H/T New Liturgical Movement
Monday, 12 November 2007
Facing the crucifix
In "The Spirit of the Liturgy", Cardinal Ratzinger argued that whenever the priest was saying Mass versus populum, it would be good for the crucifix to be placed in the centre to form the focus of the liturgical action. It is good to see this photograph from a recent Papal Mass at the Altar of the Chair:
H/T New Liturgical Movement
H/T New Liturgical Movement
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9 comments:
If Mons. Guido Marini is reading this, could I suggest :
An altar frontal to hide that
ghastly bronze altar.
A more traditionally styled throne for Pope Benedict.
Pity about the altar. Ma poco a poco -come dicono.
H'mmm...so the pope wants me to look at the cross on the altar, rather than the REAL PRESENCE in his own hands?
*sigh* -- sometimes I wonder about that guy....
But should the crucifix itself be turned versus populum, or should the sacrificing priest be able to fix his gaze on the corpus?
Flabellum - this question has been raised elsewhere (I think on NLM or Fr Z). I would side with the "corpus facing the priest" view. In the end, though, the only sensible and consistent thing is to face East.
GOTO - one of the great things about the traditional rite is that you learn when to look at the crucifix and when to look at the host. I'll post something about this.
Gem,
Sometimes you wonder about "that guy"? You mean the Vicar of Christ, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles? I'm sure your descriptor was not meant to convey the lack of reverence and respect it did...
Fr. Finigan,
I noticed the cathedral here in Dijon, France has the custom of placing a cross in the center of the altar for the Novus Ordo Mass. (I hadn't seen it done in the U.S.) Seems a wonderful thing.
Christine he's "Vicar of Christ, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles" when he's speaking ex cathedral. I grovel in mortification. But if he's saying "The focus should be on the cross..." when there's something more important on the altar..you know, like JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF right in front of me...then yeah, he's "that guy [the one who momentarily slipped a gear.] If the pope says "It's bound to rain today" and it doesn't - it doesn't shake my faith in the vicar of Christ as the Vicar of Christ - I can still harbor thoughts that he's a crummy weatherman, however.
Lumen Gentium n.25 does say that we should give religious submission of mind and will to the authentic magisterium of the Holy Father even when he is not speaking ex cathedra.
However in this case your point is fair enough because this opinion is not part of the magisterium of the Holy Father but an opinion expressed before he was Pope.
I hope, though, that I have established that he was not advocating focussing on the cross in preference to the consecrated host. It would be better to say that he was advocating the crucifix as a more appropriate focus than for the priest to be looking at the people when he is talking to God the Father.
BTW - did you ever read this wonderful episode from Brideshead when Rex Mottram was under instruction:
'Supposing the Pope looked up and saw a cloud and said "It's going to rain," would that be bound to happen?' 'Oh, yes, Father.' 'But supposing it didn't?' He thought a moment and said, 'I suppose it would be sort of raining spiritually, only we were too sinful to see it.'
Waugh at his best!
Gem,
Good points, but unfortunately they have nothing to do with my comment. I find it disrespectful to the extreme that one would refer to our Holy Father as "that guy" while assuming he thinks the crucifix to be more sacred than the Holy Eucharist itself. If you are so off-base about his intentions, it might be a good idea to spend time familiarizing yourself with his work, which is prolific and readily available at any Catholic bookstore.
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