Mystical Body, Mystical Voice in Bend = Success!

What does the opening scene of the movie The Voyage of the Dawntreader have to do with the new translation (3rd edition) of the Roman Missal? A group of parishioners from the Bend area can probably explain it after their participation in a workshop sponsored by the Society of St. Gregory the Great on Friday and Saturday, November 11-12.

The workshop concerned the changes in the Mass that will be evident starting the first Sunday of Advent when the third edition of the Roman Missal is formally and officially put into use. Pastors of many parishes in the Diocese of Baker have begun to use at least some of the revised responses of the people. Changes in the priest’s prayers won’t be heard till November 27.

The USCCB has said:

The entire Church in the United States has been blessed with this opportunity to deepen its understanding of the Sacred Liturgy, and to appreciate its meaning and importance in our lives…Musicians and parishioners alike should soon be learning the various new and revised musical settings of the Order of Mass.

People will be paying more attention to the Mass because of the changes – that’s what gives us the opportunity to deepen our understanding of the liturgy. There’s something to talk about: why have these changes been made?  But if we simply take a utilitarian, mechanical attitude toward it, we’ll just say, “Let’s just learn the new words and get on with it.”

There’s much more to it than that!  And that’s what this workshop is about.

This workshop is based on a program is called Mystical Body, Mystical Voice, which was created by a priest and a layman with extensive education in the liturgy; it’s produced by the Liturgical Institute. Based on sacramental theology and the liturgical rites of the Church, it’s not just a mechanical instruction in what’s changing and how we “do” it; it’s also about understanding the beauty of what the new translation has to offer. It’s about enriching our knowledge of and participation in the Mass. And we’re talking about participation in a deeper sense than simply being a part of the choir, or serving as a lay minister, or usher, etc.

The facilitator for the presentation was Dr. Judith (Jay) Boyd, who also serves as vice-president of the Society of St. Gregory the Great. The workshop included both video segments of dynamic speakers addressing the issues, as well as comments by Dr. Boyd, and discussion amongst the attendees. Participants were reminded of the rich Catholic heritage that lies beneath the surface of the Liturgy, building on 2000 years of Christianity as well as several thousand years more of our roots in Judaism. The Mass is more than it appears on the surface, and participants were led into a renewal of their understanding of the liturgy's spiritual depths and its true meaning.

Another important focus of the workshop in Bend – as well as the one given recently in The Dalles - was the value and beauty of a "sung" Mass. The new edition of the Missal contains more music than previous editions, and the USCCB is encouraging priests and the faithful to reclaim some of the lost traditions of the Church by singing the Mass from start to finish. Participants at the Bend workshop practiced singing the responses, and saw the way the simply chant melodies draw one into the liturgical celebration and move one’s heart and mind toward God.

So, what does The Voyage of the Dawntreader have to do with all of this? It's worth your time to attend a workshop and find out! To schedule one in your parish, contact Stephanie Swee at 541-550-0832, or email her at swee0574@gmail.com.

Re-Post: New Mass, Old Mass...and New Translation

This post appears on the blog Philothea on Phire which is written by Jay Boyd. Dr. Boyd also serves as vice-president of the Board of Directors of the Society of St. Gregory the Great, in addition to editing this blog!
:-)

Most of this post is excerpted from my article "We've Been Robbed!" which appeared in Homiletic and Pastoral Review in May 2008. Comments about the new translation have been added.

The present situation in my parish is not much different from that in many parishes, I suspect: before Sunday Mass begins, the Rosary is prayed. This is wonderful. Then there follows something of a “social” time, which seems to me to detract from the preparation for the Mass that the Rosary has just afforded us. People in the pews chat for a few minutes before the announcer stands before the microphone and bids us “good morning” and other platitudes meant to welcome us and make us feel good. He or she announces the name of the priest, the acolyte, and tells us who is singing. We are invited to “take a moment of silence to prepare out hearts and minds for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass” (although a few announcers cannot bring themselves to say “holy sacrifice” and deviate from the script by substituting “celebration”). After 30 seconds or so, the “opening hymn” is announced, and Mass has officially started. Personally, this scene makes me feel like I've turned on the TV to watch a talk show,

This is in stark contrast to the start of Mass in the forma extraordinaria. The Mass is not "announced"; it begins.When the Asperges is included, this seems to me to be a wonderful preparation. It reminds us of our sinfulness and of God’s mercy in cleansing us of that sin. In fact, throughout the prayers of the Mass of the extraordinary form, I find this constant reminder of the tension between our sin and the mercy of the Father. Not only this, but the penitential rite of the forma extraordinaria continues this examination of conscience and petition for forgiveness in a more intense way than occurs in the Novus Ordo, or forma ordinaria.

Of course, the Novus Ordo also offers an opportunity to examine and confess our sins in a meaningful way. The problem is that liturgical abuses have so marred the ordinary form that the differences between it and the extraordinary form are exacerbated. The fault lies not in the Novus Ordo itself, but rather in its implementation, in the flagrant disregard for the norms set forth in the GIRM.

Returning to some of the differences between the two forms, let us examine, for example, the offertory prayer. From the forma ordinaria, we hear “Blessed are you, Lord God of all Creation; through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the bread of life.”

But in the forma extraordinaria, we find a much richer prayer: “Accept, O Holy Father, Almighty and Everlasting God, this unspotted Host, which I, Thine unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my living and true God, to atone for my countless sins, offenses, and negligences: on behalf of all here present and likewise for all faithful Christians, living and dead, that it may avail both me and them as a means of salvation, unto life everlasting.”

To me, the difference between the two prayers is like the difference between sending a text message on a cell phone, and having an actual face-to-face conversation with the Person. Have we reduced ourselves to prayers of the form “Tnx. Pls bless r gifts”?

The difference between the prayers points to something greater than the spoken (or silent) words for me. For one thing, the prayer of the 1962 missal seems to imply a much greater God than the newer prayer. Also, our sins are acknowledged and forgiveness asked within the context of the offertory. And finally, the older prayer underscores the role of the priest: the very words tell us that he is making the offering on our behalf, and acknowledging our sins as well as his own, and asking for us and for himself “life everlasting”.

This issue of the role of the priest is an important one, and, to my way of thinking, it constitutes a major difference between the two forms of the Mass. This was an issue I pondered before I knew about the forma extraordinaria: the priest as priest versus the priest as narrator and commentator. The more I experience the "old Mass", the more I see the priest in the Novus Ordo - as it is currently practiced in the parishes I attend - is that of a talk show host.  

Some of these disparities will be addressed by the new translation. I am looking forward to hearing all the changes. The talk show host mentality, though, in my opinion, will be expunged only by a return to ad orientem worship: when the priest and the faithful face God together, things are different. The priest leads, rather than announces. He prays, rather than performs. He's a priest, rather than a lay person in special garb.

And finally, if the Mass is sung, as the new Roman Missal encourages us to do, the "logic" of how the liturgy is constructed becomes more clear; the priest's parts are followed by the people's parts in a less disjointed way. The beauty of the liturgy is enhanced.

My preference is for the extraordinary form of the Mass. But I have high hopes for the ordinary form - if the changes in the new translation are faithfully implemented.

That's a big "if".