BRICK BY BRICK
This is from the Facebook page of San Jose Mangagawa Parish (St. Joseph the Worker Parish) in Manuguit, Tondo.
You can see clearly six candles on the altar. A lit sanctuary lamp, not an electric light bulb, is present. The presider's chair, a term which I hope to find a more suitable term is on the right side of the sanctuary and not in the center, which is and MUST be occupied by the Tabernacle where our Eucharistic Lord is kept. And the priests were not wearing chasu-albs and overlay stoles! Goodness! Even Fr. Genaro Diwa who is supposed to be a liturgist cannot follow this simple rule! I have seen him celebrate Mass at Quiapo and he is not using the prescribed vestments!
You have to send tons of KUDOS to this priest and to support and commend him for bringing back the sense of the sacred into the Mass.
You must be wondering why I post this.
Not only because a Benedictine altar arrangement is rare in the Philippines, because most priests here do not want candles on the altar! You know one reason I heard for this is for the stupidest reason that you do not put candles on a table when you are eating. Aaaahhhhh!!! They view the Mass as a simple merienda! But wait! How about candle lit dinner? Isn't that supposed to be a very special meal?
Why can't they do this for the Mass IF it were a meal?
You are wondering why this is done here? No candles on the altar and the cross to the side with the celebrant sitting on the center, occupying the place of honor rather than the Tabernacle?
Look no further!
Blame it on Anscar Chupungco who taught his protege Fr. Genaro Diwa who then spread it to other priests in the Archdiocese of Manila then to the rest of the country, unfortunately not in CEBU! Love that place!
Then comes Fr. A's students at the Pious Disciple of the Divine Master most especially Sr. Cecilia Payawal, PDDM who "train" other liturgists to have their own kind of liturgy. Oh, yeah. She is notorious for her creativities.
So for a priest of the Archdiocese of Manila to have this kind of altar setting is monumental to say the least.
Pray for this priest and support him!
***
PS: There is this priest who is supposed to be a defender of the Faith and Tradition who also fell into the fad of placing candles near the altar. Guess he was not enriched by the Traditional Mass, eh?
Sad.
Kudos to these Parish Priests,but Sad for This Apologist who Proclaims the Faith using The Devil's Methods and Has Split-Vision View on The Liturgy.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing lacking is an altar rail. Sorry I am traddie on this!
ReplyDeleteTo Von Verster, if you could kindly clarify, what devilish methods and incorrect vision are you referring to?
ReplyDeleteLove the post! I'm a traditionalist too, but I would like to point out that communion rails and having the tabernacle immediately behind the altar are no longer requirements of church architecture. Post Vatican II, the placement of the tabernacle is actually supposed to be in a dignified space, prominent, conspicuous, and beautiful. Sacrosanctum Concilium states "Particularly in larger churches, a chapel specially set aside for the reservation and adoration of the Eucharist is advisable...". I appreciate the post, and I totally agree that a sense of the sacred needs to be reintroduced into the litrugy, but I just wanted to point out that it is not necessarily a MUST that the tabernacle be centrally behind the altar.
Pax vobiscum
The Apologist-Priest's use of Foul Language and Total use of CAPS to Make his Point.
DeleteHis Refusal to See the Need of Mutual Enrichment of Both Forms of the Roman Rite of the Church.
Again, I'm not entirely sure what foul language you're referring to. I also do not see anything inherently wrong with using all caps in particular words to make his point. After all, it is a literary device developed for the specific purpose of making a point. I think it's a little unfair, and slightly condescending of you, to call it the devil's methods. I am inclined to believe that condescension is more like the "devil's methods" than using all caps, but then again, I'd be slightly guilty of that as well by saying so. I'm really more interested about your insistence on capitalizing the first letter of every word than I am of this blogger's occasional use of all caps. But again, sarcasm is another one of the devil's methods, so I apologize and digress.
DeleteAnywho, I'm not really here to argue semantics, more just to defend the relatively good post of a better-than-relatively-good blogger. I think it should be noted that if the enrichment of the current Ordinary Form is based on adhering to certain particular aspects of the Extraordinary Form, then that would imply that Extraordinary Form is the basis for and epitome of all existing liturgies (which it is, in a way). Therefore by its very being, the Extraordinary Rite would be the most enriched version of a liturgy and would not require any "enrichment" at all. Now, if both Forms needed mutual enrichment, as you claim, that would mean that the Extraordinary Form needs to adopt particular, post Vatican II liturgical aspects of the Ordinary Rite. If that's the case, there would not be any basis for "enrichment", so how would you gauge whether or not either form is enriched.
Now since I've probably already crossed the line of being long-winded, I would just like to posit that the Tridentine Liturgy needs to no enrichment of its own. People forget that the Tridentine Mass was not incorrect, but that Vatican II saw a need for a different form that addressed a different need. The Novus Ordo is not incorrect either. But IT could be liturgically enhanced and spiritually developed by adopting some 1962 practices.
Sorry for the long reply. I've enjoyed the conversation more than I thought. Pax vobiscum.
The Priest's name is Fr Abe.
DeleteYes I should also refrain from Capitalizing every first Letter of the word,Sorry!
No need to apologize. Actually, I should be apologizing. I didn't want to seem rude or sarcastic in my comment. So I'm sorry if I did.
DeleteHonestly though, I have enjoyed this...conversation? very much.
Peace and blessings!
The priest who is giving the Homily is Rev. Fr. Adonis Saclolo.
ReplyDeleteHe was formed in the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, under the auspices of the Neo Catechumenal Way.