I link my December 1, 2014 article on Saint Joseph Church in Macon ad orientem Mass at 12:15 PM. It’s a blast from the past. Be sure to read the comments too. Good old John Nolan and many others gone, make good comments too.
SAINT JOSEPH 12:10 PM AD ORIENTEM SUNDAY MASS FULL THE SUNDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING
What this means is that the Mass is just like all our other Ordinary Form Masses in music and otherwise, except the Liturgy of the Eucharist is ad orientem, meaning the priest faces the apse rather than the nave. (Technically all our Masses are ad orientem as we have adopted Pope Benedict's compromise of placing a crucifix directly in front of the celebrant as the symbol of facing east toward Jerusalem and the rising of the sun).
6 comments:
Father McD: I hope you've had a blessed holy week and Easter. Long time reader here. Your post brings up a question I've been meaning to ask you.
I saw some of your ad orientem Masses at St. Joseph in Macon years ago and then tracked your gradual reintroduction of tradition into the Novus Ordo over the years. My wife and I mostly attend the TLM and an ad orientem Maronite liturgy, but lately I've felt God calling me to more directly support priests who want to make the NO more traditional. I'm currently working with a priest friend of mine to buy him cassocks and surplices for his nearby parish, something he's open to (he graciously celebrated my wedding—complicated family story as to why we didn't have it in the TLM—which was as traditional a NO as we could get it, minus ad orientem because of the bishop: Latin chant schola, two men serving in their own cassocks and surplices, incense, Roman Canon, no offertory procession, sign of peace, or EMHCs, Communion under one kind). He already uses the central crucifix flanked by candles at all his Masses and occasionally has a Latin schola sing for solemnities at his parish. Our bishop is opposed to ad orientem, though, and believes ad orientem is only for the TLM, so the priest is not even gonna try that. He has the usual army of extraordinary ministers.
All that said . . . Since you're someone who has successfully turned your celebrations of the NO more traditional over time, what's your biggest piece of advice for a priest who wants to do the same but is hesitant, and for laity like me and my wife who want to help make things happen for priests who are open?
You are to be congratulated, young man. And you came to the right place for advice! Hopefully Pope Leo will begin disciplining bishops who forbid ad orientem.
In regard to John Nolan: I had found it interesting that although he had leaned to the right, he recognized the tremendous holiness, beauty, and spiritual value, of the Holy Mass of Pope Saint Paul VI.
Example:
John Nolan said...
"The Roman Rite, and even the Novus Ordo when celebrated decently, can more than hold its own against Eastern Rites."
October 4, 2017 at 5:10 PM
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That echoed Pope Benedict XVI's appreciation of, and confidence in, the Holy Mass of Pope Saint Paul VI. Pope Benedict XVI:
"The most sure guarantee that the Missal of Paul VI can unite parish communities and be loved by them consists in its being celebrated with great reverence in harmony with the liturgical directives.
"This will bring out the spiritual richness and the theological depth of this Missal."
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W
The above anticipated Pope Leo XIV's invitation to "traditionalists" to seek traditional Roman liturgy via the Holy Mass of Pope Saint Paul VI.
Pope Leo XIV: "Well, you can say Mass in Latin right now. If it’s the Vatican II rite there’s no problem...if we celebrate the Vatican II liturgy in a proper way, do you really find that much difference between this experience and that (so-called TLM) experience?
I have not had the chance to really sit down with a group of people
Thank you Michael for your thoughtful comment and God bless you and your family. I am a very cautious priest and never intentionally tried to get on the bad side of my bishop. Thus a pastor has to know what his bishop will allow or disallow. I would never go against my bishop with the TLM, ad orientem or altar railings. Fortunately, though, my bishops were open to these things and never told me not to do it. I don’t like yanking the laity around either. So I worried that if I started something more traditional, and then I got transferred, they’d be yanked around again—that is especially true of ad orientem and allowing kneelers or the altar railings for Holy Communion. With what is allowed, I worked “organically.” For example for the 7 years of Summorum Pontificum I only celebrated the TLM once a month on Sunday at a different time from the other Masses and every Tuesday as an additional daily Mass. Eventually, I celebrated the TLM at the 12;15 PM Ad orientem vernacular Mass and made sure everyone knew that the last Sunday of the month the Mass would be in Latin—I’m not even sure if that full church understood the different liturgical actions of the TLM compared to the OF. We always provided a translation of the the Mass as a program. I was a strict pastor with my parochial vicars. We had to celebrate the Masses in a similar way, no creativity and no on their own doing ad orientem at Masses where this wasn’t done. I think most modern Catholics prefer a vernacular Mass, so I was always cautious about the amount of Latin I would bring into the Ordinary Form. But education of parishioners is important and not imposing things on them in an authoritarian way, or its all about the priests and his likes and dislikes. I hope this helps. But slow progress if best, I think.
John Nolan damned the Novus Ordo with faint praise
Father McDonald,
I think we need to educate the bishops on ad orientem and receiving Holy Communion kneeling on the tongue and why THEY DO NOT have the authority to limit those inveterate practices. If they are a slow learner, remove them from office and put in a quicker study. I have a word for these kind of bishops: EVIL .
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