Emptiness of the modernist faith and the new liturgy

The Desiderio desideravi Colloquium in Paris on 10 and 11 May 2023

We had the opportunity to speak about this colloquium in our Letter 936 of 12 May 2023 Paix Liturgique France, at the end of which defenders of the traditional Mass came to make themselves heard.

We will now talk about the actual content of this conference, which will show in passing that, in a certain way, the traditional liturgy, like the gnawing worm of remorse, was present not only outside, but also inside.

The new liturgy: the void

According to its organisers, the Desiderio desideravi colloquium on the triple theme of "liturgy, music and sacred art" was certainly a great success. A full house in the Great Crypt of Saint-Honoré d'Eylau - there was a shortage of chairs -, a large presence of bishops and priests, many religious and above all lay people who in one way or another take part in the liturgy of the Church. Admittedly, the attendance was rather greying, the average age being over, let's be kind, sixty. This takes us back to the end of the 1960s, and it is not by chance: in wanting to respond to the Pope's call to ensure "liturgical formation" for all, the National Service for Liturgical and Sacramental Pastoral Care (SNPLS) was, like Francis, firmly attached to the reformed liturgy that came out of the Council.

In fact, the few express references to the traditional liturgy during the two-day colloquium on 10 and 11 May were rather negative, even contemptuous.

It felt like a dance on fields of ruins. Several hundred people gathered to speak learnedly about the biblical foundations of the Mass - the erudition of which cannot be denied - and the paschal mystery, while so many churches are empty, a large majority of the faithful are ignorant of many of the truths of the faith, vocations are collapsing, religious marriages are becoming the exception, and infant baptisms are becoming rare.

It was perhaps to instil a note of hope that the colloquium opened with the testimony of a woman who had been converted as an adult; she spoke of the role played by the liturgy for the catechumen that she was, in arriving at baptism. Her recommendation? To invite those who are asking to become Christians to participate in vigils, pilgrimages and spiritual retreats. For it seems that this is not done in Novus Ordo circles...

Before giving a more detailed account of what was said during these two days, it is more important to mention the terms and notions that were absent. We do not believe we heard the word "sacrifice", perhaps not even the word "sin", or "redemption". In his final address, Bishop Guy de Kerimel, President, for a few more months, of the Council for Liturgy and Sacramental Pastoral Care of the Bishops' Conference, even commented on the recurring testimony of catechumens evoking the "presence" they felt in the churches and which led them to ask for baptism: "Yes, the walls are impregnated with the liturgy that is celebrated there, there is sacred art," he said in substance. But there was no mention of the Real Presence of Our Lord in the tabernacle. In other words, the essential was missing

A traditional song... but Jewish

To speak about the psalms, the organisers had called on a rabbi from Raincy, Moché Lewin, who even sang a few verses in Hebrew, without saying much that very moderately trained Catholics do not already know. The psalms, you see, "have become universal and very present in the Christian liturgy because they are powerful, offering hope in the coming deliverance and intimacy with God, relieving anguish in the face of existence. Yes, of course. But the psalms express above all the prayer of the Church, the dialogue of the Bride with the Bridegroom, Jesus, Messiah and Saviour.

But at least the audience had the benefit of a traditional song. During the prayers sung in common - Lauds in the morning, a "sending" prayer at the end of the colloquium - the psalmody was in French. This was a far cry from the noble simplicity of Gregorian chant; the proof is that a singer had to be called in to lead the exercise, and for the sacred, we'll have to pass.

A nun, Sister Claire Lucie, Franciscan Reparatrix of Jesus in the Host, came to provide a real breath of fresh air. This "contemplative with a mission" to families and young people spoke in depth about the benefits of the conventual liturgy: "the order that the liturgy requires leaves a real place for spiritual growth"; she underlined the importance of its "repetitiveness" and the "value of silence", evoking a "constant discipline of life, to be maintained". And she quoted Dom Marmion on the subject of the time of the station: that moment when monks and nuns remain motionless and silent in order to recollect themselves in preparation for the office. Dom Marmion spoke of an "inviolable silence". Another era...

This intervention took place in the morning. At the end of the day, it was time for Mass. The Bishops slipped away to the sacristy of Saint-Honoré. The fifty or so priests present flitted about the conference room, donning polyester alb and stoles in the midst of the audience, chatting and joking... They went up to the church in the same tone, waiting to join the entrance procession while chatting. The procession starts behind the crucifix, but as they walk up the aisle towards the altar, some of the priests are still talking and joking.

How can we not think of the liturgy that this liturgy has sought to replace, of all the symbolism of the vestments that the priests take on with reverence, of their recollection, of the solemnity of the Introibo...

"Avoid the idolatry of the sacred!

But these are thoughts that are outlawed today. Mrs. Bernadette Mélois, director of the SNPLS and great organiser of these two days, praised those who "know how to show hospitality to the mystery of God, to use clothes without nostalgia...". Laughter in the room. A smile from Madame. The Curé d'Ars and the importance he attached to the richness and beauty of ornaments.

On the other hand, a priest of the Chemin Neuf Community, Fr Miguel Desjardins, was much applauded. "The Mass must be adapted to each day," he said: "By the introductory word, the tone, the surface of contact with the life of the one celebrating. At the end of the morning Mass, everyone is invited to express their gratitude out loud," he says. The same goes for confession: before anything else, he "invites the penitent to give thanks for something". He mentions the "procession of offerings, gestured and danced": it is necessary to "inhabit the liturgy corporeally".

Certainly, other conferences have discussed the importance of the body in the liturgy, and in particular the "kneeling with art" described by Bernadette Mélois. With her we learnt that the ceremony of "washing of the feet gave the dignity of discipleship".

Father Olivier Praud, theology teacher at the Catholic Institute of Paris and member of the SNLPS, also speaking on the theme "Celebrating faith with dignity", had just said: "The ars celebrandi only has meaning in relation to that of all those who celebrate, including the assembly". It is even necessary, he said, "to think of the art of celebrating from the point of view of the assembly", "to avoid celebrating an external beauty".

A little later, Bernadette Mélois explained that "the celebration is communal by nature... It is because we act ministerially, sacramentally, that all participate in the liturgical action". But we must avoid "an idolatry of the sacred".

"Learning to contemplate the assembly

Here we find a central point of the approach of these days: the liturgy that is advocated is not presented as being centred on God, but rather the community takes a predominant place. It is necessary to "develop a people of praise and adoration", says Mgr de Kérimel in conclusion, rather than to favour "individual adoration". It is necessary to "avoid Pelagianism and Gnosticism, which are still very present in our communities"; moreover, "the gift of God is disturbing, it is not to our measure". It must be recognised that "the liturgy can become a membership of a group, or even a policy", he said. The participants in the colloquium knew very well where to follow her gaze...

The rest of her speech was sufficiently insipid for us to take a nose dive.

Sébastien Guiziou, Vicar General of the Diocese of Quimper, who summarised the two days with organ playing as the main theme. It is interesting to note that it was in the verse on the "heavenly voice" that he included the phrase "listen to the cry of the poor and the earth". This is natural in a logic where Pope Francis' theology assures that "the people" and "the earth" are "theological places" where God makes his voice heard.

His conclusion says it all. Thanks to Desiderio desideravi, he says, he was able to "learn to contemplate the assembly in prayer".

And God, in all this?

Is it any wonder that the makers of the new liturgy - but still need to give Gd a place in theology?

Source

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