Should Mass be offered Ad Orientem?

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Turning around to face literal east seems pretty substantial to me.
 
semper_catholicus said:
seems pretty substantial to me.
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Not at all. It was in imitation of how the Jews prayed. And that was a matter of dispute, because some Jews, and early Christians, prayed facing east, and other Jews and early Christians prayed facing the Temple Mount. It’s just a symbol held over out of habit, more than anything else.
 
But the priest offering mass in St. Peter’s Basilica still faced east. It was only due to geographical difficulties that St. Peter’s basilica was built in that manner.
 
semper_catholicus said:
It was only due to geographical difficulties that St. Peter’s basilica was built in that manner.
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Oh, no it wasn’t. Don’t make stuff up. The basilica was laid out in direct imitation of the Temple of Solomon, with the sanctuary in the west. It was no accident.
 
But the priest still faced east 😂
AndrewAxland said:
The basilica was laid out in direct imitation of the Temple of Solomon, with the sanctuary in the west. It was no accident
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I’ve never heard such a thing. Could you provide a source?
 
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And this is why I don’t like Tabernacles behind the alter. Jesus is present in the bread and the wine after concecration, and in the assembly also. To focus only on the Tabernacle discounts that theology.
 
CilladeRoma said:
And this is why I don’t like Tabernacles behind the alter. Jesus is present in the bread and the wine after concecration, and in the assembly also. To focus only on the Tabernacle discounts that theology.
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I have never heard anything more ridiculous in my life.

Of course when the consecration happens, it becomes the center. But what about during the majority of the day when the consecration isn’t happening, and people could be permitted to come visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament?

Jesus should be at the center of the altar, because he is the center of our faith.
 
“Signs are given to men, to whom it is proper to discover the unknown by means of the known.”
St. Thomas (ST III 60.2)

I understand that people are frustrated by so much preoccupation with these things. It is probably being overdone, but I don’t think that means the symbolism doesn’t matter or is trivial. We’re allowed to have either, and I’m fully fine with that, but the symbolism still matters. It’s a big part of how the Church teaches and helps us enter into the mysteries of our Faith. She by her authority and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit built up our rich Extraordinary Form of the Mass over a long period of time, and I assume the same Holy Spirit prompted the Church to provide the less symbolically rich Ordinary Form–and I assume the Holy Spirit and the Church thought it mattered when these were done.
Maybe one emphasizes God’s transcendence and the other His immanence? I don’t know.

Cardinal Sarah seems to want to create more unity among those who prefer the OF and EF, without saying one is better. He recommended that the EF conform its calendar with that of the OF; while priests in the OF should consider offering Mass ad orientem. Apparently he thinks these things matter. Maybe he’s wrong, but I wouldn’t be quick to dismiss it. Symbolism is important.
 
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Oh, really?
The altar faces south in my Cathedral and northin my parish church.
 
What I meant was they USED to make an effort to build the altar facing east. They don’t (unfortunately) much anymore.
 
I think it would be interesting to use the option as a way of marking the season of Advent, if the architecture permitted it, with facing the East for the four weeks of Lent.
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I meant the four weeks of Advent. I think that is the time when facing liturgical East has the greatest significance. It would be a good teaching tool.
 
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Excuse me?

You are talking about celebrating Mass. Concentrating on the Tabernacle, during Mass, that discounts the theology that Jesus is present in other ways.
And Jesus is a Tabernacle on a special chapel is just as the center of the faith as he would be if the Tabernacle was behind the altar.
 
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CilladeRoma said:
Jesus is a Tabernacle on a special chapel is just as the center of the faith as he would be if the Tabernacle was behind the altar.
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Indeed, and the Blessed Sacrament in a separate chapel is not a post-Conciliar innovation either. It was the case in many pre-Conciliar monasteries and basilicas. It is the case in our post-Conciliar (1994) abbey church as well. In our case it provides a beautiful and restful area to pray and meditate before the Blessed Sacrament, away from the traffic of the Church which tends to attract tourists.
 
Was that the case in every “regular” parish churches?
 
semper_catholicus said:
What I meant was they USED to make an effort to build the altar facing east
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Maybe a long time ago, but the altar in the Cathedral in Pittsburgh in at the north end of the building and it was built in 1906.

Build it on a vacant with plenty of space and could have easily faced in east if it was important to them.
 
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