Bishop of Tulsa to Celebrate Ad Orientem

Fr John Zuhlsdorf of the "What Does the Prayer Really Say" blog has some very encouraging news about the bishop of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Most Rev. Edward Slattery. According to the news bulletin of Holy Family Cathedral, Tulsa, Okla., the bishop is going to celebrate the 10 a.m. Mass at the ad orientem during Advent and Christmastime. The bulletin gives a very good two page exposition of the reasons for this, including a quite pronounced critique of the "negative effects" of the versus populum posture. At the end, the bishop expresses his hope "that this common posture of the Church at prayer will help you to experience the transcendent truth of the Mass in a new and timeless way" and "that this restored practice will help us understand that at Mass we participate in the authentic worship which Christ offers to His Father by being ‘obedient unto death.’"