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<\/a>What is it, from a priest\u2019s point of view that I love about celebrating the Mass <\/span>ad orientem? <\/span><\/span>\u00a0A number of things:<\/span><\/p>\n
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1. I no longer have to worry about being in \u2018performance mode\u2019. When I am facing the people, no matter how much I try, I am looking more at them and focussing more on them as \u2018audience\u2019 than I am on what I am doing at the altar. I am concerned therefore about what I look like. Is my face conveying what it should? Do I look \u2018holy\u2019 enough? Am I making it \u2018meaningful\u2019 enough? Why is that person dozing? What must I do to regain their attention. I don\u2019t want to think all this while I am celebrating, but too often I do.<\/span><\/div>\n
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2. I can pray without worrying what others think of me or what I look like. If I want to concentrate and furrow my brow I can without being self conscious. If I want to weep I may without being worried about \u2018losing my composure\u2019. If I want to pause and enter into silence or speak in the language of angels silently I may. No one can see me.<\/span><\/div>\n
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3. In St Mary\u2019s Church the great East window is a glorious portrayal of the crucifixion, at last I can behold this great mystery as I celebrate the Pascal mystery. I can behold the mystery in stained glass while celebrating rather than looking at the people.<\/span><\/div>\n
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4. This doesn\u2019t mean I disregard the people. By praying in the same position as them I actually feel closer to them than I did the other way around. Now I am praying with them and for them and offering the holy sacrifice with them and for them. We are now more \u2018one\u2019 than I ever felt before. This aspect of the celebration <\/span>ad orientem<\/span><\/span>\u00a0is felt more profoundly than any of the others.<\/span><\/div>\n
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5. I feel more a part of the great tradition. This is the way the sacrifice of the Mass was offered for millennia. Now I feel more part of that great stream of the faith \u2018that comes to us from the Apostles\u2019<\/span><\/div>\n
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6. The faithful seem to appreciate it too. Certainly the comments we get are appreciative, and very few seem disgruntled.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I don\u2019t mind saying mass <\/span>versus populum<\/span><\/span>, and I feel there are other good things that can be said for that position. I don\u2019t take a doctrinaire view or an intolerant view.<\/span><\/div>\n
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However, I have my preference.<\/span><\/div>\n
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What is it, from a priest\u2019s point of view that I love about celebrating the Mass ad orientem? \u00a0A number of things: 1. I no longer have to worry about being in \u2018performance mode\u2019. When I am facing the people, no matter how much I try, I am looking more at them and focussing more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n