Andrea Tornielli today reports that in Il Giornale there is an interview with none other than Msgr. Guido Marini, presently the papal MC. Here is my translation. I will try to dig up the piece in Il Giornale.
Msgr. Marini makes comments about Summorum Pontificum and ad orientem worship.
Today Il Giornale published an interview with [Archbp] Guido Marini, the new Mastor of Ceremonies for Papa Ratzinger, who explained the meaning of some of the Pontiff’s choices, starting with the Cross in the center of the altar. Not all of the conversation I had with Msgr. Marini could be published. I had to cut two important responses, dedicated to the orientation of the altar and the Motu Proprio. Here is the text, which I invite you to read.
For baptisms in the Sistine Chapel Benedict XVI celebrated with his back to the faithful, as before the Council. A fact that created some surprise…
"In circumstances in which the celebration is carried out in the way, we aren’t dealing as much with turning one’s back to the people as, rather, orienting oneself with the faithful toward the Lord. From this point of view "the door isn’t being closed on the faithful", but, "the door is being opened to the assembly, leading it to the Lord. There are certain circumstances in which, because of the artistic conditions of the sacred place and of its special beauty and harmony, it becomes advantageous to celebrate at the old altar, where among other things the exact orientation of the liturgical celebration is preserved. This shouldn’t surprise anyone: it is enough to go into St. Peter’s in the morning and see how many priests are celebrating according to the Ordinary Rite which came out of the post-Conciliar liturgical reform, but on traditional altars and, thus, oriented like that in the Sistine."
Benedict XVI will celebrate a Mass using the old Rite, which he derestricted with the Motu Proprio?
"I don’t know, and I am not in a position to respond. I believe nevertheless that a serene, ecclesial and non-ideological reading of these decisions by the Pontiff is important. The liturgy of the Church, just as with Her whole life, is comprised of continuity: I would speak of a development in continuity. This means that the Church procedes in her journey in history without losing sight of Her own roots and Her own living Tradition: this can require, in some cases, also the recovery of precious and important elements which were lost along the way, forgotten and which the passage of time has made less luminous in their authentic meaning. It seems to me that the Motu Proprio is aiming precisely in this direction: reaffirming with great clarity that in the liturgical life of the Church there is continuity, without rupture.
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“In circumstances in which the celebration is carried out in the way, we aren’t dealing as much with turning one’s back to the people as, rather, orienting oneself with the faithful toward the Lord.
People should not seek the face of the priest during the Mass, but the “face” of Almighty God in their worship. When the priest leads us in prayer facing forward with us, it is easier to focus purely on He to Whom we offer our worship.
Worship is not about human interaction, but about giving our total being, interiorly, to God. Unfortunatetly, current forms of worship, focused so much on “us” does not comprehend the full Mystical Body present at the Mass, with the angels and the saints, with whom we cannot make any eye or physical contact. God dwells in the souls of those in the state of grace which is why silent, still, interior worship takes priority over external manifestations (such as hand holding, clapping, arms raised, etc.).
Careful elimination stimulii – everything from eye contact to physical contact, and other external distractions which jolt us from what I call contemplative worship, for lack of a better expression, should gradually be decreased. It’s a worship of God with a type of detachment (from these stimulii) and one that requires a certain degree of spiritual maturity to grasp in my humble opinion (it’s also so…..Carmelite). It is also why I can’t be upset or angry with those who are not yet graced with an understanding of contemplative worship.
For the spiritual life to increase, noise of all forms must be reduced. Noise comes in the form of not only too much media, but also in the form of too much activity. We see it in the Mass where the liturgy has been made overly active for the sake of keeping people’s attention. Those who arrange such liturgies are missing the main point: Worship is about giving God his due and when we least feel like being there and holding out for this reason or that, is when our worship is even sweeter to God.
Ad orientem celebration of the Mass is one more step in the right direction of eliminating activty from the Mass.
In a word:
theocentric vs. anthrocentric
Why don’t we all write the Holy Father and simply ask him to celebrate the Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form?
If we collectively were to write heart-felt letters to the Holy Father – and enough of us were to write him, would he not wish to indulge us as he himself has written in the Motu Proprio?
Surely the Holy Father would find it in his Heart to grant such a request and give the whole Church such a great gift.
I pledge to write such a letter to the Vicar of Christ. Will any of you join me in this endeavor?
Would someone be so kind to provide the correct address in order for those of us inclined to do so can do this at our earliest convenience?
I know priests who won’t offer the TLM as long as the Holy Father refrains from offering the TLM.
I can’t expect bishops and priests to do anything less than follow the Pope’s lead when it comes to offering the TLM.
Actions speak louder than words.
Tom: I know priests who won’t offer the TLM as long as the Holy Father refrains from offering the TLM.
Such an attitude coming from a priest is very unfortunate. This type of faith is only fulfilled in seeing – the faith of a doubting Thomas. Let’s take this logic a little further:
“I won’t condemn a particular pro-abortion politician in my diocese, until I see the Holy Father do it with my own eyes.”
“I won’t pray the rosary until I see the Holy Father do it with my own eyes.”
“I won’t brush my teeth until I see the Holy Father do it with my own eyes.”
“I won’t have a shower until I see the Holy Father do it with my own eyes.”
Where does the buck (as you Americans say) stop? If the Holy Father has allowed it for the good of the church and they know it is bearing much fruit, why must they insist on? Is this not a weak faith?
Ottaviani: This isn’t a matter of faith. Don’t push this too far. There are many reasons why a priest might hesitate, in the context of his particular diocese, and why he would be more secure were the Holy Father to use the TLM publicly first.
Ottaviani wrote: “Such an attitude coming from a priest is very unfortunate. This type of faith is only fulfilled in seeing – the faith of a doubting Thomas.”
I think that it’s simply a matter of the priests in question awaiting definite action…not words…but the most definite action that Pope Benedict XVI can take…
…offer the TLM publicly and regularly.
Actions speak louder than words.
Pax.
Follow the leader…follow the leader’s public example.
Does the Holy Father truly desire that each parish offer the TLM?
Then one move from the Holy Father would signal once and for whether the above is correct…the Pope would offer the TLM in public and His Holiness would do so regularly.
Ottaviani wrote: “Such an attitude coming from a priest is very unfortunate. This type of faith is only fulfilled in seeing – the faith of a doubting Thomas.”
That could be true I suppose for some, but not necessarily for all or even most. There is still the unfortunate perception that Summorium Pontificum was a bone thrown to “those schismatics”. The Holy Father, so the reasoning goes, doesn’t really believe all that tradition stuff but had to indulge those being disobedient.
I can easily imagine that many sinceerely believe that they are being obedient to the Holy Father’s true, but unspoken intention.