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What critics are saying about Heavenly City:
"Heavenly City is
so beautifully illustrated that I can imagine using it as a source of
prayer -- as many Catholics pray with icons today. It would be fatuous
to pick a favorite from the riches that McNamara and Morris lay before
the reader. Suffice it to say that they offer almost seventy examples of
churches, built in various styles over more than a century, which
testify to their builders' belief that a church is the domus Dei et
porta coeli [the house of God and the gate to heaven], not simply
the domus ecclesiae [the house of the Church]...Heavenly
City reminds us that, because our churches are homes for the
Blessed Sacrament, it is God himself who gives those buildings their
real and full depth of meaning. If we remembered that, we might start
building beautiful churches again."
—George Wiegel,
author and historian
“No mere coffee-table ornament, this book is a superb collection by
one of this generation's finest architectural historians and the world's
preeminent architectural photographer. The result is a work of history
and of architectural record that offers a much needed rendering of one
of the most impressive architectural ensembles in the United
States....Denis McNamara'a research and text are of the first-rank."
— Noah Waldman,
Traditional Building Magazine, December 2005
"Heavenly City serves as a timely reminder that the humanist
tradition in architecture and art speaks to mankind...and the high
quality of the architecture in McNamara's book is the result of the
Catholic Church's sound reliance on a noble heritage."
— Catesby Leigh,
First Things, May 2006
"Lavish color photographs of more than 60 of Chicago's churches and
chapels..."
—
"Guide to Great Reads," Chicago Tribune, December 15, 2005
“Heavenly
City is an inspiring, education and heart-warming read, one that
reconnects Chicago natives and foreigners alike to the architectural and
artistic heritage of one of the nation's most dynamic modern cities.
Denis McNamara and [photographer] James Morris convey the richness of
this heritage, answering the question of 'what inspires?' in the
simplest, yet most powerful of words: beauty. The entire Church is
profoundly enriched by their efforts.”
— Scott Noto,
Catholic Exchange
“Chicago is a
city of neighborhoods. At the center of many of the neighborhoods stand
Catholic churches, their steeples visible from elevated tracks and
expressways. This glorious book demonstrates that the churches are not
only beautiful places of worship but part of an often unexplored ‘museum
without walls’ stretching from one end of the city to the other, an
indispensable
part of its heritage.”
— Rev. Andrew
Greeley, Chicago priest, author
“Denis McNamara helps us understand the rich heritage of Catholic
Chicago by describing
how
prominently churches are sited within the city. He points out the rich
iconography of
their
sculpture, paintings, mosaics, and stained glass, and the architectural
details that define their style. . . One aspect of the book is
reportage; conveying the who, what, where, and when of Catholic
church building over 160 years. We are fortunate, however, that Denis
McNamara has written Heavenly City, because his study of American
Catholic architecture delves much deeper than a mere guide or a
coffee-table book. Like the best works of architectural history, we
learn, among other things, a great deal about Chicago’s social history.”
— Thomas Gordon
Smith, Thomas Gordon Smith Architects; School of Architecture,
University of Notre Dame
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