The most powerful attribute of the “old Mass” to me though, is the time spent kneeling at the altar rail, waiting for the priest to bring Our Lord to each communicant. Why in the world did we ever do away with altar rails? I was raised on the Novus Ordo, [Get this next part… this is the sort of observation that drives the liberals to tear their hair…] so it is not like I am going all nostalgic here. I can not tell you how much that time for reflection accompanied by the appropriate body language helped to remind me of the great truth — Jesus Himself, God in the flesh, is allowing me to receive Him and thus become a part of Him! [Two points. First, true participation at Holy Mass should be rooted in active receptivity. Making a good Holy Communion is the highest form of active participation. Second, whereas when we eat regular food, which we transform into ourselves, the Eucharist is the food which transforms us into who It is.] Look at the difference in symbolism and instruction: Waiting in line and putting out my hand is no different from a million different activities that I do daily. I wait in line and put my hand out for movie tickets, to get change, airline tickets, etc. In contrast, there is no time ever that I kneel down, open my mouth and someone “feeds” me. Body instructs spirit. My body is telling me that something is happening here that is like nothing else in my life. The fact I am “fed” reminds me of my true helplessness and the fact that God Himself is stooping down to feed me! The fact that I am kneeling tells me that God and I are not equals, He is greater than I. The fact that I have to wait teaches me that I do not command God; I wait on Him.
I receive Holy Communion on the tongue. This is not an easy thing to do in a culture where most people receive on the hand. There is always the stress with an unfamiliar Priest that he may not be any good at the technique of placing the host on the tongue without either dropping it, or contacting the tongue.
Could I swap back to the other form? No. The one time I did for conveniences sake, both my hands ached right through the centre for about 5 minutes after touching the Lord.
Related Link: Authentic worship or insanity ~ What Does the Prayer Really Say
The loss of sacredness and mystery surrounding the receiving communion does seem to lead to familiarity breeding contempt.
ReplyDeleteI am not familiar with Roman Catholic practice but our custom is to only receive it a few times per year and then only after preparation including fasting and hopefully confession.
We receive it in both kinds from a spoon - I presume this is also the practice of Byzantine Catholics.
Andrei,
ReplyDeleteThe custom is weekly as often as one goes to Mass and is in a state of grace, but is limited to a maximum twice daily.
Over the centuries, Roman Catholics have been admonished by the Church to receive more often, but it did decrease down to a couple of times a year during the Middle Ages. Over the last century there has been a revival of more frequent communion, but over the last 40 or so years has coincided with incredible disobedience.
Anyway, if you look at the post linked under our name at the top of the page, it links to matyrs who were asked why they gathered for Sunday Mass even though they know that if they were discovered it would mean death. They replied they could not live without the Eucharist.