Liturgical Time Bombs: The Destruction of the Faith thru Changes in Catholic Worship

[Stone]

Instruction Overshadows Worship

Another time bomb is contained in Article 33: "Although the sacred liturgy is above all things the worship of the divine Majesty, it likewise contains abundant instruction for the faithful." Take careful note of the word "although." The essential nature of the liturgy as a solemn act of worship offered to the Eternal Father seems to be safeguarded, but on a practical level, little more is heard of "the worship of the divine Majesty," but a great deal is heard about the "abundant instruction of the faithful." As was mentioned earlier, the tragedy of the Liturgical Movement was the fact that it would make this secondary aspect of the liturgy the primary aspect.

For the Protestant, it is the written word of the Bible which is of paramount importance in worship; it is to receive this written word in readings and preaching and to respond by praising God in prayers and hymns that Protestants come together. On the other hand, the Catholic assists at Mass primarily by offering, adoring and then receiving the Incarnate Word Himself. Those wishing to change the Mass in the interests of ecumenical convergence have been able to utilize Article 33 to add considerable emphasis to the instructional part of the Mass, while the prominence given to the sacrifice has been considerably diminished. Xavier Rynne, who wrote for the New Yorker, notes with satisfaction that the CSL

establishes the function of the Word of God in liturgical worship, placing the emphasis on Scripture as understood by modern biblical theology, and thereby furnishing a realistic bridge for a dialogue with the Protestant Churches whose worship has always been biblically rather than sacramentally orientated. [X. Rynne, The Second Session (London: Herder & Herder, 1964), p. 305.]

Rynne's conclusion conforms perfectly with what was explained on page 3 of this book: the tragedy of the Liturgical Movement was that it would make the pedagogical, or educative aspect of the liturgy the primary aspect.

Article 34 of the CSL states that the reformed liturgy must be "distinguished by a noble simplicity." There is, needless to say, no attempt to explain precisely what constitutes "a noble simplicity." The liturgy must be "short" but how short? It must be "unencumbered by useless repetitions"-----but when does a repetition become useless? (The very dreary repetitions in the New Mass which have been introduced in the Responsorial Psalm and the Bidding Prayers [Prayer of the Faithful] are therefore presumably useful repetitions.) Article 34 also insists that the new rites must "be within the people's powers of comprehension." What is meant here by the word "people"? University graduates, the illiterate, or those in the middle? Must anything that anyone cannot comprehend be excluded? The latitude which this article gave to the Consilium hardly needs elaborating.

Article 37 claims that "the Church has no wish to impose a rigid uniformity on matters which do not involve the faith or the good of the whole community." It explains that anything in the way of life of various races and peoples that "is not indissolubly bound up with superstition and error she [the Church] studies with sympathy and, if possible, preserves intact. Sometimes, in fact, she admits such things into the liturgy itself, as long as they harmonize with its true and authentic spirit." In practical terms this has meant unrestricted pluriformity, with one exception. And in this case the most rigid uniformity prevails in the overwhelming majority of dioceses in the Western world. This is the rigid uniformity of not allowing the Traditional Latin ("Tridentine") Mass codified by St. Pius V ... .