Tag Archive for ‘liturgy’
Through My Most Grievous Fault
The Confiteor is one of the “younger” parts of the mass; it has been there only for about a thousand years. The probable origin is in a private prayer of the priest as he prepared in the sacristy. It is one of the few prayers of the mass that uses the first person singular, “I” […]
A Foretaste of Heaven
After my last column on the “Lamb of God” as one of the most hallowed Christian phrases for referring to Jesus, I was asked by a reader to explain the phrase “the supper of the Lamb”. The phrase is from the Invitation to Communion when, after genuflecting, the priest takes the host and holds it […]
Seafarers, Sistine Chapel
The Care of Seafarers – VIS 8 Nov “The Year of Faith present a challenge to the chaplains and volunteers of the Apostleship of the Sea who will meet at this congress in order to seek adequate pastoral responses to the problems faced by seafarers”. Among these problems, Cardinal Veglio identified the use of modern […]
Behold, the Lamb of God
According to John’s Gospel, one day when John the Baptist was standing talking to two of his disciples, he looked up and saw Jesus walking by and said to his disciples “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The disciples of the Baptist must have been puzzled by the remark, but they considered John a prophet and […]
My Name is Written in the Heart of Our Lady
‘Devotion’ covers a much wider and freer area than ‘Liturgy’. When we engage in an act of devotion we can draw on symbols and prayers well beyond those found in the liturgical books of the Church. The interaction between liturgy and devotion in Church History is a fascinating field of study. Liturgy is universal throughout […]
Vatican II and the Proclaiming of Scripture
The first document to emerge from the Second Vatican Council was the constitution on the Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. Of the assembled Bishops 2,147 voted for it and 4 voted against it. It was to have a huge impact on the Church. Consider the effect of one instruction contained in the document: 51. The treasures of […]
Liturgy and Expression of Culture and Faith
People sometimes say that we must not disagree over worship and it is unseemly to squabble over the way people celebrate Mass, because it is a holy action of God’s people at worship. This is, of course, complete nonsense. Liturgy is public worship, and if something is precious it is worth fighting for, though never […]
Like the Dewfall
We are hearing a lot of Eucharistic Prayer II in the mass at present. It is the shortest of the Eucharistic Prayers and for many priests it is the one they are most confident with as they adapt to the new translation. Listening to the prayer, the first unfamiliar phrase is in the second sentence: […]
View from the pews
One of the advantages of being editor of the Messenger is that I get to visit parishes all over NZ, and some in Australia, and have the privilege to join in the Sunday liturgies. During this period of familiarisation with parts of the new English translation it has been particularly interesting seeing how people cope […]
Change and Confusion in Liturgy
Many in our church community have not experienced much liturgical change. The dramatic changes after the Council were way back in the 1970s – during that time we had transitional prayerbooks that seemed to go out of date very rapidly. In my parish, the Sign of Peace was introduced in one form then changed, then […]
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