Fr. John Szada, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Hanover, PA wrote to his parishioners in the August 19, 2007 parish bulletin:
"[T]he issue of which direction the priest faces is important, historically. In Judaism, the direction of prayer is always to face Jerusalem. For Muslims, the direction of prayer is always to face Mecca. For Christians, especially for Catholics, the direction of prayer has always been to face the East. I wonder how many of our people even realize that. And why might that be important?
"It was to the East that Jesus ascended into heaven. And the angels present that day told the apostles that He would return in the same way that they saw Him going up. Therefore, Catholics always prayed facing the East as a way of waiting for the return of the Lord in glory. And the priest stood with his back to the people, not turned away from them, but leading the entire congregation in prayer. He stood at their head, so to speak, leading the assembly in worship of God.
"Contrary to popular opinion, Mass facing the people is a totally modern invention. It was not the way Mass was celebrated in the early church. And the disadvantage of Mass celebrated this way is that we can too easily forget that the entire Mass is a prayer to God, led by the priest. The danger is that the community can too easily turn inward on itself, rather than facing and anticipating the coming of the Lord.
I find this especially noteworthy since in one of my former parishes they have just installed a marble "altar of sacrifice" that had previously been the high altar in the lower church. Rather than the forward movement they think they are making, they are actually moving backwards. It is clear to me as a priest that celebrating Mass facing the people is not at all desirable. Neither is sitting in a "presidential chair" like some pretender potentate. It isn't about me or any other priest. The Mass is about the worship of God and nothing else. It is the sacrifice of Calvary renewed in un unbloody manner by the fulfillment of the Lord's command to "do this in memory of me."
Over the past forty years or so "liturgists" et alii have been promoting a form of Mass that centers not on divine worship but on man. It is often questionable as to whether the Lord's command is being fulfilled. As a result of this Mass attendance has dropped off drastically. There really is no point to it if these humanistic ideas are to be the focus. One could get their humanist jollies by going to a protestant church or a hoedown.
I was recently at a Mass that exemplified all that is wrong with the modern take on liturgy. The "presider" made himself the center of attention by idiosyncrasies too numerous to mention. Among those that stood out were his theatrical preaching style and his adding/deleting words to prayers common to the congregation. When he tried to be spontaneous he was clearly a failure as shown by his constant repetition of the same phrases and words over and over again. I really wondered what was in his mind and heart. It certainly seemed not to be at rest or peace.
Facing the same direction as the people leading them in prayer, following the rubrics, and reading the texts as they are written give one a tremendous sense of freedom and peace. In many ways it's like riding a bicycle. You do it without thinking about what you are doing. It allows you to give your whole heart and mind and soul to God.
Preaching simply, relying on the Gospel instead of gimmicks, allows the faithful access to the message the Church has to impart on a particular day without the distraction of a preacher who makes himself the center of attention.
The way forward is not to repeat the status quo or what has been done in the past, but rather to learn from it and change things for the better.
"[T]he issue of which direction the priest faces is important, historically. In Judaism, the direction of prayer is always to face Jerusalem. For Muslims, the direction of prayer is always to face Mecca. For Christians, especially for Catholics, the direction of prayer has always been to face the East. I wonder how many of our people even realize that. And why might that be important?
"It was to the East that Jesus ascended into heaven. And the angels present that day told the apostles that He would return in the same way that they saw Him going up. Therefore, Catholics always prayed facing the East as a way of waiting for the return of the Lord in glory. And the priest stood with his back to the people, not turned away from them, but leading the entire congregation in prayer. He stood at their head, so to speak, leading the assembly in worship of God.
"Contrary to popular opinion, Mass facing the people is a totally modern invention. It was not the way Mass was celebrated in the early church. And the disadvantage of Mass celebrated this way is that we can too easily forget that the entire Mass is a prayer to God, led by the priest. The danger is that the community can too easily turn inward on itself, rather than facing and anticipating the coming of the Lord.
I find this especially noteworthy since in one of my former parishes they have just installed a marble "altar of sacrifice" that had previously been the high altar in the lower church. Rather than the forward movement they think they are making, they are actually moving backwards. It is clear to me as a priest that celebrating Mass facing the people is not at all desirable. Neither is sitting in a "presidential chair" like some pretender potentate. It isn't about me or any other priest. The Mass is about the worship of God and nothing else. It is the sacrifice of Calvary renewed in un unbloody manner by the fulfillment of the Lord's command to "do this in memory of me."
Over the past forty years or so "liturgists" et alii have been promoting a form of Mass that centers not on divine worship but on man. It is often questionable as to whether the Lord's command is being fulfilled. As a result of this Mass attendance has dropped off drastically. There really is no point to it if these humanistic ideas are to be the focus. One could get their humanist jollies by going to a protestant church or a hoedown.
I was recently at a Mass that exemplified all that is wrong with the modern take on liturgy. The "presider" made himself the center of attention by idiosyncrasies too numerous to mention. Among those that stood out were his theatrical preaching style and his adding/deleting words to prayers common to the congregation. When he tried to be spontaneous he was clearly a failure as shown by his constant repetition of the same phrases and words over and over again. I really wondered what was in his mind and heart. It certainly seemed not to be at rest or peace.
Facing the same direction as the people leading them in prayer, following the rubrics, and reading the texts as they are written give one a tremendous sense of freedom and peace. In many ways it's like riding a bicycle. You do it without thinking about what you are doing. It allows you to give your whole heart and mind and soul to God.
Preaching simply, relying on the Gospel instead of gimmicks, allows the faithful access to the message the Church has to impart on a particular day without the distraction of a preacher who makes himself the center of attention.
The way forward is not to repeat the status quo or what has been done in the past, but rather to learn from it and change things for the better.
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