Katolsk

Den høytidelige «Kalenda» slik den ble sunget ved starten av julemidnattsmessen i Peterskirken for et år siden – årets har jeg ikke hørt/sett ennå.

“I am old now but when I was young I was received into the Church. I was not at all attracted by the splendour of her great ceremonies – which the Protestants could well counterfeit. Of the extraneous attractions of the Church which most drew me was the spectacle of the priest and his server at low Mass, stumping up to the altar without a glance to discover how many or how few he had in his congregation; a craftsman and his apprentice; a man with a job which he alone was qualified to do. That is the Mass I have grown to know and love.”

Slik siteres Evelyn Waugh i en artikkel i Catholic Herald. Det er svært interessant å lese hvordan han beskriver messen; som et håndtverk, en (offer)handling for Gud. Artikkelen handler egentlig mest om den nye engelske oversettelsen av messen, men overdriver nok hva den nye oversettelsen kan gjøre. Messene på engelsk vil nok foregå som før; noen ganske gode, mange «midt på treet» og noen helt forferdelige – med showmannship av presten, misbruk og ulovligheter. F.eks. vil man nok oftest droppe den fulle formen av syndsbekjennelsen (som nå er blitt komplett med tre slag for brystet) og første kanonbønn (som er blitt dramatisk forbedret, og er ganske mye bedre også enn den norske, som egentlig ikke er så verst).

Jeg brukte den nye engellske messeboken for første gang sist søndag, og skal gjøre det de to neste søndagene også, og jeg kommer forhåpentligvis med mine erfaringer om ikke så lenge.

Jeg skrev nettopp om kirken de planlegegr å bygge i Fr. Longeneckers menighet, og han skriver i forb. med det en spenstig (og dristig, kanskje frekk) artikkel om kirkearkitektur i Crisismagazine. Her sier han bl.a.:

We are building a new church in our parish, and to lead the effort I have been thinking and reading about church architecture. Looking around at the dismal buildings that have been presented as Catholic churches over the last 50 years, one has to ask where on earth the architects, designers, and liturgists got their ideas.

We don’t have to look far. G. K. Chesterton said, “Every argument is a theological argument,” and the modern churches clearly reflect the beliefs of their builders. First, the builders and their buildings are fundamentally utilitarian. Driven by the unquestioned modernist dogma that “form follows function,” they have designed not churches but auditoria. Everyone can see the altar; the sound system is excellent; the toilets are capacious and clean. The air conditioning works, and the roof does not leak, and (most important of all) the building was not expensive.

When it comes to whether the church should be beautiful or not, the building committee adopts the doctrine of Judas: “Why should the money be spent on costly ointment when it could be given to the poor?” In other words, let’s cut out all that beautiful stuff; it’s too expensive. We need a few statues and vestments — but cheap, mass produced stuff will do. But too often, once the cheap choice is made, they forget that the money saved was to go to the poor, and the savings are merely pocketed.

Then there are the liturgists, who tell us that the Mass is all about “gathering the people of God for a fellowship meal.” Therefore, everyone must sit around the altar as a family. I heard one trendy priest explain, “When I am celebrating Mass, I am like the shaman telling stories around the campfire with the whole tribe gathered around me.” On this pretext, on Holy Saturday, this priest brought the new fire into the sanctuary of the church itself. I suppose it was unsurprising, therefore, when he built a church that resembled a large brick tepee. …

I dag feirer Kirken (det noen mener er) den største misjonæren etter apostelen Paulus, den hellige Frans Xaver (el. Xavier, Xaverius). Jeg kjenner svært godt til ham, etter mine mange år hos Fransickus Xaverius-søstrene i Bergen. Slik leste jeg i dag i matutins 3. lesning:

Francis was born of noble family at Xavier in the diocese of Pamplona. In Paris, he joined the companions and disciples of St. Ignatius, and in a short time became a shining example of austerity of life and untiring contemplation of divine things. Paul III made him apostolic nuncio to India, and he traveled about through countless provinces, always on foot and often barefoot. He brought the faith to Japan and six other regions. In India he converted many hundreds of thousands to Christianity, cleansing many princes and kings in the holy waters of baptism. His humility was so great that, when he wrote to St. Ignatius, his general, he always did so on his knees. By many and wonderful miracles, the Lord confirmed his zealous work in spreading the Gospel. Finally, on the Chinese island of Sancian, he died on the 2nd of December, rich in merits and worn out with his labors. Gregory XV enrolled him among the Saints, and Pius X, appointed him the heavenly patron of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith and of its work.

Katolsk.no har en grundig artikkel om ham.

Slik leste jeg i dag til Matutin om den hellige Andreas (i lesning 4, 5 og 6):

The Apostle Andrew was born at Bethsaida, a town of Galilee, and was the brother of Peter. He was a disciple of John the Baptist, and heard him say of Christ, Behold the Lamb of God, John i. 35-37, 40, whereupon he immediately followed Jesus, bringing his brother also with him. Some while after, they were both fishing in the Sea of Galilee, and the Lord Christ, going by, called them both, before any other of the Apostles, in the words, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. They made no delay, but left their nets, and followed Him. Matth. iv. 18-20. After the death and Resurrection of Christ, Andrew was allotted Scythia as the province of his preaching, and, after labouring there, he went through Epirus and Thrace, where he turned vast multitudes to Christ by his teaching and miracles. Finally he went to Patras in Achaia, and there also he brought many to the knowledge of Gospel truth. Aegeas the Pro-consul resisted the preaching of the Gospel, and the Apostle freely rebuked him, bidding him know that while he held himself a judge of his fellow men, he was himself hindered by devils from knowing Christ our God, the Judge of all.

Then Egeas, being angry, answered him, Boast no more of this thy Christ. He spake words even such as thine, but they availed Him not, and He was crucified by the Jews. Whereto Andrew boldly answered that Christ had given Himself up to die for man’s salvation; but the Pro-consul blasphemously interrupted him, and bade him look to himself, and sacrifice to the gods. Then said Andrew, We have an altar, whereon day by day I offer up to God, the Almighty, the One, and the True, not the flesh of bulls nor the blood of goats, but a Lamb without spot and when all they that believe have eaten of the Flesh Thereof, the Lamb That was slain abideth whole and liveth. Then Aegeas being filled with wrath, bound the Apostle in prison. Now, the people would have delivered him, but he himself calmed the multitude, and earnestly besought them not to take away from him the crown of martyrdom, for which he longed and which was now drawing near.

Come short while after, he was brought before the judgment-seat, where he extolled the mystery of the cross, and rebuked Aegeas for his ungodliness. Then Aegeas could bear with him no longer, but commanded him to be crucified, in imitation of Christ. Andrew, then, was led to the place of martyrdom, and, as soon as he came in sight of the cross, he cried out, O precious cross, which the Members of my Lord have made so goodly, how long have I desired thee! how warmly have I loved thee! how constantly have I sought thee! And, now that thou art come to me, how is my soul drawn to thee! Welcome me from among men, and join me again to my Master, that as by thee He redeemed me, so by thee also He may take me unto Himself. So he was fastened to the cross, whereon he hung living for two days, during which time he ceased not to preach the faith of Christ, and, finally, passed into the Presence of Him the likeness of Whose death he had loved so well. All the above particulars of his last sufferings were written by the Priests and Deacons of Achaia, who bear witness to them of their own knowledge. Under the Emperor Constantine the bones of the Apostle were first taken to Constantinople, whence they were afterwards brought to Amalfi. In the Pontificate of Pope Pius II his head was carried to Rome, where it is kept in the Basilica of St Peter.

Katolsk.no har en grundig artikkel om den hellige Andreas.

Noe er korrekt i NTB-artikkelen under (som jeg leste i Dagen), for den nye engelske oversettelsen av messen ble tatt i bruk sist søndag. Men liturgien er jo ikke ny, og selvsagt har ikke ulike kirkesamfunn samarbeidet om dette, det har derimot (de katolske) biskopene i alle land der engelsk er hovedspråk for liturgien.

Katolsk liturgi endret for første gang på 40 år

Messens liturgi, tekstene i den romersk-katolske seremonien, er blitt endret i den engelsktalende verden for å tilfredsstille Vatikanets ønske om en mer spirituell og tradisjonell tone.

I St. Monicas kirke i New York hadde katolikker søndag vanskeligheter for å venne seg til de språklige endringene, som ble gitt ut i form av et hefte.
I flere tiår har menigheten svart «Og med deg» når presten har sagt «Må herren være med deg». Nå skal de isteden si «Og med din ånd».

Enda vanskeligere skal det imidlertid være for prestene, ifølge nyhetsbyrået AFP. Etter å ha lært seg teksten utenat og fremført den likt i flere år, sa prestene til AFP at det kom til å ta tid å finne rytmen i den nye teksten.

Endringene er resultatet av et samarbeid mellom flere kirkesamfunn fra USA, Europa, Asia og Afrika.

Jeg trodde de verste ødeleggelsene av katolske kirker var over tdilig på 80-tallet, og at man flere steder nå er i ferd med å få tilbake den gamle prakten, men via Rorate Cæli har jeg nå sett følgende bilder fra kreuz.net. Bildene under viser en augustienrkirke i Würzburg i Bayern – før 1940, fra 70-tallet og i 2011.