In A Word... Stunning
Quick - someone make this guy the President of Notre Dame
This past Sunday, I picked up a copy of
The Latin Mass magazine at church. I'll readily admit, it's been quite awhile since I'd read a copy. And the shames on me.
For those of you who've never read such, here are two seperate tid-bits from an article entitled "
Solemnity - The Crux of the Matter" by Dr. Peter A. Kwasniewski of
Wyoming Catholic College.
Enjoy --
It is a smugness epitomized in the casual entrance of laymen and women into the sanctuary for lectoring or distributing communion; the faint half-elevation of the Eucharist, not to mention many other signs of shallow or absent faith in the Real Presence; the overall chummy feeling, the "sign of peace," the lack of silence before or after Mass; the verbal top-heaviness that makes of God a small and tame object ready to be conjured and controlled, ready for a relationship on equal terms at best.In reality, the most unwashed,unlettered medieval peasant knew better what was happening in the lofty sanctuary of his lofty church - the peasant who knew, in part from the stained glass windows whose beauty and intricacy still cause us to marvel, that "God died for me, the Blood of Jesus washes away my sins, and all this is wondrously present at the Mass" - than does many a modern parishioner sitting in his whitewashed church of angular artifacts, who does not clearly confess the Real Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist, who confuses sentimentality with charity and sing-alongs with prayer.
Cavey,
ReplyDeleteI've subscribed to "The Latin Mass: The Journal of Catholic Culture & Tradition" since the late 1990s. It is one of the best traditional reads available. I would also recommend "The Remnant" newspaper, "The Angelus: A Journal of Roman Catholic Tradition" magazine (SSPX) and the "New Oxford Review." All give a true overview of the vast traditional mind in the U.S. and around the globe.
Cavey -
ReplyDeleteI've got one for ya of the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction ilk here in the DOR: 2 weeks ago, we went to Mass and there was apparently some confusion re: scheduling. About 10 people went scurrying up to be EM's (with MAYBE 200 in total attendance)and it got nasty. Two women were hissing and whipsering at each other about who was really supposed to be up there, and both refused to leave. I guess they forgot what and Who was really important up there at the altar.
When the priest was passing out the vessels and ran out, a few others, looking distinctly annoyed, excused themselves and harrumphed back to their seats. It was like watching a car wreck. People were giggling in the pews. Just ridiculous.
Father apologized for the scheduling error at the end of Mass. (Should he have had to? Sheesh.)
This is why I call them "Excessive Ministers." And it ain't the first time I've seen near cat-fights break out, either - sadly, it's the women who are the worst. The egos, the self importance. Ack.
We're going to the local Byzantine rite church this weekend. It's getting harder and harder to stomach what goes on around here.
My question to anyone reading this blog: Why does the Novus Ordo need EMs? Please, anyone?
ReplyDeleteTo put it bluntly, they could be used to take the Host to those in hospital. But at Mass? Why not let the priest and deacon distribute the Host only? (Forget the chalice. No need to. We're not Protestants!)
You can't tell me that the Novus Ordo "Conga Line" takes any more time then the Extraordinary form at the altar rail.
Would like to hear any reasons why EMs are needed at Mass, at ANY time???
Amen to that PreVat2!
ReplyDeletepreat2: They're not, plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteI'm also in with Communion under one kind.
ReplyDeleteThis past Lent my parish had "small group reflections" where small groups of us would gather in a volunteer host's home. It was OK, but it wasn't anything to write home about.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I missed the last one, but my wife went. The discussion was what does the Eucharist mean to us? Correctly, my wife stated that the Eucharist is the Real Presence of Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. One lady, an ultra-lib lawyer type, responded that what my wife said "disturbed her" because to her communion was all about "coming together in unity". My wife told me that what is really disturbing is that someone feels that way about a fundamental dogma of the faith.
We're in trouble.
Oh, as for EMs, I was one for a while, but no one in the parish could clean the vessels properly. (I was the Catholic Lay Minister for my submarine, and after being personally trained by the base Catholic chaplain, I would take the Blessed Sacrament to sea, so I know how to properly do this). They would just drop the unpurified vessels into the sacrarium and fill it right up with soap and water "because it had the drain stopper". Ayiyiyi! Even if I gently corrected them, the other EM would get all pissy. At one point I was making sure that when I was an EM, I took care of it. After about a year of this, I was so scandalized I quit. A while later they changed the rule about who could clean the vessels. It was an answer to prayer.
I've been to Masses where the priest sat down after given Holy Communion to the EMs and let them distribute to the congregation. I agree with PreVat2 -- other than carrying the Holy Eucharist to shut-ins, EMs are NOT needed and actually preempt the role of the priest and, at the same time, add to downgrading of belief in the Real Presence.
ReplyDelete