I agree.
If we have less physical participation in the Mass, we might be able to feel that our soul is doing more participation than our body is doing. This feeling could also increase the feeling of sacredness in the Mass as wesit still and participate with only our souls.
If anybody wants to give their opinion on my theory of how less lay participation would increase vocations to the priesthood, read post 27. Maybe it would also increase vocations to the religious life, who knows.
Bold is mine.
The losses in the religious life was something coming, regardless of the changes in liturgy. By 1950, it was very clear to almost every Major Superior that religious life had deviated from the wishes, vision and mission of the founders. Just a few important examples.
Many communities of women were founded to be teaching sisters. These sisters were to teach the poor. They were deliberately founded as sisters and not nuns. Had they been founded as communities of nuns, they would not have been able to teach. Nuns don’t do outside apostolatic work.
By the 1950s it became clear that the sisters had become nuns. They dressed like nuns. They followed the horarium of nuns. Their internal government had evolved into the same model as that of nuns. In addition, many Catholic schools had become middle class and upper class schools. Aside from the congregations that were founded to work with the wealthy, the other congregations were out of compliance. Their way of life and their work was not what the founder started.
Some communities of men, especially the Franciscans, were founded as brotherhoods. By the 1950s, they had ordained so many friars that everyone referred to them as the Francisan Fathers, not the Franciscan Friars or Franciscan Brothers. They had changed the government of the order contrary to the mind of Francis. Only priests could hold office. They had prohibitted the non ordained brothers from getting higher education and working in the apostolate. They reduced them to being servants. These friars cooked, cleaned, did laundry, took care of the house and begged to keep the ordained friars free to work in parishes. In essence, they had created two fraternities in one house. In some houses the non cleric friars did not know Latin, so they could not pray the Divine Office with the ordained friars. They could only pray the Office of the Our Fathers and they often had their own chapels and their own recreation rooms. In the refectory, they sat at their own table to eat… The ordained never washed a dish or picked up a piece of paper from the floor. After supper, they got up from the table and left their dirty dishes for the non ordained to pick up. This would have made Francis roll over in his grave had he seen it.
Most religious communities of men were founded to live poverty and to do specific ministries: preach, care for the sick and poor, teach, do outreach ministry and everything other than parish work. They required that they men live in communities with a shared life of prayer, meals, recreation, common disciplines. No one owned anything. No one acted without the permission of the superior of the hosue.
By the 1950s, most male religious were ordained priests and were serving in parishes. The parish is the proper domain of the diocesan bishop and secular clergy. Those religious who serve in parishes were to organize parish life around the life of the community, not the other way around.
We had religious who were living alone in parishes, with their own cars, bank accounts, a house to themselves where they came and went as they wished. They did not attend community functions, because the community was 50 miles away or there was too much going on in the parish. The laity loved it and even encouraged it. What the laity did not know was that they were supporting the death of religious life. How were they supposed to know this?
All of this had to be addressed. By the 1950s Major Superiors began to address these issues. Those men and women who had entered religious life in the 20th century, had no experience of the original vision. To them, it was ancient history. When they were commanded to return to their roots, they were hurt. They felt betrayed, because they had given their lives to the Church and were now being told that they were doing it wrong. They were not bad people. They simply entered religious life at a time when it was off track.
Many returned to the roots and abandoned the way of life that was familiar to them to go back to the original way of life and work. Others could not deal with it and they left. That was several thousand men and women.
Today, we’re seeing less relgious, as it should be. This way of life should not be the norm. It is a call for the few who can live according to the charism and vision of the religious institute.
Unfortunately, there were casualties. Some religious communities never got it right. They did not continue on the track they were on, nor were they able to get back to the original charism. They are still struggling. I believe, but I could be wrong, that they cannot get back to the original charism, because they have some strong dissenting voices among them. You know what they say about the squeeky wheel.
In any case, I wanted to point out that religious life had deviated long before the changes in the mass and the EF is not going to bring back the Franciscans of the 13th century or the Dominican Sisters of the 19th century. There are steps that must be taken by us the religious and it’s happening. There are many new branches of old communities. These new branches are restoring the old charism.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
