Posted on 09/29/2005 12:07:41 PM PDT by siunevada
Let us suppose that the last day has come and that our doctrine of the Eucharist turns out to be false and absurd. If our Lord now asks us reproachfully: “Why did you believe thus of my Sacrament? Why did you adore the Host?” may we not safely answer Him “Yes, Lord, if we were wrong in this, it was you who deceived us. We heard your word, This is my Body, and was it a crime for us to believe you? We were confirmed in our mistake by a hundred signs and wonders which could have had you only for their author. Your Church with one voice cried out to us that we were right, and in believing as we did we but followed in the footsteps of all your saints and holy ones”.
– Saint Robert Bellarmine
My initial understanding of the Eucharist, like that of most people of my generation, came from the Baltimore Catechism, which stated matter-of-factly that “The Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament which contains the body and blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine”.
Growing up in an Italian-American family, I naturally attended Mass with my parents in the Italian parish, Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, which was some distance from where we lived. On occasion I would attend the local Catholic Church, a Polish parish, St. Anthony of Padua. It was a tiny structure, holding barely 150 people, and every square inch of its walls and ceiling was covered with pictures and designs and decorations.
It was the custom there to have Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament right after the Sunday High Mass. During the interval, while those slackers who had more pressing engagements (which as a young devout Catholic boy I could not imagine) tiptoed out of church as the altar boys lit the candelabra on the altar, I would study the artwork and the architecture.
I can still remember the brightly colored three-dimensional Stations of the Cross, the ornate Victorian Gothic wooden altar painted to look like marble, and, on the ceiling over the altar, the mural of God the Father, with a full, white beard and a grandfatherly smile, arms held wide in welcome and blessing. I might examine the color plates in my St. Joseph Sunday Missal for the hundredth time, re-arranging my impressive collection of holy cards (the prettiest ones were always from Italy) and fixing the ribbons for next week’s Mass.
Soon the little bell would ring and the altar boys would reappear, followed by the pastor — Father John, as he was called — resplendent in his pom-pommed biretta and cloth-of-gold cope, so heavily embroidered with metallic thread that I’m sure it was bulletproof.
We would fall to our knees as the tabernacle was opened, and when the jeweled monstrance was raised to its throne on high, and when the pipe organ swelled and we all began to sing “O Salutaris Hostia”, and when the altar boys bowed low in adoration and the thick clouds of sweet-smelling incense rose up to the open arms of God the Father, my heart would thump and my eyes would fill and I knew with the conviction of a martyr that here God dwelled among mortals.
The rite was soon over, and I would remain for a short time with the sound of “Holy God, we praise Thy Name” ringing in my ears and the unmistakably Catholic aroma of beeswax and incense filling my sinuses, savoring the afterglow of my all-too-brief encounter with the Transcendent.
Some forty years have passed, and during that time I have had many opportunities to deepen my understanding of and appreciation for the Eucharist. Undoubtedly all the sermons, CCD classes, theology courses and liturgical studies have made their contributions, but it’s interesting to note that while the memory of my studies has faded, the teachers’ names forgotten and the textbooks long since disposed of, I can still describe that service in detail.
There is a very important lesson here. As valuable as formal catechesis is, and it is, since a faith that cannot be defended is a faith not worthy of belief, it is no match for experience. Any good teacher will tell you that. We sometimes fail to understand how powerful the liturgy is in forming our understanding of the faith. We forget that actions do speak louder than words. Formal catechesis inculcates a faith of intellectual assent, but experiencing the liturgy instills a faith that permeates one’s total being because it engages not only the mind, but the spirit and the senses as well.
What keeps my remembrance of Benediction from being just a nostalgic reverie is that it is but one of many liturgical experiences that has formed and informed my faith. Such experiences have been repeated in countless Triduums, Forty Hours’ Devotions, Corpus Christi processions, Ash Wednesdays, All Souls’ Days and, just as importantly, Sunday and holyday Masses.
For most adult Catholics, attending Mass is the primary — if not the only — venue for being exposed to the truths of the faith. That is one of the reasons why the proper celebration of the liturgy is so important, especially at a time when a whole generation of Catholics has been grossly under-catechized. As the American bishops have wisely observed, “Faith grows when it is well expressed in celebration. Good celebrations foster and nourish faith. Poor celebrations weaken and destroy faith”.1
And as the Fathers of Second Vatican Council have said, “Although the sacred liturgy is above all things the worship of the Divine Majesty, it likewise contains much instruction for the faithful. For in the liturgy God speaks to His people and Christ is still proclaiming His gospel”.2
How does the liturgy accomplish this? Through preaching of course, but also in a more structured way through the Church’s annual cycle of readings, prayers and rituals — what we call the liturgical year. The liturgical year, beginning with Advent and ending with the Solemnity of Christ the King, provides a point-by-point review of the faith, and those who participate in the liturgical life of the Church, especially on Sundays, holydays and major festivals, will find that they have been exposed to every dogma and theological concept of the Catholic faith. The Sacred Liturgy was the Church’s first catechism, and when properly celebrated is still the best.
Since “the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed” and “at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows”,3 it follows that those who are responsible for the preparation and execution of our liturgical celebrations hold the fate of the Church in their hands. This is an awesome responsibility, one that too often gets delegated to the uninformed or worse yet, the misinformed.
Given the resulting plethora of poor liturgies with their muddled theology, trivialized rites, heterodox innovations, simplistic music and “popular appeal”, is it any wonder that attendance at Mass has declined so precipitously along with belief in basic doctrines like the Real Presence and the sacrificial aspect of the Mass?
One of the first things I learned as a liturgist was never to underestimate the congregants’ abilities or their intelligence. They aren’t persuaded by felt banners proclaiming “Joy!” They are able to sing music of quality (if they are supported by real musicians). They don’t need to be reminded that Mass is a “celebration” by having balloons tied to candlesticks.
If they want a show with an emcee they can watch any number of late-night TV shows. If they want to see clowns they will go to the circus. They are only interested in liturgical dance if one of their kids is performing it.
Liturgy that tries to appeal to the faithful by incorporating popular culture will always come up short because the secular world, unrestrained by morality, contemptuous of propriety and obsessed with sensationalism, will always be able to out-dazzle the Church.
I respect those who endure poor liturgy out of loyalty to their parish. But one can only live so long without being fed. They may continue to attend Mass albeit passively. They show up to fulfill their Sunday obligation. Some drift away to other parishes, and even to other denominations. “Good celebrations foster and nourish faith. Poor celebrations weaken and destroy faith”.
But what constitutes a good celebration? Much ink has been wasted on this topic. May I suggest that a good celebration of the liturgy is one in which:
– the official rubrics are observed to the letter — no more, no less.
– all the liturgical ministers are prepared to carry out their roles with poise, reverence, and decorum. The clergy have prepared their texts and lectors, their readings. Altar servers and musicians have rehearsed their parts, and the congregation understands its role and participates with fervor.
– the music and the rites are in harmony with the liturgical season or feast and with the ethos of the Roman Rite.
– there is a palpable sense that what is being done is supremely important.
I realize that this rather dry list of prescriptions flies in the face of the modern definition of good liturgy, which typically goes something like “an assembly of the People of God led by their delegated spokesperson (i.e., a priest) in which the validity of the feelings and condition of each person is affirmed, in which community is realized by sharing a meal, and in which all are missioned to bring the message of God’s unconditional inclusiveness to a hurting but basically good world”. In other words, good liturgy is really group therapy, except with hymns.
Real good liturgy does not depend on cheeriness, sentiment or group hugs; it simply depends on doing what the Church expects, and doing it with absolute fidelity, utmost care and genuine enthusiasm.
Let me conclude my memoir. One day the little church of St. Anthony caught fire. Father John was seen rushing into the burning structure. He emerged unharmed, bearing not the cloth-of-gold vestments, not the jeweled monstrance, not money from the poor box, but the Blessed Sacrament. He did not endanger his life to save a mere wafer. By his actions he gave eloquent testimony to both his personal faith and the faith of the Church. So it should be with the Sacred Liturgy.
To those of us who are engaged in fostering the authentic celebration of the liturgy, I say, “Take heart!” We may be weary from the constant onslaught of abuses marketed as liturgical reform. We may become discouraged at having to defend the provisions of the GIRM as if we were accused of heresy. We may bristle at being labeled as rubricists, reactionaries and worse.
But let us console ourselves with the realization that we are no less than catechists and evangelists, for through the Sacred Liturgy we help to pass on the faith that we have had the great privilege of inheriting from those who have gone before us.
And should the modernists disparage us, let us borrow some words from Saint Robert Bellarmine: “Your Church with one voice cried out to us that we were right, and in believing as we did we but followed in the footsteps of all your saints and holy ones”.
Notes
1 Music in Catholic Worship (US Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy statement - 1972), paragraph 6
2 Sacrosanctum Concilium (Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Liturgy), paragraph 33
3 Sacrosanctum Concilium, paragraph 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anthony Corvaia, Jr. has been actively involved in liturgy for more than 20 years, and has served as parish liturgist, music coordinator and hymnographer. Recently he was commissioned to write a hymn text for the National Shrine’s celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Mr. Corvaia lives in Philadelphia. He has written another article for Adoremus Bulletin, “Signs and Wonders”, which appeared in the March 2005 issue. It can be read on our web site at www.adoremus.org/0305BellsIncense.html
Why does so much of RC faith depend on what men said instead of depending solely on the Word of God?
You mean the C faith, right? Let's not short change the Easterners.
Short answer? I guess they were saying it before they ever wrote it down.
Thanks for this very powerful piece, which I can identify at least to the extent that though a lifelong Orthodox, I was an altar boy in a local Roman parish as a kid. The emotions this fellow writes of, especially when writing of Benediction, were my emotions too.
I count myself very lucky to have spent those years on the altar in a Roman Parish, and even more lucky because as an Orthodox Christian, I experience those emotions everytime I attend a Divine Liturgy, service or devotion in our Greek Orthodox parish. It makes me so very sad that, from all reports and limited personal experience, that has all been destroyed, or at least sullied, in Roman parishes today. What I simply cannot understand, try as I might, is how or why the Faithful ever allowed this to happen to your Church.
Catholic ping!
Do you also find those same emotions now when singing an Akathist Hymn or one of the Paraclesis Services?
bump
"Do you also find those same emotions now when singing an Akathist Hymn or one of the Paraclesis Services?"
Indeed I do; maybe even more so at an Akathist but I'm a lot older now and, well, the Akathist is sung to to our Panagia.
Bump to a nice little thread, and hello to you both.
A talk given by Father Mateo, SS.CC., apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and founder of the Work of the Enthronement, to a group of Eucharistic Sentinels making a Holy Hour at the Benedictine Sanctuary of Perpetual Adoration in Tucson, Arizona.
Dear Friends - You are the friends of the King, so we are friends. Are you really zealous? Are you really apostles of the Sacred Heart in the Blessed Sacrament? Yes, I am preaching love; I am preaching the Lover, Jesus - a love self - forgetting, a love spreading, a love conquering. You must be apostles! You love him; you must be apostles, the ones to set fire to other hearts, to other baptized Catholics, that they may love the Master as you love Him. How many Catholics there are who have not grasped the duty of being apostles, the duty of gratitude! How many there are who are interested only in themselves, in their own spiritual welfare, and care nothing for that of others. No, it is our POSITIVE DUTY, OUR OBLIGATION, TO BRING OTHERS TO THE MASTER, to give Him not only our own souls but the souls of others.
Be grateful and be generous in giving of the treasure which Our Lord has entrusted to your care, lavishing these treasures on souls, on poor, starving souls. It is sad that so few love Jesus. Therefore, make him better known, better loved. In His name I ask you: be apostles, in gratitude, in charity.
We preach charity toward the poor and unfortunate people. That is beautiful, splendid, and it must be done; and yet, what is material charity when compared to a soul? I refer to the conquering of even one soul, for there is nothing greater than that - to conquer souls redeemed by Our Lord, for whom He shed His Precious Blood. That is true gratitude, true charity. You must love each other, your neighbors; then give them Jesus, give them Jesus! Give Jesus to those straying far from Him; a duty of charity concerning souls, a duty of gratitude toward Jesus, your Benefactor, who has chosen you as His friends, who has overwhelmed you with graces; then give what you have received.
But that is not sufficient. Fervent Sentinels, trusting in your generosity, I go farther. Do you know what I am preaching everywhere? I am preaching: Pay the ransom of souls with the Chalice, with the CHALICE. The greatest means of converting souls is one more Mass, one more Mass during the week, and, with sacrifice, two or three more Masses; if possible, daily Mass, to pay for the eternal salvation of souls so dear to you. That is the great thing - the Chalice filled with the Precious Blood. You will never see souls go astray if you pay the ransom, hearing one more Mass, two, three, four, and, if possible, daily Mass. with sacrifice; then you are apostles, paying the ransom for the Sacred Heart.
I remember long years ago, a lady - she had her own unconverted mother, and that old lady was dying. Nothing, nothing to be done. Her daughter, a wonderful Catholic, said to her: "Mother, you are baptized; you are supposed to be a Catholic." But the mother would not listen. "Nonsense! Allow me to die as I have lived. I do not need God; 1 am 78 years old!" The daughter came to me, asking what should be done. I said to her: "Pay the ransom; you are a Catholic. go to Mass, daily Mass." She was wonderfully faithful. She was not at all healthy, the church was at a distance, yet she never missed one Mass.
It seemed fruitless. She said to her mother one day: "Mother, please, you are dying. Shall I not call a priest?" "No! No!" Then the daughter brought a picture of the Sacred Heart, which she held up for her mother to see. "Here, Mother, is the King of Love. Please, Mother, let Him come to you in Holy Communion. I have prayed and gone to Mass daily, in order that you may not die without making your peace with Jesus who has loved you so much. The Chalice has been offered every day for you, that your soul may be washed in the Precious Blood." So the daughter pleaded, until finally the mother turned to her and said: "I do not know how, but I have changed completely. A priest - oh, get me a priest at once!" And the mother died praising the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Then the husband, a man living with hate in his heart toward God - an actual apostle of Satan. He also asked for a priest, for he was sick, very sick. He asked for Father Mateo. I heard his confession four times, and he received Holy Communion as often. He called in fifteen or twenty of his former friends, also living in hate, and said to them: "Kneel down and adore Christ the King, the King of Love. That is the only thing worth while." He died praising the Sacred Heart. Then the third one in the same family, gone astray - the youngest brother, twenty-five years old, also returned to the Sacraments. And why? The Mass, daily Mass, the Chalice, the greatest power of redemption.
How often have I heard young ladies say to me: "Father, we are making novena after novena for certain conversions but to no avail." Do you know what I reply? I do not blame that; that is all right but instead of annoying the saints with novena after novena why do you not make a novena of Masses? THAT IS THE GREAT NOVENA. And all the saints will applaud you for they realize the greatness of Holy Mass. I do not blame your novenas to the saints but I say transform your novenas into something divine, omnipotent - the Chalice - one more Mass - two, three or four more Masses - if possible daily Mass. You are asking for a miracle; I approve, But I tell you that you must pay the ransom for the conversions you make. You have a right to ask for such miracles. Do you know what a conversion is? It is the resurrection of a soul. It is far greater to see the resurrection of a soul than the resurrection of a corpse. Oh one more Mass! Please - one more Mass! Pay the ransom with the Chalice. One more Mass! If you have anyone at home sick, or dying, oh, pay the ransom with the Chalice - one more Mass!
May I relate to you something personal, with real emotion? I am the son of a Protestant. My father was an Anglican. One of my uncles was a missionary in India, the other a Canon in Westminster Abbey in London for thirty years. Yet I have seen my father, 58 years old, kneeling for his first confession and first Communion, weeping out of joy, the great Anglican, over powered by grace. Who converted him? The grace of God. But who was the instrument? A great preacher? Yes - that preacher was my mother. How did she succeed? Speaking generally, you know that husbands do not like sermons at home. Then how did she convert my father? She never missed Mass, her daily Mass, except when sick and dying, and even then the priest came to give her Holy Communion.
When I left home for school in the morning, she was already back from church - and we were eleven children. She knew her first duty was to the home, to attend to her family; and yet in spite of that she found time to go every morning to Holy Mass and to receive Holy Communion. She paid the ransom. Our Lord was obliged to grant her the favor, for He is justice as well as truth. I venerate my mother. She died in 1935, when I was preaching in Japan. She is saying, as I am saying, that it is the Chalice, the Chalice, the CHALICE!
A saintly soul said one day to Our Lord who appeared to her: "O Lord, what could I offer to Thee, for Thy glory, for my sanctification, for the salvation of many, many souls?" And Our Lord replied: "For My Father, for yourself and for souls, give Me one more Mass!" Where there is a will there is a way; where there is love, there is a way. When you love Him, come! come! come! With sacrifice prove your love, by giving Him, one, two, three Masses during the week, if possible daily Mass. If you make the effort, you will be blessed a thousand times and you will praise Him one day.
I remember preaching in Scotland, when it was very cold. The pastor asked me to speak to a large number of little ones, six, seven, eight and nine years old, about to make their first Communion. I said to them: "Tell Mama that I am preaching the reign of the Sacred Heart - that you are going to become missionaries." After I had finished speaking to the children, one little girl came to me and said: "My daddy never goes to church; he never goes to church. I am going to say to Mama what you have said, and I am never going to miss one Mass." You see, I had preached the Sacred Heart, and asked them to help me save souls with one more Mass. The child told her mother she was going to attend daily Mass for her father. The mother thought it was too cold, but the child insisted she must save her father's soul. So the mother at length consented to allow her to attend daily Mass. Three months later I met this child, and she said to me: "Father, do you remember what I told you about my daddy not going to church? Well, I have never missed one Mass since then. It has been cold and I am often sleepy, for it is early. And do you know what I say to Jesus when I have Him here (in her heart)? I tell Him I am going to Mass and Communion every morning. It is for my daddy, for my daddy. I am paying the ransom. I am taking his place here every morning, so that You may save his soul, here at the altar rail, my loving Jesus." Wonderful!
When the precious moment of Consecration has arrived, imagine yourself on Calvary, standing beneath the Cross with Mary, and, united with her sentiments, offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood and Wounds of Jesus, for the conversion of sinners and unbelievers and the poor souls in purgatory. And now, united with Jesus and Mary, look at your crucifix and make your offering by saying: Eternal Father. I offer Thee the Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ to heal those of our souls. My Jesus, pardon and mercy through the merits of Thy Sacred Wounds. Renew this offering for every wound of Jesus. You will also have time to see Him in spirit, in pain and suffering, in the first, second, and third fall under the heavy weight of the Cross. Do not forget the adorable Face of Jesus, the seat of Al1 wisdom, crowned for us with thorns. God promised a great reward for those who honor His holy Face. In this offering, we are offering heaven to heaven. This is not all; we are following the Master, the Good Shepherd and the good Samaritan, to heal the wounds of our Savior who has loved us so much.
Let us trust Jesus in our temporal needs and especially in our spiritual needs. When saying in the "Our Father," give us this day our daily bread (the Holy Eucharist), let us be mindful to plead for our neighbor, the lukewarm, and ourselves.
Never miss Mass through your own fault. Some times you cannot attend; but make the effort never to miss one Mass and Communion, in spite of difficulties. You will bless me when dying, if you do this. May God grant you the grace to attend Mass daily, and to receive daily Communion with the intention of saving souls from hell, and thereby glorifying God in heaven for all eternity. There is no greater love.
Hello Romulus and God bless!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.