I can only say you have probably never been to an OF Mass in a monastery. In ours, Gregorian chant in Latin and Greek, French plainchant, pipe organ and incense according to the degree of solemnity, reverent and meaningful gestures, and sacred silence at appropriate moments, solemn processions, etc.the EF is just more easily intelligible to the spiritual senses (which is ironic, given the reform of the liturgy was supposed to make it easier to understand).
In the U.S. we need more monastic vocations.I can only say you have probably never been to an OF Mass in a monastery. In ours, Gregorian chant in Latin and Greek, French plainchant, pipe organ and incense according to the degree of solemnity, reverent and meaningful gestures, and sacred silence at appropriate moments, solemn processions, etc.
Apart from the abbey to which I’m associated, I have seen this in monasteries around Europe and N. America as well.
I do wish it were mandatory for liturgical committees to have a week-long retreat in a monastery where they receive training on what is and isn’t appropriate in the liturgy, but more important, on the significance of each act, gesture and sensory delights such as appropriate music (not necessarily Gregorian chant nor in Latin!), and incense. And on the history of the liturgy including its Jewish roots.
But that’s probably not a realistic expectation. Still it would be nice for monastic sensitivity for the liturgy to trickle down to parishes, or at least the liturgical charisms of any Order involved in the history of a parish.
x2 on the vocations. Please pray for them. We need more in Canada too. We’re down to 27 monks in choir, and a few others in assisted living facilities. When I became an oblate back in 2003, there were 42 monks in choir. The average age has crept up to 70 and the youngest monk is in his mid-30s, though we have a couple of fairly serious prospects in their 20s who have been hovering around the abbey of late. The Benedictine women near Montreal have their first two new postulants in years, though one of them will have to finish her university before she can be permanently admitted. Deo gratias! And these women are FANTASTIC liturgists!In the U.S. we need more monastic vocations.
Then, instead of liturgy committees all deciding on what to do - it would be better for our parish priests, who really should be directing the liturgy, to attend retreats as you suggest here. They can be the source that trickles the good liturgy down from. Liturgy committees also, yes, should do the same - but it’s less realistic that they will given time constraints for most laity. I think most liturgy committees are volunteer, non-paid positions in the parish, right? We don’t have a liturgy committee in our parish as such. The pastor and the music committee work together. But nothing more than that.
Unfortunately I haven’t. Sadly, as you say, this is not the norm. In any event, the more tradition is preserved, the more the Mass is intuitively and explicitly intelligible and (sadly given the experience of most Latin rite Catholics) vice versa.I can only say you have probably never been to an OF Mass in a monastery. In ours, Gregorian chant in Latin and Greek, French plainchant, pipe organ and incense according to the degree of solemnity, reverent and meaningful gestures, and sacred silence at appropriate moments, solemn processions, etc.
Apart from the abbey to which I’m associated, I have seen this in monasteries around Europe and N. America as well.
I do wish it were mandatory for liturgical committees to have a week-long retreat in a monastery where they receive training on what is and isn’t appropriate in the liturgy, but more important, on the significance of each act, gesture and sensory delights such as appropriate music (not necessarily Gregorian chant nor in Latin!), and incense. And on the history of the liturgy including its Jewish roots.
But that’s probably not a realistic expectation. Still it would be nice for monastic sensitivity for the liturgy to trickle down to parishes, or at least the liturgical charisms of any Order involved in the history of a parish.
Very good post.x2 on the vocations. Please pray for them. We need more in Canada too. We’re down to 27 monks in choir, and a few others in assisted living facilities. When I became an oblate back in 2003, there were 42 monks in choir. The average age has crept up to 70 and the youngest monk is in his mid-30s, though we have a couple of fairly serious prospects in their 20s who have been hovering around the abbey of late. The Benedictine women near Montreal have their first two new postulants in years, though one of them will have to finish her university before she can be permanently admitted. Deo gratias! And these women are FANTASTIC liturgists!
I myself never fully understood the concept of “liturgical committees”. what can they do besides limiting themselves to deciding what licit choices in the Missal they prefer for the parish? I’ve seen one thoroughly wrecked liturgy where the penitential rite was plainly removed so they could have some corny little ceremony at the start of Mass. Given that the Kyrie is one chant the faithful know well enough to sing along with us… it was tragic. Fortunately that parish has been taken over by a new young religious community made up of former Dominicans, that has the archbishop’s support. They are much more orthodox and learning liturgy from… of all places… our abbey. I’ve been asked if I’d consider going to teach Latin psalmody to them. You can guess my answer though they haven’t gotten back to me yet.
Elsewhere in the archdiocese though, I’m happy to report that of all the parishes we chant at, all are thoroughly orthodox in their liturgies. My favourite parish was particularly excellent… and the pastor there was recently ordained bishop and took over the diocese of Bathurst in New Brunswick. He has asked the Communauté St-Martin to establish a seminary there (they produced an excellent Latin/French antiphonary, noted for Gregorian chant, for the current Liturgy of the Hours, which I use). Google them. They are a remarkable group of seminarians and young priests in France, trained in liturgy, faithful to the Holy Father, living in Community inspired by Benedictine spirituality. When they take over a parish, they send THREE priests to the parish, to avoid the loneliness and isolation that has led to so many tragedies in the Church, and to create a micro community to pray the Hours together, etc.
I hear the language of sacrifice all the time, and was acutely aware of this before converting.Current liturgical theology maintains that the Eucharist is confected by the priest, but rarely is it mentioned by even orthodox CCD teachers that this happens within the very sacrifice of Calvary re-presented.
I regularly attend the Ordinary Form and I have rarely attended an OF Mass celebrated as reverently as you have described as the ones celebrated in your abbey. I’m not complaining because I know obviously they are still valid Masses and Jesus is definitely present in the Holy Eucharist, but it’s just an observation that I’ve noticed throughout multiple parishes in a major metropolitan area down here in the US.I can only say you have probably never been to an OF Mass in a monastery. In ours, Gregorian chant in Latin and Greek, French plainchant, pipe organ and incense according to the degree of solemnity, reverent and meaningful gestures, and sacred silence at appropriate moments, solemn processions, etc.
Apart from the abbey to which I’m associated, I have seen this in monasteries around Europe and N. America as well.
I do wish it were mandatory for liturgical committees to have a week-long retreat in a monastery where they receive training on what is and isn’t appropriate in the liturgy, but more important, on the significance of each act, gesture and sensory delights such as appropriate music (not necessarily Gregorian chant nor in Latin!), and incense. And on the history of the liturgy including its Jewish roots.
But that’s probably not a realistic expectation. Still it would be nice for monastic sensitivity for the liturgy to trickle down to parishes, or at least the liturgical charisms of any Order involved in the history of a parish.
I agree with what you say here. But I also think it goes both ways. Personally, I really like the EF, but I prefer a really well done OF, with use of Latin and Gregorian Chant, over the EF.I hear the language of sacrifice all the time, and was acutely aware of this before converting.
I’m trying to restrain myself here, but one tires of individuals who fall so deeply in love with the EF and its subculture that they begin considering that particular spirituality to be the only meaningful way to approach God.