Tonight, St. Joseph Church in Macon, which is currently hosting the Savannah Diocese Clergy Conference, will be home to Holy Mass celebrated by the Bishop of Savannah and concelebrated by many priests of the Diocese. This raises an important question about concelebration and its use in the Latin Rite.
(Note - there is no question about the practice of concelebration in the Byzantine Rite as concelebration has always had a place due in part to restrictions on celebrating the Divine Liturgy only once per day per altar, among other historical reasons.)
According to pre-eminent liturgical historian Adrian Fortescue, concelebration had a place in the Latin Rite until the 8th or 9th Century. Generally, concelebration properly speaking would occur when the bishop was concelebrating with his priests. This is still the case in the Usus Antiquor only during priestly and episcopal ordinations (the only time the Roman Canon and Words of Consecration are said audibly, by the way). There is no other provision for concelebration prior to Sacrosanctum Concilium in the Latin Rite of which I am aware. Recently, Antonio Cardinal Canizares, Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship and Sacraments said, "[T]he daily concelebrations of priests only, which are practised 'privately', so to speak... do not form part of the Latin liturgical tradition." Therefore, it is worth considering whether this change was for the better.
The lack of concelebration between the 9th Century and the mid-20th Century is probably due at least in part to better theological understanding of the propitiatory nature of the Sacrifice of the Mass. The more Masses said each day, the more graces are poured upon the world!
There is also the effect upon the priestly identity. The Holy Father has addressed this squarely:
(Note - there is no question about the practice of concelebration in the Byzantine Rite as concelebration has always had a place due in part to restrictions on celebrating the Divine Liturgy only once per day per altar, among other historical reasons.)
According to pre-eminent liturgical historian Adrian Fortescue, concelebration had a place in the Latin Rite until the 8th or 9th Century. Generally, concelebration properly speaking would occur when the bishop was concelebrating with his priests. This is still the case in the Usus Antiquor only during priestly and episcopal ordinations (the only time the Roman Canon and Words of Consecration are said audibly, by the way). There is no other provision for concelebration prior to Sacrosanctum Concilium in the Latin Rite of which I am aware. Recently, Antonio Cardinal Canizares, Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship and Sacraments said, "[T]he daily concelebrations of priests only, which are practised 'privately', so to speak... do not form part of the Latin liturgical tradition." Therefore, it is worth considering whether this change was for the better.
The lack of concelebration between the 9th Century and the mid-20th Century is probably due at least in part to better theological understanding of the propitiatory nature of the Sacrifice of the Mass. The more Masses said each day, the more graces are poured upon the world!
There is also the effect upon the priestly identity. The Holy Father has addressed this squarely:
I join the Synod Fathers in recommending 'the daily celebration of Mass, even when the faithful are not present'. This recommendation is consistent with the objectively infinite value of every celebration of the Eucharist, and is motivated by the Mass's unique spiritual fruitfulness. If celebrated in a faith-filled and attentive way, Mass is formative in the deepest sense of the word, since it fosters the priest's configuration to Christ and strengthens him in his vocation.
Cardinal Canizares goes so far as to suggest “the possibility of individual celebration or of participating in the Eucharist as a priest, but without concelebrating.” (!!)
The lay faithful must also be considered, as the Cardinal points out:
Here we find the limits of a right to concelebrate or not, which also respects the right of the faithful to take part in a liturgy where the ars celebrandi makes their actuosa participatio possible. We are thus touching on points which are a matter of justice; and indeed the author also refers to the Code of Canon Law.
As you can see, there are many reasons against concelebration in situations where the bishop is not present with his priests (that position being at least somewhat defensible, albeit with reference to the sort of liturgical archaeologism decried by Pope Pius XII in Mediator Dei).
Since concelebration in the absence of the bishop is clearly not favored by the Holy Father himself, as well as the prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of Worship and Sacraments, what is the alternative? One priest – one Mass – everyday. This is why there are side altars in Catholic Churches (and you thought they were just there to hold flowers)! I have had the immense pleasure of going to a Church for Sunday High Mass to find a priest saying a private Low Mass on a side altar. It was an incredible sight and a great experience to be able to prepare for the Mass at which I would assist while a priest offered the great Sacrifice privately. That is the Catholic Faith as it existed for a very long time until the relatively recent past. Perhaps it is time to reclaim that.
As for priests concelebrating Mass with the bishop, it tends to get a little sloppy. So, perhaps if there were more concrete rubrics in place (as there were previously), the practice would make more sense…
Since concelebration in the absence of the bishop is clearly not favored by the Holy Father himself, as well as the prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of Worship and Sacraments, what is the alternative? One priest – one Mass – everyday. This is why there are side altars in Catholic Churches (and you thought they were just there to hold flowers)! I have had the immense pleasure of going to a Church for Sunday High Mass to find a priest saying a private Low Mass on a side altar. It was an incredible sight and a great experience to be able to prepare for the Mass at which I would assist while a priest offered the great Sacrifice privately. That is the Catholic Faith as it existed for a very long time until the relatively recent past. Perhaps it is time to reclaim that.
As for priests concelebrating Mass with the bishop, it tends to get a little sloppy. So, perhaps if there were more concrete rubrics in place (as there were previously), the practice would make more sense…
1 comment:
Yes, I envision something like a Chinese fire drill or the Air Force trying to put on a parade...LOL!
Post a Comment