En sogneprest har restaurert alteret på bildet over, og sist helg og kommende helg feirer han alle messene ad orientem (så langt har han ikke bestemt seg for å gjøre dette permanent). Slik skriver han selv om dette:
In order that the parish can see our newly restored altar in its full beauty, and used as it was intended when it was built by our forefathers, during this weekend and next I am celebrating the Masses at the high altar ad orientem, that is, facing the high altar rather than “facing the people” at the small altar as most of us are accustomed. The phrase “ad orientem” means “toward the East”, and this phrase is used to describe this posture because, in the early Church, most churches were built so that the altar faced the East. The East, being the direction of the rising sun, was seen as symbolic of Christ, as He is our Sun of Righteousness, the Light of the World, and the Daystar of the new dawn.
Sometimes people refer to the posture of ad orientem as the priest celebrating Mass “with his back to the people”, but this is a mistaken way of looking at it. The idea isn’t that the priest “has his back to the people”, but that he and the people are facing the same direction, that is, united in facing the Lord at the altar. Our holy father Pope Benedict has encouraged the re-appropriation of this ancient custom, urging us to “turn toward the Lord”, and has used it himself in public celebrations of the Eucharist. … I hope that we all may have our faith enriched and gain a new perspective on the liturgy by making use of this ancient tradition over the next two weeks.
På bloggen NLM er dette kommentert og det er også en diskusjon om forandringene som er gjort. Bl.a. har flere lesere sagt at prestens stol på bilder står feil; den bør heller settes inn mot veggen, ved ministrantenes stoler. Her er kommentarene fra NLM:
One cannot overstress the importance of the reclamation of ad orientem as part of parish liturgical practice — normative parish liturgical practice let it be noted. The practice of ad orientem makes sense not only from the perspective of tradition and Catholic liturgical theology with regard to the ends of the Mass, it also makes prudential sense as a helpful corrective to distortions which have invaded Catholic thought and consciousness on both an academic and (flowing from that as its consequence) popular level, and which have further created practical difficulties for priest with regard to the ars celebrandi.
Each one of these factors alone is a good argument for the reclamation of the practice of ad orientem and given all of these factors together, along with the support of the pontiff, it seems to me that the choice and direction could not be clearer.
As I have often proposed, there are two matters which are most urgent with regard to reforming the reform in our parishes today. One is sacred music and the other is liturgical orientation.
Before all else parish priests, I would propose this to you: before all other considerations, make the restoration of Gregorian chant and proper liturgical orientation (particularly through ad orientem full and proper) your first, primary and concurrent tasks. In this regard, be bold without being reckless and be prudent without being sheepish.
This will not only bear fruit with regard to the liturgy, but it will also bear fruit with regard to the other aspects of parish life and the life of your faithful, because by effecting the liturgy, you are also effecting and teaching, in a most positive way, the faithful that you have charge over.
Make no mistake, there can really be a no more central or important matter in a parish than restoring that which effects divine worship through the perpetuated sacrifice of the Cross, for it is that which is most central and that from which all else flows as a consequence.