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| Martyrs of Compiègne singing their way to the guillotine |
Ben has it all. Bp. Morlino:
The creed is our “Yes” to the faith that we have heard in the scriptures, proclaimed so beautifully. The creed is also the transition of entrance into what is mystical. How does that work? That mystical part?The whole thing is over at To the Extraordinary
We’ve been through a rough time with the creed in the last 50 years. The creed was often looked upon as too long – people can’t understand it – let’s substitute for it another shorter creed, or let’s renew our baptismal promises instead – let’s find an end-run around the creed, because it’s too long and nobody understands it.
That is, unfortunately, overly superficial. The whole point of the creed is to spell out in words the mysteries of our Faith. The creed is not meant to be understood. The creed is an instrument of mysticism that the Lord gives to us. How? Everything we say in the creed is true. And we do not understand what we say in the creed, yet God gives us the mystical gift to proclaim as true that which we do not understand. The angels and saints in heaven understand the mysteries expressed in the creed. We, here in the church militant, do not. We don’t understand, we’re not meant to understand.
What a mystical gift it is to be able to proclaim what is true, even though we don’t understand it. And when we proclaim what is true, we are stating what the saints and angels in heaven understand, and that we don’t understand yet.
When we proclaim the words of that creed, we are speaking the language of heaven, here on earth. We’re anticipating the fullness of the kingdom where Christ alone is the center of all, where Christ is everything for everyone. The creed, appreciated, is a mystical moment, and it’s best when we sing it; so I hope, following the year of faith, many participate in singing the creed more frequently, because the words are mystical, and since the words properly belong to the angels and saints, and not to us, they’re better sung, so that they’re slowed down and appreciated.
I love, Love, LOVE singing the Credo in Latin. Wow.... it's been like a month since I've been to Latin Mass...
It can even be done beautifully in the vernacular.
4 comments:
This is pretty amazing. I couldn't believe my ears (in a good way) when he said it.
I know, I started reading your post and as I'm going I'm thinking No Way!
The monks at the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Chicago also sing the Creed in English. In fact, the entire Mass is chanted in English and Latin.
Dave P.
Cool, thanks for the tip Dave!
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