For by your ministry the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful will be made perfect, being united to the sacrifice of Christ, which will be offered through your hands in an unbloody way on the altar, in union with the faithful, in the celebration of the sacraments.
The Holy Father thus far is maintaining the "Benedictine altar arrangement," using much nicer vestments and miter, and distributing Holy Communion to kneeling deacons by way of intinction! It doesn't get any better than this. The actual Mass begins at about 6 minutes into the video below with "Tu Es Petrus!" Then there is an Italian hymn sung during the procession and then the Proper Introit is chanted in Latin as the Holy Father incenses the altar. The Mass is in Italian including Eucarhistic Prayer III, but the parts sung by the congregation and choir are in Latin, except for the Greek Kyrie, but then the Gloria, Credo, Pater Noster and Agnus Dei as well as the propers, the Introit, Offertory and Communion antiphons. Wouldn't this be a marvelous way to actually implement Sacrosanctum Concilium by maintaining the Latin but allowing for more vernacular!
The Pope's homily is by the book, the one given in the Roman Pontifical with some personal additions, and preached to those he ordained on Sunday, April 21:
Brothers and sisters,
Beloved brothers and sisters: because these our sons, who are your relatives and friends, are now to be advanced to the Order of priests, consider carefully the nature of the rank in the Church to which they are about to be raised.
It is true that God has made his entire holy people a royal priesthood in Christ. Nevertheless, our great Priest himself, Jesus Christ, chose certain disciples to carry out publicly in his name, and on behalf of mankind, a priestly office in the Church. For Christ was sent by the Father and he in turn sent the Apostles into the world, so that through them and their successors, the Bishops, he might continue to exercise his office of Teacher, Priest, and Shepherd. Indeed, priests are established co-workers of the Order of Bishops, with whom they are joined in the priestly office and with whom they are called to the service of the people of God.
After mature deliberation and prayer, these, our brothers, are now to be ordained to the priesthood in the Order of the presbyterate so as to serve Christ the Teacher, Priest, and Shepherd, by whose ministry his body, that is, the Church, is built and grows into the people of God, a holy temple.
In being configured to Christ the eternal High Priest and joined to the priesthood of the Bishops, they will be consecrated as true priests of the New Testament, to preach the Gospel, to shepherd God’s people, and to celebrate the sacred Liturgy, especially the Lord’s sacrifice.
Now, my dear brothers and sons, you are to be raised to the Order of the Priesthood. For your part you will exercise the sacred duty of teaching in the name of Christ the Teacher. Impart to everyone the word of God which you have received with joy. Remember your mothers, your grandmothers, your catechists, who gave you the word of God, the faith ... the gift of faith! They transmitted to you this gift of faith. Meditating on the law of the Lord, see that you believe what you read, that you teach what you believe, and that you practice what you teach. Remember too that the word of God is not your property: it is the word of God. And the Church is the custodian of the word of God.
In this way, let what you teach be nourishment for the people of God. Let the holiness of your lives be a delightful fragrance to Christ’s faithful, so that by word and example you may build up the house which is God’s Church.
Likewise you will exercise in Christ the office of sanctifying. For by your ministry the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful will be made perfect, being united to the sacrifice of Christ, which will be offered through your hands in an unbloody way on the altar, in union with the faithful, in the celebration of the sacraments. Understand, therefore, what you do and imitate what you celebrate. As celebrants of the mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection, strive to put to death whatever in your members is sinful and to walk in newness of life.
You will gather others into the people of God through Baptism, and you will forgive sins in the name of Christ and the Church in the sacrament of Penance. Today I ask you in the name of Christ and the Church, never tire of being merciful. You will comfort the sick and the elderly with holy oil: do not hesitate to show tenderness towards the elderly. When you celebrate the sacred rites, when you offer prayers of praise and thanks to God throughout the hours of the day, not only for the people of God but for the world—remember then that you are taken from among men and appointed on their behalf for those things that pertain to God. Therefore, carry out the ministry of Christ the Priest with constant joy and genuine love, attending not to your own concerns but to those of Jesus Christ. You are pastors, not functionaries. Be mediators, not intermediaries.
Finally, dear sons, exercising for your part the office of Christ, Head and Shepherd, while united with the Bishop and subject to him, strive to bring the faithful together into one family, so that you may lead them to God the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit. Keep always before your eyes the example of the Good Shepherd who came not to be served but to serve, and who came to seek out and save what was lost.
9 comments:
I also noted that the congregation were standing for the Eucharistic Prayer. Also the Memorial Acclamation and Doxology appear to have been sung Italian. The various non-concelebrating bishops and cardinals received communion kneeling at their places (probably because pragmatically it was easier because the kneelers would have made it difficult to receive standing) either in the hand or on the tongue. The congregation again received standing from the many communion stations either in the hand or on the tongue. The rogue priest you showed last week refusing communion to someone in the hand appears to have been acting on his own initiative.
The Italian, and I think European custom has always been to kneel for the Epiclesis and remain kneeling through the consecration and stand either for or after the Mystery of Faith. In most parts of Canada, where kneeling still occurs, they kneel after the Sanctus and stand for the Mystery of faith. It differs from country to country and in the Tridentine period, there were no rubrics for the laity and they did as they wanted I think in Europe. America was more organized with our national missals telling people when to stand, sit and kneel.
Before we get too carried away, some caveats. Vestment style is very much "back to the seventies". Mass I (Lux et Origo) was sung on Easter Sunday, but on every Sunday since we are back to the same old Missa de Angelis, the Kyrie and Gloria of which are non-Gregorian. One of the improvements in recent years was that schola and assembly sang other and more authentic Masses, such as Mass IX and Mass XI. Once again the Pope disregards the rubric for the Preface dialogue - why?
I'm not watching any more papal liturgies - they're too depressing.
John Nolan - which rubric for the preface dialogue do you think the pope is disregarding?
Fr Alan - from what I saw the people stood for the whole of the Eucharistic prayer. Even if they only stood for the parts you mention, this is different to previous papal masses.
Anyway, moral of the story is receiving communion in the hand is OK.
Andrew rex, GIRM 148 - extend hands for Dominus vobiscum, raise hands for Sursum Corda. Francis keeps his hands joined and on the altar until the start of the Preface itself.
Pope Francis is very minimalist in his gestures and voice inflections during Mass. Even when he extends his arms it is barely noticeable. This is why I called his style of celebrating Mass ad orientem in ethos. He might as well have his back to us and face God instead.
''He might as well have his back to us and face God instead.''
Erm except he never does, all his masses are facing the people including his daily mass and that's a first for any pope.
ps - since when is God located at the altar of the chair in st peters?
There is a video clip on Youtube showing the Mass celebrated in St Peter's by Pius XII in 1942, on the 25th anniversary of his episcopal consecration. It is a Low Mass (Pius disliked the elaborate ceremonial of the Papal High Mass, unlike his successor who revelled in it) but the rubrical gestures are wonderfully expressive and fluid, without being in any way exaggerated or histrionic. After the Mass he remains at the altar and addresses the packed basilica - without a microphone!
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