African Mass at St. Olaf's in Downtown Minneapolis

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Minneapolis and Minnesota are rarely thought of as centers of African or African-American culture. But St. Olaf’s parish in downtown Minneapolis makes an attempt to rectify that perception.

It has sister parishes in Africa and on the third Sunday of each month, an African Mass is held at noon with participation by Catholics from many African countries who have moved permanently or temporarily to Minnesota.

If you are going to be in town on one of those days, you might want to fulfill your obligation by visiting St. Olaf’s and gaining some experience on how God has revealed Himself to various peoples on the African continent.

The Mass is the Novus Ordo. What makes the difference is the wonderful music, and dare I say it, a little bit of liturgical dance.

Songs and readings done today were in the following languages: Mina and Lingala (Togo), Swahili (Kenya), Twe (Ghana), Igbo and Yoruba (Nigeria), English and French. Even though the words are projected on the wall on either side of the altar, it can be difficult to sing in a foreign language; but clapping as accompaniment :clapping: by the congregation is encouraged.

The “liturgical dance” :dancing: is limited to the entrance procession and the presentation of the gifts, including a procession of the entire congregation as they personally “dance” towards the altar to drop their envelopes in a basket. Admittedly the dancing of the white folks is not very inspiring. 😃 That of the native Africans, especially the native women who dress to the nines, though, contributes a lot to the beauty and inspiration of the Mass. 👍
 
If I were African, I would say “that sounds like home to me”, but I’m not- I am American, and my cultural influence is heavily European.

I don’t go to Mass for a multicultural experience. I go to Mass to worship God, to be present for the greatest thing ever- the Sacrifice of the Mass, and if I am so blessed as to be in a state of grace, to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion.
 
Ray Marshall:
Minneapolis and Minnesota are rarely thought of as centers of African or African-American culture. But St. Olaf’s parish in downtown Minneapolis makes an attempt to rectify that perception.

The Mass is the Novus Ordo. What makes the difference is the wonderful music, and dare I say it, a little bit of liturgical dance.

Songs and readings done today were in the following languages: Mina and Lingala (Togo), Swahili (Kenya), Twe (Ghana), Igbo and Yoruba (Nigeria), English and French. Even though the words are projected on the wall on either side of the altar, it can be difficult to sing in a foreign language; but clapping as accompaniment :clapping: by the congregation is encouraged.

The “liturgical dance” :dancing: is limited to the entrance procession and the presentation of the gifts, including a procession of the entire congregation as they personally “dance” towards the altar to drop their envelopes in a basket. Admittedly the dancing of the white folks is not very inspiring. 😃 That of the native Africans, especially the native women who dress to the nines, though, contributes a lot to the beauty and inspiration of the Mass. 👍
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The outright hypocrisy. I try to be fair, and try to give everyone who truly worships the benefit of the doubt. I have never tried to force my admittedly traditional beliefs down anyones’s throat. But I am stunned and amazed by this post. Eight languages in one mass. Eight. And there might have been someone there who didn’t understand any of them. Lots of Hispanics, Germans and Poles in Minneapolis.

But you can’t use Latin because it’s hard to understand. People might not be able to participate fully and actively in a mass where they cannot understand every word. Wasn’t that one of Vatican II’s reasons for going to the vernacular? I guess it’s all right though. In the interest of a good time being had by all we can clap along and sing in an equally unknown language or languages…

And the old Soul Train routine of dancing down between the aisles must have been truly inspiring.

I’m sorry, and if I have offended anyone please forgive my ignorance and non-political correctness. When one of the very reasons that a basic beautiful element of the Holy Mass was changed,inability to understand a foreign language, is held up and glorified as a splendid example of diversity, I feel as if a steel band is constricting around my heart.

Maybe the sedevacantists were right all along. Maybe the whole Vatican II experience was an attempt to destroy the Roman Catholic faith.

I pray to All Mighty God that was not the case.

MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS HAVE MERCY ON US
MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS HAVE MERCY ON US
MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS HAVE MERCY ON US
 
Ray Marshall:
Minneapolis and Minnesota are rarely thought of as centers of African or African-American culture. But St. Olaf’s parish in downtown Minneapolis makes an attempt to rectify that perception.

It has sister parishes in Africa and on the third Sunday of each month, an African Mass is held at noon with participation by Catholics from many African countries who have moved permanently or temporarily to Minnesota.

If you are going to be in town on one of those days, you might want to fulfill your obligation by visiting St. Olaf’s and gaining some experience on how God has revealed Himself to various peoples on the African continent.

The Mass is the Novus Ordo. What makes the difference is the wonderful music, and dare I say it, a little bit of liturgical dance.

Songs and readings done today were in the following languages: Mina and Lingala (Togo), Swahili (Kenya), Twe (Ghana), Igbo and Yoruba (Nigeria), English and French. Even though the words are projected on the wall on either side of the altar, it can be difficult to sing in a foreign language; but clapping as accompaniment :clapping: by the congregation is encouraged.

The “liturgical dance” :dancing: is limited to the entrance procession and the presentation of the gifts, including a procession of the entire congregation as they personally “dance” towards the altar to drop their envelopes in a basket. Admittedly the dancing of the white folks is not very inspiring. 😃 That of the native Africans, especially the native women who dress to the nines, though, contributes a lot to the beauty and inspiration of the Mass. 👍
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No offense but…sure glad i missed out on that!
 
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palmas85:
I guess it’s all right though. In the interest of a good time being had by all we can clap along and sing in an equally unknown language or languages…
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You hit the nail on the head. The major problem with these goofy “innovative” Masses is that they’re a celebration of PEOPLE and not GOD.

As a side note, however, please don’t go along with the sedevacant types . . . I know it’s a frustrating and difficult time to be a faithful Catholic right now. I feel the way you do a lot. But we MUST remain loyal to the Church! After all, where do we go? We need to stay and bring the Church back from the inside. Not to mention that apostasy is a mortal sin ;). Just pray and trust in Our Lord. He didn’t lie . . . the gates of hell WILL NOT prevail. It may take years and years, but remain faithful.
 
Boy, I really pity the attitudes of you folks. Please pray that you never get transferred to a job where you will have to work in Latvia or Borneo or Nunavut.

Of course you will be able to speak the native language within
weeks because you are so brilliant. Or won’t you.

Should the Church abandon its immigrant children because they don’t speak the language of their new home. Or should we make the people of the new home learn Swahili?

The world would be so much less complicated if everybody could just speak English when they were born.

You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. More than that, you ought to realize that the U.S. Catholic Church of 60 million is about 6 per cent of the world wide membership of the Catholic Church. Do you understand fractions?

Wise up people. The vast majority of the Catholic Church speaks Spanish, French or one of the various African languages.

We English speakers are a very decided minority.

Come to St. Olaf’s some 3rd Sunday of the month and find out how the rest of the world celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
 
Ray Marshall:
Boy, I really pity the attitudes of you folks. Please pray that you never get transferred to a job where you will have to work in Latvia or Borneo or Nunavut.

Of course you will be able to speak the native language within
weeks because you are so brilliant. Or won’t you.

Should the Church abandon its immigrant children because they don’t speak the language of their new home. Or should we make the people of the new home learn Swahili?

The world would be so much less complicated if everybody could just speak English when they were born.

You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. More than that, you ought to realize that the U.S. Catholic Church of 60 million is about 6 per cent of the world wide membership of the Catholic Church. Do you understand fractions?

Wise up people. The vast majority of the Catholic Church speaks Spanish, French or one of the various African languages.

We English speakers are a very decided minority.

Come to St. Olaf’s some 3rd Sunday of the month and find out how the rest of the world celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
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Couldn’t have said it better :clapping:
 
Unfortunatly like many parishes they are more of a celebration of ourselves than of God. The Holy Father spoke about this in one of his first homilies as Pope.

The Mass, like our lives, must be Christ centered!!!
 
Why not try using the universal language of the Church? Rome still uses it for its’ official business. Instead of trying to make everything comfortable and perfect for everybody, why not use the formula that worked for almost 2,000 years? The Church sure seemed to be in a lot better shape when they did than it is now. Just my opinion.

And guess what, . Maybe we don’t really need to be mesmerized and entertained throughout he Mass. Maybe we don’t need to be immersed in multiculturalism in the Mass. Maybe just maybe, faith is what we need, not dancing, not clapping not singing not multiculturalism at all. I always thought the Mass was a sacrifice and a remembrance of God, not a celebration of ethnicity Maybe being in the presence of God, worshiping and adoring him is enough. Maybe, but maybe not.

Maybe you need to experience multiculturalism in your worship… Maybe to you the Mass has no meaning besides what you put into it for entertainment sake.Maybe in your theology God is second to everything else. The real pupose in coming to Mass is to experience the variety of worldly cultures and earthly delights.

As for me, the Holy Mass is to honor worship praise and adore God. To experience God who transcends all other things. When I worship the center is God, not a good road show or cute dancers or jugglers or sword swallowers or anything else. God alone is what matters…

I was taught as a young man that life is fleeting but God is eternal. Man dies, but God exists forever, the Earth and everything on it will wither and turn to dust, but not God. Where did people ever get the idea they were the center of the Universe and not God?

My friend don’t pity me. Just look at me and laugh at an anachronism. A relic from a bygone era, someone who cannot possibly be as smart, as worldly, as suave and cool as you are. No, just have a good laugh. But don’t pity me.

COR JESU SACRATISSIMUM MISERE NOBIS
 
Ray Marshall:
Boy, I really pity the attitudes of you folks. Please pray that you never get transferred to a job where you will have to work in Latvia or Borneo or Nunavut.

Of course you will be able to speak the native language within
weeks because you are so brilliant. Or won’t you.

Should the Church abandon its immigrant children because they don’t speak the language of their new home. Or should we make the people of the new home learn Swahili?

The world would be so much less complicated if everybody could just speak English when they were born.
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The Church is not abandoning its “immigrant children” simply because they have moved to another country which speaks a different language. The mass is still available, albeit in the language of the country.

When I go to Mexico, I do not expect people there to adapt to me - rather I adapt to the languages and customs of Mexico. Same with every other country I’ve lived in. I’m moving to Italy soon, and am slogging through my Pimsleur language CD’s so that I have a basic knowledge of Italian. I don’t expect to go to mass in Italy and hear it in eight different languages! I expect to hear it in Italian.

I don’t understand why the United States has to adapt to every bleeding country on earth, just because people from there decide to move here. :mad:
 
St. Olaf is a very good solid parish. Fr. Tiffany tells it like it is and the noon Mass is rebroadcast on Relevant Radio 3 days a week (M, Th, F at 9:30 pm).

For a while, St. Olaf had an African associate priest but currantly only has two priests. Fr. Pavlik currently the only associate pastor.

Historically there have been parishes built for all the various ethnic groups that emigrated here. In fact in many parts of the country you can find Catholic Churches on opposite street corners because they were built by different ethnic groups. Yes, they both may have used Latin but the homilies would have been preached in the venacular.

Even today there remain ethnic (Latin Rite) Churches that use varying degrees of different languages. There are Polish parishes, Korean parishes, French parishes, German parishes, Spanish parishes and so forth. How many parishes have both a Spanish and English Mass? I have never heard people criticize that.

Celebration of the Mass in other languages is great. Use of Latin should also be encouraged so that Masses can be seen as the same Mass celebrated all over the world. This does not mean that everything needs to be in Latin.

We should be very careful to not say that anything different is not orthodox. We should celebrate the differences between cultures, although the truth must be the same. Catholic morals and principles are (and should be) the same in all cultures but the values and expression of these principles will be different because every ethnic group interpets throught their own cultural perspective.

St. Olaf is doing a lot of great work and the African Mass is a great ministry. Personally I want the opportunity to attend Masses in other languages to experience the reality of the universal Church.

Steve
 
Ray Marshall:
Minneapolis and Minnesota are rarely thought of as centers of African or African-American culture. But St. Olaf’s parish in downtown Minneapolis makes an attempt to rectify that perception.

It has sister parishes in Africa and on the third Sunday of each month, an African Mass is held at noon with participation by Catholics from many African countries who have moved permanently or temporarily to Minnesota.

If you are going to be in town on one of those days, you might want to fulfill your obligation by visiting St. Olaf’s and gaining some experience on how God has revealed Himself to various peoples on the African continent.

The Mass is the Novus Ordo. What makes the difference is the wonderful music, and dare I say it, a little bit of liturgical dance.

Songs and readings done today were in the following languages: Mina and Lingala (Togo), Swahili (Kenya), Twe (Ghana), Igbo and Yoruba (Nigeria), English and French. Even though the words are projected on the wall on either side of the altar, it can be difficult to sing in a foreign language; but clapping as accompaniment :clapping: by the congregation is encouraged.

The “liturgical dance” :dancing: is limited to the entrance procession and the presentation of the gifts, including a procession of the entire congregation as they personally “dance” towards the altar to drop their envelopes in a basket. Admittedly the dancing of the white folks is not very inspiring. 😃 That of the native Africans, especially the native women who dress to the nines, though, contributes a lot to the beauty and inspiration of the Mass. 👍
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I am happy that I was not there. If that offends, well… I offend people in another way also. I would like to have the Tridentine Mass. That seems to offend most of the people in our church. I wonder if they would be offended by this Mass that made all of the People feel good. I always thought Mass was intended to worship God instead of dance and clap with you neighbor. I guess we really are a progressive church.
 
Does Jesus Christ only speak and understand English?

Where did I say that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, celebrated somewhat like it is being done in various countries in Africa, is not Christ centered?

In the Twin Cities, Mass is celebrated weekly in Spanish, Polish, Vietnamese, Hmong, Korean, Ukrainian, and in the Maronite rite. Is that wrong?

Several parishes use sign language interpreters to communicate with hearing impaired parishioners and visitors. Would that be permissable?
 
Ray Marshall:
Does Jesus Christ only speak and understand English?

Where did I say that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, celebrated somewhat like it is being done in various countries in Africa, is not Christ centered?

In the Twin Cities, Mass is celebrated weekly in Spanish, Polish, Vietnamese, Hmong, Korean, Ukrainian, and in the Maronite rite. Is that wrong?

Several parishes use sign language interpreters to communicate with hearing impaired parishioners and visitors. Would that be permissable?
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Just what is the population of black African immigrants in the Twin Cities area? Are the numbers enough that there is great demand for masses in “Mina and Lingala (Togo), Swahili (Kenya), Twe (Ghana), Igbo and Yoruba (Nigeria)”? If not, just why are these masses occurring? Just for the entertainment of the laity? A good time and fulfill your Sunday obligation at the same time?
 
I do not like African priests. Therefore I would not attend an African Mass if I knew about it in advance. It is just not for me.
 
Seeing some of the responses about the African Mass I’m a little troubled by a couple of things. First, I am not troubled at all by these Masses, I thing that are the right and proper thing to do (of coarse under the permission of their Bishop). I wouldn’t go to one except under special circumstances but that’s because I’m able to fully participate in the Liturgies I attend and I think I would feel out of place at that particular celebration. However, the criticism I am seeing seems to me to be rooted in an imcomplete understanding of the meaning of liturgy. Yes the Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of Calvary however this sacrifice take place in the context of our communal worship of the Father, united as a community (people) with Chist’s Paschal Sacrifice. The point being the Mass is Communal by nature (if you doubt me on this please look up the origins of the word Liturgy) Why should any of us complain if this parish is providing a scheduled celebration of the Eucharist Liturgy for some of our brothers and sister in Christ - especially if one, like myself has no intention of participating (which means of caorse some day I’ll probrably be there) Isn’t the root of our Catholic Faith ministering to other’s needs? (If not why did Jesus wash his Disciples’ feet and more important die for us?) I would think a good catholic would be happy seeing the Church provide this ministry of Hospitality in the truest sense of the word as found in scripture (tending to the needs of a Christian Pilgram.I think it would do well for those who criticize this Mass to reflect and ask yourself if whether or not your opposition in not rooted in the feelings your spiritual needs are not being met (ie no Trinitine Mass)?
 
One of the main points addressed in the initial post was the beauty of the Liturgical Dance, which was inferred to be part of APPROVED Mass conduct in Africa. The following is a verbatim statement from Cardinal Arinze on the subject, who you may recall is African himself.

There has never been a document from our Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments saying that dance is approved in the Mass.

The question of dance is difficult and delicate. However, it is good to know that the tradition of the Latin Church has not known the dance. It is something that people are introducing in the last ten years – or twenty years. It was not always so. Now it is spreading like wildfire, one can say, in all the continents – some more than others. In my own continent, Africa, it is spreading. In Asia, it is spreading.

Now, some priests and lay people think that Mass is never complete without dance. The difficulty is this: we come to Mass primarily to adore God – what we call the vertical dimension. We do not come to Mass to entertain one another. That’s not the purpose of Mass. The parish hall is for that.

So all those that want to entertain us – after Mass, let us go to the parish hall and then you can dance. And then we clap. But when we come to Mass we don’t come to clap. We don’t come to watch people, to admire people. We want to adore God, to thank Him, to ask Him pardon for our sins, and to ask Him for what we need.

I believe that the Cardinal makes the point better than anyone else could. The dance does not belong in the Mass. One more in the list of abuses that the Mass suffers from. And look what else the Cardinal says, the Mass is not for entertainment. Imagine that, the Mass is not for entertainment. I thank God there are still Cardinals, Bishops and Priests who know what the Catholic faith is all about.
 
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