Paul Scalia's homily for his father, Justice Antonin Scalia

Those of us who have lived in the Diocese of Arlington are familiar with the eloquence of Paul Scalia's homilies.  What a difficult task it must have been to give the homily for his own father and before such audiences.  

This homily is not sentimental, but it is moving and full of power.  It is worth the sixteen minutes.  Rhetoric is a dying art and the word "rhetoric" has become a synonym for sophistry, but this is worthy of a Demosthenes or a Cicero. 







I will not analyze the homily in detail.  Michael Pakaluk provides an excellent analysis in Crisis.

Justice Clarence Thomas, whom Paul Scalia reconciled back into the church, was a lector doing a reading from Romans.  Senator Cruz, a Southern Baptist, interrupted his campaign to attend the funeral.  You can read an account of the funeral in the New York Times.

The Myth of the Constantinian Fall, the Myth of the House Church, and the Loss of the Sacred in Architecture

Ideas

Ideas are more dangerous than men.  Men with ideas are more dangerous than those who are merely venal.

The Myth of the House Church

The word myth derives from the Greek word mythos which means "story."  Some stories are true, some false, and some just embellished.  Some stories tell us truth even though they do not recount facts.  Think of Aesop's Fables.  Nowadays, we use the term "myth" primarily for stories that are untrue.  That is the sense I will use it today particularly as such myths animate ideological folly.

There seems to be one thing that Fundamentalists, liberal Protestants, and liberal Catholics are united on: how the "pure early church" got corrupted when Constantine granted peace to the church first in the western empire and then in the east.  This myth provides the peculiar weltanschauungen of these three strange bed fellows.  

The myth proceeds as follows: In its first few centuries the church was simple and met in peoples' homes for a Eucharistic gathering that was very communal in the sense of today's suburban bon ami and bon homme.  Thus emerged the concomitant myth of the house church or domus ecclesiae, a term that never appears in early Christian literature.  The half baked experts of the 1950s and 1960s evangelized the need to return to these simple house churches.  In that era of the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul, and Mary this led naturally to the Kumbaya, My Lord church, with all of us sitting around the camp fire and the tabernacle that houses the King of Kings exiled to a distant place like the Jacobean Prince of Wales


By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

Architecturally, this led to the idea of very simple churches, often in the round, that emphasized the horizontal dimension of the liturgy and rejected the previous millennia of church architecture.  This mistaken archaism allowed penny pinching bishops to hire architects who built new churches by recycling blueprints for basketball stadia or similar structures. The style of these churches was austere Modernist architecture such as that of Le Corbusier conveying the same sense of the sacred as the equally functional parking lot. 

Steven J. Schloeder, an architect and theologian, demolishes this myth of the house church in an article for the Institute for Sacred Architecture, "Domus Dei, Quae Est Ecclesia Dei Vivi: The Myth of the Domus Ecclesiae." It is worth a close reading.  His research is well documented and liberates us from the sterility of our forty plus years in the architectural desert.  Schroeder's firm, Liturgical Environs PC, (www.liturgicalenvirons.com) specializes in Catholic church building projects across the United States. He does what he preaches.

Note: the picture on the left is of Sant' Apollinare in Classe.  The turn around alter is a recent addition: the main altar is in the apse as befits a basilica.  Entering Sant' Apollinare in Classe or
Sant' Apollinare Nuovo give a sense that you have left this world and you have entered a heavenly world.  As Sacrosanctum Consilium teaches us, "8. In the earthly liturgy we take part in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle [Apoc. 21:2; Col. 3:1; Heb. 8:2]; we sing a hymn to the Lord's glory with all the warriors of the heavenly army; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ, until He, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with Him in glory [Phil. 3:20; Col. 3:4]."

Receiving Comminion in the hand.

Most Rev. Athanasius Schneider on Communion in the Hand 

Is Reverence important to receiving the wucharist? What does the early church witness to?

Did you know Benedict changed the Baptismal rite? [For the better]

Conspiracy theories anyone?

In one of the deeply kept secrets of the papal transition, Benedict XVI changed the words of the baptismal rite and the change was promulgated by Francis.  No longer does the church welcome the newly baptized into the "Christian community," but rather into the "Church of God."

Sandro Magister explains in "Vatican Diary / Pope Benedict's Parting Shot:"



This more precise language make sense in terms of the Vatican II theological terminology, on which see the late Father Richard John Neuhaus's essay: "The One True Church."

"Like the Dewfall"

In the Second Eucharistic Prayer, the priest calls on the Lord to "Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ."  One does not have to be a fan of the Second Eucharistic Prayer, or even of the ordinary form of the Roman Rite, to appreciate this beautiful image, pregnant with biblical allusions.    

Consider today's readings.  In the Old Testament reading we hear the Israelites complaining they have only manna to eat and we learn that:

"At night, when the dew fell upon the camp, the manna also fell." (Numbers, 11:9)

In the gospel reading, Jesus feeds the five thousand (not to mention the women and children) with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  Christ blessed the bread, the manna from Heaven, and fed His people.  Thus we saw how we come to be fed "the bread of angels."  That last phrase is from St. Thomas Aquinas' Lauda Sion Salvatorem, the sequence for Corpus Christi.

How often do we long for the "meat," and the "fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt, and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic" (Numbers, 11:5) rather than the bread of angels?  Are we sometimes like those Philippians whom Paul tearfully bemoaned, whose "god is their belly?" (Philippians, 3:19)?

The Second Eucharistic Prayer is based on the second century Apostolic Conventions of St. Hyppolytus and Aquinas' Corpus Christi liturgy is one of the crowning achievements of Western civilization.  Hyppolytus was the first anti-pope, but was reconciled to Pope St. Pontian when both were martyred by their exile to the salt mines of Sardinia.  Thomas Aquinas, theologian, liturgist, and mystic, is called "the Angelic Doctor."

How Long Will It Take Us To Relearn What We have Lost?

The "Progressives" created a myth that Vatican II created a new church, that there was a break from the church existing at the time of the Council birthing new church.  Liturgically, the story was that there was a new mass and an old mass.  Unfortunately they convinced many traditionalist that the myth was true.

How did they make the myth of the new mass work?  They implemented it to look as different from the old mass as possible.  They imposed an English translation that was both mundane and inaccurate.  They convinced bishops and priests that "The Vatican said" or the "Council said" Latin was out, Gregorian chant was out, statues were out, the priest must face the people, the tabernacle must be banished, etc., etc.  In those days before the internet made it easy to discover what the pope or the council actually said, it was hard to argue with these experts.

I firmly believe, but can not prove, that the bishops of the time were great administrators who unthinkingly delegated the reform's implementation to these liturgists.  It jives with the administrative mind.  Delegate, delegate, delegate!  The big surprise of the Council was when the American bishops swung over to the "progressive side."  A young "peritus" (expert) by the name of Ratzinger noted that some of the bishops most opposed to dropping Latin from the liturgy were those whose Latin was lousiest.  Could that have been our American prelates? As I try to picture those no doubt holy men, I wonder about the effect of building so many churches and schools as America shifted from cities to suburbs.  Think of the soul numbing fundraising involved.  Was there anything left over for reflection and critical thinking?

One way or another the bishops gave the liturgist free reign.  The era's defining joke was the Q&A:

"What's the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist?"

"You can negotiate with a terrorist."

Yet Vatican II called for presenting the old message in a new way and of renewing the liturgy not abandoning it.

Which brings me to the story that brings all this to a head.

There is a fellow Catholic blogger who writes humbly and touchingly at Saint Louis Catholic.  He wrote two posts, How John Paul II Led Me to the Traditional Mass, Vol. 1 and How John Paul II Led Me to the Traditional Mass, Vol. 2.  In the first, he explains his ambiguous attitude toward John Paul and in the second he relates how then Cardinal Ratzinger's celebration of the late pope's funeral mass brought him to the traditional Latin mass, i.e., the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.  I can not think of anyone who would be better equipped to celebrate and plan that liturgy than Joseph Ratzinger.  I imagine it was most beautiful, beautifully celebrated.

This second post is a beautiful story of grace, relating the bogger's development with great humility and openness.  His story piqued my curiosity. I searched to learn more about John Paul's funeral.  I found a link on EWTN laying out the rites in some detail.  John Paul's funeral was celebrated as a Solemn High mass in Latin with Chant and sacred polyphony.  How could it not have been beautiful? It concluded with In Paridisum (note the accusative case), a traditional Catholic chant for the occasion.  We had that same chant for my uncle's funeral recessional.

And now for the surprise!  I looked at how it was celebrated.  There was a First Reading, a Responsorial Psalm, and a Second Reading.  There was the Prayer of the Faithful.  It dawned on me: the funeral mass was celebrated according to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, i.e., what critics refer to as the Novus Ordo.  Cardinal Ratzinger could not have provided more eloquent testimony to the reality that the Mass of the missal of Paul VI is the traditional Latin mass revised.

It is a tragedy that priests celebrating according to the Ordinary Form do not draw on the treasury chest of twenty centuries as called for by Vatican II.  Moreover, if priests had been allowed to introduce the revised mass mostly in Latin with the Propers in English and facing East, few would have believed the "progressive's" myth of a rupture between the old mass and the new.

St. Apollonaire and Church Architecture

Today (July 20th) is the feast of St. Apollinaris.  The Basilica of Sant' Apollonaire Nuovo along with Sant' Apollonaire Nuovo and San Vitale are magnificent examples of church architecture where beauty and form follow liturgical function.

When I first entered this Basilica,  I knew I had left the city and entered a different world.

In the Mass, we are transported to the Lamb's Feast portrayed in the Book of Revelation (the Apocalypse of St. John.) As the council fathers put it, "8. In the earthly liturgy we take part in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle [22]; we sing a hymn to the Lord's glory with all the warriors of the heavenly army; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ, until He, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with Him in glory [23]." Sacrosanctum Concilium.

In the top picture, you see Mary and the Child Jesus guarded by four angels.  The two lower pictures show mosaics that run the full length of the church showing the angels ("the heavenly host"), the martyrs, and the saints.


In particular, "The lower band, commissioned by the Chancellery of Ravenna, contains mosaics that illustrate a magnificent procession of male and female saints. The twenty-two saints, led by Saint Euphemia, slowly and rhythmically proceed in stately procession holding a symbolic crown. On the opposite wall, the twenty-six martyrs in white robes seem to form an infinitely long procession."

Justin & the Church after Vatican II

June 1st: The Feast of Saint Justin. 

One of the apostolic fathers, Justin was a philosopher trained in rhetoric and the first great Christian apologist. We have important writings from his hand and a detailed account of his trial and martyrdom. The Romans were fastidious in their legal proceedings and, by one estimate, employed 100,000 stenographers in the empire.  Thus we know of his responses at his trial and those of his young followers.  His students followed him to the arena: humbling for those of us who teach.

Justin Martyr pray for us!

Vatican II Fifty Years After

Given the initial whirlwind we reaped after the Council, it is easy to forget why it was called.  Apologetics!  John XXIII wanted to find a new way to explain the eternal truths to a world which had lost its way and had a tin ear to the traditional language of Christianity.  In Europe the cultural disease was far more advanced than in America, but even in this New World the health of mother church was much more superficial than we realized.  

The hour is late, but the Council is now finally bearing fruit with John Paul the Great's  New Evangelism and a thousand flowers that are blooming.  Benedict chose the name of the patron of Europe knowing the task facing us is much like that of Benedict of Nursia whose monasteries century by century turned the dark ages into the High Mediaeval splendor exemplified by Thomas Aquinas' Proper and Office for Corpus Christi.  That great feast is celebrated June 13th or the Sunday before as in our diocese.

The Priestly Order of St. Peter is a fairly new order of priests trained to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (the traditional Latin mass.) In this interview with Catholic News Service, Father Joseph Kramer of the Order puts Vatican II into perspective and explains why young Catholics are turning to a more traditional Catholicism: 

Thanks to Father Z for this!

The Anglican Use in America gets an Ordinary.

More on the Anglican Use in the U.S.:  The New Liturgical Movement reports Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson's consecration in Houston as the Ordinary of the American Ordinariate.  This is the special structure Benedict XVI created to allow the union of Anglican communities with Rome.

Music by Byrd, Tallis, and Newman.  Wow!

The Mass In English

The English have a home court advantage when it comes to Shakespeare's tongue.  They have stolen the march on us with the new translation of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite.  They started using the new translation with this month already.  We do not start until Advent, the start of the next liturgical year.  

Bishop Davies also wrote his flock:

"I am also conscious we have just begun to use the new translation of The Roman Missal which unites us in worship. At the heart of Pope Benedict's visit to our country was always the Holy Eucharist celebrated with great dignity and adored with love and reverence. The Holy Father asked that the introduction of this revised English translation would be something more than simply a change of wording: "I encourage you now to seize the opportunity that the new translation offers," he asked, "for in-depth catechesis on the Eucharist and renewed devotion in the manner of its celebration." As we become more familiar with this fresh translation, I hope it will enrich our prayer and understanding, help us to recognise more clearly in the Liturgy the words and images of Scripture and, by the beauty and richness of its language, express our wonder at the mystery and reality of the Mass. I hope we will always go beyond the translated words to the reality they express at the heart of the Mass: Jesus Christ, His Sacrifice and His Real Presence with us as we come together with all the Church. "

Courtesy of Zenit.

Links to Chants

You can find chants and music for Sundays and feasts at:

Jogueschant.org

There are links for both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite.

I cited Johnny Hixson's quotation of Pius XII on Facebook in the previous post.  I seemed to have elicited some hot responses.  I apologize for having thrown lighter fuel on the fire.  My previous posting was a little more nuanced than my Facebook response.

My dislike for low masses is personal not something I would like to impose. And I would, of course, make exceptions for private masses and extraordinary circumstances. A Chinese priest hoping to say mass before the commissar caught him might, like our Irish and English ancestors, want to be quick and quiet about it. (Think of Tom Day’s Why Catholics Can’t Sing.) I would also like to ban all high masses that are not chanted even though it means no Byrd, no Tallis, no Palestrina, and no, sigh, Mozart. I can love them in the concert hall and on CD, but there is no room for the congregation when the mass becomes a concert.

I still have bitter memories of 15 minute speed masses from the fifties. I am not saying all masses were that way, but a mass production mentality was too easy a temptation. (Sorry about the pun.) When I see younger clergy like Fr. Lies or Bishop James Conley celebrating the liturgy using the Missal of John XXIII with a spirituality nurtured by the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, I can understand how that spirituality then animates their celebration of the Ordinary Form. It is a reflection of the human condition that we needed forty years in the liturgical desert before we were able to rediscover the Roman Rite with fresh eyes and hear it as we chant a new song.

There is no reason why, with a modern, educated laity, that all masses can’t be chanted with the congregation chanting the Gloria, the Credo, the Pater Noster, the responses, etc. whether using the Missal of John XXIII (1962) or that of Paul VI (1970). Indeed the new English Missal will even facilitate the congregation’s chanting the Propers in English! I prefer Latin, of course. There will be no excuse for Marty Haugen or the St. Louis Jesuits, not that I expect to see them banned unfortunately.

Senseless Antiquarianism

Anachronism in the reform of liturgy is no virtue.

Organic development is no vice.

Johnny Hixson quotes Pius XII on Facebook:

"Thus, to cite some instances, one would be straying from the straight path were he to wish the altar restored to its primitive table form; were he to want black excluded as a color for the liturgical vestments; were he to forbid the use of sacred images and statues in Churches; were he to order the crucifix so designed that the divine Redeemer's body shows no trace of His cruel sufferings; and lastly were he to disdain and reject polyphonic music or singing in parts, even where it conforms to regulations issued by the Holy See."
        -Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, November 20, 1947


A few observations:

I have not checked the accuracy of the translation, but"straying from the straight path" sounds too much like a Maoism.  Pius forgive me (or is it your translator?)

In paragraph 64, Pius XII rejects "senseless antiquarianism."  I agree.  Mr. Hixson's quote is from Paragraph 62 and should be read in this context. Benedict has explained this with great theological insight both now and before his papacy.  Renewing the liturgy is central to renewing the church.  Wrecking the liturgy to reconstruct some scholar's mistaken imagining of how the primitive church must have performed the liturgy is not renewal.

In the context of all three paragraphs of Mediator Dei, Pius rejects those who attack as inauthentic any development of the liturgy after that of the primitive church, i.e., as reconstructed in the mind models of scholars.  He himself reformed the Holy Week liturgy which is how it came to its form in the Missal of John XXIII: the 1962 Missal commonly used as the missal in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Personally I believe that the idea the altar should be a Renaissance dinner table is anachronistic. Whether the table is like Michelangelo's Last Supper or Luther's Tisch, it is neither like what Christ sat at nor like the altar in the Jewish Temple. Both are Renaissance projections back to the first century: "senseless antiquarianism."

Personally I love sacred polyphony, but prefer chant in mass and think every mass should be chanted. I would eliminate low masses other than private masses and under extraordinary circumstances. Music after Praetorius, even that of divine Mozart, robs the congregation of its rightful role.  This is a tragedy of the reductionist reforms of Trent. It is even true even of my beloved Renaissance polyphony.  Am I throwing the baby out with the bath water? Tallis forgive me!

What Really Happened When They Reformed the Liturgy?

Nicola Giampietro: "They have all the best intentions, but with this mentality they have only been able to demolish and not to restore." (192)

The Rev. Dr Alcuin Reid, one of the most sensible liturgists in the Catholic world, reviews  Nicola Giampietro, The Development of the Liturgical Reform: As Seen by Cardinal Ferdinando Antonelli from 1948-197 (Fort Collins CO: Roman Catholic Books, 2009 xx + 347 pages. Paperback. $33.75 in Antiphon, the journal of liturgical renewal.


Giampietro was there when it all happened.  He was heavily involved in the liturgical Movement.  He was the secretary to the second Vatican council's work on Sacrosanctum Consilium, its constitution on the liturgy.  You can read his review on the New Liturgical Movement.

Sacred Language and the Sacred Liturgy

We have a new (and better) translation of the liturgy coming soon.  The current English translation of the mass became available in 1970.  Vatican II permitted it to be used in whole or in part during the mass.  The de facto transition from its being being an option to its being a mandate occurred with dizzying rapidity.

Christine Mohrmann gave the Dougherty lectures at Catholic U. in 1957 on the development of Liturgical Latin and its relationship to Early Christian Latin.  What she, a renowned expert on the subject, had to say is extremely interesting in light of Rome's current guidelines on translation (Liturgiam Authenticam) and the recent "translation wars."

I transcribed two quotations from hose lectures.  Please note that one popular, but simplistic, misconception about the transition of the Roman liturgy from Greek to Latin is that this was a attempt to put the liturgy into the ordinary language of the people.  Far from it!

Dr. Mohrmann writes, "Latin used in the liturgy displays a sacral style.  The basis and starting point of Liturgical Latin is the Early Christian idiom, which, however, through the use of features of style drawn form the Early Roman sacral tradition mingled with biblical stylistic elements, has taken on a strongly hieratic character, widely removed from the Christian colloquial language."

"The earliest liturgical Latin is a strongly stylized, more or less artificial language, of which many elements–for instance the Orations–were not easily understood even by the average Christian of the fifth century or later."

Apparently, in the late 1950s, there was already a strong movement in liturgical circles to put the liturgy into the vernacular.  Not only is Mohrmann aware of this tendency, but she is quite clear that least common denominator language of the street does not reflect the tradition of the early church.  Indeed, she tells us, "The advocates of the use of the vernacular in the liturgy who maintain that even in Christian Antiquity the current speech of everyday life, 'the Latin of the common man,' was employed, are far off the mark."


The quotations are from Chrstine Morhmann, Liturgical Latin Its Origins and Character: Three Lectures (Catholic University Press: Washington, D.C.: 1957.)

Scelata is a blog by a Catholic parish music director.

He/she has a great picture (I assume it was enhanced):

Laetabundus: the Sequence for Christmas

As long time readers of "Ex Corde Ecclesiae" know, I have never forgiven the Council of Trent for eliminating all but a handful of sequences.  Christmas is a glaring hole in the liturgical calender.  Although it is a big feast for ordinary folk in the pews, it does not merit a sequence in wither the Missal of John XXIII or Paul VI.

Sequences are lengthy chants that should follow the Gospel Alleluia, hence the name "sequence."  (The General Instruction seems to require that order be reversed in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite which makes no sense liturgically, musically, or historically.)  As I see it, the sequences' main function is to give musical coverage for a more elaborate gospel procession on special feasts or in big Cathedrals.  Sequences are a "drawing out' of the Alleluia verse while the procession processes.  Their cadence suits a procession. 

It turns out there is a Christmas sequence and it is not a liturgical fossil.  It is the Eleventh Century chant, "Laurabundus." It is still in the Dominican Missal, which is one of the uses of the Roman Rite

Jeffrey Tucker alerts us to its existence and has posted a video of  its being sung.  Read "Sweeten Your Christmas Song: Laetabundus."

Alleluia!

Benedict Approves a Document on the Reform of the Reform

As with past councils, it is only now that the fruits of the council are budding.

Rejoice and be glad!

Succoth, the festival of Huts, was a harvest feast. It was called Pentecost in Greek (fifty days after.) It too will come! We will harvest the fruits of the Council!

There is a special irony. The Hebrews lived in tents (huts, booths, tabernacles=tents) for forty years. We seem fated to spend forty years in the dessert living in tents before we reach the promised land. So it was after Vatican I and so it has been liturgically after Vatican II!

Today (7/20) is the feast of Saint Apollonaris.

Today (7/20) is the feast of Saint Apollonaris. Tradition has it that Peter, himself, ordained him bishop of Ravenna. He was sent a missionary bishop there during the reign of Claudius. He had a great reputatution as a healer for Christ. He suffered torture, exiles, and ultimately death. An evangelist, as any true missionary must be, his tortures at one point culminated in their beading his mouth with stones to shut him up. They sent him to Greece where his presences caused the oracles to cease. You could say he made Christ's enemies dumb. In the words of today's Proper, "This holy man fought to the death for the law of his God, never cowed by the threats of the wicked; his house was built on solid rock."

You see pictured the aspe of S.Apollinare en Classe. Revenna was a major port in Late antiquity. Ravenna was the capital of the Western Empire from 402 A.D. and the imperial capital in Italy when Justinian reclaimed it for the new Rome. This basilica and S.Apollinare Nuovo are what churches should be. They were built fifteen hundred years ago and have hardly been renovated since. You can see them as they were. The martyr is shown as a shepherd surrounded by his sheep. Jesus reigns above him.

Note the altar comes out from the wall. This allows the celebrant to walk around the altar, but it is clear that the mass is said to the east, the direction of the rising Sun/Son. I suspect this better in keeping with the General Instruction than the turn around altars of the last forty years when the Western liturgy has wandered in the desert.

The nave is lined with mosaics of the saints, martyrs, and angels, our coparticipants in the divine liturgy. They are less spectacular than those in S.Apollinare Nuovo. (The latter is marred by turn around altar in the nave.) There is a remarkable amount of light in these buildings, a reminder of the importance of creating interior light in the world before electricity. We do not feel older eras' awe of Christ who is the Light of the World.

Again from today's Proper: "Lord, may the mysteries we reeive give us spiritual courage which made your martyr, Saint Apollinaris, faithful in your service and victorious in his suffering. Grant this in the name of Jesu the Lord."

Saint Apollinaris pray for us.

Professor Tolkien join us in praying for the liturgy.

Pope Ratzinger's Liturgical Manifesto

Sandro Magister argues that for Benedict "The Christian revolution is born in the liturgy." He then explores Benedict's Holy Thursday homily which is a commentary on the Roman Canon and his catechesis for January 7, 2009, on "spiritual" worship. This latter, in particular, dovetails well with the Pope's recent Wednesday audience on Rabanus Maurus.

The liturgy is not something solipsistic, but draws on the integrity of body and soul, the senses as well as the mind, in one integrated whole.

In particular, he presents Benedict's "catechesis for January 7, the rest of which is dedicated to illustrating Christian worship as a whole. It is that worship which the Roman Canon, following St. Paul, defines as 'rationabile.'

"The current translation of 'rationabile,' in the modern languages, is 'spiritual.' But Benedict XVI warns against thinking that Christian worship is something metaphorical, moralistic, purely interior. No, he explains, true Christian worship draws upon men and the world in their entirety, it is also bodily and material, it is the 'cosmic liturgy' in which 'the peoples united in Christ, the world, may become the glory of God.'

"It is extremely rare, in modern theological and liturgical commentary, to find an explanation of the meaning of Christian worship that is as penetrating as in these two texts of pope Ratzinger's preaching."