Post intelligent and civil comments. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the NLM
Shawn, I have a question. Is your friend celebrating the entire Mass ad orientem or just for the Liturgy of the Eucharist? Tom
What a lovely church, and love the classic gothic chasuble.
TJM,
If he's celebrating the Novus Ordo, he shouldn't be facing East for the entire Mass. The rubrics are clear when he is to face ad orientem- unless he is celebrating a Mass "sine populo" that is.
Thankyou, sacerdosinaeternum. I should have remembered that. Tom
I greatly hope that we shall see more developments on these lines as time passes. The resumption of the eastward position is one of the most essential developments for the future, whether using the ordinary or the extraordinary form. It should never have been abandoned.
I used the chair for the confiteor up to and including the opening prayer.
The readings were done at the ambo. I went to the altar for the Preparation of the Gifts, the Eucharistic Prayer, the Communion and the Closing Prayer and finally, turning to give the final blessing and dismissal. I turned to the people when the rubrics called for it.
If I did any of this wrong, someone please tell me.
Thanks for you posts and encouragement.
Wonderful news!
One quibble: Oxford is most emphatically not a "major urban centre".
Winston,
I wondered if someone would bring this up! While it is indeed not comparable to London, New York and so on, it is, by its prominence as an academic centre the type of place one expects to see "more action" if you will. So it is "major" in that sense, though indeed, not in any populative sense.
Father Beachey,
No way! You are doing the most important things right!
Regards,
Tom
I'd love to see that church dressed for Christmas come December. I cannot imagine how nice Midnight Mass must be in that space.
Yes, thank you Fr. Beachey. I hope more priests have the courage to follow your lead. God bless you in your priestly ministry.
proof that the NO Mass can be beautiful and reverent, if only we allow it to be so.
kudos to the good father.
Fr. Beachy, today you are my hero.
Fr. Beachey, that is.
Fr. Beachey, what a wonderful parish and thank you so much for your hard work!
Thom:
I'd love to have midnight mass at this Church. I am not sure about this year, but maybe next year.
Many of the people of the area have teams of horses and sleighs. I'd love to arrive on the sleigh with the horse bells ringing.
I'll have to plan for 2009.
I do the OF weekday Masses at one of my parishes "ad orientem." I use the chair more when I have an Altar Boy to hold the book; otherwise, I stand at the Altar, and turn around toward the people as necessary to address them. Of course the readings are done from the ambo, proclaimed, facing toward the congregation. I do not employ the confiteor option (or do so rarely). I am hoping that one day it can be restored to its proper Roman form with the invocation of the the BVM, St. Michael the Archangel, St. John the Baptist, and the Holy ASpostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints... because even with the proper translation of the triple "mea culpa" in the current OF form, it is still sadly lacking.
Hopefully, a registry can be made soon of churches and public oratories where the OF is celebrated ad orientem.
Wouldn't a position - from the sign of the Cross through the Collect - at the altar, for instance, the "epistle side" be appropriate? After all, most of the text is prayer.
Unless the "chair" faces north in the old position of the sedile; then the celebrant could partly turn to face the altar, as the bishop does for prayer in the EF pontifical rite.
The use of the chair at certain points of the Mass is required by the rubrics.
Did he just skip right past the Benedictine candle arrangement? Was that prudent? Were the people traumatized?
This may have ended safely, but it seems risky to me and should not be promoted. Best to continue with versus populum for several more years, but with rearranged candles. People could get hurt.
Boko:
People were informed, prior to this Mass at the mission Church. An explanation was done up and given to them prior to the Mass. A verbal explanation was also given prior to the commencement of the Mass.
The parish church has the benedictine arrangement.
As far as taking several years -- well maybe in some parishes, this would be necessary. Other parishes can adapt more quickly. Hey, they've put up with terrible liturgies, for the most part, since the Council. Liturgies full of liturgical abuses -- and it continues.
Why is that, if a pastor wants to replace the gospel at the Christmas Masses with a children's pagent, no one seems to blink an eye. But as soon as a priest turns to the east to say Mass we need years of preparation?
Just wondering.
By the way, everyone was quite pleased. I think the most common comment was, "Father that was so beautiful.
Father, I had the joy of being in Quebec this summer. It was wonderful to see the history of the church in our country. God bless you. This seemingly small action is a great evidence of a renewal of the church in Canada. Thank you
Exactly, if we can get back to the ad orientem possition right now, why not do it? I can see where some places you would need some easing into, but if the people in general would not raise a stink, I say go for it and strike while the iron is hot.
I'm fond of telling the story that in my parish before the MP came into effect, the pastor and I tossed around the idea of Ad Orientem Masses in the OF during the week. I should also say that this was before we even started talking about offering the EF as part of our parish life.
The first time I celebrated this way I preached a homily on Christ the Good Shepherd and the imagery of the priest leading his people to Heaven. The priest even at the altar "ad orientem" was amplified so that the Eucharistic Prayer could be heard.
Given the liturgical atmosphere of my parish and the level of trust that our people have in their priests, I believed that they were ready for this way of celebrating, at least occasionally. But I encountered something that I did not expect. Those that were not entirely comfortable with this option said to me, "Father, why was there so much Latin at Mass today?"
Note: I exercised as many options as I could within the limits of the Pauline Missal: Troped Kyrie for the Penitential Rite, Eucharistic PRayer III, "when we eat this bread"...etc.
Also, EVERYTHING WAS IN ENGLISH! No Latin, no Greek, JUST ENGLISH and AUDIBLE.
It turns out that most people associated the Liturgical Posture with the Liturgical Language.
No matter that I insisted that everything was indeed in English, some people remembered it as "being in Latin"...
Being ordained only two-and-a-half years, I was not prepared for this reaction, but it showed me that some people associate one with the other...the major obstacle for us seems to be the ability to split this association so that we could (and in fact, we have) celebrate the Pauline Mass in English "Ad Orientem" with Roman vestments but also in Latin "Ad populum" with modern Gothic vestments.
Thank you, Fr. Grondz.
I was once complimented for "singing the Latin song before" the Holy, Holy, Holy, at a Mass that was entirely in English. I finally figured out that the gentleman was referring to my chanting of the Preface in English - but in his mind the "melody" of the Preface Tone is LATIN.
Oh, I forgot to mention...
The Mass in which I chanted the Preface was done "ad populum" with gothic/newish vestments.
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