Liturgy well done
can lift the mind and heart to the contemplation of God, and inspire a deeper
prayer life and a more active charitable life outside of Mass. Good and clear proclamation
of the word and sound preaching at Mass provide us with tools for
evangelisation in our day to day life. Surely Vatican II rightly called the
Holy Eucharist the ‘source and summit’ of the Christian life. Sadly, not every
celebration of Mass lifts the mind and heart to God, because the priest gets in
the way.
Now that we no longer have daily Mass in our parish I have experienced Mass in a dozen different places with a dozen different priests (good and sincere men all of them), but I have to say I have found all but one celebration of the Novus Ordo to be irritating; some more than others, but all primarily because each celebrant seems to think his inflection and gestures are responsible for engaging the congregation in the celebration of Mass. Yet the gestures properly carried out rather than exaggerated, with a simple recitation of the words printed in the Missal would allow me to pray; the exaggerated gestures and inflected modulation demand that I hear the emphasis the celebrant wants me to hear rather the emphasis the Holy Spirit wants me to hear. So what are the things that disturb?
Now that we no longer have daily Mass in our parish I have experienced Mass in a dozen different places with a dozen different priests (good and sincere men all of them), but I have to say I have found all but one celebration of the Novus Ordo to be irritating; some more than others, but all primarily because each celebrant seems to think his inflection and gestures are responsible for engaging the congregation in the celebration of Mass. Yet the gestures properly carried out rather than exaggerated, with a simple recitation of the words printed in the Missal would allow me to pray; the exaggerated gestures and inflected modulation demand that I hear the emphasis the celebrant wants me to hear rather the emphasis the Holy Spirit wants me to hear. So what are the things that disturb?
The
first is that on entering the Church one is confronted by noise: our places of
worship are given no more respect than meeting rooms or bingo halls. One priest
defended this with, ‘Well they only see each other at Mass so they like to meet
and greet’. But surely they can talk outside? We don’t pray in a club or a
bingo hall; why should we chatter in a Church? Another priest’s defence was:
‘We’re a community and this is where the community meets. If I tell them to
stop talking they’ll be offended and I’m not going to do that’. Permitting
noise is thus more important than passing on spiritual values, reverence for
the Blessed Sacrament and respect for those who wish to pray. And these are our
priests? If we don’t reverence the Blessed Sacrament and respect others at
prayer in Church, where are we going to respect them?
Second,
there are irritations during the liturgy itself, where the flouting of
liturgical norms is manifold. This means I rarely (if ever) get the New Rite of
Mass as the Church intends me to have it. What are some of the norms flouted?
Well, I have seen the lectern (reserved for the proclamation of
the Word) used as a podium for appeals, talks and even the long-forbidden
eulogies at funerals; I have seen Extraordinary Ministers performing the purifications
while the priest sits down; I have seen (presumably so the people don’t feel
excluded) every word of the Missal being read aloud, including the priest’s
private prayers (‘With humble and contrite Heart…’; ‘Lord wash away my
iniquity…’). I have also heard the opening and closing Collects,
Eucharistic Prayer, and even the words of
consecration, changed.
And there is more. I have seen the Sunday Gospel extended so as to include the line the celebrant
wanted to preach on; I have seen the consecration ‘acted out’; the priest
extending his hands and offering the gifts to the congregation rather than to
the Lord as he waves them from side to side saying ‘Take this, all of you, and
eat of it’ –as though Mass were a play performed for the congregation.
I have
seen priests leave the sanctuary to distribute Holy Communion from the front of
the Church. I am told (by Fr Dickson) that this comes from ‘Incarnational
Theology’, an emphasis on God coming to earth as man. But did He not come so as
to die and rise again and thus draw us to Heaven? Priests leaving the sanctuary
to offer the sign of peace is also very irritating: he has already offered it
to the whole community at the Pax, by wandering into the congregation he
singles some out for special attention –and encourages a flippant Pax wherein the
congregation not only stretch over benches but cross from one side of the
Church to the other to greet family and friends, thereby using the sign of
peace for a purpose for which it is not intended. Meanwhile the Blessed
Sacrament is ignored. It is a complete
departure from the purpose of the liturgy.
All in all, the
clergy are trying to make us feel valued and loved, but in the process have
forgotten that we come to Mass to worship God, not to be affirmed. The place
for our affirmation is in our team meetings and at social occasions. Our clergy
have lost sight of the core purpose of the Mass; they have turned it into a
celebration of the community; a time of upliftment and affirmation of man
rather than an offering to God in adoration, impetration and propitiation (GIRM
#2).
Truly, it is impossible to attend the Mass Paul VI gave us
because each celebrant gives the texts and gestures his own emphasis and slant,
with norms flouted. They may say they are loyal to, supportive of, and
happy with the Novus Ordo,
but are they, when they feel the need to constantly ‘improve’ upon it at their
own volition? Perhaps
what supporters of the Novus Ordo are happy with is the fact that they slant
the liturgy to embody their favoured theological ideology.
I have not mentioned the fact that Mass is always said facing
the people but I won’t omit to say that this orientation means we are plagued
by seeing the priest perform for us, blow his nose, fiddle with his
spectacles, lose his place in the Missal and make idiosyncratic facial grimaces.
Sorry Fathers, I have no doubt that each of you has a good heart
and are well intentioned; but
you truly are a distraction from the Lord as you stage-manage the liturgy to
your own taste. How
long must we put up with such a priest-centred, man-focused liturgy? Our
Bishops are allowing all of this to continue, and must therefore take
responsibility for denying us the Mass as the Church gives it to us. The
Bishops’ own publication, ‘Celebrating the Mass’ is ignored by all and sundry
–even by the Bishops themselves who see such antics as I have described in
their parish visitations and do nothing to call a halt to them. Yet should a
priest celebrate Mass with Latin for the people’s parts (as Vatican II decreed; Sacrosanctum concilium #36, 116) or facing the altar from the
Offertory onwards as the Missal directs (rubrics #127, 132, 133), you can be
sure his Bishop will put pressure on him to make the options of the vernacular
and facing the people things to be set in stone. The stone is really in the
hearts of those who refuse to provide liturgy that is God-centred in order to
satisfy the folk who have rejected
Vatican II with its insistence upon
Latin, and
who have rejected the Novus Ordo’s directive to face the altar. I think
we no longer have a Novus
Ordo Mass but a Novus Ordo Mess.
Choose between offending Christ or offending the congregation. That is what the New Mass seems in essence to be.
ReplyDeleteIn another sense Andrew it is not really our responsibility as orthodox Catholics. Our responsibility is to just to continue being good Catholics while and where we can.
Thanks Jacobi.
DeleteI think you are absolutely right.
God bless us, one and all.
Its good to read your words again andrew. You always make good posts. I totally feel your pain.
ReplyDeleteI have been attending a weekday mass at a church not to far away from one we get the e.f at on a sunday. I think your correct the priests are of a good heart but sometimes i shake my head in disbelief.
The mass at this certain parish is read from a document folder with all the parts from the welcome to the readings and gospel to the eucharistic prayer all contained in this document folder with little plastic wallets... i dont know if this is permitted but its certainly not becoming of holy mass.
You talk about theatricals well if you aint seen this guy you aint seen nothing flinging his arms up in the air rattling off prayers like a tv evangelist... its quite a sight and even the deep contemplative and medtative prayer life of the great saints would not be able to prevent then from being distracted by the stage show. The congragation bless them how reverent and quiet i am sure they had no choice as they must have been bedazzled by the conflagaration on that "stage" and then he bounds off the stage he comes to greet his admiring fans durring the sign of peace.
The taberbacle is placed in a meaningless side alcove and at one point he goes around the back of the table and makes a deep bow to an empty wall... what on earth is he bowing to i thought.
I also attened durring a childrens mass midweek i was seated right next to the "rock band" that consited of a organ and guitar. The woman who had the guitar bless her she must so desperatly want to be a rock star as she was would jump up in front of the kids strumming like no tomorrow as if she was there to preform for them... i know its incredibly sad but i had to fight back the laughter. My wife is a novus ordo only kind of gal she attended the same mass and she said that after seeing the performances of the priest and the guitarist and the relagated tabernacle she will not be attending mass there again. But i guess we must thank the lord for small mercy. The priest announced on friday that the document folder has seen its last days and the mass will now be read from a missle... why i hear you ask... the reason he offered seeking approval from the congragation is that shorter prayers can be chosen and everyone can get home quicker (because no one really wants to be there do they?)
You hit the nail on the head its a novus ordo mess
David
Thank you, David.
DeleteYes, peformance is fundamental to the New Rite, with the aim, it seems, being to affirm those of us in the pew. Spiritual values are all but entirely absent. Your wife may begin to see that what she rejected in that one parish is actually at the core of every Novus Ordo Mass, just more easily seen in some parishes than in others. She might well find herself drawn to the TLM, as many of us have.
But it isn't just Mass, Andrew. What about Baptisms? The whole family arrive (probably the first time some have even been in a church judging by their attire) & then take over the whole church for photographs, chatting etc. It seems that the real reason for baptism now (especially when 12 year olds are baptised) is to guarantee them a place in a good Catholic school - as a good friend calls it "the Pauline experience on the road to education"
ReplyDeleteSitting on education appeal panels parents will claim to be a 'Catholic family' although at age 5 their child has not been baptised. They are often going to be "done" next week.
So it ain't just the Mass being denigrated but the whole Catholic Faith.
Thank you David.
DeleteSince the Mass is the source and summit all the new-rite liturgies are affected by the informality of the Novus Ordo Missae. I agree that baptism is very much misused and are sometimes celebrated in flippant fashion with little reverence and much talk. Schools do seem to be the reason many baptisms are carried out.
God Bless.
FATHER DICKSON WRITES:
ReplyDeleteAndrew, you have listed many of the reasons I have for not concelebrating at Mass: one never knows what one will face when arriving on the sanctuary. Can I add another couple of irritations? Despite the fact that we have had the Novus Ordo for nearly 50 years, we still get childish directives from readers: "The response to the psalm is..." (yet the psalm IS the response; a response to the first reading. The antiphon is there only to allow for participation when the whole psalm cannot be sung or recited together) and "Please stand to greet the Gospel" (we know that the Alleluia refrain is when we stand). The Novus Ordo in its concrete form is truly a childish thing; a pantomime rather than worship.
Father Dickson.
Thank you Father. I miss your Liturgical celebrations!
DeleteYou have noted here things that irritate me too.
God Bless.
Andrew.
How I agree with every word from both 'collar' and 'tie'. I used to think I must be the only one who found it annoying when the explanations were given before the prayers such as 'Communion antiphon .....' and even 'Eucharistic prayer 2....' etc. It just seemed to break up the continuity of the prayers themselves and yet I never once found anyone else who shared my views.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally didn't Mother Angelica once describe the NO as the 'electric Mass' as you got a shock every time you attended!
Thank you, Pelerin.
DeleteI doubt we are alone in being irritated by childish instructions.
God Bless.
I disagree father you most certainly are not alone I am so frustrated with the "performing priests" and the staging of masses I'm attending and the childish instructions that a 4 year old would need that it makes me struggle to attend daily mass wondering "what next at this church" God Bless
ReplyDeleteI am going to be absolutly brutal. Not to be nasty but just to be honest. The new mass has no place in catholic worship its devoid of anything meaningful or spiritual... i cant help but think of archbishop fulton j sheens depiction of the mystical body of the antichrist when i attend. They ripped out the alters and the statues and said mass in "reverse" facing the people. Like fr said its a pantomime a mockery of our faith and if we are brutally honest it needs to go. For all its a stage show and a pantomime it lacks the pagentry and pomp and circumstance the regalia of the latin mass. But the mass is for the worship and homage to the king of the universe the supreme divine majesty of all things there in that tabernacle is the one who brought into existance the sun and the moon by his very word he studded the sky with the stars and here he is in our midst and the priests turn their backs to him they worship the created rather than the creator they play a folly pantomime to entertain the people they seek the adoration of men rather than the glorification of God... they are like john the baptist in reverse... they must increase while our lord he must decrease as he is relegated to side chaples alcoves and back rooms... but they do not see it they do not percieve it locked in ignorace and blind to the reality. Attendance is falling because man goes to church to find God and instead he finds a actor and a stage show... and a poor one at that.
ReplyDeleteUnless we turn back to God in the liturgy how can we expect society to turn back to God in belief?
Sorry for the rant and the remarks about priests who i have no doubt mean well and i would kneel before anyone of them and kiss their hands because they have been anointed to carry out the sacraments
Paul vi invited amongst others, Zwinglians to contribute in the writing of his new Mass. Google Zwinglians then meditate on the hundreds if not thousands of English martyrs of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I think of St Margaret Clothes the pearl of York. Fully knowing the horrific death she faced for allowing a Catholic priest to celebrate Mass in her house, for attending one Anglican service she would be spared, yet still she preferred death to denying the Mass.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Walsingham way.
DeleteI believe Andrew has read Michael Davies texts on the way the Novus Ordo came together, and I know he has a great admiration for the martyrs of the Protestant Revolution.
God Bless.