Liturgical Changes, Part 5, Postures at Mass

Dear Parishioners,

In the course of time, traditions grow up in parishes, sometimes encouraged by priests, nuns, or other lay leaders. Other times, they come from experiences on retreats and other events. All these are part of the life of a parish. Sometimes, these are laudable for they reinforce or remind the people about the norms of the Church Universal. Sometimes, however, these traditions are not what the Church intended or are problematic expressions of faith that confuse the proper roles of those at Mass. Over time, I have been asked by various parishioners about the proper posture/gestures that are part of the Mass, specifically, the “Our Father” and the “Rite of Peace.” In this regard, the new Archdiocesan Liturgical Handbook (ALH) offers some clarification. Below, I have included salient paragraphs to help clarify:

Our Father
1.57.2  During the Our Father, the Roman Missal instructs the priest to “extend his hands” assuming the Orans posture (GIRM 152). This posture is prescribed only for the priest and although it has been adopted by the faithful in some countries after the approval of the Holy See, in the United States it is still a posture assumed only by the priest.

1.57.3  The faithful holding hands during the Our Father is another posture not envisioned or prescribed by the Roman Missal. While this has been adopted within families with small children it should not be considered a normal posture of the Sacred Liturgy. Indeed some may feel uncomfortable if this posture is imposed upon them.

Rite of Peace 
1.58.2  The sign of peace is not an act of reconciliation, which has already occurred in the Penitential Act at the beginning of the Mass, nor is it a neighborly greeting. This misunderstanding of the meaning of the sign has led to abuses, such as extended or protracted exchanges of handshakes, hugs, and kisses, which delay the Lamb of God and disrupt the flow of the celebration of the Eucharist.

Understanding these guidelines, it is important to be charitable in all we do. Please, if someone does not follow these guidelines, do not chastise them. Be very careful in your pastoral advice so as not to offend. That being said, the above guidelines are from our Archbishop and the ALH.

Related to other gestures, I have noticed that some faithful lower their heads and strike their breast when the Body and Blood are shown/elevated and the priest says, “do this in memory of me.” According to Fr. Paul Turner, STD::

There has never been a rubric for people striking their breast during the elevation, nor for them to lower their heads. The rubrics are quite scant when it comes to what the people are supposed to do. Devotions have evolved apart from the rubrics.  If the people stand for the eucharistic prayer they are supposed to make a low bow while the priest genuflects at the elevations (GIRM 43). (paulturner.org/striking-the-breast-and-bowing)

The General Instructions to the Roman Missal (aka GIRM) in Latin uses the word, “to show,” which then implies that the faithful are to be looking or gazing at the mystery before them. Bowing one’s head, therefore, would seem to be in contradiction to that which is intended by the action in Mass at that moment. So, please, look! Gaze! Let your hearts be filled with the great mystery before you when the priest shows you the precious species of the Eucharist. Do nothing other, for this is primarily a moment of wonder and awe, not of repentance.

Again, charity is first in all we do. Please refrain from being the. “liturgical police” and hunt everyone down that does not follow every gesture perfectly. It is my hope that all will read this letter and come to understand that uniformity in our gestures at Mass offer a more noble and simple liturgy which the Church prescribes. May the Holy Mass be ever more efficacious in our lives, as we all strive to be “led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy, and to which the Christian people, ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people’ (1 Pet. 2:9, 4-5) have a right and obligation by reason of their baptism.” (Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium 14).

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

The Church Is Not Falling Apart

Dear Beloved Faithful,

Given the current issues afoot in the Church, I’d like to offer the following challenge and encouragement...

The Church is not falling apart. The sins of man do not define the Faith. Have no fear. Christ is our light. In this difficult time, let us not allow punditry to win the day. All abuse and cover-ups will come to the light. In time, things will become more clear. Our role as Catholics is not to add to the hysteria with cries of schism or destruction. Our calling is to be faithful. 

Jesus promised us that the gates of hell would would not prevail against his Church. Regardless of who may be guilty, incompetent, innocent, or otherwise unworthy, the Bride of Christ will remain. We are not built on the holiness of the bishops or the Pope. Even if all of those who are being accused by Viganò are guilty, and even if the pope steps down, a new pope will be selected by the grace of the Holy Spirit. 

All we need to worry about is whether each of us are living the life worthy of the calling we have received. Just remember whose Church this is. I choose to be ever more mindful of my own sins and be open to God’s grace working through me, his imperfect vessel. Other than that I refuse to listen to punditry. 

God will once again heal and absolve his Bride. God will continue to inspire others to greatness in the faith. God desires, in his perfect compassion and mercy, to bind up and heal the wounded victims. We must join in solemn prayer and concord for the Holy Spirit to breathe fresh upon us all and remember the true source of all healing: Jesus Christ. In the meantime, fasting from news and praying for victims of abuse in all walks of life are spiritual acts of love which we all can do. 

Despite all the punditry, in our RCIA groups this year, the Spirit is clearly at work. Candidates have awareness and concern for victims of abuse, and they are truly focused on the Faith and Holy Mother Church. It’s inspiring. They are not shaken by the prophets of doom. Do not be shaken by alarmists. 

Finally, let us, once again, take heed of the wisdom of St. Pope John XXIII who proclaimed just prior to the opening of the Second Vatican Council:

At times we have to listen, much to our regret, to the voices of people who, though burning with zeal, lack a sense of discretion and measure. In this modern age they can see nothing but prevarication and ruin … We feel that we must disagree with those prophets of doom who are always forecasting disaster, as though the end of the world were at hand. In our times, divine Providence is leading us to a new order of human relations which, by human effort and even beyond all expectations, are directed to the fulfilment of God’s superior and inscrutable designs, in which everything, even human setbacks, leads to the greater good of the Church.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Honoring Our Past, Pt. 3

Dear Parishioners,

Continuing with the theme of honoring our past ~ building for our future, I would like to turn our attention to one of the main reasons for our church project: the overall arrangement of things in our church, most specifically the sanctuary and pews. How did the current arrangement come about?  Who were the main players?  What were their reasons? What issue(s) were they trying to solve? And finally, are those solutions still relevant today? How does our new church project honor the original intent of our current building while bringing up to date the norms of the Church?

When talking to parishioners who were here when it was constructed as well as four of our former pastors, they all told me stories about how, the pastor at the time, Fr. Kelly, demanded that the church be fireproof, thus cinder block and steel were the main materials used.  The church was intended to seat 700 people facing the West where the Sanctuary and main altar was going to be placed. In my research, I was surprised to find other versions of the church that were drawn up prior to the final one we have now, some of which placed the altar on the East side of the building and others having very ambitious ideas for the entire campus.

St. Anne Catholic Church ca. 1

After construction of our current church began in 1959, Fr. Edmund Murnane, pastor of St. Mary parish in Eugene and friend of Father Kelly persuaded Fr. Kelly to place the altar in the middle of the church so that people could see both the altar and the priest. Some pastors shared with me that there was talk coming from Rome that liturgical changes were potentially coming, thus another reason for Fr. Murnane’s encouragement to Fr. Kelly. Keep in mind that the Second Vatican Council had not yet taken place, so the Mass was in Latin with the priest faced ad orientum or liturgical “towards the east” along with the entire congregation. In that form of the Mass, much of the action at the altar was obscured by the priest’s body. So, when the rubrics called for the priest to raise the host or chalice after consecration, he had to raise it well above his head. This moment is the most commonly captured image when referring to that form of Mass, now called the Extraordinary Form. If you want to experience that form, we host specially trained prIests to come roughly every other month to our mission, Our Lady of the River, and offer that Mass. So, in the context of the time, putting pews to the side of the sanctuary would have been very avant guard yet practical in view of the goal of being able to see more of the action happening at the altar. That being said, the arrangement of the church interior was very controversial amongst parishioner then and has continued to be so until today.

When the Second Vatican Council concluded, the liturgy was to be reformed in light of ancient documents describing the earliest liturgies as well as a sense of “full, active, and conscious participation.” The post-conciliar document, Inter Oecumenici §91, spoke directly about the preference for altars to be centrally located and free standing in order to permit walking around it, i.e.. for incensing. The 1970 Missal and subsequent editions have encouraged the priest to face towards the people, ad populum, when possible.

In the time since the Second Vatican Council, many ideas have been offered for church construction and layout.  Some have held the test of time while others have been corrected and/or removed.  According to “Built of Living Stones,” the document from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, tabernacles can be placed in many locations. When they are placed in the sanctuary but not directly behind the altar, confusion has happened as to the proper liturgical gestures and behaviors are appropriate.  Archbishop Sample, when I asked him what he wanted in a new church, gave me clear direction. He stated that he wanted a church to look like a church, to be beautiful, and the Tabernacle to be located directly behind the Altar, for “it would solve many issues.”

With these changes in the liturgy, the original reason spelled out by Fr. Murnane to Fr. Kelly for placing the sanctuary half-way down on the North side of the church with the pews on the side no longer offered the advantage for which they were intended. In my humble opinion, the only advantage to our current arrangement is the close proximity of the people in the pews to the sanctuary and the action at the altar. This an important feature when pondering on the placement of pews, but in our situation the disadvantages, over time and experience, outweigh this singular advantage. When our Core Building Committee began meeting three years ago, it was clear that they wanted the church to have all the pews facing the same direction. They felt the orientation of the pews to be more distracting than helpful when it came to paying attention. They voiced their concerns that the acoustics inherent in our current arrangement, regardless of the sound system, made much of the Mass unintelligible. They voiced concern about the issues created by not having a main aisle and how we had missed many opportunities to host weddings for our parishioners in lieu of other parishes that “looked and felt more like a church.”  These issues and more were likely unforeseen in the process of discernment when our current pew layout was being planned.  

So, with the needs of the preconciliar Church being met by Fr. Kelly, the reforms of the Second Vatican Council offering reforms, the norms of our Roman Missal giving us new clarity, the guidelines by our bishops giving us guidance, and the reflection from our Core building Committee giving ideas on how to meet today’s needs, I think that it it is safe to say that if our new church plan was built back 1959, it would have been received well.  That is another way to honor our past.

I will be offering more about our history in forthcoming bulletin articles.  So, keep your eyes peeled to this column in the weeks ahead.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor