Newspaper Page Text
1
YOUR
PRIZE-WINNING
NEWSPAPER
SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
diocese of Atlanta
VOL, 2, NO. 47
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1964
$5.00 PER YEAR
Vernacular Introduction Sunday
Archdiocese Is
Well Prepared
UT OtltGATlS IWVCtM
• A NEW CHAPTER IS OPENED
Someday, perhaps in 1990, Catholic men and women of north
ern Georgia offering Mass with their priests will recall a
childhood Sunday in November of 1964 and say, “I remember
it well. . . that day we could w atch the celebrant, we could under
stand his English, we were, for the first time, partakers not
spectators.”
Someday, perhaps sooner, a Catholic husband and his Protest
ant wife will kneel side by side at Mass and, for the first time,
feel the bond of all baptized in Christ. Now the bond seems to
be more visible, more audible, more intelligible.
Someday, an older priest, known in his earlier days for his
liturgical vision and vigor, will say to a newly-ordained priest,
“No, the renewal took a long time to launch. In fact like all good
things, it took years. I remember that great Sunday in November
very well. Not it is your turn to make your contribution.”
U
J
In writing to you on the eve of the Vernacular Mass, I write in
the future. That is all we have to live in. The past has its glor
ies, and we are grateful for them. It had its fixed ways and over
formalized procedures. But millions ofdedicated Catholics surviv
ed the bitterness of the religious wars and the beleaguered
centuries in which the Church kept her identity in the face of
powerful states, warring sects and waves of atheism and secu
larism. These Catholics were our ancestors, our parents, our
selves. The Masses, the Rosaries, the Benedictions— millions
of them - carried the Catholic voice to God.
Now the Church is teaching us, in St. Paul’s words, “a better
way.” It is a way the Church once used, and then misplaced.
As Pope Paul points out the new liturgy is a renewal, a renova
tion, a revitalization, not a revolution. As the ancient tree
of worship opens new branches and blossoms for us,we must not
forget that the trunk is the same. So are the roots.
Thanks to our lay leaders, our sisters and especially our pri
ests, the Archdiocese is well-prepared for the changes. We en
courage parish organizations to spend the year in deeper study
of the meaning of it ail. We ask that our priests' homilies be
brief and helpful, and above all, Mass centered. We ask that on
Nov. 29 each of our people include in their intention a prayer
for those who find it difficult to change. There are not liturgical
Catholics and “non-liturgical Catholics.” We are all brothers in
Christ.
Someday (soon, we are sure), a family quarrel, a dishonest
business practice, words of hate against others, a vicious piece
of gossip, an act of impurity will be averted just as it was about
to occur. ACatholic conscience nourished on the liturgy, res
ponding to Grace, has helped move the Christian community
closer to Good.
This is what the whole renewal is about.
FATHER Michael McKeever, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, Sunday's Masses under the new liturgy. Father McKeever con-
Boulevard, shown at the new altar which will be used for this structed the wooden, table-like altar himself.
When to Stand
ARCHBISHOP OF ATLANTA
At the priest’s entrance, through Kyrie, Gloria, Collect; at the
second reading (Gospel), Creed; following the homily; at the Eucha
ristic prayer, the Our Father, the post-Communion prayer, and at
the Last Gospel.
When to Sit
During the first reading (the Epistle), the homily, the Offertory
hymn, the ablutions after Communion.
When to Kneel
At the genuflection portion of the Creed, following the Sanctus
bell, at the end of the Agnus Dei, at the blessing of the priest before
the Last Gospel.
Implementing
Liturgy Reform
Next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, Catholics of the Arch
diocese of Atlanta will join their co-religionists all over the coun
try in the launching of Mass in the vernacular, a major step in
Liturgical Reforms approved by the Fathers of Vatican Council
II.
Many parts of the Mass in English; Mass facing the people;
Lay Readers, Lay Commentators; congregational singing, and a
general increase in the participation of the people of God in the
Liturgy of the Church will be the norm.
CHANGE DOES not normally take place in the Catholic Church
either suddenly or merely for its own sake. This is true of the
liturgical changes which are absorbing the attention of the Catho
lic world today. These changes have been prepared for over a
long period of time- well over a generation- and only through the
laborious efforts of many individuals and groups. The Church has
moved gradually. Pope Pius XII recognized and approved the ef
forts of pioneers in liturgical work in an encyclical (Media-
tori Dei) as early as 1947. Step by step, during the ensuing
years, advances were made both by individuals and in the offi
cial policies of the Church. Finally, the Vatican Council has crow
ned these experiments with new liturgical laws built upon the
most cogent doctrinal and pastoral principles.
This latter point is of cardinal importance. There is no such
thing in a sacred matter of this kind as change for the sake of
chage. For the Fathers of the Vatican Council, as well as for
the bishops, priests and laymen who are dedicated to liturgical
renewal, there is only one important consideration - the spiritual
benefit of the Christian people.
THE BASIC insight that led to the present situation is the re
cognition that the faithful were not deriving the maximum
benefit from their Sacramental life. The Council Fathers de
clared their aim clearly; “Christ’s faithful should through a
good understanding of the rites and prayers, take part in the sac
red action conscious of what they are doing with devotion and
full collaboration. This full and active participation by all the
people is the aim to be considered before all else.” Each
change, each newly introduced practice, each reform is based
on this aim. Moreover, even these particular changes all havL
their own definite and important reason.
Another consideration may be helpful for those who find the
changes in liturgy confusing or difficult to accept. Change is
normal for the Church. The Church has always been ready to
change non-essentials in order to do its work more effectively.
The fundamentals-for example, of the Mass and Sacraments -
always remain the same, because they have been instituted by-
Christ, The fact remains that each age in the Church’s long his
tory has introduced changes to meet its own needs. The Mass
was celebrated in Greek in the first centuries. The change to
Latin was dictated by the faithful’s use of Latin in everyday
life and ignorance (in the western Church) of Greek. Even in our
own time changes have been mad^. Frequent Communion is a
recent phenomenon, as older people will recall. The relaxed
fast before Communion and the introduction of evening Masses
has been of immense benefit to countless souls. The restored
Holy Week services returned these magnificent celebrations to
the experience of the faithful.
A Spirit of faith dictates for all of us- not slavish obedience,
but reasoned and free acceptance ofthemindof the Church and the
effort to know and possess that “mind” in ourselves.