Posted on 11/24/2008 1:16:30 PM PST by NYer
.- Beginning December 6, ethereal chant, incense and perhaps even an ostrich-feathered liturgical fan will waft through Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska as the archdiocese prepares for the ancient Dominican rite Mass that will be celebrated in Latin every first Saturday of the month at noon.
The Catholic Anchor reports that the successful emergence of the Dominican rite locally is keeping the tradition alive, and perhaps fueling organic development of the liturgy into the future.
By early 2009, the Anchorage Archdiocese is also hoping to provide regular celebrations of the Tridentine Latin Mass, which was the standard Roman Catholic liturgy before the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).
A question of rites
Within the universal Catholic Church, there are 22 different rites, such as the Roman, Byzantine and Coptic, that incorporate different traditions into the Mass.
When it comes to forms of the Mass, “often we think of the Masses as ‘pre-Vatican II’ and ‘post-Vatican II,’ and it was more complicated than that,” said Father Vincent Kelber — a Dominican priest at Holy Family Cathedral, where he is preparing to celebrate the Dominican rite.
In 1570, the Council of Trent codified the Tridentine Mass as “the Mass for all time,” he explained. It then served as the main form of the Mass for the Latin Church until the Second Vatican Council.
The Council of Trent, however, allowed for the celebration of those rites which, at the time, had been in existence for at least 200 years, Father Kelber said.
That meant the Dominican order and others like the Carthusians, Cistercians and Carmelites could continue celebrating their own rites, alongside the principal Tridentine Mass.
Father Kelber explained that by the 1200s, it was clear that the Dominicans needed a common liturgical expression for the order’s many priests who preached and celebrated Mass in varied communities across Europe. Thus, the Dominican rite was established.
While the Tridentine Mass is sometimes criticized for being antiquated, it is actually pretty new compared to the medieval Dominican rite, noted Father Kelber. The Tridentine is really “the beginning of the modern era,” he said.
At Vatican II, the Tridentine Mass was replaced by the “Novus Ordo” or “new Ordinary of the Mass” as the principal form of the Mass. In that form, which most Catholics are accustomed to today, prayers are said in the local language.
Ancient is new again
Those familiar with the Tridentine Mass will find similarities in the Dominican rite. Both are celebrated in Latin, which for centuries was the sacred liturgical language of the Catholic Church, Father Kelber said.
Additionally, in both the Tridentine and Dominican rites, priests face the same direction as the congregation — toward the altar.
The point is to be “oriented towards the one God,” said Father Kelber. The Eucharist is always central, he added.
Priests also wear special vestments in the Dominican rite, but since the Dominicans “pre-date lace,” explained Father Kelber, they are not as ornate as those in the Tridentine rite.
Catholics may also notice that the Dominican rite contains many signs of reverence, such as bowing, Father Kelber explained.
A penitential prayer, which the priest leads at the start of the Mass, is said before he enters into the sanctuary, “the holy of holies,” Father Kelber said. Also, communicants receive Communion kneeling.
“Every movement in the Mass is purposeful and prayerful; it is embodied worship,” he said.
‘Rite’ for the times
While Vatican II ushered in many needed changes, the continued use of the Dominican rite helped provide stability amid the flux.
“We realize now and Pope Benedict realizes that some of the changes of the Second Vatican Council were good, but some of them were too fast, some weren’t explained, some were poorly implemented and some weren’t according to the documents,” Father Kelber said.
The ancient Masses “helped people to cope,” he added.
As part of the patrimony of the church, the ancient Mass is worth preserving, Father Kelber continued.
“It’s okay to have this kind of diversity,” he said.
Father Kelber said it is especially important to appreciate the “ethos” of a pre-reformation tradition, such as that of the Dominicans.
“There is a lot that the medieval times can offer,” he said. “They weren’t in the dark ages at all. They lived a life that we can see today is something worth emulating in many ways, because it was before the busy-ness of the modern world. They knew what contemplation was, they knew what silence was, and we don’t.”
An ancient rite blooms
In the 1980s interest in the Dominican rite grew among the young friars of the Dominicans’ Western Province, said Father Kelber. Interest “bloomed again in a new way” with friars, such as Father Kelber, who were ordained in the late 1990s and early 21-century.
With no formal training on how to celebrate the ancient Mass, Father Kelber said he read about the Mass and worked with other priests familiar with it.
“Preservation work is personal,” he said. “It has to be handed-down. It can’t be just gotten out of a book.”
Now, given the growing interest in the Dominican rite, the Western and Eastern Provinces of the Dominican order are planning instructive conferences for its friars. The first takes place August 2009 at St. Albert’s priory in Oakland.
Here in Anchorage, with permission from his provincial director and Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz, Father Kelber has been perfecting his practice of the Dominican rite on his days off.
“There are people all over the United States and the world excited about the old rite — excited about Gregorian chant,” he said. “It’s not just one person here saying ‘Well, I miss the old days.’ It’s not just something looking back, but something looking forward and a gift for these crazy times.”
you’re not doing very well...they spent hundreds of thousands on that little show...as more people starved.
Simple thing: you have a responsibility to think for yourself.
Was it a “necessary” expenditure as the poor struggle? I think not. Priests have ego problems just like all humans. Time to call them on it.
They can do better with the money they collect.
Exactly the point: the Church can do better with the money it collects than to put on a fancy show.
Much better.
LOL! You have no sense of reality as to the cost, nor do you comprehend true worship. As all egalitarians, all you care about is tearing down and pointing fingers, so that we're all impoverished, both materially and spiritually, in the end. Go take your nonsense to DailyKos, where it will be more appropriate.
thanks for that Scripture!
They didn’t do this because anyone put a gun to their head. They weren’t taxed for this money. They gave it of their own free will. They just thought that the house of God deserved the best that money had to offer, and they gave accordingly.
The man who does not give good things to God will find it difficult indeed to give good things to his fellow man.
*************************
Amen, and beautifully said, too.
Show? Really? It’s just a show?
Something tells me that if a relative got married you wouldn’t show up in jeans and a t-shirt. So you pay respect to the marriage of two human beings, but you scoff at gold and silk when the All Holy God appears upon the altar, before which even the angels bow in reverence?
Oh ye of little faith!
I see...and YOU know “true worship”...with all it’s bells and whistles...when you see it.
Great...give you money to a bunch that spends like AIG...have at it....LOL’s on U.
The catholic Church has lost it’s way in many regards...and it’s up to the members to stand up and readjust the course.
“The catholic Church has lost it’s way in many regards...and it’s up to the members to stand up and readjust the course.”
Are you a member?
Keep up the egalitarian talking points. It keeps on exposing who you really are.
This is really neat. Such a great opportunity for the Alaskans to experience a magnificent and historic liturgy.
Hey, TC! How are you? :)
It makes me sad that members can put on the blinders...and fail to challange the actions of the men governing the Church.
You’ll be very happy in the Obama administration.
Keep sending theose checks and never ask what they use it for. Let those poor go hungry so they can throw a big shin-dig.
Sad...really sad.
Indeed! Wouldn't it be neat to have this monastery somewhere that offered the Holy Sacrifice continually and perpetually in every rite of the Church? Even bring back some of the old ones?
It would a tremendous testimony to the universality of the Church. And what grace would flow between those walls!
Some strange opinions out there. :)
Oh for crying out loud! The Catholic Church is as conservative as institutions go in the world. Yeah, the pro-abortion Obama administration is going to make me REAL happy (sarcasm).
Keep sending theose checks and never ask what they use it for. Let those poor go hungry so they can throw a big shin-dig.
You are truly in your own reality. There's no sense in continuing this conversation with you, since we are arguing on two different grounds.
Whatever is old is new again.
I heard Mother Angelica complain once that there hasn’t been a decent new heresy in 200 years.
LOL! There’s only one, the “synthesis of all heresies.”
Once a follower...always a follower ...just BELIVE in Obama..just send him checks...no matter how he spends them...just have FAITH. Never-ever...think about it.
Ha! Yeah, that’s the only new one I can think of as well.
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.