Monday, March 30, 2009

Faith Of Our Fathers

I love fancy vestments; I love incense; I love ornate language; I love high, vaulting music; I love pageantry, every moment drenched with meaning; I love kneeling, genuflecting, the sign of the Cross; heck, I might even love choir screens. All of these rituals, all of these symbols, help me feel connected to the past, to the generations of Christians for whom the same experience of beauty held true.

That isn’t to say that liturgical change is bad: we must incorporate the signs of our own times. I do think, however, that physical architecture should be taken into account. I once read about an Episcopal church where the altar was basically in the middle of the congregation. They would all gather around it to receive Eucharist, and after Mass they would have a communal meal there. Aside from my unease about using a consecrated altar as a picnic table (is there a relic in there?), I think this is a great idea.

Gathering around an altar when it’s lodged far away in the sanctuary almost seems like it would heighten the feeling of distance. One has to pass from profane into sacred space in order to encounter Jesus in the Sacrament. In this geography, I think it’s better that the congregation remain behind the altar rail. What is then symbolized – at least for me – in the distribution of the Eucharist is that Jesus passes from the sacred into the profane: in the Body of Christ, both Church and Sacrament, the distance and division between the profane and the sacred collapses.

The reason I prefer Eastward celebration is related to this. When the priest faces westward, the difference between clergy and laity is heightened rather than subsumed. Physically, it is as though the congregation is the passive recipient of whatever it is the priest is doing. Facing Eastward, the whole body of the church is turned the same way in a unity of action and prayer. The Sacrifice that is Christ is offered to the Father by Christ through or in the person of the priest. The sacrifice being made by the priest is the sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving: this sacrifice is made equally by everyone, because it belongs to the office of the universal priesthood of all believers. The Eucharist is God’s free gift in response to this offering. Why should we not all be facing the same way when we are making it?

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