Min kone og jeg var i en vanlig menighetsmesse her i går kveld – en svært lite oppbyggende opplevelse, men jeg kommer sannsynligvis ikke til å skrive noe mer om den. I dag tidlig (mandag, bare noen få timer før vi setter kursen nordover) leser jeg mer om det jeg skrev i forrige innlegg – om den eukaristiske bønn og ad orientem – på Fr. Ray Blakes blogg. Den eukaristiske bønn fungerer best når presten ser på Gud og ikke på folket, sier denne presten, og han tar også pave Benedikt til inntekt for å si at den eukaristiske bønn er i krise:
In «The Sprit of Liturgy» the Pope speaks of the Eucharistic Prayer as «being in crisis». I must say being a regular celebrator of both forms of the Roman Rite, the crisis is in the Novus Ordo and especially when celebrated versus populum.
In the usus antiquior the silence shouts «PRAYER», in the usus recentior celebrated ad orientem there is a strong indication prayer is taking place but when it is celebrated facing the people, well, I am not sure what is going on and what the people are meant to do, I must confess I don’t know what our !st Communion children are taught to do in the Eucharistic Prayer.
What do you do during the Eucharistic Prayer? Do you join the priest in saying the Eucharistic Prayer? I am told in some liberal parishes priests encourage people to join in, even here some people follow the prayer in their missals, a few even move their lips. Do you just wait for the priest to finish – not sure what to do? This seems to be why most priests opt for the short and quick EP2. Do you say your own prayers? It always strikes me as a bit rude to deliberately pray about something else when the priest is addressing God.
In «The Sprit of Liturgy» the Pope speaks about returning to silent Eucharistic Prayer, or saying it silently but announcing in some way key words …