Ad Occidentem...

A blogger who styles himself Fr John Hunwicke, an Anglican priest living in Oxford, has an interesting post about the complex liturgical questions of ''ad Orientem'' and ''versus Populum'' (''versus Turbam'' I call it) in a Catholic church in Eynsham, where the Sanctuary is in fact at the West end of the Church (with the result that with celebrations of Mass versus Turbam, the Celebrant is in fact facing the correct liturgical direction, whereas the people are not). I once read that in the Patriarchal basilicas in Rome (which are also built in this way, although for purely practical reasons), the lay people would turn around to face the East during certain parts of the Liturgy - this seems to be a good idea, since even in private prayer, to turn Eastwards is salutary, but what happens at the Consecration when you have your back to the Blessed Sacrament? Of course, the idea of the Pope being ''privileged'' to celebrate Mass facing the people soon developed, out of peoples' ignorance (even in the Papal Court) and we thus see images of later Popes in foreign countries celebrating Mass in the same way (for no valid reason whatsoever). There was no excuse for that kind of ignorance. Ignorance of the Liturgy (not to mention laziness) has thus been a contributing factor in later liturgical ''reform,'' particularly the unfortunate changes of the 1950s and 1960s, the Smoke of Satan and all that! It may have been consoling for some traditionalists to hear Paul VI bemoan those changes afterwards, but it was a bit late, and he did approve of them...