Why does the priest have his back to us? Here’s why:
Ad orientem are the Latin
words for, “toward the East.” In Catholic usage it can mean either the
geographical east or the east of any Catholic Church building regardless of the
actual geographical orientation of the building. Thus, when entering any
Catholic Church, the area where the altar is located is the “eastern” side of
the Church.
From the earliest
centuries of the Church until about 1966, Catholic Mass was celebrated with
all, bishop or priest facing the altar in the same direction as the laity,
facing the east, facing Jerusalem, facing the rising sun, facing the direction
from whence Jesus will return at the end of time and also at the altar at the consecration. It is a mistake to say that the priest has his
back to the people, as true as this might look, but it is more accurate to say
the priest is facing the same direction as the laity and in a leadership stance
or marching forward to the Kingdom of God as on a pilgrimage.
Ad orientem makes clear
what is spoken by the priest is directed toward God when facing the same
direction as the laity. And it makes clear too, what is spoken to the laity by
the priest, when he turns toward them for greetings, etc.
It also takes the
emphasis off the priest’s looks, piety and personality. The priest “stands in”
for Christ at the altar, especially at the consecration. Facing the same
direction as the laity, the priest could be anyone, the pope or the lowliest
priest. It doesn’t matter.
Ad orientem also
emphasizes the Sacrificial aspect of the Eucharistic Prayer. It is not a
reenactment of Holy Thursday’s Last Supper. It is a prayer to God recalling how
Jesus memorialized His Good Friday Sacrifice on the night before He died. The words, “take eat” and “take
drink” are not meant for the congregation in the Eucharistic Prayer. It is
directed to God recalling Jesus’s words. The Bread and Wine become the Risen
Lord and His one Sacrifice is offered to the Father though the priest
representing Christ during the consecration and afterwards. At the Sacrificial Banquet following the Canon of the Mass is when God gives back to us His Crucified and Risen Son.
The Eucharistic Sacrificial Banquet
or “meal” occurs after the Lord’s Prayer when the priest turns to the
Congregation and says, “Behold the Lamb of God…, blessed are those called to the
Supper of the Lamb". The Rite of Holy Communion is the “Sacrificial Meal” aspect of the
Mass, not the Eucharistic Prayer. This is confused when the priest faces the
congregation during the entire Eucharistic Prayer and makes it appear to be
words directed to the Congregation, which of course it isn’t.This is especially true if the celebrant motions to the people with the bread and chalice as though the words are directed to them as apostles at the Last Supper. Of course, the Mass is not a memorial of the Last Supper, the Mass, established at the Last Supper is the Memorial of Good Friday and Christ's One Sacrifice on the Cross, but in a glorified way, due to the Resurrection of our Lord on Easter Sunday.
5 comments:
Whereas medieval churches (now in Anglican hands) were almost invariably built with the chancel at the east end, Catholic churches were built during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and their orientation was dictated by the land available. So it is usually more accurate to refer to 'ad apsidem' rather than 'ad orientem'.
When an officer in the Great War led his soldiers 'over the top', no-one criticized him for having his back to his men.
The arguments for a common orientation are compelling; those for 'versus populum' are singularly weak. Why it doggedly persists would be a mystery were it not for the fact that we all know the reasons.
Also the placement of the baptismal font at the west end is richly symbolic. Yet in new or re-ordered churches it is usually near the altar, for no better reason than to accommodate Bugnini's conceit (which has no historical justification) that baptism, like other sacraments and sacramentals, should be conferred in the middle of Mass.
To riff on John Nolan's post, how many movies have we watched where an officer leads his troopers towards their goal with a "Follow me, men!" The priest is leading us towards a goal infinitely more precious and important than any hill or pillbox.
Bee here:
Now that I have adult experience of both the Novus Ordo and the TLM, I have to say, when I do attend the Novus Ordo, and the priest invariably changes his tone and does indeed gesture slightly with the bread and wine and says "Take and eat, for this is My body." as if he is addressing the congregation (and he is), I cringe a little.
I find it hard to sustain my worship and adoration when this happens. And there seems to be no little conceit in the priest at this moment, but I don't know what motivates it.
I do find the Novus Ordo "Mass Lite" nowadays, compared to the TLM.
God bless.
Bee
The Novus Ordo Establishment cannot and will not sustain itself.
Thank God, Vatican Zero! May it die off with the heresy of protestantism, which I refuse to legitimize with a capital "P."
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