Saturday, June 20, 2009

HOW TO IMPROVE THE NOVUS ORDO

10 steps as told by Fr. Erik.

1. Supress the non-confiteor options for the penitential rite. They do not adequately express a personal acknowledgement of sin. (One of the great needs in the Church is for a recovered sense of personal sin.) (The little-used second option isn't bad either. "Lord, we have sinned against you. Lord have mercy. Lord, show us your mercy and love. And grant us your salvation.")

2. Re-examine the lectionary and restore the 'downer' passages that are left out. (Like the ones used on the last Sundays after Pentecost in the Extraordinary Form)

3. Make the Nicene Creed the only one usable at Mass. (Unfortunately, it looks like the new missal will allow the use of the Apostles' Creed.)

4. Restore the offertory prayers from the EF in their entirety. (These profound prayers really focus the intent of the celebrant and are much better than the table prayers we have now.)

5. Suppress the Children's Eucharistic Prayers and also the ones for Reconcilliation. Face it folks, these are banal beyond belief. (I cannot agree enough here! They're as dumbed down as a bad OCP/GIA song!) Yes, they are valid, but I have yet to meet children who are stupid enough to need these. While we are at it, II-IV should also go. (Eucharistic Prayer II, ah yes! The official Eucharistic Prayer of Father LaQuickie!) If we need more anaphorae, why not look to the Eastern Rites. The Maronite anaphorae are particularly good.

6. Restore the old rubrics for the Roman Canon. The multiple genuflections and blessing were not mindless repetitions but ceremonial reinforcement of important points. (Let's also restore the stress on "Nobis quoque peccatoribus".)

7. Move or better eliminate the sign of peace. (Eliminate it. That was an abuse waiting to happen in a number of cases. "Peace be with you" becomes "Hi, how are ya? How's the wife and kids?", and a handshake has been known to become a big wet kiss.)

8. Restore the option of the recitation of the Last Gospel. We can't hear St. John 1 too often. (Think of it as an epilogue to the Mass.) (Excellent idea, but Fr. LaQuickie might not like it.)

9. Mandate that the Liturgy of the Eucharist be said facing the same direction as the people. (We could, and should, add to this mandate other elements where dialog is directed to God or Christ, like the Confiteor, Gloria, Collect, and Credo, turning to the people only when the priest is in dialog with them.)

10. Restoration of sacred vestments. Can we honestly say that the liturgy is better off without amices, cinctures, and maniples and with the cheap modern one that look like they were made and designed by myopic hippies. (...or resembling the poncho lady vestments.)

Peace,
BMP

1 comment:

Jackie Parkes MJ said...

Interesting. Re the sign of peace we don't make it during weekday Masses or childrens or if so at the bidding prayers. Of course the priest always faces same way as us.