Refine The Reverence of Mass??
- Tue 20th April 2010, 12:00 pm
One critique I hear very consistently from people I know who are Traditionalist Catholics as well as the Traditional Catholic blogosphere is that present-day Catholicism lacks the appropriate degree of reverence and solemnity that is due in services – especially in the holy sacrifice of the mass. Nearly all of their demands, from the relatively mild restoration of only male altar servers, to the more extreme ones on the lines of total restoration of the Traditional Latin mass and customs as the only way to access the sacramental grace given to us by Jesus Christ via the apostles, boil down to the perceived lack of reverence and solemnity. While the current mass and sacramental structure that sprung from it are reverent and solemn in their own ways, there are some traditional customs that can be brought in that will increase the sense of solemnity and refine its reverence. One thing a lot of people don’t realize is that most of the bishops at Vatican II never ever intended to abrogate any of the pre-existing tradition, including how the mass and other sacraments were conducted. Restoring this reverence and solemnity in current Catholic customs to bring them more in line with the longer tradition should actually be pretty straightforward and has very little to do with whether Latin is used or how faithful to the literal Latin any translation of prayers or sacraments is.
The reason I use the term “conduct” as opposed to “celebrate” when talking about sacraments is that in Latin, as well as Spanish, a derived language, the verb “celebrate” very often has the connotation of conducting an event. For example in Spanish, when they say that elections will be held for political offices, they say “elections will be celebrated.” In the traditions of the ancient Roman religion, which heavily influenced Catholic Christianity, certain sacrifices needed to be sent in ceremonies that were conducted at certain times to ensure divine protection of the City of Rome. Once Christianity became the religion of Rome, the sharing of the body and blood of Christ became the new sacrifice offered not just on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, but also on certain holy days, much the same way the earlier sacrifices had been offered to the gods on certain days and at certain times. The term “mass” comes from the Latin word missa which in turn is related to the Latin verb mittere, which means to send. In this case it means sending the sacrifice to God, by re-enacting the sacrifice Christ himself made on the cross.
As Catholics today, we are still obliged to be present for the conducting, or celebration, of the sacrifice of the mass to ensure our own safety and salvation the same way our ancient Roman ancestors in custom were obliged to be present for the celebration of the sacrifices to their gods before Christianity for their own safety and salvation. During the conduct of these sacrifices, everybody was required to conduct themselves a certain way and show reverence not only in dress, but in postures and attitude. Similarly, we are to conduct ourselves a certain way during the conduct of the sacrifice of the mass and sadly, the traditionalists have a point in terms of the lack of reverence and solemnity on a number of levels.
One of their main critiques is the use of modern instrumentation and music at mass and of newer hymnody. Many of them publicly pine for an idealized day where Gregorian chant was all that was known at mass. The cite as evidence, and rightly so that it is much older than anything currently in use. The thing they won’t tell you is that Gregorian chant takes a well trained choir and/or schola to pull it off properly, just as it takes a well coordinated ensemble of well trained musicians and singers to pull off the newer stuff. Aside from a few chants that have survived what traditionalists would consider the purge of Vatican II, most Catholics these days are not that familiar Gregorian chant. Also, even before Vatican II, new music had been composed on numerous occasions for masses. Motzart’s Requiem Mass for example was composed to take the place of Gregorian chant for funeral masses. Here in California, the “Mass of the Missions” was composed during the Spanish missionary period (late 1700s-1820) and was often used in place of chant in the missions here. Composing new musical settings for mass came to such an excess that St. Pius X ordered a return to Gregorian chant during his reign because he felt it was getting out of hand as going to mass was starting to feel more and more like going to the opera in La Scala Milan. Solving the perceived lack of solemnity and triteness of music and hymnody is going to be tricky. New compositions are going to need to be able to stand on their own without accompaniment and must be able to breathe, like Gregorian chant does. However they also need to have concrete messages and reverences that are not loaded with clichés like hymnody today can often be. Further, most of the hymnody written today was written by Protestant composers. While this is a good thing as it encourages ecumenism and allows us to learn a lot from those who made this musical move before we did, it can cause some issues with the theologies articulated in the lyrics which aren’t always completely Catholic. To that end, we need more Catholic composers than we already have. Above all, people must not feel coerced or pressured to sing a long, as a number often feel today. Not everybody feels comfortable singing and they should have the right not to.
When it comes to messages and languages, the Vatican is right in that a better translation of the original Latin to English is in order. The problem is, the one they are ordering used is not the right one. From what I have seen of it, it will do nothing to enhance the sense of solemnity because it is confusing and stilted. What needs to happen is that the original meanings of the Latin need to be conveyed better in English. They are already very well conveyed in Spanish, Italian, French etc., but that is because Latin is the mother tongue of all of them. While English is influenced indirectly by Latin via Norman French, it has no direct connection to it. Therefore, some of the meanings and cultural sensibilities are going to be lost when the text is translated from Latin to English. That being said, there is nothing saying that the traditional prayers of the church, including the modern revisions of them in Latin – case in point the confetior has 2 versions, one used before the council, and one used after – should not be translated into contemporary English as well. Further, the translations need to be done in such a way that the sense of the Latin is preserved as best as possible. Many of our prayers are far stronger in Latin than they are in their current official English translations. There is no reason we shouldn’t be able to pray in English with similar force.
While gold plated patens and chalices are largely a thing of the past in the current mass, the current ones made of glass, along with extraordinary Eucharistic ministers are not likely to be suppressed any time soon. However, one thing that was lost with the old mass was the art of purifying these vessels ceremonially along with the fingers of those who have touched the body and blood of Christ. In the old mass, the host and chalice would rest on a cloth called the corporal, because it held the corpus, or body of Christ and the paten was used to keep particles of the broken main host from hitting the corporal when it was broken as opposed to being the place the host rested before and after the consecration. The only vessel that actually held anything at the point of consecration was the chalice. After communion, during the ablutions ceremony, the chalice is purified with wine and the priest’s thumb and index fingers are also purified with wine and water. Until then he kept them together from after he consecrated the host unless he was picking it up. One thing that could be done right now to reflect the sense of solemnity is to bring back the ablutions for the priest, the primary chalice and paten, and the decanter of wine that often gets consecrated on the altar these days for distribution to the faithful without the excess of the earlier days when some priests would literally go bonkers over whether they had ceremonially purified the sacred vessels sufficiently.
Apart from issues of language, conduct, and music, there are some actions we can take now in the current mass that will enhance the sense of solemnity. One of them is bowing at the mention of the name of Jesus. In the traditional mass, all of the clergy uncover their heads and bow in the direction of the tabernacle when the name of Jesus is mentioned and the congregation is to do the same. Another thing that can be done is genuflecting or bowing when the processional cross comes by. Further, we can better respect the space of our churches by not socializing in the sanctuary. Rather, the vestibule is a better place for that if not the parish hall. The reason for this is that the church itself is supposed to represent the divine realm on earth. In the traditional form of consecrating a church, in addition to anointing the altar and the walls and interring the relics, the consecrating bishop demands entry in the name of Jesus the outer and inner walls are sprinkled with Gergorian water – a kind of holy water on steroids as it were – the Greek and Latin alphabets are traced in a cross made of sand and ash on the floor, representing the universality of Christianity. Further, five wax candle crosses, laden with incense are placed on the altar and set on fire, completing the exorcism and sanctification of the building. All of these ceremonies are conducted to drive home the point that this building is now God’s property and that it is to be treated as such. Therefore we must conduct ourselves accordingly while we are on this holy ground. This means both men and women should observe modesty of dress. This includes keeping the legs to below the knees, arms and neck covered. Women may or may not have their heads covered. St. Paul demands it, but it’s largely viewed as optional these days. Men must keep their heads uncovered unless they are in a religious order whose habit includes headgear and must observe points when their head must remain uncovered. Regardless, nobody is to be ostracized over lack of modest dress. It further includes talking and socializing. When you are on God’s property, you are not to engage in talk with anybody apart from your parts in the mass or ceremony and you are to ignore your cellular phone with the exception of the use of a smart phone with a missal or other devotional loaded. If you do this, please be discreet about it. Even though you are being a good steward of creation by not using a printed missal or devotional, it can still turn some heads away from God, which is never appropriate.
Nobody I know personally would remotely argue for a full restoration of the Traditional Latin Mass. Traditionalists do however have a point about the lack of reverence and solemnity in some circles of the current mass. While it does have a different focus than the Traditional Mass does, that is not where the problem of lack of solemnity and reverence is. That comes from how it has been carried out since it was established after Vatican II. We can fix that by showing more outward reverence in traditional ways during the sacrifice of the mass from music to handling of the host, to dress and where we choose to socialize after mass. I know there are a number of baby boomers and others who will disagree with me on this, and they are free to. However these are some small things that we can do to help refine the reverence and solemnity of the mass we have, as it is not going away any time soon so it can truly become our tradition for tomorrow.
Since our theme here at 21st Century Catholic is “Ever Ancient, Ever New” I am going to uses the next few posts as best I can to explore the Extraordinary Form of the sacraments and the overall sensibilities behind it. This is important to us because in order to move forward, we need to know where we have been. I know for myself, my own religious upbringing and instruction did not make much sense until I not only went to Rome, but first saw how the Extraordinary Form worked and spent a liturgical year with a community that celebrated it. I still consider myself to be a contemporary Catholic, but I found my time spent there to be very educational and I would like to share it with a broader audience as it may help those understand where we are coming from. The people who gave us the new mass and the church we know today celebrated this form of the mass and in a lot of ways informed not just the hell fire and brimstone sermons that are stereotypic of the period, but also the strong sense of social justice that we enjoy today. People like Dorothy Day, Mother Theresa, Oscar Romero, Karol Wojtyla ( Pope John Paul II),and many other luminaries revered today knew and were influenced by this mass and the underlying spirituality it entailed. Therefore, exploring it now, 40 years after the upheaval of the council is especially appropriate as it will help us move forward so we can truly be “Ever Ancient, Ever New.”
Lenten Kitchen - Spicy Black Bean Soup
- Thu 11th March 2010, 1:45 pm
This recipe comes courtesy of my daughter-in-law, Lisa Dorr-Pozos. We had it for dinner the other night and it was delicious. It can easily be made with vegetable broth and the meat isn`t needed at all. Garnish with shredded cabbage or other greens if you like. Serve with bread or tortillas.
Spicy Black Bean Soup
1 pound dried black beans
Hot Sauce
Salt and Pepper
Water
Olive Oil
1 large white onion, finely diced
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsps chili powder
2 dashes cayenne pepper
½ tsp dried oregano (or ½ tbsp chopped fresh)
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced/crushed
2 carrots, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
6 cups chicken stock or broth *
2 large bay leaves
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 polska kielbasa, sliced*
1 cup corn kernels (plain or roasted, frozen or canned is fine)
Handful fresh cilantro, chopped
*Substitute vegetable broth and omit kielbasa for a vegetarian version
Rinse beans and put in a pot with enough water to cover. Add a palm full of salt and a couple of dashes of hot sauce. Bring to a boil and let sit off-heat, covered, for one hour. Drain water and add fresh water (salted again) and simmer on the stove or in a slow cooker until tender (about 2 more hours)
In a Dutch oven, drizzle bottom with olive oil and sauté onion, carrots and celery until onion is translucent. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, and oregano, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper, and sauté until fragrant. More spices can be added later, to taste.
Confession – Some thoughts as we get into Lent.
- Sat 27th February 2010, 9:10 pm
We all know the standard refrain. Lent is a time for fasting and prayer in anticipation of the mysteries of Easter. It’s also a time for self examination and critique. Because of this, often local churches offer communal reconciliation services to make it easier to go to confession as well as to receive absolution for sins. One thing we as contemporary Catholics don’t often do is go to confession. Maybe we do it once before Easter or once before Christmas, or we don’t do it at all. When we don’t do it, we miss out on the great healing and concrete therapy this sacrament can offer in the face of how frail, weak and puny we as humans really are – a sense of which is generally lost in contemporary Catholicism.
At times we say the following prayer at Mass :
I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault. In my thoughts and in my words, In what have done, and what I have failed to do, and I ask Blessed Mary ever Virgin, All the Angels and Saints, and you my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
While the sentiments conveyed are nice and do express a sense of contrition, the official Latin version of this prayer as used in the Extraordinary Form, or Tridentine rite as well as in some contemporary circles is much more powerful. My translation of it into English is:
I confess to almighty God, Blessed Mary ever Virgin, Blessed Michael Archangel, Blessed John the Baptist, Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, All Saints and you brothers (and sisters) that I have sinned exceedingly by word thought and action, by my fault, by my fault, by my greatest fault. Therefore I ask Blessed Mary ever Virgin, Blessed Michael Archangel, Blessed John the Baptist, Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, All Saints, and you brothers (and sisters) to pray for me to the Lord our God.
While this language may seem over the top and a bit alien to us as English speakers, this is normal for Latin and should make us pause and think about what we have done in word, thought, and action. It should make us be grateful that we have a sacrament where the saving power of God addresses these issues.
With all of this in mind, the question then arises, what do we confess? That’s where the examination of conscience comes in. This is when you take your own personal inventory as to when you screwed up. While there are some standard sins that the church wants you to confess – and you should if you have committed them – the items that really bother you are the ones you should confess. That means if you either did, or were involved wih something and it’s really bothering you, then you should confess it and receive absolution for it. What’s even better is the fact that no matter how heinous a sin it is, you can be forgiven and the priest can’t tell anybody about it nor can he be compelled to. The seal of confession is even respected by the civil authorities in the United States – a decidedly Protestant country. He doesn’t even have to see your face to absolve you, as kneeling behind a screen is still an option.
If all of this is true about the sacrament, then why is it so seldom used? Well, there are a couple of things about that. First of all, it was seen as mandatory in order to receive communion at Mass when the Tridentine rite was still in effect. It was often the practice that confessions happened Saturday afternoon, then the fast and communion followed on Sunday at Mass. If you didn’t do things just right, you seriously impaired your chances of going to heaven when you died – which could happen at any time. Part of the rebellion of Vatican II and the changes that came with it was a certain presumption of God’s mercy regardless of how much we fail as humans. While most "traditional Catholics" today reject this presumption, saying we should not dare to presume the will of the divine, there`s another more pragmatic reason we should start making more use of this sacrament – it’s a way to heal.
This was the initial intent of the sacrament when it came about in the early Middle Ages. It started in the monasteries as a tool for spiritual direction and discernment. Eventually it became a way to deal with sins committed after baptism. This is important because prior to confession becoming a sacrament, there was really no way to return to full fellowship with other Christians after baptism if one sinned. This was also the period where salvation and absolution was over time becoming a bit of a game, due to the limitations of both uneducated clergy and laity. Sadly, as time progressed, it gradually became perceived as a tool of oppression and punishment. The refrain “how many (insert prayer here)s will it take to get this off of my soul” became sadly common, as it became part of a very serious game of trying to keep one’s soul as clean as possible before death – which could occur at any time.
While we don’t have that sense of a high stakes game of keeping one’s soul clean today, since the presumption of mercy is so strong, we should still take advantage of the sacrament of confession because of the healing it provides. As our traditionalist brothers and sisters point out time and time again, the world is full of sin – maybe more so now than in any other era. Therefore, we are in all the more need of the healing that this sacrament offers and we would be wise to take advantage of it en masse at other times of the year as well as Lent.
Edward M Kennedy -- In Memoriam
- Wed 26th August 2009, 10:28 pm
Last night, the United States lost one of it`s most prominent statesmen -- who happened to be Roman Catholic. Senator Edward M Kennedy was called home to the Father after a little more than a year`s battle with brain cancer. The youngest son of Joseph P. Kennedy, he survived his brothers, President John F Kennedy -- the first and so far only Roman Catholic to hold the position -- and Senator Robert F Kennedy, both victims of assassination. While Sen. Kennedy may not have followed Catholic teaching in his personal life nor lived like a saint as we understand the term today, a lot of Catholicism`s social justice teachings are reflected in legislation he championed and in many cases got passed. Prominent examples include the Civil Rights Bills of the 1960s and Medicare -- the government health insurance program for the elderly. To the end he was fighting as best he could from his hospital bed for healthcare reform and coverage for all. He may have been born to privileage, but he certainly stuck up for the common man even though he had no obligation to do so. As Yeshuah Ben Yoseph, better known as Jesus Christ said "Truly I tell you, whatever you did to the lesser of my brothers, you did it to me." (Matt 25:40 -- My translation) by that measure, Sen Kennedy is worthy of entry into the kingdom. Therefore, I offer the following translation of a common Latin prayer chanted at the end of Catholic Funerals.
May the angels lead you into paradise,
Upon your arrival, may the martyrs recieve you and lead you into the holy city, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem),
May the ranks of the angels recieve you,
And with Lazarus, the poor man, may you have eternal rest.
Amen.
