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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE LITURGY UNDER THE GUISE OF RENEWAL

I've posted this video before from Elvis Presley's movie, "A Change of Habits." What I find fascinating about it is that the Mass depicted in the last act of the movie is from the 1965 missal which is the EF Mass, but allowed for the procession of gifts.

Already in the late 1960's when this movie was made, the silly season of music was taking place and with folk groups singing from the front. It also captures some of the sentiments of older folks who were befuddled by all of this.

But the point that I'm making is that this occurred with the EF Mass. The EF Mass didn't stop this cultural experimentation and the denigration of the traditional piety Catholics had for the Mass. And this was happening to the Ad Orientem celebration of the Mass that emphasized the sacrifice over the "Supper."

Your thoughts:

12 comments:

Gene said...

Not one of Elvis' better moments...

Marc said...

I wonder, though, if the 1965 Missal can properly be called the "Extraordinary Form" of the Mass...? The Holy Father quite explicitly liberated the 1962 Missal and directly stated that no other Missals could be used - presumably beating back both those who would prefer the 1955 Missal (or earlier) and those who would prefer the 1965 Missal. So, it seems to me that the Extraordinary Form tag applies specifically to the 1962 Missal.

What is the reason for the Holy Father's selection of that Missal as opposed to the 1965 Missal? Presumably because it was the last Missal prior to the more dramatic changes brought about as a result of the Council, but still included the pre-Concilliar liturgical changes as incorporated by the 1962 Missal when the 1955 Missal was somewhat simplified.

So, the question still remains whether the EF Mass lends itself to the same sort of free-spiritedness without the rubber-stamping of the liturgical movement in the wake of the Council. We will never know.

But, what we know for sure is that the Holy Father is not an advocate of the 1965 Missal because he very easily could have made that the EF instead of the 1962 Missal. That raises an interesting question about the path of the Reform of the reform since many of us believe the Holy Father is leading us down a trail that will result in a "hybrid" Mass that looks a lot like the 1965 Mass!

William said...

Oh yes, it was happening -- I remember it well. Church liberals knew exactly what they were up to. Hate to say this but perhaps we deserved the last 50 years. Folks, don't ever let this happen again, ever.

Anonymous said...

What happened starting in the 1960 was simply acting out what had been planned for many previous decades. Bishops in 1970 who ripped out communion rails were in their 60's. They got their ideas forty years before.

rcg

MP said...

Notice the Church is already half empty...The exodus had begun..

Gene said...

Aha!! Bishop Roger Foys of Covington, Ky. has decreed that parishioners are not to hold hands during the Our Father and are not to make the oracular gesture. Halleluja, Halleluja! Perhaps more will follow his lead. Can a Priest request his congregation not to do so? Hint, hint...

Templar said...

That made me want to jab a pencil in my eye.

I wish I was born 900 years ago.

Joseph Johnson said...

Let's see, Elvis was born in Jan., 1935 and Mary Tyler Moore in Dec., 1936 (so Mary will turn 75 this month and Elvis would have been 76, soon to turn 77). I never saw this movie because I was under 10 at the time and my parents didn't like Elvis either even though they are in his and Mary's age bracket.

The movie was probably aimed at a demographic somewhat younger than Elvis and Mary and probably affected (and may still affect) the thinking of that generation as to the "liberated" possibilities for "worship" in the post-Conciliar era.

It looks so radical (the music and lack of reverence, that is) and in sharp contrast to the Mass itself that it looks downright sacrilegious. In fact, I consider this movie ending offensive to Catholic sensibilities with the irreverent music in Mass and the juxtaposition of Sacred images with Elvis! My mother was certainly offended by it!

Even though I was born in 1961, can you at least understand why people of my generation might not see things the way people who were younger adults and teenagers in the 1960's would? Many of us would rather leave that silly season behind in old movies and history books, reconnect with saner things that came before, and move on!

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

If you watch the entire movie it really is a parody of what was happening at the time, not just with the Mass but with religious life. At the beginning of the movie there is a "strip tease" of the nuns taking off their habit to put on street clothes in order to identify with those they serve. Strip teases weren't happening at the time, but nuns at this time were going to street clothes and this was big news. I saw it on the national news. And the fact the MTM fell in love with Elvis was exploited, but poor Elvis didn't know she was a nun and she has real conflicts in the movie, but never breaks her vows--this appealed to Catholics of the period who were seeing nuns and priests getting married by the ton! That bad old celibacy needed to be ditched too along with the habits. While a caricature, this movie captures the feel of the period and it turns my stomach because I remember this period too, but as a teenager.

Joseph Johnson said...

And the "feel" of that period lives on in the still used "Glory and Praise" style music found in commercial missalettes, singing from the front of the church and applause at Mass.

The new translation is a step in the right direction but the other, above-mentioned, lingering problems can be dealt with at a parish level by pastors who are sensitive to these problems. We don't have to wait for Rome or for the bishop to address them!

Henry Edwards said...

While the 1965 Order of Mass was reasonably consistent with Sacrosanctum Consilium and most Catholics were enthusiastic about a vernacular liturgy that they could still recognize as Holy Mass ..... It was NOT the traditional Latin Mass that Pope Benedict has decreed to be the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. Indeed, it is arguable that the changes of 1965 blew the lid off the liturgy and, given the spirit of the time, made inevitable its ultimate disintegration in the following decade or two.

Thiago Santos de Moraes said...

It is not the 1965 missal, but the 1967.