Orientation in Jewish Prayer

An interesting article on the topic of Orientation of Prayer. In one of his talks, a famous Filipino liturgist claimed that the eastward direction of liturgical prayer is of pagan origin. This article says that we inherited from the Jews the custom of having a common liturgical direction. The Jews turned towards Jerusalem. We turn towards the east.

When I studied in the Graduate School of Liturgy in San Beda College, we went to a synagogue in Makati for a Sabbath service. The liturgical direction was so evident. Everybody faced Jerusalem. It was then that I started to question why we gave up the orientation of liturgical prayer. If it is true that we inherited our liturgical practices from the Jews, why do we not pray facing a common liturgical direction today? This is definitely a discontinuity not only from the tradition of the Apostles but also from the Jewish tradition which they keep to this very day.

Follow the link: Orientation in Jewish Prayer

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!

New English Edition of Roman Missal by Midwest Theological Forum

The new English Edition of the Roman Missal will be used in the Philippines starting the first Sunday of Advent 2012. It is now made available by the Midwest Theological Forum. The Roman Missal editio typica tertia is also made available by the same publication.

Follow the link: New English Edition of Roman Missal by Midwest Theological Forum

Ad Orientem in the Ordinary Form

The New Liturgical Movement reported on the Mass in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite offered ad orientem at the Pope John XXIII High School in Texas.

Follow the link: Ad Orientem, Ordinary Form, Pope John XXIII High School, Texas

At the sight of the wolves, they do not run

St. Francis Xavier, Patron of the Missions,

pray for the missionaries in Libya!

Everyone is evacuating from violence-torn Libya, but the missionaries stay. "Bishop Sylvester Magro, Apostolic Vicar of Benghazi, said that the principal concern of the Catholic Church 'is to be close to the sick and suffering, so our contribution to the events is invaluable because of our closeness to the people.'” These words remind me of Jesus who, as the Good Shepherd, does not flee at the sight of the wolves. God bless the missionaries!



For the full article, follow the link: Amid violent protests, Catholic missionaries continue their work in Libya :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Prayer to the Divino Rostro

The Feast of the Holy Face of our Lord will be on Shrove Tuesday (March 8, 2011). I would like to share this prayer to the Divino Rostro which is very much venerated alongside the Virgin of Penafrancia in the Bicol region.

Prayer to the Divino Rostro

O Jesus, in your bitter Passion, You became a man of sorrows, in Your disfigured Face, I see Your infinite Love.

I am consumed with the desire to love You and make You loved by all. I venerate Your Sacred Face because because it is the human expression of the Face of the Father.

The tears on Your eyes are the pearls which I desire to offer to God in expiation for my sins and the spiritual salvation of sinners.

O Jesus, Your adorable Face ravishes my heart. Gaze into my eyes and touch my heart. And set me on fire with Your love, so that my only desire will be to contemplate Your glorious Face in heaven.

Amen.

The End of Orientation

Those who argue in defense of Mass versus populum say that the priest facing the people better express the centrality of Christ and his Sacrifice in the life of the Christian people. However, ad orientem shows that the ultimate direction of our worship is the Father Almighty.

The Latin theological tradition views the liturgical re-presentation of Christ’s
sacrifice (however conceived) as an offering of the whole Christ, Head and
members, to the Father through (and with) the Son in the Holy Spirit. In the
Roman Canon as well as in the other Eucharistic Prayers of the modern Roman
Rite, the First Person of the Trinity, God the Father, appears as both the
starting point (principium a quo) and the end (terminus ad quem) of the
Eucharistic action, while Christ, the incarnate Son, appears there as High
Priest, through whose mediation the Father has been gracious to us and we render
praise and glory to Him. In contrast, but not in disagreement, with the Western
structure of liturgical prayer, the traditional Eastern liturgical prayer ends
with the words: “For unto Thee are due all glory, honor, and worship, to the
Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of
ages. Amen.” From this I reason that the celebration of Mass facing ad orientem
symbolizes a movement not only toward the “east” of Christ, but also toward the
Father through, with, and in Christ (“Per ipsum, et cum ipso, et in ipso...”).

For the whole article, follow the link The End of Orientation