Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Ratzinger's Assessment of the "New" Liturgy

Nice column here.

Thomas Woods describes Ratzinger's reservations about the Novus Ordo. In brief:

--
the new missal gave rise to excessive creativity in liturgical celebration. This development undermined the very essence of liturgy and cut Catholics off not only from their past but even from the parish down the street, where Mass was different.

--A second major theme in Ratzinger's corpus of liturgical writing is what he called desacralization


--Ratzinger's third major criticism of the liturgical reform was that whatever its virtues, the new missal, both in particular sections and in its entirety, leaves the impression of a rupture with the past, and can seem contrived.

And, of course, Ratzinger was very critical of the music which materialized in support of the New Order.

Although it's a medium-length essay, it's well worth the read.

1 comment:

GOR said...

Yes Dad, a good summation of what the Holy Father has been saying, before and after his election. But to really get a sense of where he is coming from, his book "The Spirit of the Liturgy" written while still a Cardinal, spells it all out.

That book should be required reading in every Seminary, Presbytery and diocesan chancery throughout the Church.