Adoremus Bulletin For the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy
JULY 2018
News & Views
Vol. XIV, No.1
Together Again for the First Time Everywhere: How Faith Integrates Symbolism in the Liturgy
A Centenary of Romano Guardini’s The Spirit of the Liturgy, Part IV By David W. Fagerberg
By Elise Harris and Hannah Brockhaus VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News)—After several German bishops appealed to the Vatican over an alleged proposal to allow non-Catholic spouses in mixed faith marriages to receive communion, the Church’s top authority on doctrine has sent the ball back, saying Pope Francis wants Germany’s bishops to come to an agreement among themselves. Released after a four-hour meeting between German bishops and the heads of certain curial offices, a Vatican communique said that Cardinal-designate Luis Ladaria SJ, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the bishops that the pope “appreciates the ecumenical commitment of the German bishops” and asked them “to find, in a spirit of ecumenical communion, a possibly unanimous decision.” It is not clear whether a “possibly unanimous decision” asks the German bishops’ conference for a fully unanimous vote on the issue, or asks for a nearly unanimous decision, or whether the bishops are simply being asked to discuss the matter further to see if they can resolve the issue themselves before a central authority steps in. Announced over the weekend, the May 3 meeting followed reports, later denied by the German bishops’ conference, that the Congregation
Adoremus PO Box 385 La Crosse, WI 54602-0385
Non- Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Brainerd, MN Permit No. 561
Please see COMMUNION on next page
Editor’s note: This examination of Chapter Four of Romano Guardini’s The Spirit of the Liturgy is the fourth in a series of seven essays marking the centenary of Guardini’s book.
T
he mark of a profound thinker is sometimes saluted by talking about a “balance” that he or she is able to maintain. This is not meant as an accusation of relativism; it is instead meant as an appreciation of paradox. One perspective is placed in one tray of the scale, another is placed in the other tray, and the thinker maintains a balance between the truth of one and the truth of the other. However, while Romano Guardini maintained this same sort of method to whatever he studied, this description of the approach fails to do justice to Guardini’s thought for two reasons. Centrist Thinking The first reason is that Guardini usually deals with more than two truths at a time. He feels more like a juggler finding the center point of a spinning plate than someone balancing two sides of a teeter-totter. He is standing on a wobble board and trying not to tip his balance toward any single point on the compass. In the center hub of the wheel is the Mass, and spokes leading in from the rim represent extreme positions he wants to moderate. If one looks at his whole book, one can find the following sets of pairs: grave–playful, socialist– individualist, will–knowledge, logos– ethos, universal style–idiosyncratic style, morally earnest–esthetically pleased, public ritual–private piety. (I have probably missed some.) In order to participate in the Mass, persons will have to come toward the center from their extremes, and although all persons are approaching the hub, they are each approaching it from a different direction. This makes the cost of appreciating the Mass unique to every person. For example, the grave person must come to appreciate the playfulness of the liturgy, while the esthete must come from the other direction to appreciate
AB
Adoremus Bulletin JULY 2018
SOURCE: AB/WIKIMEDIA
Pope Francis Clarifies Bishops’ DecisionMaking Process on Mixed Marriage Communion
The liturgy's symbolic nature is related to Jesus' own symbolic character. "He is the image of the invisible God," St. Paul writes (Colossians 1:15). And as Jesus himself says to Philip, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9), both the spiritual and material cooperating in his incarnate person.
the seriousness of the liturgy; the predominantly individualistic person must engage the fellowship of the liturgy, and the predominantly communalistic person must discover his individual responsibility in the liturgy; the person to whom will is most important must appreciate the liturgy’s truth-displaying quality, and the person to whom knowledge is most important must come to value the willful commitment required. And so forth. Furthermore, in order to be appreciated, the Mass exacts a toll that is different for each person, depending on his or her starting point. What it costs one to participate in liturgy will be a different fee from—and perhaps opposite to—what another person will have to pay. Therefore, humility is required of all if they are going to move down the spoke from their position on the outer rim to the center of the liturgy. In the fourth chapter of The Spirit of the Liturgy, Guardini presents another pair of truths for us to stabilize. It concerns the relationship between body and soul. There are people, on the one hand, who see body and soul as sharply defined and distinguished. There are people, on the
other hand, who see body and soul as amalgamated and inextricably jumbled together. This pair is one of the many sets of opposing viewpoints that Guardini has identified. For the sake of easy reference ahead, let us refer to the former type of person as a “Divider” and the latter type as a “Blender.”
Signing Off on Symbols
Humanae Vitae and Liturgical Fruitfulness
As words go, “symbolic” often rings hollow. But David Fagerberg fills us in on what Romano Guardini’s The Spirit of the Liturgy means by liturgical symbols............................1
Integral Integrity But as we consult our compass to stabilize our thinking, there is a second way in which Guardini’s thought is different from those who seek to attain a simple balance. In a balance, the two truths are left at opposite poles, and they do not touch each other. Tension between them is lessened by taking turns, perhaps, but the balance on a seesaw, for instance, means that each end cancels the other out: the weight on one end prevents the other end from sinking too low, and vice-versa. But Guardini instead proposes that in this pair—our Divider and Blender fellows—the ends of the poles need to be integrated, not just balanced; integrated, not just alternately considered as a matter of “fair play.” Guardini seeks cooperation between the Divider and the Blender when it Please see SYMBOLISM on page 4
Minutes on the Hours
Celebrating fifty years, Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical on life is still bearing and delivering far-flung and long-lasting consequences—even for the marriage liturgy, says Jeremy Priest................................8
Drunken Speech
The Holy Spirit is the genius behind God’s masterpieces—but he doesn’t work alone. The “art of celebrating,” says Father Dennis Gill, helps the priest help God create liturgical beauty..............................................12
At the US Bishops’ June meeting, our shepherds discuss, debate, and determine a timeline for the Liturgy of the Hours’ new English translation—now one tick closer to being a reality....................................................3 “Most Entertaining Liturgical Podcast Evah!”— the Liturgical Institute’s “The Liturgy Guys” score 17,000 weekly downloads. Joseph O’Brien eavesdrops on their spirited production.................................6
Creative Riting—Art of Celebration
News & Views.................................................... 2 The Rite Questions.......................................... 10 Donors & Memorials...................................... 11