Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Mass confusion. Or, the Orthodox liturty.
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 23:56:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Richard Reinhardt
Subject: Re: liturgy/Mass
Hi Colleen,
Your post about the liturgy awakened in the me need to clarify some issues
for myself. On the one hand, someone (please forgive me--whoever it
was--for forgetting you!)compared the Mass to the sacrificial ritual in
the Temple. That was his justification for the nonparticipatory character
of the Mass.But it seems that the Mass is also the occasion and often the
only occasion for community prayer. In the discussion of the Mass I pick
up on a tension between these two functions.
In the Mass as sacrifice, what happens on the altar is what really counts.
In the Mass as community prayer, what happens in the pews is what really
counts. (Of course, ultimately, that's always what really counts because
the Eucharistic Sacrifice is offered by and for the sake of the Church.
But you know what I mean.)
In the Mass as sacrifice, the most important person is the priest. In the
Mass as community prayer, the priest has no special importance.
The spirit of the Mass as sacrifice is, above all, adoration. The spirit
of the Mass as community prayer is more varied.
The Mass as sacrifice requires a degree of structure and decorum that is
not essential to the Mass as community prayer.
It seems that many Catholics don't know how to paricipate inwardly in the
sacrifice of the Eucharist. So they think of the Mass as theater and they
expect to be entertained, and when its over, they clap.
People are unfamiliar with the sense of the sacred. And they are
accustomed to "entertainments" that are much more, let's say, "out there."
So they can get bored and fidgety.
About Hebrew liturgy: The orthodox Jewish liturgy is very old. What
follows is a short outline of the weekday morning liturgy (Jews gather in
synagogue three times a day for prayer. The afternoon and evening liturgy
is shorter.).
First of all, the men and women are separated by a wall or curtain. I
noticed a passage in St. Augustine's City of God which suggested that the
practice may have been common in the Church of his time. Its one good and
simple step toward more sobriety and concentration.
There is a clear structure to the liturgy, and someone leads the prayers.
Perhaps the English word would be cantor, though that usually implies
that he is a singer, and the person who leads the prayers need not have
any special gift for singing. Anyone in the congretation over the age of
13 can lead the prayers, and in many congregations, its very much left
open as to who does it. If a person wants to lead the prayers, he just
steps forward and starts. By the way, he faces in the same direction as
the congregation. He doesn't face them. He is leading them and says some
prayers in the name of the entire congregation.
The cantor sets the pace of the prayers, but they are not recited in
unison. Everyone says them at his own pace. Some whisper them, some say
them in a fuller voice. A person listening in would just a jumble of
voices, broken here and there by the voice of the cantor, who, as I said,
sets the pace.
Morning prayers begin (after ritually washing hands and the men put on
tefilin and prayer shawls) with the recitation of a series of short
blessings.As the cantor recites them, the congregants answer "Amen." The
congregants also say them on their own.
The cantor then recites the Kaddish, a prayer in praise of God. This
prayer is recited between the different parts of the liturgy, so it is
said several times in the course of the morning prayer. The congregation
responds in unison with a short but lively declaration in praise of
God.(The rabbis of the Talmud teach that whoever praises God with all his
strength is assured a place in the World to Come.)
After that, the Cantor bows reverently and says, "Bless the Lord who is to
be blessed!" and the congregation, also bowing, responds in unison,
"Blessed is the Lord who is to be blessed forever and ever!". That brings
everybody together for the next part of the liturgy, which centers around
the declaration of God's unity and the acceptance of his commandments.
That part of the prayer ends by blessing God as the the redeemer of
Israel, and from there everybody (though some may be a bit delayed because
they prayed more slowly, which is fine) moves on to the silent devotion.
The silent devotion the highpoint of the liturgy. The main purpose of
community prayer is to recite this prayer together. In general, nobody
would dream of talking during the silent devotion. Children learn not to
disturb their parents because it is forbidden for them to break the
sequence of the prayer. It begins by with a few steps back and then,
reverently, a few steps forward to symbolize entering the Presence of God.
Thissilent devotion, consisting of blessings of praise, petition, and
thanksgiving, lasts from five to ten minutes. People go at their own pace.
There's no pressure at all, and here and there a person who is especially
inspired might stand still as a pillar in his meditations for 15 minutes
or more.
One by one, the congregants complete their silent devotions and sit down.
When the cantor sees that most are done, he begins the next part of the
service.
It consists of his reciting this same prayer, the silent devotion, aloud.
The prayer which was recited by the individual in silence while standing
with his congregation is now recited aloud by the cantor in the name of
the entire congregation. But it includes a passage which the individual is
not permitted to recite: the kedushah (sanctus). Everyone stands and cries
out "Kadosh! Kadosh! Kadosh!" (Sanctus! Sanctus! Sanctus!). If someone is
outside passing the synagogue and hears the prayer recited, he stops and
joins in. As the cantor recites each blessing of the silent devotion, the
congregants respond, "Amen."
The next part of the liturgy is confession of sins and prayers for
fogiveness. After that, on Mondays and Thursdays, there is a reading from
the Torah.
The Torah is kept in an ark that is curtained. It is taken out
ceremoniously by one of the congregatnts and handed to the cantor, who
places it on a lecturn large enough to support the opened scroll. (which
can be up to three feet high). The reading is chanted according to ancient
traditions and divided into three parts. Each part begins by calling up a
congregant to recite a short blessing of praise and gratitude to God for
giving the Torah to the Jewish People. After the reading, he recites a
similar blessing and another congregant is called up. The person who reads
the Torah is one of the congregants.
After the reading, several psalms and prayers are recited, separated by
the recitation of the kaddish, and the service ends. The whole thing takes
from half and hour to an hour, depending on the pace of the congregation.
The structure of the liturgy on holidays is substantially the same.
Sections of the prayer may be sung, the Torah reading is longer, a reading
from the prophets is added, there may be a sermon, and, in a second
silent devotion, the sacrifices of the day are offered in prayer.
It's interesting to consider how the Jewish liturgy addresses problems of
the sort you have raised: freedom and discipline, decorum and spontaneity,
participation, rhythm, variety, pacing etc.
All the best,
Richard
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 23:56:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Richard Reinhardt
Subject: Re: liturgy/Mass
Hi Colleen,
Your post about the liturgy awakened in the me need to clarify some issues
for myself. On the one hand, someone (please forgive me--whoever it
was--for forgetting you!)compared the Mass to the sacrificial ritual in
the Temple. That was his justification for the nonparticipatory character
of the Mass.But it seems that the Mass is also the occasion and often the
only occasion for community prayer. In the discussion of the Mass I pick
up on a tension between these two functions.
In the Mass as sacrifice, what happens on the altar is what really counts.
In the Mass as community prayer, what happens in the pews is what really
counts. (Of course, ultimately, that's always what really counts because
the Eucharistic Sacrifice is offered by and for the sake of the Church.
But you know what I mean.)
In the Mass as sacrifice, the most important person is the priest. In the
Mass as community prayer, the priest has no special importance.
The spirit of the Mass as sacrifice is, above all, adoration. The spirit
of the Mass as community prayer is more varied.
The Mass as sacrifice requires a degree of structure and decorum that is
not essential to the Mass as community prayer.
It seems that many Catholics don't know how to paricipate inwardly in the
sacrifice of the Eucharist. So they think of the Mass as theater and they
expect to be entertained, and when its over, they clap.
People are unfamiliar with the sense of the sacred. And they are
accustomed to "entertainments" that are much more, let's say, "out there."
So they can get bored and fidgety.
About Hebrew liturgy: The orthodox Jewish liturgy is very old. What
follows is a short outline of the weekday morning liturgy (Jews gather in
synagogue three times a day for prayer. The afternoon and evening liturgy
is shorter.).
First of all, the men and women are separated by a wall or curtain. I
noticed a passage in St. Augustine's City of God which suggested that the
practice may have been common in the Church of his time. Its one good and
simple step toward more sobriety and concentration.
There is a clear structure to the liturgy, and someone leads the prayers.
Perhaps the English word would be cantor, though that usually implies
that he is a singer, and the person who leads the prayers need not have
any special gift for singing. Anyone in the congretation over the age of
13 can lead the prayers, and in many congregations, its very much left
open as to who does it. If a person wants to lead the prayers, he just
steps forward and starts. By the way, he faces in the same direction as
the congregation. He doesn't face them. He is leading them and says some
prayers in the name of the entire congregation.
The cantor sets the pace of the prayers, but they are not recited in
unison. Everyone says them at his own pace. Some whisper them, some say
them in a fuller voice. A person listening in would just a jumble of
voices, broken here and there by the voice of the cantor, who, as I said,
sets the pace.
Morning prayers begin (after ritually washing hands and the men put on
tefilin and prayer shawls) with the recitation of a series of short
blessings.As the cantor recites them, the congregants answer "Amen." The
congregants also say them on their own.
The cantor then recites the Kaddish, a prayer in praise of God. This
prayer is recited between the different parts of the liturgy, so it is
said several times in the course of the morning prayer. The congregation
responds in unison with a short but lively declaration in praise of
God.(The rabbis of the Talmud teach that whoever praises God with all his
strength is assured a place in the World to Come.)
After that, the Cantor bows reverently and says, "Bless the Lord who is to
be blessed!" and the congregation, also bowing, responds in unison,
"Blessed is the Lord who is to be blessed forever and ever!". That brings
everybody together for the next part of the liturgy, which centers around
the declaration of God's unity and the acceptance of his commandments.
That part of the prayer ends by blessing God as the the redeemer of
Israel, and from there everybody (though some may be a bit delayed because
they prayed more slowly, which is fine) moves on to the silent devotion.
The silent devotion the highpoint of the liturgy. The main purpose of
community prayer is to recite this prayer together. In general, nobody
would dream of talking during the silent devotion. Children learn not to
disturb their parents because it is forbidden for them to break the
sequence of the prayer. It begins by with a few steps back and then,
reverently, a few steps forward to symbolize entering the Presence of God.
Thissilent devotion, consisting of blessings of praise, petition, and
thanksgiving, lasts from five to ten minutes. People go at their own pace.
There's no pressure at all, and here and there a person who is especially
inspired might stand still as a pillar in his meditations for 15 minutes
or more.
One by one, the congregants complete their silent devotions and sit down.
When the cantor sees that most are done, he begins the next part of the
service.
It consists of his reciting this same prayer, the silent devotion, aloud.
The prayer which was recited by the individual in silence while standing
with his congregation is now recited aloud by the cantor in the name of
the entire congregation. But it includes a passage which the individual is
not permitted to recite: the kedushah (sanctus). Everyone stands and cries
out "Kadosh! Kadosh! Kadosh!" (Sanctus! Sanctus! Sanctus!). If someone is
outside passing the synagogue and hears the prayer recited, he stops and
joins in. As the cantor recites each blessing of the silent devotion, the
congregants respond, "Amen."
The next part of the liturgy is confession of sins and prayers for
fogiveness. After that, on Mondays and Thursdays, there is a reading from
the Torah.
The Torah is kept in an ark that is curtained. It is taken out
ceremoniously by one of the congregatnts and handed to the cantor, who
places it on a lecturn large enough to support the opened scroll. (which
can be up to three feet high). The reading is chanted according to ancient
traditions and divided into three parts. Each part begins by calling up a
congregant to recite a short blessing of praise and gratitude to God for
giving the Torah to the Jewish People. After the reading, he recites a
similar blessing and another congregant is called up. The person who reads
the Torah is one of the congregants.
After the reading, several psalms and prayers are recited, separated by
the recitation of the kaddish, and the service ends. The whole thing takes
from half and hour to an hour, depending on the pace of the congregation.
The structure of the liturgy on holidays is substantially the same.
Sections of the prayer may be sung, the Torah reading is longer, a reading
from the prophets is added, there may be a sermon, and, in a second
silent devotion, the sacrifices of the day are offered in prayer.
It's interesting to consider how the Jewish liturgy addresses problems of
the sort you have raised: freedom and discipline, decorum and spontaneity,
participation, rhythm, variety, pacing etc.
All the best,
Richard
