Pontificator (who has a new blog location by the way), recently posted a fine article entitled Renewing the “Renewed” Liturgy. There is some good discussion over at his blog. Here are his ideas for making the Western Liturgy more sacred. What do you think?
(1) Abandon the versus populum, immediately! Let priest and people face God together. The single most destructive feature of the “renewed liturgy” is its anthropocentric orientation. The people of God are sanctified by worshipping God, not by celebrating each other.
(2) Restore the chanted liturgy. Prayers are to be sung according to the ancient forms.
(3) Ban the musical compositions of Marty Haugen and David Haas and anything similar. Gregorian chant must be restored as the primary music of the Latin rite. Given the magnitude of the problem, it is probably best to simply ban all music composed after 1960. Perhaps one day the good music that has been composed during the past forty years can be retrieved, but that day is not now. Catholic priests and musicians today do not know what sacred music is.
(4) Restore the use of incense.
(5) Eradicate ritual informality.
(6) Drastically reduce electronic amplification.
(7) Encourage eucharistic adoration both within and outside the Mass. Let the people prostrate themselves before Christ Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. A bow of the head is not sufficient!
After much thought, I have finally become persuaded that all Catholic priests should be authorized to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, despite the inevitable confusion this will create. While I personally believe that liturgy should be normatively celebrated in the language of the people, I also believe that the practical abolition of the Tridentine Mass was wrong and destructive. We must retrace our steps and attempt to undo the blunders of the post-Vatican II Church. In one way or another, we must forge new connections to the liturgical tradition and the Mass of St Pius V.
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June 12, 2007 at 9:34 am
Amen!!!!
June 13, 2007 at 5:24 pm
While I can understand the aesthetic that prompts Pontificator’s suggestions, they are still, I think, over reactions to bad liturgy. We do not have to “medievalize” the Mass in order for its celebration to be pious, Christ-honoring, and aethetically pleasing.
In my own parish here in Washington State, the celebration of the Mass is, for the most part, a beautiful experience, and it has been getting even better in the past three years. We use organ and piano (often trumpets on feasts) as well as a well trained choir. The hymns are taken from many sources - traditional Catholic ones, as well as from Lutheran and Anglican sources, besides some of the more modern compositions. Our priests are very reverent and the ritual actions are simple, meaningful, dignified.
In our parish the Tabernacle is in Its own chapel. People, on entering church, bless themselves with holy water and bow to the altar and, upon passing the Tabernacle, bow or genuflect (most bow).
Of course, there is always room for improvement, but I really have no complaints. And I have noticed things gettng better in many parishes. Does anyone ever watch the Mass from Notre Dame? Beautifully done!
We have to be careful in reacting to bad liturgies not to romanticize certain practices of the past. Although raised Anglican we did attend Catholic Masses when I was young (my cousins were Catholic) and frankly, even with Latin and chanted prayers, and the priest facing towards the altar, some of those liturgies were just aweful! Mumbled prayers, people in the pews doing their own thing wandering about during Mass lighting candles, really bad choirs doing really bad Latin etc. And, let’s face it, some of the older sugary sweet hymns of the pre Vatican 2 days were just so syrupy and maudlin.
I used to get all upset (even as an Anglican) when people bowed toward the Tabernacle instead of genuflecting. But why? The Eastern Christians have done nothing but bow for 2000 years and their devotion to the Real Presence is just as strong as ours. And, if you know history, you’ll realize that genuflection is a fairly late comer to the Western Church and wasn’t at all liked when first introduced.
My point is simply this: That Mass is a good one where the celebration is done reverently, the music (of whatever genre) is performed well, where the Real Presence of Christ is honored (by bowing, genuflection, nod of the head…but truly in lives), and the teaching is orthodox. Other than that, it’s all a matter of local taste and talent.
June 16, 2007 at 5:05 pm
You have a point Hobbit. Many people find the Novus Ordo inadequate but their reasons are as you said, largely aesthetic rather then spiritual.
But then again, some people do have beef with the new Mass due to the fact that its “theologically inadequate”, with certain words from the liturgy needed to validly institute the Eucharist.
Of course, I am unsure as to how much this concerns many average Catholics but I believe that going back to Tridentine worship would have to be a stage-by-stage process, involving first a revision of liturgical texts (It has been going on for some time but still nothing coming out of it.), the re-addition of certain parts like “I will go unto the altar of God” “Vidi Aquam” etc, making the Mass richer first.
From there, we can proceed to ensuring that pre-Vatican II worship be implemented, but using the vernacular but designing it in such a way to ensure that the faithful participates in the Mass and not just observe.
The addition of Latin in worship is an ongoing process. Since we are Latin-rite, we should encourage the singing of some liturgical parts in Latin for a start and can be applied in the context of the Novus Ordo. We do not need to wait for motu propio for that to happen.
Importantly, we must remember that this is a challenge. To reintroduce something of the past is a great challenge as we live in the present. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to make our ancient worship relevant to the present and the future. After all, renewal should seek to fulfill the old, not abolish it.
All in all, as I have put my two cents worth in order, we must never allow anything to distract us from our relationship with and worship of God. And, we should also look into building a heart for and of worship, leading people of all ages into a personal and saving relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.