Non-Catholics attending a Catholic Mass think a lot of things about the different postures Catholics take. I know non-Catholics think these things, because when I was a non-Catholic, those were my thoughts. I had no idea what was going on, or why. I just tried to keep up! Every single movement, posture, word spoken, and thing done means something.
The more you understand about what is going on in a Mass, the more you are able to appreciate its beauty. Sitting is a posture of listening. Catholics sit for the first reading often from the Old Testament , the Psalm often actually sung , and the second reading New Testament, not from the Gospel.
We also sit for the offering, and the homily sermon. For Prayer : Standing has been a posture of prayer for Jewish people since before the time of Jesus. Standing during prayer is also seen throughout different parts of the Bible. So, as Catholics, we continue to utilize this posture for prayer today. For the Creed : We stand as we say in unison what Christians have believed from the earliest times, in the form of the Nicene or Apostles Creed.
We stand to affirm our unity and our beliefs together as Christians. For the Gospel : Standing is also a sign of respect. The importance of the "moment and words of consecration" may have been exaggerated at some periods in the Church. But one thing was constant in East and West: an awareness that something utterly unique was taking place during the Canon.
That is why as early as the 4th century in the East, the railing separating the congregation from the clergy was raised, eventually becoming the which completely hid the sacred action from the faithful.
It is important to mention this since an argument for standing not mentioned in this text but often heard is that the people stand during the Liturgy of the Eucharist in the Eastern rite churches and in the Orthodox churches. To this it may be responded: a the people were entirely separated from the sanctuary; b the near-millenial tradition in the West is to kneel during the consecration; and, c it is liturgically and anthropologically indefensible to make such a change in such a central tradition.
Special liturgical forms of reverence have been accorded to the consecrated host at the time of consecration since the 13th century, which may well represent a development of liturgical understanding.
Surely those who could build such magnificent gothic cathedrals precisely through the inspiration of the Mass as they understood it might have at least as good a sense of what is liturgically appropriate as we who have not yet demonstrated that we can consistently rise above the mediocre in art or architecture,. It did speak of "immense faith and devotion," which is one reason why Mass attendance was so high and conversions so numerous prior to the liturgical confusion of the past 30 years.
The panoply of changes intended to foster a more active participation of the congregation have demonstrably not succeeded. They have resulted in a loss of a sense of the sacred and an empirically verifiable loss of faith and devotion. There is no evidence that people generally "we" tended to overlook the rest of the Canon of the Mass. Since the premises are false, the conclusion "in view of this" is not demonstrated. To think that the proposed innovation will bring this about is naive.
Certainly it would not pass the Conciliar standard for innovations, which should only be made when "the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them" Vatican 11 Decree on the Sacred Liturgy, pare. This is emphatically not what makes this prayer so important. Again the author violates his own principle that nothing in the Canon is more important than anything else. As a 'brief summary of the Christian faith," which it is though the Creed does this more explicitly it could be proclaimed by anyone.
What makes this prayer important is that when a bishop or priest utters it, with the requisite conditions, something happens: the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ and Christ's life, death, and resurrection become really, sacramentally present. No "summary of the Christian faith," as such, can do this. Although this author does not make the claim, others, relying on the same erroneous principles do: that we do not know exactly when the bread and wine become Christ's Body and Blood and that the entire Canon, and not just the institution narrative, is consecratory.
But that does not mean that we can't tell generally where the boundary is. Some real boundaries are not subject to mathematical precision. But the fact that one may not be able to pinpoint the moment of transubstantiation to the millisecond does not mean that there is no precise moment at which it occurs. It cannot be a gradual, "evolutionary" process.
It is not all bread, then mostly bread but partly Christ's Body, then mostly Christ's Body but still partly bread, and finally all Christ's Body. There is a time when it is entirely bread; and there is a time when it is entirely Christ's Body. There is no time when it is not one or the other even if we can't say with complete precision where the boundary is. That is not to say we cannot determine when in the Canon transubstantiation occurs.
The very words of the indicate that the sanctification of the gifts has not yet taken place. But if the change of substance hasn't occurred by the end of the institution narrative, then the Church in the liturgy which is a norm of her belief has been not only encouraging but positively legislating idolatry: the adoration of not-yet-consecrated bread.
When in the early 13th century some priests began to hold the host aloft while reciting the words of consecration, the bishop of Paris ordered, in , that the host should be held breast-high before the consecration, and only after the consecration should it be lifted high enough to be seen by all "lest as a London synod of put it a creature be adored instead of the Creator.
We are left with the conclusion that any defensible theory about when the transformation of the elements takes place must locate it somewhere between the end of the epiclesis and the end of the institution narrative. This is a dramatic moment within the unity of the canon.
Religious Catalogue. See of Peter. Daily Readings. Seasons and Feast Days. Prayer Requests. Practice Of The Faith. Standing or Kneeling During the Consecration? Author: Joseph Fessio, S. It has to do with the rapid loss of awareness of the importance of the consecration. Start of Mass until the first reading. First reading until the beginning of the Gospel Acclamation. Beginning of the Gospel Acclamation until the end of the Gospel Reading. For the homily.
Beginning of the Creed to the end of the general intercessions. Preparation of the gifts until the end of "Pray, brothers and sisters. From the beginning of "May the Lord accept this sacrifice. Eucharistic Prayer. The Our Father until the beginning of the Lamb of God.
End of the Lamb of God until distribution of Holy Communion. Receiving Holy Communion. Silence after Holy Communion. Prayer after Communion until the end of Mass. You may be interested in these:.
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