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The Heavenly Elements of the Liturgy
Archdiocese of Washington ^
| 11-09-14
| Msgr. Charles Pope
Posted on 11/10/2014 7:20:24 AM PST by Salvation
The Heavenly Elements of the Liturgy
By: Msgr. Charles Pope
![http://blog.adw.org/wp-content/uploads/swinging-incense-burner-218x300.jpg](http://blog.adw.org/wp-content/uploads/swinging-incense-burner-218x300.jpg)
In November, Catholics are encouraged to meditate on the “Last Things.” As you know, I write quite often on Hell. But I have written on Heaven, too. In this post I propose simply to set forth how much of our liturgy is a kind of dress rehearsal for Heaven.
Indeed, Catholics are often unaware just how biblical the Sacred Liturgy is. The design of our traditional churches; the use of candles, incense, and golden vessels; the postures of standing and kneeling; the altar; the singing of hymns; priests wearing albs and so forth are all depicted in the Scriptures. Some of these details were features of the ancient Jewish Temple, but most are reiterated in the Book of Revelation, which describes the liturgy of Heaven.
The liturgy here on earth is modeled after the liturgy in Heaven; that is why it is so serious to tamper with it. The Book of Revelation describes the heavenly liturgy and focuses on a scroll or book that contains the meaning of life and the answers to all we seek. It also focuses on the Lamb of God, standing but with the marks of slaughter upon it. Does this not sound familiar? It is the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
We do well to be aware of the biblical roots of the Sacred Liturgy, not only for our own edification but also as an answer to those Protestant Christians who have largely set aside these rituals and criticize our use of them. Many people consider our rituals to be empty and vain, “smells and bells.” Some consider austere liturgical environments devoid of much ritual to be “purer” and closer to the worship in “spirit and in truth” that Jesus spoke of in John 4.
To such criticisms we must insist that these rituals, properly understood, are mystical and deeply biblical. Further, they are elements of the heavenly liturgy since almost all of them are mentioned as aspects of the worship or liturgy that takes place in Heaven. In this light, it is a serious mistake to set them aside or have a dismissive attitude toward them.
With that in mind we ought to consider the biblical references to the most common elements of Catholic and Orthodox liturgies. I have added my own occasional note in red.
Candles -
- Rev 1:12-13 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man. In traditional catholic parishes, there are six candles on the high altar and a seventh candle is brought out when the bishop is present.
- Rev 4:6 Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne.
Altar -
- Rev 9:13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God.
- Rev 8:3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.
Chair -
- Rev 4:1 and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald …
- Daniel 7:9 As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was ancient of days took his seat; … In the Sacred Liturgy, the chair of the priest is prominent. But, as he takes his seat, we are invited to see not Father Jones, but rather the Lord Himself presiding in our midst.
Priests (elders) in Albs -
- Rev 4:4 the elders sat, dressed in white garments …
Bishop’s miter, priest’s biretta –
- Rev 4:4, 10 With golden crowns on their heads … they cast down their crowns before the throne … In the Liturgy, the Bishop may only wear his miter at prescribed times. But when he goes to the altar he must cast aside his miter. The priest who wears the biretta in the Old Mass is instructed to tip his biretta at the mention of the Holy Name and to lay it aside entirely when he goes to the altar.
Focus on a scroll (book), The Liturgy of the Word -
- Rev 5: 1 And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals; and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I wept much that no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. Then one of the elders said to me, “Weep not; lo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” In the ancient world, books as we know them now had not been invented. Texts were written on long scrolls and rolled up.
Incense, Intercessory prayer -
- Rev 8:3 another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God …
- Rev 5:7 and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints;
Hymns –
- Rev 5:8 And they sang a new hymn: Worthy are you O Lord to receive the scroll and break open its seals. For you were slain and with your blood you purchase for God men of every race and tongue, and those of every nation.
- Rev 14:1 Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads … and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.
- Rev 15:3 And they (the multitude no one could count) sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and wonderful are thy deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are thy ways, O King of the ages! Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, O Lord? For thou alone art holy. All nations shall come and worship thee, for thy judgments have been revealed.”
Holy, Holy, Holy –
- Rev 4:8 and day and night they never cease to sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
Prostration (Kneeling) -
- Rev 4:10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne …
- Rev 5:14 and the elders fell down and worshiped In today’s setting, there is seldom room for everyone to lie prostrate, flat on the ground. Kneeling developed as a practical solution to the lack of space, but it amounts to the same demeanor of humble adoration.
Lamb of God -
- Rev 5:6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain …
Acclamations –
- Rev 5:11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
Amen! -
- Rev 5:14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!”
Silence –
- Rev 8:1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (And you thought your priest paused too long after communion?)
Mary -
- Rev 12:1 And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.
Happy are those called to His “supper” -
- Revelation 19:6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunder peals, crying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; … And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
Golden vessels, vestments –
- Rev 1:12 And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
- Rev 1:13 and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest
- Rev 5:8 the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense
- Rev 8:3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, at the golden altar before the throne.
- Rev 15:16 The angels were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests.
- Rev 15:17 seven golden bowls
Stained Glass -
- Rev 21:10 [The heavenly city] had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, … The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. (The image of stained glass in our Church walls is hinted at here.)
Here is but a partial list, drawn only from the Book of Revelation. I invite you to add to it. You might also read The Lamb’s Supper, by Scott Hahn, and The Mass: A Biblical Prayer, by Fr. Peter Stravinskas.
TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; History; Theology
KEYWORDS: altar; bible; catholic; catholicmass; liturgy; mass; msgrcharlespope; sacramentals; stainedglass; theliturgy; themass
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To: terycarl
the mention that Catholics didn’t practice celibacy until the year 400 indicates that there was a Catholic church even before that and that would be about 1,600 years before the protestant revolution decided to save us from ourselves.....thanks for nothing!1
81
posted on
11/12/2014 7:06:43 PM PST
by
terycarl
(common sense prevails over all)
To: terycarl
"Christ said the words....consecrated the bread and wine into His Body and Blood and instructed the apostles to "DO THIS" in memory of Me....pretty clear and I see no symbolism there at all." You do not see the enormity of the departure from His words? "Do this in MEMORY of Me" does not mean "So, have a guy in a bathrobe say words over a chalice and it will turn into my blood." Your group is manufacturing demonic associations with these simple words of Jesus. We will pray that God will remove the scales.
And, no, celibacy is not "voluntary". Every one of your sacerdotal gang has to swear that they are "married" to the organization and every "nun" is "married" to Jesus. That is such perversion, it is no wonder that pedophilia is rampant in the crowd. pope Alexander II (1061-73) would not discipline a "priest" who committed adultery with his father's second wife because he had not committed the "sin of matrimony". Your organization is lost in darkness.
To: Dutchboy88
I want to say that you (me and probably all of us on FR) are incompetent to make any interpretation of the Bible. We don't even know ancient languages or cultural background to seriously study for our own. Otherwise, this is completely unprofessional study.
The only reasonable thing to do in this situation is trust to an authority. To somebody who has proper professional background. If you are not an electrician, you call one if you want to repair something. If you do this on your own, despite your ignorance in such matters, most likely you make things even worse.
This is why when a Catholic read the Bible, search always for the interpretation of the church. Our scientists and theologians studies this text for many centuries. Their work cannot be compared to your own effort, being aware that you will change your mind on some issues few times during your life... (aka Protestants often change denominations, denominations change the doctrines as well)
With all due respect I doubt that you know any other language beside English. Otherwise you would be aware that even the best translator is unable to make EXACT translation. I will tell you, that I'm aware of several mistakes in Catholic translation to my native language. So what? Translations are for masses, because masses never learn ancient languages, this is simply better than nothing. INTERPRETATION ALWAYS MUST COME FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE.
83
posted on
11/14/2014 2:51:53 PM PST
by
Lukasz
To: Lukasz
"I want to say that you (me and probably all of us on FR) are incompetent to make any interpretation of the Bible." The only reasonable thing to do in this situation is trust to an authority.
This is another of those self-contradictory claims of the RCC cult followers. Apparently, you admit you are not competent to interpret the Scriptures. How then are we to believe YOU have the authority to decide that I am "incompetent"? You have viewed all of the interpretations of Scripture I have made and you, sitting in that seat of judgment because you are the AUTHORITY, have found them wanting? You just admitted you are not competent to make such calls. What competency, pray tell, sprung up for you to make this pronouncement upon me?
"With all due respect I doubt that you know any other language beside English. Otherwise you would be aware that even the best translator is unable to make EXACT translation."
Well, here are two more beauties. I have trained in Koine' Greek at a recognized university and have a degree in theology. Koine' Greek is the language used by the NT writers. But, that is not your biggest error. Your biggest error is that you claim no "EXACT" translation is possible, but yet you trust your "scientists and theologians" to provide you such work. Is their work "EXACT" or is it defective? How do you know? If your trust in their AUTHORITY is based on their interpretations, which came first, your blind trust or their AUTHORITY?
"INTERPRETATION ALWAYS MUST COME FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE."
If by this you mean (notice I have to interpret your words) that interpretations must come only from original languages, then you have no idea what you are talking about. If one of your "theologians" says, "Jesus means you should jump off a cliff here.", you must still take that phrase he interpreted into English and interpret it within your mind to mean something. You are now using your own personal interpretation technique to decide what the theologian's words mean. Otherwise, how do you know what he is getting at? The original languages are useful, very useful. But, it is the meaning of those phrases within our language that becomes what we understand. You do it all the time and so does everyone else.
But, curiously, what interpretations do you think I have made incorrectly?
To: Dutchboy88
This is another of those self-contradictory claims of the RCC cult followers. Apparently, you admit you are not competent to interpret the Scriptures. How then are we to believe YOU have the authority to decide that I am "incompetent"? You have viewed all of the interpretations of Scripture I have made and you, sitting in that seat of judgment because you are the AUTHORITY, have found them wanting?
My stance is not self-contradictory at all. This is not difficult to recognize somebodys incompetence in some matters being incompetent as well. If you consider few centuries of Bible studies by Catholic theologians to mean nothing and your several (?) years of reading translations to mean everything THEN either you are genius or blinded by vanity
You cannot be trusted with that kind of attitude.
Well, here are two more beauties. I have trained in Koine' Greek at a recognized university and have a degree in theology. Koine' Greek is the language used by the NT writers.
If you know this language very well and cultural background as well then maybe you could make comments about Greek parts of Bible. Question arise, if you know this language so well why do you read translations at all? I has no sense for me
But, that is not your biggest error. Your biggest error is that you claim no "EXACT" translation is possible, but yet you trust your "scientists and theologians" to provide you such work.
I dont trust to their translations of Bible, I do trust that working together by so many centuries there were able to figure out correct interpretation from the original source.
Is their work "EXACT" or is it defective? How do you know? If your trust in their AUTHORITY is based on their interpretations, which came first, your blind trust or their AUTHORITY?
Why I trusts them? Because the church lasted for so long that it cannot be denied anymore that this is the church of the Christ. Their interpretation lasted for so long and will never change. While someday your exclusive interpretation will pass away with you, or you will change your mind on some issues, or hopefully you will join the Catholic church and save your soul.
(notice I have to interpret your words)
You speak English and I use its simple version, so it was not difficult.
If one of your "theologians" says, "Jesus means you should jump off a cliff here.", you must still take that phrase he interpreted into English and interpret it within your mind to mean something. You are now using your own personal interpretation technique to decide what the theologian's words mean. Otherwise, how do you know what he is getting at? The original languages are useful, very useful. But, it is the meaning of those phrases within our language that becomes what we understand. You do it all the time and so does everyone else.
First of all. Catholics dont abide to what one of our theologians say but to the version accepted by the church.
You are confusing something. One talented person (theologian for example) is able to learn several languages. If group of competent people who studied the bible agreed on some interpretation then they can write about it in as much languages as they know. This is also up to them to use more simple language to be better understood by the masses. To prevent mistakes long time ago Catholic church started to use Latin and worldwide clergy (and many people from laity as well) was taught this language. Then a priest who knew Latin could read all the interpretations that he needed. Laity should be offered interpretation that doesnt need to be interpreted anymore.
But, curiously, what interpretations do you think I have made incorrectly?
Every each when you disagree with Catholic teachings. If you are in fact so curios then I recommend you to read some catholic book that raise issues that you disagree. Protestants often think that they know Catholic stances but they never really bother to study it. If you have a problem with Catholic teachings on Mary then instead to raise this question on FR, you could read some good Catholic book. At least then you would have some perspective.
85
posted on
11/16/2014 5:28:36 AM PST
by
Lukasz
To: Lukasz
"I has no sense for me
" You have said all that needs to be said.
To: Dutchboy88
87
posted on
11/17/2014 1:04:28 PM PST
by
Lukasz
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