HOLY FATHER CELEBRATES MASS IN SISTINE CHAPEL AD ORIENTAM
Pope Benedict celebrated parts of Sunday’s Mass ad orientam, re-introducing a posture that he maintains has always been proper for the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms Mass of the Roman Rite.
The Pope used the Sistine Chapel’s ancient altar set right against the wall under Michelangelo’s dramatic depiction of the Last Judgment, instead of the altar placed on a mobile platform that had been used in recent years for Masses in the historic Chapel.
A statement by the Vatican’s office for liturgical celebrations said it had been decided to use the old altar, where ballots are placed during papal elections, to respect “the beauty and the harmony of this architectonic jewel”.
That meant that for the first time in this kind of celebration since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the pope faced the Cross, celebrating the Mass by leading the people, with all facing the Altar (ad orientam). He also read his homily from an old wooden throne on the left of the altar used by Pius IX in the 19th century.
The conservative German-born pontiff is slowly reintroducing some of the old rituals phased out by liturgical commissions after Vatican II, which allowed the vernacular to be used, while maintaining Latin as the official language of the Mass.
In July, the Pope issued a decree allowing wider use of the old Latin mass (Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite). He has also said he would like the centuries-old Gregorian chant, which officially holds “pride of place” in liturgical celebrations, to return to regular usage in all Roman Catholic parishes throughout the world. The Holy Father has also recommended that altar rails be returned to the sanctuary of Catholic churches.
During Sunday’s mass commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ, which was celebrated in Italian, the Pope baptised 13 babies, carefully pouring water on their heads from a golden shell.
He spoke about the significance of baptism, which marks the admission of a person in the community of Christians.