A question on the Mass

[henrikhank]

Hi!
In Mass (especially in the extraordinary form) there is not much improvisation. The ordinary can look really different depending on the church (as the rubrics aren’t really that strict as in the extraordinary form).
After attending the extraordinary form I’ve been thinking about how much you bassically just go by the book. The people on the altar just follow what the missal tells them to do.
I have difficulty doing exactly the same thing over and over again every time I go to church (but I am neither a altar server nor even a Catholic). Why should we have people on the altar doing exactly the same thing over and over again for years? They do the exact same movement with their bodies and say the exact words every Sunday (or other days). Why is it important to have it like this?
I know the question can seem a bit strange but I am just trying to understand Jesus and his Church.

 

[porthos11]

Hi!
In Mass (especially in the extraordinary form) there is not much improvisation. The ordinary can look really different depending on the church (as the rubrics aren’t really that strict as in the extraordinary form).
After attending the extraordinary form I’ve been thinking about how much you bassically just go by the book. The people on the altar just follow what the missal tells them to do.
I have difficulty doing exactly the same thing over and over again every time I go to church (but I am neither a altar server nor even a Catholic). Why should we have people on the altar doing exactly the same thing over and over again for years? They do the exact same movement with their bodies and say the exact words every Sunday (or other days). Why is it important to have it like this?
I know the question can seem a bit strange but I am just trying to understand Jesus and his Church.

You’ve already hit a bit of the answer in your question. You said “I” would have difficulty doing the same thing over and over again, and that’s the thing. At Mass, we leave the “I” and the “me” behind; everything is given over to the service of the liturgy. Everything, from the fact that the priest and ministers vest, so the words and the movements. All of these point to the abandonment of self, the complete giving of the will over to that of the Church. Everything is done solely according to the prescriptions of the Church. It is their way of affirming that this is not their work they’re doing, but Christ’s.

 

[phil19034]

I highly recommend “The Mass” by Dr. Edward Sri.

You can buy it at Amazon here: amzn.to/1OMvxuT

Cradle Catholics sometimes have the same questions… The key is understanding WHY this is done and what the gestures and prayers actually mean.

Most, if not everything, we have in the Mass reflects the way the Jews worshiped in the Temple. The sanctuary reflects the Holy of Holies, there is a tabernacle, etc. A properly lit altar even provides 7 candles in the sanctuary (6 altar candle, plus the 1 tabernacle candle).

The vestments come from the Jewish priests (which you can see even closer in the Eastern Catholic (and Orthodox) Rites.

Again, I highly recommend the above book. It’s well written and a good introduction. It even has a study guide and video if you are interested.

God Bless

 

[otjm]

I highly recommend “The Mass” by Dr. Edward Sri.

You can buy it at Amazon here: amzn.to/1OMvxuT

Cradle Catholics sometimes have the same questions… The key is understanding WHY this is done and what the gestures and prayers actually mean.

Most, if not everything, we have in the Mass reflects the way the Jews worshiped in the Temple. The sanctuary reflects the Holy of Holies, there is a tabernacle, etc. A properly lit altar even provides 7 candles in the sanctuary (6 altar candle, plus the 1 tabernacle candle).

The vestments come from the Jewish priests (which you can see even closer in the Eastern Catholic (and Orthodox) Rites.

Again, I highly recommend the above book. It’s well written and a good introduction. It even has a study guide and video if you are interested.

God Bless

 

[littlestsouls2]

“For the Victim is one and the same, the same now offering by the ministry of priests, Who then offered Himself on the Cross, the manner alone of offering being different.”

• The Council of Trent

Because the Mass is Calvary, there is little room for change. Bl. Fulton Sheen wrote a great book about the Mass and how it relates to the Seven Last Words of Christ. He reminds us that each prayer of the Mass is profoundly important. Eternity will not suffice to fathom the wonders of the Mass!