• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

The Current Missal Specifies When To Face the Altar & When To Face The People

Jeff Ostrowski · December 1, 2014

224 Roman Missal RECENT ARTICLE promoted by Liturgical Press would seem to contradict the notion that, because we have the internet now, myths about Vatican II are going away. You see, the internet cannot replace familiarity gained by careful study and/or experience with the traditional rites of the Church.

In the words of its author, this article sought to, “establish that celebration facing the people isn’t a strange modern invention.” However, if the author had become familiar with preconciliar missals going back centuries, he would have realized that that no such article is required. 1

The author makes a very silly statement:

Some read versus here as if it were conversus, i.e. “turning toward the people”, and therefore implying that the priest was previously facing away from them. As far as I can see, conversus ad populum appears nowhere in the IGRM.

Leave aside his erroneous assertion that versus means “facing” and conversus means “turned.” (The root word literally means “to turn about.”) Leave aside his assertion that a nuanced translation could “imply” the priest was “previously facing away from them”—we’ll deal with that a little later. The most surprising thing is the author’s ignorance of Latin word order! One of the very first things students learn is that Latin doesn’t rely heavily upon word order (unlike English).

Had the author known this, he would have searched for ad populum conversus instead of conversus ad populum. The former does indeed appear in the postconciliar books. For example, look at the 1969 GIRM:

620 ad populum conversus


Or, look at the Third Edition of the Roman Missal:

619 Ad Populum Conversus


Moreover, the current GIRM and Missal frequently use the phrase ad altare conversus, for example:

158. Postea, stans ad altare conversus, sacerdos secreto dicit: Corpus Christi custódiat me in vitam aetérnam, et reverenter sumit Corpus Christi. Deinde accipit calicem, secreto dicens: Sanguis Christi custódiat me in vitam aetérnam, et reverenter sumit Sanguinem Christi.

Whether one uses a less accurate translation of [con]versus (“facing”) or a more accurate translation (“having turned toward”) is irrelevant. The meaning is clear—not only from centuries of tradition—but from this: THE CURRENT MISSAL CLEARLY SAYS WHEN THE PRIEST SHOULD TURN TOWARD THE CONGREGATION AND WHEN THE PRIEST SHOULD TURN TOWARD THE ALTAR.  DISCERNING THE IMPLICATION DOES NOT REQUIRE A PH.D.CANDIDATE.

HERE’S SOME ADVICE FOR MY FRIENDS on the “progressive” side. When it comes to understanding liturgical history, take advantage of Catholics who attend the Traditional Latin Mass. As Cardinal Antonelli wrote:

Many of those who have influenced the reform […] have no love, and no veneration of that which has been handed down to us. They begin by despising everything that is actually there.

Outspoken leaders of the “progressive” camp are quick to dismiss the traditions of the Church, yet often have no idea what the Traditional Mass looked like. A former secretary of the Bishop’s Committee on the Liturgy (who served more than two decades ago) recently made this comment, not realizing the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar are always said quietly, never sung. 2



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Indeed, serious publications have often noted this fact. For example, consider the words of Msgr. Schuler and Fr. Deryck Hanshell.

2   I find this remarkable. After all, the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar tend to be quite a well-known section of Mass, especially for Altar boys.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Ad Orientem, Versus Populum Altars Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    26 January 2023 • FEEDBACK
    “Jeff, I wanted to personally thank you for your spiritual witness at the Symposium & often blogs that you write too. Praying that prayer in the mornings My God, my Father and my all (by Cardinal Merry Del Val), mentioning saints’ stories of Brébeuf, Jogues, John Vianney, monks who fought in WWII, their hard work in spite of terrible conditions, their relentless zeal for the faith, their genuine love for the laypeople they served, etc. Overall though—more than anything concrete I can point to that you did or said—it was your demeanor at the Symposium. I could tell you really absolutely love and believe the Catholic Faith. You don’t get that everywhere, even in Church circles. And your humility is what then makes that shine even brighter. It is super inspiring! God is working through you probably way more than you know.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.

— ‘His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)’

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • Belgian Book of Gregorian Accompaniments (Official Edition)
  • Don’t You Agree About These?
  • Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
  • Crucial Tip For Choir Directors
  • Father Herbert Thurston • “I Fear the Man With One Book”

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.