Posted on 11/05/2011 11:56:52 AM PDT by NYer
The long-awaited introduction of the new translation of the Roman Missal on November 27, the First Sunday of Advent, offers the Church in the Anglophere an opportunity to reflect on the riches of the liturgy, its biblical vocabulary, and its virtually inexhaustible storehouse of images. Much of that vocabulary, and a great many of those images, were lost under the “dynamic equivalence” theory of translation; they have now been restored under the “formal equivalence” method of translating. Over the next years and decades, the Catholic Church will be reminded of just what a treasure-house of wonders the liturgy is.
At the same time, the “changes in the words” offer the Church a golden opportunity to confront, and then break, some bad liturgical habits that have accumulated, like unlovely barnacles on the barque of Peter, over the past several decades.
For example:
1. Holy Mass should never begin with a greeting or an injunction that is not in the Roman Missal. The first words the congregation hears from the celebrant should be the liturgical words of greeting prescribed in the Sacramentary. At Masses where there is no sung entrance hymn, the admonition “please stand” should never be heard; if the priest-celebrant (or lector) recites the Entrance Antiphon in an audible voice before processing to the altar, everyone will get the message that Mass has begun, and will stand without being told to do so.
2. Far too many lectors, including many of the best, begin the responsorial psalm inappropriately, saying, “The responsorial psalm is….” – and then reciting the antiphon to the psalm, which is not “the responsorial psalm” but its antiphon. The phrase “The responsorial psalm is….” should thus be put under the ban. Forty-plus years into the liturgical renewal, there is no need to do anything except intone or recite the antiphon that begins the responsorial psalm: by now, the congregation surely knows that their next task is to repeat the antiphon, either in song or by recitation.
3. Fully aware that I shall be accused by some of crankiness bordering on misanthropy, let me repeat a point made in this space before: the exchange of peace is not meant to be the occasion for a chat with the neighbors, but for the greetings of those closest to us in church with a simple, evangelical salutation: “the peace of the Lord be with you;” “peace be with you;” “the peace of Christ.” The longer conversations can be saved for the narthex or vestibule (not “gathering space”).
4. The Communion antiphon, typically linked to the Gospel of the day, is just as typically AWOL at Mass. If it is not sung by the choir, it should be recited prior to the distribution of Holy Communion, not afterwards, as if it were some sort of afterthought.
5. Then there is silence. The rubrics prescribe various periods of silent reflection at Mass, particularly after the reception of Holy Communion, so that the “still, small voice” of 1 Kings 19.12 (butchered by the New American Bible into “tiny whispering sound”) might be heard. This is not a matter of doing something differently just to do something differently; it is a recognition that, in the liturgy, God speaks to us through silence as well as through vocal prayer and Scripture. Reintroducing periods of silence into the liturgy will require explanation from the pulpit; but while priests and deacons are explaining the “new words,” why not explain why the Church chooses silence over words at some points in its worship?
The re-sacralization of the English used in the liturgy affords all of us an opportunity to ponder just what it is we are doing at Holy Mass: we are participating, here and now, in the liturgy of angels and saints that goes on constantly around the Throne of Grace where the Holy Trinity lives in a communion of radical self-gift and receptivity. This is, in short, serious business, even as it is joyful business. We should do it well, as the grace of God has empowered us to do it well.
I attended a private Mass for our Serra Club this morning said by our chaplain. We responded and he said the Mass with the new translation.....which has been approved by the Archbishop in our Archdiocese.
It was beautiful!
:-) Reminds me of my former RC parish, one of the largest in this area. (Recall this is Bishop Hubbard territory where anything goes!) This one Sunday, the 'light in the loafers' pastor brought in a pianist to play background music during the quiet moments of the mass, like the Consecration Nothing like watching a priest elevate the host to background music.
Our bishop reaches mandatory retirement age in 2013. For decades now, many catholics in the diocese have been praying that his successor will be appointed by a conservative minded pope. It will take decades to turn this diocese around.
Please check out the link I posted above. Finding parishioners in liberal parishes (or dioceses) amenable to its message is the greatest challenge, especially when they have been told their methods of worship are normal and desirable.
Report this man to the bishop so that he may be issued some needed fraternal correction.
I, too, am thrilled to have faithful convert priest but not their huge egos which they are welcome to leave in their former places of worship. This man should never point to himself because Holy Mass is all about God Almighty.
Absolutely true!
In the earliest centuries of the Church it was called the kiss of peace.
Peace be with you?
Question: One thing at Mass that I find really difficult is the “Sign of Peace”. How come we do this?
Dear Inquirer,
There is no better way to describe the custom of exchanging the greeting of peace at Mass than the words of St. Augustine in the 4th century: “After the Lord’s Prayer, say ‘Peace be with you.’ Christians then embrace one another with a holy kiss. This is the sign of peace.”
In the primitive church at Rome and in the Eastern Church, the kiss of peace was offered after the first part of the Mass and before the Eucharistic Prayer. Early baptismal documents also indicate that the exchange of peace was reserved only for the ‘faithful,’ and so catechumens were dismissed before the Prayer of the Faithful, which was followed by the Kiss of Peace.
In the Western Church the sign of peace was moved quite early to where it is as Augustine described it and where it is today. The Western Church saw a close link between peace and communion—peace with one another before receiving the Prince of Peace.
In the Middle Ages the laity were excluded from the sign of peace and it was then dropped altogether from the Mass; the only remnant of the rite was the action of the priest kissing the altar. Vatican II restored the ancient rite of peace to all who participate at mass.
Custom dictates how the kiss of peace is exchanged in each country: a handshake, an embrace, words of peace, or other actions. In Japan, for example, the celebrant bows deeply to the congregation who in turn bow towards him and then bow respectfully to one another. It is a sign that works well in their culture. How the sign of peace is given will vary, but its meaning remains the same.
http://www.cptryon.org/ask/ask/signpeace.html
Actually, when you posted it a while ago, I brought it to my (then) parish.
It was disregarded, to say the least.
In Minnesota, we had a pastor (Oh, how I MISS him!) who said, "Before we prepare to celebrate the Sacred Mysteries, let us offer each other a sign of peace." The greeting would proceed, and during the prayers around the Consecration, there was no disruptive hand-shaking, chitchat, or other distraction AFTER the Words of Institution had been recited. It was VERY reverent, and much more appropriate than what we have today.
Thanks, NYer. I saved that link. Excellent information and guidance.
The next step needs to be the abolition of Mass facing the people.
Unless he happens to be a reconciled schismatic Old Catholic bishop.
It happened before. One Salomao Barbosa Ferraz.
Salomão Barbosa Ferraz (Jau, Brazil, 18 February 1880-11 May 1969) was a Brazilian priest and bishop whose career took him through membership of several Christian denominations from the Presbyterian Church through to the Roman Catholic Church.
Originally a Presbyterian Minister, Barbosa Ferraz was ordained an Anglican Priest in 1917. He founded an ecumenical society, the “Order of Saint Andrew”, in 1928, and was instrumental in organising a ‘Free Catholic Congress’ in 1936. At the close of this event he established a “Free Catholic Church” and was elected as the church’s first Bishop. The Second World War halted plans to be consecrated Bishop by European Old Catholics, but Salomão Barbosa Ferraz was eventually consecrated Bishop by Carlos Duarte Costa following this Bishop’s excommunication by the Vatican in 1945.
Salomão Barbosa Ferraz in turn consecrated Manoel Ceia Laranjeira for the Free Catholic Church of Brazil in 1951, but sought reception into the Roman Catholic Church, which he achieved under Pope John XXIII, leaving Manoel Ceia Laranjeira at the head of the Free Catholic Church, then renamed Independent Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil.
In 1963, Bishop Ferraz was received in the Roman Catholic Church as the Titular Bishop of Eleutherna and took part of sessions of the Second Vatican Council under that office. He was also appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Rio de Janeiro by Pope John XXIII. Bishop Ferraz died in 1969, leaving his wife and seven children.
Bishop Salomão Barbosa Ferraz was a rare instace of legally accepted married bishop in modern Roman Catholic history.
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.