Domus Dei et Porta Caeli

From my parish, St. Theresa Catholic Church in Sugar Land, TX.

I snapped this photo of our newly renovated sanctuary after mass this morning (click to enlarge), the fruit of many months of hard work. Architect: Duncan Stroik:



Here is a close up of the new altar. Relics of St. Therese of Lisieux are entombed visibly inside of it:


From Built of Living Stones Ch 2:56,60:

At the Eucharist, the liturgical assembly celebrates the ritual sacrificial meal that recalls and makes present Christ's life, death, and resurrection, proclaiming "the death of the Lord until he comes." The altar is "the center of thanksgiving that the Eucharist accomplishes" and the point around which the other rites are in some manner arrayed... In the Church's history and tradition, the altar was often placed over the tombs of the saints or the relics of saints were deposited beneath the altar. The presence of relics of saints in the altar provides a witness to the Church's belief that the Eucharist celebrated on the altar is the source of the grace that won sanctity for the saints.