Yesterday, on the Memorial of Pope St Pius X, a friend and fellow convert clergyman showed me a relic of St Pius X and said, when he declared his interest in relics and the desire to venerate relics and honor the saints his priest said, “Ahh, we don’t do that stuff anymore after Vatican 2”
Well, that leaves more relics for us converts to collect and venerate. I love the saints and relics and today, the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin. I like the supernatural feasts of the Church because it reminds me that the Church is not just a group of aging hippies with an agenda who want to make the world a better place. Instead, the Mass and every aspect of our worship takes us into a world that is already a better place.
Take me to the court of heaven with worship. Take me to the supernatural stuff. I want the saints, the angels, the court of heaven and the Blessed Virgin Mary–Queen of Heaven. Today we celebrated the feast with my new vestments made just for Marian feasts. Nice ivory and pale blue fiddleback chasuble. I celebrated the Novus Ordo facing East and there was a palpable sense of being on the threshold of heaven. This is what the supernatural feasts of heaven do–they take us there.
Come on Father we are going to need to see a picture of the new vestment set! Will Riley
Right on, Father!
What, in your view, are the criteria for judging what style of liturgicial dress, e.g., fiddle-back vs. Gothic chasubles, is more (or less) traditional/ancient, efficacious, devout, appropriate, etc., etc, etc? Are we doomed to constant (and unnecessary) tention, disagreement and conflict over such trivia which can, and evidently do, distrtact some of us from what’s crucial in our worship?jedesto
Vestments should be consistent with the tradition. They should harmonize with the church’s architecture and fittings and furniture. They should be made carefully using the finest craftsmanship and materials possible. They should not preach with excessive creativity by which one individual’s ideas impose themselves on other people, neither should the preach through intentionally ‘creative’ symbolism or design.
“Well, that leaves more relics for us converts to collect and venerate.”Not just converts! :-)Don’t forget all those Catholics who have lived through the last forty years, or part of it, in a state of continous internal agony as they witnessed the self-destruction of the Church they love.