Enhancing Understanding For Authentic Worship

Drawing inspiration from other Catholic rites and liturgies can enhance reverence and beauty in the common diocesan Ordinary Form Mass. It has been said here and many other places that meaningful and lasting changes could include attention to authentic liturgical practices, music education to develop the ability to present sacred music as desired by the Church, and greater focus on the aesthetics of the liturgical environment, all of which serve to provide occasions whereby the worshipper better disposes himself to God Who draws the worshipper into a more fervent communion.

Exempla sequenda

Our Eastern Catholic brethren remind us that the Sacred Liturgy opens into the contemplation of the Divine. The Eastern Churches excel in preserving continuity with the Church Fathers and upholding orthodox doctrine for genuine spiritual formation.

As Pope Leo XIV has said (OSV News):

(T)he Eastern Churches are to be “cherished and esteemed for the unique spiritual and sapiential traditions that they preserve, and for all that they have to say to us about the Christian life, synodality, and the liturgy. We think of early Fathers, the Councils, and monasticism … inestimable treasures for the Church.

The contribution that the Christian East can offer us today is immense! We have great need to recover the sense of mystery that remains alive in your liturgies, liturgies that engage the human person in his or her entirety, that sing of the beauty of salvation and evoke a sense of wonder at how God’s majesty embraces our human frailty! It is likewise important to rediscover, especially in the Christian West, a sense of the primacy of God, the importance of mystagogy and the values so typical of Eastern spirituality: constant intercession, penance, fasting, and weeping for one’s own sins and for those of all humanity (penthos)! It is vital, then, that you preserve your traditions without attenuating them, for the sake perhaps of practicality or convenience, lest they be corrupted by the mentality of consumerism and utilitarianism.

Your traditions of spirituality, ancient yet ever new, are medicinal. In them, the drama of human misery is combined with wonder at God’s mercy, so that our sinfulness does not lead to despair, but opens us to accepting the gracious gift of becoming creatures who are healed, divinized and raised to the heights of heaven. For this, we ought to give endless praise and thanks to the Lord. Together, we can pray with Saint Ephrem the Syrian and say to the Lord Jesus: “Glory to you, who laid your cross as a bridge over death… Glory to you who clothed yourself in the body of mortal man, and made it the source of life for all mortals” (Homily on our Lord, 9). We must ask, then, for the grace to see the certainty of Easter in every trial of life and not to lose heart, remembering, as another great Eastern Father wrote, that “the greatest sin is not to believe in the power of the Resurrection” (St Isaac of Nineveh, Sermones ascetici, I, 5).

The Personal Ordinariates, established by the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, emphasize an intentional Christianity that thrives through the celebration of beauty—rituals, sacred music (including chant, hymnody, and polyphony)—and orthodox preaching, within vibrant liturgical spaces that celebrate Catholic theology. Within the Ordinariates, everyone is invited to pursue holiness and actively contribute to the core mission of saving souls. The liturgical, spiritual and cultural patrimony celebrated in the Ordinariates includes distinctive popular devotions, a lived Eucharistic fellowship, and a fervent dedication to the sacramental life wherein a person encounters his Savior Jesus Christ.

Eastern and Ordinariate liturgies are immersive. That is, they invite the worshipper into an encounter of truth, goodness and beauty that involves the whole person. Repetition of text brings the worshipper into focus. That focus reminds him he has a heart, mind and spirit called by God to newness of life. To enhance spiritual discipline, the subconscious benefits from repetition—of signs, movement, text/responses. A habit of mind is cultivated by the meaningful repetition of the sacred text that speaks the word of God to the Word of God in us. We are created in the image and likeness of God. God's word speaks to us so that we, fashioned more and more in His likeness, speak more intimately to Him by the Holy Spirit in the Word who has redeemed us.

Orthopraxy. The Eastern rites and the Ordinariate emphasize the preservation of right worship, which nurtures right relationships with God and neighbour, and right living. Do most parishes today reflect the vision of the Second Vatican Council, one that upholds the Apostolic understanding of liturgical worship and rituals that foster right relationship and communion with God? Vatican II, as a pastoral council, aimed to renew understanding and practice, making modest revisions to the Liturgy to promote faith and the salvation of souls. It did not intend to make substantial changes to the sacred rites. Fortunately, a younger generation is now exploring the historical record, gaining clarity about past missteps in renewal efforts, and uncovering how some, in the wake of the Council, substituted their own agenda for the direction agreed to by the Council Fathers. While a recovery of the Council's teaching is underway, fully appreciating the Council's true intentions will require more time.

Aspects of Recovery

1. Recovery of ad orientem worship.
2. Recovery of communion on the tongue.
3. Singable congregational music and the recovery of sacred choral music.
4. The promotion of well trained altar servers.
5. Recovery of the theological beauty of the church building inside and out.

1. Ad orientem worship. Direction matters.

(T)he Catholic Priest should be facing toward Jerusalem or toward the Lord. The Mass is not about the community gathering for a meal as much as is about the priest leading us in sacrificial worship toward the Heavenly Jerusalem to God.

We would do well to remember, then, that the Eucharist is not simply a nice “sign” or “symbol” of communion with God, but rather truly is communion with God. (In fact, it is so far from being a mere symbol in the modern sense of that term, that Flannery O’Connor once famously said that “if it is just a symbol, to hell with it!) For the Eucharist is nothing less than the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, and the “source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen gentium, 11). Bishop James S. Wall

The documents of Vatican II did not instruct the priest to change his orientation at Mass, and even though priests are allowed to face the people throughout Mass, the official rules or “rubrics” for Mass, which were last updated in 2011, still assume that the priest faces the people at certain times during Mass and not at other times. For example: just before Communion, the priest says “Behold the Lamb of God” and the rubrics say “While facing the people” (Order of Mass #132). Then he is directed to consume the Body of Christ while “facing the altar” (#133). This only makes sense if “facing the people” and “facing the altar” are different directions. Some may interpret ad orientem as “the priest turning his back on the people.” However, the priest’s desire is to turn with the congregation to pray toward God. The vast majority of the prayers of the Liturgy of the Eucharist are directed to God the Father. Mass ad orientem symbolizes the reality of the priest leading all present in prayer vertically to the Father. Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Wichita, KS.

The idea that a celebration facing the people must have been the primitive one, and that especially of the Last Supper, has no other foundation than a mistaken view of what a meal could be in antiquity, Christian or not. In no meal of the early Christian era, did the president of the banqueting assembly ever face the other participants. Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, The Spirit of the Liturgy

2. Communion on the tongue. Receiving communion on the tongue from the hand of a priest (who acts in persona Christi) is a meaningful acknowledgement of our reliance upon and adoration of Christ. By kneeling, we place ourselves humbly before our Creator, like a child receiving care from a loving parent. The priest, our spiritual father, presents us with the Lord of the Universe.

Kneeling feels more fitting than standing, as it reflects our humility and acknowledgment of being made holy by God. It is a simple yet profound way to show gratitude and dependence on God for the Bread of Heaven.

3. Singable congregational music and sacred choral music. One of the ironies of modern liturgical reform is that congregations often remain awkwardly silent despite being encouraged to actively participate. The Latin Church's rites have been disrupted by experimental changes driven by a dubious sense of freedom. Music groups perform unsingable melodies with trite lyrics that hardly encourage an  intentional faith.

The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services. But other kinds of sacred music, especially polyphony, are by no means excluded from liturgical celebrations, so long as they accord with the spirit of the liturgical action. Pope Saint Paul VI, Sacrosanctum Concilium: Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.

These qualities [sacredness, beauty, universality] are to be found, in the highest degree, in Gregorian Chant, which is, consequently, the chant proper to the Roman Church, the only chant she has inherited from the ancient fathers, which she has jealously guarded for centuries in her liturgical codices, which she directly proposes to the faithful as her own, which she prescribes exclusively for some parts of the liturgy, and which the most recent studies have so happily restored to their integrity and purity. On these grounds Gregorian Chant has always been regarded as the supreme model for sacred music, so that it is fully legitimate to lay down the following rule: the more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savor the Gregorian form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple. The ancient traditional Gregorian Chant must, therefore, in a large measure be restored to the functions of public worship, and the fact must be accepted by all that an ecclesiastical function loses none of its solemnity when accompanied by this music alone. Special efforts are to be made to restore the use of the Gregorian Chant by the people, so that the faithful may again take a more active part in the ecclesiastical offices, as was the case in ancient times. Pope St Pius X, Tra le sollecitudini paragraph 3.

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In a chirograph dated November 23, 2003, the feast of St. Cecilia, the late Holy Father (Pope Saint John Paul II) drew the Church’s attention to a major anniversary, one that might otherwise have passed unnoticed: the centenary of St. Pius X’s motu proprio on sacred music, Tra le sollecitudini.

Pope John Paul II’s document was a forceful reminder that, in his words, “not all musical forms can be considered suitable for liturgical celebrations,” and that music intended for the liturgy is appropriate for it only to the degree that it possesses the qualities praised by his predecessor—holiness, good artistic form, and universality—and when it remains in continuity with the great tradition of the past. The pope spoke of the need for all songs to be “respectful of the liturgical spirit and the authentic value of art”; there is no room for lightweight things that distract from contemplation of divine mysteries (he speaks of avoiding “any concession to frivolity and superficiality,” §6). Among other topics of discussion, the pope renewed the recommendation of Gregorian chant and asked Roman Congregations and bishops throughout the world to exercise greater vigilance about the textual content and artistic quality of liturgical music. Peter A. Kwasniewski, John Paul II on Sacred Music, Sacred Music 133.2 (2006): 4-22.

Ordinariate communities uphold the unique role of the choir while also encouraging intentional participation by the congregation. An inherited hymnody, featuring melodies and texts that are beautifully poetic, fosters engagement. Elements of the English Patrimony—such as Anglican chant, English plainchant, and sacred polyphony—promote attentive listening, and draw focus on the sacred text, creating a setting for intentional worship of God. Beautiful music—truly, objectively beautiful music—reminds the worshipper of God's reality as the source and pinnacle of all beauty, truth, and goodness. Beauty entices people into a deeper communion with God.

4. Well-trained altar servers play a vital role in the Mass. They assist the priest, who serves God, and their movements and demeanor help model prayer while directing attention to sacred actions, such as the reading of the Holy Gospel, the Penitential Rite, or the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. For Catholics, posture is (also an expression of) prayer, and the nuanced, subtle, nonverbal actions of the altar server guide both themselves and the congregation in avoiding distractions and focusing on the Principal Actor of the Mass—Jesus Christ.

https://vicordinariateserv.wixsite.com/altarservers/formation

Dear Altar Servers, the celebration of the Mass saves us today!” he said. “It saves the world today! It is the most important event in the life of the Christian and in the life of the Church, for it is the encounter where God gives Himself to us in love, again and again. Pope Leo XIV

All your movements, gestures, and postures in the chancel and the sanctuary need to serve the purposes of the liturgy and embody the order, symmetry, and integrity of our worship. There should be nothing slovenly, casual, or idiosyncratic in anything you do while serving at the altar. Our Lady of Walsingham Ritual Notes

Dear Altar Servers, you are, in fact, already apostles of Jesus! When you take part in the Liturgy by carrying out your altar service, you offer a witness to all. Your absorption, the devotion that wells up from your heart and is expressed in gestures, in song, in the responses: if you do it correctly and not absent-mindedly, then in a certain way your witness is one that moves people. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the bond of friendship with Jesus. You are very close to Jesus in the Eucharist, and this is the most important sign of his friendship for each one of us. Pope Benedict XVI

5. Theological beauty of the church inside and out. People are conditioned by the spaces in which they live, work, and worship.

Architecture can have negative effects on human behaviour, such as monotonous design features can lead to boredom or eventually depression; similarly, a complex design can create happiness. No one wants to live in a dead zone or where there is no vibe of joyfulness. Psychology of Architecture: impact of spaces on our behavioral and emotional patterns (TDJ).

The editors of the above article are speaking about work and living spaces, but the idea—that architecture shapes experiences and relationships—is a valid one for religious architecture, too. Sanctuaries that look like a stage in a lecture hall or theatre are pretty much going to define worship as entertainment and as a man-centred closed-circle event.

The Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament, the Bread of Life, deserves a worthy home. The greatest Gift of God should not be permanently housed in a barn, a shopping mall or some other strange entity when parishioners are perfectly capable of supporting the construction of a structure that acknowledges the truth, goodness and beauty of God.

Too many Catholic structures are timid, as if to say "we might be Catholic". Do magnificent structures signal triumphalism? Of course they do! The Cross triumphs over sin and death, and our buildings should reflect the triumph of Jesus over suffering and death!

Does our art (paintings, stained glass windows, music, statuary, architecture) given reason for the hope in Christ that possesses us?