You Know Where To Go (to complain about liturgical dance)

Curt Jester ^ | August 17, 2006

[NYer]

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. And then we clap. But when we come to Mass we don't come to clap. We don't come to watch people, to admire people. We want to adore God, to thank Him, to ask Him pardon for our sins, and to ask Him for what we need.

Don't misunderstand me, because when I said this at one place somebody said to me: "you are an African bishop. You Africans are always dancing. Why do you say we don't dance?"

A moment -- we Africans are not always dancing!

Moreover, there is a difference between those who come in procession at Offertory; they bring their gifts, with joy. There is a movement of the body right and left. They bring their gifts to God. That is good, really. And some of the choir, they sing. They have a little bit of movement. Nobody is going to condemn that. And when you are going out again, a little movement, it's all right.

But when you introduce wholesale, say, a ballerina, then I want to ask you what is it all about. What exactly are you arranging? When the people finish dancing in the Mass and then when the dance group finishes and people clap -- don't you see what it means? It means we have enjoyed it. We come for enjoyment. Repeat. So, there is something wrong. Whenever the people clap -- there is something wrong -- immediately. When they clap -- a dance is done and they clap.

It is possible that there could be a dance that is so exquisite that it raises people's minds to God, and they are praying and adoring God and when the dance is finished they are still wrapped up in prayer. But is that the type of dance you have seen? You see. It is not easy.

Most dances that are staged during Mass should have been done in the parish hall. And some of them are not even suitable for the parish hall.

I saw in one place -- I will not tell you where -- where they staged a dance during Mass, and that dance was offensive. It broke the rules of moral theology and modesty. Those who arranged it -- they should have had their heads washed with a bucket of holy water!

Why make the people of God suffer so much? Haven't we enough problems already? Only Sunday, one hour, they come to adore God. And you bring a dance! Are you so poor you have nothing else to bring us? Shame on you! That's how I feel about it.

Somebody can say, "but the pope visited this county and the people danced". A moment: Did the pope arrange it? Poor Holy Father -- he comes, the people arranged. He does not know what they arranged. And somebody introduces something funny -- is the pope responsible for that? Does that mean it is now approved? Did they put in on the table of the Congregation for Divine Worship? We would throw it out! If people want to dance, they know where to go.

Somebody needs to start a Cardinal Arinze Fan Club blog. He always provides a wealth of great commentary and common sense on the liturgy.

[NYer]

THAT is a Jesuit Father?

Here's another .....

Jesuit Fr. VerEecke

As one might expect from someone who has devoted the past twenty years of his life to performing and teaching dance, Father Robert VerEecke, SJ, is fervent about its benefits. With a Master's degree in Dance and Liturgy from Lesley College, and another in Divinity from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, the priest serves as Artistic Director of the Boston Liturgical Dance Ensemble at Boston College, Artist in Residence at the same institution, and pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in Boston.

Dance - but not in the liturgy,

[AnAmericanMother]

Seems from the linked article that he's trying to stay within the letter of the law, but he's not happy about it.

A little aside here to demonstrate my earlier statement that the fools can't dance.

Fr. VerEecke is holding a good, solid posture with tension through the shoulder girdle and the trapezius muscles, out into the base of the palm. He's obviously a trained dancer.

Now look at the four idiots behind him trying to imitate him. They (more or less) have their hands in the general area, but they haven't ANY idea of the underlying structure or tension (which is what dance IS, not where your hands happen to be located in space.)

Second woman from the right had 2-3 years of ballet as a child, but it didn't sink in properly. She thinks if she tilts her head like a ballerina, it will make it all o.k. The expression of the woman on the right is priceless . . . if she just screws her mouth up tighter, she'll get it right . . .

This stuff really hurts . . . like hearing musicians sing off key.

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

Hey, I'm a CONSERVATIVE Protestant. I'm not a prude. I don't think dance itself is sinful. But if someone started doing that dancing stuff in the front of my church I'd grab the kids and nudge the missus and walk down the middle aisle of that church faster than you can say fruitcake.

Hooray for this Cardinal. I might not agree with him much about RC theology, but I agree with him that worship is where God's people focus on GOD. If there's clapping for anyone, it's wrong.

[muawiyah]

It is? Could have fooled 'em on the Day of Pentecost.

The "standard argument" used by non-Pentecostal Protestants to deal with the issue is to claim that "the day of prophecy is closed as is the time of miracles".

You'll notice that tosses the burden of defending the practice back to the Pentecostals.

[muawiyah]

And all of that is OK, but thanks for pointing to "they shall be joyful in their beds" which suggests that the apocryphal "Church of St. Mattress" may well have been a joke shared by God Himself.

[lightman]

And all of that is OK, but thanks for pointing to "they shall be joyful in their beds" which suggests that the apocryphal "Church of St. Mattress" may well have been a joke shared by God Himself.

Bedsheet evangelism by a married couple is church growth the good old-fashioned natural way!

[Armando Guerra]

For a couple of years our parish had a half dozen prepubescent girls go up to the communion rail area, dressed to the nines, spread themselves across the front of the church and be the "sign language" singers for a couple of songs.

How awful. You still have communion rails? That's so pre-Vatican II. (just kidding, of course!)

[starfish923]

How awful. You still have communion rails? That's so pre-Vatican II. (just kidding, of course!)

My error.
We don't have the rails any more. I should have written "the former communion rail area."

I went to Mass in Marianplatz, in Munich this year.
The BIG church, the one all the tourists go to, the Frauenkirch, was innaccessible because of a giant race-run (10k) being put on by the city. So, I went to a smaller but equally gorgeous church right off this main plaza in old town Munich. This was the day after Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup this past June.

Anyway, the priest faced away from the congregation, as in the old days, and there still was a communion rail.
Some people knelt at the rail, some stood. Some received communion by mouth, some by hand.

I also went to Mass at St. Peter's in Rome, at the chapel of St. John, which is in the left hand apse of the bascilica. The masses are held on the hour, every hour.
The priest faced AWAY from the congregation but there was no communion rail. We all stood in line, just like here.

Sidenote: the entire RIGHT hand apse of St. Peter's is dedicated to confession. There was a barrier and a guard who let people in that area only for confession. I had never been to confession at St. Peter's so I went in. Why not? I was 50 feet from the bones of Peter himself.
Anyway, there were about two dozen confessionals, all in different languages. NO ONE was in there but me. The rest of the bascilica had 10 zillion people milling around and I was ALL ALONE in that enormous apse.
I asked where the English confessional was. The confessionals had the language listed on them. My old priest's languages were CHINESE, English and Polish. Harhar.
After confession I felt very moved. I realized that I could now STAY in the apse and say penance and walk around the area ALL BY MYSELF.
Then I went to Mass across the way at St. John's chapel.
What a moving morning for me. I felt very lucky, very blessed.

[Armando Guerra]

Sound's wonderful. I did not know about the confessional, though wish I had. I enjoyed St. Peter's and was very moved by the Pieta.

Sorry to hear the communion rails in your church were removed. Amazingly, the rails remain in our cathedral although I am sure the Bishop would love to see them go (he already wanted to rip out the tabernacle, pews and re-orient the church - Lynch btw). Luckily, that has not been done but the threat remains. I still hope for the communion rails to make a come back. I remember being an alterboy walking behind the priest with the paten to hold under the chins as communion was given on the tongue. I would prefer it still be done that way.

[marshmallow]

How does that old Abba song go....

"........and when you get the chance.....you are a dancing queen......"

My first thoughts on seeing that Nureyev wannabee, Fr. George.

[hellinahandcart]

"Church of St. Mattress"

At least get the name right. It's St. Mattress of the Springs.