Saturday, May 23, 2015

Liturgical Theology of Pentecost as Told by the Vigil

source: oca.org
Pentecost is too big, too vast, too intimidating for any singular explanation, but the Roman liturgy's rich vigil for this feast nurtures the faithful with some food for thought. Let us consider the liturgy of the Roman rite for this great feast, second only to the Sunday of the Resurrection in importance.

source: traditionalmass.org
The vigil commences with the celebrant—vested in a violet chasuble—kissing the altar and following the lectors, who read six prophecies from the Old Testament, interspersed with collects sung by the celebrant. The first lesson is the familiar story of Abraham ascending a mountain with his son Isaac, prepared to sacrifice his only child in obedience to God. An angel intervenes and tells a relieved Abraham that God would never really do such a thing. All of this was proclaimed on Holy Saturday, prefiguring Christ's willingness to sacrifice everything to the Father on behalf of the world. Pentecost enters this passage late at the point when God rewards Abraham's fidelity by promising "I will bless thee and multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the seashore.... and in thy seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because thou hast obeyed My voice."

The second prophecy is an extraction from Exodus 14, wherein the Pharaoh's forces chase the Israelites through the desert and into the Red Sea, which St. Moses has just parted by the Lord's command. The Lord then tells Moses to close the Sea and drown the Egyptians, which he does. The tract continues the passage:
"Let us sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously magnified: the horse and the rider He hath thrown into the sea: He is become my helper and protector unto salvation...."
These two prophecies speak of the same thing, Baptism. Water is a symbol of creation and the essential ingredient of all that lives. Yet water is also uncertain, difficult to control. Genesis chapter 1 speaks of water roaming the earth before it had form. God used water to protect the Israelites from the Egyptians. Egypt itself is a type, a parallel, an example of sin and loss and here God saves His people—fulfilled and most perfectly expressed in the Church—through water. Through water He will "multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven," only He will no longer multiply Abraham's progeny through obedience, but Christ's Church through Sacrament. The second collect of the vigil demands this interpretation:
"O God, who by the light of the New Testament hast made clear to us the miracles wrought in earliest times, prefiguring unto us the Red Sea as an image of the sacred font, and Who in the deliverance of Thy people from the bondage of Egypt, hast foreshadowed the sacraments of the Christian dispensation; grant that all nations who have merited by faith the privilege of the children of Israel, may be born again by partaking of Thy holy Spirit."
The third prophecy, take from Deuteronomy 31, compares and contrasts closely with the Ascension of Christ. Moses, nearing death, has taken care to write down his encounters and history with God. He abjures and confronts his fellows Israelites for their infidelity to God, "For I know that, after my death, you will do wickedly, and will quickly turn aside from the way that I have commanded you." The scripture, excluded from this passage, goes on to tell us that his bones were never found. This is extraordinary. Moses joins Elijah, Enoch, and the Blessed Mother among those whose bones have not been found and the others were taken bodily by the Lord, Elijah in a chariot of fire and our Lady after her death in Jerusalem. Moses, a prefigurement of Christ who leads God's people out of bondage, many believe, Jews included, was also taken up by God. Should he have been assumed by God then an strong parallel with the Ascension presents itself. Christ of course was not assumed into heaven, but rather ascended through His own power as God. Moses brought people forth from human bondage and Christ from spiritual bondage. Both died and were raised, so to speak, and rebuked their followers for their lack of faith. Moses's followers would continue to fail God, even if they would eventually reach the promised land and create a kingdom of Israel. Christ, in a marked contrast, promises something perfect that will never be lost, a "Helper" (meaning of the word Paraclete) to preserve the faithful "in all truth." He ascends telling the Apostles to "baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.... For I am with you always, even until the end of the world." Moses's deliverance from slavery is made perfect in Christ's words.

The fourth prophecy again anticipates the inception of the Church in the Baptism of its members, "the Lord shall wash away the filth of the daughters of Sion, and shall wash away the blood of Jerusalem out of the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning" (Isaiah chapter 4). At this point perhaps the faithful should consider what Baptism is. It is the movement of water over a person's skin with a Trinitarian formula, yes, but it is so much more, too. "Baptism" derives from a similar Greek word meaning "to immerse" or "to plunge." To be "plunged" into Christ and in the name of the Trinity is more than to enter a visible community or lose a sentence of punishments condine to one's sins. To be "plunged" into Christ is to be immersed and filled with the very life of Christ given by the Holy Spirit, Who, St. Gregory reminds the Church of Rome during Mattins of the feast, is the love of God Himself. The Holy Spirit, to be simplistic, is God's love working and doing something, creating or renewing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes this rebirth in Baptism through water, the physical essential in life and the material, again referencing Genesis chapter 1, which formlessly covered the earth before creation. Water is also like the Holy Spirit, or "Holy Wind" to take a very literal translation, in that water is not easily contained, limited, narrowed, or defined. It enters through crevices unseen and can also be lost by poor care through other unanticipated openings. It is this in water that Christ, through the Holy Spirit, renews His creation. It is for this reason so many commentators have adduced the psalm from the Vidi aquam "I saw water flowing from the right side of the Temple, alleluia; and all to whom this water came were saved...." Therefore the Church uses as her last prophecy in the vigil Ezekiel 37:1-14:
"Thus saith the Lord God, Come, spirit, from the four winds, and blow upon these slain, and let them live again. And I prophesied as He had commanded me; and the spirit came unto them; and they lived; and they stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army.... Thus saith the Lord, I will open your graves, and will bring you out of your sepulchres, O My people, and will bring you into the land of Israel.... and you shall have put My spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall make you rest upon your own land; saith the Lord almighty."
source: traditionalmass.org
A procession then brings the sacred ministers to the baptistry where the font's waters are again blessed and infused with chrism, itself a priestly thing, as on Holy Saturday. The Paschal candle, extinguished on Ascension Thursday after the Gospel, reappears. Let not the importance of its reappearance be lost. As Dr. Laurence Hemming adumbrates in his Worship as Revelation, all the fires in a church are to be lit from the Paschal fire much as the Presence of Christ in the Sacraments comes from Christ's Incarnation and work on earth. The Paschal candle is extinguished at the end of forty days because, as with Christ and the Sacraments, its purpose, to diffuse holy fire, is accomplished. The fire remains without the candle's use just as Christ remains in the Church without a bodily physical presence. The candle returns because it symbolizes the Resurrection, the event which made this new life in the Holy Spirit possible. The celebrant plunges the candle into the font, almost baptizing the font with the candle rather the other way around. The celebrant sparges the faithful with the blessed water, infuses the chrism, and baptizes catechumens into Christ and His Resurrection. More adept parishes will also have the good sense to administer confirmation at this time, giving the neophytes the Holy Spirit and His "sevenfold gifts."

After the baptisms all who have been "baptized into Christ" on earth sing the Litanies of Saints, imploring the intercession of those in heaven who are the perfection of God's promise to Abraham, "multipl[ied] as stars of heaven." The saints, together with those on earth baptized into Christ, form the Church and carry that same Spirit and fire found on Holy Saturday. Pentecost makes the Resurrection permanent on earth, preserved in the Church unto ages of ages.

source: traditionalmass.org
Mass follows immediately during the vigil. The lesson, taken from Acts of the Apostles, recounts Paul's preaching of the Baptism of Christ, or into Christ, to the Ephesians, hitherto only aware of St. John the Baptist's baptism of repentance. The alleluia is the same as on Holy Saturday. And in the Gospel St. John tells of Jesus saying "If you love me, keep my commandments." What is the Holy Spirit other than the strength to do this? This simple, demanding sentence of Christ calls to mind James 2:18, "I will show you my faith by my works." The Holy Spirit creates, re-creates, renews, strengthens, and preserves the Church in Christ, of Christ, and for Christ, as foretold to the prophets long ago. He makes all things anew, fashioning a new, holier creation out of the materials and persons of the existing, fallen creation. And He will remain with us until the very end.

In a rare moment the Byzantine tradition has a far simpler and more understated take than the Roman Church. The Greek theology of this feast can be found in the troparion of Penteost, which I heard today at Divine Liturgy and last evening at Vespers:
"Blessed are You, O Christ our God, You have filled the fishermen with wisdom by sending down the Holy Spirit upon them, and Who through them have caught in Your net the whole world. O Lover of mankind, glory to You!"

And the Veni, Creator Spiritus (the greatest of Latin hymns?)


30 comments:

  1. I forget: is the paschal candle lit for baptisms according to the usus antiquior?

    Also, I've never understood what Charismatic Catholics call "effusion of the Holy Spirit". All I am aware of is that it is something they picked up from Protestant Pentecostals, but apart from that I have no idea what it means. I knew/know a number of good, holy people who belong to the CCR, but for the life of me can't understand why they import these non-Catholic terms and then fail to explain them adequately. The way the talk, it would seem as though it is something superior to/apart from the Sacraments.

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    1. The Paschal candle does not figure into Baptism outside of Holy Satuday and the Pentecost Vigil in the old rite, although if a church has the candle, I do not see the objection to lighting it.

      I knew a sensible fellow who thought he spoke in tongues (he didn't care for the fact I knew it was gibberish) and became associated with the Charismatics. It became a prominent aspect of his faith he, an anti-protestant if ever there was one, began adopting phrases like "slain in the spirit" and "renewal". I think when people become obsessed with any one thing too much (Charismania, the liturgy for its own sake, theological arguments, the pro life movement etc) they lose sight of the fact that the good and genuine things belong to the Church and must be found in her tradition. Indeed, they belong to the Church alone, which poses a problem, not least, for the Charismatics who borrow from protestantism.

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  2. I attended the real Pentecost Vigil today. It was glorious, a wonderful experience.

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    1. Same place as the pictures above.

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    2. St. Gertrude the Great in Westchester county, in Ohio.

      Not a sedevacantist (not even close), but if a liturgically correct chapel of their's was in my vicinity, I would probably attend for a few of major days that differ from the Pacellian and Pauline novelties to experience the difference (Holy Week, Pentecost, a few octaves).

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    3. I was also able to bring home some blessed Pentecost water :) as they graciously made it available in the church lobby following Mass.

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    4. Matthew,

      Since it seems like you are from Ohio, I must ask you where you would recommend going for a Sunday TLM in Cleveland. I have seen pictures of St. Stephen's and Immaculate Conception and they are just wonderful!

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    5. I am not, actually; I was on vacation and planned it such that I would drive through there and have the opportunity to attend a beautiful, fully-celebrated pre-55 Rite on one of the days where the Traditional Rite and the Pacellian could not be more different.

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  4. Hmm, although I am rather sympathetic to them and wish I could attend their liturgy if it weren't for the Atlantic Ocean and their canonical position dividing us, the stakes are just too high. I'd rather stick to my 1962 "Una Cum" Masses.

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    1. It is doubtless a pity to have to choose.

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    2. Matthew, if you get to Southern NJ next year, you won't have to make that choice! Both all of Holy Week and the Pentecost Vigil.

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    3. Well, I was more referring to Konstantine's hypothesized choice, since the question does not bother me so. In any case, I appreciate the invitation! And it is wonderful to hear that the full ceremonies of Holy Week will be observed in your neck of the woods!

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  5. I'm not sure whether this belongs here or in the Liturgical Boutique: Fr. Dolan is wearing a cassock with a trail which I only had seen once before in a picture of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem celebrating Mass at the Holy Sepulchre. So I did some research and found out that this was a "Chortalar" (choir cassock) which was abolished in 1969. Can anyone explain why this liturgical vestment isn't used in Pontifical Masses according to the 1962 Missal? The usual arguments for chapel veils and no female altar servers goes something like this: "well, they did this / didn't do this in 1962, so we do / don't do this"...any explanation? And what is its proper name in English?

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    1. Probably for the same reason that so-called "trad" Cardinals do not wear the correct cassocks at the right time of year. They only care about some of these things...

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    2. Perhaps because orthopraxis is not an important matter for many of them. Just do something which somehow looks like traditional, use it as a mere banner, and forget about everything else. We have already discussed it here more than once...

      Konstantin: I'm pretty ignorant of those details of liturgical ornaments, so may I ask you in which image does the cassok you describe appear? I cannot identify it. (I don't even know who is Fr. Dolan) Thank you.

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    3. Konstantin,

      Trains on prelatial choir cassocks were abolished by Papa Pacelli. Those of the Cardinals went first closely followed by other prelates along with some of the seasonal attire. Good to see Bishop Dolan wearing the proper thing although I do wish he would develop an interest in apparelled albs...

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    4. I'm usually the last to make excuses for the reverend clergy, but liturgical vestments and ecclesiastical haberdashery can be very expensive. If a bishop--even a very well-intentioned one--solemnly celebrates the E.F. (ugh!) once or twice a year, that's a lot of money.

      Parishes can supply some more generic items, but fitted garments are trickier.

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    5. SGG, Bp. Dolan, Fr. Cekada, etc. are an odd mix - they ignore Pacelli on most things liturgical (although I would guess they use Signum Magnum rather than Gaudeamus, for example), but they love the "doctrinal Pacelli," and have a huge framed portrait of him in the vestibule.

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  6. Fr. Dolan is the sedevacantist bishop celebrating the Mass (see the last image). I call him Father since the Church says the members of the sedevacantist clergy are to be considered to belong to the state in which they were before receiving Thuc-line orders. Maybe I'm a bit pedantic.

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    1. Thuc line orders are an odd thing. Some are almost definitely valid while many others aren't so certain. I think there's even a debate on youtube somewhere between Kelly and Cekada (two of the infamous "Nazgul") over the issue.

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    2. Well be pedantic if you must, but "the Church" has never said they are ipso facto invalid, and think of sedes what you might, if you go by the roman rules of validity, the lineage from Thuc to Dolan seems to be valid.

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    3. I think His All Tradiness should do a post/series on the Thuc-line validity. YouTube has video of a debate from early last decade between Fr. Cekada (pro-Thuc) and Fr. William Jenkins (SSPV, anti-Thuc). Evidently, there was (and still is) a lot of bad blood between current and former members of the SSPV over this very issue. The debate was had to deal with the issue of withholding Communion from parishioners at the SSPV based on their attending a pro-Thuc chapel. Anyone an entirely different topic, but the liturgical praxes of the two branches of the original Nine also could make for interesting series of posts.

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    4. Fr. Hunwicke has written some pertinent words: 'The Vigil disappeared under Pius XII; we should never forget that the disintegration of the Classical Roman Rite has Pius XII for its godfather. The 'Council' and its aftermath merely formed a logical progression of what Pius XII and Mgr Bugnini and others had already enthusiastically set rolling in the 1950s.'

      Why anyone wants to hang up a picture of Papa Pacelli baffles me - except to use as dart board.

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    5. Well said, Rubricarius. I certainly would not choose either, but if I had to I would much prefer John XXIII to Pius XII, I think.

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    6. Rubricarius, you shouldn't say things like that. I laughed hysterically at work when your comment arrived and people looked at me as though I had lost a screw.

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    7. I'd take John XXIII over almost any other 20th Century pope. I am not joking.

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  7. The Catholic Herald archives are now sadly behind a paywall, but I remember reading an interview with Fr. Peter Morgan there from the 1970s that described his English SSPX house as having no picture of a pope after Pius XI. I wonder if in those days of primeval traditionalism, a Pius XI "cutoff" was not unheard of.

    As far as sedevacantist topics go, I would be far more interested in a review of its Latin American or European adherents. Far too much attention is paid to the SW Ohio and Long Island cults already.

    Finally, isn't there episcopal mourning dress that would be more appropriate (or at least more logical) for Bishop Dolan to wear?

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  8. I did some more research on the choir cassock with train. It seems like it was abolished by Pius XII in the 50's. Dolan obviously isn't much of a fan of the Pian reforms, so that's probably why he still wears it. At least we can't blame today's bishops for not wearing it when celebrating according to the 1962 Missal.

    More on the choir cassock:

    http://orbiscatholicussecundus.blogspot.de/2011/12/what-choir-cassock-with-train-looks.html

    http://orbiscatholicus.blogspot.de/2008/03/custom-of-train.html

    http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/valde.htm

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