Saturday, November 30, 2019

Shhhhhh. . . Maybe nobody will notice

In case you missed it, today was an auspicious anniversary date that has largely been ignored, forgotten on purpose.  The new Mass promulgated by Pope Paul VI in the wake of Vatican II on April 3, 1969, became effective in most countries and was introduced on the first Sunday of Advent of 1969.  That year the date was November 30. So why has no one paid much attention to the 50th anniversary of that dramatic change in liturgical life, piety, and, yes, doctrine in the Roman Catholic Church?  Why have other liturgical churches also effected by the Novus Ordo not paid homage to this anniversary?

Could it be that no one wants to remember it?  For the traddies in Rome it was a mistake.  For the progressives, it was but a first step.  For Lutherans the event marked our own plunge into liturgical reform (for the LCMS it was publishing the Worship Supplement that same year). We were already at work on a pan-Lutheran hymnal that never succeeded in its goal of unity but was a profound departure from the gradual reforms of the past.  For others it was overshadowed by other religious news from the priest abuse scandal to the emptying of belief and the abandonment of the creedal confessions of the past.  In any case, it should not be forgotten.

Novus Ordo was not all bad and neither was the Liturgical Movement that gave it birth but some thing were absolutely tragic.  The radical disconnect with what had gone before was felt well beyond the pale of Rome.  The liturgical change that moved by leaps and bounds instead of small incremental steps left clergy and laid confused and disoriented.  The opportunity to disconnect style from substance gave birth to a whole movement that abandoned the liturgical tradition even in church bodies that once knew it well.  The movement to incorporate indigenous culture certainly was made possible by Novus Ordo if not promulgated by it.  The loss of a great and historic musical tradition may be largely irreparable.  The mass abandonment in the pews was hastened by if not caused by the liturgical tremors that left the faithful wounded.  The Novus Ordo participated in, even if it was unwittingly, the move to a personalized and individualized sense of what was meaningful, relevant, and good within worship.

The good things that came out of Novus Ordo were almost accidental rather than deliberate but we should not forget them.  The re-connection between what was happening with the priest at the altar with the folks in the pews cannot be overlooked.  This is a good thing.  The worst of the Latin Mass was the fact that priest and people seemed to operate in different worlds within the same liturgical space and this was unhealthy.  The move to re-establish a voice and role for the laity was good.  There will be arguments over whether the 3-year or historic lectionary is better but no one can deny it has led to a renewal of preaching even in places like Rome not ordinarily known for preaching.  In addition it sparked a renewal and flourishing of hymnody that has produced more modern equivalents to the great and historic hymns of the past than any other age. 

So I can see why some would not want to celebrate this anniversary but I cannot understand why we would ignore it.  The clock cannot be turned back.  Fifty years has passed and for good or for ill this is the liturgical landscape around us.  Lutherans, Episcopalians, and others all were affected by what Paul VI invented under the tutelage of Bugnini.  So we need to come to turns with it all.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is certainly no doubt that this was a historic event, actually a historic error. It tore apart a tradition that had been established through the ages, and left everyone with vast uncertainty. With an "anything goes" approach, no one knew what to expect. I think the greatest disaster was that the sense of WORSHIP was lost entirely. Now we have substituted ENTERTAINMENT, a sort of "open mike" event where anyone and everyone is expected to put in their two cents worth. People go to Church to day (the few who do), to be entertained by a jazz band or rock group, to show off their daringly inappropriate clothing, to dance in the pews to up-beat fluff tunes, and to relax in a laid back atmosphere with a cup of coffer from the Narthex bar. It is all about us, and God is at most incidental. As a result, I think God is often not present; the Shekinah has departed and there is little left to bring people in unless the coffee is exceptional.

No, this is not an event to celebrate rather an event to morn.

Fr. D+
Continuing Anglican Priest

Anonymous said...

Let me re-post an article from Ann Barnhart, a rather extremely conservative Roman Catholic blogger, regarding her thoughts on this event:


Reminder: Tomorrow (30 November) is the Kanye West and Family Conversion Mass at 10:00am Pacific Time AND the Awful Quinquagenary

Tomorrow, 30 November, is the 50th anniversary of the implementation of the Novus Ordo Mass.

Fifty years of horizontal self-worship, Jewish table blessings, and Eucharistic impiety.

Literally scribbled together on a napkin in a restaurant in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome.

Countless western Catholics, having been poorly catechized and formed in the first half of the 20th century, apostatized within WEEKS of the introduction of the Novus Ordo. They took one look at it, said, “That’s not the Catholic Mass,” and never stepped foot in a church again. They didn’t stay and fight. They shrugged and walked away. Countless millions of souls were lost, and it happened almost instantly.

Is it any wonder the world has gone to hell as it has in the past half-century?

As we remember this most awful quinquagenary, please also remember in your prayers tomorrow Kanye West and his family, that they convert and enter into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and that they someday achieve the Beatific Vision. Fraternal charity isn’t really about liking someone personally, it is about rooting for them to achieve the Beatific Vision. And in the Beatific Vision, all is infinite, perfect charity, so everyone will not only like but truly love everyone else, worshipping the Triune Godhead together. It seems incomprehensible and impossible now, but we know that is the telos of man, including you, me, and Kanye.

Please also remember to pray for the priest who is offering this Mass.
Reminder: Tomorrow (30 November) is the Kanye West and Family Conversion Mass at 10:00am Pacific Time AND the Awful Quinquagenary

Tomorrow, 30 November, is the 50th anniversary of the implementation of the Novus Ordo Mass.

Fifty years of horizontal self-worship, Jewish table blessings, and Eucharistic impiety.

Literally scribbled together on a napkin in a restaurant in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome.

Countless western Catholics, having been poorly catechized and formed in the first half of the 20th century, apostatized within WEEKS of the introduction of the Novus Ordo. They took one look at it, said, “That’s not the Catholic Mass,” and never stepped foot in a church again. They didn’t stay and fight. They shrugged and walked away. Countless millions of souls were lost, and it happened almost instantly.

Is it any wonder the world has gone to hell as it has in the past half-century?

As we remember this most awful quinquagenary, please also remember in your prayers tomorrow Kanye West and his family, that they convert and enter into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and that they someday achieve the Beatific Vision. Fraternal charity isn’t really about liking someone personally, it is about rooting for them to achieve the Beatific Vision. And in the Beatific Vision, all is infinite, perfect charity, so everyone will not only like but truly love everyone else, worshipping the Triune Godhead together. It seems incomprehensible and impossible now, but we know that is the telos of man, including you, me, and Kanye.

Please also remember to pray for the priest who is offering this Mass.

That is the end of Ann's post, and it is evident that she has many strictly Roman Catholic concerns. But she accurately identifies the connection between this event and Christian decline. Notice what she says about "horizontal self-worship" and "Eucharistic impiety." Does this not fit what we see all around us?

Fr. D+
Continuing Anglican Priest

Cliff said...

Not sure how to address this article as there are some good points made and overall it makes sense. Pastor Peters deals mostly in generalities and could be more specific in some of his criticism of the N O, mass. I think P P is too hard in his assault on the Novus Ordo, as there are some benefits to the changes in the RCC.

As one who has attended many Catholic worship services over the years due to close family ties. I am very familiar with the pre Vatican II Church. It was a legalistic stuffy proud organization and had little respect for Protestants. Since V II the changes have been astronomical in their respect for other faiths. This is totally contrary to the "sad saks" who populate the Latin Mass sites. They have nothing but contempt and redicule for anything non-Catholic. Even our former friend Daniel G went off the rails in some of his recent comments about Luther.

If you have your finger on the pulse in today's blog world, you soon pick up where these people are headed. Ann Barnhart is another extremist who has nothing but vitriol for anything that is not to her fundamentalist thinking.

While there could be some value in retaining old worship styles, let's not be hasty in our condemnation of everything that is new. After all it is the Holy Spirit leading the church. Or am I wrong?

Cliff said...

A further thought: Pastor Peters comment about dropping church attendance being the fault of the church and it's changing liturgical renewal. I may be wrong about his intent but perhaps other factors could be taken into account why many left the church. Are sociologal philosophical economical and other factors causing church decline? I think this has to be taken into account as well.

Growing up in the 50's everyone went to church including all your relatives, neighbors, friends and the local dog. When the liberal progressive 60's came along there was a mass exodus from the church. The world became very attractive and beckoned us to enjoy the pleasures of sin. Most of my relatives and friends left long before the liturgical reform and Novus Ordo appeared on the scene.

So let's be honest and not blame the exodus entirely on the style of worship/music.

Thanks Pastor Peters no disrespect intended.

Anonymous said...

Cliff said, "After all it is the Holy Spirit leading the church. Or am I wrong?"

Cliff, I think that there is no question but that a spirit is leading the Church, but not all spirits are the Holy Spirit. I am reminded of the Scriptural phrase, "By their fruits ye shall know them." Thus we need to look at the results to discover what spirit is leading.

Fr. D+

Cliff said...

Fr. D

You said a mouthful with "By their fruits ye shall know them." and I couldn't agree more. However, there is the human element involved as well. Do we know the Trinity well enough to be certain when it is the Holy Spirit leading or is it simply a humans interpretations? Humans are grossly opinionated and make mistakes in judgement, the Holy Spirit does not.

But as I mentioned about the sad saks that promote TLM their "fruits" are quite evident, don't you think?

Peace!

Cliff said...

A balanced view of the Novus Ordo mass. Pros & cons


http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/celebrating-the-novus-ordo-as-it-ought-to-be?_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9njWkkzOYr-YbZTKYwDcFIUCPLwKX6k4Z_dq1fKupjG9zWMa71HFmQYgEiaenP5k0x2W_TlzZrDwQ-Wgg-Yn020UTZkQ&_hsmi=80116078

Pastor Peters said...

Cliff, I dont think I would lay all the blame on liturgical renewal. As I have written before here, it was the way the changes were introduced and the great amount of change that happened literally overnight that left folks confused and dismayed. As a Lutheran I think the same could be said about us. We went from everyone with the same words and much of the same music despite different hymnals to new hymnals where the previous service was missing or so edited that there was little that was familiar. For the LCMS it took the LSB and some 24-28 years to get back to some semblance of unity. Now so much diversity is written into the books and so many parishes jettisoning the books that liturgical unity may be an empty dream. Of course this had an impact upon the folks in the pew. It is a contributing factor to our decline as well as Rome's declining mass attendance.

Anonymous said...

Father D wrote:

"...Ann Barnhart, a rather extremely conservative Roman Catholic blogger.."

An interesting characterization of Ann.

Fifty years ago, Ann would have been characterized as a "young Roman Catholic woman holding traditional views".

The question is: Who moved ? Did Ann's views somehow become "extremely conservative" or did the RC Church become "extremely liberal".

Cliff said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cliff said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cliff said...

Father D

Not sure if you are referring to my comment about Ann Barnhart?

If it was.............I agree with Ann a 100 percent when she is referring to reforming the corruption in the RCC, but she too goes off the rails when she and her ilk feel obliged to drag Luther and Protestantism through the mud and blame THE ENTIRE problem on us.

Yes, yes I like Ann's spunk and zeal for orthodoxy but please look at the root causes. When you find a devil under every rock and a dark shadow behind every tree; where will you ever find goodness?

I hope this clarifies my position as the English language is not the easiest to get a point across.

May God guide us to the fullness of His truth!