Here are two examples of unbeautiful that will not inspire the youth of our Church to be on fire for the Lord, His Church or the Mass:
This morning, as I celebrated the Memorial of Blessed John XXIII, arguably the one who paved the way for Bugnini and his unbeautiful liturgy and eventual unbeautiful architecture to celebrate it, I was tempted to take the unbeautiful a step further which most priests my age and older would do.
What is that, you ask?
I was tempted on this morning after Hurricane/Tropical Storm Michael has passedover Richmond Hill, to say to the congregation, the remnant that gathered for our 9 AM Mass, because I had robo-called the parish saying our office would be closed and all activities/ministries canceled, the following at Mass after the Sign of the Cross and Greeting:
"Good morning Church! I am so glad you braved the remnants of Hurricane Michael to be with me this morning to celebrate Mass because you knew that I would be here. Thanks so much I am grateful for your presence, so let's acknowledge our sins........"
Thank God I didn't because how unbeautiful would that have been?
Do you have any anecdotes about the Ordinary Form of the Mass being made even more unbeautiful by the silliness of the celebrant and his folksy ways that tries to make the Mass more human, less stiff and rigid and the rest of it? And is there a correlation between the sterile unbeautiful modern church archtiecture for an unbeautiful Mass and the dumbing down further of the unbeautiful nature of our liturgies which devolve into the priest's idiosyncrasies?
19 comments:
Having visited many, many churches that you would call "beautiful," and having seen how many of the visitors to those "beautiful" churches behaved, I would say there is little correlation between the style of church architecture and decoration and the way people respond in the presence thereof.
Where to begin?
At my parish in Valdosta, back in the early 2000's, we had a priest who insisted that, before the final blessing (after all of us with small children had been there at least an hour), on calling out the names of couples with anniversaries and presenting them with a wrapped gift to the congregation's applause. All I could think was "If everybody is special, then nobody is." At this same Church we had "greeters" at the door, giving us a lively "good morning" when I was trying to quiet my children down and prepare them for the silence required at Mass. And while trying to teach them silence inside the Church, others would talk as loudly as they pleased before Mass and the pastor himself would come in, walking from pew to pew, "working the room", often laughing loudly at some joke he decided to share with a chosen family.
At the place I currently attend Mass, a small chapel, before the final blessing, the priest asks if there are any birthdays or anniversaries. Almost every time, some poor elderly person will raise their hand and say, "my grandson will be six next week" or something like that. It is utterly meaningless and pointless and results in a few splatters of sad applause. WHY?
When I attend Mass, I go to honor God and receive Him and His graces. HE is the one who is special. I don't need or want Mr. Rogers in a Roman collar. If I had a TLM within reasonable driving distance, I would never put myself or my children through this ever again.
"At the place I currently attend Mass, a small chapel, before the final blessing, the priest asks if there are any birthdays or anniversaries. Almost every time, some poor elderly person will raise their hand and say, "my grandson will be six next week" or something like that. It is utterly meaningless and pointless and results in a few splatters of sad applause. WHY?"
While this certainly has no place in the actual rubrics of the Catholic liturgy modern or historical, it does have some basis in liturgical history and praxis, broadly speaking. For example, in Slavic practice (and perhaps more widely), it is common after the Divine Liturgy and before the kissing of the Cross for the priest to ask if anyone has had a birthday, name-day, or anniversary. The priest then says a prayer for them and blesses the people with the hand cross while everyone sings "Many Years!" ("Lord, grant them many years! Save them, O Christ God!").
Although John XXIII initially made Bugnini secretary of the Preparatory Liturgical Commission for the Council, evidence indicates that John was quickly not pleased with him and had him fired from this commission, as well as from his chair at the Lateran University. But as soon as Paul VI came on the scene, Bugnini was rehabilitated with glory.
Yes, I have some anecdotes.
Bee here:
Has anyone made the connection between homosexual priests and the wreck-o-vations of churches, in that many gay men love decorating?
Sorry for the stereotyping of gay men, but I think there are a high percentage of gays among men who are decorators in the secular world, and I wouldn't be surprised to find many of the "remodeling" projects were carried out by gay priests.
Anyway, it may be just another sad effect of the sodomy that fills our Church.
God bless.
Bee
Bee,
You may be onto something!
The most notorious church wreckovator is Fr. Richard Vodka. I have no idea of his sexual orientation.
Another popular wreckovator was Fr. Rod Stephens of Southern California. He actually posted pictures of himself and his lover on vacation, paid for by his "liturgical consultant" business. I believe he has been drummed out of the priesthood. Members of his various parishes confronted Bishop Tod Brown with loads of evidence of Fr. Stephens' lifestyle and he just looked the other way.
There is one common theme a lot of wreckovators use that seems to indicate a homosexual leaning, and that is their obsession with a church building that looks "welcoming". Many homosexual activists insist that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was that the people did not "welcome" Lot and the angels. Usually the physical solution to a more "welcoming" appearance is the removal of large metal or wooden doors to be replaced by bland glass doors like you would see in a business in the average strip mall.
It's all part of the same package: The homosexuality, the pastoral indifference while claiming "pastoral necessity" for every unwanted change, the New Mass, the looking the other way at sin, Communion in the Hand, needless renovations, hatred for the Old Mass, lousy liturgical music, etc.. It's all part of the false facade that is crumbling under its own weight before our very eyes. Pope Francis isn't the problem either. He's just a symptom, just like so many bishops. Archbishop Vigano has just made us easier to recognize these guys for what they are.
My previous post lists a Fr. Richard "Vodka".
His name is Richard VOSKO. This stupid autocorrect keeps changing names. If you type in McCormick, you will get "McCormack".
A pox upon the modern world!
Gays are into interior decorating. Thank GOODNESS you have figured this out.
Know what else gays are into? Flamboyant silk, damask, brocade, and embroidered vestments, like the ones in the masthead picture. And they get a LOT more over-the-top than that we all know. Wanna blame the gays for that silky, lacy, brocade thing?
Know what else? Art. Everybody know that 9 out of 10 artists are gay. See those paintings and carved angels and stained glass windows in the masthead picture? Mm-Hm, you guessed it!
Know what else? Illuminated manuscripts. Yeppers. All that bright color - jewel tones, you know - and gold leaf. And those naughty, naughty humans and animals. You know it's true.
Yep, you are on to something there . . .
Father McDonald said..."Do you have any anecdotes about the Ordinary Form of the Mass being made even more unbeautiful by the silliness of the celebrant and his folksy ways that tries to make the Mass more human, less stiff and rigid and the rest of it?"
I am familiar with five parishes in my area.
The Novus Ordo Masses offered at each parish in question is devoid of Latin and Gregorian Chant. Mass vs. populum...almost everybody receives Holy Communion in the hand...with one exception, the parishes are ugly...EMs abound at each Mass...about 25 percent of worshipers bolt to the parking lot as soon as they've received Holy Communion.
But each Mass is offered in reverent fashion.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Traditional EF gays have good taste and a love for tradition and Catholic truths. Progressive gays have a zeal for the destruction of all Catholic beauty in art, vestments, architecture and truth. Give the Church tradition and truth loving gays pre-Vatican II style any day!
Gee anonymous, why are we tho upthet?
"Traditional EF gays"
You are a trip, man.
Anonymous:
That "man" you are addressing is an ordained priest and one of the good ones at that. Why don't you take your casual trolling to another locale?
Father McDonald,
Here is an opinion piece you might find interesting.
https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2018/10/vatican-ii-at-66-like-all.html#more
Anonymous @ 5:43
"Everybody know that 9 out of 10 artists are gay."
Well I don't. Prove it. None of the handful of artists I know are like this.
Victor, why not challenge Bee on her assertion, "... but I think there are a high percentage of gays among men who are decorators in the secular world,..."?
"Everybody knows" right?
And your artist friends are probably married with kids, right? Of course, that PROVES they aren't gay, right?
Riiiiiight...
Are you suggesting that gay men artists (more likely bi-sexual) married to women and procreating children, are incapable of marital chastity?
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