Liturgy Reflections

Have you been "born again"?

Have you been saved? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Have you been born again? These questions may be familiar to us, normally coming from sincere Christians who are not Catholic, and who have had a powerful religious experience that they are eager to have us share. These questions may very well raise within us additional questions: Jesus is my Savior, but when exactly did I accept him in a personal way? I believe I have been saved from the darkness of sin and death, but when did that moment actually happen? I have been born again, but isn’t that what we Catholics call baptism? Is there another rebirth required?

The answer to these questions lies in recognizing the difference between our Catholic understanding of salvation and the understanding that is shared by many Protestant Christians, particularly those that we might call fundamentalist Christians. Fundamentalist Christians tend to see salvation as something that happens at a particular moment in one’s life - what might be called a moment of conversion, a moment when one consciously and profoundly gives one’s self over to Christ as Lord. Catholics, too, believe in the need for conversion, but have always understood conversion to be an ongoing, lifetime process. This way to understand conversion to Christ is at least as old as the writings of St. Paul. He writes to the Philipian Christians (2:12): “So then, my dearly beloved, obedient as always to my urging, work with anxious concern to achieve your salvation, not only when I happen to be with you, but all the more now that I am absent.”

Paul did not believe in a particular moment in one’s life when salvation happens. Paul saw salvation as an ongoing process. The salvation won for us by Christ’s death and resurrection is something that Christians continue, throughout their lives, to enter into more deeply. The people to whom Paul was writing had already “accepted Christ,” but Paul nonetheless urges them to “work with anxious concern to achieve your salvation.”

Like the Philippian Christians, we too have been baptized, but we regard baptism as much more than the ritual where water was poured over our heads. For Catholics, baptism is not so much an event, but a process. Just as marriage is not completed after the exchange of vows and rings is over, but lives and grows each day of the couple’s lives, so a Christian’s conversion finds ritual and public expression on the day of one’s baptism, but the reality of baptism and conversion to Christ continues to unfold throughout one’s life. This is precisely why each year, on the feast of Easter, Catholics solemnly renew their baptismal promises.

During our lives we may experience profound moments of religious intensity, moments when we feel suddenly and deeply touched by the Holy Spirit and God’s overwhelming grace. Such graced moments may indeed cause us to be more intensely devoted and committed to our faith, but such sacred moments are not to be identified with the moment when we were saved or born again. God’s offer of grace is not a once-and-for-all event, but is constantly happening. And grace is not a quantity of something, but a relationship, and as Paul would remind us, a relationship that constantly grows, requiring our careful attention. 

 

The Church's anointings...

Toward the end of every season of Lent, in every diocese of the world, the bishop gathers with his priests and other members of the faithful to bless three oils. They are called the oil of catechumens, the oil of the sick, and the chrism. After these oils are blessed and consecrated by the bishop, they are delivered to each parish for use during various liturgies throughout the year.

The oil of catechumens, also called holy oil, is used during certain rites of the initiation process of unbaptized adults, and may also be used at the baptism of infants. The oil of the sick is used during the celebration of the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. The chrism oil is used at the baptism of infants, at confirmation, at the ordination of priests and bishops, and at the dedication of a church and altar. Chrism oil is also pleasantly scented, to indicate its special character among the three oils. Parishes traditionally kept these three oils locked in a wall safe, called an ambry, in the sanctuary of each church, although today many parishes display the oils so that they are visible to all, and are therefore a public reminder of the Church’s prayer on those occasions when these oils are used.

Anointing in the liturgical sense means to apply oil to a person or to a church or altar. This action of anointing is symbolic, signifying the Church’s prayer that some effect will take place, either within the person, or in the way others will perceive that person or object. Anointing is ancient in its origins. It did not begin with Judaism or Christianity, but traces its beginnings to particular customs in the Near East. 

Just as is the case with every liturgical symbol, anointing has many layers of meaning. A general sense of the meaning of the Church’s anointings can be found in the words that accompany each anointing. Catechumens are anointed to express the Church’s prayer that they will be strengthened by Christ’s power to understand the gospel more deeply and to accept the challenges of Christian life. The anointing with the oil of the sick expresses the Church’s prayer that the ill will be healed in body, soul and spirit, and be delivered from every affliction. On such occasions the anointing also manifests the Church’s desire to be united in prayer and faith with the sick person.

Chrism oil reminds the parents and godparents of a baptized infant that this child is now marked forever with the dignity of a member of Christ. The anointing at confirmation signifies that the candidate is sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. At the anointing of a priest the church prays that the candidate may be “preserved to sanctify the Christian people and to offer sacrifice to God.” The anointing of a bishop prays that the candidate be further enriched with spiritual blessings. Here there are obvious parallels with the ancient custom of anointing those who have the responsibility of being leaders of people. The anointing of an altar and church building prays that these symbolic structures, like the people who use them, will be “visible signs of the mystery of Christ and his Church.” 

 

Easter's Fifty Days...

The Easter season lasts from Easter to Pentecost Sunday, fifty days kept as if they were one feast day, or as St. Athanasius described it in the fourth century, one “great Sunday.” The Easter season has actually been a part of the liturgical year longer than has the season of Lent. In the early church the entire fifty days was not called the Easter season, but rather “Pentecost,” from the Greek word for fifty. This was clearly a season of joy. These days were a time of rest and gladness. Kneeling, forbidden during the liturgy on any Sunday, was not allowed on any day of the Easter season. Fasting was also inappropriate. This, above any other time of the year, was a time for the Church to rejoice. The Easter Alleluia! was the song of the people of God for these special Easter weeks.

The distinguished liturgical scholar Gerard Sloyan explains that the forty days of Lent, leading up to Easter, are more fixed in Christian consciousness than the Easter season itself. “In the minds of many,” writes the author, “Easter is not a liturgical season; it is only an observance of one day. The reasons for this are fairly clear. Christians of the West have long viewed Easter simply as Jesus’ triumph over death rather than seeing it for what it is, their own victory as the baptized over sin and, ultimately, death. They have viewed Pentecost as something quite independent of Easter, a feast of the Holy Spirit rather than of Christ risen sending the Spirit from the Father. In the rhythm of life in the northern hemisphere, Easter Day marks early spring while Pentecost announces early summer. For this and other reasons Eastertide has become a ‘non-season’ in our frantic culture, almost a liturgical desert.”

One way to celebrate the Easter season is to view it as an opportunity to unite in our own minds the mysteries that have come to be somewhat disassociated from one another over the ages of church history. It is clear that the texts of the Christian bible present a clear calendar of events - Jesus died on Friday, rose on Sunday, ascended forty days later, and the gift of the Spirit was given on the fiftieth day after the resurrection. Even though this sequence of events is apparent, the early church showed no interest in assigning these separate events to specific days. All of these events were summed up and celebrated on every Sunday, which is why, in those days, Sunday was often called a “little Easter.” It was not until the fourth century that Holy Week and its separate celebrations began to develop.

Celebrating the Easter season as a unitive feast - a feast of many days containing many integrated themes - is not easy. In a way, it would be like expecting Americans to celebrate the new year, Presidents’ Day, Lincoln’s birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas all within the span of seven weeks. But in a real sense, every Eucharistic liturgy is a unitive feast, a feast that celebrates all the mysteries of Christ. Over the course of history we have assigned different aspects of salvation history to particular days, not because they are not integrally connected, but because separating them on the calendar allows us to focus more intensely on the various aspects of the mystery of Christ, and in doing so, enrich the entire liturgical year.

 

Palm Sunday

Some years ago Palm Sunday was renamed Passion Sunday, a title that is more adequately descriptive of the meaning of that day’s liturgy. The 2011 Missal has renamed it “Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord,” although palms are but one detail of the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This Sunday also marks the opening of Holy Week, as the Church begins its solemn meditation on the suffering, death and resurrection of the Lord. Whatever the official name of this day, the familiar name Palm Sunday will surely persist. Likewise it may be more accurate to refer to the sacrament of reconciliation instead of the familiar “confession,” because confession of our sins is but one step in the process of sacramental reconciliation, but people will still call it “confession.”

 The liturgy of Palm Sunday is, of course, notable for its procession, which may include everyone in the assembly. This procession takes place outside, if possible, and at the principal Sunday Mass. At the other liturgies a procession including a representative number of worshipers may take place inside the church, or else the priest and ministers enter in the usual way. This procession is first reported in third century Jerusalem, where people would hear the story of the Lord’s triumphal entry, and then leading the bishop into the city, they would process with branches and singing to the church built over the place where Jesus was buried, and there celebrate evening prayer.

The idea of a procession on this day spread quickly. It was celebrated throughout the Eastern world by the sixth century, spread to Africa and Gaul by the seventh century, and to Rome by the tenth century. In the middle ages, this solemn procession often went through each city. People carried candles, banners and incense, with prayerful stops at important places along the way. Leading the procession was the processional cross, a reminder to everyone that Christ was present among his followers. In some places the book of gospels was carried in procession as a reminder of Christ’s presence; in other places the blessed Sacrament was a part of the procession. The color of the vestments and other decorations on this day was usually red.

The other unusual element of the liturgy of Palm Sunday, a part of the rite since the fifth century, is the reading of the story of Jesus’ passion and death. This reading was divided into three parts in the twelfth or thirteenth century, a practice that was eventually adopted by the churches of Rome during the fifteenth century. Today many parishes will have three readers read scenes or chapters of the passion narrative, rather than dividing the story into characters, e.g., the role of Jesus, or Peter, the guards, the disciples or the crowd. This method of proclaiming the story of Jesus’ suffering and death helps avoid the suggestion that the liturgy is presenting a passion play, with various cast members given their proper scripts. The passion is not a play or an historical enactment, but a proclamation. We participate fully and actively in this proclamation, not by assuming the voice of the bloodthirsty crowd or any other particular person, but by simply listening, as the words of the gospel take hold of us. 

 

Recovering Mystery in the Eucharist

In 2003 Pope John Paul II wrote an insightful letter that speaks of the mysterious dimensions of the Eucharist. In his writing he states that “I would like to rekindle this Eucharistic ‘amazement’ by the present Encyclical Letter...” His letter clearly indicates that, at least in some quarters, this “amazement” is lacking, that some may have lost their sense of the mystery of the Eucharist. At the same time, the pope is clear that the mysterious dimension of the Eucharist is more than what you or I may feel. It is much more than pious feelings or religious sentiment.

The Eucharistic mystery is not mystery in the sense of putting the pieces of a puzzle together, or assembling clues as one would do in trying to solve a murder mystery. The Eucharistic mystery doesn’t get solved. We have clues to the Eucharistic mystery, but we will never fully understand it. Our comprehension of the mystery may develop over time, but we will never arrive at full comprehension of the mystery.

The mystery, simply and inadequately put, is: How and why is the risen Christ uniquely present in what appears to be merely bread and wine? Over the centuries the members of the Church and its theologians have tried to more deeply understand the mystery, and the pope praises their efforts. There are and have been many ways to explain the Eucharistic mystery, but all of them are more or less inadequate. While we continue to enter more deeply into the mystery,  Pope John Paul recalls the cautionary words of Pope Paul VI: “Every theological explanation which seeks some understanding of this mystery, in order to be in accord with Catholic faith, must firmly maintain that in objective reality, independently of our mind, the bread and wine have ceased to exist after the consecration, so that the adorable body and blood of the Lord Jesus from that moment on are really before us under the sacramental species of bread and wine.”

Why did Pope John Paul think the mystery of the Eucharist is not sufficiently appreciated today? One reason he offers is that sometimes some people seem to reduce the Eucharistic mystery to a fraternal meal, even stripping the mystery of its sacrificial dimension. He speaks of those who demonstrate an exaggerated reaction against “formalism,” and he also mentions those who question the need for officially ordained ministers to preside at the Eucharistic liturgy.  Such a congregational model of worship would be an unacceptable departure from our Catholic Christian belief and tradition.  

Among other reasons for a lack of appreciation of the Eucharistic mystery, not mentioned in the encyclical letter, is that our highly technological culture is increasingly uncomfortable with anything that is not purely rational, and the Eucharist defies the rational, goes beyond what our minds can possibly grasp. We must continue to try to see with the eyes of faith. Some of the mystery is also lost when we limit our understanding of the Eucharist to one theological explanation, or to one Eucharistic spirituality, or to one form of Eucharistic devotion. To exclude other legitimate forms and points of view is to limit the mystery, and mystery, by definition, cannot be grasped or contained by our always inadequate human categories. No pope, no saint, not the greatest of theologians, no catechism, can perfectly explain the Eucharist, our “mystery of faith.”

 

Remembering intentions at the liturgy

Every Mass, every celebration of the Eucharist, is offered for multiple intentions. These prayers, called intercessions, have been a part of the liturgy since earliest times. Thus our eucharistic prayers today make it clear that any Mass is offered for the universal church, the local church, for the pope, the bishops, for priests and deacons, and for all the faithful. After the homily and creed are finished, the Universal Prayer (also called the Prayer of the Faithful, Bidding Prayers, or General Intercessions) may also specify additional intentions. In fact, care needs to be taken that these Prayers of the Faithful do not become too lengthy or overburdened with too much content. After all, there are a lot of things to pray for, and no particular liturgy can possibly express every prayer intention.

How might a worshiping community best express its many prayer intentions? Trying to cram them all into the Prayers of the Faithful does not work. This is particularly true of our prayer intentions for the sick. Sometimes a community may have a long list of names of sick people to pray for, and the reading of such a long list in the Prayers of the Faithful not only makes for a tedious intercession, but also violates the nature of these prayers. They are “universal” or “general” intercessions, not “specific” intentions. It would be better to pray, in a general way, for all the sick, and to limit lists of names of people to the parish bulletin. 

Another wonderful way to handle the many prayer intentions of the community is to have a parish book of intentions, located near the entrance to the church. Parishioners are then invited to write their various intentions in this book. Then one of the Prayers of the Faithful might be: “For all our personal intentions, and for those written in our parish petition book....we pray to the Lord...” Such a book is also a way for any parishioner to discover what are the specific needs of the community, and then to include those intentions in one’s own personal prayers.

Another longstanding custom is to have Mass celebrated for a special intention. This usually involves an intention for someone who is sick or has died, and often includes a card that is given to the sick person or to friends or loved ones of the deceased. Arranging for such a special Mass intention normally includes an offering of money to the priest or to the parish. Such private Mass intentions are often misunderstood. Sometimes the misunderstanding is that the Mass will be offered for only this one intention, but every Mass has an unlimited number of intentions. Sometimes there is a misunderstanding that  giving money for a Mass intention in some way “buys” or assures some spiritual grace or favor that benefits the intention. But official church documents describing such Mass offerings indicate that the ones who benefit from the Mass offering are the institutional Church and its needs, and the donor. There are, fortunately, no guarantees made of any graces directed to the donor’s special intention. The most important reason for giving a money offering is that such a gesture enables the donor to more fully participate in the liturgy. Thus it is important, but not always the case, that the one who asks for a “Mass card” and who makes a money offering would intend to be present and fully participating at the liturgy that includes his or her special intention.

 

 

The date of Christmas...

To understand the origins of the feast of Christmas, and why its date is December 25th, one needs to know something about the origins of the feast of Epiphany, always celebrated some days after Christmas. Epiphany was celebrated by Christians before there was a Christmas. The word epiphany means revelation, manifestation, or unveiling, and this ancient feast celebrated a number of events, such as the incarnation, the birth of Jesus (which would later have its own day called Christmas), the adoration by the wise men, Jesus’ baptism by John, and the miracle at Cana. Each of these biblical events, in some way, “revealed” who Jesus was. 

 

At its origins, the date for this feast seems to have been January 6th, most likely chosen as a counter-feast to a number of pagan festivals celebrated at that time of the year. For example, at Alexandria in Egypt, Petra in Arabia, Alusa in Palestine, and in other places, the birth of a pagan god from a virgin mother was being celebrated. In Egypt people were celebrating the rise of the Nile river that would provide irrigation, and in Greece people were celebrating the birth of the god Dionysos, which also involved springs of water that produced wine on his feast. Thus we can begin to see why Christians might choose this time of the year to celebrate the birth of Jesus, as well as other events that involved water, like the baptism of Jesus and the marriage feast at Cana. The water connections would make Epiphany an ideal day, other than Easter and Pentecost, to celebrate Christian baptism.

 

Eventually Christians in various places wanted to celebrate the birth of Jesus on a separate day. Not all the reasons for this are known, and what is rather certain is likewise rather complex. One reason is that Christians became very concerned about the doctrine of the nature of Christ. For instance, some Christians were mistakenly believing and teaching that Jesus was not divine from his birth, but became divine only at his baptism, when a voice from heaven was heard to say, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” To correct this notion, and to reaffirm the traditional teaching that Christ was divine from birth, Christian leaders thought it would be helpful to devote a particular day exclusively to the birth of Jesus.

 

The best that our historical evidence can tell us is that at least by the year 336 Christmas was being celebrated in Rome. Why was December 25th chosen? It was not because people believed that Jesus was born on that day, for like us, no one knew the exact date of the Lord’s birth. Once again, Christians most likely picked the 25th because pagans were celebrating something important on that day. The Romans were celebrating their worship of the sun at this precise time of the year. The dark, short  days of winter were giving way to days of more light. Light was victorious over darkness, and December 25, on or about what we call the winter solstice, was a good day to celebrate the rebirth of light. For the Christians it was an equally appropriate time to celebrate Christ, the light of the world, whose coming to us overcomes sin and darkness. Even today Christmas remains a feast of light, and the Christmas lights that decorate our streets and homes and trees remain a reminder to us of Christ, victorious over all darkness.   

 

Amen...

Perhaps no religious term, other than the names of sacred persons, is as familiar to people of every faith and of no faith as the term “Amen.” We say the word at least eleven times during the celebration of the Mass. We even hear Jesus use the word in the course of his teaching, as he begins with “Amen, I say to you...” or even “Amen, Amen, I say to you...” It is on the lips of Jesus no less than 63 times in the gospels. But as is the case with so many words that have great significance but that have become exceedingly familiar, perhaps the word “Amen” loses some of its power, precisely because it is used so often. What exactly does the word mean, and where does it come from?

The word "Amen" is Hebrew in its origin. It is a word that has really remained untranslated, for its full meaning proved to be untranslatable. Current attempts at translation leave us with the words “truly” or, in older translations, “verily.” As the Hebrew scriptures were translated into the Greek language, the “Amen” is almost always translated as “Would that it might be so!” The word is an affirmation of what was said before, a statement of agreement, a personal seal of approval of what has just been uttered.

It is no surprise, then, to see early Christians refer to Jesus himself as humanity’s “Amen” to the mystery of God and creation. So Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians says that “In him (Jesus) all the promises of God are Yes, and in him is the Amen by us to the glory of God.” In other words, as Paul’s poetry describes it, when amazed at all God’s marvelous deeds on our behalf, and wanting to affirm such gifts, we need simply to say the word “Jesus.” He is the final and definitive affirmation, the once-and for-all “Amen” to the wonderful things God has done for us.

One characteristic of our liturgy in the earliest centuries was that the people participated in the sacred rites, not just by listening to the prayers of the priest in silence, but by ratifying those prayers by their acclamations. Using such acclamations was a cherished custom inherited from Jewish synagogue worship, and the “Amen” was the chief among those acclamations, and remains so today. St. Justin, who was writing in the second century, describes how, when the eucharistic prayer of the Sunday liturgy is finished, “all the people present give their assent with an ‘Amen!’ ‘Amen’ in Hebrew means ‘So be it!’” In the fourth century St. Jerome would testify that the “Amen” in the Roman churches and basilicas reverberated like a heavenly thunder.

Today we continue to acclaim this great “Amen” at the end of our eucharistic prayer. We are amazed, as we express in our eucharistic prayer, at all the wonderful things God has done for us in Christ. We, the Church, offer praise and honor to the Father through Christ who is High Priest, with Christ who is really present in the sacrificial memorial, and in Christ who gives himself in the eucharist to the members of his body. And all of this in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Through him, with him, in him, the Church proclaims, and we sing “Amen!” “Truly!”, and “Would that it might be so!”

Conclusion to the Eucharistic Prayer...

 

When the bishop says Per ipsum et cum ipso, the archdeacon lifts the chalice, holding it by the handles with the linen called offertorium, and holds it on high, next to the bishop. The bishop touches the side of the chalice with the breads while saying Per ipsum et cum ipso up to the Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Then he places the breads in their place, and the archdeacon, having removed the offertorium from the chalice's handles, places the chalice next to the bread. (Ordo I, c. 700-750)

Index: October, 2011 - August, 2005

Making our prayer inclusive...  October 2011

Bringing our guilt to the liturgy...  August 2011

The liturgy and war...  July, 2011

The Communion procession...  June, 2011

People of the Covenant... May, 2011 

Our Profession of Faith... May, 2011

An Encyclical Letter on the Eucharist...  April, 2011

The Great Feast of Three Days...  March, 2011

Honoring Mary and the Saints...  March, 2011

Receiving Communion under both forms...  February, 2011

 

The risks of preaching...  December, 2010

Background to the upcoming new translation...  December, 2010

Ten silent moments in the liturgy... November, 2010

Peter Steinfels on church decline...  November, 2010

One out of three adult Catholics leaves the church... November, 2010

The church and its chapels... October, 2010

Hyping the new translation... September, 2010

Preaching in the Sunday assembly...  September, 2010

Jesuit calls new translation “abusive”...  August, 2010

A sacrifice for the liturgy...  August, 2010

A homily about the harvest... July, 2010

Liturgy and inclusion...  July, 2010

Following the liturgical plan... June, 2010

The priest-laity ratio...  May, 2010

Liturgy and distractions...  May, 2010

A critique of the old Latin Mass...  April, 2010

Watching the old Latin Mass...  April, 2010

Keeping our Sunday obligation... April, 2010

The two tables of the liturgy...  March, 2010

Why confess to a priest?...  March, 2010

The chair - symbol of the priest as presider...  February, 2010

The altar - center of thanksgiving...  January, 2010

 

The Book of the Gospels... December, 2009

New translations: What If We Just Said Wait?... December, 2009

The Year of the Priest... November, 2009

Worshiping with our bodies... November, 2009

Bishop criticizes new translation... October, 2009

A Liturgy of the Word for children... October, 2009

Devotions: positive and negative elements... September, 2009

Why do people need devotions?... August, 2009

Whatever happened to devotions?... August, 2009

Roman Catholic devotions... July, 2009

Leaving the liturgy with grace... July, 2009

Holy Communion’s act of reverence... June, 2009

The deacon in the liturgy... May, 2009

Mediocrity... (new translation)... April, 2009

Colors for the liturgy... April, 2009

Communion as an act of faith... March, 2009

Bringing gifts to the altar... March, 2009

Liturgical dance... February, 2009

Striving for good music... February, 2009

Celebrating the Sign of Peace... January, 2009

 

New liturgy head... December, 2008

Original eucharistic symbols... December, 2008

The liturgy in its earliest days... November, 2008

Who’s going to church?... October, 2008

A Church with many liturgical faces... September, 2008

Money for the poor and for the Church... August, 2008

The new translation... August, 2008

New wine in new wineskins... July, 2008

How to judge liturgical music... July, 2008

The translation wars... June, 2008

Kneeling for Communion... June, 2008

What musical style for the liturgy?... June, 2008

Discerning the consequences... June, 2008

Feast day kneeling... May, 2008

Vesture for the servants of God... May, 2008

Greeting the people of God... May, 2008

Memories of Easter... May, 2008

Praying about scandal... May, 2008

The Creed introduced intoSpain in 589.. April, 2008

Sacramental minimalism... April, 2008

Defining liturgical ministry... April, 2008

The essence of Catholicism... March, 2008

What if deacons sing well but don’t act properly?... March, 2008

Who can be a bishop?... March, 2008

Recognizing the Body... February, 2008

Cyril of Jerusalem on Communion in the hand... February, 2008

What’s happening to marriage?... February, 2008

Need for more exorcisms?... February,2008

Augustine on who you are... February, 2008

The Chrism of salvation... February, 2008

Vatican on the defensive... February, 2008

McBrien on conservative Catholics... February, 2008

Military Archbishop installed... January, 2008

McBrien on Aquainas and liturgy... January, 2008

Pope to change the old Latin Mass?... January,2008

Preparing for infant baptism... January, 2008

Ambrose on receiving Communion... January, 2008

Pope Innocent I on the “Fermentum”... January, 2008

Baptism and the parish community... January, 2008

 

 

Marini’s new book... December, 2007

Review of “American Catholics Today”... December, 2007

Epiclesis from the Byzantine eucharistic prayer of St. Basil... December, 2007

The three judgements about music... December, 2007

Interview with Bishop Roche about translations... November, 2007

The liturgy and the individual... November, 2007

From Gregory of Tours (6th century)... November, 2007

Reminders about social justice... October, 2007

Should we name those who make offerings?... October, 2007

On becoming the Body of Christ... October, 2007

The angels’ song...from the Byzantine Liturgy’s Great Entrance... October, 2007

The “heresy” or rubricism... September, 2007

An offertory procession in Gaul, 6th century... September, 2007

The Virgin Mary, “sensational happenings” and “mindless credulity...”  August, 2007

Victor of Vita tells of a blind man... August, 2007

A church’s seating arrangement... August, 2007

Cyprian on charitable giving... August, 2007

Another “mystery”... July, 2007

Another Vatican faux pas... July, 2007

Going back to the early church... June, 2007

Augustine reports a reader making a mistake... June, 2007

Symbol of the priest presider... June, 2007

“And with your Spirit”... June, 2007

Easter Sunday in Hippo in 426... May, 2007

Tomorrow’s priests... May, 2007

Ancient symbols... May, 2007

No liturgy on feast days out in the country... May, 2007

Meaning of “pro multis”... May, 2007

 

On Marian piety... November 2006

From Augustine’s letter to Januarius... November, 2006

On purifying chalices... October, 2006

More odd rules... October, 2006

More Latin Mass news... October, 2006

The latest about priests... October, 2006

Proposed translation of the Ordinary parts of the Mass... September, 2006

Latin in the Catholic Church... August, 2006

Mysterious liturgy (EWTN) revisited... August, 2006

Most popular musing... August, 2006

Chicago Tribune on Irish Catholicism... July, 2006

In Memoriam: Aidan Kavanagh, OSB... July, 2006

Changes in the Mass... July, 2006

Cardinal Mahony on Redemptionis Sacramentum... June, 2006

New translations approved... June, 2006

Mysterious liturgy (EWTN)...May, 2006

A modern litany for Mary... May, 2006

Egeria’s Diary (4th Century): Many languages in Jerusalem... May, 2006

Latin Mass rumors, and Medjugorje update... April, 2006

The eucharistic chapel... March, 2006

Arlington diocese finally allows female servers... March, 2006

Pope Benedict’s liturgies to change, says papal master of ceremonies... March, 2006

From an ancient Hispanic Eucharistic Prayer, fourth Sunday of Advent... March, 2006

Washing one’s face... March, 2006

When does Lent begin?... March, 2006

The Canon as celebrated by St. Ambrose in Milan, around 380... February, 2006

Vatican official says pope will fix liturgical abuses firmly, gently... February, 2006

Ecumenism and the Eucharist... February, 2006

Listening to the words of our songs... January, 2006

When should the liturgy begin?... January, 2006

Who is responsible for our current Lectionary?... January, 2006

 

Liturgy news... December, 2005

History: A church inSyria in the Fifth century... December, 2005

The Translation Wars: before and after... December, 2005

Leaked sources... December, 2005

History: The assembly in a house in 304... December, 2005

History: Emperor Alexander Severus (222-235) arbitrates... December, 2005

Advent Intercessions... December, 2005

Msgr. Frederick R. McManus... December, 2005

The translation wars: The Communion Rite... December, 2005

December musings... December, 2005

Twenty years of renewal... August, 2005