Did nobody notice...?

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muffinmojo

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We complain about so much, and yet today the Holy Father celebrated an OF Mass ad orientem in the Sistine Chapel. This is only the second time the High Altar has been used there in more than 40 years.

Thanks be to God. 😃
 
muffinmojo said:
We complain about so much, and yet today the Holy Father celebrated an OF Mass ad orientem in the Sistine Chapel. This is only the second time the High Altar has been used there in more than 40 years.

Thanks be to God. 😃
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And you know who the first one to use it in 40 years was? It was none other than Pope Benedict XVI. I believe that he is going to do that every time he celebrates Mass at the Capella Sistena.
 
Which alas is not very often. Perhaps he will start celebrating his Masses which are not in St Peter’s ad orientem as well? I was looking forward to that on his US trip, but was disappointed.
 
it was nice to see this mass on TV I enjoyed it and thought his decision in the Cistine Chapel was good
 
muffinmojo said:
Which alas is not very often. Perhaps he will start celebrating his Masses which are not in St Peter’s ad orientem as well? I was looking forward to that on his US trip, but was disappointed.
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It is a little difficult to do that at St. Peter’s because it is, sort of, in the round, if you will. There are people behind him.

That is why whenever he does celebrate Mass, it is always with the crucifix in front of him, hence the seven-candle and crucifix “Benedictine” altar arrangement.
 
muffinmojo said:
We complain about so much, and yet today the Holy Father celebrated an OF Mass ad orientem in the Sistine Chapel. This is only the second time the High Altar has been used there in more than 40 years.

Thanks be to God. 😃
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Deo gratias indeed!

Now, let us pray he, when given the ability, says Mass ad orientam (while not at St. Peter’s, or any other place were ad orientam is also versus populum)!
 
He’s the Pope, who’s to tell him he can’t?

Actually, there’s nothing that says this cannot be done by any priest. I attended a Mass at a side altar in the Cathedral of Zamora, MichoacĂĄn, MĂ©xico, where there was little choice short of ripping the altar out of the wall.
 
Yes, I was hoping that after last year he would start celebrating ad orientem in all of his non-St Peter’s celebrations. Perhaps this year. 🙂
👍 👍 Go pope.
 
But more importantly, will his clergy follow his example?!. Or will they still do what their lay liturgical ministers want. You know those laity who have Masters, and Doctorates in Theology.
 
cthulhubryan said:
um, what is ad orientum?
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This is the posture the celebrant takes when he is “facing the Tabernacle/Crucifix” instead of facing the people. What some people mstakenly refer to as “turning his back towards the people”, Pope Benedict explains as “leading the people in prayer towards the Face of God.”
 
benedictgal said:
This is the posture the celebrant takes when he is “facing the Tabernacle/Crucifix” instead of facing the people. What some people mstakenly refer to as “turning his back towards the people”, Pope Benedict explains as “leading the people in prayer towards the Face of God.”
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Thank you. I understand the significance of the priest facing the Tabernacle, I just didn’t know it was called ad orientum
 
Are you sure about this? I could not find any source to corroborate it.

I did, however, find a couple of stories (here and here) describing him offering Mass ad orientem in the Sistine Chapel last year in January 2008.

Perhaps you read an archived story?
 
CoolRich59 said:
Are you sure about this? I could not find any source to corroborate it.

I did, however, find a couple of stories (here and here) describing him offering Mass ad orientem in the Sistine Chapel last year in January 2008.

Perhaps you read an archived story?
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He celebrated the Mass this past Sunday ad orientum at the Sistene Chapel.

As reported in Whispers in the Loggia this past Sunday:
People Look West
Keeping with the custom of the Popes on this feast of the Baptism of the Lord – the end of the Christmas season – this morning Benedict XVI baptized 13 infants at a Mass in the Sistine Chapel.
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As he did last year, the pontiff performed the Liturgy of the Eucharist in the versus Dei stance, using the landmark’s original stationary altar and facing the Michelangelo cruficix, his back turned to the congregation.
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While the “common orientation” is often referred to as ad orientem (“to the east”), in the Sistina, all were actually facing west – in St Peter’s, true ad orientem has likewise meant facing the congregation in the nave, which the Popes did even in the years prior to the Conciliar reforms that made free-standing altars the predominant liturgical setting.
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Incidentally, EWTN broadcast the Mass live last Sunday at 3AM (Texas time) with a replay at 11AM (Texas time). I saw it with my own eyes. It was, in fact, this year’s Mass.
 
Hehe i noticed that too! Isn’t it incredible how much we’ve come in His Holiness’ short papacy? The Pope celebrates ad orientem in the Sistine chapel and the new reports on it don’t even mention it 😃 They just talk about baptising babies.

*As in, I noticed that it wasn’t reported on this year like it was last year.
 
muffinmojo said:
We complain about so much, and yet today the Holy Father celebrated an OF Mass ad orientem in the Sistine Chapel. This is only the second time the High Altar has been used there in more than 40 years.

Thanks be to God. 😃
Click to expand...
What a shame.đŸ€· Well, nobody’s perfect.
 
muffinmojo said:
Which alas is not very often. Perhaps he will start celebrating his Masses which are not in St Peter’s ad orientem as well? I was looking forward to that on his US trip, but was disappointed.
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The Holy Father is a very wise man. Can you imagine the outrage and howls of indignation that would have erupted from the more progressive among us here in the States had he done such a thing? I can well imagine that several, well more than several Bishops nationwide would have had a fit over it not to mention the self proclaimed theology experts:rotfl: who occupy many of the teaching and managerial positions in some parishes.
 
One of our parish priests has announced that, going forward, he will be celebrating masses – daily and Sunday – ad orientem and wrote a very nice column answering questions that people had about it.

When discussing the matter, an elderly woman of the parish told me, in a conspiratorial whisper and with a big wink, “he wouldn’t be so eager to do it if the sound system was as bad as it used to be!”

So I guess modern innovations do have some good places in an old church. 😃
 
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