På gloria.tv (og på katholisches.info) kan vi lese at biskop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, i bispedømmet Maasin på Filippinene nylig har skrevet et brev med overskrift «Turning to God (“Ad Orientem, ad Deum”)» og der skriver han bl.a.:
As we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King this year today, November 24, 2019, let us pledge once again, as His People, the Diocese Maasim, to turn more ardently and devotedly to God, who sent JESUS, His only-begotten Son, Our King and our Saviour. One of the particular ways to express concretely our turning to God is in the celebration of the Liturgy.
We remind ourselves of a very important understanding of the Liturgy as explained by Cardinal Sarah, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, “God, not man is at the center of Catholic liturgy. We come to worship Him. The liturgy is not about you and I, it is not where we celebrate our own identity or achievements or exalt or promote our own culture and local religious customs. ….
…. The Cardinal, in his address on the “authentic implementation” of the Vatican II Document on the Liturgy, “invited all priests to celebrate the Mass ad orientem … and that it is very important that we return as soon as possible to a common orientation, of priests and the faithful turned together in the same direction – Eastwards or at least towards the apse – to the Lord who comes, in those parts of the liturgical rites when we are addressing God. This practice is permitted by current liturgical legislation. It is perfectly legitimate in the modern rite. Indeed, I think it is a very important step in ensuring that in our celebrations the Lord is truly at the center.”
Therefore, beginning this new Liturgical Year, the First Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2019, the celebration of Mass “ad orientem” will start in the Diocese of Maasin. The Celebrant and the Faithful will face or turn together in the same direction to the Lord, represented in the Altar and the Crucifix, in those parts of the liturgical rites when we are addressing God. …
We hope that introducing this way of worshipping God in the Liturgy, we become “fellow worshippers united in the one same act of adoration.” The Clergy (Bishop, Priests and Deacons) and the Lay prayer-Leaders will lead the Faithful towards the Lord and not be at the center of liturgical worship themselves. …
katholisches.info tar også med bildet under, som de kaller «eine Karikatur zur Veranschaulichung der beiden Zelebrationsrichtungen».
