JPII: Positive Restoration
I was having a great conversation yesterday about the modern liturgical calendar as compared to the 1962 liturgical calendar. As I was reflecting on this facinating topic I started thinking about the document Sacrosanctum Concilium. If you’ve read this document you know that it called for a reform of the liturgical calendar that privileged the integrity of the ferial days.1
In theory this is a great idea. However, in practice it may not have been a successful or even feasible project. I will grant that when you compare the current liturgical calendar with it’s predecessor the current calendar does attempt to privilege the ferial. The vast number of octaves, feast days, etc., found in the 1962 calendar (which was itself a reform calendar) are significantly reduced in the modern calendar.
At first glance this observation might seem insignificant. However, it has a very real impact on the lived faith of the Church. There is a necessary relationship between the devotional life of the Church and the liturgical calendar. The devotional life is what has historically inculturated the faith in societies and thus incarnated the faith in individuals. It’s been suggested by some that the simplification of the liturgical calendar is one significant cause for the decline of the devotional life in the Church.
I think that Blessed Pope John Paul II recognized the poverty of devotion that crept into the contemporary expression of the faith.2 This may be one reason why he departed from a minimalist approach to the liturgical calendar. He is still known for his penchant for actively seeking out worthy members of the faithful to elevate to the altar by canonization. He has been critiqued for this. Some have suggested that he exercised this papal prerogative too often. Some even refer to Blessed John Paul II as a canonization machine. However, this simply may have been a wise pastoral decision to shift away from this particular directive about the liturgical calendar in Sacrosanctum Concilium.
I’m sure that this suggestion may be difficult to hear. But, it seems to me that it’s a suggestion that’s in keeping with the purpose of our most recent council. Formally, we describe the Second Vatican Council as a “pastoral council.” However, we tend to treat it like a “dogmatic council.”3 But as the last two Pontiffs have taught us, it is fair to bring reasonable and reverent critique to some of the practical directives of the Council.4 Based on the writings and statements of our current Holy Father I expect to see Pope Francis continue this trend of critical reflection upon the documents of the Council.
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Ferial days are essentially the liturgical celebrations of the season instead of the special movable and immovable celebrations that occur throughout the year. ↩
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There are a number of actions taken by John Paul II in his pontificate that indicate to me that he had a real interest in restoring a robust devotional life in the Church. ↩
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Even this distinction is controversial. It’s unclear to many what this distinction actually means. ↩
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This could even be applied to conceptual and fundamental aspects of the Council in certain instances. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is famous for having reservations about and critiques of certain aspects of Gaudium et Spes and Nostra Aetate and their concrete implementation. ↩
Dust and Ashes
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. Oddly, my yearly custom has become a Facebook complaint about Mass attendance. Normally people opine sparse Mass attendance. But, on Ash Wednesday, even more than Christmas and Easter, pews swell with souls seeking to be dusted with the remains of burned palms. This is what I opine. It's frustrating because it isn't a major celebration in the liturgical life of the Church. It has a special place in the liturgical cycle. However, it's importance is derived from its relationship to Easter. Ash Wednesday is a midway point. It's a time to look back to Adam and the fall. But it's also a time to look ahead toward Christ and the redemption. It's like gazing down from the top of a mountain dividing two radically different countries. But we are no idle sightseers. We are on a journey from the one land to the other. From sinnful Egypt to holy Jerusalem. The midpoint is important. But this is only due to its relationship to the beginning and to the end of that journey.
This journey of ours is rather odd. It's less like a forced march through rugged terrain and more like a guided tour through a national park. The land has already been tamed. Christ has tamed it. We are simply following after his footsteps. Our guide, the Church, is moving us along the trail he has already cut. Along the journey our guide points out for us significant markers along the roadside for our benefit. This is one way to see the liturgical cycle.
When the Church identifies for us the hierarchy of celebrations she is helping us discern what is important for us to see or know about on our journey. This is why days and seasons are ranked. This is why we have days of precept, days of obligation, and days that are neither. Some celebrations teach us more about the Christian life than others. The Church, as both Mother and Teacher guides us in our path toward greater personal conformity to Christ through establishing which ones are important for us to celebrate. This isn't something we get to choose. The student doesn't get to dictate the lesson plan of the teacher. But this is how so many people act. For one reason or another people choose the lessons they want to accept or not. The student/teacher relationship is broken.
America is a child of the enlightenment. Hyper individualism is a foundational disposition of the American ethos. All things get subordinated to the radical autonomy of the individual. Choice is held to be the most important human power in our modern culture. But this is an exaggeration in our society, in ourselves, that should be brought under control.
Unfortunately, I think that the constant reducing and transferring of obligatory liturgical celebrations has damaged our liturgical sensibilities. Ecclesiastical authority may have unwittingly capitulated to this central vice of American society. Not raising the bar and holding people accountable has contributed to the general religious confusion in our time. The establishment and maintaining of obligatory celebrations helps us set priorities in life. Establishing a precept about mandating Mass attendance communicates to people that this action, and this particular celebration is very important. It goes on the top of the list. But instead, I fear we have communicated the opposite.
This is one puzzle piece to a much larger problem. But, it's an easy place to start solving it. That Ash Wednesday has a greater attendance than, say, the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, is, to me, a sign that we have our loves seriously out of order.
