Recently, I had a Pharisaical sort of character try to trap me into responding to the that person’s question if I thought the Extraordinary Form of the Mass is superior to the Ordinary Form. I tried to be like Jesus and confound him with my answer so silly was the trap question.
But from my personal experience with the transitional phases of so-called “liturgical renewal” between 1965 to 1970, I can say that I loved the “new and improved” aspects of this renewal. For me as a teenager, shortening the Mass was a definite improvement (i.e. eliminating the long prayers at the foot of the altar and the thrice said, “Lord, I am not worthy”).
I loved the vernacular too and I can still remember how excited I was when our pastor told us on a Sunday that next week a goodly portion of the Mass would be in English and we will provide worship aids to assist you in responding. That first Sunday is indelibly marked in my memory and I still have the worship aide for that and subsequent Sundays.
I started to turn sour on the renewal when “folk music”was introduced and choirs sang from the front as though entertaining us with their voices and antics. There was a lot of talking before and after Mass.
Much of the folk music was horrendous, musically and theologically.
This ushered in a more casual experience during Mass. Then there was a loss of the choreography of the Mass and things simply becoming sloppy and thus irreverent.
Can we recapture the reverence of the EF Mass into the OF Mass? Yes, I am counting on it.
The OF Mass will always be the Mass that the majority of Catholics will attend, always. But it can be improved even without changing its order or discarding the vernacular and vernacular hymns and propers.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the single most important way to return the OF Mass to pre-Vatican II reverence is to kneel for Holy Communion at the altar railing. It would have an organic effect on the rest of the Mass.
11 comments:
I will take the bait. Father, you bring this issue up quite regularly and suggest the same things over and over again. You may actually believe these recommendations of yours would work. Nobody knows for sure but personally I am extremely doubtful.
Why? First the powers be are not interested. Any bishop could introduce the changes you are suggesting but they do not. Some or most feel constrained by being different from the likes of the current powerful figure who like the way things are as they exist. Remember the translation wars to correct the sloppy and poor language of the earlier translations. Imagine the hissy fits the Pray Tell crowd and its ideological running dogs would raise. They Catholic Faith may be accurately summarized in the CCC but in practice, and the actions of the predominant faction of the ecclesial movers and shakers, they reveal visceral hostility toward the teachings of the Church, the Deposit of the Faith.
Until and unless they experience a reconversion to the faith nothing will change. Organizations, especially very large ones such as the Catholic Church, promote with the objective to perpetuate themselves. If the current leadership likes the status quo. So, nothing is going to change anytime soon.
God is in charge. It is His Church. He may work miracles anytime.
I do agree with Anonymous 2:27 PM, that the powers that be are not interested. But look at the mess they have created in the Church.
With regard to Father McDonald's question at the top of this article. I would say it is possible if the NO Mass were done, using the prooto type of Saint Agnes in Saint Paul, MN or Saint John Cantius in Chicago. You would also need a bishop who understands the liturgy and enforces the rubrics.
I attend Mass at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Chattanooga. We have several NO Masses each weekend, and one, the 11:30 Mass, in the Ancient Form. From the time our priest came to the Basilica he was able to gradually influence how reverent the Mass was, through his own actions and demeanor during Mass, and through his sermons and letters in the bulletin.
Over the years we have had larger changes. We have a beautiful schola, sung masses, responses in Latin at all Masses during Advent, Lent, and Easter, and Masses said Ad orientum on certain Holy Days. Finally, we did have an altar rail installed.
All of this started with a priest who says every single Mass so reverently that everyone responds. He started small and built to what we have today. Many people did not like the changes and left. More people had been looking for what we have and came. Some, like me, do not like everything and had to get used to it. For example, I am much less likely to participate in singing now, my voice is too terrible. But God deserves the beauty and love and reverence of our Masses and my opinions and preferences are not important.
How can any one person know what is going on in parishes? It would be wonderful if bishops would encourage these things, but never assume priests and parishioners aren’t finding ways on their own.
I agree with Father's points but I'd add another couple of things that would do much to bring added reverence to the NO.
An ad orientum posture during the eucharistic prayers would clearly convey the truth that our prayers are directed to the Lord our God as a faith community. We are not encountering each other. We are placing ourselves as a people before God. Also, there is no reason the NO cannot regularly be said in Latin, at least during the parish high mass.
These changes would do much to add to the reverence of the NO mass and help fulfill the call of Pope St. Pius X to pray the mass as opposed to simply praying at mass.
I would not count on the Ordinary Form being the Mass the majority of Catholics will be attending in the future, as attendance continues to shrink. The only religious vitality I see is with the EF, that is where I see the young families with children. Also, in the 3 parishes near my home in Indiana, all 3 have the EF which is the best attended Mass. All of the pastors are in their early 30s
Correct Anonymous!
Well said. The Novus Ordo Establishment has created a top-heavy monster that cannot sustain itself. It has a priesthood that is inconsistent, ranging from solid to flaky. It does not catechize. It veers between magisterial insistence (especially when Pope Bergoglio speaks) to relativism (look at all the "seamless garment" voters. The architecture and art that supports this flailing white elephant ranges from traditional to hideous. The Novus Ordo Establishment lets the popular culture call the tune to which it marches. Oh, sure, we hear calls of concern once in a while from a few sundry bishops, but overall, it's cave-in time. We are 21st century Americans trying to be Catholic. We're NOT Catholics living in 21st century America. The flesh rules. The spirit wanes.
The priest in the church that I have attended for many years now celebrates all Masses (NO) Ad Orientem and the front pew acts as an Altar Rail. The congregation is composed not only of those who live near the church but also of people, like myself, who live the other side of town but who are happy to travel to attend what is always a beautiful and reverential Mass. It can be done.
The two forms of the Mass started in different places with different goals. The Old Form came about as man sought to draw near to the sublime by creation of a worship acceptable to God. The New Form strove to create a form of worship acceptable to man. The OF can be accomplished in a respectful manner, as you have proven, Fr McDonald. But it is not stable in that direction and can still be the OF with many aberrations whereas the EF is not the EF with aberrations and extemporaneous actions. It strikes me as if the NO were created by Protestants in a sincere desire to compose a worship service with traditional and historical content but with uninformed and illegitimate additions. It is similar to Protestant ministers wearing a Roman collar. They are only the collar and without the Catholic content.
Principia Mathematica did much the same for mathematics and with roughly the same result. There is a great deal of sausage made from existing information that can help someone on the way of understanding the topic but without really adding or advancing the topic itself. Furthermore, it seems to prove the impossibility of man creating a logic system of worship without Devine inspiration and influence.
The use of Latin is fascinating because it seems perfectly reasonable that the Mass could be in any language with the same effect. However, languages do not have easily translatable statements of the same Objects without turning the translation into a wordy Babel that talks itself off the mark.
So I completely agree with your idea, but I am unable to conclude it to be true except with extraordinary (pun intended) contributions.
I think in 10 to 15 years (maybe sooner) the EF will be the OF. Due to the internet more people are realizing the damage that the 'spirit' of Vatican II has caused.
I too, remember the "interim liturgy" right after Vatican II. If they had left it like that...making only needed changes...the liturgy would be great! The Ordinariates got their liturgy right and it resembles the "interim liturgy" a lot. If one of their parishes were nearby, I'd transfer there in a heartbeat.
Archibishop Lefevbre is owed an apology.
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