The Maestro Speaks

For those of us who eat, sleep and breathe orthodox liturgy, it just don't get any better than the titular archbishop of Martirano and maestro delle Celebrazioni Liturgiche Pontificie, Piero Marini.

For those interested in reading, as opposed to burning, his priceless work, Marini's out with yet another new book: "Liturgy and Beauty: Memories of experiences seen in the liturgical celebrations of the Holy Father." It's only available in Italian; thanks to an eminent friend, my copy's on its way... But here are some snippets from an English synthesis of the work.

It reads like truth -- well, because it is truth:

Among the guidelines for a future reform of the papal liturgy, experts advised [at the Council] that all “secular” customs should be abolished and that papal celebrations, still tied to Renaissance principles and ceremonies, should be adapted to the new liturgical legistlation.... The papal altar should be cleared and restored to its initial sobriety.... It was requested that sacred vestments be simplified to prevent some ecclesiastics from resembling “extras on stage”. Suggestions were made with regard to the repertoire of hymns, the importance of intervals of sacred silence unbroken by any sound (even the sound of silver trumpets drowning the words of consecration, spoken aloud already at that time).

Trumpets drowning out the consecration? Who seeks to quibble with getting rid of that? And this is for all the tiara fanatics who seek the restoration of the Papal States:

To appreciate the changes entailed, it is enough to give just one example: the Pope’s entrance for papal celebrations. Prior to the Council, on major solemnities the Pope would enter Saint Peter’s Basilica to the sound of silver trumpets, wearing the tiara, gloves, and shoes of the liturgical colour, borne aloft on a ceremonial chair by sediari and accompanied by the waving of flabelli and a colourful crowd of persons, laity and prelates, each with his own ceremonial dress, representing the nobility, Roman patricians, various corps of guards and other dignitaries of the papal court. It was a solemn entrance which gave the impression of a Pope as a worldly prince surrounded by his court. Since the Council we have grown accustomed to seeing the Pope join the entrance procession dressed as a Bishop of the Catholic Church, free of the entourage of strictly non-religious elements and signs of temporal power, accompanied by concelebrants and ministers who have a role in the celebration instead of members of a papal court. This enables the faithful present in the church – and those watching the liturgy on television – to recognise the Pope’s function as a Bishop of the Church, the Successor of Saint Peter the Apostle, the servant of the servants of God, and to pay attention to other important signs of the celebration such as the Book of the Gospels and the processional crucifix.

And, guess what, at his installation at the Lateran, B16's homily reflected the exact same thing: "This is the task of all Peter's Successors: to be the guide in the profession of faith in Christ, Son of the living God." Either I'm illiterate or there's nothing there about trumpets, feathers and nice slippers.

But my favorite part is about inculturation. The legion of false friends who love to exploit the image of JP to advance an agenda which wasn't his own have expended mountain-moving effort to tar Marini as the "culprit" for the incorporation of unique local elements of the sacred in the celebration of papal liturgies geared toward a particular place.

Well, if you have a beef, don't call out the wrong guy:

For the opening and closing of the continental Synods for Africa, Asia and Oceania, the Eucharistic celebrations were enriched by elements proper to those peoples. The Holy Father himself has stressed the importance of including various cultural elements in those celebrations: "I am also deeply grateful to the working group which so carefully prepared the Eucharistic liturgies for the opening and closing of the Synod. The group, which included theologians, liturgists and experts in African chants and musical instruments, ensured, in keeping with my wishes, that these celebrations would have a distinctly African character."

"In keeping with my wishes...." That's John Paul the Great talking, people.

The story's gone around that, as the working group "which so carefully prepared" for the Synod for Africa was planning the liturgies for it, the African bishops and the papal liturgists had hit an impasse about the drumming and other African elements and to what extent they could be included -- the Romans shooting down the African proposals for greater use of native elements.

At lunch, John Paul asked the commission how things were coming, and one bishop piped up, "Holy Father, we're having problems with the liturgy." John Paul asked for further explanation, and when he was told that his own MCs were being obstructive, he said in no uncertain terms, "The more African, the better." Marini's account corroborates this.

So, OK, to use the message-frame we've been given by his fawning "fans," everything Karol Wojtyla touched turned to orthodoxy; he was the man who saved the church from doom; he was the great custodian of tradition.... But if this selfsame Pope, according to those same "fans," appointed all these alleged "heresiarch liberal" bishops AND he dictated what the people who love talking about his sanctity most see as heinous liturgical abuse, then he failed two basic tests of his stewardship of the church.

Either JP wasn't so great after all and his aura's just being pumped up and co-opted so the Trads can accomplish their subversive, hyper-political agenda, or he was truly great precisely because he wouldn't let an ideological fringe hold him hostage... at least while he was alive.

Which one is it? I'm honestly confused.

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