If you are wasting your time and reading my blog and have not "The Spirit of the Liturgy" by then Cardinal Ratzinger, stop what you are doing, purchase it, and read it. It is amazingly well written and explains the purpose of the liturgy in a way we can all understand and NEED to understand. Seriously, go now. [Click on the pic below]
Recently the Clergy Conference in Rome had a presentation about this topic. Specifically the talk was about the importance of the Spirit of the Liturgy and the reform of our current liturgical practices to recapture this "Spirit." This talk is posted at: The New Liturgical Movement. The website, which I have linked before and is on the sidebar, was also linked by Father Z. who did an EXCELLENT inline commentary on the presentation. You can find it here, and will teach you a whole lot more than I ever could. The post I am linking is Father Z's commentary on the "Benedictine Arrangment" which is an explanation of a liturgical way of celebrating the mass in lieu of ad orientem but still accomplishes the same goal. Read his post here: Fr. Z's Commentary on Msgr. Marini's Liturgical Form. Father Z has also done an AWESOME post on active participation which is written in the same vain. Read that here: Fr. Z's Commentary on Active Participation - From Msgr. Marini
So instead of trying to improve or comment on things that are already written I would like to comment on the more basic elements of the talk. The talk was given by Msgr. Guido Marini who is the Pontifical Minister of Liturgical Ceremonies. [Does that make him PMLC Marini?] This first portion is his introduction to the talks that Fr. Z has commented on. The talk stems from the book mentioned above. I will do a commentary below on his intro. I will do a separate post about one of his more substantive areas. I hope this encourages to think about the Liturgy differently, and hopefully it will also encourage you to read, "The Spirit of the Liturgy."
Here is Msgr. Marini's introduction from his talk taken from the New Liturgical Movement [My comments are in red, my emphases in the original are bolded]:
I propose to focus on some topics connected to the spirit of the liturgy and reflect on them with you; indeed, I intend to broach a subject which would require me to say much. Not only because it is a demanding and complex task to talk about the spirit of the liturgy, but also because many important works treating this subject have already been written by authors of unquestionably high caliber in theology and the liturgy. I’m thinking of two people in particular among the many: Romano Guardini and Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.
One the other hand, it is now all the more necessary to speak about the spirit of the liturgy, especially for us members of the sacred priesthood. Moreover, there is an urgent need to reaffirm the “authentic” spirit of the liturgy, [He is asserting the notion that there is a specific "authentic" spirit to the liturgy which exists and one assumes is universal.] such as it is present in the uninterrupted tradition of the Church, and attested, in continuity with the past, in the most recent Magisterial teachings: starting from the second Vatican council up to the present pontificate. I purposefully used the word continuity, a word very dear to our present Holy Father. He has made it the only authoritative criterion whereby one can correctly interpret the life of the Church, and more specifically, the conciliar documents, including all the proposed reforms contained in them. How could it be any different? Can one truly speak of a Church of the past and a Church of the future as if some historical break in the body of the Church had occurred? [This is vitally important - he does not say that Vatican II is incorrect, nor does he say the past is better, instead he speaks of CONTINUITY.] Could anyone say that the Bride of Christ had lived without the assistance of the Holy Spirit in a particular period of the past, so that its memory should be erased, purposefully forgotten?
Nevertheless at times it seems that some individuals are truly partisan to a way of thinking that is justly and properly defined as an ideology, or rather a preconceived notion applied to the history of the Church which has nothing to do with the true faith. [I do not dare accuse any of this, but it is possible that many of our extreme bloggers on both ends of the spectrum might want to take this idea to heart. Faith and not ideology is key.]
An example of the fruit produced by that misleading ideology is the recurrent distinction between the preconciliar and the post conciliar Church. Such a manner of speaking can be legitimate, but only on condition that two Churches are not understood by it: one, the pre Conciliar Church, that has nothing more to say or to give because it has been surpassed, and a second, the post conciliar church, a new reality born from the Council and, by its presumed spirit, not in continuity with its past. This manner of speaking and more so of thinking must not be our own. [IMPORTANT!!] Apart from being incorrect, it is already superseded and outdated, perhaps understandable from a historical point of view, but nonetheless connected to a season in the church’s life by now concluded. [This cannot be overstated. I should have bolded the whole paragraph and in fact this paragraph is my catalyst for this entire post. It speaks to my recent post and explains that we must not suppose an "either or" solution to our liturgical reform.]
Does what we have discussed so far with respect to “continuity” have anything to do with the topic we have been asked to treat in this lecture? Yes, absolutely. The authentic spirit of the liturgy does not abide when it is not approached with serenity, leaving aside all polemics with respect to the recent or remote past. The liturgy cannot and must not be an opportunity for conflict between those who find good only in that which came before us, and those who, on the contrary, almost always find wrong in what came before. The only disposition which permits us to attain the authentic spirit of the liturgy, with joy and true spiritual relish, is to regard both the present and the past liturgy of the Church as one patrimony in continuous development. [This man understands words. He uses continuous and development at the end of this thought. I think it is safe to assume that the liturgy while universal is not static throughout history.] A spirit, accordingly, which we must receive from the Church and is not a fruit of our own making. A spirit, I add, which leads to what is essential in the liturgy, or, more precisely, to prayer inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, in whom Christ continues to become present for us today, to burst forth into our lives. Truly, the spirit of the liturgy is the liturgy of the Holy Spirit.
I will not pretend to plumb the depths of the proposed subject matter, nor to treat all the different aspects necessary for a panoramic and comprehensive understanding of the question. I will limit myself by discussing only a few elements essential to the liturgy, specifically with reference to the celebration of the Eucharist, such as the Church proposes them, and in the manner I have learned to deepen my knowledge of them these past two years in service to our Holy Father, Benedict XVI. He is an authentic master of the spirit of the liturgy, whether by his teaching, or by the example he gives in the celebration of the sacred rites.
If, during the course of these reflections on the essence of the liturgy, I will find myself taking note of some behaviours that I do not consider in complete harmony with the authentic spirit of the liturgy, I will do so only as a small contribution to making this spirit stand out all the more in all its beauty and truth. [This introduction lays the groundwork for what is to come. I don't believe that Msgr. Marini suggests in any way that the past or present liturgical forms cannot posses this true spirit. Instead he is only denying the idea that only one or the other may do so.]This introduction to his talk is crucial to understanding his comments on Pope Benedict XVI's work "The Spirit of the Liturgy." Msgr. Marini is well aware of the current state of Liturgical practice, the reforms of Vatican II, and the current "reform of the reform" occurring through the efforts of Rome and specifically the Holy Father. I don't think anyone is more capable and appropriate to speak on this subject than the man responsible for coordinating the Liturgical celebrations of the Pope. I think many of us in the Cathologosphere would do well to heed his words regarding the idea that we must strive for CONTINUITY both with the past, present and future.
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