Liturgical Committees. Why?

The Sacred Liturgy is accompanied by necessary rules born of centuries of prayerful consideration of the necessary ritual actions, the practical and spiritual attributes, of the Mass. Those rules include prescriptions in aid of beautiful reverent service, acknowledgement of legitimate variations in custom, and directions that preserve the validity of a Mass.

Those who are familiar with the older form of the Mass, i.e., the Mass conducted according to the 1962 Missal, habitually think in terms of consulting reliable guides (The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described by Fortescue; Book of Ceremonies by O'Connell) in order to effectively operate the liturgical machinery. Prior to mastery, anything less than a regular investigation and implementation of liturgical principles would be irresponsible. The Lord deserves our best efforts, and the people deserve to 'see' the Lord without the distractions of shabby attitudes that manifest as strange and awkward behaviours.

Minds elevated by grace over the centuries have composed carefully coordinated movements that facilitate the solemn celebration of Holy Mass.

Given the august nature of the divine Liturgy, it should be conducted with great care and should therefore conform to the liturgical principles guiding the proper celebration of the Mass. Given centuries of experience, one might think articles encouraging or even insisting upon adherence to liturgical norms would be unnecessary. However, rules governing the ordered celebration of the Mass are routinely ignored. In this day and age, diocesan clergy of the Latin Rite are too often poorly trained in the exercise of their liturgical function, or they are bullied by pushy laymen eager to acquire and hold on to their own little tuft of power. Unnecessarily compliant clergy acquiesce and enable a 'do whatever you want' attitude.

Parishioners, starved of beauty, are prone to a loss of hope and joy and the knowledge of the goodness of the Lord. For many, the only poetry in aid of living that people encounter is that which they (should) find in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

For several decades the classical or Latin patrimonial liturgical vocabulary and repertoire have been ignored and replaced with various colloquialisms consisting of a distracting mishmash of approaches that lack structure and orthodox theological focus. Among musicians of the 19th and 20th Centuries, a comparable problem has been ignorance of historical performance practice and the imposition of misguided contemporary preferences upon earlier compositions. In both cases, liturgical and musical, great works of art manage to survive despite the assaults of hacks and slackers.

ars celebrandi (USCCB FAQ)

In the course of the Synod, there was frequent insistence on the need to avoid any antithesis between the ars celebrandi, the art of proper celebration, and the full, active and fruitful participation of all the faithful. The primary way to foster the participation of the People of God in the sacred rite is the proper celebration of the rite itself. The ars celebrandi is the best way to ensure their actuosa participatio. The ars celebrandi is the fruit of faithful adherence to the liturgical norms in all their richness; indeed, for two thousand years this way of celebrating has sustained the faith life of all believers, called to take part in the celebration as the People of God, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (cf. 1 Pet 2:4-5, 9). Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis

Ars celebrandi involves:

1. Fidelity to the texts and rubrics of the Church
2. Prayerful understanding of the liturgical texts, feasts and seasons
3. Reverent sense of the ministers and assembly engaging in an exchange, which is the dialogue of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit
4. Proper preparation for celebrating the liturgy

Despite many informed commentators sharing the facts, there is still some confusion, it seems, regarding the meaning of the phrase actuosa participatio. Most often the word 'actuosa' is translated as 'active'. Actuosa does not mean active. A useful elaboration comes from Denis Crouan in his book The History and the Future of the Roman Liturgy (2005, p. 279 | H/T Fr Z):

The expression used in the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium is "participatio actuosa" and not "participatio activa". Vatican II called for an "effective" participation in the liturgy, that is to say, a participation that is in contrast to a "passive participation" as well as to an "activist participation".

The true and only participation that the Church wants is the kind that results from an interior attitude that places us in a state of receptivity for the liturgy.

In this, too, it is obvious that the virtues of Gregorian chant shield us against a sort of participation in the liturgy that is too dependent upon contemporary mindsets and would end up being no more than a sterile activism.

Father Zuhlsdorf adds:

Active participation is made possible by baptism and by our willed, conscious, active interior union with the action of the Mass and the true Actor, Jesus Christ. Attentive watching and careful listening are not easy, friends. Effort and practice are needed to get past the distractions.

Liturgy committees? Non! Nein!

The rubrics fostering the ars celebrandi of the Mass are meant to be faithfully observed so that the Mass is not configured to anyone other than the Holy Trinity for the salvation of souls.

The Mass celebrated in a true, good and beautiful manner assists the worshipper to acquire the attentive receptivity affirmed by the Second Vatican Council. That receptivity is expressed in and through word(s), song, silence and gesture. We are, after all, enfleshed souls, not disembodied spirits. Reverent physical expression is to liturgical worship as the physical union of husband and wife is to spousal love. In the Mass, we are united to Christ and one another in perfect charity and fraternity. The nature of the Mass should induce in us a prudential judgement that helps us to avoid clownish, salacious, hedonistic and irreverent behaviours as well as unfounded fears and the constraints of a neo-puritanism toward ritual beauty.

Bishop Elliott composed the Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite, a guide that adapts the directions for and choreography of the Mass asserted in previous times. Yet, moderners continue to forget (or willfully avoid) the dance steps for moving theologically in the Mass. Most contemporary liturgical celebrations exhibit coordination made up on the spot, and as such the resulting confused movement is to liturgical movement as high school box stepping is to ballet.

Movement is worship, or can be. The movement of the Mass is artful (charitable, humble, efficient, careful) service... to the priest, to the congregation and, of course, first and foremost to God. The movement of (or in) the Mass moves worshippers toward God. More than mere steps and efficient handling sacred vessels, the movement of the Mass is theological. The servers offering the sacred vessels do so in a manner that is ordered to and in character with the action of the priest, which is a gathering up of our intentions into one offering to God Who then receives our offering, symbolized by the bread and wine, to transform those gifts into the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

When people host guests for dinner, the table is set, the food is well prepared, and the service is ordered with various courses. Yet, when it comes to the Mass in a typical parish, the table (altar) is hastily arranged and the ordering of the courses is haphazard. Th sacred vessels are cheap and ugly. Communion lines in contemporary semicircular churches are often chaotic.

Why is there a need for liturgical committees?

The purpose of a liturgical committee might at best be its service until its demise. That is, to operate until the proper reverential celebration of the Mass is habitually achieved. The MC can then provide a continuity of excellence by training altar servers to pray the Mass through their informed service. 

No parish committee is needed to design the Mass.

All that is really needed to preserve the dignity of the Mass is 1) a pastor with the heart and mind for authentic liturgy, 2) an informed MC (the priest's deferential right-hand-man), to properly train altar servers as recommended above and to assist the priest, and 3) a faithful sacristan (and a support team if need be). The pastor can train the lectors and appoint a senior lector to train others in due course.

If a committee is needed, let it be more a guild that is given responsibility for procuring flowers for the altar, cleaning linens, and placing appropriate ornaments for funerals, high holy days and specific liturgical seasons, all of which are good and necessary things.

"Liturgical worship ... is the foundation of Catholic identity; expressing our highest purpose."

Among Ordinariate Catholics, liturgical formation and activity adheres to Divine Worship: the Missal, which includes the GIRM and the Rubrical Directory, the latter being a composition that affirms the unique Ordinariate liturgical identity. Ritual Notes (11th Edition) and Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described (15th Edition) are also vital resources. Because those works are important in the patrimonial heritage of the Ordinariate, they are drawn upon to orient and inform the sober and reverent celebration of Divine Worship.

Liturgical worship is not an "add on" for a Catholic Christian. It is the foundation of Catholic identity; expressing our highest purpose. Worship reveals what we truly believe and how we view ourselves in relationship to God, one another and the world into which we are sent to carry forward the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ. Rev. Dcn. Keith Fournier