Notes on the Historic Liturgy

in te sperántium fortitúdo

2011-07-27T10:57:00.001-05:00

The following is an historic western collect beseeching strength of the Lord:

Deus, in te sperántium fortitúdo, adésto propítius invocatiónibus nostris: et quia sine te nihil potest mortális infírmitas, praesta auxílium grátiae tuae: ut in exsequéndis mandátis tuis, et voluntáte tibi et actióne placeámus.

O God, the strength of those who put their trust in Thee, receive our prayers, and since without Thee weak man can do nothing, help us with Thy grace to keep Thy commandments and thus please Thee in will and in deed.

The collect for the First Sunday after Pentecost, replaced by that of Trinity Sunday, is used "during the following week, on days when there are no feasts of Saints."

(1962 Missal, 743)

Veni, Sancte Spíritus

2010-05-24T11:59:00.006-05:00

Pentecost Monday (or "Whit Monday") accentuates the importance of the Feast of Pentecost in the Church. The celebration of Pentecost, like Easter, begins the day prior with a Vigil. Following the feast day, the octave continues with Pentecost Monday, Pentecost Tuesday, Ember Wednesday, Thursday in Pentecost Week, Ember Friday and Ember Saturday. The Sequence is spoken at masses throughout the octave.

This period remains part of Eastertide. The Spirit comes to the Church as promised by the Risen and Ascended Lord. The coming of the Holy Ghost leads us to the one God, the Blessed Trinity, Whose feast follows the Octave of Pentecost. In the "green season" the Spirit of Christ continues to feed His Church in Word and sacrament. The Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father sends in Jesus' Name, teaches "all things". Jesus says, "He [brings] all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you." (Jn. 14)

The Spirit leads us to Jesus and His word. This is the ongoing life of the Church, which is the life of Christ in the world.

Facing east in the Eucharist

2010-03-08T15:40:00.001-06:00

The Reform of the Liturgy and the Position of the Celebrant at the Altar | Uwe Michael Lang | From Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer (2nd edition)

http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2009/umlang_introtttl_aug09.asp

The reform of the Roman Rite of Mass that was carried out after the Second Vatican Council has significantly altered the shape of Catholic worship. One of the most evident changes was the construction of freestanding altars. The versus populum celebration was adopted throughout the Latin Church, and, with few exceptions, it has become the prevailing practice during Mass for the celebrant to stand behind the altar facing the congregation. This uniformity has led to the widespread misunderstanding that the priest's "turning his back on the people" is characteristic of the rite of Mass according to the Missal of Pope Saint Pius V whereas the priest's "turning towards the people" belongs to the Novus Ordo Mass of Pope Paul VI. It is also widely assumed by the general public that the celebration of Mass "facing the people" is required, indeed even imposed, by the liturgical reform that was inaugurated by Vatican II.

However, the relevant conciliar and post-conciliar documents present quite a different picture. The Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, speaks neither of a celebration versus populum nor of the setting up of new altars. In view of this fact it is all the more astonishing how rapidly "versus populum altars" appeared in Catholic churches all over the world. [1] The instruction Inter Oecumenici, prepared by the Consilium for the carrying out of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and issued on September 26, 1964, has a chapter on the designing of new churches and altars that includes the following paragraph:

Praestat ut altare maius exstruatur a pariete seiunctum, ut facile circumiri et in eo celebratio versus populum peragi possit. [It is better for the main altar to be constructed away from the wall so that one can easily walk around the altar and celebrate facing the people.] [2]

It is said to be desirable to set up the main altar separate from the back wall, so that the priest can walk around it easily and a celebration facing the people is possible. Josef Andreas Jungmann asks us to consider this:

It is only the possibility that is emphasized. And this [separation of the altar from the wall] is not even prescribed, but is only recommended, as one will see if one looks at the Latin text of the directive.... In the new instruction the general permission of such an altar layout is stressed only with regard to possible obstacles or local restrictions. [3]

In a letter addressed to the heads of bishops' conferences, dated January 25, 1966, Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro, the president of the Consilium, states that regarding the renewal of altars "prudence must be our guide". He goes on to explain:

Above all because for a living and participated liturgy, it is not indispensable that the altar should be versus populum: in the Mass, the entire liturgy of the word is celebrated at the chair, ambo or lectern, and, therefore, facing the assembly; as to the eucharistic liturgy, loudspeaker systems make participation feasible enough. Secondly, hard thought should be given to the artistic and architectural question, this element in many places being protected by rigorous civil laws. [4]

With reference to Cardinal Lercaro's exhortation to prudence, Jungmann warns us not to make the option granted by the instruction into "an absolute demand, and eventually a fashion, to which one succumbs without thinking". [5]

Inter Oecumenici permits the Mass facing the people, but it does not prescribe it. As Louis Bouyer emphasized in 1967, that document does not at all suggest that Mass facing the people is always the preferable form of Eucharistic celebration. [6] The rubrics of the renewed Missale Romanum of Pope Paul VI presuppose a common direction of priest and people for the core of the Eucharistic liturgy. This is indicated by the instruction that, at the Orate, fratres, the Pax Domini, the Ecce, Agnus Dei, and the Ritus conclusionis, the priest should turn towards the people. [7] This would seem to imply that beforehand priest and people were facing the same direction, that is, towards the altar. At the priest's communion the rubrics say "ad altare versus", [8] which would be redundant if the celebrant stood behind the altar facing the people anyway. This reading is confirmed by the directives of the General Instruction, even if they are occasionally at variance with the Ordo Missae. [9] The third Editio typica of the renewed Missale Romanum, approved by Pope John Paul II on 10 April 2000 and published in spring 2002, retains these rubrics. [10]

This interpretation of the official documents has been endorsed by the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship. An editorial in its official publication, Notitiae, states that the arrangement of an altar that permits a celebration facing the people is not a question upon which the liturgy stands or falls ("quaestio stantis vel cadentis liturgiae"). Furthermore, the article suggests that, in this matter as in many others, Cardinal Lercaro's call for prudence was hardly heard in the post-conciliar euphoria. The editorial observes that changing the orientation of the altar and using the vernacular could become an easy substitute for entering into the theological and spiritual dimensions of the liturgy, for studying its history and for taking into account the pastoral consequences of the reform. [11]

The revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which was published for study purposes in the spring of 2000, has a paragraph bearing on the altar question:

Altare exstruatur a pariete seiunctum, ut facile circumiri et in eo celebratio versus populum peragi possit, quod expedit ubicumque possibile sit. [Let the main altar be constructed separate from the wall so that one can easily walk around the altar and celebrate facing the people -which is desirable wherever possible.] [12]

The subtle wording of this paragraph (possit - possibile) clearly indicates that the position of the celebrant priest facing the people is not made compulsory. The instruction merely allows for both forms of celebration. At any rate, the added phrase "which is desirable wherever (or whenever) possible (quod expedit ubicumque possibile sit)" refers to the provision for a freestanding altar and not to the desirability of celebration towards the people. [13]

Nonetheless various news reports about the revised General Instruction seemed to suggest that the position of the celebrant versus orientem - or versus absidem - was declared undesirable, if not prohibited.

This interpretation however has been rejected by the Congregation for Divine Worship in a response to a question submitted by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna. The response is dated 25 September 2000 and signed by Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez, then Prefect of the Congregation, and Archbishop Francesco Pio Tamburrino, its Secretary:

In the first place, it is to be borne in mind that the word expedit does not constitute an obligation, but a suggestion that refers to the construction of the altar a pariete seiunctum (detached from the wall) and to the celebration versus populum (towards the people). The clause ubi possibile sit (where it is possible) refers to different elements, as, for example, the topography of the place, the availability of space, the artistic value of the existing altar, the sensibility of the people participating in the celebrations in a particular church, etc. It reaffirms that the position towards the assembly seems more convenient inasmuch as it makes communication easier (cf. the editorial in Notitiae 29 [1993] 245-49), without excluding, however, the other possibility.

However, whatever may be the position of the celebrating priest, it is clear that the eucharistic sacrifice is offered to the one and triune God and that the principal, eternal, and high priest is Jesus Christ, who acts through the ministry of the priest who visibly presides as His instrument. The liturgical assembly participates in the celebration in virtue of the common priesthood of the faithful which requires the ministry of the ordained priest to be exercised in the eucharistic synaxis. The physical position, especially with respect to the communication among the various members of the assembly, must be distinguished from the interior spiritual orientation of all. It would be a grave error to imagine that the principal orientation of the sacrificial action is towards the community. If the priest celebrates versus populum, which is legitimate and often advisable, his spiritual attitude ought always to be versus Deum per Iesum Christum (towards God through Jesus Christ), as representative of the entire Church. The Church as well, which takes concrete form in the assembly which participates, is entirely turned versus Deum (towards God) as its first spiritual movement. [14]

Obviously, the relevant paragraph of the General Instruction must be read in light of this clarification. [15]

Already in the sixties, theologians of international renown criticized the sweeping triumph of the celebration versus populum. In addition to Jungmann and Bouyer, Joseph Ratzinger, then professor of theology at Tübingen and peritus at the Council, delivered a lecture at the Katholikentag of 1966 in Bamberg that was received with much attention. His observations have lost nothing of their relevance:

We can no longer deny that exaggerations and aberrations have crept in which are both annoying and unbecoming. Must every Mass, for instance, be celebrated facing the people? Is it so absolutely important to be able to look the priest in the face, or might it not be often very salutary to reflect that he also is a Christian and that he has every reason to turn to God with all his fellow-Christians of the congregation and to say together with them 'Our Father'? [16]

The German liturgist Balthasar Fischer concedes that the turning of the celebrant towards the people for the entire celebration of the Mass was never officially introduced or prescribed by the new liturgical legislation. In post-conciliar documents it was merely declared possible. In view of this, however, the fact that the celebration versus populum has become the dominant practice of the Latin Church shows the astounding extent to which "the active role of the people in the celebration of the Eucharist" has been realized; for Fischer this is indeed the fundamental issue of the liturgical reform after Vatican II. [17]

Two main arguments in favor of the celebrant's position facing the people during the Eucharist are usually presented. First, it is claimed that this was the practice of the early Church that should be the norm for our age. Second, it is maintained that the "active participation" of the faithful, a principle that was introduced by Pope Saint Pius X and is central to Sacrosanctum Concilium, demanded the celebration towards the people. [18]

The aim of this study will be to counter these arguments in a twofold way.

First, an examination of the historical evidence will show that the orientation of priest and people in the liturgy of the Eucharist is well-attested in the early Church and was, in fact, the general custom. It will be evident that the common direction of liturgical prayer has been a consistent tradition in both the East and the West.

Second, I should like to argue, relying on the thought of contemporary theologians, that the permanent face-to-face position of priest and people is not beneficial for a real participation of the faithful in the liturgy, as envisaged by Vatican II. Recent critical reflection on participatio actuosa has revealed the need for a theological reappraisal and deepening of this important principle.

Cardinal Ratzinger draws a useful distinction between participation in the Liturgy of the Word, which includes external actions, especially reading and singing, and participation in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, where external actions are quite secondary. He writes:

Doing really must stop when we come to the heart of the matter: the oratio. It must be plainly evident that the oratio is the heart of the matter, but that it is important precisely because it provides a space for the actio of God. Anyone who grasps this will easily see that it is not now a matter of looking at or toward the priest, but of looking together toward the Lord and going out to meet Him. [19]

The statement of the Congregation for Divine Worship already quoted shows that speaking of "celebrating towards the people" indicates merely the position of the priest vis-à-vis the congregation at certain parts of the liturgy but does not refer to a theological concept. [20] The expression versus (ad) populum seems to have been used for the first time by the papal master of ceremonies, Johannes Burckard, in his Ordo Missae of 1502 [21] and was taken up in the Ritus servandus in celebratione Missae of the Missale Romanum that Pope Saint Pius V issued in 1570. The Ritus servandus deals with the case where the altar is directed to the east and, at the same time, towards the people (altare sit ad orientem, versus populum). This is indeed the state of affairs in the major Roman basilicas with the entrance facing east and the apse facing west. Here versus populum is to be looked upon merely as an explanatory appositive, namely in view of the immediately following directive that in this case at the Pax Domini the celebrant does not need to turn around (non vertit humeros ad altare), since he already stands ad populum anyway. [22] It is in this topographical sense that the similar passages in Amalarius (ca. 830) [23] and Durandus (towards the end of the thirteenth century) [24] are also to be understood.

When these texts use the phrase versus populum, they do not necessarily mean a visual connection between the people and the sacred action at the altar. It is by no means suggested here that nothing should limit, let alone block, the faithful's view of the ritual acts of the celebrant. Such an interpretation would have seemed alien to the understanding of the liturgy that was common from Christian antiquity until well into the Middle Ages and is still found in the Eastern Churches. Thus it is hardly surprising to find that even with altars versus populum the sight was significantly restricted, for example, by curtains that were closed during certain parts of the liturgy or already by the architectural layout of the church. [25]

The guiding points of the Congregation for Divine Worship make clear that the expression versus populum does not convey the theological dimension of the Eucharistic liturgy. Each Eucharist is offered for the praise and glory of God's name, for the benefit of us and of the holy Church as a whole ("ad laudem et gloriam nominis Dei, ad utilitatem quoque nostram, totiusque Ecclesiae suae sanctae").

Theologically, the Mass as a whole, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, is directed at the same time towards God and towards the people. In the form of the celebration one must avoid a confusion of theology and topography, especially when the priest stands at the altar. The priest speaks to the people only during the dialogues at the altar. Everything else is prayer to the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit. Evidently, it is most desirable that this theology should be expressed in the visible shape of the liturgy. [26]

Cardinal Ratzinger is equally emphatic that the celebration of the Eucharist, just as Christian prayer in general, has a trinitarian direction and discusses the question of how this can be communicated most fittingly in liturgical gesture. When we speak to someone, we obviously face that person. Accordingly, the whole liturgical assembly, priest and people, should face the same way, turning towards God to whom prayers and offerings are addressed in this common act of trinitarian worship. Ratzinger rightly protests against the mistaken idea that in this case the celebrating priest is facing "towards the altar", "towards the tabernacle", or even "towards the wall". [27] The catchphrase often heard nowadays that the priest is "turning his back on the people" is a classic example of confounding theology and topography, for the crucial point is that the Mass is a common act of worship where priest and people together, representing the pilgrim Church, reach out for the transcendent God.

Reinhard Meßner notes that what is at issue is not the celebratio versus populum, but the direction of liturgical prayer that has been known in the Christian tradition as "facing east". [28]

My claim is that the intrinsic sense of facing east in the Eucharist is the common direction of priest and people oriented towards the triune God. The following chapters on the historical and theological dimensions of this traditional liturgical practice are meant to show that its recovery is indispensable for the welfare of the Church today.

ENDNOTES
[1] J. A. Jungmann, 'Der neue Altar', Der Seelsorger 37 (1967): 375.

[2] Sacra Congregatio Rituum, Instructio ad exsecutionem Constitutionis de sacra Liturgia recte ordinandam 'Inter Oecumenici', AAS 56 (1964): 898, no. 91. This translation is more literal than the one found in Documents on the Liturgy, 1963-1979: Conciliar, Papal, and Curial Texts (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1982), 108, no. 383.

[3] Translating Jungmann, 'Der neue Altar', 375.

[4] G. Lercaro, 'L'Heureux Développement', Not 2 (1966): 160; English translation: Documents on the Liturgy, 122, no. 428.

[5] Translating Jungmann, 'Der neue Altar', 380; see also C. Napier, 'The Altar in the Contemporary Church', CleR 57 (1972): 624. A. Lorenzer, '"Sacrosanctum Concilium": Der Anfang der "Buchhalterei": Betrachtungen aus psychoanalytisch-kulturkritischer Sicht', in Gottesdienst-Kirche-Gesellschaft: Interdisziplinäre und ökumenische Standortbestimmungen nach 25 Jahren Liturgiereform, ed. H. Becker, B. J. Hilberath, and U. Willers, PiLi 5 (St. Ottilien: EOSVerlag, 1991), 158, argues that there is a significant difference between the conciliar documents and what came out of them. Whereas the texts carefully present a number of options, their implementation became an exercise in "total deforestation".

[6] L. Bouyer, Liturgy and Architecture (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1967), 105-6.

[7] Missale Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Oecumenici ConciliiVaticani II instauratum auctoritate Pauli PP.VI promulgatum, editio typica (Vatican City: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1970), Ordo Missae cum populo, 391, no. 25 (versus ad populum), 473, no. 128 (ad populum conversus), 474, no. 133 (ad populum versus), and 475, no. 142 (versus ad populum).

[8] Ibid., 474, no. 134.

[9] Ibid., Institutio Generalis, nos. 107, 115, 116, 122, as well as 198 and 199 for concelebrated Masses. Cf. O. Nußbaum, 'Die Zelebration versus populum und der Opfercharakter der Messe', ZKTh 93 (1971): 149-50, who points out how little the liturgical reform wished to make versus populum celebration into the exclusive norm. This, he thinks, is clearly demonstrated by the fact that in the revision of the Ritus servandus in celebratione Missae, and subsequently also in the 1965 and 1967 versions of the Ordo Missae, the celebrant was still explicitly instructed to turn towards the people when addressing them directly, as for example in the liturgical greeting. The Novus Ordo Missae also keeps to this practice within the eucharistic liturgy. Nußbaum was certainly an advocate of versus populum celebration, and yet he concedes that, in the reform of the liturgy, this was not the preferred option let alone the only legitimate way of celebrating Mass.

[10] Missale Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Oecumenici ConciliiVaticani II instauratum auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum Ioannis Pauli PP. II cura recognitum, editio typica tertia (Vatican City: Typis Vaticanis, 2002), Ordo Missae, 515, no. 28; 600, no. 127; 601, nos. 132-33; 603, no. 141.

[11] Congregatio de Cultu Divino, "Editoriale: Pregare 'ad orientem versus'", Not 29 (1993): 247.

[12] Missale Romanum (2002), Institutio Generalis, no. 299.

[13] The text is carefully scrutinized by C.M. Cullen and J.W. Koterski, "The New IGMR and Mass versus Populum", Homiletic and Pastoral Review, June 2001, 51-54.

[14] Congregatio de Cultu Divino, 'Responsa ad quaestiones de nova Institutione Generali Missalis Romani', CCCIC 32 (2000): 171-72. Surprisingly, it has been published, not in Notitiae, but in Communicationes, the official publication of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legal Texts. The English translation is taken from Adoremus Bulletin Online Edition, vol. 6, no. 9 (December 2000-January 2001), (www. adoremus.org/12-0101cdw-adorient.html - accessed 5 January 2004).

[15] Cf. The comments of J. Nebel, 'Die editio typica tertia des Missale Romanum: Eine Untersuchung über die Veränderungen', Ecclesia Orans 19 (2002): 278, n. 72.

[16] J. Ratzinger, 'Catholicism after the Council', trans. P. Russell, The Furrow 18 (1967) 11-12.

[17] B. Fischer, 'Die Grundaussagen der Liturgie-Konstitution und ihre Rezeption in fünfundzwanzig Jahren', in Becker, Hilberath, and Willers, Gottesdienst-Kirche- Gesellschaft, 422-23.

[18] See, for instance, O. Nußbaum, Der Standort des Liturgen am christlichen Altar vor dem Jahre 1000: Eine archäologische und liturgiegeschichtliche Untersuchung, Theoph 18 (Bonn: Hanstein, 1965), 1:22, and B. Neunheuser, 'Eucharistiefeier am Altare versus populum: Geschichte und Problematik', in Florentissima proles Ecclesiae: Miscellanea hagiographica, historica et liturgica Reginaldo Grégoire O.S.B. XII lustra complenti oblata, ed. D. Gobbi (Trento: Civis, 1996), 442-43.

[19] J. Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000), 174, cf. 171-77. See also the critical remarks of M. Kunzler, 'La liturgia all'inizio del Terzo Millennio', in Il Concilio Vaticano II: Recezione e attualità alla luce del Giubileo, ed. R. Fisichella (Milan: San Paolo, 2000), 217-24, and D. Torevell, Losing the Sacred: Ritual, Modernity and Liturgical Reform (Edinburgh: T and T Clark, 2000).

[20] Congregatio de Cultu Divino, 'Editoriale', 249.

[21] Johannes Burckard, Ordo Missae Ioannis Burckardi, ed. J.W. Legg, Tracts on the Mass, HBS 27 (London: Harrison, 1904), 142; cf. Nußbaum, 'Die Zelebration versus populum', 160-61.

[22] Missale Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini restitutum Pii V Pont. Max. iussu editum, Ritus servandus in celebratione Missae, V, 3. The 1570 editio princeps of this Missal is now accessible in a study edition: M. Sodi and A.M. Triacca, eds., Missale Romanum: Editio Princeps (1570), Monumenta Liturgica Concilii Tridentini 2 (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1998).

[23] Amalarius uses the expressions ad orientem and ad populum for explaining that the celebrant stands in front of the altar facing east and turns around for the liturgical greeting: Liber officialis III, 9, ed. J.M. Hanssens, Studi e Testi, 139, 1:288-90. On Amalarius, see now W. Steck, Der Liturgiker Amalarius: Eine quellenkritische Untersuchung zu Leben undWerk eines Theologen der Karolingerzeit, MThS.H 35 (Munich: St. Ottilien: EOS-Verlag, 2000).

[24] 'In ecclesiis vero ostia ab oriente habentibus, ut Rome, nulla est in salutatione necessaria conversio, quia sacerdos in illis celebrans semper ad populum stat conversus' (Durandus, Rationale divinorum officiorum V, II, 57:CChr.CM 140A, 42-43).

[25] Nußbaum, Der Standort des Liturgen, 1:418-19, and J. A. Jungmann, review of O. Nußbaum, Der Standort des Liturgen am christlichen Altar vor dem Jahre 1000, ZKTh 88 (1966): 447.

[26] Congregatio de Cultu Divino, 'Editoriale', 249.

[27] J. Ratzinger, The Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), 139-43.

[28] R. Meßner, 'Probleme des eucharistischen Hochgebets', in Bewahren und Erneuern: Studien zur Meßliturgie: Festschrift für Hans Bernhard Meyer SJ zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. R. Meßner, E. Nagel, and R. Pacik, IThS 42 (Innsbruck and Vienna: Tyrolia, 1995), 201, n. 99; likewise M. Wallraff, Christus verus sol: Sonnenverehrung und Christentum in der Spätantike, JAC.E 32 (Münster: Aschendorff, 2001), 72, n. 53.

(Source: http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2009/print2009/umlang_chap1_aug09.html)

Eucharistic adoration

2009-11-21T20:56:00.012-06:00

There is evidence of the defense of the practice of eucharistic adoration by Lutherans.

In 1523 Luther wrote "The Adoration of the Sacrament" in which he defended the practice although with the stipulation that its practice not be forced.

Gnesio-Lutherans Joachim Westphal of Hamburg and Andreas Musculus defended the practice against Melanchthon and the Philippists.

Although I do not have it, recent research is provided in the book The Sacrament of the Altar. A Book on the Lutheran Doctrine of the Lord's Supper by Tom G A Hardt

Hence, eucharistic adoration is not unknown in the Lutheran traditon.

Joachim Westphal (c. 1510-1574)

Andreas Musculus (1514-1581)

Recovery of the liturgy

2009-10-27T21:13:00.001-05:00

"Urgent business there is every morning, referring to excesses and errors which are being committed in the liturgy, but above all, the most urgent issue that is pressing all over the world, is that the sense of the liturgy be truly recovered. This is not about changing rubrics or introducing new things, but what it is about, is simply that the liturgy be lived and that it be in the center of the life of the Church. The Church cannot be without the liturgy, because the Church is there for the liturgy, that is, for praise, for thanksgiving, to offer the sacrifice to the Lord, for worship ... This is fundamental, and without this there is no Church. Indeed, without this there is no humanity. It is therefore an extremely urgent and pressing task."

- Cardinal Cañizares, Catholic Church
(http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2009/10/prefect-of-congregation-for-divine.html#at)

De Ecclesiasticis Officiis

2009-09-04T10:52:00.007-05:00

Recently I picked up a recent English translation of the Latin, De Ecclesiasticis Officiis by Isidore of Seville (c. 560 - 636). This writing would be of most interest to those interested in liturgical history and the education of clergy, which are two emphases of Isidore here. The reason for these emphases was the Visigoths had recently converted from Arianism to Orthodoxy and Isidore was responsible for moving toward ending the remaining influences of Arianism.

The Mozarabic Rite, or "the old Spanish liturgy" (Fortescue), is one of the western Rites that pre-dates the Roman Rite. Although this Rite is in limited use today the history and practice of this Rite is helpful in understanding the development of the eucharistic liturgy. Book I describes the liturgy. Book II describes the office of clerics and other offices of the Church. The translation includes notes and a selected bibliography at the end.

Isidore is writing for the Church. Those interested in the history and development of the liturgy and the offices of the Church and how both continued in difficult times should read this book.

the Eucharist and what matters

2009-03-01T20:28:00.005-06:00

Capitalism and socialism will equally misunderstand, misrepresent and even serve as enemies of the Eucharist. Meanwhile, the liturgy remains the Eucharist's friend and serves as the place where the Eucharist matters most.

A prayer for Lent

2009-02-27T16:54:00.000-06:00

May Thy faithful people, O God, be strengthened by Thy gifts: that in receiving them they may seek after them the more, and in seeking them may receive them for ever. Through our Lord Jesus Christ . . . (Oratio super populum, Sat. after Ash Wed.)

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

2009-02-26T11:55:00.003-06:00

The Gospel reading for Thursday after Ash Wednesday, St. Matthew 8:5-13 (healing of centurion's servant), on two occasions provides wording which may apply to later sacramental and liturgical understanding: "Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof" and "as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee."

Priest, Doctor, Confessor

2009-02-18T20:42:00.005-06:00

Luther is commemorated by Lutherans on this date, the anniversary of his death in 1546. We may be so bold as to note that the Roman Missal provides a collect that Luther might have appreciated:

"O God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do: mercifully grant, that by the protection of the Doctor of the Gentiles we may be defended against all adversities. Through our Lord . . ." (Collect for Sexagesima Sunday)

It was in part external threat of invasion that brought pressure to bear on talks between Luther, his fellow reformers and the Catholic Church resulting in the Augsburg Confession and later confessional writings. No doubt at this time internal disunity was not something to be desired by Charles V and the Holy Roman Empire while the Empire faced external adversities. When there are times of stress confession may be clearer but this same confession may also be forced and patience may be short.

The above collect could easily reflect those difficult days. On the one hand, Luther and the Augsburg Confessors insisting that we cannot trust in any thing that we do but in God and His mercy and the Roman Church and Empire seeking unity and assurance in the face of adversity. The collect draws these concerns together and unites them under the merciful protection of the Lord.

Without knowing the history of this particular collect it is a happy coincidence that this prayer is found in the Catholic liturgy during the week of this commemoration. In spite of any real differences of which we are reminded of on a regular basis, Luther would most probably be glad to pray this Catholic prayer today as if it were one he wrote himself.

Post-Communion Collect & Thanksgiving Verse

2009-02-17T13:36:00.004-06:00

The Post-Communion Collect ( "The Prayer" or "The Thanksgiving Collect" - Lutheran) in the liturgy is a variable part.

The most well-known such collect is Luther's collect of 1526. This collect is listed first in any Lutheran hymnal divine service setting. However, there are also many other appropriate and well-written collects for use following the Nunc Dimittis and Thanksgiving Verse. Some are included in the Lutheran hymnals. Three others are provided in Reed, pp. 380-1. The Collect for Holy Thursday may be used. (Reed, p. 501).

The Thanksgiving Verse is not part of the historic liturgy and is a later addition. It introduces "The Thanksgiving Collect." Based on this evidence and without further reading at this time, it is likely also added by Luther. This Verse is not necessary.

Liturgical Books

2008-12-10T10:35:00.003-06:00

Based on recent reading here is a brief summary of the history of liturgical books leading up to what is used today in the Roman Rite:

After the Scriptures we find books associated with the Liturgy of Antioch ("Apostolic Constitutions"). Also in the 4th c. there is the Byzantine Rite of St. Basil (d. 379).

Early liturgical books included diptychs (prayer lists of persons living and dead and churches), prayer books (Sacramentaries, Euchologia), reader books (Comites, Capitularia, Synaxaria), books for singers (Antiphonaries, books of Troparia) and books of rubrical directions (Ordines, Typika). The prayers in the dipychs were said by deacons. Diptychs were used in all rites down to the Middle Ages.

The earliest Roman liturgical books were Sacramentaria (Sacramentaries). These books included only what the celebrant said and also included rites for outside the Mass such as prayers, exorcisms, blessings and consecrations. The Latin "Sacramenta celebrare" and "Sacramenta facere" were different ways of saying "to say Mass."
1) The oldest, the Sacramentarium Leonianum, is a collection of Propers and does not contain the Canon or the Ordinary.
2) The Gelasian Sacramentary ("Liber Sacramentorum Romanae ecclesiae") is considered a Gallicanized Roman book. There are many manuscripts available. Three books are:
a) Book of Sacraments in order of year's cycle (Masses for feasts and Sundays from Christmas Eve to octave of Pentecost, ordinations and other prayers, blessings, dedications and reception of nuns.)
b) Prayers for the Feasts of Saints - Proper of Saints, Common of Saints, Advent Masses
c) Prayers and Canon for Sunday- Canon of the Mass, votive Masses, Masses for the dead, blessings and various prayers for special occasions
3) Gregorian Sacramentary(sent from Pope Adrian I to Charlemagne)
1) Ordinary of the Mass
2) Propers beginning with Christmas Eve; Roman stations; still no Masses for Sundays after Epiphany and Pentecost
3) Prayers for Ordinations (no votive Masses or requiems which leads to the possibility of being the pope's sacramentary)
The Gregorian Sacramentary became the foundation of the present Roman Missal. The Middle Age custom of Low Mass changed the Sacramentary into a Missal.

In the Roman Rite today there are seven official liturgy books: the Missal, Pontifical, Breviary, Ritual, Cerimoniale Episcoporum, Memoriale Rituum, and Martyrology.

(Source: newadvent.org)

Christmas Cycle: Season of Advent

2008-11-29T21:30:00.004-06:00

Advent [First Sunday of Advent - December 24; O Antiphons - Dec. 17-23]

This is the beginning of the Liturgical Year and falls in the Christmas Cycle which is the mystery of the Incarnation. It is noteworthy then that liturgical texts during Advent "remind the faithful of the 'absence of Christ.'" [ie, the Collects do not end with "through our Lord Jesus Christ"; the Gloria in Excelsis is omitted] Advent is a period of preparation, repentance and longing for the Redeemer. There is hope and joy mixed with repentance and preparation [hence, although penitential purple is used the Alleluia is retained]. The nations wait for a Redeemer. The Redeemer comes at Christmas and prepares us for the terrible day when He comes again for the Last Judgement.

"The idea of Advent is 'Prepare you for the coming of Christ.'"

"During Advent we make straight for Christ the way to our souls--and behold, our Lord will come at Christmas."

[Adapted from the 1962 Missal, pp. 141-2]

Rubrics book

2008-11-17T10:12:00.002-06:00

Rubrics Resource for Liturgy of St. Gregory:

How to Celebrate Low Mass

(HT: Conversi ad Dominum blog)

Books Received

2008-11-03T13:56:00.002-06:00

Saint Andrew Daily Missal (Catholic, 1956)
Treasury of Daily Prayer (Lutheran, 2008)

Te Deum and Posture

2008-10-03T09:44:00.003-05:00

Matins
"The Canticle is always said standing and all may cross themselves when it is begun. In the Te Deum, all may bow at "Holy, holy, holy," and "Thou didst humble Thyself to be born of a virgin," and bow or kneel at "We therefore pray Thee. . . with Thy precious blood."
(Ceremony and Celebration, 129)

The Te Deum is not used during Advent and from Septuagesima to Good Friday. (Rubrics from The Lutheran Liturgy, 423)

Trinity 7 - Gospel

2008-07-06T21:29:00.003-05:00

Mark 8:1-9 - The fathers discuss this text referring
to the separate operations of the two natures in Christ (ie, compassion - human, miracle - divine). Eutyches taught that there is one operation of the two natures. In their homilies, St. Maximus, Bishop and the Venerable Bede address this distinction (see Toal, Vol. , Pent. 6 and n. 6 which addresses briefly the historical response of the Church to operatio confusa).

notes on the Catholic Calendar

2008-05-31T10:39:00.000-05:00

"Sacred Heart [of Jesus] is not transfered to Sunday, unlike Corpus Christi (in countries where it is not a public holiday). Tomorrow [May 31] is the Visitation but usually the Saturday after the Sacred Heart is the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the model of the believer."

[Note: The Roman Missal 1962 places "The Most Pure Heart of Our Lady" on the Second Saturday after Corpus Christi]

[source: conversation with Catholic priest]

Liturgical Colors: Whitsunday

2008-05-17T13:01:00.003-05:00

"Whitsunday" is commended by Reed so this is probably how this name came into Lutheran circles. Reed provides the same two reasons for this Sunday being named "white" [Reed, 516] (and adds that the name has medieval Icelandic and Welsh roots).

For many northern countries "Whitsunday" became the "Dominica in Albis" (when those baptized at Easter received their First Communion and laid aside the white robes they had worn the week before). [Reed, 509]

Whether the Sunday is called "Pentecost" or "Whitsunday" the use of the color red is the catholic practice across the Western tradition. This color is understood as a reminder of the tongues of fire and the blood of the martyrs ("the seed of the church"). [Reed, 516]

Quatuor Tempora

2008-05-16T12:23:00.003-05:00

"Ember Days"; lit. the "four times" or "four seasons" - set aside for fasting and prayer;

from pre-Christian times; not obseved in Eastern Church; first known from writings of Philastrius, bishop of Brescia (d. ca. 387)(De haeres. 119); began in Rome and spread to rest of Western Church; observed first in Britain (Augustine, AD 597, under Pope Gregory the Great)

usually Wed., Thurs. & Friday during four weeks of the year - 1)Advent - between 3rd and 4th Sundays 2)Lent - between 1st and 2nd Sundays 3) between Pentecost and Trinity 4)week after Holy Cross Day (Sept. 14)

Definition of Pope Leo the Great: jejunia ecclesiastica per totius anni circulum distributa "fasts of the church distributed through the whole circuit of the year"

Panitemini, decree of Pope Paul VI (Feb. 17, 1966) - Ember Days excluded as days of fast and abstinence; today usually called "days of prayer for peace" (1969 revision of liturgical calendar); 1976 - made optional by churches of Anglican Communion

Ordination
Ordination set for Ember weeks associated with Pope Gelasius I (492-496); record of such practice in Archbishop Ecgbert of York (732-766); referred to as a canonical rule in a capitulary of Charlemagne; law of church - Pope Gregory VII (ca. 1085)

Rubrics

2008-04-18T21:15:00.001-05:00

http://www.cafepress.com/wdtprs

Birthday of Martyrs or Confessors

2008-04-12T22:16:00.002-05:00

"Hence church practice has been that the day on which blessed martyrs or confessors of Christ departed from the world we call their birthday, and their solemn festival is not spoken of as their 'funeral' but as their 'birthday.'"
(Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 2.13 [CS 111:121], ACCS, 213)

Collect for Jubilate

2008-04-12T21:52:00.004-05:00

The Leonine Sacramentary provides the earliest text of the Collect for Jubilate and says, "return into the Way" (in via). The phrase "of righteousness" is a later insertion. (Reed, 511)

Annunciation & Easter Octave

2008-03-25T22:20:00.002-05:00

Weedon:
The custom is to transfer Annunication out of the Easter Octave if it falls within it. Thus, at St. Paul's, we'll observe Annunication next Wednesday at our midweek Eucharist.

Orrologion (Orthodox):
Though normally Feasts of the Master always trump Feasts of the Mother of God in the Typikon of St. Sabbas, Annunciation is an interesting 'exception'. On the Old Calendar it is possible for Pascha to fall on March 25. Instead of Annunciation being transferred, however, it is combined with the Paschal services for "Kyrio Pascha" (the Lord's Pascha) which, as I understand it, means that both services are done in full side by side with neither service's hymns taking precedence and 'bumping' the other.

(Of course, this could be due to the fact that Annunciation (Conception of Christ) is kind of like the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple that are classified as Feasts of the Theotokos thought the Lord figures prominently - as is always appropriate).

(source: http://weedon.blogspot.com/2008/03/whered-annunciation-go.html#comments)

St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2008-03-20T21:57:00.003-05:00

When the commemoration of St. Joseph (19 March) ("Guardian of Jesus" in the Lutheran Service Book) falls during Holy Week, the commemoration is transferred to the Saturday prior to Holy Week (Catholic Church).

Psalms of Holy Week

2008-03-19T21:15:00.003-05:00

THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL
p. 159 Matins/Vespers
Palmarum - 61/67
Monday -
Tuesday -
Wednesday -
Maundy Thursday - 116/70
Good Friday - 22,40,54/88,69
Holy Saturday -
Easter Sunday - 2,57,111/113,114,118

p. 165
Palmarum - 22, 73, 69, 7, 57, 24, 92, 41, 35
Monday of Holy Week - 6, 7, 35, 63, 70, 79, 102
Tuesday of Holy Week - 12, 38, 39, 55, 59, 74, 83
Wednesday of Holy Week - 51, 88, 120, 130, 142, 143
Maundy Thursday - 86, 67, 23, 111, 114, 78:1-29, 105, 81, 116, 41, 55, 140
Good Friday - 22, 56, 57, 69, 40, 3, 43, 49, 119, XI. XVI; 142, 143
Easter, the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord - 139, 118, 76, 2, 8, 16, 34, 61, 81, 100, 105, 110, 114, 116, 124, 132, 135, 138, 1, 23, 30, 66, 113

LUTHERAN WORSHIP
pp. 39-48 1 Yr./3 Yr.
Palm Sunday - 24/92
Monday - 36:5-10/same
Tuesday - 28/18:1-7,17-20
Wednesday - 25:14-20/18:21-30
Maundy Thursday - 116:12-19/same
Good Friday - 22:1-11/22:1-24
Easter Day - 118:19-29/118:1-2, 15-24

p. 292
Matins and Morning Prayer
Sundays and Festivals - 1, 2, 8, 19, 27, 45, 62, 67, 72, 84, 98
Other days - 18, 22, 24, 25, 28, 32, 36, 50, 65, 73, 90, 92, 96, 100, 107, 119, 147, 148
Vespers and Evening Prayer
Sundays and Festivals - 23, 110, 111, 114
Other days - 6, 38, 46, 51, 105, 116, 117, 118, 126, 130, 135, 136, 138, 139 141, 142, 143, 146

LUTHERAN SERVICE BOOK (p. 304)
Lent (Morning; Evening)
Sunday - 84; 42,32
Monday - 119:73-80; 121, 6
Tuesday - 34; 25, 91
Wednesday - 5; 27, 51
Thursday - 38; 126, 102
Friday - 22; 107, 130
Saturday - 43; 31, 143
Easter (Morning; Evening)
Sunday - 93; 136, 117

Daily Lectionary (p. 300)
Palm Sunday - Psalm 118
Monday - Lamentations 1:1-22
Tuesday - Lamentations 2:1-22
Wednesday - Lamentations 3:1-66
Holy Thursday - Lamentations 4:1-16; Psalm 31
Good Friday - Lamentations 5:1-22; Psalm 22
(Holy Saturday & Easter Sunday do not list Psalms here.)

Holy Week Propers - Part I

2008-03-18T16:06:00.002-05:00

Holy Week Propers
"Every day in Holy Week is given a full set of propers . . . The English Prayer Book repeats the Collect for Palm Sunday every day until Good Friday." (Reed, 499)

Holy Tuesday
"The Introits for [Holy Tuesday] and the following days in Holy Week . . . are unusual in containing passages from the New Testament and verses which are liturgical interpolations . . ." (Reed, 499)

"The Roman Gospel comprises Mark 14-15, which is the original liturgical Gospel for the day and is given as an alternate in the Common Liturgy. The Prayer Book gives Chapter 15." (Reed, 500)

Holy Wednesday
"All three rites agree in appointing Luke 22 as the Gospel . . ." (Reed, 500)

"In the Roman Church the Office of Tenebrae ("darkness") begins and continues over the next day and Good Friday. The story of the Passion interspersed with psalms is chanted and candles (fifteen in all) are extinguished one by one until the church is in darkness except for a single candle hidden behind the altar to represent Christ in the tomb." (Reed, 500-1)

Briefly noted - Liturgical Theology

2008-03-14T20:16:00.003-05:00

Judica me Deus - Friday

In the Introduction to Liturgy and Tradition: Theological Reflections of Alexander Schmemann (SVS Press, 2003), editor Thomas Fisch provides an overview of the liturgical movement of the 20th c., the influences on Schmemann and his arrival at making the distinction of what constitutes "liturgical theology." (pp. 1-10)

Fasting

2008-03-14T20:08:00.002-05:00

Judica me Deus - Friday

a Lutheran way to fast

Vespers and the Altar

2008-03-06T13:09:00.003-06:00

Laetare Jerusalem - Thursday
St. Fridolinus, Abbot (3rd Cl., white)

[Lutheran rite]
"Matins and vespers are 'choir offices' . . . Matins and vespers, therefore, should not be read at the altar. They should be read from a chair and prayer desk within the chancel . . . If the minister refrains from using the altar for other purposes, its real purpose will be more clear in the minds of the people."
(McClean, C., The Conduct of the Services, 87)

"In congregational use, Vespers is generally conducted at the altar. Historic considerations, however, justify the practice, where local conditions permit, of the minister reading this service from a prayer desk or a clergy stall in the chancel. In this case he will go to the altar for the final prayers and the Benediction."
(Reed, L., The Lutheran Liturgy, 431)