Turning Toward the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical PrayerIntroduction by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) Turning towards the Lord presents an historical and theological argument for the traditional, common direction of liturgical prayer, known as "facing east", and is meant as a contribution to the contemporary debate about the Catholic liturgy. Lang, a member of the London Oratory, studies the direction of liturgical prayer from an historical, theological, and pastoral point of view. At a propitious moment, this book resumes a debate that, despite appearances to the contrary, has never really gone away, not even after the Second Vatican Council. Historical research has made the controversy less partisan, and among the faithful there is an increasing sense of the problems inherent in an arrangement that hardly shows the liturgy to be open to the things that are above and to the world to come. In this situation, Lang's delightfully objective and wholly unpolemical book is a valuable guide. Without claiming to offer major new insights, Lang carefully presents the results of recent research and provides the material necessary for making an informed judgment. It is from such historical evidence that the author elicits the theological answers that he proposes. |
From inside the book
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... celebrate facing the people (versus populum).' The General Instruction of the Missal issued in 2002 re- tained this text unaltered except for the addition of the subordinate clause, 'which is desirable wherever possible'. This was taken ...
... celebrated 'with his back to the people'; he emphasised that what was at issue was not the priest turning away from the people, but, on the contrary, his facing ... celebration and to regard therefore the face-to-face position of priest and ...
... celebration of Mass 'facing the people' as the orientation of liturgical prayer. In his review of my earlier study, Angelus Häußling found fault with my interpretation of the historical and theological material, which he criticises for ...
... celebration of Mass 'facing the people' is required, indeed even imposed, by the liturgical reform that was inaugurated by Vatican II. However, the relevant conciliar and post-conciliar documents present quite a different picture. The ...
... celebrate facing the people.]2 It is said to be desirable to set up the main altar separate from the back wall, so that the priest can walk around it easily and a celebration facing the people is possible. Josef Andreas Jung- mann asks ...