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.
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.
posted by Lactantius at
9:10 pm
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