Laudator Temporis Acti

Albert Jay Nock, A Journey Into Rabelais's France (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1934), p. 78:

The secularizing of old churches, abbeys, convents and the like sometimes leads to queer anomalies. Over in Mainz three years ago we spent an evening in a fine prosperous beer-hall called the Cafe of the Holy Ghost. The name attracted us in the first instance, and we went in to find out about it. The place was originally a convent and had been secularized or "disaffected," as the French say which is a fine word for it; we like that word in this connexion, for some reason and the minions of Gambrinus promptly took it over. They had the good sense to let the building stay intact, and the general effect is interesting; also one can see that it is probably more cheerful now than it was under its original auspices. The only structural change that the church authorities insisted on when the building was "disaffected" was that the stained-glass windows should be removed. This seems a strange proviso; maybe the glass was good, and the far-sighted authorities knew of a place where it would come handy.

I wonder if this is the beer-hall in Mainz.

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A friend sent this photo of a former church in Elgin, Scotland, with the comment "Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger. ΙΧΘΥΣ off the menu, however. On the other hand, ὧν τὸ τέλος ἀπώλεια, ὧν ὁ θεὸς ἡ κοιλία."



Related post: A Restaurant in a Former Church.