På liturgibloggen Pray Tell kom det nylig et svært interessant innlegg om hvilken side av alteret presten bør stå – og innlegget er fulgt av (så langt) ca 60 interessante kommentarer. I innlegget står det bl.a.:
…there have been various voices from what we might call left, right, and center advocating or speaking positively about ad orientem, immediately after the Council and ever since. This includes, for example Joseph Jungmann (who was an architect of the conciliar reforms), Francis Mannion, and David Power. And of course Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict, who said a few decades ago that he favored the practice but did not favor switching things back because it would cause too much confusion. …
Men bakgrunnen for innlegget er noe mer dramatisk; kardinal Sarah, som leder Vatikanets liturgikongregasjon har nemlig i et intervju sterkt anbefalt at prestene feirer messen «ad orientem». Om dette sier innlegget bl.a.:
In a recent interview with the French Catholic magazine Famille Chrétienne, Cardinal Robert Sarah repeats many of the usual arguments in favor of the priest celebrating Mass ad orientem (“toward the east”) rather than facing the people, Catholic Herald reports. You can read the story there and get up to speed on the main arguments. …
One line from the cardinal caught my attention. The Second Vatican Council did not require priests to celebrate Mass facing the people, the cardinal correctly notes. But then he says: «As soon as we reach the moment when one addresses God – from the Offertory onwards – it is essential that the priest and faithful look together towards the east. This corresponds exactly to what the Council Fathers wanted.»
Of all the arguments for ad orientem – and there are valid arguments out there – this isn’t one of them. Anytime anyone makes a claim about what the Council Fathers wanted, alarm bells should go off for all of us. ….
I en av kommentarene til dette innlegget sies det riktignok at mange biskoper under Vatikankonsilet tok ordet og talte for at presten burde vende seg mot folkets under ordets del av messen, men de kom ikke med samme anbefaling mht til offertoriet, den eukaristiske bønn etc.