Week 7: Molly: Comment on The Christian Basilica Article

According to Stalley in The Christian Basilica, "The more spacious and highly decorated churches constructed after 313 evidently contributed to an increase in the formality of proceedings, and in this respect it was the architecture that had a direct impact on the liturgy" (23).
I thought this was a really interesting idea. I had not suspected that the procession to the altar became a integral part of the Mass because the nave was now longer, making the apse farther from the narthex. When, while being persecuted, Christians met in certain people's homes in the city, they probably did not have an opening procession but now the basilican plan allows them to create a new tradition. The larger, grander building created a grander, more formal Mass. The architecture of a building impacts what actually takes place inside it.