Joint Liturgical Studies
Joint Liturgical Studies offers a valuable contribution to the
study of liturgy. Each issue considers a particular aspect of
liturgical development, such as the origins of the Roman rite,
Anglican Orders, welcoming the Baptised, and Anglican Missals. It
is aimed at all with an academic interest in worship.
It is published twice a year in partnership with the Alcuin
Club, which promotes the study of Christian liturgy, and the Group
for Renewal of Worship (GROW).
Volume 83: Liturgical Orientation: the Position of
the President at the Eucharist
Neil Xavier O'Donoghue
This Study tells how from early times the Roman Catholic mass
was generally celebrated with the priest facing East across the
altar. The people thus saw the back view of a vested minister
performing a ritual largely hidden from them; and any consequent
sense of the solemnity and even the secrecy of that ritual was
viewed as integral to the nature of the sacrament, to be honoured
and preserved. The Churches of the Reformation took a different
view, but the Roman use sailed on undisturbed, and even reinforced,
by the radical attacks of the Reformers. This was the use which was
imitated by the anglo-catholic movement in the Church of England in
the nineteenth century, and then widely adopted in Anglicanism.
However, the Study shows that in the twentieth century, within
the Roman Catholic Church itself, questions arose as to whether
this practice was theologically necessary or pastorally helpful.
Some experiments preceded Vatican II; but it was in the wake of the
post-conciliar liturgical reforms that changes spread across almost
the whole of the global Communion - the eucharistic president
taking his position behind a free-standing altar, facing westward,
or, as stated here, versus populum. This in turn provided the
people with a full view of what he did, with implications for both
his ceremonial actions and for their participation.
The story did not end there; and the Roman Catholic Church has
seen a reaction led or supported by some eminent leaders, including
Pope Benedict XVI. Evaluating the theological principles of that
reaction has provided extra colour to the Study; but the author's
final words concern 'Best Pastoral Practice Today'.
The author, Neil Xavier O'Donoghue, is a priest of the
Archdiocese of Newark, NJ in the USA, and is currently the
vice-rector of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Dundalk in the
Archdiocese of Armagh in Ireland. He has written extensively on
liturgical matters, including a study of St Patrick and The
Eucharist in Pre-Norman Ireland, and brings all his historical
acumen and theological discernment into this new and timely
Study.
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