Posted on 03/20/2006 7:50:53 PM PST by NYCCatholic
Pope’s upcoming Apostolic Exhortation likely to call for increased liturgical solemnity, reintegration of Latin
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
According to a Vatican source, the commission will approve “a proposal and a plan for liturgical reform,” which will be made public in the Apostolic Exhortation that the Holy Father will tentatively issue in October.
The Vatican source said that the exhortation would include an invitation to greater use of Latin in the daily prayer of the Church and in the Mass—with the exception of the Liturgy of the Word—as well as in large public and international Masses.
The document would also encourage a greater use of Gregorian chant and classical polyphonic music; the gradual elimination of the use of songs whose music or lyrics are secular in origin, as well as the elimination of instruments that are “inadequate for liturgical use,” such as the electric guitar or drums, although it is not likely that specific instruments will be mentioned.
Lastly, the Pope is expected to call for “more decorum and liturgical sobriety in the celebration of the Eucharist, excluding dance and, as much as possible, applause.”
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Beautiful! Thank you for posting.
But, according to some of the liberal Catholics, that's all the good stuff they're throwing out!
The American liturgists have a lot of money at stake in the current translations, then constantly revolving misalettes, the crummy hymnals, and all the rest of it, and it seems as if the American bishops must have some stake in this too.
This is why they use the New American Bible translation rather than a decent text like the RSV--because the right people hold the copyright and get the royalties.
The same with the hymns. You can't copyright an ancient hymn or Gregorian Chant, but you can copyright and rake in money on all that 1960s schlock.
Pope Gregory will have is work cut out for him changing any of this. It's well known too that he would prefer to have the mass said by the priest facing ad orientem, but it would take a lot of head-knocking and grief to bring that back. Plus most parishes have junked the old altars, so they'd have to build them all over again.
"Urge" or "encourage" is not going to cut it. Needs to be "command" and "mandate".
Or as St. Francis said of how his Rule was to be followed: "to the letter, to the letter, and without a gloss."
It's all good but I am happy about the above because I complained about drums at a mass we attended months ago.
I'm sure you are right.
But I agree with Theophane, it needs to be mandated.
And the liberals be damned.
Benedict
I hope my Bishop gets the memo! He recently commanded my priest to cease and desist using "extraneous " Latin in the Mass. :(
No Hosanna?
I agree. I've heard exhortations like this before somewhere. Still holding my breath, sadly.
patent
How about simply junking the Novus Ordo altogether? It has been a bit like the laboratory experiment that got loose.
No, I like it, I am drawn closer to the Lord by it. This is the Mass I love.
I just read an excellent book by a Fr. Robinson, an Oratorian priest, who analyzes the failure of the NO and the philosophical problems that led to its creation. However, he doesn't think it would be possible or desirable to restore the Old Mass, as he calls it, because we have a whole generation who have grown up without it and therefore the link with tradition is broken. He feels that its restoration would cause great upset among the people (like the imposition of the NO didn't cause upset????). He's probably right, though, because one of the problems is that our clergy is too theologically ignorant and litugically badly trained to be able to bring it back in the first place or explain it to the people and encourage them in the second.
That said, his suggestions are: More Latin in the NO (the entire Canon in Latin, for example); the priest should face ad orientem during the Canon and any parts of the Mass not actually directed at the people; the cycle of readings should be revised to make the readings not just a three-year trudge through the OT, but memorable and intelligible passages that are repeated on a yearly cycle, as they used to be in the Old Mass; the restoration of Gregorian chant; and the removal of "options" from the rite, whether they are optional readings, Canons, things to be omitted, etc.
I think this would clean it up and might help people to refocus on worship of God as being the purpose of the Mass, rather than "fellowship," feeling good, or any of the other horrible things that have crept in. I'm not sure it's the ultimate solution though, because the NO is about the flattest and least liturgical of all the liturgies found in the liturgical churches (such as the Orthodox Church).
Agreed. An "invitation" just ain't gonna do it. I think this is partly out of ill-will on the part of the clergy, control mania on the part of the "liturgy committees," and vested interests such as the OPC (Oregon Catholic Press), etc.
However, I think a lot of it is because many priests, even those who might be willing to do all these things, lack the training to be able to do so. They simply don't have any Latin, they have very little knowledge of Catholic music, and they are theologically too weak to be able to explain things to their congregations or fight for such changes. Believe me, they'd have to fight to be able to get the Mass out of the grip of the "Eucharistic ministers" and others who essentially control the liturgy nowadays.
I think he should mandate these changes, but first he should mandate studies for all of the priests in the Church - one year of liturgical Latin with study of the Old Mass to give modern priests a better foundation in tradition, combined with an introduction to chant and Catholic music and art. And he should do it in such a way that any bishop who refuses to obey should have to go out and find himself a job flipping burgers at McDonald's to pay for his retirement.
I agree with you,though I would still prefer the "old Mass". I made my first communion in 1963. We still used Latin, though the priest read the readings in English. My mom used her missal (which she still has) The choir sang in Latin, and the atmosphere of reverence was so beautiful. That is all gone now. This Sunday, in church, before the priest came in, (he's new to our church), we were all told to stand up and greet each other. It was like an "I'm ok, you're ok" session! It sounded like an auditorium. I wanted to walk out. I've never liked the 'sign of peace' in the mass in the first place - and now this!
I have always believed, in my heart, that we would see a growth in numbers of men entering the priesthood if the Mass was restored to what it should be. Why bother becoming a priest if you can already 'concelebrate' the mass, in a sense, from the 'stands'. The emphasis on the Eucharist - shoved off in a corner somewhere - is gone. Our church is locked so that you can't even visit and spend time with the Lord. I have so much more to rant on, but I get upset as I type and try to put it into words. I know that it would be difficult to bring back the old mass, but I would love to see at least one mass a month in the Latin, in each parish. Or, insert more and more Latin into the mass, and bring the mass back to where it was intended to be. Also, a sincere emphasis MUST be placed on the Eucharist. so many don't believe in the Real Presence! No wonder the church sounds like an auditorium before a school assembly! No one genuflects. The 'altar' is nothing more than a stone slab (artfully arranged, mind you).
Enough. I have already whined enough.
God bless Pope Benedict. May God guide him and give him wisdom.
Interestingly, this was one of the points made by Fr. Robinson. He says there's no reason for men to bother entering the priesthood now. Since it has lost its liturgical function, to a great extent, the priesthood is viewed as just another semi-therapeutic "helping profession," and there are certainly other places one can do that, without having to put up with bishops, Eucharistic ministers, etc.
There have been rumors about this since before the death of +JPII. I hope that those rumors will come true shortly.
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