What things feel like

Transcription

1 From Head to Heart Paul Inwood What things look like What things sound like What things feel like What is the liturgy trying to do at this point / in this element? Who celebrates? Liturgy is an action of the whole Christ (Christus totus) (CCC 1136) Who celebrates? It is the whole community, the Body of Christ united with its Head, that celebrates... (CCC 1140) Liturgical services touch individual members of the Church in different ways, depending on their orders, their role in the liturgical services, and their actual participation in them. (ibid.) The members do not all have the same function. Certain members are called by God, in and through the Church, to a special service of the community. (CCC 1142) For the purpose of assisting the work of the common priesthood of the faithful, other particular ministries also exist... (CCC 1143) 1

2 Inwood s First Law of Liturgical Ministry People minister to each other by the way that they behave in each other s presence as well as by acts of service that they carry out. Inwood s First General Liturgical Law The way things are done is just as important as what it is that is done Not just what but how How is the liturgy celebrated? Words and actions A sacramental celebration is woven from signs and symbols. (CCC 1145) Signs of the human world Signs of the covenant Signs taken up by Christ Sacramental signs (CCC ) Singing and music Holy images Liturgical seasons (CCC ) The mystery of Christ is so unfathomably rich that it cannot be exhausted by its expression in any single liturgical tradition. (CCC 1201) The celebration of the liturgy should correspond to the genius and culture of the different peoples. (CCC 1204) The effectiveness of a liturgy lies in its humility, in the absence of selfproclamation I am the liturgy, notice me. The Word of God is the gathering point for all the content and all the action. If there is a high point or seasonal emphasis in a liturgy, this is to be subject to the scriptural wholeness within which all actions and emphases take place. In Christ means in the Word made flesh, and this means that the centrality of Christ guarantees the centrality of the Word, even as we sing or pray or preach or celebrate the Eucharist. It is because of this centrality that all liturgies, whether traditionally framed, denominationally created or experimental, will stand or fall in direct proportion to the centrality of the Word of God. Harold M. Best, Unceasing Worship: biblical perspectives on worship and the arts, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove,

3 SOUND Spoken words Sung words Instrumental music Extraneous sounds P.A. systems SILENCE Presence, not absence, of something Inwood s Second General Liturgical Law Silence needs to be created PACING and DYNAMIC Fast slow Short long High low One or a few many PACING and DYNAMIC Inwood s Third General Liturgical Law The gaps between things are just as important as the things themselves STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS Fast slow Short long High low One or a few many Differences help to show the shape of the celebration and provide relief / contrast Liturgy is NOT an undifferentiated series of elements stucktogether or following one after another. Liturgy is NOT the quasi-magical performance of the rites Ex opere operato Just by doing it, it automatically works 3

4 Pastors must realize that when the liturgy is celebrated something more is required than the mere observance of the laws governing valid and lawful celebration; it is also their duty to ensure that the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite, and enriched by its effects. Sacrosanctum Concilium 11 In order that the liturgy may possess its full effectiveness, it is necessary that the faithful come to it with proper dispositions, that their minds be attuned to their voices, and that they co-operate with divine grace, lest they receive it in vain. Sacrosanctum Concilium 11 Faith grows when it is well expressed in celebration. Good celebrations foster and nourish faith. Poor celebrations weaken and destroy it. Music in Catholic Worship 5 (1972) Faith grows when it is well expressed in celebration. Good celebrations foster and nourish faith. Poor celebrations [may] weaken and destroy it. Music in Catholic Worship 5 (1982) What things look like What things sound like What things feel like SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES Perceptions Impressions Associations Connotations Double-entendres 4

5 Ps 18 (19): 2-3 (Grail 1963) The heavens proclaim the glory of God and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands. Day unto day takes up the story and night unto night makes known the message. The sky tells the glory of God, (ICEL 1995) tells the genius of God s work. Day carries the news to day, today night brings the message to night. tonight BODY LANGUAGE Positioning / layout Posture Gesture Vesture Movement Faces It s about relationships A celebrating body? Them and us? Participants or spectators? ( Theatre -style) (Arrowhead) (Three-sided) 5

6 (Horseshoe) (Oakland Cathedral of Christ the Light) (Collegiate) (St Patrick s, Menlo Park, CA) (St Patrick s, Menlo Park, CA) 6

7 (Collegiate ellipses) Sanctuary in corner Sanctuary in corner Sanctuary in corner 7

8 Sanctuary in corner Fan shape Semicircular (Epiphany Cathedral, Venice, Florida) Circular (Padre Serra, Camarillo, CA) 8

9 Posture Standing Sitting Kneeling Lying down (Tertullian, 2nd cent.) Common posture? Physical difficulties? Posture How you hold yourself when standing when sitting Gesture Arms Orans position Gesture Arms Orans position Penguin position (Semi-orans position, Catacombs of Priscilla, c. 3rd century) ( Our Lady of the Sign 13th century Russian icon) Gesture Arms Hands Sign of Peace Receiving Communion Head Veneration kissing, genuflection bowing, incensation Sign of Cross, the Catholic twiddle, etc Vesture Vestments functional symbolic Who should wear them? Clothing different signals 9

10 Movement individual group communal Can be Inwood s Second Law of Liturgical Ministry The smallest movement draws attention to itself and to the person or thing that is moving functional symbolic distracting Choreography Thinking about whento move howto move where tomove to More liturgical laws... Songs with refrains enable everyone to lift their eyes off the printed page and (for example) join themselves visually with the liturgical action (e.g. watch the procession) join themselves visually with the people around them (become aware of the celebrating assembly) Processions Two types: Those in which everyone moves Those where only a few people move but these are still important because we follow with our eyes More choreography Services of Word and Communion How many liturgical ministers? At least three: Leader Reader Commissioned minister of Communion If possible: Minister of music ALL WORKING AS A TEAM! 10

11 Faces Eyes and eyebrows expression eye-contact Inwood s Third Law of Liturgical Ministry You can t minister effectively unless you have eye-contact with at least a proportion of those you are ministering to It s about relationships you can t normally minister to people whose eyes you can t see Faces Eyes and eyebrows expression eye-contact mouths Music An integral part of the liturgical action not an optional add-on Needs to fit the liturgical action Hierarchy of choice Participatory in character Makes or breaks the mood Beware of confusing quality / value with style / idiom Music The musical form depends on liturgical function, and can affect the meaning The manner of performance affects everything Balance of speaking and singing singing and silence prayer and performance Environment The visualdimension Colour Lighting inc. candles Artwork hangings, banners, tapestries, posters, other artefacts Seasonal decorations Plants and flowers Integration! 11

12 Things we use Authenticity Things we use The meaning of the sign demands that the material for the eucharistic celebration truly have the appearance of food. GIRM 321 The meaning of the sign demands that the music for the eucharistic celebration truly have the appearance of being integrated into the rite and aiding the prayer of the people. Things we use What about oil-filled or spring-loaded candles? electric sanctuary lamps? projection screens? altar wine that tastes like cooking sherry? polyester vestments? electronic organs? What things look like What things sound like What things feel like What people look like What people sound like How does that make you feel? More liturgical laws... Don t attempt to do two things at once! Always ask Who is / who should be doing this? Look at things from the point of view of the different participants Keep your liturgical antenna up! 12

13 Example 1: What s the difference between an entrance rite and a gathering rite? Example 2: Can you tell when the congregation switches off during a homily? Entrance We watch someone doing something Gathering We all do something together Length Was the music too long or too short? Was the homily too long or too short? What about length-balance of other elements? Overall length of the liturgy? Timing Did things start too late? Did it look as if people didn t know what they were doing? Or did things start too soon, giving the feeling of rushing? Liturgical Ministers Did they appear interested in the rite? Or just in what they were doing? (e.g. musicians) Did they appear interested in the assembly? Or just in getting through the rite? Did they look happy? Appropriateness Did things seem to fit in well? e.g. the music Was the style appropriate for the kind of assembly? e.g. readers, music 13

14 The Assembly Were they engaged in what was taking place? If yes, what contributed? If no, why? e.g. boring readers, dull music same old routine Did the assembly feel at all manipulated? General Impressions Were things uplifting, prayerful, exciting, other positive attributes? Or depressing, tedious, at odds with the text? Was the meaning of the liturgy conveyed or obscured? Detailed Impressions Was the balance of music correct? e.g. not a spiritual concert with incidental prayers and readings nor acres of spoken text and only a little music Detailed Impressions Was the balance of styles and idioms correct? If there were different styles, were they used systematically or randomly? Detailed Impressions Was the balance between sung music and instrumental music correct? Was there a good balance between accompanied and unaccompanied music? Detailed Impressions What was the balance between sound and silence? Was there any silence at all? 14

15 Detailed Impressions What was the overall impression of speed? Fast? Slow? Everything at the same pace? Adequate gaps between sections of the rite? Detailed Impressions Tempo of music? Assembly s mood? Volume of music? Volume of prayers and readings? Detailed Impressions Physical arrangement? e.g. relationship of ministers to each other and to the assembly Acoustics? and use of PA systems? Some important concluding notes 1. There is a difference between perceiving and receiving 2. No liturgy is complete without an evaluation (mystagogy, post mortem ) Needs to be done regularly and as part of a team Some important concluding notes Questions to ask: Not What happened?, or How well did X work? but How was it for you? Some important concluding notes Phrase questions as: What did it feel like when? Did you notice how? These enable us to get below the surface and discover things we never consciously knew 15

16 2016, 2018 Paul Inwood Workshops 16