What he said...
Blogged by James Preece on 1st October 2008
I stumbled across this today. I sometimes think this sort of thing but I tone it down for fear of coming across as some kind of extreme traditionalist...
The liturgical reform, in its concrete realization, has certainly strayed from its origin. The result has not been a reanimation (renewal), but a devastation. On one hand, there is a liturgy that has degenerated into a "show", in which one tries to render religion interesting with the aide of trendy amusements and maxims that arouse morals - which meets with temporary success within the group of liturgical manufacturers, but which encounters an attitude of very pronounced rejection by those who seek to find in the liturgy, not a spiritual "show-master", but an encounter with the living God before whom all "fabricating" becomes insignificant - an encounter which alone is capable of allowing us to reach the true richness of existence.
...
What happened after the Council was altogether different: instead of a liturgy, which was the fruit of continuous development, a fabricated liturgy was put in its place. A living, growing process was abandoned and the fabrication was begun. There was no further wish to continue the organic evolution and maturation of the living being throughout the centuries, and it was replaced -- as if in a technical production -- by a fabrication, a banal product of the moment.
J. Card. Ratzinger, Preface to Klaus Gamber's "The Reform of the Roman Rite"
[link]
Dearest Older Generation...
I know you've had a lot of fun with the Church, but do you think you could put it back together again when you've finished playing? It will be Leona's turn soon and I don't think she knows where all the pieces go.
Thanks
