This was celebrated ad orientem. The Mass was chanted mostly in German. One of the finest choirs in Europe sang the Ordinary in a Latin setting (Primi toni octo vocum of Stefano Bernardi). This goes to show how the Ordinary Form can indeed be celebrated in greater continuity with our tradition than it usually is in most places. You can see the whole Mass HERE.
13 comments:
They stole your idea!!!!
I guess he must agree with Cardinal Sarah. The left-wing loons will be aghast.
It's a shame that they don't use this altar every Sunday (there's a wooden free-standing altar about 100 yards west of the stone one).
I was in Cologne this time last year, and it was by far the coldest cathedral I've ever been in (it felt at least 10 degrees colder inside than outside). So that's why everyone in the video has their coats and scarves on.
There has been a sanctuary at the crossing since 1956 and the present free-standing altar (in bronze, by Elmar Hillebrand) was installed in 1960.
One reason for using the high altar (which dates from 1322) was that 2 February being a weekday, the congregation could be accommodated in the choir.
Amusingly, one of the (German) comments underneath the video asked if it was a Tridentine Mass; to many people the Novus Ordo and versus populum are inseparable.
John Nolan,
With all of the religious "vibrancy" engendered by the OF, we will soon be able to celebrate Mass in a closet!
I attended Mass and Evensong at the Cologne Cathedral recently and it is dramatic. This video doesn't show the whole of it. The organ music literally sores and reverberates around the massive interior. The choirs (all boys and mixed) create an elevated level of worship. Magnificent! And the reverence is inspiring.
Tom Makin,
What is interesting about Germany is they must have never developed the Latin language phobia and the ad orientem phobia that has plagued English speaking countries since Vatican Disaster II. I was in Munich in 2000 and attended Mass at the Frauenkirche which was celebrated ad orientem and there was lovely Latin chant and polyphony. I believe Pope Benedict may have been the Archbishop of Munich at the time.
German has virtually no Latin cognates, whereas English is so heavily Latinized that there are hardly any words in, say, the Gloria in Excelsis which do not have cognates in English. It should therefore be surprising that aversion to Latin is stronger in English-speaking countries.
One factor is that the German education system still values the Classics, whereas in England and America they were tossed aside more than a generation ago as being 'irrelevant'. As a result we have otherwise highly educated individuals who have no Latin at all, and feel, consciously or unconsciously, deprived as a result - as indeed they are.
German Catholics also have more respect for their cultural heritage, particularly as regards music. In England the choral tradition is indeed preserved in cathedrals and collegiate chapels which are of course now Anglican. And yet 40 years ago the choir school of Westminster Cathedral was scheduled for closure, despite the fact that its choir is arguably the best in the world. It was saved only by the personal intervention of Cardinal Basil Hume. There are still people who peevishly complain that most of what they sing is in Latin. I can't imagine this happening in Germany.
Also, vernacular hymns and settings of the Ordinary were allowed at Mass long before Vatican II so people were used to Latin and the vernacular being used alongside each other. On occasion Cologne has an all-Latin Pontifikalamt (except for the readings) and the congregation seems to have no problem singing the responses.
All right, Cologne is the richest diocese in Germany and can afford its four choirs, two organs and orchestra. But the Dom is the most visited venue in the country and is a showcase for German Catholicism. Regensburg, Speyer and other cathedrals are similarly impressive for the dignity of their liturgies.
I think TJM and John Nolan have hit on it a bit insofar as the American antipathy towards Latin. Catholics were considered outside of the mainstream of immigrants from the beginning, subcultures in some areas and even set apart as in the case of the founding of Maryland. The areas of the South mostly the mid-South and Appalchia, where I am from the earliest Catholics often brought some sort of trade with them to help the economies of the new settlements. The use of Latin in worship was eyed suspiciously as was their often foreign vernacular. So there was a rush to merge in daily life that I think bled over to the Mass as well, not to mention the tenets of faith: if you want to see a Baptist's head explode tell him Mary is the Mother of God. So I think that the desire to melt into the pot was so strong it was a relief for many to leave Latin behind.
I was thankful for my two years of Latin in Junior HS because it made French so easy later on and because it helped me intuit the meanings of words later on. If you know your Latin roots, you can figure out the meanings of many words in English. Plus, it just helps you with the logic of Romance languages generally.
rcg,
The melting plot mentality—and the urge to fit in and be accepted--is certainly in play in the dilution of Catholic identity, especially in bible belt Protestant areas of the U.S. south where Catholics have always been a tiny minority. Whereas in many more heavily (and even predominately) Catholic areas of the country, the result of this assimilation has often been a widespread loss of Catholic practice and the emptying of churches, in the bible belt Catholic as well as Protestant churches remain full (and even bursting at the seams), and the result typically has been instead a protestantization of belief and practice among many Catholics.
Don't forget the lazy slug syndrome at work as well. I am referring to "priests" who avoid learning Latin because they might have to think. A Latin Rite priest who is unable to celebrate Mass in Latin is pathetic. It also means his bishop violated canon law by not requiring the priest to learn Latin in the seminary and it also means his bishop is being dishonest when he says his candidate is properly trained for the priesthood. He is not.
TJM, that post @ 10:34 will surely get Kavanaugh out from under his rock...LOL!
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