Sunday, July 8, 2007
Ad Orientum & Versus Populum
Instruction of the Liturgy issued by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on October 16, 1964.
95. Reservation of the Most Holy Eucharist
The most holy Eucharist shall be reserved in a solid and inviolable tabernacle placed in the middle of the main altar or of a minor, but truly outstanding, altar, or, according to lawful customs, and in particular cases approved by the local ordinary, in some other noble and properly adorned part of the Church. It is lawful to celebrate Mass facing the people even if there is a tabernacle, small but suitable, on the altar.
Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments,
"Whatever may be the position of the celebrating priest, it is clear that the Eucharistic Sacrifice is offered to the one and triune God, and that the principal, eternal, and high priest is Jesus Christ, who acts through the ministry of the priest who visibly presides as His instrument. The liturgical assembly participates in the celebration in virtue of the common priesthood of the faithful which requires the ministry of the ordained priest to be exercised in the Eucharistic Synaxis. The physical position, especially with respect to the communication among the various members of the assembly, must be distinguished from the interior spiritual orientation of all. It would be a grave error to imagine that the principal orientation of the sacrificial action is [toward] the community. If the priest celebrates versus populum, which is a legitimate and often advisable, his spiritual attitude ought always to be versus Deum per Jesus Christum [toward God through Jesus Christ], as representative of the entire Church. The Church as well, which takes concrete form in the assembly which participates, is entirely turned versus Deum [towards God] as its first spiritual movement."
Cardinal Schonborn FAITH Magazine May-June 2007,
"Both directions of celebration are justified and neither should be suspected or “ideologized” . Mass isn’t celebrated “to the people” or “to the wall”, but to God through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. The celebration turned “to the people” has the meaning that we all, priests and laypeople, gather around Christ who symbolizes the altar and whose Body and Blood become present on the altar. The celebration “with the back to the people” is not a turning away from the faithful but facing in the same direction in prayer, expressive of the path we walk towards God as pilgrims, His wandering people."
Labels: Ad Orientum/Versus Populum, Altar, Liturgy, Official Documents, Quote, Quotes, Sacred Congregation of Rites, Second Vatican Council, Tabernacle
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