The Liturgy and Contemplation
by Fr Max Thurian
International Theological Commission
Thirty years after the Second Vatican Council we can recognize all
the value of the liturgical reform. The publication of many
liturgical books has enriched the knowledge of God's Word and the
Church's prayer life.
We must be grateful to the Second Vatican Council and to the
Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the
Liturgy for having completed this work of reform, to which we must
remain faithful by avoiding every possible abuse which might
contradict it. In a recent address to the plenary assembly of the
Congregation responsible for the liturgy, the Holy Father said in
praise of its work: "It must be clear to all that, while the
contribution of experts can shed useful light on workable options,
decisions regarding the liturgy remain subject to the direct
responsibility of ecclesiastical authority, whose sole aim is to
encourage the liturgical participation of the people in the
glorification of God and, at the same time, to make the
possibility of sanctification more accessible and fruitful for
every believer" (<Address to the Plenary Assembly of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments>, 3 May 1996, n. 5; <L'Osservatore Romano> English
edition, 15 May 1996, p. 4).
The great problem of contemporary liturgical life (apathy towards
worship, boredom, lack of vitality and participation) stems from
the fact that the celebration has sometimes lost its character as
mystery, which fosters the spirit of adoration. We often encounter
an inflation of words, explanations and comments, homilies too
long and poorly prepared, which leave little room for
contemplation of the mystery being celebrated.
Obsession with the liturgy after Vatican 11, which was necessary
for putting an end to unfortunate hesitations, has sometimes
encouraged stagnation. There is a great need to rediscover the
liturgical enthusiasm of the Council.
Bishops and those responsible for the liturgy should give new life
to what before Vatican 11 was called "the liturgical movement",
not for purposes of innovation but to revive true, beautiful
liturgy, the prayer of the whole Church and the source of
spiritual enrichment for every Christian.
This liturgical renewal, which is necessary for the present-day
life of the Church, does not mean creating new liturgical texts or
changing certain rites, but making full use of the great heritage
of Tradition, reinterpreted by the Council. The authentic
liturgical tradition has never been satisfied with words to
express the mystery of salvation, but has made great use of
symbols and images.
The danger threatening the liturgy today is the multiplication of
explanatory words, to the detriment of symbols, which shed light
on the profound meaning of the Word of God proclaimed in the
liturgy. The work of the Second Vatican Council and the Liturgical
Consilium which followed it remains an important event that today
is bearing wondrous fruit. Thanks to this effort to renew the
great Tradition, the Church has recovered the splendour of her
liturgy and especially of the Eucharistic celebration. From this
essential source of her faith and life, the Church can deeply draw
today, as at her origins, the treasures of God's Word and of the
prayer of Tradition, in order to nourish and fill with wonder all
those she gathers together to make them more and more the Body of
Jesus Christ.
From this perspective of rediscovering the importance of mystery
and adoration, the architecture and layout of places of worship
have primary importance.
Serious mistakes have sometimes been made in certain places: the
location of the altar, tabernacle and celebrants' chairs,
overpowering illumination, excessive removal of ornamentation,
etc.
The centrality of the Eucharist and the altar
The Eucharistic liturgy is an act of thanksgiving, a consecration,
a memorial and an offering accompanied by intercessions which
invite the celebrants and faithful to turn towards the altar of
the Lord in an attitude of adoration and contemplation. The
invitation to the Eucharistic Prayer underscores this attitude:
"Lift up your hearts. We have lifted them up to the Lord. Let us
give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and just".
Regardless of the church's architectural structure, these two
complementary attitudes of the liturgy must always be respected:
the face-to-face dialogue of the Liturgy of the Word and the
contemplative orientation of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The
whole celebration is often conducted as if it were a conversation
and dialogue in which there is no longer any room for adoration,
contemplation and silence. The fact that the celebrants and
faithful constantly face each other closes the liturgy in on
itself. On the other hand, a sound celebration, which takes into
account the pre-eminence of the altar, the discretion of the
celebrants' ministry, the orientation of everyone towards the Lord
and the adoration of his presence signified in the symbols and
realized by the sacrament confers on the liturgy that
contemplative atmosphere without which it risks being a tiresome
religious disquisition, a useless community distraction, a sort of
rigmarole.
"The altar, where the sacrifice of the cross is made present under
sacramental signs, is also the table of the Lord. The people of
God is called together to share in this table. Thus the altar is
the centre of the thanksgiving accomplished in the Eucharist"
(<General Instruction of the Roman Missal> [<GIRM>], n. 259).
The altar is thus at the centre of the liturgical celebration. It
must be built and adorned so as to attract one's gaze and to cause
admiration, as the gold of the showbread table or of the altar of
incense in the Temple emphasized the glory of the Lord. It will
sometimes be covered with beautiful fabrics in the liturgical
colours of the season or solemnity. On it or right next to it will
be placed the candelabra for lighting the space around the table
where the Eucharistic memorial will occur, as the cherubim on the
propitiatory of the ark framed the symbolic space of the presence
of the Lord, who came to meet his people. Bouquets of flowers will
be avoided. They can be placed elsewhere, but not on the altar.
From where does the recent practice come of putting two candles on
one side and a bouquet of flowers on the other? The altar and the
objects used for the Eucharistic celebration should arouse wonder
in the presence of the beauty that leads one's whole being to
adore the glory of the Lord. The altar is actually the sign of the
sacrifice of the cross as memorial, the table of the Eucharistic
meal, the symbol of the tomb left empty by the Risen One.
Wherever tradition has left stupendous altars placed against the
apse, this arrangement could be respected by dividing the
celebration into a face-to-face between the celebrants and the
community for the Liturgy of the Word and a common orientation
towards the altar from the time of the offertory to the Amen of
the Eucharistic Prayer. This solution is preferable to setting up
a second, portable altar in the shape of a chest or a small table,
or even a piece of clear plastic furniture used so as not to hide
the artistic treasure of the original altar. The location of the
altar should always be at the service of a beautiful and worthy
Eucharistic celebration. In designing new churches, the altar will
be built so that the priest can celebrate facing the people.
"The main altar should be freestanding so that the ministers can
easily walk around it and Mass can be celebrated facing the
people" (<GIRM>, n. 262). These two arrangements are
complementary: one emphasizes the community aspect of the
celebration, the other its more contemplative character of waiting
for the Christ who comes. I submit these two solutions as a
personal suggestion to the competent authority for all liturgical
decisions: a possible revision of the <General Instruction of the
Roman Missal> (<GIRM>) might take them into account.
The basilica layout was the one most commonly used by the Church
in the West for celebrating her liturgy: a large very wide
rectangle ending in a semicircular apse. This arrangement of the
liturgical space seemed best suited to a community on the way to
its Lord, whose glorious return was awaited. In fact, the liturgy
implies this dynamic of a people's expectation and encounter with
its Lord. Certainly, the architectural arrangements can vary
according to the place and circumstances, but we always come back
to this dimension of waiting and of moving towards the place of
offering and presence: the altar and the tabernacle.
The celebrant's chair expresses the function of presiding over the
liturgy. According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal,
it will be "at the back of the sanctuary facing the people....
Every appearance of a throne should be avoided" ("versus ad
populum in vertice presbyterii.... Omnis species throni vitetur",
<GIRM>, n. 271). This "basilica" arrangement is not always
possible and risks creating too great a distance between the
celebrant and the assembly, making communication difficult
(ibid.).
One is sometimes struck by the bad habit of putting the chairs
immediately behind the altar, which creates a face-to-face between
the celebrants and faithful throughout the celebration, thus
turning the assembly in on itself and preventing the contemplative
orientation of the whole community in adoration towards the
symbolic place of the Lord's presence and in eschatological
expectation of his return. The urgent need for the Church's
liturgy today is to arrange everything so as to foster in the
greatest possible way the contemplative adoration of the Lord, who
reveals himself to his people in Word and Sacrament, and whose
humble, unobtrusive servants are the celebrants.
This contemplative and eschatological orientation can be clearly
perceived in the Pope's private chapel, where he celebrates Mass
every morning, first from his chair placed slightly in front of
the first row of participants, who are turned with him towards the
altar, and then on the altar itself at the head of the little
assembly, which adores Christ really present with him.
It should also be possible for the natural or artificial light of
the church to encourage recollection by its moderation and beauty.
Nothing discourages prayer more than overpowering illumination
that leaves no room for visual silence;-it is like deafening music
which, by its power and rhythm, allows no rest to the ear which is
preparing to hear the Word.
The arrangement of the church and its furnishings depends
primarily on the Bishop, who must take care that the liturgical
tradition is respected. No one is allowed make changes which
threaten to alter the profound meaning of the liturgy.
The priest at the service of the liturgy
Today there is a craving for simplification, which ends up
impoverishing the liturgy without any spiritual benefit. The same
thing sometimes happens with the texts found in the liturgical
books. Under the pretext of simplifying or adapting them to the
understanding of the faithful, liberties are taken that weaken the
force of prayers forged over centuries of ecclesial experience.
The celebrant must remember that he is there to serve the liturgy
of God's People. The text of the liturgical prayers is not at his
disposal to be modified according to his whim or for personal
theological reasons. On the contrary, the liturgy is a good of the
Church's Tradition, which belongs to the Christian people, whom
the priest humbly serves in celebrating her worship. To change the
text or the order of the liturgy for personal reasons does nothing
except distract the faithful, who ask why such a change is being
made. There is a sort of neoclericalism bent on modifying the
liturgy, which the faithful however have the right to receive in
its integrity as a gift of Christ and the Church, without priests
taking the liberty of changing it. The faithful expect this
fidelity to Tradition, since the liturgy is a good belonging to
all the People of God.
The liturgy has a formative character. Through the liturgy, the
Church hands on the Gospel of Christ in all its wealth and
diversity. The liturgy is one of the forms of the living
Tradition, by which the Word of God is communicated to men in
order to transform them. Thus it cannot be modified without
undermining in its fullness the Church's intention in her
transmission of the truth through the liturgy. Respect for the
People of God means handing on to them the ever-living experience
of those who have lived in Christ's friendship, an inheritance to
which they have a right and which will enable them to live more
authentically than anything a priest's personal liturgical
viewpoints will allow them to do. The liturgy has a contemplative
character and directs the gaze and hearts of the faithful to the
face of Christ. It tries to describe and to represent more than to
explain or rationalize. A priest's personal alterations of the
liturgical prayer are often didactic. Only if one thinks that a
prayer or gesture is too poor in substance does one overburden it
with explanatory considerations. Instead of guiding contemplation,
prayer in this way proposes a reflection that turns the believer
in on himself rather than opening him to transcendence, as the
sober prayers of tradition do so well.
It is often maintained that the way of liturgical prayer will be
better ensured if the texts are constantly changed. True, salutary
change remains that of the heart. In every liturgy the individual
must be changed in order to be disposed to receiving the Word of
God and the Church's living Tradition. If the celebrant deeply
lives this conversion of his own heart, he will say the liturgical
prayer in a totally new way and open it to the Creator Spirit.
Christ is always present
The consecrated Eucharist will remain in the tabernacle to offer
communion with the Body of Christ to the sick and those absent,
and to manifest the Lord's real presence outside the celebration
for the adoration of the faithful when they come to pray in
church. It is fitting that the tabernacle be placed in such a way
that it can be seen on entering the church. It should be beautiful
and illuminated, like an act of praise to the glory of Christ
really present. The whole church should be arranged so as to
invite adoration and contemplation even when there are no
celebrations. One must long to frequent it in order to meet the
Lord there. Too often today churches, designed as multipurpose
halls or with the sole objective of gathering the assembly for the
liturgy, become dead at the end of the celebrations and do not
invite the faithful to enter so as to recollect themselves in
prayer. The church, by its beautiful liturgical layout, its well-
designed and solemnly adorned altar, its tabernacle radiating
Christ's real presence should be the beautiful house of the Lord
and of his Church, where the faithful love to recollect themselves
in the silence of adoration and contemplation. Every church must
be "praying" even when no liturgical celebrations are taking
place; it must be a place where, in a restless world, one can meet
the Lord in peace.
"As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist
deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent
adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic species.... In
his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as
the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, and he remains
under signs that express and communicate this love" (<Catechism of
the Catholic Church>, nn. 1379-1380).
Taken from the July 24, 1996 issue of "L'Osservatore Romano".
Editorial and Management Offices, Via del pellegrino, 00120,
Vatican City, Europe, Telephone 39/6/698.99.390.
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