
Here’s an example, where he
talks about the fact that traditionally, “there was a large open space between the communion rail
and the high altar, a space in which the priest and ministers could freely move…This
open area accentuates the magnitude of the mystery, not by putting it at a
distance, but by giving it ample room,
so to speak, to descend into our midst.”
[Emphases in original.]
He comments that this abundance
of space suggests the divine Presence, and that adding chairs, tables, pedestals,
a lectern, etc., simply fill the space and bring it down to human level. He
concludes:
In
many new or renovated churches, gone is that awaiting emptiness of the stable
of Bethlehem, the emptiness of the wounds in Mary’s heart, the emptiness of
conceptual understanding in Joseph’s mind, the emptiness of the world awaiting
its longed-for Savior – this pregnant and richly-decorated emptiness is gone, filled instead with clutter.
Emptiness. Silence. These two
indispensable characteristics of the spiritual life are sorely lacking in the
way the novus ordo Mass is celebrated
in many (most?) parishes.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
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