For those who are interested, I am posting a link to a video that shows what some people think should be the proper way to celebrate the Eucharist. I would be interested in comments. http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/high-mass-dvd/index.html
I note that the participants all seem to be young white males with a penchant for kissing the hand of the rubicund celebrant. I do not remember this aspect of the old rite.
One thought that comes to mind is the seeming military precision of the acolytes. When I first saw an anglican high mass being celebrated, this was in the 1960s in York minister, I was amazed how the priest, deacon and subdeacon could all move with such precision. Compared with the the 'Last Mass' ie the 11 am at my RC parish church in Lancashire which veered from the heavenly to the shambolic and ended up with the prayer for the monarch from Rossini's mass with harmonium, York minster was heaven. The years pass and now I see this from Chicago and it makes a distinctly odd impression. The Catholic church I now attend in Leicester has a congregation that looks like the world: diverse with regard to gender, race, age, sexual orientation. Does precision matter?
ReplyDeleteFurther thought. Is this the Westpoint school of liturgics?
ReplyDeleteA Sri Lankan friend writes:
ReplyDeleteThank you for the link for the Old Latin Rite Mass. It brought me some memories. It was beautiful Opera. No wonder some still like it. High Masses with two Deacons were a wonderful Opera to serve. It was always on our Church Feast Day, Christmas and Morning Easter Mass. We always got a little gift after these Masses and on the Church Feast, we were also given a good lunch.
I can't remember all the gear the Priest wore. He was reciting a prayer with every piece he put on. If I remember correctly, he started with Amice and then Alb. He also wore the main garment Chasuble. I think he had something around his left hand and also something like a rope around his waist before he wore the Chasuble. All these had words and we had to learn.
We never kissed the hand of the celebrant. I always liked to be responsible with the Thurible because it was less work. Mass was 1. to adore God - Sacrifice of Praise, 2. to thank God - Eucharistic Sacrifice, 3. to obtain grace and benefits - ....... Sacrifice, 4. to obtain God's mercy for the living and dead - ........ Sacrifice. I can't remember the two words for 3 and 4. It is really mind bending two words.
Do I want it again? The answer is no. It is beautifully choreographed pageantry with superb singing in a dead language. It was like going to cinema. We all looked at what was going on at the altar but we were not part of it. It was a pageant between God and the Celebrant and we were mere mortals mesmerised by the whole act.
It is wonderful to have an Old Latin Rite Mass for those of us who cannot afford a good Opera. Thank God for Pope John XXIII and the Vatican Council for bringing back Mass to people in a language they can understand.
However, a big thank to you Bernard for bringing back memories. Nostalgia!
supplement:
Also, as altar boys, we got Rs.1/- if we serve a funeral and roughly about Rs.3/- to Rs. 5/- when you serve a Wedding Mass. Often, we got Five Rupees from the poor and Three Rupees from the rich.
First page in the "Ceylon Daily News" we looked for is the 'Obituary Page' to see who is dead in our Parish. One Rupee for us school boys was a lot of money then.