• 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
  • Catholic Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

“Ad Orientem” • Why I’m Rejoicing over Sloppy Errors in the Catholic Herald

Jeff Ostrowski · August 23, 2016

184 Ad Orientem N AN APPARENT effort to “counterbalance” the views recently put forward by the Vatican’s chief liturgical officer, the Catholic Herald has published an article dealing with ad orientem celebration. To accomplish this goal, they turned to Collegeville, which exists to promote “progressive liturgy.”

The Collegeville Press currently sponsors three blogs: (1) RAIDS ACROSS THE COLOR LINE; (2) PRAY TELL; and (3) ROCK AND THEOLOGY. The author chosen was Fr. Anthony Ruff, who runs the second blog. The sloppiness of the article leaves the impression it was composed under a tight deadline.

I will first demonstrate the article’s flaws, then explain why I’m thrilled.

First Point : The author called his article “The Worst Reasons for Ad Orientem,” and attempts to show that “some people” (he doesn’t give specific names) choose to celebrate ad orientem for bogus reasons. The author writes:

It is said that the now famous “quod” in article 299 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal clearly refers to the placement of the altar away from the wall but not the direction of the priest facing the people, and the latter is a willful liberal misinterpretation.

He’s incorrect. No serious person ever claimed §299 is a “reason” to celebrate ad orientem. It is true that §299 does allow priests to celebrate facing either direction, but the author goofed by saying it justifies ad orientem celebration. In other words, §299 is not a “reason” for anything; but neither does it impede either orientation. Later, the author attempts to show that the official Latin for §299 is ambiguous, but runs into trouble. 1

Second Point : The author writes:

Once the smoke clears, and once we all get back on the same page, behind Francis and behind the Council, who knows where it will lead?

Who precisely is not “behind” the Council? The Second Vatican Council never said ad orientem celebration should be eliminated. Moreover, no Vatican II document mentions “versus populum” celebration. If the author truly desires to get “behind the Council,” an excellent start would be promoting things mandated by the Council.

Third Point : The author writes:

It is said that ad orientem was the universal practice of the early Church.

Unfortunately, the author has misunderstood the reasons given for ad orientem. While it is true that the overwhelming tradition of the Church for centuries—disputed by no serious person—does support ad orientem celebration, the question of whether Mass was occasionally celebrated “versus populum” in the early Church is irrelevant. It simply does not enter the discussion. Nor does his passionate defense of antiquarianism, a few paragraphs later.

Fourth Point : More examples could be given, but let us end with this statement:

Pope Francis has a way of smoking out his enemies. So much of the opposition to him is being unmasked for what it is: opposition to the Second Vatican Council.

The author seems unaware of the reason ad orientem has been in the news, and should have searched google before submitting his article. He would have discovered that Pope Francis handpicked the very man who has brought this topic to the forefront in recent weeks. The author’s assertion that “smoking out one’s enemies” is best done by appointing them to the Vatican’s highest offices—and keeping them there—is absurd.

DITORS AT THE CATHOLIC HERALD had an obligation to remove the inaccuracies before publication, especially the most egregious ones. Moreover, the person who brought that article to my attention was bothered by the author’s condescending tone, and I agree that a more irenic tone would have been appropriate. To be fair, progressive liturgists are deeply uncomfortable discussing ad orientem celebration. This is not a conversation that was supposed to be happening in the year 2016.

Nevertheless, I’m thrilled the article was published because any discussion of traditional praxis—even by uninformed authors—introduces these concepts into liturgical parlance. Catholics deprived for a generation will have recourse to google, and one thing will lead to another. 2

Twenty-five years ago, the notion that a considerable number of bishops would eventually celebrate and/or tolerate the traditional rites would have been inconceivable. Indeed, the idea that ad orientem would be hotly debated in the year 2016 would have been considered laughable.

I will close with a quote that certain parties have avoided mentioning at all costs—for obvious reasons. It’s from the Vatican congregation which drafted our current GIRM:

THIS DICASTERY [i.e. the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship] wishes to state that Holy Mass may be celebrated versus populum or versus apsidem. Both positions are in accord with liturgical law; both are to be considered correct. There is no preference expressed in the liturgical legislation for either position. As both positions enjoy the favor of law, the legislation may not be invoked to say that one position or the other accords more closely with the mind of the Church.
—10 April 2000 (PROTOCOL NO. 564/00/L)




NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   To back up his claim that §299 is ambiguous, he cites an author who has publicly admitted (12/1/2014) only an elementary comprehension of Latin. Furthermore, this same “authority” has been caught making demonstrably false statements about the GIRM.

2   When I visit the blogs of progressive liturgists, I never cease to be amazed at the disproportionate amount of time spent attacking, for example, the Traditional Latin Mass. The unintended consequence is that Catholics (especially young Catholics) become curious and start investigating matters.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Ad Orientem, GIRM Paragraph 299, Mass Facing The People, Robert Cardinal Sarah Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

Jeff Ostrowski

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

20 January 2021 • REMINDER

We have no savings, no endowment, and no major donors. You can help us (please) by subscribing to our mailing list. It’s incredibly easy; just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address. Thank you!

—Jeff Ostrowski
19 January 2021 • Confusion over feasts

For several months, we have discussed the complicated history of the various Christmas feasts: the Baptism of the Lord, the feast of the Holy Family, the Epiphany, and so forth. During a discussion, someone questioned my assertion that in some places Christmas had been part of the Epiphany. As time went on, of course, the Epiphany came to represent only three “manifestations” (Magi, Cana, Baptism), but this is not something rigid. For example, if you look at this “Capital E” from the feast of the Epiphany circa 1350AD, you can see it portrays not three mysteries but four—including PHAGIPHANIA when Our Lord fed the 5,000. In any event, anyone who wants proof the Epiphany used to include Christmas can read this passage from Dom Prosper Guéranger.

—Jeff Ostrowski
6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which is no mere reproduction of a local or partial tradition, but a CENTO resulting from an extended study and comparison of a host of manuscripts gathered from many places. Thus the musical text of the Graduale possesses a measure of authority which cannot lightly be disregarded.” They are absolutely correct.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The “jolly good guy” kind of pastor can be an irritant. […] Ministers of the Gospel are not used car salesmen whose heartiness is a mile wide and an inch deep. A bemused layman told me that a bishop joked with him, but turned away like a startled deer when asked an important question…

— Fr. George Rutler (7 August 2017)

Recent Posts

  • Glaring Omission from Post-Vatican II Lectionary
  • 20 January 2021 • REMINDER
  • (Ladies Singing Low) • “Adding Fifths Above”
  • 19 January 2021 • Confusion over feasts
  • PDF Download • “Mass Propers For Sundays And Holydays Set To Simple Melodies” (429 pages)

Copyright © 2021 Corpus Christi Watershed · Charles Garnier 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.