structural forms that display the work of what seems to be no less than very accomplished workmen. Most churches are often included in the array of finest buildings in an area.

Most people think that a church is just that, a building where sermons or masses are heard. In reality, they serve different functions. They can be cathedrals, abbey churches, and basilicas, or they can be none of these, as with the case of the greatest Protestant churches.

Cathedrals are often used by many to name a church that is of huge proportions. They take one look at the very spacious house of worship and declare it to be a cathedral. This is actually wrong, because not all cathedrals are enormous with its huge columns and echoing walls. The term cathedral means bishops throne, which means that a cathedral is where a bishop does his duties and where most important liturgical rites are made.

Basilicas are styled after the famous Roman architecture. They often take after the shape of a cross. They have long central aisles with a nave at the center. Two more aisles extend on both sides of the said nave, which are separated by colonnades.

There are four designated major basilicas in the world. These are the four churches of Rome of the fourth century tradition, including the very well known Basilica of St. Peter. One of the many reasons why a church is raised into the status of a basilica is because it houses a relic of a saint or objects of religious veneration.

Abbeys are church buildings occupied by monastic orders such as the Franciscans, Augustinians, Jesuits, and other religious societies. Back in the monastic era these does not only feature a place of worship. It often includes an entire complex that caters to the needs of the monks living in it.

Abbeys also serve not only the monastic community but also the local community as well. Monks and friars were usually the ones the villagers ask for help. When these monasteries were dissolved, they just doubled as parish churches.

Of course, the appearance of the church does not affect its purpose. Whether big or small, humble or intricate, they are still very special places for the faithful. This is where the religious give thanks and worship the Maker they firmly believe in.




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