Friday, January 29, 2010

Fr. Mauro Gagliardi on the Lectionary of the Ancient and Modern Roman Liturgical Books

The Italian language Zenit has another article up by Fr. Mauro Gagliardi, l sacerdote nella Liturgia della Parola della Santa Messa (The Priest in the Liturgy of the Word of the Holy Mass) wherein he considers the readings of the Mass in the Roman rite in both the ancient and modern forms.

He considers how they are similar and how they differ; how the usus antiquior can enrich the modern form in terms of the sacred posture taken during the proclamation of the readings, and what gains he sees with regard to the modern form of the Liturgy of the Word. Specifically, in the latter regard, he offers praise of the renewed use of the ambo, of the readings being said in the direction of the faithful and of the increased amount of scripture -- while also making a point of critique about what he sees as the undue length of some of the readings of the modern lectionary, and also the lack of rubrical guidance on the posture to be taken during the readings -- and hence, the potential for enrichment here from the ceremonial of the usus antiquior.

As Zenit has been making this series available in English, the NLM will not pursue a translation but simply wait for their English translation to appear. However, for those who would like to read ahead, please see the link above. If that is forthcoming today, this post will be updated.

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While we are mentioning Fr. Gagliardi's Zenit series, I would also draw your attention to a piece that was released on January 8th on Zenit, which is an interview on the subject of the traditional elements we have seen reintroduced within the papal liturgies.

The full text of that interview may be found here: ZENIT - Benedict XVI's "Novel" Traditions

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