"Reding thought he never had been present at worship before, so absorbed was the attention, so intense was the devotion of the congregation. What particularly struck him was, that whereas in the Church of England the clergyman or the organ was everything and the people nothing except so far as the clerk is their representative, here it was just reversed. The priest hardly spoke, or at least audibly; but the whole congregation was as though one vast instrument or Panharmonicon, moving all together, and, what was most remarkable, as if self-moved. They did not seem to require anyone to prompt or direct them, though in the Litany the choir took the alternate parts.
"The words were Latin, but everyone seemed to understand them thoroughly, and to be offering up his prayers to the Blessed Trinity, and the Incarnate Saviour, and the great Mother of God, and the glorified Saints, with hearts full in proportion to the energy of the sounds they uttered.
"There was a little boy near him, and a poor woman, singing at the pitch of their voices. There was no mistaking it; Reding said to himself, 'This is a popular religion ... How wonderful ... that people call this worship formal and external; it seems to possess all classes, young and old, polished and vulgar, men and women indiscriminately; it is the working of one Spirit in all, making many one.'"
5 comments:
Indicative of the lack of decent Catechetics in recent decades is the lack of liturgical awareness of so many people in church or at Mass. Growing up in Ireland many decades ago some things were impressed upon us. Things such as the Real Presence, silence in church, single or double genuflections (depending on whether the Blessed Sacrament was exposed or not) and the Words of Consecration.
Especially the Consecration.
Once the bell rang for the Consecration everything stopped. No one moved, or if moving they stopped and went down on their knees. Parents didn’t take children out and children knew to be quiet as Something Special was going on. In Ireland this was accentuated by what happened immediately after the Consecration – the ‘post-Consecration cough’. As soon as the last bell after the Consecration rang there would be tsunami of coughing as people had held in all sound of coughing or clearing of throats. It was as if everyone had held their breath and were just now releasing it.
Despite everything being in Latin people knew what was happening and what was important. Gone are the days…
A very accurate observation on the part of Reding, and a very good description of the Sunday High Mass at our own authentic- rite parish!
I am happy to be reminded of that quote. I read this book at your recommendation many years ago and I may read it again. Thank you, Father.
Mary K Jones
But is this how the EF is experienced these days? Lots of stuffy tweeds no sight of the plebs?
It's a description of Benediction, though, not Mass. That's not clear from this extract, but the section as a whole makes it clear.
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