Journeys of a Catholic Poster Girl

From the Corner:

Bianca Jagger [Jack Fowler]
lobbies for expansion of Tridentine Mass in England. She’s one of a number of Latin Massers signing a petition prompted by the lack of clerical enthusiasm for Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic letter (Summorum Pontificum) advocating greater use of the once-universal rite.

I found this little post today over at The Happiness Project:

Until I started my Happiness Project, I didn’t think much about rituals and whether they made me happy.

But when I reflected on them, I realized that I find rituals both calming and energizing (this is no paradox, and in fact, is a very desirable, happy state).

For example, In my high school, exams were taken VERY seriously, and the process was always the same. When everyone was settled at a desk, the teacher would pass out the papers, and we’d lay them face down. She’d return to the front of the classroom, look at the clock, and say quietly, “It is now 9:10. You have two hours. Be sure to read all instructions carefully”—then a dramatic pause—“you may turn over your test paper and begin.”

This familiar, grave, quiet formula made the start of an exam into a little ritual that helped put me in the right frame of mind to face a stressful exam.

I was astonished when I went to college to find a completely chaotic exam-taking process. People would hurry to the professor’s desk, grab a paper, and shove each other out of the way to sit down. When the end of the exam was announced, some people would keep writing for ten or fifteen more minutes before a TA snatched away their blue books.

This lack of ritual left me rattled and distracted – just the opposite of how I’d approached exams in high school.

Along the same lines, the Little Girl just started “camp,” and I’d braced myself for a dismissal when they’d all rush out of the door helter-skelter as we adults pushed amongst ourselves to try to scoop up the right kid. Intead, after singing a good-bye song, the children stand in a circle in the classroom, while the grown-ups wait in a line outside the door. The counselors call the children’s names, one by one, and the child comes to the door to get a big hug and to leave. The orderliness and deliberateness of this process keeps everyone calm and cheerful.

Whenever I sit down to work, in my office or at a coffee shop or at New York Society Library, I run through a series of updates, checks, synchronizations, and switching on of various devices and programs. It’s both soothing and energizing to perform my machine ritual.

So think about rituals in your life. Take a moment to savor the enjoyable ones. Think about opportunities to heighten the experience of an ordinary occasion by treating it with special deliberation—particularly if it’s a stressful or emotional experience. Discussing a child’s report card. Giving a performance review. Packing for a trip. Getting ready for a date.

Studies show that family traditions and family rituals encourage children’s social development and boost feelings of family cohesiveness. But they’re not just important for children.

We are steeped in ritual, as Catholics. The Liturgy is the same all over the world, in every country. I don’t know about you, but that gives me great comfort to know that, wherever I go, the Mass is the same. Sure, the songs might be a bit different than what your parish normally does, but in general, it is comforting and relaxing for me to attend Mass.

And when the ritual is disturbed, things seem quite…off, don’t they? Like when we changed the Mass so that we stand before the priest says “Pray then, my brothers and sisters…” That still feels wrong to me. I feel like I should be sitting. Or when we got rid of “This is” before “The word of the Lord” after the readings.

What part of the Mass is your favorite?

But to make up for it, here is a really great Fr. Z post!
Oh, and news at the Bucket, if you’re interested.

Reviewing WDTPRS bullet points
CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 9:50 am
Over time I have developed some ideas which guide most of what I post here regarding liturgy, liturgical translation, use of the older form of Mass, etc.

Let’s review some of the aphorisms and basic starting points I use here which are like helpful pegs upon which we can organize our thoughts when talking to people.

Think of a tool shop, where you see pegs on the wall with the shape of the tool that belongs their painted around the beg.

Liturgy is the tip of the spear

There is a reciprocal relationship between how we pray and what we believe. Change our prayer, we change our understanding of doctrine. At the same time, if you believe a certain thing, that will affect how you pray. Our identity begins to shift. The Latin phrase lex orandi lex credendi expresses this… the “law of praying is the law of believing”.

The older Mass exerts a “gravitational pull”

Use the image of gravity or “cross-pollination”, “harmonic resonance”, whatever.

The use of the older form of Mass will exert an influence on the way the newer form of Mass is being celebrated. First, younger priests (and older too) will discover new dimensions to Holy Mass by learning or refreshing the older form. This will change their self perception and how they say Mass. In turn, this will influence how people in the pews see them and understand Holy Mass. Since the Eucharist (Its celebration and the Sacrament Itself) is the “source and summit” of our Christian life, identity, mores, etc., everything about our Church will begin to shift because of these changes of self-perception.

Say The Black Do The Red

The “Black” means the texts written in black ink on the pages of liturgical books. The “Red” means the rubrics which explain the actions to be done.

Our sacred rites have their own interior force and power. Remember that the true Actor in every Mass is the High Priest Jesus Christ. He speak in every word. He acts in every gesture.

By our baptism, we have a share in Christ’s priesthood. Thus, when we united our heart, mind and will with the sacred action, He takes our voices and hands and makes them his own, each according to our proper role. The priest acts as Christ, Head of the Body. The congregation is His Body in union with the Head.

When we simply do what the Church asks and provides in our sacred rites, Christ is more easily discerned, His graces are more easily mediated, His voice and teaching more clearly heard.
We must get ourselves out of the way and simply do what Holy Church asks and offers.

Save The Liturgy Save The World

The Eucharist, its celebration and itself as the extraordinary Sacrament, is the “source and summit of Christian life”.

If we really believe that, then we must also hold that what we do in church, what we believe happens in a church, makes an enormous difference.

Do we believe the consecration really does something? Or, do we believe what is said and how, what the gestures are and the attitude in which they made are entirely indifferent? For example, will a choice not to kneel before Christ the King and Judge truly present in each sacred Host, produce a wider effect?

If you throw a stone, even a pebble, into a pool it produces ripples which expand to its edge. The way we celebrate Mass must create spiritual ripples in the Church and the world.

So does our good or bad reception of Holy Communion.

So must violations of rubrics and irreverence.

Mass is not merely a “teaching moment” or a “celebration of unity” or a “tedious obligation”. Our choice of music, architecture, ceremonies and language affect more than one small congregation in one building. We are interconnected in both our common human nature and in baptism. When we sin we hurt the whole Body of Christ the Church.

If that is true for sin, it must also be true for our liturgical choices. They must also have personal and corporate impact. Any Mass can be offered for the intentions of the living or the dead.

Not even death is an obstacle to the efficacy of Holy Mass. We offer Mass for the living and the dead.

Celebrate Mass well, participate properly – affect the whole world. Celebrate poorly – affect the whole world. This is another reason why we must Say The Black and Do the Red.

Already but not yet
Christ died and rose again. Thus our humanity, taken by Christ into an indestructible bond with His divinity, died, rose and ascended to the Father’s right hand.

Christ’s work is complete. But its fullness has not yet been realized.

In this world, in our Church, in our lives, we are “already” enjoying the first fruits of Christ’s redemptive work. But we have not received the fullness of what Christ has done.

Even the Eucharist is a foretaste of what is promised to us.

But we obscure the promise and place obstacles before what Christ offers us in the Church, in the liturgy, etc., when we places ourselves, our self-centered designs, in the way.

We must get out of Christ’s way, so that His will may be brought to fruition.

We are already “there”, but we still have a long way to go.

The stakes are very high indeed. What we do here is very important.

We are dealing with choices questions of life and death for ourselves and our children.

Ad intra et ad extra
When we consider large questions about the Church and who we are as Catholics, it is useful to make distinctions about who we are in ourselves and who we are in the world.

Catholics, Christians, are both of in the world and yet not part of the world, removed. We are living in a state of “already but not yet”. What we have here in the Church is a foretaste of the world to come.

But it is Christ’s will that Holy Church shape the world.

It is especially the role of Christian Catholic laymen to shape the large world. For this lay people need clergy to do their jobs, according to their vocations, to shape them and their identity, to sanctify, teach and govern them, so that Christ can act through their words and actions in the world.

So we must consider who we are as Catholics, within our Church, as ourselves, in relation with Christ the Lord. This is the ad intra angle. Then we also must consider who we are in the world around us, what our role is in the world we influence. This is the ad extra dimension.

This can be applied, for example, in the liturgical choice we make? What does doing X mean to ourselves as worshiping Catholics? What does it say to the world? When the College of Cardinals meets in conclave to choose a Pope, they must consider the man they choose in light of the Church’s needs in Herself and also how the Church interfaces with the world now and in the future. Ad intra et ad extra. This is not a chronological distinction but rather a logical distinction, helpful merely to get our thinking and planning organized.
Pope Benedict has a “Marshall Plan”

After World War II Europe was devastated. That devastation made it more likely that the enemies of humanity promoting Communism would find a good foothold. Also, Europe was in no position to engage in useful trade. More importantly, people were suffering. So the United States began to help rebuild Europe.

After Vatican II there has been terrible devastation of the Church. This is not so much because of the texts issued by the Council but because of the lack of correct reading of those texts, the ideological designs (sometimes malicious) of some few who had great influence in the Council’s implementation, and a deadly reversal of the logical priority which the Church must be given in the ongoing interchange between the Church and the world.

In short, Catholics have by and large lost their identity because of the general rupture created in nearly every aspect of our experience of worship, education, devotions, etc.

Because Catholics lost their identity, we have little or no influence in the public square. Thus, Catholics are easier targets for bigotry or persecution or simple apathy. We are more easily marginalized from public debate, pushed out of the square and given no voice. Sadly, many “Catholics” then compromise Catholic teaching on faith and morals, violate the Church’s laws, for the sake of gaining influence in the public square. Think of some Catholic politicians and even some clergy.

Pope Benedict’s plan is to reinvigorate Catholic identity from within the Church (ad intra) especially through our liturgical experience so that we can begin to claim our rightful role in the public square (ad extra), precisely as Catholics.

If we don’t know who we are, what we think and believe, can’t explain our position, then what could be possibly have to say to the world around us?

Saying the black and doing the red has a wider influence on the whole world, not just on ourselves in an enclosed Catholic ghetto. Liturgy is therefore our crow bar, the tip of the spear. It is the force which draws everything nearer to Christ.

This is why Summorum Pontificum is so very important. It reaches far beyond the desires of some people for older forms of liturgy.

This is why must have good translations for our vernacular Novus Ordo liturgy as well. The vernacular Novus Ordo is here to stay for the long-term, whatever your desires to the contrary may be.

Therefore, we need to have translations which reflect accurately and beautifully what the prayers really say. They will shape Catholics from within and then Catholics shape the world according to how they pray and believe. The prayers themselves begin to draw all things to Christ.

Something like this.

The beginning:

There is a translation point regarding the optional rite of washing feet (the “Mandatum” or “Command” – whence the word Maundy) on Holy Thursday.

In many places women are invited to have their feet washed.

This is against the Church’s laws which are based on divine revelation Scripture (cf. Matthew 20:28).

Now, this is Fr. Z, so of course he’s got the goods on it. Do read it.
Like the title suggests, this is something I never really thought about. Heck, my mom even had her feet washed one year. But is it indeed a licit practice?

(One of the reasons I probably didn’t think about it was 1) I’ve never been asked, and 2) we’re too busy in choir singing the feet washing song. :))

Something to ponder as we get into Holy Week…

Good stuff:  (emphases are his)

The fair-minded nearly ubiquitous former Rome correspondent for the ultra-lefty NCR, Mr. John L Allen, Jr., has led his weekly blurb with a clear and correct statement:

Without a doubt, the push for robust assertion of traditional Catholic identity is the most consequential mega-trend in the life of the church today, and it is also the core of Benedict XVI’s agenda as pope. Emboldened by the election of John Paul II in 1978, the identity wave hit the arena of liturgy first, then went on to engulf Catholic education, Catholic media, priestly identity and formation, religious orders, and virtually every other sphere of ecclesiastical life.

Yes!

As I have been saying until you readers are no doubt hearing it repeated in your heads at night, Pope Benedict has a plan, a “Marshall Plan” for the Church, focusing especially on reinvigorating Catholic identity.  The liturgy is the tip of the spear.

Change the liturgy, you change everything else.

Note also that Allen brings in the point of priestly identity.  Clearly this is what Summorum Pontificum is aiming at.  The Motu Proprio is about priestly identity as much as it is about anything else.

If Catholics do not recover and strengthen a clear Catholic identity, one that is coherent in teaching and practice and in continuity with our past, then we cannot make the contribution the Lord commands her to give to the world.

In the ever secularizing, relativizing world, solid clear Catholics are being marginalized, while the squishy amorphous sort are being allowed to stick around as tokens in public discourse.

We need renewal of our identity so that we can understand well who we are and live our lives in keeping with that identity (this is the ad intra dimension).  Only in this way can we have something vital and effective to contribute to the world at large (this is the ad extra dimension).

Allen got it exactly right.

(a non-liturgical note: when I saw “squishy” my first thought was “I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine, and he shall be my Squishy.”

If you don’t get that, you don’t have kids. Or don’t go out that often. )

(h/t Amy)

B XVI (before he was B XVI):

A very interesting essay from 1988 by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger:

While there are many motives that might have led a great number of people to seek a refuge in the traditional liturgy, the chief one is that they find the dignity of the sacred preserved there….

I confine myself to coming straight to this conclusion: we ought to get back the dimension of the sacred in the liturgy. The liturgy is not a festivity; it is not a meeting for the purpose of having a good time. It is of no importance that the parish priest has cudgeled his brains to come up with suggestive ideas or imaginative novelties.

The liturgy is what makes the Thrice-holy God present amongst us; it is the burning bush; it is the alliance of God with man in Jesus Christ, who has died and risen again. The grandeur of the liturgy does not rest upon the fact that it offers an interesting entertainment, but in rendering tangible the totally Other, whom we are not capable of summoning. He comes because He wills. In other words, the essential in the liturgy is the mystery, which is realized in the common ritual of the Church; all the rest diminishes it. Men experiment with it in lively fashion, and find themselves deceived, when the mystery is transformed into distraction, when the chief actor in the liturgy is not the living God but the priest or the liturgical director.

Tomorrow is The Big Day, or, if you prefer, The Day Before The Big Day. Since I sing Midnight Mass, Christmas Eve always feels like The Day to me, since it’s a long day.

Singing Midnight Mass is one of the privileges of being in the parish choir. This, with the Triduum, is our most intensive Mass and one that requires months of preparation. Tomorrow, along with the baking, celebrating, and traditional events, there will be much practicing of the cantata we are singing before Mass, as well as the Mass music proper.

Praising God in song and chant is one of my favorite ways to pray. While I have developed a love of contemplative, silent prayer, singing is a true release, an expression of my soul and what I really feel in that moment. The Christmas and Triduum Masses are especially prayerful, since the music tends to be the same every year, so I can truly delve into the mysteries of the lyrics and the Mass without being distracted by my part.

My choir has about 35 people, give or take. Tomorrow night we will meet and begin singing our program at 11:00. For about an hour our voices will set the stage for the Mass we are about to offer to the Lord. The music is not perfect, but it may well be tomorrow; the atmosphere has a way of changing us, motivating us to offer our best on this night. I, of course, will be pacing up and down the choir room and the vestibule, as is my habit, until we begin warm-up. I am always filled with nervous energy.

The Mass begins at Midnight, and our new pastor has an affinity for chant, which I love. So I imagine the Mass will be a bit longer than usual, but who cares? Midnight Mass is truly a joy to attend. Singing “Joy to the World” as the recessional is always a high point, as organ, flute, trumpets, and voices join together to praise The Word Made Flesh.

We will praise God with our litugry, our “work of the people”, as we welcome His Son to earth.  And I can think of no greater privilege than to welcome His Birth in song with my choir mates.

At one point in my life, I was engaged to a protestant guy, and as we began to plan the wedding, one of the underriding (like that?) questions was, “um, how do we explain the protocol of a Catholic Mass to half the guests that aren’t Catholic?” Given that I, too, have many non-Catholic friends (in fact they override the Catholic ones), we got this question a lot. I am basing this on my experience and understand of how the Church operated. Alas, there are parishes that do not follow the below guidelines. Sic their bishop on them!!

So, for posterity, I am recording what to DO and NOT to do if you are not Catholic and yet find yourself in a Catholic Church (note: these are guidelines for a general Mass. There’s no way I’m going into all the possible variations for feasts and solemnities and Holy Week and Christmas and what have you. But these’ll get you through).

1. When you enter Mass, you’ll notice people dipping their right hand in the holy water fonts by the doors and making the sign of the cross. This is to remind us of our baptism and note that we are entering a holy place. Do it or don’t do it–up to you.

2. When a Catholic enters the pew, he will not just slouch in (or he shouldn’t!). He will genuflect towards the tabernacle, make the sign of the cross, and then take his seat, acknowledging the True Presence of Christ in the consecreated hosts that are stored in the tabernacle. Again, up to you.

3. Most Catholics will then kneel and pray. Mass is preceded by five minutes of “sacred silence”, so this is not the time to ask your neighbor what he thought of the latest Jennifer Aniston flick. Look through the hymnals and books available; one of them will probably have an Order of the Mass, with the congregation’s responses notes, so you can follow along.

4. Mass begins with an opening hymn and procession. Stand up. NOTE: Catholics do not sing in four-part harmony! The quickest way to reveal Protestant roots is to begin singing the Alto/Tenor/ Bass/ your own harmony line to “The Church’s One Foundation.” This is particularly true if the opening hymn is “A Mighty Fortress”. Only Catholic choirs sing four-part–the congregation doesn’t. Don’t do it.

And Catholics and Protestants do not have the exact same hymnal, so don’t expect to know every hymn.

5. Introductory rites: The priest opens the Mass with “The Lord be with you”. Then we have the penintential rite (”Lord have Mercy”/ “Christ have Mercy”/ “Lord have Mercy”). Unless it’s Lent or Advent, the Gloria (”Glory to God in the highest/ And peace to His people on Earth”), which is sung, follows. This is similar to the “Hymn of Praise” some Protestants sing, although the words are totally different.

6. Then we have the opening prayer. Sit.

7. The Liturgy of the Word: First reading, from the O.T. (or Acts/ Revelation, depending on the feast/ season) Notice “reading”, not “lesson”. The response after the reading is “Thanks be to God.”

8. Responsorial Psalm: Sung by the cantor or small group (if small group, could be in four-part harmony). The cantor will sing the refrain and the congregation repeats it after each verse. It’s usually a psalm, but could be another scripture verse.

9. Second reading–an epistle.

10. Gospel Acclamation (stand): Unless it’s Lent, some form of “Alleluia”. Same protocol as Pslam. If it’s Lent, then it’s “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ / King of endless Glory!” (no Alleluia during Lent)

11. Gospel. The priest/deacon will say, “The Lord be with you”. Response: “And also with you”. The priest will then announce the reading, which the congregation will reply to with “Glory to you, Lord” while making the sign of the cross on their foreheads, lips, and heart, to remind them to keep Christ always present in these areas. The Gospel is then proclaimed. At the end, the congregation replies, “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.” Sit.

12. The Homily, NOT the sermon. Not the most important part of Mass, thus is short. A reflection on the readings of the day and how they apply to our daily lives.

13. Stand for the Creed-usually the Nicene, but occasionally the Apostles’.

14. Intercessions–when the reader/ deacon reads the prayer requests of the faithful. Response is “Lord, hear our prayer.”

15. Liturgy of the Eucharist begins–this happens EVERY SUNDAY. The gifts are brought up to the altar, the altar is prepared for Communion, and a hymn is sung. Offetory (ie, the envelope baskets) is also taken at this time. We’re sitting at this point. There is usually a hymn sung.

16. Stand for the preface to the Eucharistic Prayer. Note that this can be chanted. If everyone around you starts chanting (it seems that we Catholics are born with an extra chip in our head that allows us to do monochant without much of a problem), just join in if you’re comfortable, and stay silent if you’re not.

17. Followed by the “Holy,” which is sung.

18. Now everybody kneels (!) for the Eucharistic Prayer. Eucahristic Prayer I is the longest and usually reserved for special feasts. Usually you’ll get 2 or 3, which are shorter. This can also be chanted.

19. After the Consecration, the “Memorial Acclaimation” (Christ has died / Christ is risen / Christ will come again) is sung.

20. The Eucharistic Prayer finishes, leading to the Doxology (Though Him / With Him /In Him/ In the Unity of the Holy Spirit / All Glory and Honor is yours, Almight Father / Forever and Ever) followed by the Great Amen.

21. Stand. The “Our Father” is prayed. NOTE: The Catholic “Our Father” does NOT segue right into “for the kingdom”. This is the surest sign that there’s a Protestant in our midst.  When I was a cantor in college, we always (well, almost always) had Protestant organists (it was a Protestant school, after all) and the first time they would play for us they would give themselves away by going right into it, then stopping abruptly when they realized they were the only ones going on. We say it after the priest gives a brief prayer.

22. The Sign of Peace. Everyone hugs or shakes hands or kisses (depending on the level of affinity) with the people around them.

23. The “Lamb of God”.

24. Kneel again. Time for Communion. The priest distributes Communion to the Eucharistic Ministers and the distribution begins. Hymns are sung throughout, or a piece by the choir. Some churches only do vocal music after Communion is finished as a “song of praise”. Whatever.

This is the big sticking point: Catholic doctrine says that you shouldn’t receive communion if you’re not Catholic. The reason is simple: Catholics see the Eucharist as a sign of their oneness in Faith. When you receive Eucharist, the exchange is thus: the distributor says “The Body/ Blood of Christ” and you answer “Amen”. The “Amen” implies that you believe what was just told to you. If you don’t, then you’re essentially committing blasphemy by taking it. That’s not cool. If you’re not united with the Catholic Church and don’t believe what we believe, then why would you want to receive Eucharist? But some of you will do it anyway, and I will tell you that the Church floor won’t open and God won’t smite you with thunder (at least I’ve never seen it) but it’s not generally accepted practice. It is quite acceptable to remain in your seat in silent prayer while everyone else receives. You won’t be the only one sitting there, trust me.

25. After Communion, people kneel until the priest/ deacon is seated and the altar servers begin clearing the altar. Sit.

26. Stand. The Prayer After Communion is given. Annoucements (if any) are read.

27. Final blessing.

28. Closing hymn–you stay until the hymn is over!! I don’t care if the choir is launching into all 11 verses of “O Sons and Daughters”–you stay!!! It’s polite! And it’s not the Indy 500 out in the parking lot, anyway!

That, my friends, is the Order and Etiquette of the Catholic Mass. A few other points:

–no gum chewing, please. Or eating in general. You are supposed to have fasted for one hour prior to attending Mass, anyway.
–wear nice clothes, i.e. not ripped jeans or a trampy t-shirt or something with inappropriate messages (i.e., a shirt with a Darwin fish wouldn’t fly). Remember it’s God’s house you’re visiting.
–Refrain from any and all snide comments about the Faith during Mass!
–Catholics do not bring Bibles to Church–the priest doesn’t announce a particular verse that he’s preaching on and have everyone open up. You may see some Catholics with St. Joseph’s Missals, which give the Order of the Mass and the readings for the particular day. That’s not the same thing.
–The Homily will most likely be under 10 minutes. Shocking, I know.
–Catholic Churches don’t pass out bulletins with the reading in them. These readings can normally be found in one of the books in the pews/

Hope this was helpful–Catholics, let me know if I’ve left anything out.

Pertaining to the’08 election and Catholicism:

There is head-scratching in the political marketplace over a looming contradiction. The candidates for president of the United States include a man identified as a Roman Catholic, and among the voters there are, of course, many Catholics. It would be reasonable to suppose that Candidate Giuliani would get the presumptive backing of the Catholic population.

But there are a couple of caveats.

First, is Giuliani a Catholic other than nominally? Because his name is Italian, one assumes that he subscribes to the faith associated with the Italian people. As a boy, he went to Catholic schools, and he was apparently devout; he even contemplated entering seminary. But is he a practicing Catholic now?

In 1999 the question of his religious faith was put to him directly. His reply: “I don’t attend [Catholic services] regularly, but I attend occasionally.”

Now, plop!, this raises special problems in the Catholic communion. Catholics are not only expected to attend Mass every week, they are bound to do so. In the matter of the Sabbath, you can be an easygoing Episcopalian, or Quaker, or even Reform Jew, and no rule is broken of formal consequences. But that isn’t so in the Catholic communion, because there are rules that include attendance at Mass on Sundays. If you’re a Philadelphia lawyer you might here smile a bit and say, well . . . Christians don’t always behave as Christians, so what else is new?

Ah, but that doesn’t work. Because the kind of godlessness expressed by a failure to live a life of charity, sustained by faith and hope, is, unhappily, pretty unnoticeable. Everyone excepting the saints is, under such scrutiny, “un-Christian.” But a failure to attend church on Sunday is, by Catholic standards, contumacious, an ostentatious rejection of a formal obligation. It is the equivalent of an observant Jew biting into a piece of pork. Penitence, if genuine, can minister to any infraction of the faith. But to violate systematically the Commandment that says, “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy,” is systematically to reject one’s faith.

There are other problems, in the matter of Mr. Giuliani. One’s sense of things is that the religious communities are understanding in the matter of failed marriages (the divorce rate in the United States has been estimated at about fifty percent), but those who aspire to lead are quite reasonably examined more closely, and in the matter of Mr. Giuliani, there is the second and then the third wife, with ugly consequences involving children and living quarters.

Which is to say that a candidate holding out his affiliation with a religious body as a reason to presume harmonious values with other voters of the same faith has to prepare for a likelihood of resentment among coreligionists if he appears lax in the practice of his faith. Members of a club can be relaxed about the member who does not pay his dues. But there is the risk there of continued neglect gradually understood as disloyalty. The way things work in modern times, under modern pressures, more people’s attention is attracted by defiance of a protocol than by inconsistent attention given to it. The guest who neglectfully fails to bow when the queen enters the room is not especially conspicuous, but becomes so if it crosses the mind of others that he is challenging the legitimacy of the sovereign, rather than merely to being absent-minded about protocols.

There is the factor that in any political contest others are aspiring to win the voters’ approval. It is natural that candidates will call attention to the failures of their rivals, and that interested observers will join in. Gary Bauer, for instance, a longtime champion of the relevance of the Christian faith in politics, cannot be expected to be indifferent to the anomalies we speak of. James Dobson is likely to be heard from. And then — and then, there are the bishops and priests who will not wish to be thought indifferent to the indifference of others to the cosmic commitments they have made.

© 2007 Universal Press Syndicate

I took my annual vacation to NYC this year, which, of course, included Mass at St. Patrick’s yesterday at 10:15.

Now I have been to NYC before. I have been in St. Pat’s on New Year’s Eve (around 4:00ish) and have seen it packed with tourists snapping photos and generally creating a rather circus-like atmosphere for people who were actually there to pray. But it wasn’t time for Mass and it wasn’t a holy day (yet–January 1 is, in the US, since it is a Marian feast and Mary is the patroness of the United States). So I was prepared for a bit of hoopla.

This time it was different. First, I was going there for Mass. The 9:00 had just let out when we got there, and people were milling around, going up and down,t aking pictures, wandering up the main aisle to snap a few pictures of the altar and windows and then meandering back down. There’s even a gift shop in the church proper, which I wasn’t too keen on.

Around 9:50 or so my friend and I got seats. They were sort of in the middle on the left side, and there are TV monitors on some of the pillars now, so no matter where you are, you can see the priest/cantor/lector. The use of incense in the Mass was wonderful, as was the music, the choir, and the reverence shown by all who were ministers at the Mass (the altar boys, especially, could show ours a thing or two!).

So what bugged me? Well, first off, how NOISY is was in there before Mass actually began. I didn’t like the constant picture snapping. And it wasn’t just from tourists–it was from the congregation, too! I mean people in the pews, ostensibly preparing for Mass, are snapping photos! Hello! Not appropriate whilst one is trying to prepare for Mass.

The Mass itself was quieter, since the main aisles are closed so people cannot just wander. Communion was a bit disorienting, because you just sort of went up whenever you felt like it. There weren’t any ushers to dismiss the pews, which I think would’ve been a VAST improvement.

There just seemed to be a lack of reverence, which cannot be faulted on the priest or the ministers. It’s just that it’s sucha major tourist place that the tourists distract from everything.

On the plus side, people did seem to dress a lot better than I’ve seen of late. There were even a few little boys in suit coats.

I do not know how normal NYCers can pray there. I would go crazy.