Oriented
September 7, 2011 by Amy Welborn
Here’s the thing:
I went to Mass. Not here in the ‘Ham. Somewhere else.
When I go to Mass I try very hard to leave any Critic Hat I might be harboring at the door.
Often unsuccessfully of course.
(I say that as a caveat. As an attempt to divert the Giant Internet Hand of Spanking/Catholic Edition. Remember my late husband wrote the book on leaving the Critic behind at Mass. So I have awareness, people.)
So anyway (!) - this Mass was a great example of how the purported intentions of the post-V2 reforms went horribly wrong because they failed to take Ego into account. Years of tradition and development and more organic-like stuff know about the Ego. Quick fixes forget.
Which means quite simply: When you declare that “the local community” should in some way shape the liturgy, what will often happen is that the only “community” shaping the liturgy will be the musicians and the priest. Ipso facto, untethered from rubric or the specter of sin and set loose by the fateful phrase “in these or similar words” - the liturgy will reflect the egos of both.
So at the beginning we were instructed to “turn and greet Father with our opening song.”
The celebrant ad-libbed much of the Mass (not the Eucharistic prayer, though) and spoke for five minutes after the Greeting – about Hosea, which was the source of the (Weston Priory, of course) processional hymn, but not the First Reading (which was from Ezekiel), preached a thirty-minute terrifically disjointed homily that barely alluded to any of the three Scripture readings (but did make ample reference to Hosea) , and then spent another five minutes at the end of Mass selling the parish golf tournament.
The priest became the center of the Mass – and not in the alter Christus offering sacrifice mode he’s supposed to - and for the rest of us, there was no escaping him.
But I’ve gone over that before in this space. Here’s what struck me this time.
The parish has a special intention for which they are praying to the Virgin.
So after Mass the priest led the people in this prayer to the Virgin for this special intention.
He turned around. Away from the congregation. With them.
He recited the words of this prayer to the Virgin, on his knees facing her statue – which stood in the sanctuary.
He turned , he faced the statue, he prayed.
With us.
I could not help but wonder why embracing this stance and this mode of praying which did not deviate from the given, “rote,” prayer one bit - leading us, but in the same direction – was acceptable now, but not during Mass.
I went to Mass. Not here in the ‘Ham. Somewhere else.
When I go to Mass I try very hard to leave any Critic Hat I might be harboring at the door.
Often unsuccessfully of course.
(I say that as a caveat. As an attempt to divert the Giant Internet Hand of Spanking/Catholic Edition. Remember my late husband wrote the book on leaving the Critic behind at Mass. So I have awareness, people.)
So anyway (!) - this Mass was a great example of how the purported intentions of the post-V2 reforms went horribly wrong because they failed to take Ego into account. Years of tradition and development and more organic-like stuff know about the Ego. Quick fixes forget.
Which means quite simply: When you declare that “the local community” should in some way shape the liturgy, what will often happen is that the only “community” shaping the liturgy will be the musicians and the priest. Ipso facto, untethered from rubric or the specter of sin and set loose by the fateful phrase “in these or similar words” - the liturgy will reflect the egos of both.
So at the beginning we were instructed to “turn and greet Father with our opening song.”
The celebrant ad-libbed much of the Mass (not the Eucharistic prayer, though) and spoke for five minutes after the Greeting – about Hosea, which was the source of the (Weston Priory, of course) processional hymn, but not the First Reading (which was from Ezekiel), preached a thirty-minute terrifically disjointed homily that barely alluded to any of the three Scripture readings (but did make ample reference to Hosea) , and then spent another five minutes at the end of Mass selling the parish golf tournament.
The priest became the center of the Mass – and not in the alter Christus offering sacrifice mode he’s supposed to - and for the rest of us, there was no escaping him.
But I’ve gone over that before in this space. Here’s what struck me this time.
The parish has a special intention for which they are praying to the Virgin.
So after Mass the priest led the people in this prayer to the Virgin for this special intention.
He turned around. Away from the congregation. With them.
He recited the words of this prayer to the Virgin, on his knees facing her statue – which stood in the sanctuary.
He turned , he faced the statue, he prayed.
With us.
I could not help but wonder why embracing this stance and this mode of praying which did not deviate from the given, “rote,” prayer one bit - leading us, but in the same direction – was acceptable now, but not during Mass.
Then I turn on TV and a Protestant preacher has excellent speed and excellent variety of tone in verbal delivery and has Aquinas’ memory of individual scripture passages….but he’s urging people to seed their faith by sending their last thousand dollars to his church which will bring a windfall of money to the giver in good time….something like buying Autozone common stock a year and a half ago and feasting now while hedge funds are down 20% for the year. Oy…..and the young know not where to go.
The altar is set in the round. The priest goes “behind” it and faces the people. He becomes the “center” of the Mass. It’s been this way for nearly fifty years.
Most statues are not set in the round. They generally are against a wall or a pillar. The priest has to stand before them, with the people, facing the statue.
It’s just that simple.
I find this very helpful as there is no possibility you could focus on him except during the preperation of the gifts and the consecration itself – at which point you have other things to be thinking about anyway.
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/09/accidently-praying-together-or-reason-7873-for-summorum-pontificum/
In the Byzantine rite, it is ad orientem- but my husband has bi-ritual faculties and celebrates at his hospital in the Roman rite. The chapel is so small I think ad orientem would be impossible, but I think it would be very beneficial to keep the focus on JESUS
And in my experience *most* priests would be perfectly fine facing in the same direction as the people. Hardly any are comfortable with those awkward “where do I look” moments during the Credo and Sanctus and so on.