Monday, October 24, 2005

Light from the East ...

Was talking with the pastor of an Eastern rite parish in the region earlier today (planning a trip for the Divine Liturgy there with students), and I asked him what he thought of the new Pope's outreach to the East (i.e. the Orthodox). I said, it seems that Pope Benedict is getting a slightly warmer (or, maybe, less cool) reception in the East, even in Moscow, than Pope John Paul II. That lead to an interesting conversation. "Maybe not having a Slavic Pope helps." And then this, "And if Bendict could do something about the Western liturgy, that will be enough!" (or something to that effect)

It's almost a truism (in some circles i.e.) that the way the Novus Ordo is celebrated has lead to an obscuring of the vertical, transcendental dimension. I wholeheartedly agree, and not just because this affirms my high-church liturgical tastes. Liturgy is not just about taste, or "what works for me/us."

This reminded me of what Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Archbishop of Quebec said in an interview this past week with Zenit:

"The Eastern Christians exploit the architecture of their churches to be respectful of the Church herself and of the holy Eucharist, which is the heart of the temple," said Cardinal Ouellet, 61. "They have a deep sense of the sacredness, and so to hear them speak about the holy Eucharist was very edifying for me." "In the West," he continued, "we need to recover the sacredness of the liturgy."
As y'all know, I am absolutely fascinated by the liturgy of the East (and this Easter, dagnabit, I am going to make it to the Orthodox Pasch service in town!). We could learn a lot from our Eastern sisters and brothers.

[And, just to clarify: I'm far from the restorationist camp. Turning the clock back to 195x (or, 16xx, if you ask some!) is not just impossible, but not desirable. A little more Latin, in the Latin rite, however, never hurt anyone! :)]

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