What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

The dopes are at it.

I am watching Fox News via Slingbox.

"Experts" who "believe", suggest that sure maybe this is Jesus’s tomb, but who says Jesus had to rise bodily in order to "rise"? 

Can’t have it both ways, friends.

And this is the channel that brought you me during Papal April and now is bringing you Anna Nichol Smith 24/7.

BLECH

We continue our Lenten journey through the prayers of Holy Mass with today’s

SUPER OBLATA:
Accepta tibi sit, Domine, nostrae devotionis oratio,
quae et conversationem nostram, te operante, sanctificet,
et indulgentiam nobis tuae propitiationis obtineat.

I am really too tired to do much with this, so let me free-wheel a little.

In Latin conversatio is not "conversation".  It is a Pauline term especially important later in monasticism for "manner of living".  I am going to lend it contemporary weight with "life-style".  Devotio is another loaded term, but I will let it stand for now. 

LITERAL RENDERING:
O Lord, may the offering of our devotion,
which as You are working within it, sanctifies our life-style
be acceptable to You, and let it obtain for us the forgiveness of your proptiation.

I like how we have these third declensions stacking up on on another: devotio…oratio…conversatio… propitiatio…  nice!

My (philological) choice of "life-style" has purpose.  Some people want to think, and want you to think, that just because they choose a "life-style", then that choice perfectly justifies itself.  No moral judgment is possible once a choice is made. 

Since I am very tired and don’t have the energy to mince words, some "life-styles" are filthy and cry out to God for vengence.  People can fool themselves, or pretend to.  They cannot fool the Judge.  If they are not careful, they will burn in hell.

There is always room in God’s mercy.  We can be sorry for sins and ask forgiveness.  There is room for illness and entrenched habit.  There is a great deal of latitude in God’s mercy.  But His mercy is not such that we should tempt God.  God cannot be fooled.

When there is a conflict between the "offering of our devotion" in which God is at work, and our "life-style", in which we sinners alone are at work…. 

We must bring our "life-style" to His style.

In Vienna being turned toward the East has been a constant experience through history. Sometimes it has been a matter of life or death.

In the spirit of the informal motto we have taken here, Save The Liturgy – Save The World - I tip my biretta to Gerald over at the Cafeteria (or in this case Viennese Caffe) for a something from Christoph Cardinal Schoenborn he translated. o{]:¬) He got it from Kath.net. Here is what Card. Schoenborn has to say about Mass celebrated versus populum and ad orientem versus. My emphasis and comments.

    The question "people’s altar or high altar" has become a reason for dispute. A Viennese parish decided, to once more celebrate Mass using the baroque high altar. A movable people’s altar will only be used for "family Masses". Someone told the media about this which resulted in some clamoring, including the hilarious statement that from now on the priest would "preach to the wall" in this church! [How often do we hear the laughably stupid phrase that the priest has his "back to the people"?]

    First and foremost: It is not decisive in which direction the celebrant faces, but rather what happens on the altar. [True. However, from a point of view of the "psychology" of the changes, Klaus Gamber said that the deorientation of the altar was the more destructive change after the Council.]

    ...

    Second: Both directions of celebration are justified and neither should be suspected or "ideologized". [cough] Mass isn’t celebrated "to the people" or "to the wall", but to God through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. The celebration turned "to the people" has the meaning that we all, priests and laypeople, gather around Christ who symbolizes the altar and whose Body and Blood become present on the altar [cough]. The celebration "with the back to the people" is not a turning away from the faithful but facing in the same direction in prayer, expression of the path we walk walk towards God as pilgrims, His wandering people.

    Third: Vatican II did not say anything about the direction of the celebrant. It wasn’t until 1969 that the GIRM said (Nr. 262): "The main altar should be built separated from the wall, so that it can be walked around easily to make the celebration versus populum (towards the people)" In the 2002 edition the following is added: "This should be the case wherever it is possible". The Roman Congregation has declared this as a recommendation, not a requirement. [There is a great deal of controversy about this GIRM 299, which the American bishops mistranslated in their "Built of Living Stones", the successor of your favorite and mine, the so-called Environment and Art in Catholic Worship, which though it had ZERO authority was the basis of Dresden-like devastation to our churches and the souls that (used to) frequent them.]

    Fourth: The oldest direction for prayer is towards the East. The Jews prayed towards Jerusalem, the Muslims towards Mecca, the Christians towards the rising sun which symbolizes the Risen Christ. Thus the respective orientation of the synagogues, mosques and churches. The orientation, ie the "Eastwardness" of churches is one of the "original laws" of church architecture. St. Peter’s in Rome faces westward for practical reasons. therefore the Pope celebrates facing the doors, which are in the East, and because of that towards the people. It is good to remind oneself what "orientation" means.

    Lastly, a personal comment: I love both directions of celebrating Mass. Both are full of meaning for me. [cough] Both help me to encounter Christ – and that is, after all, the purpose of the liturgy.

Years ago I translated a piece in Notitiae which indicated that a new wind was starting ever so imperceptibly to puff into life. The CDWDS admitted, astonishingly, that where there was an important main altar we should not set up a table altar in front of it. This is because the prinicipal of the unicity of the altar for worship is so important.

Right! And let us not forget that His Holiness Pope Benedict has written about this very topic.

The Post-Synodal Exhortation is going to be coming out. I recall that during the Synod, some bishops from the East spoke about how the celebration of Mass "facing the people" had weakened the sense of the liturgy.

We need a massive re-orientation.

Greetings WDTPRSers and welcome to your new home.  We are now on a new server.

Hopefully everything went well and we will be faster and more stable.

Since it is Lent again, and many of you are (I hope) determined to develop the good practice of making a regular and frequent confession.  It is therefore opportune to repost my 20 Tips for Making a Good Confession.  They have been zipping around the internet for years, but some of you may not have seen them yet.

Fr. Z’s 20 Tips For Making A Good Confession

We should…

  1) ...examine our consciences regularly and thoroughly;
  2) ...wait our turn in line patiently;
  3) ...come at the time confessions are scheduled, not a few minutes before they are to end;
  4) ...speak distinctly but never so loudly that we might be overheard;
  5) ...state our sins clearly and briefly without rambling;
  6) ...confess all mortal sins in number and kind;
  7) ...listen carefully to the advice the priest gives;
  8) ...confess our own sins and not someone else’s;
  9) ...carefully listen to and remember the penance and be sure to understand it;
10) ...use a regular formula for confession so that it is familiar and comfortable;
11) ...never be afraid to say something "embarrassing"... just say it;
12) ...never worry that the priest thinks we are jerks…. he is usually impressed by our courage;
13) ...never fear that the priest will not keep our confession secret… he is bound by the Seal;
14) ...never confess "tendencies" or "struggles"... just sins;
15) ...never leave the confessional before the priest has finished giving absolution;
16) ...memorize an Act of Contrition;
17) ...answer the priest’s questions briefly if he asks for a clarification;
18) ...ask questions if we can’t understand what he means when he tells us something;
19) ...keep in mind that sometimes priests can have bad days just like we do;
20) ...remember that priests must go to confession too … they know what we are going through.

Here is a snapshot of a few places some of you readers are.

San Diego, California
Helsinki, Southern Finland
Los Angeles, California
Spokane, Washington
Osasco, Sao Paulo
Davis, California
Madrid
Chicago, Illinois
Winston Salem, North Ca…
Garland, Texas
Prior Lake, Minnesota
Poughkeepsie, New York
Wallingford, Connecticut
Piedmont, South Carolina
Unknown Country  ... OOOOO… creeeeeepy
Buffalo, New York
Santander, Cantabria
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
Westlake, Ohio
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Atchison, Kansas    
Bismarck, North Dakota
Lobo Township, Ontario
Manassas, Virginia
Abington, Pennsylvania
Hicksville, New York
Malvern, Pennsylvania
Abbotsford, New South Wales
Malvern, Pennsylvania
Orange Park, Florida