Extraordinary Rite in Every Parish?
Posted by: tony on 06/23/2008 04:57 PM
Updated by: tony on 06/23/2008 04:59 PM
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Expires: 07/24/2008 12:00 AM
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From the Pope's lips to God's ears.
Todd from Catholic Sensibility comments:
The blogosphere is somewhat abuzz over this statement that the pope wants the Tridentine Mass1 in every parish. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos (in the miter, right) said the pope is asking seminaries to train new priests in both rites. That would be a most interesting exercise.
But this was a money quote:
The cardinal said parishes could use catechism classes to prepare Catholics to celebrate such Masses every Sunday so they could "appreciate the power of the silence, the power of the sacred way in front of God, the deep theology, to discover how and why the priest represents the person of Christ and to pray with the priest."
Silence? Good liturgy already includes that, unless he means the silent spectators of the old rite. Deep theology? What could possibly be deeper than God making himself present to his people?
I'm going to resist the urge to be snarky about this, and agree with Todd. Nothing is deeper. Well, that is if the people understand that that is what is happening. Most of the time in current Masses the impetus is on us being present to each other. If Todd is for this all to appropriate shift in paradigm, I'm all for it with him
I'd like to be fair to the cardinal on these clips of quotes taken out of context, but what about this notion that the experience of good liturgy can be prepared in the classroom? The smoke of rationalism seems to have permeated into the traditionalist camp.
Not really, my guess would be that few modern Catholics understand the rich symbolism of the Mass, the different parts and what they mean, the appearance of our God real and in the flesh in the accidents of bread and wine.
Education on the parts of the Mass (either/both ordinary or/and extraordinary) and the symbolism thereof would be a wonderful boon for Catholics everywhere.
The Pope wants both the ordinary and extraordinary expressions transformed by the gradual gravitational pull of the other. You can't have a gravitational pull unless both rites are available in the same place.
An interesting thing would be in those chapels dedicated to the extraordinary expression were asked to provide an ordinary expression also. Can you imagine an ordinary expression done by a priest and parish dedicated to the extraordinary? I would envision an ordinary rite with Latin and chant, maybe even polyphony. I would lay odds on communion being distributed kneeling and on the tongue, with altar boys hovering with patens.
Do you think that those people who enjoy the extraordinary rite (not schismatics and sedevacantists) who were exposed to this might come to love it?
I have few doubts the pope would really want this, I guess. I’d really want choirs at every parish liturgy, plus full music at daily morning and evening prayer, too. I don’t think I'm going to get what I want in liturgy, but I can still work for the day it could happen.
As for the 1962 Mass in every parish, I think there's a lot of convincing to be done than the cardinal saying it's "absolute ignorance" to think this is turning the clock back.
I agree. But I think seeing would be believing. I also believe that had the smoke of Satan not entered the sanctuary (not to mention clowns and dancers), we would not be having so many people clamoring for some sort of sanity in the extraordinary expression.
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