The book mentioned in the first post explains how the physical constuct of these placed kind of spread throughout the Catholic Church. It seems the Holy Father is a big believer in the symbolism of the priest joining with the congregation in facing liturgical east. He sure sold me on it. I kind of anticipated that this would be one of the changes he might implement. I guess he still might.
Codefro, since I see you are in the D. of O., might I invite you to slum on out to the IE sometime and attend Mass at San Secondo d’Asti in Guasti (Ontario)? The priest indeed faces away from the people, and I believe he faces due East, if I’m not mistaken. Plus- you will see no shorts, low-cut blouses, t-shirts, chatting before Mass, holding hands during the Pater Noster, rambunctious hand shaking during the “Sign of Peace” (in fact the sign of peace is omitted), and you will find great reverence, prayers after the Missa, the most reverent OF masses as well as twice weekly EF Mass, and- confession before every single Mass.
Old Guard or not, most Catholics prefer the priest face the people. The complaints would come from all over. That is the reality of the thing. The rest is wishful thinking. And no, this says nothing about my preference.
Yes, that would be interesting, in 2012. There wasn’t much of a roar when a new mass was introduced in 1970. I wonder would people apostasise? Probably not(?) Set up a Society of Paul VI? Travel 90 miles to an OF offered in the ‘old’ way?Old Guard or not, most Catholics prefer the priest face the people. The complaints would come from all over. That is the reality of the thing. The rest is wishful thinking. And no, this says nothing about my preference.
Catholics today want the Mass in their language, and they want the priest facing them. Those who do not are a small minority. That’s just the way it is and there is very little prospect of it changing. It would be a roar heard around the world.
I can understand complaints over moving away from the vernacular, but why would there be a roar over the priest facing the altar?Old Guard or not, most Catholics prefer the priest face the people. The complaints would come from all over. That is the reality of the thing. The rest is wishful thinking. And no, this says nothing about my preference.
Catholics today want the Mass in their language, and they want the priest facing them. Those who do not are a small minority. That’s just the way it is and there is very little prospect of it changing. It would be a roar heard around the world.
I’ve heard this correlation. And also, I’ve heard this explanation… When the leader of a group of people is bringing the concerns of the people to the “boss”, the leader wouldn’t turn his back to his boss and bring those concerns to him would he? I don’t know… call me old fashioned, but to me, it seems more of an afront.
Was there such an immediate global roar in opposition to the many innovations and changes that have been introduced since the OF came into use?
For something like this to be uniformly installed, obviously a lot of warning and time for instruction would be provided. I don’t think it would be a change that occurs the next day. Ya people will be upset, but I doubt The emotions would last long.Old Guard or not, most Catholics prefer the priest face the people. The complaints would come from all over. That is the reality of the thing. The rest is wishful thinking. And no, this says nothing about my preference.
Catholics today want the Mass in their language, and they want the priest facing them. Those who do not are a small minority. That’s just the way it is and there is very little prospect of it changing. It would be a roar heard around the world.
Actually, in that link the Holy Father is facing the nave and the congregation. It is literally east, but most would not consider it “ad orientem,” in the special sense which is generally meant in these discussions, because the congregation is not looking at his back. The photograph happens to have been taken from behind him, in the apse of the basilica; which is possible because the high altar is freestanding and not attached to any sort of wall or reredos.For what it’s worth, here’s a picture of an instance where Pope Benedict is celebrating the Mass ad orientem. I’ve no idea if this is the usual for him, or if this is just a special occasion. Kinda cool, anyway.
catholicknight.blogspot.com/2011/02/reform-of-novus-ordo-mass.html
I am not sure that I agree. In which basilica was this photo taken? It is not St. Peter’s.
Of course it does. It reveals a series of assumptions that you have made. This, in turn, reveals a bias in favor of the assumptions. :tsktsk:
I don’t have time to dig up the history of “ad orientem” now, but I assure you it goes back nearly to the beginning and the ancient in Rome didn’t face the people, because when the church was built laypeople didn’t gather in the nave yet. Mass “facing the people” came mostly from special liturgies for religious orders in the Middle Ages. I’ll share some book recommendations later, if I find time.
It seems like everyone wants every speaker facing him in his language, unless the speaker is using some chalk board or demonstating something. One very seldom sees the backs of talking heads on TV. Just saying in general, not denigrating priests. It’s just a paradigm in our culture.
You’re mistaken, I’m afraid. Go here (St Peter’s virtual tour), try link #2 (from the altar), and turn around until you are facing the nave – you’ll easily be able to identify the setting, if nothing else from the words “T SOLVTVM - ET IN COEL” over the front doors.
