Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Cardinal Hoyos and the Missal of Pope Paul VI

I think it interesting that in this interview with Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei", the cardinal states that he normally celebrates the ordinary form of the Roman rite, and only occasionally celebrates the extraordinary form.

I very much like the novus ordo that I celebrate every day. After the post-Conciliar liturgical Reform I no longer celebrated in accordance with the 1962 Missal. Today, by returning occasionally to the extraordinary rite, I too have discovered the riches of the ancient liturgy which the Pope wants to keep alive by preserving that age-old form of the Roman Tradition.

As I've stated before, I do not think the ordinary form is substantially impoverished in relation to the extraordinary form, if the former is translated and celebrated properly and if the significance of its form is understood by the priest and congregation. In both cases you have Christ, as Cardinal Hoyos points out:
We must never forget that the supreme reference point of the liturgy, as in life, is always Christ. We must not be afraid, therefore, to turn towards him in the liturgical rite, to turn towards the Crucifix together with the faithful in order to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice in an unbloody manner, as the Council of Trent described the Mass.