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Rev. Alan Weber, Director
(813) 988-3727
13005 N 50th St
Tampa, FL 33617-1022
director@catholicusf.org
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The Second Vatican Council, in Sacrosanctum Concilium, paragraph 14 urged individual Catholics, and Catholic communities, to strive for "fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations." This refers preeminently to participation in the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. The Diocese of St. Petersburg's Living Eucharist Initiative is an opportunity for parishes and individuals to accomplish the Council's goals for Sunday worship.
The idea of "fully conscious, and active participation" is not a new one. Rather, it represents the reclaiming of a set of very old, traditional Catholic values. Our Lenten Faith Series will be dedicated this year to examining the sources of these ancient values.
There will be readings for each week of Lent chosen from ancient sources, beginning with the Christian Scriptures, and continuing with sub-apostolic writers. The purpose of our readings will be to catch a glimpse of the attitudes and practices of the first few generations of believers, beginning with those who heard the Apostles preach.
Each week we will discuss the assigned reading, and identify how the faith and practices of the Apostles has both influenced our experience of the Faith, and stands as the measure of our experience of the Faith. Participants will also receive a brief introduction to the next reading assignment. Group discussions will take place on Sunday mornings after the 10:00 a.m. liturgy, and online below. All Catholics, of all ages, are invited to participate.
The reading for the Fifth Week of Lent (March 29, 2009), is taken fromThe Apostolic Tradition by Hippolytus of Rome. This text was written early in the third century, but contains a record of late second century Roman liturgical and administrative practices. You may read the entire document, but for the purposes of this Lenten Faith Renewal Series, we will focus on Chapter 4. Fr. Alan's reflections will be posted on Monday following our Sunday gathering.
You may post your comments and questions about the readings beginning on each Sunday of Lent, and continuing through the following week.
You can read Bishop Lynch's Pastoral Letter, and get more information about this process of renewal on the Living Eucharist website.
In order to participate in this on-line discussion you must register your name and email address with Fr. Alan. This discussion room will be open only during the weeks of Lent. You do not need to register for the discussion in order to read the posted comments.
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Subject Week Five - The Apostolic Tradition
Date Sun Apr 5 2009 11:38
Author Fr. Alan (director@catholicusf.org)
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Our reading for the Fifth Week of Lent (March 29), is taken fromThe Apostolic Tradition by Hippolytus of Rome. This text was written early in the third century, but contains a record of late second century Roman liturgical and administrative practices. Hippolytus was a presbyter in Rome, and lived through the tenures of several successive bishops. He was deeply troubled by what he considered to be novel practices instituted by some of the city's bishops. The Apostolic Tradition constitutes part of his attempt to convince the Roman Church to return to a more conventional Christian life. Hippolytus would be called a "traditionalist" today. He seems also to have been a rather stubborn man. When the bishops of Rome would not heed his call to return to more primitive practices, Hippolytus proclaimed himself bishop of Rome. He spent many years at odds with the legitimately elected bishops of the city, but was eventually reconciled to the Church. He died around 235 AD, and is sometimes anachronistically called "the first antipope." Our reading this week will be Chapter 4, which represents Hippolytus' standardized format for the celebration of Eucharist. When the Second Vatican Council reformed the Mass, the single Canon of the Tridentine Liturgy was augmented with three additional Eucharistic Prayers. Our contemporary Eucharistic Prayer 2 is an edited version of Hippolytus' format. Hippolytus' accounts of the instructions for catechumens (C.17-19), and the baptismal vigil (C.20-21), were instrumental in the restoration of the catechumenate, the editing of the rituals for RCIA and the restoration of the Easter Vigil undertaken by the Second Vatican Council's liturgical reform. Hippolytus' Prayer displays a high degree of ritual organization when compared to earlier texts. It begins with the now familiar dialogue between the presider and the congregation: "The Lord be with You., etc." The Institution Narrative is prefaced by a brief recounting of salvation history. The Institution Narrative is followed by an anamnesis, or memorial prayer, that makes the theological connection between the Lord's Supper and Jesus' saving death. Hippolytus places the epiclesis, or invocation of the Holy Spirit, after the memorial prayer; our contemporary Eucharistic Prayers place the epiclesis before the Institution Narrative. It is interesting to note that Hippolytus uses the word "oblation" to refer to the offerings of bread and wine, both before and after the recitation of the Institution Narrative. The brevity of this Prayer owes to the fact that it was recorded as an outline to be followed while the presider extemporized. The presbyters of the Roman Church are portrayed as participating with the bishop in prayers over the oblation. There is also a reference to priestly service, but this is not restricted to the ministry of the presbyters. Rather, the word "priest" refers to an extension (to the Church), of the ministry of Jesus as the mediator between God and the world. It is not clear whether this notion of priesthood is associated only with ordained ministers. Based on the context in which it is used, a credible case can be made that it refers to the priesthood of the faithful; this is the sense conveyed in our contemporary Eucharistic Prayer 2. There remained room in Hippolytus' outline for the presider's creativity in prayer, but he considered some things to be necessary for a prayer to be properly representative of the Church's tradition. The exact style of prayer at the Eucharistic celebration varied from place to place, and changed under the influence of history, but Hippolytus' outline remains today the standard format for the western Church. Of all the historical and theological data that one could gather from this five week survey of early Christian writings I hope that a few points stand out. First, the preaching of the Apostles and the Scriptures were the preeminent influences on the formation and preservation of the various rituals for the Lord's Supper. All of the texts that we have read contain, and rely on, quotations from a variety of Scriptural books; these quotations are not limited to the Institution Narrative, or even the Christian Scriptures. Second, uniformity was never considered to be an important issue, but unity in the Church was always considered to be an uncompromisable value. There has always been diversity in the Church's practices; we should expect this to remain so. The identity of the Church was mirrored, governed and expressed by the commitment of Christian communities to celebrate Eucharist as a memorial of Jesus' death and as a model for Christian living. Third, from the earliest days of the Church's life, the various Christian communities found it necessary to follow some form of ritual. The various rituals served to keep the community united in their prayer, and to keep before their minds the central events of salvation history. Ritual can often be seen as restrictive or unnecessarily repetitive, but it plays an indispensable function in the Church's life and prayer. One of the primary values that the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council wanted to convey to the faithful is that ritual is not our master, but our servant. It serves to unite us as a congregation and as a universal Church. Ritual keeps alive the memories and traditions that we have from the Apostles. Ritual also allows us to enter easily into the realm of the mystery of God's love made manifest in Christ. On a personal note, I would like to thank all of you who participated in this Faith Renewal Series, whether on Sunday mornings, or on-line. I found the preparatory work that I did to be enjoyable and informative. I hope that you found it helpful in your faith life and in your participation in Sunday Eucharist. |
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Proclaiming the Gospel of Hope
