It looks like Joe has taken his bat home over the increasingly smug and self satisfied nature of the debate on the blogs regarding the use of the older (extraordinary form) of the Roman Rite as opposed to the newer (ordinary form). I’m not happy about this, there are too few Catholic Physicist bloggers as it is. There is certainly nothing wrong with Joe’s statement that Archbishop Conti makes some reasonable points regarding the use of the EF, I'd agree with some of what ++Conti says too. EF friendly bloggers are too quick to snipe.
What neither ++ Conti or Joe can do, because they are no lovers of the older form is add to the debate (currently somewhat one sided) over “mutual enrichment” between the two forms. There is far too much smugness out there that the OF could not possibly enrich the EF. It is this that I wish to challenge.
I wish to point out that I am in a very privileged position of being able to get to both forms, appreciating both forms, and being able to attend Mass where both forms are done exceedingly well. This is not a position I think many people in this country are lucky enough to be in.
With regard to the newer rite; how many people have access to it in Latin? Paul had insisted on his requiem Mass being done in Latin. He didn’t specify OF or EF so I chose the OF for him. The EF would simply have been too much of a culture shock for his younger Catholic relatives. They were staggered by the beauty of a Latin Mass and the older Catholic relatives remembered the responses and quite significantly were unaware that it was the newer rite. They had forgotten that before 1972 they would not have been making responses in the way they do now (dialogue Masses were never widespread). I would argue that we will not get anywhere until the newer form is offered more widely in Latin. This provides the continuity with the older form and makes it less of a stumbling block for those who think the older form is a minority rite (or is that “right”) and wish it to remain so.
So what can the newer rite bring to the older? Firstly, I’d say that diction is important. People are now used to hearing the Mass. To those who have never really understood the older form and for all newcomers, it is important that the words of the server and the celebrant that should be heard, can be heard (even if only softly). People must also recongnise that the server (in the EF only) is there representing us. When he says the Confiteor, so do we, when the server says “Domine non sum dignus” so do we, in so many ways the “priesthood of all believers” is beautifully expressed in the actions of the server at the EF…. The newer rite also brings with it an appreciation of the structure of the Mass and quality prayerful responses (chugging your way through the rosary during Mass is not a satisfactory option). The newer rite also brings with it an understanding of the speed with which words should be said. There is far more of a tendency to speed up the Latin in the EF than there is with the English OF, the newer rite tells us explicitly this does not enrich the Mass. A rushed and garbled Last Gospel at the end of an EF Mass can be such a disappointment. Newer rite people want to feel they are participating, this is as it should be, they are just a bit hazy about what participation is. Get them following the priest and being with the server during the EF and you will be astounded by how much richness they get from the experience.
Also, and I may be being more controversial here, I will argue that a NO High Mass in Latin is the supreme Mass of the Roman Rite, it is superior to the EF High Mass because it flows better. Also being usually versus populum , seeing the incensing of the altar and the cleaning of the sacred vessels and the interaction between deacon, sub-deacon and celebrant makes for a far more staggeringly complete and sacred experience. Never seen this? Well I think you can guess which congregation may be able to provide this on a routine basis.
Unless we recognise the prayerfulness and validity of the objections of many for whom liking the older rite is a mystery, we will not succeed with the “mutual enrichment” which is simply has to happen and which is not an option.
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4 comments:
bit miffed to find that the EF I was able to get to on Sunday through otherwise "oh no, do I have to?" circumstances was celebrated by a priest whom I could mostly not understand, neither in Latin nor in Polish. Not having a missal, this was a bit of a bummer. At least the sung introit was intelligible :D
I try never to write about EF vs OF. I attend OF each weekend in my parish in a manner which I would love to see consigned asap to the dustbin of history. When I asked the PP why he improvised and whether he couldn't stick to the text in the Missal he said "No" at length and in "boy's language". When I asked if we could have something other than guitars I was told to learn to play an organ. But I go because it's Mass and it's my parish. I attend EF Mass when I can, but that is never on Sunday.
What I hate, and what I blog about, and what Joe, as far as I can tell, never mentions, are the coercive tactics the Hierarchy in England and Wales, and its agents, the lay people in the Bishops' Conference and in the curial departments of the different dioceses, use to push the Church in E&W forward to a position which is radically different to the one the Pope stands for, and, for what it's worth, I stand for too.
The way Mass is celebrated has become a front line, but only because the permission to celebrate the EF has drawn such a powerful negative response from hierarchs and their agents who are quite happy to use the Liturgy as a field of battle.
I asked (but without it being a stipulation) for an ACN Mass for Paul to be said in Pakistan or China: absolutely no chance of EF, I imagine, and quite probably an OF of less than totally Do-The-Red-Say-The-Black rubricicity; but by a priest subordinate to a Hierarchy which knows the difference between raying and posturing; and in a place where Catholic sucking up to the Zeitgeist doesn't really happen. That'll do me.
Bernike,
Yes, the EF isn't always as it should be.
Ttony,
Your stance is fine, the realpolitik of the heirarchy is a legitimate target, but not the Bishops themselves.. The smugness lies elsewhere, well away from your blog.
Thank you also for the Mass for Paul. You may be surprised by China, many say it is largely untouched by the "spirit of V II". As for Pakistan, we know some great Catholics from there, in a world well away from CBCEW , the liturgy seems much more alive and much less of a political football.
I do wonder what will happen to us while we are all so busy sniping at each other. I was really saddened some time back by the shelving of what could have been a very important event for families - simply because no one could agree over whether the Mass should be OF or EF and even over the Luminous Mysteries of the rosary!
I do realise that some people feel very hurt by others for some very good reasons - but we so desperately need to get past that.
Ttony - your comment about guitars is something that came up in family discussion recently. We have two organists at our parish. One is excellent and we are blessed to have her (I am hoping she will train up one of my children at some point). The other is pretty awful, though she does her best. The choir is...well, they do their best too.
The youth music is a family with two guitars, a flute and a violin. They play absolutely beautifully and when there are extras to sing it is stunning.
I've read the church docs on this years ago and can't remember a word of it - but I do wonder what place "well played" has in Mass as opposed to merely which instrument??
God bless
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