Thoughts on the effects of the Council
Sometimes, it is difficult to see the benefits derived from the Second Vatican Council. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to cite many. I don’t know why I’ve been thinking about the Council so much, maybe because the Motu Proprio, extending the freedom of the ancient Latin Ordo is expected ’soon’.
At Mass this morning, we were joined by the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. Each week a section of the student body assembles for school Mass. They are so noisy, entering and leaving the Church (not to mention at the sign of peace) that I couldn’t help notice them. Very few genuflect, much less pay attention or participate in the liturgy.
What a difference a generation or two makes
I went to Catholic grade schools, with fully habited nuns as teachers. We entered the Church in rigid single file and in silence, with a to-the-ground genuflection towards the Blessed Sacrament on the altar - not a table. The boys shirts were tucked in, and our ties straight. We knelt straight, with hands folded. We used leaflet missals to follow the Mass, and we sang Gregorian chant. We approached communion in strict formation, returning to our place, with our heads bowed. After Mass we remained a few minutes for our thanksgiving. We rose at the knock of Sister’s knuckles against the back of the pew and returned to our classroom in silence.
What a difference in training today. These Catholic school kids had to be told by the Celebrant when to stand, sit, and kneel.
Aggiornamento
How many years has it been since the closing of V-II? Forty two years now? The Church still seems more like a free for all than anything else. If the Church opened itself to the world at the Council, it seems the world rushed right in. Many Novus Ordo Masses are so people-oriented, the sacred is obliterated - of course we all know that, it has been repeated ad nauseum for decades now. My apologies for bringing it up.
Casual corner
A couple of bloggers have posted on proper attire for Mass, which is a good reminder for folks. Although, it seems to me that a more casual, people-oriented Mass invites casual dress. The club atmosphere in some “Faith Communities” before and after Mass, makes this clear to me. I’m not saying it is right, I’m just pointing out that casual is as casual does.
When Extraordinary Ministers come forth from the congregation en-masse, joining the priest in the Sanctuary, after a raucous sign of peace right before the Agnus Dei, and when people approach Communion without reverence, and suddenly - Mass concludes a few minutes later to a din of conversation and greetings, I have to question if people even know what just happened. Do they really believe they just received the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ? In such a casual atmosphere, do they even think about what they are wearing? And is one’s clothing the prime importance in this scenario?
I’m convinced that if people understood where they were, and what they were doing there, and Who they were communicating with, they might just be more open to dressing appropriately. I don’t believe many of them even know what they are doing, except maybe fulfilling an obligation to their personal concept of God - who happens to be Catholic.
Back then
When I was younger, a woman wouldn’t be allowed in Church in a sleeveless blouse or dress - the Pastor, usher, or some nun, made sure of that. Women’s heads were supposed to be covered as well, which got kind of ridiculous when you’d see a girl at Mass with a piece of kleenix bobby-pinned to her hair, or wearing what looked to be a doilie. Yet that was in a time when there were disciplines in place, both in society as well as the Church. Mass wasn’t in the round, nor was Church a community center.
The priests were Father or Monsignor, not our golfing buddy named Jim. Nuns were nuns, and they looked the part. The Church was a place of silence, and decorum, leading to prayer and worship. There were no words to describe the Church as a “worship space” nor was there a place called a ”gathering room” - neither would we have described the interior statuary and embellishments in terms of ”worship environment” - or whatever term liturgists use today. The Church was not an abstract place, it wasn’t a multi-functional events center - it was the House of God.
But this is now
In many people’s minds, the Council ended more or less as a wide open deal - nothing in particular was declared infallible by the event - although the Council itself is infallible. Critics, and there are lots of them, have even stated that most of the documents were ambiguous, and obviously some took advantage of that fact. Strides have been made to restore a sense of discipline and order in the Church, yet we have this freedom of conscience legacy that persists. (Which is great, providing it has been properly informed.) I am, to be sure, no expert on the subject, I’ve merely lived through the aftermath.
When you read the documents, you cannot help but be impressed by their splendor, and yet amazed at how deformed the interpretation has been. I know John Paul II and Benedict XVI have and are doing all they can, along with those Bishops in communion with them, to implement the reform of the reform, but sometimes I wish the Council never happened.
It is difficult to see how opening up to the world and modernizing Herself has helped the Church be any more relevant.
