Dear falisrm,
45 years ago, the Tridintine Mass was said in Latin.This Mass was 400 years old.
The beauty of the Tridintine Mass was the sense of the sacred,
as palpable.
All knew that the priest was re-enacting the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Offering this sacrifice again, to the Father. That was and is the mass, which has
become known, now, as the ‘Eucharistic liturgy.’
The priest was referred to as an 'alter Christus,’ ‘another Christ,’
as he was in the place of Christ, re-offering the sacrifice.
In terms of the intellectual, I think that an understanding
of Temple sacrifice is critical. This ritual Temple sacrifice,
was now replaced by the sacrifice of the ‘perfect victim’ -
as God Himself, in the Person of Jesus - became the Lamb of God, Who was slain.
God Himself provided the Victim - Himself, on Calvary.
No longer would animals be sacrificed.
The critical point to me is, that the ‘people of God’ become a
‘priestly people,’ joining with the priest as he re-offers the
perfect sacrifice to God.
In the Tridintine Mass, the first thing that the priest said, as he
stood at the bottom of the steps - which led up to the altar, was:
Introibo ad altare Dei…
“I will go unto to the altar of God…”
and he said these words, as he went up the steps to the altar.
The point I’m trying to make here is that, in
days long past - what the sermon had to say,
while of interest, was held to be a discrete ‘event,’
before the priest returned to the altar, to continue the ritual prayers
that were said, leading up to the consecration. sacarare = to make sacred]
[All this hopping up and down, the priest continually returning to the ‘presider’s chair,’
may well be sensed as needless activity, which, to me, it is.]
The Mass was not considered a time for explanation of the truths of the faith.
Decades ago, the Catholic school system, which was quite large, took care of
teaching children about the Mass, the sacraments, etc, as their parents had
been taught, through the same schooling system.
My understanding is - that in other Christian churches, the sermon
is devoted to the explication of the truths of the gospel, and is
a commentary on both the word of God - and the applicaton of these
words, in everyday life. In Catholicism, the word of God is held to
be sacred, yet the emphasis is on ritual sacrifice, as it was in
the Temple, 2,000 years ago.
A minister is a servant of the Word, while a priest is both
servant of the Word and priest - who continues to offer the
perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God, Who is the Word of God.
I hope that the above is of some help. :tiphat:
reen12
