Communion by kneeling:
Let me make a disclaimer. As many of you know, I went to St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore between 1976 and 1980. It was a time of great upheaval in seminary training and St. Mary's was at the forefront of deconstructing a very strict, monastic model of seminary in favor of a university setting where there was much freedom.
The Liturgy of the Church in the seminary's main chapel was decidedly "low church" but done, for the most part, but not always, with great dignity. But things were definitely stripped down. The old high altar under the magnificent baldachin had been stripped of candelabra and tabernacle. A portable altar placed in different locations, usually in the aisle of the chapel confronting a movable ambo so as to make both look equal in dignity were used. Vestments were stark and without ornamentation. There was one candle at the ambo and one at the altar and no crucifix on the altar although the large crucifix over the former high altar remained.
The seminarian acolytes did not vest, using rather dressy clothes, but not clerical as no clerics were allowed for the seminarians. In fact we dressed casually for class, usually shorts and flip flops. We did get a bit of a dress code for the main floor when someone wore bib overhauls without a shirt to class. That seem to be the straw that broke someone's back. And yes we smoked in class as we studied Sacred Scripture and Tradition. At that time, I was a chain smoker.
But back to my point. The liturgy was low, there were many experimentations with the Mass but it was done well basically in its own styles. We had an eclectic kind of liturgical music, folk, contemporary and traditional. But there was no such thing as a chanted official introit, or offertory and communion antiphons. These were never chanted and to be honest I didn't know these existed to be chanted. We were led to believe these were passe and that we shouldn't even speak the entrance chant that is printed in the missalette or the Roman Missal.
In the parishes I've been in, we have tried to celebrate the Ordinary Form Mass with dignity and in an EF sort of way, while still maintaining what is allowed, really required for the Ordinary Mass, such as lay lectors and active singing and speaking of the parts of the Mass by the congregation to assist in a fuller actual participation or engagement in the liturgy.
But so many parishes celebrate the Mass in casual ways, or entertainment ways or without much thought to the choreography of the lectors and altar servers and the like. Vestments are sloppy, albs and cassocks and surplices are wrinkled and old. The music is abysmal and sung at the people with people at the front acting like they are on Ed Sullivan. (I know many of you don't know who he is; so lets just say like "America's Got Talent.")
There is a phobia amongst some who think the OF Mass should not be celebrated in an EF sort of way. But if we did, still allowing for all that is allowed for the OF Mass, it would greatly impact upon the reverence due the Mass and the Real Presence of Christ.
My suggestions:
1. Move the choir and cantor to the choir loft. Don't have someone leading the music from the sanctuary and don't have any rehearsals in the Church. For example, we started using a new set of music for the Kyrie, Sanctus, Mystery of Faith, Great Amen and Agnus Dei this summer. I told the congregation where they could find this setting in our hymnal and that when they felt comfortable they could start joining the cantor or choir in singing and that by the end of the summer everyone would be familiar with it and sing it well. I was clairvoyant because we are nearing the end of the summer and everyone is singing it without the hymnal in front of them and singing it well!
2. Get a good, traditional hard back hymnal and keep it until it falls apart and stick to what is in it for the congregational hymns--this alone will build a repertoire that the congregation knows.
3. Have nice vestments, albs, cassocks and surplices that are clean and ironed.
4. Work at choreographing the Mass with lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion and most importantly altar servers. Make sure the altar servers know what to do, do it gracefully and feel comfortable doing it. If they do they will stay until they graduate high school and some will stay even longer!
5. Sing the propers.
6. Use incense every Sunday at the principle liturgy.
7. Chant as much of the Mass as possible, to include the Lord's Prayer and its doxology.
8. Be as reverent as possible in handling the sacred, always genuflect to the tabernacle containing the Most Blessed Sacrament and never act casually in the church even outside of Mass but certainly not during.
9. Pray all prayers even if toward the congregation in an ad orientem sort of way and have ad orientem for the Liturgy of the Eucharist for at least one Sunday Mass.
10. Allow the option of kneeling for Holy Communion, if the communicant so desires, by having a kneeler in front of the Communion stations.
30 comments:
"Have nice vestments, albs, cassocks and surplices that are clean and ironed." Certainly.
What would the ordinary Roman Mass be like celebrated under persecution? I just wonder how well the new order of Mass would hold up under modern circumstances analogous to those of 16th century England or 1920's Mexico (or many other examples). Would modern Latin Catholics risk their lives to host or attend such celebrations? And, how would persecution affect the choices made in the celebration itself?
I think all your suggestions are possible, Father MacDonald, if (A.) the bishop is supportive or at least neutral, and (B.) a new pastor replaces, and is later replaced by, similar-thinking priests. In those many dioceses where priests are assigned an average six year terms, it's just not enough time to get the ball rolling and keep it rolling.
I agree with all of your suggestions! I wish our bishop could see them and consider making them Diocesan liturgical policy!
Pope Benedict certainly made liturgy a priority of his papacy and his life. He knew that the Liturgy is the source and summit of the Catholic faith and if it is celebrated well it builds up the Catholic faith and Church and if poorly it weakens or destroys it. He had a plan to restore the worship of the Church precisely in a particular fashion, different than the early renewal efforts, to restore the Church and her faith.
I'm not sure the present Pope Francis is on the same page and may be more on the page that has led to the diminution of the Church and her faith based upon a flawed implementation of the renewal of the Mass that has led to the crisis in the Church on so many other levels.
Bishop Gregory laments how little our Catholic children know about the Faith. He is developing an cathechetical instrument with basic Catholicism 101 which he hopes our young will memorize before he meets them for Confirmation.
That's all good and well, but the Liturgy of the Church needs to be celebrated in the way Pope Benedict was leading us. The 1960's and 1970's model is a major part of the problem as to why so many don't take the faith seriously anymore and make it more like parsley on the plate, a mere decoration, rather than the meat and potatoes of Catholic life!
I should have said Bishop Hartmayer, not Gregory.
I'd think that a majority of these suggestions (excluding 5, 9, and 10) likely are already in effect in those parishes whose pastors actually believe what the Church officially teaches about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (for instance, by Pope John Paul II in Ecclesia de Eucharistia).
But in the case of unbelieving pastors, what can be done until they move on? Will mandates from above really change their hearts and minds?
Last year, my former pastor made me the Confirmation teacher for our parish. I strongly support the overall goals of the bishop's catechetical program but I find it very hard to be a catechist without tying liturgy into the subject matter.
Of course, it would be even more effective if the parish liturgy followed the practices you have suggested as this would, in my opinion as a teacher, aid in the catechesis rather than work against it because the True Nature of the liturgy would be more apparent.
Bluntly put I'll "go out on a limb" and say that, we have overemphasized Communion theology (that we are all "Communion") at the expense of more teaching on the Sacrificial Nature of the Mass and the Real Presence and the need for Confession and Prayers and Indulgences for the Poor Souls and for our own souls. There's a lot more to it than "we're all community/Communion."
I have requested (in writing) the EF Mass in my parish for its own sake as well as for the influence it can have on the OF and how we understand the Mass in general. I'm very tired of the overemphasis on "community" (not that it's bad or wrong--it's just been overemphasized during my lifetime to riduculous fault!). We need more balance. The Grace that comes from Christ's Sacrifice is the very essence of what saves us. The Power to save comes from God--not from us (the "community"). Who are the real "Pelagians?"
FrJBS
The Mass as celebrated in late sixteenth-century England would have been the Tridentine rather than the Sarum use, as the missionary priests would have been trained in Europe. However, the plate and vestments would have been held in recusant households and a lot of Byrd's music was written to be used in such settings, and those who attended would have known they were at the Mass, which had been outlawed.
Had they been hit with an English Novus Ordo as is usually celebrated nowadays, I doubt if they would have risked their necks to attend it.
Gotta agree with your Father. Especially on #1 and #10:
#1) Musicians should not be up in front of the congregation, they should have the humility and respect for the Liturgy to support it from the loft, not distract from it. Folk groups are bad enough, but pianos sound HORRIBLE at Mass. When I hear a piano being played I feel like I'm at Rex Humbard's Cathedral of Tomorrow. And speaking of folk groups, many a time have I witnessed the congregation start applauding after the final hymn. Can we Puh-leeeze get rid of the "That's Entertainment" Mass once and for all?
2) Why did we do away with kneeling for Communion in the first place? Was it to soften us up for the later change of receiving in the hand? I won't even discuss hands! What's wrong with kneeling? Why was it ever abolished?
To link this to the previous thread, it seems like there could, or should, be a 'laboratory' where variations in the Mass can be explored with the goal to tie together what should be to what is possible. What seems to have taken hold of is a sort of lazy resentment where pastors allow themselves satisfied with less than the best. What you propose could easily be done in 90% of the parishes in North America with variations allowed for physical structures, etc.
As a layman, I haven't had much contact with bishops on matters like this. Of course, I know that many or most current bishops react (often adversely) to parish controversy and parishioners complaints.
However, I wonder (seriously) whether the typical bishop would have a problem with implementation of these suggestions . . . IF they were introduced gradually and incrementally, with an appropriate parish catechetical program, in such a way that there was general parish support along the way.
I think of they way Fr. Jay Scott Newman carefully introduced such steps at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville (SC). With everything patiently and announced well in advance, no surprises, no big changes till the people had been well prepared. For instance,
http://www.stmarysgvl.org/whatsnew/turning-together-towards-the-lord
As a result (as I understand it), general acceptance in the parish, no wave of complaints to the bishop, hence no problem.
No episcopal instructions were needed, no mandates from above required. Isn't this the best way to do it at the present time?
I suppose no. 1 could work, but I think choristers should be in the vestibule after Mass signing autographs.
buld7If one has an all-male schola capable of singing the Propers then I would suggest they be in the sanctuary, in choir dress, and arranged round one of those lovely swivelling desks one sees in college chapels. Polyphonic choirs (mixed or otherwise) should be in the choir loft. The schola is substituting for clerics in choir, as are acolytes (lay clerks in effect) and there is no excuse for having lay women in the sanctuary. The fact that they are almost invariably overweight and wearing trousers is neither here nor there.
I have been Catholic for seven years. In that time, I have attended Mass in six different states and in 12 different Churches. With the exception of St. Jo's, where I imprinted on Fr. MacDonald and his amazingly high quality Vicars (whom he says he only acquired by luck...ha, ha), and an FSSP Church here in Georgia, the Masses have been casual, perfunctory, uninspired, poorly orchestrated, or downright sloppy. Most of the Priests dress poorly, slouch, play smiley face with the congregation while in procession (several have even shaken hands with people in the pews while in the procession), generally appear bored. Many of the vestments are Wal-Mart-looking specials, and the altar servers, EMHC's, and ushers, look like they just stepped out of a boxcar. Let's not even go to the music, but "Breaking Bread" is a really popular hymnal.
Is it any wonder the Church is in trouble?
I was in seminary and grad school in the 70's. We loved Vat II because everybody accepted it as the Church becoming more "open" to protestants. I had professors say that the Catholic Church is finally willing to give up some of its "archaisms." How any of you on this blog can look at anyone with a straight face and say that Vat II was not a deliberate and calculated effort to destroy the Mass and traditional Catholic identity in favor of a protestant appearing liturgy is laughable. Those of us who were there in the prot seminaries and grad schools and took part in some of the nonsense like COCU and Koinonia understand better than you Catholics what was going on. I mean, seriously, to say that it was anything else is a true gut-pounder. LOL!
I would say that the most controversial of my 10 suggestions is the kneeler for Holy Communion and ad orientem for the Liturgy of the Eucharist, both of which are technically allowed, but some bishop, maybe many bishops, would be opposed to these two suggestions even if for one Mass in a parish with multiple Masses.
But the elephant in the room is Catholic music and that business have hijacked our music tradition in order to make money and profit off of it. Thus we have a proliferation of hymnals, some good, some horrible and each parish decides which hymnal it will purchase and then of course before you know it, it becomes disposalable and new stuff is constantly on the market for parishes to buy. It is a scandal of immense porportions and has robbed the Mass of its Catholic ethos and identity.
It should be up to each bishop's conference with strict supervision of the Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican that each language group have its own hymnal for Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. In this hymnal, the propers, meaning the Introit, Offertory and Communion Antiphons should be mandated and set to a chant setting, either simple or more complex that encourages the congregation to participate either with a refrain or the entire setting. There needs to be a good, orthodox Catholic hymnal in English for the USA and no other allowed.
At least, for the Liturgy of the Hours there will soon (maybe 5 years for the new English translation) a single official hymnal for the Liturgy of the Hours--the Liturgy of the Hours itself, with faithful translations of all the great Latin hymns of the LOH set to music.
Perhaps most of even those who say the LOH in English are unaware that the official Latin Liturgia Horarum specifies the hymn for every single Hour of every day of the year. These divine office hymns, many of them dating back to the days of Saints Ambrose and Augustine, comprise one of the great treasures of the Church, and they are the jewels of the LOH (as the Psalms are its heart). One of the most cavalier things the old ICEL did--in some ways even worse than its banal translation of Mass texts--was to not even translate, but simply dump these great treasures in the 1975 translation of the LOH that will unfortunately still be with us for another 5 years or so.
I agree with Henry. The hymns in the current LOG (English trans) pale in comparison in the quality of theology and poetic expression than hymns in previous editions. A revision, especially of the hymns, will hopefully improve the quality of hymns consequently in the Mass. Better hymns+Better prayers=Better Catholics.
"Better hymns+Better prayers=Better Catholics."
This is, I think, the kind of insipient Pelagianism that is of concern to Pope Francis. Better hymns are OUR effort. Better prayers are OUR effort.
When we rely on OUR efforts rather than God's grace to be set free from sin, we become Pelagians.
Salvation isn't achieved by what we do, but by what God has already done.
Anonymous, how long have you been a Presbyterian?
Our Good Lord stated that what comes out of our mouths comes from our hearts. It therefore behooves us all to aspire, especially insofar as we are able in Holy Mass and in other venues, to aspire to offer praises, to offer worship with and to the best of our abilities. If such efforts as stated here displease you, cease your wailing and gnashing of teeth and retreat to your room to pray privately. You offer little in the way of Caritas.
Lewis - If you think that you can post here (or anywhere) and be free from comment or correction, maybe YOU are the one who should retire to your room and live in blissful isolation.
Anonymous, just how is devout prayer and devout singing Pelagian? How is attempting to become a better and more devout Catholic Pelagian? Once again, you have never read any theology at all, have you?
Anonymous,
A question has been submitted to you. What is your basis for criticism of my initial post? Within a relationship with God, one has a responsibility to respond, i.e accept grace offered because it isfeels not foisted upon us, and from there direct our persons on cultivating spiritual fruits. We are all workers in the vineyard.
Also, are you implying from your most recent post that you before all other readers here are "correcting" me? Admonishing the quality of english language hymns, supporting theologically lyrics and prayers, and believing the Catholic Church's teaching on the merit/efficacy of prayer is not Pelagian.
Thank you for your concern.
I've got to stop coming to this blog...
Lewis - The basis for my concern was included in my first post on the matter. Your pious mathematics add up to Pelagianism.
That little " = " sign you use is troublesome. Identifying better prayers and better prayers with better Catholics excludes an awful lot, it seems to me.
I suspect there have been saintly Catholics who rarely heard a note sung and who never understood the theology of a Prayer After Communion.
No, Anonymous, that is not Pelagianism. You do not know what you are talking about.
No, Marc, you cannot stop coming to this blog. If you do, I will give a nearby Cursillo chapter your address and tell them you are desperate to become a member.
That is quite a threat, Gene!
Since I'm here, let me just throw out the term "Jansenism" and see if anyone recognizes that it is applicable to this "conversation."
Anon; I second Gene. Lewis is a professional liturgist; Gene is a trained theologian; and and it is blatantly obvious that you are no theologian, professional or otherwise. If you really want to understand Pelagianism (which I suggest you do before you throw that word around again) here's a good place to start:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11604a.htm
You run along now and come back when you've done your homework. :-)
#6 above, "principle liturgy" should read "principal".
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