Free Republic

Annunciations of a New Springtime came across a 2003 Adoramus article of Cardinal Arinze's speaking on liturgical dance that I had not seen before.Now, some priests and lay people think that Mass is never complete without dance. The difficulty is this: we come to Mass primarily to adore God -- what we call the vertical dimension. We do not come to Mass to entertain one another. That's not the purpose of Mass. The parish hall is for that.So all those that want to entertain us -- after Mass, let us go to the parish hall and then you can dance....

Youth in Oneonta express themselves through movement BY KAREN DIETLEIN STAFF WRITER Youth at St. Mary's Church in Oneonta are bringing prayer to the parish in a new way: through the lyrical movement of liturgical dance. Interest in dance began with a 1995 production of the Marty Haugen musical, "Tales of Wonder." Previously, said youth minister Michelle Gardner, the young people "didn't think that [liturgical dance] was something that the community wanted." But when parishioners reacted favorably to the musical, dance was integrated into the youth ministry program. Ms. Gardner stressed that the troupe's liturgical dance is not a performance,...