A better Mass

By Bishop Edward Risi OMI

The liturgy of the Mass as we celebrate it presently is in many respects far superior to the pre-Vatican II liturgical form.

Pope John XXIII called the Council precisely for the purpose of renewal and updating in the Church, and Paul VI saw that project through to its completion. The Mass as we celebrate it today is the fruit of that renewal, the climax of a process of reform that started towards the end of the 19th century.

Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Vatican II constitution on the liturgy, states: “In this restoration, both texts and rites should be drawn up so that they express more clearly the holy things which they signify; the Christian people, so far as possible, should be enabled to understand them with ease and to take part in them fully, actively, and as befits a community.”

There are several aspects which make the Mass as we celebrate it today, which Benedict XVI refers to as the ordinary form of the Roman Rite, superior to what the pope now refers to as the extra-ordinary form of the Roman Rite. Among these aspects I would list the following three:
• The greater use of scripture as the basis of the prayers of the liturgy.
• The greater exposition to the scriptures through the three-year cycle for Sundays and the two-year cycle for weekdays.
• Simplicity in the rite’s structure.

The Council foresaw that to achieve its goals, “it is essential to promote that warm and living love for Scripture to which the venerable tradition of both eastern and western rites gives testimony” (24).

Those who hanker after the older form of the Roman Rite very often list among the things that they miss the sense of the sacred and of mystery. I understand this to a point and I am able to sympathise with the sentiments expressed, but I believe that it is not the renewal of the rite that has occasioned the loss of the dignity they are hankering after, rather it is the way celebrants and congregants celebrate the Mass.

I remember in my school days a priest who regularly finished the Mass (according to the old rite) in 12 minutes flat. Even in the older rite of the Mass it could be done without dignity and decorum. As altar servers we used to count how many breaths the priest reading through the Last Gospel would take to complete the task.

It is often said that the fact that the priest celebrates facing the people militates against the spirit of the sacred and does not encourage the sense of mystery. In the early centuries it was the custom to put the priest behind the iconostasis—as is still done in the Orthodox liturgies—or turn the priest round with his back to the people so as to deliberately hide him in the mystery being celebrated.

On the other hand, if one recalls the example of Padre Pio, among others, celebrating Mass facing the people, one would note that this did not rob him of a spirit of recollection and deep reverence for what he was doing at the altar. Many celebrants strive to be reverent and respectful for the mystery of faith which is being celebrated at their hands.

Others believe that because the Mass was celebrated in Latin, there was a sense of mystique about what happened at the altar. There are people who felt that this fact alone created the mystery about it all. However, the real mystery is the risen Jesus Christ gathering the members of his body. That we do that in our vernacular languages creates the opportunity for us to plumb the real depths of our faith.

The Council saw one of its tasks as follows: “Servers, lectors, commentators, and members of the choir also exercise a genuine liturgical function. They ought, therefore, to discharge their office with the sincere piety and decorum demanded by so exalted a ministry and rightly expected of them by God’s people. Consequently they must all be deeply imbued with the spirit of the liturgy, each in his own measure, and they must be trained to perform their functions in a correct and orderly manner” (29).

In the early days after the Council a lot of effort was made to involve men and women in the action around the table of the Word and the table of the Eucharist. The sanctuary was opened to other participants. There we did well and people came forward with great reverence. Some of that reverence has disappeared, unfortunately.

I believe one of the greatest disservices we did in the implementation of the new Roman rite was to put the sacred words to secular music. One still hears the mysteries of our faith sung to “Michael row The Boat Ashore, Alleluia!” or “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” and such like. That this situation still persists is of great detriment to the celebration of the Mass with the dignity it should have.

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference wanted to make full use of the opportunity offered in the implementation of the 3rd edition of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal to assist priests and faithful to grow anew in the awareness of the enormity of the mystery which we celebrate in faith. To this end the “Pastoral Introduction to the Order of Mass” has been published and is being promoted. It is not the final word in reaching the vision of the renewed liturgy but it is an important effort towards this.

The bishops feared that it would be too easy to give rise to a new phase of legalism and for that reason they published a book which gives people the chance to understand the meaning of the symbols employed in the celebration of the Mass and the reasons behind things as they are done.

The growing secular mentality challenges everything that is dear to us, questions our faith and almost makes us feel guilty about being a believer in the unseen God. This is the situation of our modern times. It was precisely because of this growing tendency that Vatican II boldly took steps to meet the modern person—a process in which we are still involved 50 years later.

The Catholic Church, because its members are drawn from all cultures and languages, is in a unique position to deal with the questions of secularisation which the churches of the East, because they are more culturally uniform, deal with to a much lesser extent. One still hears, for example, that in the eastern churches no one questions fasting from midnight before receiving Communion—they would not dream of receiving Communion after breakfast, as we have become accustomed to do.

And yet, if at the time of the Council we had returned to the midnight fast, there would never have developed any opportunity for evening Mass, never mind a Saturday evening Mass. It was not only questions of secularisation that the council dealt with, but the very practicalities of the developing urbanised and industrialised societies. One can add to that the vast questions of culture. The council simplified the rites and rules so that their meaning would be more obvious to those who celebrated the Eucharist.

I firmly believe that this little book, “Pastoral Introduction to the Order of Mass”, will create opportunities for us to deepen our understanding of the Mass and with some real effort on the part of all, for example taking trouble to prepare oneself before going to Mass and with some organised attention within parishes to reviewing the quality of the celebration—in short, the kind of things that the publication presents, in a simplified way—we will go a long way in fostering a new spirit among our people which will help them celebrate Mass in a way that increases with meaning.
Bishop Risi of Keimoes Upington is the chair of the SACBC’s department for Catechetics, Liturgy and Culture. The booklet is available in the bookshops, from Khanya House and diocesean chanceries.