More About Nostalgia (posted 22/02/2010)

In my post on Nostalgia!, I said:  “It is about the Mass itself, which is so ancient and takes us back to the time of the apostles.”

Leo D. writes:

This is perfectly true of the ‘old’ form of Mass.  There is a great deal that could be said on this subject but I will limit myself to a couple of comments.  When Christ was crucified the words INRI were written in Latin, Hebrew and Greek – and Christ was placed on the cross of Calvary facing west.  The ‘old’ Mass contains words written in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek (eg, Credo, Hosanna, and Kyrie) – and the priest celebrated Mass facing east. i.e. facing towards the cross of Calvary; thus resulting in the priest and the congregation being linked directly down through the ages to the absolute beginning of the Church and with the priest facing the east towards his Lord.  With the advent of the ‘new’ form of Mass and the introduction of the vernacular languages, this nearly 2,000 year link with Latin, Hebrew, and Greek and the time of the apostles was broken, and with the priest facing the congregation he is actually turning his back on the crucified Christ in favour of looking at his congregation. It could be legitimately argued that since 1969, and the introduction of the new form of Mass, the congregation has been given a higher priority that our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Apparently, it is rude for the priest to turn his back on the congregation but perfectly acceptable for him to turn his back on the tabernacle and the crucified (and risen) Christ. 

Many younger priests when going through seminary were never taught such things and are only now realising that the history of the Church is so rich and profound.  As they learn this history via such mediums as the internet, and from books from such as Michael Davies, they are becoming quite angry about their deficient seminary formation and are desperate to learn more about tradition and how to celebrate the ‘old’ form of Mass.  When this is explained to people their attitudes to the older form of Mass quite often change. 

Leo D.