It sounds like the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was ad orientem as well.
Update:
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12, 2016. Cardinal Burke announced Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe will now be ad orientem. "Towards the Lord"Update 2:
Confirmed, the Friars will now offer all Masses exclusively ad orientem going forward.
14 comments:
I like. I want to post it to my wall.
LOL, you are a Facebook addict now.
Ad Orientem? What about when Jesus said "Where ever two or three are gathered in My name, I am there IN THEIR MIDST" Mt 18,20? Why would it be good for the priest to turn his back to this presence? Ad populum is ad Christum.
? "In their midst" doesn't seem to indicate a direction. I've never heard a scriptural argument for versus populum, so I'd find it highly suspect without an in depth explanation. General arguments I've read are that the laity somehow participate more when the priest turns his back to God. Priest have faced God during Mass for 2000 years(including in the early Church).
...is God so limited, restricted to one place-the East? Can I locate God on Mapquest?
One of the strongest (and sadly ill-covered) reasons for ad orientem is it keeps Christianity in touch with its Jewish heritage. The book of Hebrews tells us that the tabernacles on Earth are copies of the heavenly worship space. (Hebrews 9:24) In heaven, there is a Holy of Holies that only the High Priest (Christ) enters once to remain until His return. (Hebrews 9:12) In that Holy of Holies, the High Priest offered the blood of sacrifice and incense before the kapporeth, which is (horribly) translated in English as the “mercy seat.” A better understanding comes from the Greek hilasterion, which means place of atonement or even place of purgation. Before the mercy seat, the sacrifice is offered which purges the guilt of believers. Christ’s sacrifice takes this a step further by not only eliminating the guilt, but completely eliminating the sins we have committed. (Hebrews 9:27, 10:14-18) Once those sins have been eliminated, the sacrifice also raises our flesh from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:14)
When a priest says Mass ad orientem, he is doing his best to faithfully represent the heavenly liturgy.
http://www.catholiclane.com/why-ad-orientem-part-i/
"I am there IN THEIR MIDST"
Mass on 12/12 was also celebrated ad orientem.
What a blessing! Thank you Cardinal Burke! It was in part because of Protestantization of the Sacred Liturgy, Our Worship of G-D, that Many Catholics eventually would fall into protestant theology as well.
When I attend Mass I am facing east. When the priest faces east, it is to make the sacrifice acceptable to the Father. He is going up the steps of Calvary and we are his witnesses. It is very sacred and inspiring. Thank-you Cardinal Burke.
I wondered how many priests would obey Card Sarah. The tide does seem to be turning a wee bit. But we need a Sunami.
While I, myself, offer Mass "ad orientem" on a regular basis (though not for Sunday Mass yet), doing so is not a matter of "obedience". Cardinal Sarah was expressing a hope and a challenge, not a command. It's important to recognize the difference lest you judge those priests who do not do so unjustly (or uncharitably).
one comment pointed out " where ever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in THEIR midst" from Matthew Gospel.
I find it amazing how many of the Liturgical innovations promoted by "traditionalist" people show a subtle disdain for the Lord in THEIR midst: 1) clergy turn your backs to the presence of Christ in the community 2) use a language foreign to them (latin) 3) the tone of many of the opening prayers of the current missal are very demeaning to the laity 4) put up a barrier (communion rail) between us (clergy) and them (the great unwashed)etc.
I assume you are either joking or being flippant here. Although the 70s liturgical movement to which you(I think) prescribe is governed by erroneous theology, I think allowing organic development on either side seems prudent at this moment in the Church. I just dont think the 70s liturgical movement can continue to ignore scripture and their Jewish roots and ultimately succeed. Each point you note is supported heavily in scripture in the new liturgical movement, not the 70s rejection of it. There's so many great articles on the topic, if you really are interested in dialog on the topic I'll pull in the scripture references and do a post, but it's been discussed by much smarter people than me all over the Catholic web.
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