ARTICLES
May 2003 ARTICLES
Contents © 2003
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
Look Happy!
Cathedral Celebrates Easter in Lent
By Charles A. Coulombe
The Tidings for March 28, 2003 carried an interesting notice. Catholics were asked to come to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, downtown, in their "Easter finery." They would be needed for two hours. While the request itself was not unusual, the date of this Easter Mass was not to be April 20 (the date of Easter Sunday, this year), but rather Wednesday, April 2 -- a weekday in Lent.
The reason for this time warp was the need for the United States Catholic bishops' conference to co-produce with NBC an Easter service suitable for broadcast on the day itself. Thus the need for extras to play the congregation for the show.
At 1:30 p.m., on the appointed day, the congregants gathered at the cathedral. Many of the women wore stylish hats; and the men, suits. It was in truth the best-dressed congregation I have seen, outside old movies, in a long time. Programs were given out, marked "Easter Sunday, April 2, 2003"; certainly the only such existing in the universe. A certain number of people were ushered into the kneeler-less chairs to the right of the table in the main worship space; the rest of us took up no more than a quarter of the front pews in what would be the nave in more orthodox-styled churches. The cameras were set up skillfully to avoid viewing the empty expanse. Once we were seated, Cardinal Mahony came out front and introduced a sprightly spokeswoman for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. She in turn expressed her thanks to the archdiocese for hosting the event and explained that it was for the conference's annual Easter broadcast. She then thanked NBC and all of us who attended. The lady then told us to forget about Lent and to radiate Easter joy. "Look happy!" she told us. She went on to explain that we would be needed to remain for about ten minutes after the conclusion of the ceremony.
The cardinal then replaced her and added that, "after it's over, you can go back to your Lenten penance." His Eminence instructed both the sanctuary party and those in the chairs near the altar not to kneel during the consecration of the Blessed Sacrament, doubtless not realizing that, since the cameras were trained only on these, they would be the only ones seen by T.V. viewers at that point. The cardinal assured us that "it will be a valid Mass, but" he added jocularly, "it will lack an important element -- the collection! So it will be valid but incomplete." He also told us that attendance here would not free us of our Easter obligation and assured us that parking validation would be available afterwards.
He then retreated behind the cameras to where the sanctuary party was mustering. This would consist of the cardinal in his miter; two priests in cassocks, surplices, and stoles, who would act in a manner reminiscent of the deacon and sub-deacon in a traditional pontifical high mass; a master of ceremonies; a handful of altar boys and girls in albs; a crucifer in the same dress; and a similarly attired thurifer. The expertly run choir was already in place and directed by a nattily-suited mustachioed older gentleman with a stentorian voice.
Said choir struck up "Jesus Christ is Risen Today," while the cardinal's party processed in. His Eminence proceeded to his throne and doffed his miter, after which he led us in the penitential right, which was recited. The Gloria was sung in English, in a setting by Peter Jones.
The choir director proclaimed the first reading in English, which was taken from the Acts of the Apostles 10:34a, 37-43. He then led us in the responsorial psalm, with the refrain, "this is the day that the Lord has made." After this was done with, a lectoress in skirt-suit read Colossians 3:1-4 in Spanish. This completed, the choir sang the Latin sequence for Easter, Victimæ paschali laudes. After the end of this nod to tradition, the Celtic Alleluia was sung, and the cardinal read the Gospel of St. John, 20:1-9.
Cardinal Mahony's homily pointed out that Easter was about the Resurrection and that each of us were a part of it and that this was a good thing. This insight was followed by the Prayer of the Faithful, in which peace and other good things were prayed for.
The preparation of the altar and the gifts was accompanied by Kay Lee Scott's "The Glory of Christ." Huge platters of communion wafers and decanters of wine were brought up. Also produced was a glassware chalice with a white metal base. In deference, seemingly, to the length of the ceremony, Cardinal Mahony used Eucharistic Prayer II. The "Holy, Holy, Holy" and the Eucharistic acclamations were taken from the Mass of Creation, as was the "Lamb of God." The communion songs were "O Sons and Daughters," and Eugene Englert's, "He is Risen, Alleluia." The sanctuary party recessed to Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus."
The festivities were not quite over, however. More footage was required, so the cardinal returned to center stage, and made small talk with us, while looking pontifical for the cameras. After they had the required shots, the congregation sat for another twenty minutes, looking as "churchy" as we could. The wizards at NBC having as much as they could want, dismissed us. After our tickets were validated, we were free to adjourn to the food at the cathedral café and to purchase Cathedral Cabernet at the gift shop.
Father X, a locally-based liturgist who studied in Rome, had a vigorous critique of the proceedings.
Asked what was wrong with the proceedings, he replied, "the grace of Easter is prepared for by Lent. You have the unfolding of the Triduum, with its special graces. Easter is the high point, the climax of all of this. For anyone to alter this sequence, on their own authority, is just horrible! The liturgy does not belong to the priest. In Lent there is no Gloria, no alleluia, no Victimæ, for a reason! This is a violation of what the Church has ordered and it trivializes the whole thing. It turns Easter into a mere show.
"In this," continued Father X, "Cardinal Mahony shows the worst of what was supposed to be the pre-conciliar mindset, the idea of the liturgy purely as external spectacle, as rubrics -- with no understanding of the interior graces. And he claims to be cutting-edge! He obviously does not understand the liturgy -- and neither does the United States Catholic Conference, if they went along with this!"
Father X said, "the whole thing makes a mockery of the mystery of salvation! And people asked to dress up as though it were Easter! It shows that the cardinal has put his desire to be shown on TV by national media, over Easter. So the liturgy is put at the service of the media -- the great classical liturgists, like Gueranger, Marmion, and Fussell, would be spinning in their graves!"