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Friday, September 27, 2019

I HAVE TO AGREE WITH ONE ASPECT (ACTUALLY A FEW ASPECTS, BUT NOT ALL) IN THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER ARTICLE


I have long opined that ordinations of deacons, priests, but especially of bishops are too triumphant as it concerns the type and style of music chosen, long processions of concelebrants and trumpets, tympani and a variety of over the top sounding instruments and vocal machinations.

For the past three years, I have celebrated regularly the Cathedral’s EF Sunday Mass on a once or twice a month basis. The young schola there is magnificent and all they chant, they chant a cappella! They chant complicated Gregorian Chant and some polyphony. They chant the Mass, its propers and parts.

Could you imagine an ordination of a deacon or a priest but especially a bishop being celebrated in the manner of the Cathedral’s EF Mass in terms of the chants? This would be possible even in an OF Mass.

Could you see clergy not processing in, but already seated but wearing choir dress, not as concelebrants?

This is what the Philadelphia Inquirer article has to say about the type of ordination or installation of Philadelphia’s next archbishop:

Imagine, for example, that Philadelphia’s new archbishop forgoes a lavish installation ceremony. Instead, he presides at a modest mass, adorned in the simple vestments of a parish priest. What follows is not a formal banquet in his honor, but a visit to the city’s largest homeless shelter, where he and archdiocesan seminarians serve lunch to the guests.

That’s just for starters. Read it all there by pressing here!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember a picture years ago in our diocesan paper, the Georgia Bulletin, showing the installation of Atlanta's first bishop, Francis Hyland (November 8, 1956). Bishop Hyland was wearing a cope and mitre, while Bishop O'Hara and the apostolic delegate (can't spell his name) were in choir dress. It was a portrait perhaps after the installation, in the then-rectory of Atlanta's Cathedral of Christ the King. Maybe a simpler time?

Clerical dress in the Episcopal Church can vary widely at the ordination of a priest or bishop. In 2001, when I attended the ordination of Atlanta's then-Episcopal bishop, the presiding bishop wore a chasuble and bishops assisting with the ordination were either wearing copes or choir dress. The bishop to be ordained wore simply an alb and at the ordination part of the ceremony was vested with alb, chasuable, mitre and crozier. Almost all the priests present were in choir dress or alb and stole. At the Eucharist, just a few bishops were at the altar (Atlanta' Episcopal cathedral has a fairly small area around its altar, confined by an altar rail, so not possible for dozens of clergy to be inside of that.)

Православный физик said...

Well, if it's a low Mass, I can most certainly see a Bishop in simple vestments. If it's a high Mass, I most certainly expect a Bishop to be in full pontificals. (Pontifical Dalmatic included)

Fr Martin Fox said...

Well, sure, I get your point, it's a valid one, but...

All the same, it's kind of like saying:

- Imagine a couple getting married, and after the wedding, instead of a party and a honeymoon, they don sackcloth and ashes and scrub toilets at the local school.

I'm all for bishops who show humility and live simply; but far more important than showy acts of lowliness are changes in how they operate. The author goes on to suggest lots of all the wrong things, such as: no more sending schoolchildren to the March for Life, and that the new archbishop won't say something is bad, because that makes people feel bad, and we can't have that. Oh, and he should call Catholic teaching on who can be ordained a "lack of imagination" (what an insult to Jesus Christ and his Apostles!), because that will make everyone, especially women, feel better (what an insult to women!).

It all depends on whether you think the arrival of a bishop is something to celebrate or not.

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

Good point Fr. Fox. Catholicism is about enjoying life and celebrating events. Banquets are a part of our tradition. Perhaps the reception could be in a civic center and the doors open to all rich and poor alike, practicing and non practicing Catholics to attend. The ceremony, though, should be EF sober even if OF and in the Cathedral not a civic center.

Marc said...

It would do little good to serve lunch one time to the homeless. As it happens, it is possible to care for the homeless and have lavish ceremonies, though, so there’s no need to set the two in opposition.

This Sunday we have a solemn mass for Michaelmas and next Sunday a Pontifical Mass celebrated by Bp. Fellay. Neither is resulting in people going hungry.

Anonymous said...

"The ceremony should be in the cathedral."

Well, not always, Take Atlanta's Cathedral of Christ the King. It is way too small to handle large number of guest (maybe it can seat 700). You can do so easier in Savannah because of the sixe of your cathedral. In the Episcopal Church, a bishop's ordination might be held outside the cathedral (if they have one---some dioceses don't, like the Savannah-based Diocese of Georgia), but if so, maybe the next day there will be a welcoming Mass for him (or her) at the cathedral, with the dean leading the bishop to his throne. Earlier this year, Washington's Wilton Gregory had his installation Mass at the national basilica, then a few days later the formal welcome and seating at St. Matthew's Cathedral.