Imitating Papal Altars: Why Not???

Candles on the Altar

I have heard some liturgists argue against putting candles on the altar (that is in spite of the fact that the General Instruction on the Roman Missal allows this). They say that candles should not be placed on the altar because our altars are not Papa Altars. To this reason, I say that if we were not to imitate Papal altars, then we should have our altars pushed back to the walls. According to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (who late became Pope Benedict XVI), 

"The controversy in our own century was triggered by another innovation. Because of topographical circumstances, it turned out that St. Peter's (basilica) faced west. Thus, if the celebrating priest wanted - as the Christian tradition of prayer demands - to face east, he had to stand behind the people and look - this is the logical conclusion - toward the people. For whatever reason it was done, one can also see this arrangement in a whole series of church buildings within St. Peter's direct sphere of influence. The liturgical renewal in our own century took up this alleged model and developed from it a new idea for the form of the liturgy. The Eucharist - so it was said - had to be celebrated versus populum (toward the people). The altar - as can be seen in the normative model of St. Peter's - had to be positioned in such a way that the priest and people looked at each other and formed the circle of the celebrating community. This alone - so it was said - was compatible with  the meaning of the Christian liturgy, with the requirement of active participation. This alone conformed to the primordial model of the Last Supper. These arguments seemed in the end so persuasive that after the Council (which says nothing about "turning toward the people") new altars were set everywhere, and today celebration versus populum really looks like the characteristic fruit of Vatican II's liturgical renewal. In fact, it is the most conspicuous consequence of a reordering that not only signifies a new external arrangement of the places dedicated to the liturgy, but also brings with it a new idea of the essence of the liturgy - the liturgy as a communal meal.

"This is, of course, a misunderstanding of the significance of the Roman basilica and of the positioning of the altar..." (J. Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy, 77-78.)

My argument is this: the repositioning of the altar so that the liturgy may be celebrated facing the people was based on the imitation of the position of the Papal altars in Rome. If this were so, why are we now arguing that we should not put candles on the altar because we should not imitate the arrangement of candles on Papal Altars? I simply could not see the consistency of the arguments. We allow a change (positioning of the altar) in imitation of Papal altars and then disallow another practice (putting candles on the altar) because doing such would be applying to non-papal altars what is allowed on Papal altars. How can the standards change from one argument to another. This, to me, is simply whimsical preferences of some being imposed to all.

The Transfiguration and the Pontificate of Benedict XVI

The papacy of Pope Benedict XVI is like the Transfiguration of the Lord. At the Transfiguration, our Lord manifested his glory as God's only begotten Son - that glory which lay hidden beneath the veil of his human nature. During his pontificate, the Holy Father unveiled for us the true glory of Catholic Liturgy - that glory which, for some time, lay hidden beneath much of the confusion that occurred after the 2nd Vatican Council. For some time, the liturgy seemed to be no more than just a social assembly, a fraternal meeting of members of the Church, a fellowship and even to some extent, a show that was meant to entertain. For some time, many members of the Church lost sight of the Supernatural in the Liturgy. The Holy Father unveiled for us the  true glory of Catholic Liturgy. He reminded us that Liturgy is not about us, but about God. He reminded us that Liturgy is not some project made by some committee but a gift that we have received from God. He reminded us that Liturgy is not an exchange of pleasantries between celebrant and people but rather, it is a procession towards the Lord. He taught us that Liturgy is seeking the face of the Lord. Indeed, in the illustrious pontificate of Benedict XVI, the glory of Christ's face was once again beheld through the Liturgy.

My only worry is that at the Transfiguration, the Lord gave his disciples only a brief glimpse of his hidden glory. Will the close of Benedict's papacy also hide again the glory of the Liturgy which shone for but a brief moment? As the radiance of Christ's face will later on disappear to give way to the blood, sweat and spittle of the passion, will the same happen to the Liturgy? Will the glory of the Liturgy be covered once again with human attempts to make it more man-oriented than God-oriented? Will Liturgy be once again a project subject to the tinkering of human committees? I hope not.

But should it happen, I am confident that just as the radiance of Christ's face will reappear on a permanent basis at the Resurrection, so also will the glory and radiance of the Liturgy be made manifest again at a time we do not know. How I wish that the glory of the Liturgy which was unveiled for us by the Holy Father should never fade! How  I wish that the Benedictine Reform continues! 

This gives us reason to pray and fast even more seriously for the election of the new Pope when the Holy Father abdicates from the papal throne. Like Queen Ester and Mordecai and the Jewish People, we should fast and pray as if our lives depended on it. May the Holy Spirit appoint a Pope who would show the splendor of the Liturgy even more. Let us pray and fast as if our lives depended on it!

Dr. Taylor Marshall | Canterbury Tales: Eleven Great Quotes from Pope Benedict XVI on Litu...

As the Illustrious Pontificate of Benedict XVI draws to a close, an article by Dr. Taylor Marshall of Canterbury Tales testifies to the significant contribution of this Pontificate to the re-orientation of the Liturgical Reform. Indeed, the Holy Father is leaving to us a legacy of a truly Catholic liturgical reform. In this article, he puts forward eleven quotations from the Holy Father on liturgy:

Ratzinger on the Liturgical Reformers Creating a 'Fabrication, Banal Product'
The liturgical reform, in its concrete realization, has distanced itself even more from its origin. The result has not been a reanimation, but devastation. In place of the liturgy, fruit of a continual development, they have placed a fabricated liturgy. They have deserted a vital process of growth and becoming in order to substitute a fabrication. They did not want to continue the development, the organic maturing of something living through the centuries, and they replaced it, in the manner of technical production, by a fabrication, a banal product of the moment. (Ratzinger in Revue Theologisches, Vol. 20, Feb. 1990, pgs. 103-104)

Ratzinger on Those Who Appreciate the Latin Mass being Wrongly Treated Like 'Lepers'

"For fostering a true consciousness in liturgical matters, it is also important that the proscription against the form of liturgy in valid use up to 1970 [the older Latin Mass] should be lifted. Anyone who nowadays advocates the continuing existence of this liturgy or takes part in it is treated like a leper; all tolerance ends here. There has never been anything like this in history; in doing this we are despising and proscribing the Church's whole past. How can one trust her at present if things are that way?" (Spirit of the Liturgy, 2000)

Ratzinger on the Degeneration of Liturgy and 'Liturgical Fabricators'

"[W]e have a liturgy which has degenerated so that it has become a show which, with momentary success for the group of liturgical fabricators, strives to render religion interesting in the wake of the frivolities of fashion and seductive moral maxims. Consequently, the trend is the increasingly marked retreat of those who do not look to the liturgy for a spiritual show-master but for the encounter with the living God in whose presence all the 'doing' becomes insignificant since only this encounter is able to guarantee us access to the true richness of being." (Cardinal Ratzinger's preface to the French translation ofReform of the Roman Liturgy by Monsignor Klaus Gamber, 1992).

Ratzinger on the 'Disintegration of the Liturgy'

"I am convinced that the crisis in the Church that we are experiencing today is, to a large extent, due to the disintegration of the liturgy." (Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977)

Ratzinger against 'Homemade Liturgy'

"It is also worth observing here that the 'creativity' involved in manufactured liturgies has a very restricted scope. It is poor indeed compared with the wealth of the received liturgy in its hundreds and thousands of years of history. Unfortunately, the originators of homemade liturgies are slower to become aware of this than the participants..." (Feast of Faith p. 67-68)

Ratzinger on the Latin Mass as the 'Holiest and Highest Possession'

“I am of the opinion, to be sure, that the old rite should be granted much more generously to all those who desire it. It’s impossible to see what could be dangerous or unacceptable about that. A community is calling its very being into question when it suddenly declares that what until now was its holiest and highest possession is strictly forbidden and when it makes the longing for it seem downright indecent.” (Ratzinger Salt of the Earth (1997)

Ratzinger on the Danger of Creative "Presiders" at the Mass

In reality what happened was that an unprecedented clericalization came on the scene. Now the priest -- the "presider", as they now prefer to call him -- becomes the real point of reference for the whole Liturgy. Everything depends on him. We have to see him, to respond to him, to be involved in what he is doing. His creativity sustains the whole thing. 

Ratzinger on the Danger of 'Creative Planning of the Liturgy'

Not surprisingly, people try to reduce this newly created role by assigning all kinds of liturgical functions to different individuals and entrusting the "creative" planning of the Liturgy to groups of people who like to, and are supposed to, "make a contribution of their own". Less and less is God in the picture. More and more important is what is done by the human beings who meet here and do not like to subject themselves to a "pre-determined pattern". (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

Ratzinger on Why the Priest Should Not Face the People During Mass

The turning of the priest toward the people has turned the community into a self-enclosed circle. In its outward form, it no longer opens out on what lies ahead and above, but is locked into itself. The common turning toward the East was not a "celebration toward the wall"; it did not mean that the priest "had his back to the people": the priest himself was not regarded as so important. For just as the congregation in the synagogue looked together toward Jerusalem, so in the Christian Liturgy the congregation looked together "toward the Lord". (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

Ratzinger on the Priest and People Facing the Same Direction

On the other hand, a common turning to the East during the Eucharistic Prayer remains essential. This is not a case of accidentals, but of essentials. Looking at the priest has no importance. What matters is looking together at the Lord. (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

Ratzinger on the 'Absurd Phenomenon' of Replacing the Crucifix with the Priest

Moving the altar cross to the side to give an uninterrupted view of the priest is something I regard as one of the truly absurd phenomena of recent decades. Is the cross disruptive during Mass? Is the priest more important than Our Lord? (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

Dr. Taylor Marshall | Canterbury Tales: Eleven Great Quotes from Pope Benedict XVI on Litu...

Quo Vadis?: The New Liturgical Movement Post-Benedict XVI

The Holy Father's Last Public Mass (Ash Wednesday 2013)

One of my apprehensions about the impending resignation of Pope Benedict from the Petrine Office is the future of the Reform of the reform of the Sacred Liturgy. I found this article in the New Liturgical Movement very insightful.

follow the link: Quo Vadis?: The New Liturgical Movement Post-Benedict XVI

Another Parish Moves East

At the New Liturgical Movement is a recent post about a parish that has "moved East", that is, has gone "ad orientem" in its celebration of the Ordinary Form...yes, even with the encouragement of the Bishop. How I wish my own bishop were as supportive and open minded to the idea of Ad Orientem worship. (sigh!)

Another Parish Moves East

Brick by Brick

I offered Mass for a Charismatic Community last Monday and I was delightfully surprised. Even with the date of the implementation of the use of the new English translation of the Roman Missal (for the Philippines) still a long way off (2012 Advent), the said community is already using it! I was further delighted when, at Holy Communion, the faithful knelt to receive our Lord. And this is not a conservative Latin Mass community but a Charismatic one! Even with the great influence which opponents to the Reform of the reform exert in the Philippine landscape, it seems that little by little, the reform is underway. I know for a fact that this Charismatic community is steeped in Scriptural formation. I am of the belief that a person who takes the Sacred Scripture seriously will begin asking questions about reverence in worship.

Whispering Hope

This week, a young man started serving at my daily Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. He wanted to be a priest so that he could offer the Mass in the extraordinary form.

Yesterday, a seminarian from the Philippine Mission Society stayed with us the whole day for a mission appeal on behalf our Filipino missionaries. At the end of the day, as we ate supper, he told me that when he was in Mindanao, he was a servant leader of a basic ecclesial community. He was inspired by the "defensores fidei" who introduced him to the extraordinary form. He said that he wished that Summorum Pontificum be implemented more generously in the Philippines.

Sometimes I feel disheartened by the opposition of many bishops and priests to the reform of the reform. But then, seeing these young men...there is hope.

Sing the Liturgy

Fr.Mark Kirby of Vultus Christi blog points out what I perceive is a pressing liturgical problem: that of singing in the Liturgy and NOT SINGING THE LITURGY. For a long time, we have been substituting inferior songs for the ACTUAL LITURGICAL TEXTS of the Proper of the Mass. The coming of the new translation must be a challenge to put into music the actual text of the Proper of the Mass. We should rid the Liturgy of the "termites of the Church." Follow the Link: And what are you singing today?

Msgr. Bux on the Reform of the reform

Over at Rorate Caeli is an article about an interview granted by Monsignor Nicolas Bux on the Reform of the reform. I find the article significant:

"... the reform that took place after the Council had to be resumed, and in some ways corrected there where, always using his words, the restoration of the painting had been too much, that is, by trying to clean, it had taken the risk of removing too many layers of color. He started this restoration through his own style. The Pope celebrates the liturgy in a subdued, not loud, way. He also wants the prayers, songs, and anything else not to be in exhibitionist tones. And two special actions in his liturgies that are obvious should be noticed: he places the Cross between himself and the assembly, indicating that the liturgical rite is not addressed to the priestly minister, but to Christ; and kneeling in the reception of Communion, indicating that this is not a supper, in the worldly sense of the word, but a communion with the body of Jesus Christ, that is worshiped first, in the words of St. Augustine, and only then eaten."

He also spoke about reading the signs of the times:

"It is clear that the pastors of the Church, first the bishops and then the parish priests, although often saying that we must be able to grasp the signs of the times, an expression very much in use after Vatican II, often fail to understand that the signs of the times are not defined by them, but they happen and are regulated mainly by young people. I think this is the most interesting symptom, because, if [only] the elderly, the adults, went to the Traditional Mass, one might harbor a suspicion that it is nostalgia. The fact that it is mostly young people who seek and participate in the Latin Mass is completely unexpected and therefore deserves to be read, understood, and particularly accompanied by the bishops. "

I agree with him because those who invoke the necessity of reading the signs of the times are stuck with reading the signs of the times of the 70's. They refuse to recognize the fact that 40 plus years into the liturgical reform, the pendulum is going back to the center. The excesses of the experimentation are at last being rejected in favor of Tradition. Young people are able to recognize what old "reformers" refuse to acknowledge. The Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary Form in my own parish has a steady increase of young people in attendance. We are not bring time backwards. The reclaiming of Tradition is really going forward. In fact, those who object even to the new English translation of the Roman Missal refuse to feel and move with the entire Church!

On the Organic Restoration of the Sacred

How will the mutual enrichment of the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form take place? Fr. Christopher Smith posted this interesting article in The Chant Cafe:

"But I do wonder if there could not be three possible stages to the Mutual Enrichment and Reform of the Reform, and so I outline what that might look like here. I offer no timeline to this little fantasy, and I have no illusions that this discussion will go beyond the loyal readers of this blog. But here it is. Discuss.

First Stage of Mutual Enrichment

In this first stage, I see that there are many things that can be done now with no mixing of or change to the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite as currently found in the liturgical books. I also envision some guidance from the Magisterium to point this mutual enrichment in the right direction so as to avoid arbitrariness and to give those priests who respond to the call to mutual enrichment support.

Enrichment of the Ordinary Form by the Extraordinary Form
- Bishops in Cathedrals and Pastors in their churches spontaneously adopting the ad orientem position at Mass as implicit in the OF after sustained catechesis of the faithful
- Reconstruction of altar rails in churches and the spontaneous use of the communion rail as a place from which to distribute Holy Communion
- Catechesis from the pulpit about the Church’s preference for Holy Communion on the tongue and under one species
- Move towards singing the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin at OF Masses
- Priests, on their own, choosing the options of the OF which are analogous to the EF, and leaving aside those which are not
- The spontaneous and consistent use by the clergy of the maniple, biretta, amice
- Singing of the Propers according to the Graduale Romanum at Sung Masses
- Enforcement of the ecclesiastical discipline on extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion

Enrichment of the Extraordinary Form by the Ordinary Form
- Celebration of at least one EF Mass as part of the ordinary Sunday Mass schedule by clergy trained to do it in their parishes.
- Use of the readings in the vernacular at Low Masses
- Recitation of the parts pertinent to the faithful
- Use of new prefaces and new saints’ Masses in the EF.

Magisterial Involvement
- document by the Congregations for Divine Worship and Doctrine of the Faith clarifying the Church’s teaching and discipline on the reception of Holy Communion, indicating the preference for the Church’s traditional mode of reception. In the same document, a clarification of the right of the priest to celebrate Mass ad orientem.

Second Stage of Reform of the Reform

In this second stage, the Magisterium would change the existing relevant liturgical and canonical legislation as well as provide new editions of the OF and EF Missals.

Papal Encyclical and Disciplinary Norms
The Reform of the Reform would be ushered into being by a papal encyclical, the Mediator Dei of our time. This encyclical would present a rich theology of the liturgy, a frank and honest reappraisal of post-Vatican II liturgical praxis, and a liturgical, historical, theological and canonical explanation of the following: the two forms of the Roman Rite and their mutual enrichment, the ad orientem position of celebration at the altar, the traditional mode for the reception of Holy Communion, Latin and sacred music. This encyclical would strongly encourage in an optional but clear way all of the points of the Reform of the Reform. This would be followed, after consultation with the entire hierarchy in a special synod on the Reform of the Reform, disciplinary norms which would indicate the normative status of each of the points of the Reform of the Reform.

Restoration of the Subdiaconate and the Revisiting of Pontificalis Domus
The disciplinary norms would include the restoration of the ancient subdiaconate to the life of the Church put in abeyance by Paul VI’s Ministeria Quaedam. It would also revisit the simplifications in Paul VI’s Pontificalis Domus concerning the costume of prelates to allow greater freedom for hierarchical dress.

Norms on Church Construction
Issuance by the Congregation for Divine Worship of practical guidelines for the building of new churches and the fabrication of new linens, vestments and vessels with accompanying theological and spiritual commentary (d’apres St Robert Bellarmine’s works on church construction).

The Reform of the Reform Edition of the OF Missal after the Encyclical
- dropping the options which are rarely used, streamlining of remaining options
- all editions of the Missal would be bilingual
- all editions of the Lectionary would be bilingual
- addition of a new Ritus Servandus with more detailed rubrics for the ceremonies
- the addition of the EF Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, Offertory Prayers and Last Gospel as an option in the OF
- restoration of the genuflection at the Creed and before the elevations in the OF
- restoration of some feasts from EF
- integration of Orations from the EF as options
- issuance of a Caeremoniale Presbyterorum from the Papal Household in a companion volume to the Missal
- integration of the Offertory Antiphons from the EF
- making the Prayer of the Faithful optional
- substantial restoration of the EF Kalendar to the OF
- integration of the EF Lectionary as an optional cycle of the OF

The Reform of the Reform Edition of the EF Missal after the Enyclical
- all editions would include the Readings, Antiphons and Orations in the vernacular as an option.
- permission for Holy Communion by intinction
- option for the pre-1955 Holy Week Rites
- addition of OF saints’ feasts not present in EF Missal as optional
- addition of some OF Prefaces
- option to omit the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar and the Last Gospel
- composition of vernacular graduals for the antiphons for optional use
- option for the use of the OF Lectionary at Low Masses
- option for the distibution of Holy Communion by ordained subdeacons

Third Stage of the Missal of Benedict XVI, Pope of the Sacred Liturgy

This third stage would take place after the Reform of the Reform has been in place for some time and the Roman Curia, together with the world episcopate, can look into the feasibility of a once again united form of the Roman liturgy. With some distance from the post-Vatican II reforms and the lived experience of the Reform of the Reform, the Magisterium of the Church could ostensibly distill the organic development of the liturgy from its restoration and renewal into one Roman Rite again.

Is this a do-able Game Plan?
Let it be said from the beginning, that I am perfectly fine with celebrating the Missal of St Pius V in toto and the Missal of Paul VI as the occasion warrants. I do recognize, however, that flexibility in rubrics, calendars and rites, Communion under both species and the vernacular are among those things that Vatican II called for. Could they be allowed in the EF in an optional way so as to open the riches of the EF liturgy to more people? Also, the OF could easily be influenced by many of the prayers and ceremonies of the EF if that influence is tutelaged well by the Magisterium. But if priests attempt any of this on their own, they risk making the liturgy into an eccentric celebration of their opinion on how they think Mass should be celebrated. Because so much of the post-Vatican II Reform was imposed inorganically by arbitrary decisions of clergy and by officialdom, the Mutual Enrichment and Reform of the Reform also has to happen by the leadership of the clergy united with the Holy Father and the Roman Curia in collaboration with the world episcopate. Then, the organic process of liturgical development can begin again, and the future will be less charged with everyone making their own opinions into the standard of liturgical celebration. "



Follow the Link: On the Organic Restoration of the Sacred

Bishop Dosado on the Reform of the Reform

With much being said about the statement of the National Meeting of Liturgical Directors of the Philippines, the statement of Archbishop Jesus Dosado of Ozamis is refreshing. UCANews published his statement in which the good Archbishop denounced the "terrorist procilivities" of some liturgists:

"Looking back, some of the culprits for me for the gradual loss of the true reform of the Liturgy were the so-called 'liturgists'who were more like technicians and choreographers rather than pure students of the liturgy.

They had a peculiar affinity for refined liturgical celebrations coupled with disdain for the old rites and devotions. Unfortunately, some bishops, not pure students of liturgy either, gave in to their terrorist proclivities.

A search for creativity and community were dominant projects in 'reform-minded' Catholic circles in the 1960's and beyond. In itself, it might have not been bad. But the philosophy that the community was god , and that 'God' was not fully 'God' without the community was the source of ideas that have done most damage to the Church.

This secular notion of community made its way into the liturgy to gradually supplant the inherited Christian tradition.

These self-appointed arbiters of the reform were, and I hate to say this, liturgical hijackers who deprived ordinary parishioners - and bewildered pastors - of their right to the normative of their own Church. Hence, there was a need for a reform of the reform."

Thank you Your Excellency! Considering the fact that you received the Sacrosanctum Concilium Award for your contribution to the promotion of the Church's teaching on the liturgy, the authority of your words cannot be questioned by those who pretend to be serious students of the Liturgy.

Read the entire article at the following link: The liturgical renewal I would like to see

Why the Old Form Thrives in my Parish

I found this profound article on the extraorodinary form being celebrated in a parish. You might want to check it out. Just follow the link

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2010/07/01/why-the-old-form-thrives-in-my-parish/

The Nazarene and John the Baptist: a lesson on Ad Orientem worship

"Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized, for John had not yet been imprisoned. Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew about ceremonial washings. So they came to John and said to him, 'Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.' John answered and said, 'No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.'"

John 3:22-30

Whenever I ask people, "Who is the patron of Quiapo Church?" the usual answer I get is "The Black Nazarene." That's wrong because the true patron (the titular) of the said church is St. John the Baptist. Not many people know this. In fact, many mistakenly think that January 9 is the Fiesta of Quiapo which is not really true because the fiesta of Quiapo is June 24, which is also known as Manila day. People go to Quiapo Church to visit the Nazareno and not really the Baptist. In a sense, what his disciples said to John at that time can be repeated to him about the pilgrims who go to Quiapo: EVERYONE IS COMING TO HIM!

When these words were first addressed to John by his disciples, it would probably have been in an alarmed tone. The concern was that the Lord Jesus was gaining a reputation at the expense of John. People were abandoning John in order to transfer to Jesus' side.

But John was not alarmed. After all, he knew who he was and where his place should be. John knew his place: "I am not the Christ...I was sent before him." The bride, God's people, was not his to claim. He was just the best man. Jesus is the Bridegroom! The role of the best man is to stand and listen for the Bridegroom. Hearing the Bridegroom's voice, he rejoices greatly because his arrival would mean that the wedding feast has begun. The best man never gets jealous of the attention showered on the Groom. After all, it is the Groom's wedding, not his. The best man does not attract attention to himself. He directs all the attention to the Bridegroom himself: "He must increase; I must decrease!"

The Priest: the Bridegroom's friend

So John the Baptist is the appropriate image of the priest at Mass. In the Holy Sacrifice, the priest is never to keep the attention of the people to himself. Rather, like John the Baptist, the priest's presence should not be an imposing one but rather, it should be a presence that should disappear when the Bridegroom arrives: He must increase; I must increase.

Unfortunately, this is not the case in most liturgies today. The Holy Father, when he was still Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, made this valid observation:

"In reality, what happened was that an unprecedented clericalization came on the scene. Now the priest - the 'presider', as they now prefer to call him - becomes the real point of reference for the whole liturgy. Everything depends on him. We have to see him, to respond to him, to be involved in what he is doing. His creativity sustains the whole thing. Not surprisingly, people try to reduce this newly created role by assigning all kinds of liturgical functions to different individuals and entrusting the 'creative' planning of the liturgy to groups of people who like, and are supposed to, 'make their own contribution'. Less and less is God in the picture. More and more important is what is done by the human beings who meet here and do not like to subject themselves to a 'pre-determined pattern.' The turning of the priest toward the people has turned the community into a self-enclosed circle. In its outward form, it no longer opens out on what lies ahead and above, but is closed in on itself." (J. Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy, 79-80.)

John the Baptist shows us the pattern that every priest must emulate at the celebration of the Mysteries. The Baptist was sent to prepare the way for the Lord's coming. This preparation is by preaching. Thus, he is the voice crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord! "The Liturgy of the Word is about speaking and responding, and so a face-to-face exchange between proclaimer and hearer does make sense." (Ibid., 81)

However, at the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the priest, like the Baptist, must disappear through the common turning of the priest and people to the same direction: to the Lord.

"...a common turning to the east during the Eucharistic Prayer remains essential. This is not a case of something accidental but of something essential. Looking at the priest has no importance. What matters is looking together at the Lord. It is not now a question of dialogue but of common worship, of setting toward the One who is to come. What corresponds with the reality of what is happening is not the closed circle but the common movement forward, expressed in a common direction of prayer." (Ibid.)

When the priest faces the Lord, he conveniently disappears into the background. Some liturgists mistakenly say that the only advantage in the eastward direction of liturgy is that the celebrant is able to concentrate more and is freed from distractions coming from the assembly. This shallow understanding fails to appreciate the fact that Liturgy is worship and not entertainment! Liturgy is a procession of God's people, led by its priest, towards the Lord. The priest has his back to the people because in worship, he is not talking to the people. He is addressing God. His face should be turned toward the Lord.

"It was much more a question of priest and people facing in the same direction, knowing that together they were in a procession toward the Lord. They did not close themselves into a circle; they did not gaze at one another; but as the pilgrim People of God they set off for the Oriens, for the Christ who comes to meet us." (Ibid., 80)

The liturgical reform which allowed the celebration of Mass versus populum (facing the people) involved more than just a rearrangement of sanctuary furniture. It has, unfortunately, changed the orientation of the liturgy. No matter how much the Congregation for Divine Worship tries to explain that the orientation of the liturgy remains to be "towards the Lord", the liturgy has become, at the very least, a "teaching session" (like a cooking class in which the audience is shown how the dish is made) and at its worse, "entertainment" ( a show that has to keep up with the demands of an MTV generation). The constant pressure for priests is to keep the Mass entertaining. The priest has forgotten that the liturgical act is first of all God's act, not his. He is just the best man who stands and listens for the Bridegroom's coming. He is simply there to pave the way for the encounter of Groom and Bride. The priest should not be an obstruction to this encounter. When the Bridegroom arrives, the best man should conveniently disappear. How is this done? When the priest turns towards the Lord, the people no longer see his face. The priest decreases and Christ increases!

Clergy Conference in Rome: Address of Msgr. Guido Marini, Papal Master of Ceremonies

New Liturgical Movement posted a wonderful address given by Msgr. Guido Marini, Papal Master of Ceremonies, to the Year for Priests Clergy Conference in Rome. The address focuses on the Spirit of the Liturgy:


Clergy Conference in Rome: Address of Msgr. Guido Marini, Papal Master of Ceremonies