When I was attending a daily Mass in my home diocese during college, I genuflected (as was my practice at the time) before receiving Holy Communion. Before the priest gave the final blessing, he made an announcement that he noticed that there were several people who genuflected before receiving the Eucharist. We were reminded that the local bishop had issued a letter that called for all of the faithful to observe the practice of bowing before receiving Holy Communion as the only acceptable outward expression of reverence. Therefore, those of us who had genuflected had engaged in an illicit activity.
Eventually, a new bishop came along who no longer wanted to enforce the practice of his predecessor, so what was once “illicit” under one bishop became “licit” under another. Clearly, liturgical decrees and letters at the local level can have a very limited shelf life. Authentic liturgical renewal has deeper roots when it develops organically in contrast to when it is manufactured by fiat.
In his noteworthy reflection on the “Liturgical Legacy of Pope Benedict XVI,” Oratorian liturgical theologian Uwe Michael Lang notes:
It seems to have been the idea of Benedict XVI that organic development needs to happen as if by osmosis, that is, a steady and almost unconscious assimilation of the liturgical tradition. An important element in this process was to be the pontiff’s example in his own celebrations. Ritual elements such as the placing of a prominent crucifix in the center of the altar, the distribution of Holy Communion to the faithful kneeling and directly on the tongue, and the extended use of the Latin language were intended to set a standard to be imitated. Benedict was convinced that authentic liturgical renewal does not come about by instructions and regulations.
Benedict XVI was the consummate gentleman when it came to liturgical renewal. He never wanted to impose his views. He was very careful to put into practice his view that the pope is never an absolute monarch when it comes to the teaching and transmission of the Faith and liturgical practice.
With respect to the liturgy, the then Cardinal Ratzinger emphasizes in his seminal work The Spirit of the Liturgy that the pope “can only be a humble servant of [the liturgy’s] faithful development and abiding integrity and identity.” Papal authority is restrained by the gift of tradition lest we…
Read the rest of this post at Crisis, here.
