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Does the
New Mass fulfill the notion of Catholic liturgy? |
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6-7-2011 |
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Liturgy in general is ritualized prayer, i.e., the
official prayer of a society approved by the authority of
that society. In the case of Catholic liturgy, there is
the additional fact that it is in some way the prayer of
Jesus Christ Himself, the Head of the human race, carried
out in union with His mystical members.
As regards the New Mass, the element of approval by
authority is certainly present [at
least de facto, if not de jure—Ed.]
so any doubts regarding its legitimacy must concern
something deeper—either some antagonism against the very
notion of prayer or some incongruity with its status as
the prayer of Christ. |
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All prayer has a double aspect—a primary, ascending aspect
by which the adoration, thanksgiving, petition, and expiation of
man is offered to God and a secondary, descending aspect by which
the gifts and blessings of God are poured out upon man. Having
acknowledged God for Who He is and giving Him the recognition
which is unique to Him, Man humbly but confidently expects to
receive from God those things which He alone can give.
When one considers the ascending aspect of prayer, one
immediately realizes how much it depends upon and corresponds to
man's knowledge of God.
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In adoring
God,
man acknowledges the perfections which are known to him through
reason and especially by faith—God's mercy, power, justice,
wisdom, etc.
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In praising God for His perfections as better known
to man through faith, man also acknowledges the veracity of God.
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In thanking God, man thanks Him for His goodness and
mercy insofar as he knows of it through reason and especially
through faith.
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In petitioning God for blessings, man's confidence
is rooted in his knowledge of God's power and mercy.
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In seeking God's pardon, man is motivated by his
knowledge of the malice of sin, the goodness and majesty of God,
and man's own insignificance in comparison with His Creator.
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Here lies the first reason for the illegitimacy of the rite
of the New Mass—that it does not correspond to man's knowledge
of God, i.e., to the truth of God's revelation
considered either in its natural mode (via creation) or its
supernatural mode (via revelation). The new rite in a certain
sense worships a God of its own making—a God not offended by
sin, Who is not interested in ritual sacrifice, Who has little
respect for His own physical Presence at Mass, and Who places
religious truth and religious error on similar footing. |
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God's real
perfections and His real, historical dealings with men which
reveal and express those perfections are ignored or re-interpreted
according to the preferences of a modern man obsessed with his own
dignity rather than the dignity of God. Objectively, such a rite
of Mass is an insult to God. |
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As regards the descending aspect of prayer by which God's
blessings are called down upon men, a rite of prayer will be
legitimate insofar as it disposes man to receive these blessings.
At the level of natural religion, this will require that the rite
be so designed as to arouse sentiments of humility, confidence,
and contrition. At the level of supernatural religion, the rite
should dispose man to acts of faith, hope, and ultimately charity.
At this level, the Novus Ordo rite again proves defective
because it obscures the truths of the faith—hiding those elements
of doctrine which offensive to ecumenism or the modern notion of
human dignity. Praying with such a distorted expression of the
faith certainly does not facilitate acts of faith but rather
impedes them. This undermines the whole structure of supernatural
sanctification since faith is the foundation of hope and charity.
Even considering natural religion, a rite which places man at the
center of religious focus and a man eminent for his intrinsic
dignity which no sinful act can compromise can hardly be said to
dispose men to acts of humility and contrition. In fact, in
practice, it is obvious that the new rite of Mass has undermined
the natural religious reverence of the faithful. |
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Finally, all Catholic liturgy is unique in the striking
sense that it is the prayer of Jesus Christ, Head of the
Mystical Body. On the side of Christ, this flows from the
fact that Our Lord is the only real mediator of salvation,
the only Priest Who ever offered a worship worthy of God.
On the side of His members, this flows from the reality of
our incorporation into Christ and our participation in His
Priesthood (either active or passive) achieved through the
reception of indelible sacramental characters. What then
can be said of a rite of Mass which, through its
ecumenical orientation, implicitly denies the unique
mediation of Christ? Or which obscures the essentially
sacrificial aspect of that mediation? |
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Or which
implicitly denies the hierarchy among the sacramental characters
by which the members of Christ participate in and benefit from
this mediation? Such a liturgy is untrue to itself. It denies its
own nature and lies about its own identity. Objectively, it is an
insult to the Son considered as Incarnate God. |
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