Feminism in the Ancient Roman Rite

Looking at my 1962 Missal for the Feast of the Assumption, I was struck by one of the most feminist passages in the Missal of John XXIII, which is missing from the from the modern Lectionary.

from the book of Judith 13. 22-25; 15; 10

Blessed art thou O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all women upon the earth. Blessed be the Lord who made heaven and earth, who hath directed thee to cutting off the head of the prince of our enemies. Because he hath so magnified the thy name this day that thy praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord....Thou art the glory of jerusalem, thou art the joy of israel, thou art the honour of our people.

The painting is the Naples version of "Judith Slaying Holofernes". I have seen this painting when it came to Sydney in 2004, and the original, with the figures life size, comes over a lot more disturbing than when you see an electronic copy. It was meant to shock when it was painted in 1620, and it is still shocking in the 21st century. That is a sign of great art.

Mind you the reading from the book of Revelations in the modern rite about the woman of the sun is probably more relevant, but I assume that the compiler of the old lectionary wanted to emphasise the continuity of great women through history, and that Judith was a precurser to Mary in driving out evil from the midst of the people of God. This is a good reason, as I have mentioned before of keeping the two lectionaries side by side, equally valid.

Our Cathedral

If you noticed in the previous post, the presence of an additional priest. This priest is a Polish Capuchin who is currently working on the Ukraine. I had the privilege of guessing him after WYD. Being a tourist, he of coarse took a lot of photos, thus I have decided to share a few sights of Brisbane with our readers.

First Friday, Frist Saturday, post WYD

A Challenging Reform: Realising the Vision of the Liturgical Renewal 1963-1975

Today during my lunchbreak I popped into St Pauls Bookshop and had a quick look at the book by Archbishop Piero Marini (the former Papal Master of Ceremonies) called "A Challenging Reform - Realising the Vision of the Liturgical Renewal 1963-1975".

This has been reviewed by a number of people including Dr Alcuin Reid and George Weigel, and you can find their opinions of it here.

If you are into meetings and committees and more meetings and sub-committees and working groups, this is the book for you. Overall, from the small sections that I read, I agree with other reviewers that it is a complete yawn. Also I did pick up as reported by other reviewers a strong element of "goodies" (the Consilium) and baddies (the Curia); or as one reviewer put it "cowboys and Indians Vatican style".

It is significant that the book ends in 1975, for the following year that was when Archbishop Bugnini, the secretary of the Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy and Piero Marini's boss was sent to Iran as Papal nuncio. This was seen as a dismissal by Pope Paul VI.

If you want to read it, I am sure it will be on special soon.

Juventutem Melbourne

Above are photos from the feast of St Peter and Paul. These photos showcase the Schola of the Holy spirit's Cassocks. At first, when I heard there cassocks would be red, I dislike the idea, thinking of the bright red you so frequently see in Europe. Fr Tattersall, surprised me with the actual shade he had chosen for them, a very nice shade I must say. The cassocks themselves are sarum in design with a bright red trim.


Above are photos from the solemn vespers from the final day of the program in Melbourne. Vespers was a new experience for some of the pilgrims. A triumphant pontifical benediction finished off the day.

A Rose by any other Name

As of the recent rush of anonymous postings, I have disallowed anonymous postings on this blog.
If you wish to makes a statement, ask a question, make an observation please take up a more permanent Identity and I will be more then happy to allow your comments. If I can't stand by what I said, then I don't say it at all, that's also my rule for the blog. Plus I want to flush out all those Clergy, that want to remain anonymous...

At the end of the year, I will stop actively maintaining this blog. I have learn't to keep my opinions to myself. Stephan here will hopefully continue the blog.

St Marys Cathedral

The re -arrangements to the sanctuary of St Marys Cathedral in Sydney pose a number of questions and challenges concerning both the modern and ancient form of the Roman Rite.

Overall I think that the renovations gave a good result. Gone is the temporary wooden table which was planted in the sanctuary in Cardnial Gilroy's time about 1970, which you can see on the Picture Australia website.

The Altar first rainsed some controversy back in in November 2006, when the plans were first announced. The New Liturgical Movement reported that the new Altar was not going to be able to be used for ad-orientem celebration because of the raising of it on steps at the back of it. This would have gone against good practice as Abp Elliot in his excellent Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite recommends that the Altar be arranged suitable for celebration in either direction. Unfortunately the pictures of what was proposed were deleted.

It seems that the design was revised, and the Altar is able to be used for celebration in either versus-populum or ad-orientem forms. If there is a future Pontifical Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form, either this Altar can be used or the old High Altar. Personally I prefer that the new Altar be used for Extraordinary Form celebrations as the High Altar, in my opinion is too far away from the congregation. The old High Altar is also surprisingly small, which helps to make it disappear into the reredos. This does not preclude the old High Altar being once more used for celebration, but it may be more approapriate for small celebrations where the congregation and schola could fit into the choir stalls. (Alternatively one of the side Altars such as the magnificent St Patricks's Altar could be used).

Here is a very old photo which I found in an architectural website of the High Altar in its origianl form.

Btw gone also is the cardinal's comfy armchair whihc has been superseded by an elegant gothic throne.

Intresting day

Today, was a very poor day, for myself. It's one redeeming feature, or should i say, it's figure of salvation was to meet and see, one of the men who I look up to and see as a constant inspiration. Br Richard John Green, OSPE, now monk and seminarian, studying in the eternal city herself. Br Richard , was once the Master of Ceremonies to the Shrine of the Black Madonna, Penrose Park.
He Would come down, every major occasion, such as the 13th and would MC the Mass. Penrose Park, being a major shrine, that was frequently visited by Major prelates and prelates in general.

Br Richard was an inspiration to me, being only at the age of 16, Richard was already an accomplished MC. I served under him, and I am proud of it. Today I am doing, much the same of what he was doing. Br Richard was an inspiration to me as a teenager, a liturgist and as an MC, now he is an inspiration to me as a seminarian.

I find it amazing, that today, I am, much in the same situation as he is, truly it is amazing. God let me meet him now, after so many years, when I've grown so much. Next time we meet surely will be interesting. He's also taught me a few tricks, tricks that now i can fully appreciate, plus I got dibs on being the Master of Ceremonies of his ordination.

Truly God is wonderful.

Update

It is a busy time. I've had to take a week of school for world youth day, one day to recover from the Randwick flu and three days to act as an interpreter and guide for a Polish Capchucin who is currently staying with me. The blog is going a bit slow for a while, due to my hectic schedule, plus I have my studies and local commitments as well. I ask for your prayers.

In the mean time, here are a few photos from WYD.

Liturgical Errors still being propogated

With Cooees from the Cloister being so diligent on the liturgical radar, we were able to leave the the sledging of Elizabeth Harrington's Catholic Leader columns to them. Now with Cooees' forthcoming closure, it looks as if this important ministry will fall to to Roman and myself in the future. Acceptio in crucem!

The latest serving of EH concerns liturgical literacy, which we know in our local Archdiocese is non-existent. However, she increases the illiteracy by showing up her own illiteracy. Most of the article is correct but get this. My comments are included.

One newspaper had a story about a group of young people who like to celebrate Mass in Latin “which was banned by the Second Vatican Council held in the early 1960s”. (Ah that must be the Juventutem Group)
Vatican II did not ‘ban’ Latin at all (correct) but did encourage the use of vernacular languages rather than Latin so that, as Pope John Paul II put it, “every individual can understand and proclaim in his or her mother tongue the wonders of God”. Well it didnt actually. It said that a suitable place may be allotted to the use of vernacular and then said that "care must be taken to ensure that the faithful may also be able to say or sing together in Latin the parts of the Ordinary of the Mass that pertains to them (SC n54). Next comes the real lie.
What Vatican II did ‘abolish’ was the Tridentine Mass, the Order of Mass from the Council of Trent in the mid-1570s, which was celebrated in Latin. What??! Vatican II abolished nothing - and Benedict XVI clearly said so It was replaced by the new Order of Mass with the publication of the Missal of Paul VI in 1970. Again Benedict has clearly stated that with the promulgation of the Missal of Paul VI the older form was not "juridicially abrogated and consequently, in principle, was always permitted." Where and when appropriate, this order of Mass may be celebrated in Latin, or in any of more than 300 languages spoken by Catholics around the world - a wonderful sign of unity in diversity. Note how the emphasis is on the vernacular.

She goes on to say :

Finally, and this will give the conservative bloggers something to get upset about, Cardinal Pell is not the ‘Head of the Australian Catholic Church’ as the media constantly claims. Well we already know that, not that I consider myself a conservative blogger. But why is she taking a swipe at conservative bloggers?? (Well he is a Cardinal, honorary primate and metropolitan of Australia's most important see.... All he needs is to be president of the episcopal conference and he's the main man. He's also big.... an Ex footballer.....Roman433)

Certinaly the aim is to provide disinformation out to the Catholic community in :

1. misreading and misinterpreting Council documents
2. suppressing information and providing lies to the Catholic Community

Will someone please put this woman straight and provide sound liturgical information!!

The French in Brisbane

Last Sunday, we had the French contingent that was present at Juventutem come up and spend a few days with us, up here in Brisbane.The presence of Fr Jean-Cyrille Sow, FSSP, based in St-Etienne near Lyon and Fr Eric Iborra, from the archdiocese of Paris, enabled us to have a Solemn Mass.
Our Choir was also augmented by a few French Pilgrims. Following the High Mass, Fr Iborra, said his private Mass, with one of our new up and coming servers serving. We held a warm reception in honor of these pilgrims, in the traditional Aussie way, with a BBQ!
Finally once all was said and done, we all parted ways. Juventutem and WYD 2008, for us now are officially over, we all have grown as a result of such a life changing experience. As the French have said to us, "See you in Madrid!"

World Youth Day 2008

I’m back. After two weeks in Melbourne and one week in Sydney I have finally returned to Brisbane. World Youth day, was Dynamic… It wasn’t stagnant, it was full of surprises. In this post I’ll just write up a few things just off the top of my head, I’ll something to a bit of contemplation before I decided to share them on the blog.

Truly it was an amazing time, being surrounded by so many young Catholics. Jeremy from Singapore, Emmanuel from Switzerland, Ewee, Greg and Jessica from the USA , just to name a few. The company of the Latin Mass community from Melbourne was much appreciated all those fun adventures with Omar, Tara, Jude, Dane, JP, Roman and Friska. Meeting fellow bloggers was also enjoyable, look forward to more blogs being added to the blog roles.
The saddest part of all was the farewells.

Liturgically it was just a wonderland, four pontifical masses at the faldstool, one at the throne, solemn vespers, solemn vespers at the throne, four solemn high masses and a multitude of low masses, I was privileged to serve. The highlights much have been the Low masses said simulations at three altars and serving for a mass with out a congregation for a newly ordained priest, ad orientam. Several pontifical blessings and even a few from the Pope I was the proud recipient and even the first blessing of a priest.

Needless to say, my Gothic surplice and Gothic alb were used quite frequently.

World Youth day was amazing. My many Thanks and prayers for all those that contributed financially to my trip, your help was much appreciated, especially after my luggage failed to arrive.

Christus Vincit!

Artic Winds

One week has past here, with my presence in this city. I find my time being spent presently. JP is still busily working away on the preparations for the grand ceremonies of Juventutem. I am quite looking forward to wearing a cope and a few other goodies for my roles in the ceremonies. The Latin Mass community here in Caulfield, has quite a different dynamic then what I am used to. Liturgically it is superb, but the community doesn’t seem to have the same zing that Burranda has, something I am starting to miss. Last Sunday, we had two African priests in choir, certainly a new experience for us, times like these show us truly how universal the church is.

The Dress standard of the people here is a big higher then Brisbane, most probably due to the climate. I have found my usual standard of casual with track pants coming under fire. I quite enjoy making the most of my scarf’s, gloves and jackets, which do not get used too often up in sunny old bris. I have borrowed a coat from the family I am staying with, much to my delight.

I have explored many more parts of Melbourne and now I am quite confident with using the public transport system by myself. Trams I find particularly enjoyable and convenient. It really is amazing to contemplate just how south I currently am. When I was relaxing over a coffee with a friend at Brighton, I just struck me, the horizon south from the city, is quite literally the edge of the world (Bar Tasmania and Antarctica).

The eyes of the world are turning their gaze upon Australia, the great southern land. Peter is coming……

Blog post

Currently I am enjoying the urban surroundings of the city of Melbourne. The city is a curios change from the relatively small and clam Brisbane. The city looks grayer then what I am used too, there is more hustle and commotion then sunny old Brisbane. The weather is cold and windy (I left 23 degrees for this!). I find my self in a bit of a tight situation; I packed for the duration of 3 weeks, for fairly cold weather, but not this cold , my Kingdom for a coat.

What am I doing in Melbourne I hear you ask? I’m here in this fair city, to spend one week of holidays, one week with the Juventutem program, then a further week in Sydney for the main course of world youth day. As I type this post, JP Caulfield’s illustrious Master of Ceremonies, is also busy typing away on server manuals for the several pontifical masses that will occur with the Juventutem program. Exciting is it not?

So far in my stay in Melbourne, I have busied myself with socializing, clothes shopping with women (2 years off purgatory), thurifing for a high mass ,watching the gripping cliff hanger of the 4 series of Dr Who and being a loyal patron of Subway.

I Hope to provide our readers here with updates on the happenings of Juventutem.

Labora

Roman and I have been talking about how the Rule of St Benedict is essentially the firast management textbook written in Western Europe. Here are some tips for effective managers.

After reading the antics of Kevin 24/7 and the reports of Federal Treasury officials working 36 hours straight, and my own depression caused by overwork, it is timely to reflect on what St Benedict says about work in the Rule. Chapter XLVIII of the Rule gives some guidelines on work hours.

He starts with:

"Idleness is the enemy of the soul. For this reason the bretheren should be occupied at certain times in manual labour, and at other times in sacred reading." Benedict goes on to describe the hours in which work is done and the hours in which reading is done."

He goes on:

"If however local necessity or their own poverty compels them to work personally at gathering the harvest, they should not be upset about this. For then truly are they monks if they live by the work of their hands, as did our Fathers and the Apostles. All their labours, however, should be kept under control on account of the less courageous".

Of course Benedict was writing for people who were not used to doing any physical work at all - that was for servants or (in the 6th cent AD) for slaves. However, there is a balance. He tells communities not to drive people into the ground, but let people work at their own pace.

Following this he gives instructions on the monks who are (called in Australia) - bludgers, and penalties to be given to such people. Finally he says:

"To the brethren who are in poor health or not strong, the work or craft that is allotted should be such as to keep them occupied, but not such as by its weight to break them down or drive them away. Their lack of strength is a matter for the Abbot's consideration."

In the monastery, or the corporation, we have a diverse group of people who bring all their own talents to build up the organisation. They cannot be underemployed as they will cause trouble (and in the case of a corporation, waste money). However, if a corporation give staff a huge weight that they individually cannot bear they will either collapse from overwork and get sick, and/or they will leave the corporation. In either case the corporation loses. The effective manager, like St Benedict's effective Abbot is concerned for everyone's welfare.

Bells and More

Over at Cooees from the Cloister there is a very good expose' about Elizabeth Harringtons latest sermon on liturgy, which, as we have come to expect is full of errors and strange ideas.

First, I would like to say that I am quite ambivalent about bells whether in the Ordinary or Extraordinary forms of the Roman Rite.. Of course people think that bells are always used in the Extraordinary Form. This is not so. Bells were never rung at a Papal High Mass for instance.

Here is my commentary on this latest.

I have received requests to follow up my recent column on the ‘smells’ of Mass with one about ‘bells’.

The current Missal, which has been in use since 1969, dropped the compulsory ringing of bells which had been a feature of the Mass prior to the Second Vatican Council. (yes we know this).

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal mentions ringing bells only once:

“A little before the Consecration, when appropriate, a server rings
a bell as a signal to the faithful. According to local custom, the
server also rings the bell as the priest shows the host and then the
chalice.” (#150)

To understand the reason for the change from bells being mandated to being optional, it is helpful to examine why the ringing of bells was originally introduced into the Mass. (So here we go into the ideological diatribe. We start from saying that GIRM says bells are optional to launch into why they should be banned).

By the early middle ages, the priest celebrated Mass silently in Latin with his back to the people. Those at Mass could not see or hear what was happening and very often were engaged in their own private prayer. (He wa start with the same old record. Well no in the early Middle Ages he did pray silently in Latin. He did not have his back to the people - he prayed with the people. If we take Saxon churches as what happened in the EARLY Middle Ages, the churches were so small that the people would have gathered around the Altar facing east). Of course in the Harrington world the Middle Ages are evil anyway.

Because of a number of factors which had developed over time, people only rarely received communion. They believed that they still received the grace of the sacrament by looking upon the consecrated bread and wine. We are still trotting out the same old rubbish about what happened in a particular point in time, on the eve of the Reformation. It is amazing how the writings of Thomas Cranmer find their way into modern legend. All modern liturgists use Cranmer as their primary source to denigrate the Mass.

Priests began to raise the chalice and host above their head so that they could be more easily seen by all present. So that people engrossed in their own prayers and meditation would not miss the consecration and elevation, the practice of ringing a bell was introduced to alert the people to the fact that this holy moment was about to occur. No this was a practice that was started by Archbishop de Sully of Paris in the 12th cent to emphasise the Real presence. The bells came later and raising the Chalice came later after that.

Now that the Mass is celebrated in such a way that people can see, hear and understand what is happening at the altar, the need to attract their attention by ringing a bell no longer exists. Well reactions that I had from people is that even when the Mass is in English their minds tend to wander, and the bells are a bit of a wake up call.

In fact, to ring bells may give the wrong impression of the Eucharistic Prayer. The institution narrative (the story of Christ’s words and actions at the Last Supper) is one part of the whole prayer of thanksgiving. It belongs with the praise of God’s wonderful saving deeds, the invocation of the Holy Spirit, the memorial of Jesus’ death and resurrection and our joining in Christ’s offering. What wrong impression? She is very unclear.

Theologians no longer talk about a ‘moment’ of consecration; rather the whole of this great prayer is consecratory. To highlight just one section by the ringing of bells affects the unity and continuity of the Eucharistic Prayer. Which theologians? There are no quotes!. This is just extremely poor writing. Now at most Masses that I attend have no bells but the Eucharistic Prayer is interrupted by the Priest raising the Host and genuflecting and doing the same with the chalice. Then there is a further interruption by the memorial acclamation. Obviously in the Harrington world we pick and choose which bits of the Eucharistic Prayer are interrupted.

OK lets be really like the early Christians. How about the priest recites the Eucharistic Prayer from end to end with no elevations or genuflections (or bells) as was done up to the 13th century. The priest elevates the sacred species at the doxology (still recited in a low voice) and pronounces "in saecula saeculorum" and the congregation answers "Amen". Of course the modern liturgists cant go to this because the GIRM has instructions in it which are simplifications of the Tridentine style of Roman Rite, and they seem to want to follow this. Two-faced if you ask me.

In the end I cannot see why the whole of the Eucharistic Prayer is consecratory. You could say that the whole of the Mass is consecratory. Why are these modern theologians saying this? What is the underlying agenda here?


If we want to continue the ‘bells’ aspect of the Catholic ‘bells and smells’ tradition, it is more appropriate to use them to reinforce the highpoints of our participation in liturgy, for example, to accompany the singing of the memorial acclamation or the great ‘Amen’, rather than to continue ringing them for reasons which no longer exist oh yes everything has to be turned to the people and away from God otherwise it has no justification. Of course these is totally impractical as it then points to the incorrect points of the Mass. If you folled this people would be even more confused about the meaning of the bells than ever.

What about the other sort of church bells – those in church belfries or towers? The tradition of ringing bells to call people to worship began in the 6th century. Church bells were also used to announce the death of a parishioner and to call people to prayer at times of the ‘Angelus’.

The Sacramentary calls for the ringing of church bells twice only – during the Gloria on Holy Thursday and again at the Easter Vigil. Small handbells are usually rung at these times, but the ringing of outdoor bells serves to alert the whole neighbourhood to these sacred times and events. Where does the Sacramentary say this? Why would you spend so much money on a peal of bells and a belfry when according to Harrington and Co you can only use them twice a year?

Basically this woman is a total fraud. Unfortunately people read this stuff and believe it. Unfortunate too are the people who sponsor and employ her to write this rubbish.

St John the Baptist

Today, we celebrate the feast of St John the Baptist, the herald of our Lord. It seems to me, that he is not that well known among modern Catholics. It seems surprising to most Catholics that today, the 24^th of June, is the midway between Christmases. The beautiful symbolism behind such a great feast , which I’m sure most know about is, that in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the high point of Summer, when the days are longer. The liturgy of the Cosmos mirrors John’s Words, “I must he decease and he must increase”, the Sun, symbolizing firstly St John, gradually decreases, as the year moves from Summer into winter. Just as St John, he diminishes in splendor. Then just as we hit the dead of winter, (December 25^th, the next day) Christ is born, the light of the world and the Sun begins its triumphal march.

The Feast even has a vigil, mirroring Christmas Eve. St John the Baptist is remembered in the Roman Confiteor, Our Lord, himself that there is no greater man born of a women then St John the Baptist, his Cousin. John the Baptist, spent his life living the life of an aster hermit, living out in a desert, sustained only by locusts and honey. Truly an example for monks and hermits of today. St John is the last of the Old testament prophets, unlike them, he is granted the privilege of seeing, the Lamb of God.

Finally it is important to touch on the manner of his Death. The Gospel tells us that he was beheaded for protesting to Herod about his sexual immoralities; Herod originally did not dare to kill such a holy man. But later, moved by an impure dance of a women and then her wish, he ordered John the Baptist to be beheaded. It seems hardly surprising, that the reason for the death of the greatest man born of woman was actually a woman. Like Eve being the down fall of Adam, a woman indirectly lead to the death of John the Baptist. Women are remarkable creatures, they can be the destruction of man, but they can also be their salvation, not once have holy women lead many a man to the pearly gate.

St John the Baptist, Pray for us.

Some Comments on the Hermeneutic of Rupture

I have been reading through Cardinal Wiseman's: Four lectures on the offices and ceremonies of Holy Week, as performed in the Papal chapels : delivered in Rome in the Lent of MDCCCXXXVII (1854).

This is his comment at the end of Lecture 3 on (what was then the potential of) liturgical change and the demolishing of liturgical traditions:

I have represented these to you as an aggregate
of religious observances, gradually framed in
the Church, not by a cold and formal enactment,
but by the fervid manifestation of the devout
impressions of every age, till they had acquired
a uniform, consistent, and compact form. They
have retained upon them the marks of that
humbled, and yet deeply mystical spirit, which
the persecuted Church necessarily possessed;
they have preserved the expression of triumph
and glory of its more prosperous condition;
they have concealed in them symptoms of the
modesty and charity of the later period, and
they are depositaries of many relics of venerable
antiquity, by yet keeping in observance
rites once general, but now elsewhere
abolished.

In attending them, you may consider yourselves
as led by turns to every period of religious
antiquity, and in the institutions of each may
commune with its peculiar spirit ; they are as a
museum, containing the remains of every age,
not arranged chronologically, but, as the good
taste that presided over the collections has suggested,
their disposition mingled in a happy confusion,
which shows how well they harmonize
with each other, and how completely the same
spirit has presided over the institution of them
all. To abolish them, to substitute a new,
systematic, formal, and coldly meditated form,
would be in truth a vandalism, a religious barbarism,
of which the Catholic Church is quite
incapable.

I thought of how how close his prophecy of a subsitution of liturgical forms was to what seemed to have happened 120 years later.

Servers in Albs, Aqinas

In the Supplement to the Summa Theologica, Question 40 Article 7, we read this:

Seventh Article
Whether the Vestments of the Ministers Are Fittingly Instituted in the Church?

"I answer that, The vestments of the ministers denote the qualifications required of them for handling Divine things. And since certain things are required of all, and some are required of the higher, that are not so exacted of the lower ministers, therefore certain vestments are common to all the ministers, while some pertain to the higher ministers only. Accordingly it is becoming to all the ministers to wear the amice which covers the shoulders, thereby signifying courage in the exercise of the Divine offices to which they are deputed; and the alb, which signifies a pure life, and the girdle, which signifies restraint of the flesh.

Sharing Eucharist

Some time ago, I mentioned a strange terminology which is emerging in liberal liturgical circles. It is the trend to drop "the" off the front of "Eucharist". So after going from "celebrating Mass" to "celebrating the Eucharist", we now find it's "celebrating Eucharist" or "sharing Eucharist". This is incredibly problematic for me. First of all it pushes to completion the error that many people in the Church have today about the Eucharist as primarily a meal. We now have Eucharist in the same way as we have lunch or dinner. We share Eucharist in the same way that we share a meal together. The order of the words similarly pushes this concept as the first emphasis is on sharing, not the Eucharist.

This is serious heresy creeping into our churches, schools and seminaries. A couple of years ago I attended a school Mass for an inner city Catholic School. The order of service was a real shocker in that the Liturgy of the Word was explained as "we sit down and share stories" and the Liturgy of the Eucharist was "we now have a meal together". For one thing, this is not how you explain things to teenage boys, and because of that the Church has a huge credibility gap, and eventually those boys will discard Catholicsm when they leave school. All Catholic schools seem to have these kinds of liturgies (even reading the magazine from the school that I attended), and fool themselves that the boys (and probably girls) are enjoying it. Well from my experience NO.

The Vatican II document Sacrosanctum Concilium is very clear on the priorities in the sacred Liturgy:

To accomplish so great a work Christ is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister "the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the Cross" (Trent session 22) but especially in the Eucharistic species. By this power he is present in the sacraments so that that when anybody baptises it is really Christ himself who baptises. He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised "where two or three are gathered in my name there I am in the midst of them".

So the priorities according to SC are:

1. the real presence


2. the priesthood


3. the sacraments


4. the Word


5. the community.

Now 40 years later these priorities have been inverted totally. If the local Church keeps pushing this path, I believe the Church of Brisbane is doomed to near extinction. This is why proper celebrations like the recent Corpus Christi are important for the church to survive.

The Creed of the People of God

I was impressed that it is coming up to the 40th anniversary of the Motu Proprio by Pope Paul VI on the "Credo of the People of God" or Solemni Hac Liturgia promulgated on 30 June 1968. There is a very good article on Chiesa about how it evolved. The key affirmations on the Eucharist are as follows and succinctly summarises my beliefs.

Sacrifice of Calvary
24. We believe that the Mass, celebrated by the priest representing the person of Christ by virtue of the power received through the Sacrament of Orders, and offered by him in the name of Christ and the members of His Mystical Body, is the sacrifice of Calvary rendered sacramentally present on our altars. We believe that as the bread and wine consecrated by the Lord at the Last Supper were changed into His body and His blood which were to be offered for us on the cross, likewise the bread and wine consecrated by the priest are changed into the body and blood of Christ enthroned gloriously in heaven, and we believe that the mysterious presence of the Lord, under what continues to appear to our senses as before, is a true, real and substantial presence.

Transubstantiation
25. Christ cannot be thus present in this sacrament except by the change into His body of the reality itself of the bread and the change into His blood of the reality itself of the wine, leaving unchanged only the properties of the bread and wine which our senses perceive. This mysterious change is very appropriately called by the Church transubstantiation. Every theological explanation which seeks some understanding of this mystery must, in order to be in accord with Catholic faith, maintain that in the reality itself, independently of our mind, the bread and wine have ceased to exist after the Consecration, so that it is the adorable body and blood of the Lord Jesus that from then on are really before us under the sacramental species of bread and wine, as the Lord willed it, in order to give Himself to us as food and to associate us with the unity of His Mystical Body.

26. The unique and indivisible existence of the Lord glorious in heaven is not multiplied, but is rendered present by the sacrament in the many places on earth where Mass is celebrated. And this existence remains present, after the sacrifice, in the Blessed Sacrament which is, in the tabernacle, the living heart of each of our churches. And it is our very sweet duty to honor and adore in the blessed Host which our eyes see, the Incarnate Word whom they cannot see, and who, without leaving heaven, is made present before us.

Maybe, like the Nicene Creed that this is based on, we should recite this in our churches on Sundays?