Random Liturgical Musings 5

I have a prayer card which contains three prayers to be said over a dying person for the remission of all their sins and their redemption from purgatory. At the top of the card there is in fine print these words: "We humbly ask every priest to leave the Host and Chalice elevated a full minute at the Consecration of Mass."

I mention this because today I was acting as thurifer for a Missa Solemnis and unfortunately the priest did not hold the Host or Chalice for a full, let alone half, minute, which caused me some frustration. For no sooner had I made a double incensation at the priest's first genuflection that I had to make two more in quick succession and I had not time to properly adore Christ amidst the rising smoke.

So what I would like to know is if there are other Catholics who have experienced insufficient time to adore Christ during the elevation and if they think that a minute is an appropriate period of time. (NB. I have not got round to checking the rubrics for the elevation.)

Random Liturgical Musings 4

More from Thomas Merton's The Sign of Jonas

On the dialectic between silence and utterance
"In practice, a priest lives in silence - or should have such silence in his life - for the sake of the Mass. The Canon of the Mass should emerge from the silence with infinite power and significance. Mass is the most important thing we have to say. The Office is a preparation for that utterance. Everybody in the universe is tongue-tied, except the priest, who is able to speak for them all. Speaking for the people, he also speaks to God. He unites men and God in a few simple sentences that are the words of God. To be exact, he brings mankind face to face with God in the words of consecration in which he pronounces the Word that is uttered by the Father - he cause the Word to be present in time, in a special state - incarnate and sacrificed.

We should realize very clearly when to speak and when to keep silent. It is important to speak seven times a day, in praising God. It is above all important to confess Him before men at Mass. Here we must speak and know what we are saying and realise at least some of its implications. Here everything in us, body and soul, must speak and announce our faith and utter the glory of God. Here speech is more important than life and death. Yet it does not have to be loud on earth - only heard in heaven, and somehow signified in time. It must be simply and essentially public.

But it is terribly important to keep silence. When? Almost all the rest of the day. It is essential that priests learn how to silence all their routine declarations of truths that they have not yet troubled to think about. If we said only what we really meant we would say very little. Yet we have to preach God too. Exactly. Preaching the word of God implies silences. If preaching is not born of silence, it is a waste of time.

There are many declarations made only because we think other people are expecting us to make them. The silence of God should teach us when to speak and when not to speak. But we cannot bear the thought of that silence, lest it cost us the trust and the respect of men."

I really need to learn the lesson of the last paragraph because all too often I open my mouth with little thought in the mistaken belief that somehow the situation necessitates it and while what is uttered may actually be something holy or humorous, in retrospect it does not achieve much good. Merton’s comments that the priest speaks for the people and his speech does not need to be loud as long as it is heard in heaven is a good reason for having Latin and a silent Canon.

On communion
“I once might have thought that it would disturb my own prayer to have to leave the altar and give communion to others. As if this function made my union with Jesus less perfect because less recollected. I now see what an error that is. I feel as if my Communion were somehow less perfect when I cannot turn and give the Body of Christ to some of my brothers also … But there is much more exterior beauty and warmth, humanly speaking and spiritually also, when ten or twelve monks approach the altar at the Agnus Dei and receive the kiss of peace and kneel there waiting for God to come to them from your hands. There is an inexpressibly sweet and deep joy in giving Communion to your brothers, whom you know and love so well and so completely after years with them in the monastery. I can think of no private satisfaction that could surpass or even approach this sharing.”

Firstly, the sense of fraternal and sacramental communion experienced in the Mass is truly inexpressible, and a strong incentive to support priests by frequenting the Mass. Secondly, for all those who are privileged to be able to serve the mass, you will agree that the moment of approaching the altar to receive the pax and then kneeling on the altar steps for communion is one of the most touching (I'm not quite sure it that is the right word but anyway) experiences.

Random Liturgical Musings 3

Following from my last post, I thought I would include another couple of passages from Thomas Merton's The Sign of Jonas.

On the difference between a monk and priest.
"A monk under solemn vows can still be concerned first of all with his own perfection, his own sanctity - in other words he can confine himself to seeking his own spiritual advantage. The priest cannot legitimately put himself first in any way whatever: Christ is always first. A priest does not exist merely for his own sanctification but for the Sacrifice of Christ and for the Gospel, for the people, for the world. This implies his own perfection: but the perfection of a priest consists essentially in his offering of Christ's sacrifice perfectly, for himself and for the Church. He no longer belongs to himself, whereas a monk can very well belong to himself in a legitimate way, and be concerned almost exclusively with his own progress, leaving the salvation of the world on a secondary plane.

A priest must not put the salvation of souls above his own soul. There is no question of a choice like that. But he has to put God and the Mass before everything. He has the whole Church on his conscience, and he not only gives up his will in order to possess the virtue of obedience, he gives up his will in order to become an instrument for the salvation of the world and for the pure glory of God."

I have often had a strong desire to fly to a secluded monastery and spend the rest of my life seeking my own salvation and sanctification through a life of simplicity and solitude. But when I take a moment to think about it, I realise that one thing which I could well do with is an increase in charity and that the priesthood is the ideal way to give myself in service of Christ and his Church.

On the incensations at Solemn Mass.
"I love the prayers that go with the incensations at a solemn mass - the prayers and the ceremonies ... What could be more joyful than swinging the censer full of sweet smoke around the chalice and Host and praying that our incense may go up to God and His blessing come down to us - and that the fire of His everlasting love may burn in our hearts."

Since I began serving at the altar I have taken a particular interest in how priests handle the thurible, observing both the position of the hands relative to the bowl and how they actually swing the thurible. I must say that my own bishop, His Grace Archbishop Hart of Melbourne, has one of the most natural techniques.

Random Liturgical Musings 2

I have been reading Thomas Merton's Sign of Jonas and I thought it might be worth quoting a few of his reflections on matters liturgical. Now I know that Merton is a controversial figure, however in this journal of the years immediately before and after his ordination as a Catholic priest, he does manage to write a few good lines.

On the difficulties of being a thurifer
"The grains of incense we use are so large and so coarse they melt into a solid mass that gives off no smoke and only puts out the fire. I was working and blowing on the charcoal all through the Canon and got my hands covered with coal and when it was all over I forgot to empty out the censer and put it away."

While I have only ever used fine grained incense, I can relate to the difficulties of trying to keep the fires stoked and getting ones hands covered with coal dust.

That reminds me of the story of St Alexander the Charcoal Burner, who although learned spent most of his life making charcoal to escape worldly honours. When St Gregory Thaumaturgus came to the city of Comana to appoint a new bishop, he said that outward appearance counted for nothing and so as a joke Alexander was put forward as a candidate, dressed in rags and covered in soot. Desperate to avoid examination, Alexander played dumb but St Gregory ordered him to speak the truth. Whereupon he confessed to having studied the scriptures and lived a saintly life. Immediately St Gregory had Alexander consecrated as bishop and in the course of time he proved to be an able and wise administrator.

On the sub-diaconate
"I am assigned a very definite duty - that of officially praising God for the Church and for the whole of creation, and doing it in public and doing it as well as I can for those who cannot do it all ... The Mystical Body comes into the rite of Ordination very explicitly. The Pontifical is careful to point out that the ministry of the sub-deacon does not extend merely to formalities and rites concerning inanimate things - vessels, linen. The altar is the living Christ and the linens are the members of His Mystical Body. Bringing these gifts to unite them with Him on the Cross, I am dressing Christ in His members and clothing His sacrifice in the glory of the saved Church."

I think the last two sentences are quite beautiful and hopefully if and when I ascend to the role of sub-deacon, I will bear them in my mind every time I move between the credence table and altar.

Random Liturgical Musings 1

Since coming to the Latin mass I have been overwhelmed by just how well it embodies the four philosophical transcendentals (unity, truth, goodness and beauty) not to mention the four marks of the Church (unity, sanctity, catholicity and apostolicity). This is not to say that the 'Novus Ordo' does not embody them but only that in the Latin mass their concomitance is clearly visible.

Now before anyone out there decides to give me a verbal bashing for being against the Novus Ordo, let me make it clear that I can afford to make such a comparison because I serve both rites and therefore have an insiders view of what takes place on the sanctuary.

ADVANCE NOTICE

The blogger will be including a poem on the Ceremonies of High Mass in six parts, from the Procession to the Altar through to the Last Gospel.

Ode on the Identity of Jesus

To the Marxist he is the great liberator, not of sin but poverty and oppression
To Bultmann his life is shrouded in myth, with its miracles, diabolic possession
To Teilhard he will permeate every being, as the end of a cosmic evolution
To the Situationist who acts out of love, he supports the state laws dissolution
To the Feminists he is a social reformer, who lead Magdalene to emancipation
To the Cults he is a superstar or healer, who calls them to form a new nation
To the Muslims he is only a prophet, anything else mere Christian inventions
To the Evangelical he is their Saviour, to be sung about and sold at conventions
To the Historians he is considered a rabbi, killed as a danger to the Jewish state
But to Catholics he is the Son of God, of Mary, Redeemer and Judge of their fate

Quartiae Lamentatiae Judae

I could not tell what it was when I gazed toward the sky
Shaped like some alien monstrosity, the head of a giant fly
There were no walls, only panes of glass to let in the light
So looking to investigate could you imagine my awful fright
To be confronted by a vision of the most diabolical sort
A vision in which beauty and reverence had to be abort
Truly the parish council who chose the architect were inept
Preferring an open plan to a sanctuary, nave and transept
In place of a stone altar with the relics of saints entombed
There was a wooden table for this meal to be consumed
While in circular formation were expensive wooden thrones
Giving optimal reception for the assembly's mobile phones
Instead of a crucifix calling to mind the crucified Lord
A statue of a prancing figure which only Judas could afford
As for the tabernacle where Christ resides in sacred hosts
It had been confined to a corner to be visited by ghosts
Likewise the altar rail where we received upon our knees
Had been stripped like Eden's forests of its avenue of trees
The confessional was removed, God's own judgment seat
For sin was no deadly matter when you learnt to be discreet
The journey of our Lord to Calvary which adorned the walls
Had been replaced with posters you find in community halls
There was no room for an organ because it had to make way
To a band with rock music blaring in hope the teens would stay
So too the side chapels, which once afforded two extra masses
Had to give way to a crèche and coffee shop for the upper classes
The holy Virgin was left wanting of comeliness and dress
The fair queen of heaven n earth, how could they so transgress!
And what caused most pain was the children's colorful depiction
Of the Make Poverty History program, the UN's latest fiction
For instead of being catechized in truth, tradition and orthodoxy
They were being inoculated with a kind of spiritual dropsy

Tertiae Lamentatiae Judae

O why should we speak in a language never read
a language of centurions and senators long dead
a language of clerics dressed in cloaks and collars
a language of read by eccentric historical scholars
a language of conversion which involved devastation
a language of sacrifice but not communal celebration
a language of grammarians desiring students to excel
a language of tomes about heaven, purgatory and hell

I'll tell you why we should speak such a tongue
it is the language of saints whose lives brightly shone
it is the language of judgments that were made to last
it is the language of rituals that have survived the past
it is the language which unites souls in every station
it is the language which exceeds boundaries of nations
it is the language which conveys a sense of eternity
it is the language which forms our sacred paternity

So let us all hail this most beautiful and sacred speech
Placing it within every faithful Catholic's firm reach.
O may that day come when Latin shall once again reign
And we shall be joyous having been cured of our pain.

Secundae Lamentatiae Judae

The rules of engagement dictate that when starting conversation
On matters of the utmost concern there should be no reservation
Yet those who insist in entertaining the atheist and agnostic
Open deep wounds in the Church that are known to be caustic
Burning through the very foundations upon which she stands
Forcing it to be subject to compromise, unscrupulous demands
Likewise to enter in dialogue with the liberal of modernity
Is to become a slave to progress and disregard all certainty
In the truth of the Gospel message and meaning of tradition
Which become mere mythical constructs and pious superstition

Primae Lamentatiae Judae

I am sick and tired of calls for active participation
Because when made it can only cause frustration
For when the laity's role is given consideration
Like the priest they do have a proper vocation
It comes by virtue of baptism and confirmation
As a chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation
This they must each accomplish by manifestation
Of prayer, penance, charity as befits their station
Leaving the sacraments and grace's communication
To those duly anointed for their administration.