Buy this book! Buy this book! Buy this book!
It is an anthology of science fiction that imagines what the Roman Catholic Church might look like in a far future with space travel, etc. I have only read one of the stories in this book so far, but it has been quite a worthwhile read.
This is getting my imaginative juices going full-throttle. What would an Orthodox chapel look like on the Starship Enterprise?
Is that the Starship Enterprise before or after the installation of the holodeck?
Wouldn’t the holodeck be a bit disincarnate for an Orthodox Church?
Though I guess having real people performing a service in a holodeck wouldn’t be a problem necessarily (though I’d find it a bit creepy); I wouldn’t be comfortable with simulated people in the service, though.
(I have given this a lot of thought, actually…)
I would have a severe problem with simulated people in a service. That would be a severe violation of what worship is. The problem is one of physics. Every bit of mass taken into space requires energy to push it around space. And, that energy requires fuel. Moreover, the more mass that you take into space, the larger the spaceship necessary to carry that mass, which is itself more mass, which increases the energy requirements.
Thus worship in space would require some redefinition of what is necessary and proper. It is quite likely that few of the accutraments found in many Orthodox churches would make it into space, or they would be much less “solid.” Chalices and patens might become very lightweight, vestments limited in number, etc.
A holodeck could supplement the very few “real” items possible with the appearance of a virtual church building, etc. Having said that, the Trekkie holodeck is able to produce quite “solid” experiences, a technology which is far beyond any use of hologram that we can imagine nowadays, and, frankly, a technology that seems more designed to provide the opportunity for TV episodes rather than to provide an imaginative view into the future.
The physics of the movement of mass is the limiting factor. Even science fiction stories that assume FTL flight, etc., all have to deal with that problem. In those stories, only the super-rich are able to “take it with them.”
I have a few sketches for zero-gravity lampadas, and a flying church. I have an idea, too, for a zero-gravity chalice, but I’m a little uncertain. Basically, a cloth-of-gold bag, lined with a thin, flexible, impermeable layer. It would be served with a set of spherical golden tongs. The Star would need to be a bit more extensive, to keep the bread on the paten prior to the consecration. The rubrics might have to be adjusted, a bit, too, to keep the Elements from drifting away — though carefully planned airflow might help (i.e., blowers pointed towards the altar — which would do unfortunate things to the seven lampadas. Oh well).
Icons, at least, could be posters, or printed directly on the bulkheads before launch.
Space etiquette already mandates that during meal times, everyone’s heads point in the same general direction. Since the Eucharist is a meal, presumably this rule would carry over to services in free-fall.
Zero-gravity lampadas would bring in the problems of airflow, otherwise the wick might just burn out for lack of oxygen. I am trying to remember my physics of what would happen to an open flame in a zero-gravity environment. Would it not become a globular flame and the CO2 and waste products simply tend to collect in a globular cluster around the flame?
Of course, either gravity “generators” might be developed or enough spin imparted to a large ship to allow for enough gravity (or micro-gravity) to solve the flame problem. However, in a small diameter spinning ship, would the flame tend to show a coriolis effect?
Finally, the Western Rite that is found among the Antiochians, ROCOR, etc., already use a leavened host. Might not space lend itself to a change in Orthodoxy from bread in wine to host and wine?
If the flame was large enough to show a noticeable coriolis effect, you’d have bigger problems than a funny-shaped flame.
My lampada plan includes a small fan, blowing air up from the base towards the end of the wick. Because of this, the lampada will have to be powered, but that shouldn’t be too hard to arrange.
One huge problem with space food is crumbs — without gravity, they tend to go everywhere. The Eucharist would be especially problematic in that respect. I suspect that the only workable solution would be to cut the host in an inclosed space — perhaps after putting it into the chalice.
Hi, Father! Thanks so much for posting about ISIG. I know you read Ken’s story. He and Alan are amazing writers!
There’s a good story in ISIG that deals with the expense of mass problem. In “Our Daily Bread,” they lose their supply of Host in an accident, which is a real problem for a large portion of the mining crew, who joined that outfit specifically because it had a deacon and weekly Mass. then few Hosts that are left start mysteriously multiplying? Miracle of trick? Either way, it brings both joy and tension to this religiously-mixed group.
Funny you should be talking about virtual chapels. We have one story that deals with them coming in ISIG II–“Otherworld.” In it, a priest has a ministry in a virtual reality world (think Second Life on steroids). Of course, there are no real Masses there–there is no real matter–but he’s ministering to a people who think that just because it’s not “real,” they have free license to do whatever they want–including a woman who has set up her own “Catholic” church and set herself up as priest.
ISIG II comes out in April.
In my next novel, DISCOVERY, I have a ship chapel that is holographically controlled. The Host is real, of course.
So glad I found your website. Incidentally, Rob and I both like the comic “Nine Chickweed Lane.”
Blessings!
Karina, I have been a Paladin in both Everquest and World of Warcraft. Particularly in Everquest, as people found out that I was a priest, I would end up in counseling situations in private /tells. Because Everquest was the earlier game, there were more problems with both game addiction and people confusing virtual and real worlds, so that I even had one case of virtual adultery complete with emotional devastation by the woman when the man simply dropped the game and dropped out of her life. He was virtually acting out, she had become emotionally involved.
Virtuality is already lapping at the edges of reality.
So true, and a little scary, too. You have people both wanting to believe it’s real and treating it as real while at the same time feeling they are off the hook because it’s not. When we start adding the full sensory experience, it’s going to get worse. Part of the story in Otherworld has to do with a woman in an abusive online relationship. She starts out by saying “I’m just having fun with Mr. Wrong until I find Mr. Right” but in the end, you can see that the guy’s convinced her she doesn’t rate a Mr Right in either world.
BTW, Rob (my Mr Right of 19 years and counting!) said you’re correct on the candle–it would make a blue sphere and would tend to go out easily because there isn’t a flow of oxygen due to lack of gravity. (Hot air diffuses instead of rises.)
Blessings!