Re-turning to the Lord. A Call for Ad Orientem Worship

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A Catholic priest’s experience with ad orientem worship.

“In my own life, I have tried to put these teachings into practice. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, I expanded ad orientem from the principal Sunday Mass to every Mass at our parish. It is now firmly established here at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. I sincerely thank God for this blessing. Having several uninterrupted months of “turning to the Lord” at holy Mass has been one of the great blessings of my life. Though my own imperfections remain, ad orientem is deepening my union with God and helping me to pray the Mass with more recollection and devotion.”

Full essay is here
 
JimG said:
A Catholic priest’s experience with ad orientem worship.

“In my own life, I have tried to put these teachings into practice. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, I expanded ad orientem from the principal Sunday Mass to every Mass at our parish. It is now firmly established here at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. I sincerely thank God for this blessing. Having several uninterrupted months of “turning to the Lord” at holy Mass has been one of the great blessings of my life. Though my own imperfections remain, ad orientem is deepening my union with God and helping me to pray the Mass with more recollection and devotion.”

Full essay is here
Click to expand...
The fact that this article was written for a magazine whose readers’ comments on the article are along the lines of calling the Holy Father “Pope Soros,” naming a number of cardinals as “heretics,” etc., frankly undercuts what value this might have had for me.
 
Where’s the like button?

One can see above when I swam the Tiber, so all I’ve ever known is OF versus populum. I have been to some OF Masses (at the OLAM Shrine) where more than the usual amount of Latin was used, but those were still versus populum. I’ve been to one EF Mass; it was unamplified, with the prayers sung in a very slurred manner by a small group of nuns, so it wasn’t a particularly edifying exercise, other than being present for the Eucharist.

I like the idea of ad orientem, and I would not object to a return to the EF, but I want to be able to hear the priest and follow in the “script”.
 
The one thing that changes in ad orientum is that the entirety of those in attendance are focusing through posture and spirit on Christ. While many focus on Christ with the Priest facing the congregation, it forms a closed circle in which people naturally focus attention on the Priest.

Having attended or participated in solely ad orientum for the past 6 years, I’ve attended 2 funerals recently where the Mass was said towards the people. The difference was dramatic in the whole experience. At one point I looked at the Priest and over his shoulder saw the tabernacle and crucifix. With full Eucharistic understanding that Christ was becoming present during the consecration, it seemed like Christ was “out there” looking at us “in here”.

PAX
 
DaveBj said:
Where’s the like button?

One can see above when I swam the Tiber, so all I’ve ever known is OF versus populum. I have been to some OF Masses (at the OLAM Shrine) where more than the usual amount of Latin was used, but those were still versus populum. I’ve been to one EF Mass; it was unamplified, with the prayers sung in a very slurred manner by a small group of nuns, so it wasn’t a particularly edifying exercise, other than being present for the Eucharist.

I like the idea of ad orientem, and I would not object to a return to the EF, but I want to be able to hear the priest and follow in the “script”.
Click to expand...
You’ll notice in many older churches the altar is placed in a half round vestibule which is circular on top. Called an Apse these were, in part, meant to project the Priests voice back towards the congregation. It is amazing the level of amplification some of these create.

They are not seen or built into the design of many churches from the 1960’s and later.
 
Get the book The Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.

"Five years before he became Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger wrote that, notwithstanding various liturgical innovations, “one thing has remained clear for the whole of Christendom: praying towards the east is a tradition that goes back to the beginning.” As he wrote in The Spirit of the Liturgy:
Code: 
"The common turning toward the east was not a “celebration toward the wall;” it did not mean that the priest “had his back to the people.” . . . For just as the congregation in the synagogue looked together toward Jerusalem, so in the Christian liturgy the congregation looked together “toward the Lord.” . . . They did not close themselves into a circle; they did not gaze at one another; but as the pilgrim People of God they set off for the Oriens, for the Christ who comes to meet us."
Ed
 
DaveBj said:
Where’s the like button?

One can see above when I swam the Tiber, so all I’ve ever known is OF versus populum. I have been to some OF Masses (at the OLAM Shrine) where more than the usual amount of Latin was used, but those were still versus populum. I’ve been to one EF Mass; it was unamplified, with the prayers sung in a very slurred manner by a small group of nuns, so it wasn’t a particularly edifying exercise, other than being present for the Eucharist.

I like the idea of ad orientem, and I would not object to a return to the EF, but I want to be able to hear the priest and follow in the “script”.
Click to expand...
Per Council of Trent (Session 22) the nature of the liturgy is such that some parts are said submissa voce and others are not.

Versus populum or cum populo or ad orientem isn’t mentioned.
 
Indeed.

Liturgically, I have never turned away from Him or had the perception of being turned from Him. In fact, it is not possible from a physical perspective, Spiritually, mentally, emotionally, yes. Physically, no

In whatever direction the altar faces, I am always squarely turned toward Him. Whether those assisting at the Mass at which I preside are in front of me, behind me, beside me, above me, below me, or surrounding me, I am quite facing Him.
 
JimG said:
A Catholic priest’s experience with ad orientem worship.

“In my own life, I have tried to put these teachings into practice. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, I expanded ad orientem from the principal Sunday Mass to every Mass at our parish. It is now firmly established here at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. I sincerely thank God for this blessing. Having several uninterrupted months of “turning to the Lord” at holy Mass has been one of the great blessings of my life. Though my own imperfections remain, ad orientem is deepening my union with God and helping me to pray the Mass with more recollection and devotion.”

Full essay is here
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing. Very nice.
 
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SteveLy:
You’ll notice in many older churches the altar is placed in a half round vestibule which is circular on top. Called an Apse these were, in part, meant to project the Priests voice back towards the congregation. It is amazing the level of amplification some of these create.

They are not seen or built into the design of many churches from the 1960’s and later.

Ours is one of those churches, built in the early 20th century.
 
I almost always go to the Ordinary Form, priest facing people. I am not troubled by this. But I have a problem with people who talk non stop about diversity, as in, the Church must be open to various cultural expressions and music, a variety of different ways of worshiping God, etc, etc. We cannot, we cannot, in any way overlook some ethnic religious expression from this or that continent, often from another century, that other good Christians or non-Christians used to worship God.

OK, I get that, I respect them all.

But let anyone suggest parishes offer the option of Ad Orientem, or the EF, which a billion or so Catholics including my own ancestors, and even I as a child used, all the time: then the Diversity Committee disappears, and aroused alarmists come out of the woodwork, with cries that “They are trying to bring back the Inquisition, torture of Jews, Muslims and liberals, repeal of Vatican II and the Magna Carta, Suppression of Laity everywhere, They want to crush the humanity out of the Church, make us unfeeling robots with the Ad Orientem and Latin Mass thing. Alarm, Alarm!”

What makes me take a closer look at this Ad Orientem thing is the incredible reaction against it, so out of proportion. Hmm, maybe there** is** something there.
 
I am the same age as the Missal of Paul VI, so it is the only Mass I know.
My father & his family, however, were Episcopalian.

Growing up I spent time in both Churches. For me, ad orientum worship, and kneeling for communion are not Catholic expressions of faith, but Protestant ones.

It was not until I was much older, and studying theology that I understood the whole Anglican split and it’s effects on Christianity, so I know that both things are decidedly Catholic. But to me, they do not “feel” that way, and remind me more of the time I spent away from the one, true Church. :sad_yes:
 
Oneofthewomen said:
I am the same age as the Missal of Paul VI, so it is the only Mass I know.
My father & his family, however, were Episcopalian.

Growing up I spent time in both Churches. For me, ad orientum worship, and kneeling for communion are not Catholic expressions of faith, but Protestant ones.

It was not until I was much older, and studying theology that I understood the whole Anglican split and it’s effects on Christianity, so I know that both things are decidedly Catholic. But to me, they do not “feel” that way, and remind me more of the time I spent away from the one, true Church. :sad_yes:
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what is the Anglican split you refer to and its effects on Christianity?
I believe Anglicans and Episcopalians still have altar rails do they not?
 
JimG said:
A Catholic priest’s experience with ad orientem worship.

“In my own life, I have tried to put these teachings into practice. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, I expanded ad orientem from the principal Sunday Mass to every Mass at our parish. It is now firmly established here at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. I sincerely thank God for this blessing. Having several uninterrupted months of “turning to the Lord” at holy Mass has been one of the great blessings of my life. Though my own imperfections remain, ad orientem is deepening my union with God and helping me to pray the Mass with more recollection and devotion.”

Full essay is here
Click to expand...
Very wonderful article. Thank you for sharing. I ( and many other Catholics I know) pray more priests will do the same.

It also has many great spiritual points for us all to remember during this season of Lent.
 
7_Sorrows said:
what is the Anglican split you refer to and its effects on Christianity?
I believe Anglicans and Episcopalians still have altar rails do they not?
Click to expand...
I am talking about the actual split when Henry VIII, left the Catholic Church and the reasons behind it. They were not “religious” reasons, they were all about powe & politics. Once I learned & understood the history it made sense t o me why some “high Church” Anglican/episcopal services where so much like our Catholic Mass.

And yes, most Episcoplal (in America, Anglican just about everywhere else) churchs have altar rails.
 
One thing lost in recent years is our Sense of Direction. Yes, I know this is less important than some other things, like love, but something good has been lost. It used to be when you walked into a Catholic Church you immediately knew where the tabernacle was. Now, if the church is new or renovated, I have to look around for awhile. Often the tabernacle is in one direction, the main crucifix, if one exists at all, is in another direction, the very visible music group is in still another direction, and the priest is very prominent, at an angle to everyone else. And in some churches, they slant the pews so I WILL look at people facing me, too.

Ad orientem means the priest sometimes turns towards us, and for a different purpose, sometimes joins us in facing East, or towards God. Sometimes the priest is representing God, to us; and sometimes the priest is representing us, towards God.

Yes, I know God is everywhere, yes, I know a prayerful heart is more important than “direction”, but still, direction is valuable. Some separate good things have been blurred, or smushed together, so some helpful distinctions are forgotten.
 
I found this one of the more illogical, ill-thought and misleading articles I have ever read on the subject. Don’t get me wrong. I like the idea of ad orientem and see some advantages (and disadvantages) to it. However, the article keeps using the analogy, and even the direct stating that returning to ad orientem is repentance. This is absurd. There is** zero** sin in saying Mass the way the Catholic Church says Mass the majority of the time. His explanation of gnosticism also was wrong. The Church did nothing remotely gnostic by allowing Mass to be said toward the people. This is something he made up to throw a boogie man in the mix.

Also, surprised a priest would miss this, when a priest says Mass and faces the people, he still faces the altar, and thus faces the Lord. The Lord is present on the altar and both the people and the priest face the altar. There is no more need to “re-turn” than there is to spin in circles.

I just noticed this is in “Crisis” magazine. I think of this the way I do of the need for repentance. If this is what constitutes crisis, the Church must be nearly perfected. Likewise, if this is what constitutes a need for repentance, then sin must be close to being ended.
 
commenter said:
I almost always go to the Ordinary Form, priest facing people. I am not troubled by this. But I have a problem with people who talk non stop about diversity, as in, the Church must be open to various cultural expressions and music, a variety of different ways of worshiping God, etc, etc. We cannot, we cannot, in any way overlook some ethnic religious expression from this or that continent, often from another century, that other good Christians or non-Christians used to worship God.

OK, I get that, I respect them all.

But let anyone suggest parishes offer the option of Ad Orientem, or the EF, which a billion or so Catholics including my own ancestors, and even I as a child used, all the time: then the Diversity Committee disappears, and aroused alarmists come out of the woodwork, with cries that “They are trying to bring back the Inquisition, torture of Jews, Muslims and liberals, repeal of Vatican II and the Magna Carta, Suppression of Laity everywhere, They want to crush the humanity out of the Church, make us unfeeling robots with the Ad Orientem and Latin Mass thing. Alarm, Alarm!”

What makes me take a closer look at this Ad Orientem thing is the incredible reaction against it, so out of proportion. Hmm, maybe there** is** something there.
Click to expand...
I’ve noticed the same thing. Ad Orientem means something as far as worship and people wanted it to continue, as Pope Benedict wrote. However, when versus populum was introduced, I obeyed Holy Mother Church. It’s the other “changes” - arbitrary changes, I objected to, as Pope Benedict referred to.

There was a time when Pope Benedict celebrated Mass wearing old vestments. A prominent Church dissident accused him of “Wanting to bring the Church back to the Middle Ages.”

Ed
 
pnewton said:
I found this one of the more illogical, ill-thought and misleading articles I have ever read on the subject. Don’t get me wrong. I like the idea of ad orientem and see some advantages (and disadvantages) to it. However, the article keeps using the analogy, and even the direct stating that returning to ad orientem is repentance. This is absurd. There is** zero** sin in saying Mass the way the Catholic Church says Mass the majority of the time. His explanation of gnosticism also was wrong. The Church did nothing remotely gnostic by allowing Mass to be said toward the people. This is something he made up to throw a boogie man in the mix.

Also, surprised a priest would miss this, when a priest says Mass and faces the people, he still faces the altar, and thus faces the Lord. The Lord is present on the altar and both the people and the priest face the altar. There is no more need to “re-turn” than there is to spin in circles.

I just noticed this is in “Crisis” magazine. I think of this the way I do of the need for repentance. If this is what constitutes crisis, the Church must be nearly perfected. Likewise, if this is what constitutes a need for repentance, then sin must be close to being ended.
Click to expand...
I don’t think he is saying there is sin in saying Mass facing the people. He says both ways are valid, but there are some additional values in ad orientem. He is not saying it is gnostic in intent to always face the people. But the gnostics were human, some were Christians like us, and we are subject to making some of the same mistakes they made. (I like C. S. Lewis’ description of liturgy, that it is good to kneel at **this **time, and another posture at **that **time; it is good the priest faces us (Anglicans) at this time, and the other way that time.) There is a purpose to this, just as there is a purpose to the priest facing us sometimes, and not other times.

Christ is not present in the altar per se. It is a holy place, a sacramental. But Christ is most specifically in the Blessed Sacrament, though in a way also present in the altar, the Bible, and the person of the priest himself. In any event, the priest is referring to pre-1965 churches, which still have another altar the ad orientem priest is facing anyway.

One could say there is no “sin” in saying Mass in an auditorium with no religious symbols visible, no music. But if you have a choice, it might be preferable to say Mass with a visible cross, images of Mary and the saints, and scenes related to salvation, and music. The priest is talking about what is preferable.
 
pnewton said:
I The Lord is present on the altar and both the people and the priest face the altar. There is no more need to “re-turn” than there is to spin in circles.
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Indeed, and the consecration with the priest facing the people was not a Vatican II “innovation”. It has been the way things were done for a long time in certain religious communities where the community aspect was emphasized (think Benedictines). Moreover, I have a 1935 Ceremonial where it clearly indicates the protocol to follow for a versus populum Mass, in cases where the altar is between he choir and the nave, and the priest faces the nave. In that case the mass is versus populum for the people, but away from the people for the choir (which in many communities and cathedral chapters can be quite large).

Similar rubrics are given for the other way around, that is versus populum for the choir, and away from the people for those in the nave. Note also: no tabernacle on the altar.

Moreover experimentation with versus populum on a larger scale was carried out first in the 1940s at Sant’ Anselmo monastery in Rome. This is long before Vatican II was even imagined, and tends to indicate that the Liturgical Movement would have led the Church in that direction regardless of whether the Council were held or not.

There are so many myths about Ad Orientem… I thought I’d pop out of “retirement” as it were to clear up some points when I saw this thread.
 
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