AUTUMN • MARCH 2019 49/1 early Church is one of gradual separation framework. , we say, fulfils the from the Jewish faith. Then quite quickly, prophesy of the coming of a saviour. After the proclamation of Christ to the Jewish reading Isaiah in the synagogue, Jesus community was broadened to include the exclaims, this text is being fulfilled today Gentiles. But this brings us to the most even as you listen (Lk 4:21). This does delicate issue of all. How do we articulate not empty the words of Isaiah of their the relationship between Christianity and original meaning, but adds a new Judaism, the new Covenant and the first dimension to them. None of this should be Covenant? An Easter Imperative read as though the New Testament Sometimes in the New Testament itself and replaces or supersedes the Old. Although he Jews shouted, ‘Not this man, but commonly throughout Christian history, Christians believe God is acting to do Barabbas!’ They shouted, ‘If you set the new people of God were understood to something new in Christ, the idea of T him free, you are no friend of replace Israel, the new covenant in Christ fulfilment suggests that God is always Caesar!’ Pilate said to the Jews, ‘Here is taking over the original covenant with faithful to the promises of old. Do not your king.’ The Jews said, ‘Take him away; God’s people. Hebrews 8:13 is unequivocal imagine, says Jesus, that I have come to take him away. Crucify him!’ In speaking of a ‘new covenant’ God has abolish the laws or the prophets. I have made the first one obsolete. And what is These are the words we hear in John’s come not to abolish but to fulfil (Mt 5:17). obsolete and growing old will soon Gospel on Good Friday. What we say and disappear. Combined with the blunt The challenge we have inherited from our think about Judaism in our Easter liturgy, doctrine ‘No salvation outside the history is well illustrated by the Christian what we sing and pray, read and preach, Church’, this is clearly unacceptable. It iconography of Ecclesia and Synagoga demands careful discernment and nuance. effectively excludes and marginalises frequently encountered in the Middle Ages, I hope we have some of the obvious issues Jewish people, treats Jews as a rejected and usually presented in the form of two under control. There was an outcry in people, and gives rise to misguided young female figures. They were carved, 2007 when use of the extraordinary form missionary endeavours directed at the for example, on one of the portals of of the Roman Rite was made more ‘conversion of the Jews’. Right up until the th Strasbourg cathedral in 1230. Ecclesia is generally available. It included a Good 20 century, such thinking has led crowned and dressed in an imperial robe; Christians to antisemitism. Friday Prayer which interceded for the she carries a chalice and holds a staff ‘perfidious Jews’ in their blindness, that But the first covenant stands, since God surmounted with a cross and resurrection they would be brought from their darkness does not take back the gifts he has banner. She looks triumphantly out to the into the light of Christ. This prayer was bestowed or renege on the choice he has world. Synagoga, on the other hand, changed. In the 1970s we used to sing made. The first is not annulled or replaced looks down in defeat, her staff is broken, brightly of JHWH as the God of our by the new Covenant in the blood of she wears no crown and her eyes are salvation, and the original Jerusalem Bible Christ. This is stated by Paul writing to the veiled. The scroll of the Scriptures slips used God’s holy name JHWH (though our Romans (11:29) and affirmed by the from her hand. Lectionary replaced it with ‘LORD’). Out of (Nostra Aetate 4). The Passion narrative in the synoptic respect we no longer speak the sacred Instead we are called to recognise that the name of God. one God speaks to all through both Old Gospels relates that, at the moment Jesus and New Testaments. The commandment died, the curtain of the Temple was torn in So there has been a concerted effort to to love God and love our neighbour is the two from top to bottom (Mt 27:51, Mk purge our liturgy of anti-Jewish common property of both testaments. The 15:38, Lk 23:45). This has generally been perspectives. The difficult texts of scripture two covenants are complementary and taken to say that the death and need careful exegesis when they are mutually affirming. Indeed it may be more resurrection of Jesus brought an end to preached, and probably judicious editing accurate to speak of one covenant of Jewish worship in the Temple. when the new Lectionary is prepared. We salvation in which the one God draws both Consequently the figures of Ecclesia and must avoid giving the impression that Jews Jews and Gentiles together. Synagoga are sometimes placed on either in general are responsible for the killing of This is the way we must interpret the side of the crucifixion. Jesus or are the ‘enemies of Jesus’. Some Prayer for Jewish People on Good Friday. of those present in Jerusalem at the time We ask that they will advance in love of It is not a common subject for agitated against Jesus and certain ones God’s name and in faithfulness to God’s contemporary art, but a recent example among the scribes and Pharisees. So, covenant (with them) that the people you shows an edifying change. To should we adjust the Good Friday Gospel to first made your own may attain the commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of say, The crowd shouted… or Pilate said to fullness of redemption. We do not ask Nostra Aetate in 2015, Joshua Koffman the people…? that they be saved by faith in Christ and do was commissioned to make a sculpture for not make them the object of Catholic St Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. It is helpful to remember that Jesus missionary activity. Here the two women are seated together, himself, as well as Paul and the apostles, both wear crowns and carry the scriptures One of the trickiest notions we need to deal were committed Jews. So for example, we (a scroll and a book). They are talking with is ‘fulfilment’. A constant refrain in see Jesus reading the prophet Isaiah in the together and learning from each other. synagogue (Lk 4:16-22) and frequently the Gospels is that this or that took place to teaching there. Christian liturgy has roots fulfil the Scriptures. In Christian prayer, in Jewish prayer forms. The story of the we use the psalms within a Christological

2 LITURGY NEWS Autumn 2019

by Barry M Craig

IT TAKES A LONG TIME to change a common The people’s renewed participation in the great mindset. We are still in the process of changing from Prayer of thanksgiving is not always well understood. the mindset that viewed the officiating priest as the The General Instruction of the Roman Missal sole offerer at Mass. That view did not exist in the explains that the priest invites the people to the lifting first few centuries. It appeared in the West as the of hearts in prayer and thanksgiving, and he holds people were rendered unable to participate verbally them together with himself in the Prayer that in the in the liturgy since its texts remained in Latin when name of the entire community he directs to God the they no longer spoke or understood it. The focus on Father through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. the priest as the one who offers became stronger Moreover, the sense of this prayer is that the whole with the emergence of the so-called private Mass in congregation of the faithful is joined to Christ in the which indeed the priest was the only participant. In praising of God’s mighty deeds and in the offering of practice the people were pushed to the edges. For the sacrifice (GIRM 78). example, editions of the Roman Missal from 1570 to Thus in fact, the liturgy is the ‘action’ of the whole 1962 did not even include a rite of distributing holy Christ: not just the priest who acts in the name of communion in the Order of Mass itself. (A Christ, but the whole Body of Christ comprised of all communion rite used for the sick outside Mass was those who have been baptised into Christ (see added to the Roman Ritual in 1614 and this was then Catechism, 1136, 1140). Examining the Eucharistic added to the introductory notes in the Roman Missal Prayer will help deepen our understanding of this of 1634.) The private Mass in effect became the norm central liturgical action. even when people were there; they were merely passive on-lookers. Types of the Prayer The liturgy’s prayers actually contradict that view, for In the Churches in the East, the Prayer is called generally the priest speaks in the plural (we and us Anaphora translating as Offering. Each composition and our). However it was only with the reform of is a fixed text. Historically there have been several to Vatican II that the people’s direct verbal participation choose between, some being associated with was restored. By permitting the renewed use of the particular feasts or seasons, but in most Churches vernacular, the Order of Mass formally reintegrated now these have been reduced to a few, perhaps two, the people to the action itself. They take part in the or even only one. proclamation of the Eucharistic Prayer by the introductory dialogue and the acclamations. The rite The Latin West developed instead a model of the of distribution of Communion was added in 1965, Prayer that comprised a series of fixed, variable, and and then in 1967 the priest’s and people’s occasional units. Notably there was great variety of Communion rites were combined into one. choice in first part of the Prayer, called the Preface.

Autumn 2019 LITURGY NEWS 3 This is why the Prayer was called the Canon That statement by the people is important: it is the (translating List, Series or Model). The units in the first line of the Eucharistic Prayer as the priest repeats first Eucharistic Prayer (Roman Canon) are it and affirms it with the word Truly, Indeed. He identifiable by the conclusion Through Christ our expands it into the first unit called the Preface. Lord. Amen. (though the priest may omit these Unlike a book’s preface this is not peripheral or today). This flexible structure is part of the genius of optional. Its content gives us the term Eucharist for it the Latin rites for it ensured a great deal of variation contains the thanksgiving (eucharistia in Greek) or to reflect the occasion. praise for God’s wonderful deeds. The central part of The modern liturgical reform introduced even more the Preface varies according to season, day, or feast, but is centred on thanks for Christ himself and our variety by adding new Eucharistic Prayers, many with salvation in him. Then, having already been invited a great deal of internal variation. Like the Roman Canon (first Eucharistic Prayer), the third has no fixed to associate our liturgical action with heaven, the conclusion draws us to join our voices with the hymn preface and has additional elements for use in rites of of the angels Holy, Holy…. This is an integral and initiation, ordination, matrimony, various inseparable part of the Eucharistic Prayer, and it consecrations and professions in religious life, dedication of churches, and Masses for the dead. The belongs to the people to sing it or say it with the priest. I stress these elements to remind us all that second similarly has additions for those moments; the Eucharistic Prayer is indeed the prayer of the while it has its own default preface, this may be whole congregation, priest and people together. changed for another. The fourth is a more fixed text Although most of it is on the priest’s lips as the voice like the Anaphora, but it too admits additions for of the congregation, there are parts that are most of the occasions noted above. The Eucharistic pronounced by all. Prayer for Use in Masses for Various Needs comes in four variant forms. The two Prayers for The element of praise and thanks is continued by the Reconciliation are more or less fixed but can still be priest (more or less briefly) and after this our focus used with another preface referring to penance or shifts to the elements on the altar. The Prayer conversion. becomes petitionary. In various ways each Eucharistic Prayer asks God to accept the bread and General Structure wine and to make them for us the sacramental Body The Prayer begins with the opening dialogue that and Blood of Christ. But the bread and wine shows the presider and people to be acting as one as represent us too, as many an ancient preacher they acknowledge each other with the ancient indicated: there are many grains ground and made greeting and reply (The Lord be with you. And with into one loaf, and many grapes squeezed to make your spirit.). Then, since what is to follow is a one cup, and these images depict ourselves as the participation in heavenly worship, the priest exhorts many members of the one Body of Christ, the all to contemplate divine matters (literally Church. Thus in the course of the Prayer the gifts Hearts/Minds on high!). The people assure him that become a dual symbol of the abiding presence of the they are doing so, and he invites them to give thanks self-giving Christ and of our communion with one to God, to which they consent (It is right and just). another in him. In the middle of the Prayer, the story of the is recounted, the Institution GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER (GIRM 79): Narrative, when we hear the Lord saying this is my  Opening Dialogue (we all share the Eucharistic Prayer) Body and this is… my  Preface (praise and thanks for God’s wondrous deeds) Blood, followed by his command to do this in his  Sanctus (Holy Holy) (joining the praise of heaven) memory.  Praise and Thanks (continued by the priest, briefly or at some length) How and when do the  Holy Spirit (invoked over the gifts of bread and wine) bread and wine become Christ’s Body and Blood?  Institution Narrative (the powerful words of Christ) The East is generally less  Memorial (Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension) interested in such questions but tends to say  Offering (participation in the offering of Christ on the cross) that it is the work of the Holy Spirit when invoked  Holy Spirit (who gathers the Church as one) upon the bread and wine.  Intercessions (for the Church, living and dead, local and universal) The West decided that it is when the priest speaks  Praise (to end the Eucharistic Prayer and in the concluding formula) the words of Christ, acting

4 LITURGY NEWS Autumn 2019 in persona Christi. We have called these ‘the words development until the time of Gregory the of consecration’. It is not helpful to be too dogmatic Great (590-604). This left it with grammatical oddities about this question. We may note that the Roman as some occasional elements became fixed, some Canon has no explicit invocation of the Holy Spirit additions were rather clumsily made, and at least one and, while in the East the Prayer mostly includes the ‘either/or’ direction came to be read as part of the Institution Narrative, at least one Prayer does not text with both alternatives included. Such oddities have the Narrative at all. However necessary we now are more easily overlooked in the Latin since it is no hold these elements to be, research into liturgical one’s native language, but they stand out when trying history shows no sign of them until the third and to translate the text. fourth centuries. There are also particular rhetorical features that What is clear is that the Last Supper Narrative belongs distinguish it from our newer Prayers. These come to the memorial unit, that is, the remembering or from a time when the art of rhetoric was a standard calling forth the saving death and resurrection of part of education, playing an important role in public Christ. The memorial of Jesus’ self-giving at the table oratory, and recognised as a sign of sophistication and on the cross is separated by the people’s and good . Such features of literary and interrupting acclamation. At this central moment in oratorical style sit uneasily with the way we use the Prayer, the whole congregation sing: When we language today, particularly in English translation. eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your For example, the ancient Latin text frequently uses Death, O Lord, until you come again. The people very long complex sentences. These have to be address Christ directly to acknowledge his presence broken into several parts in English to make them and his self-giving death. The memorial then merges manageable, but sometimes suffer a loss of grammat- into petitions that are oriented to our worthy ical coherence which makes oral delivery difficult. reception of holy communion: that the Holy Spirit Characteristic rhetorical features are the use of will draw the Church into unity. Thus we intercede repetition and triples. In the first set of intercessions, for the whole Church, those living and dead. It looks for example, we ask God to accept and bless these forward to our ultimate union at the banquet of gifts, these offerings, these holy and unblemished heaven. The Prayer concludes as it began with sacrifices. Again before the Institution Narrative, we words of praise, but the last word is on the lips of the ask God to bless, acknowledge and approve this people as they give their assent and acclaim, Amen. offering. After the memorial, we are said to offer this Roman Canon, Eucharistic Prayer 1 pure victim, this holy victim, this spotless victim (the Latin hostiam translated as ‘victim’ means ‘offering’ The first Eucharist Prayer, our venerable Roman or ‘sacrifice’). According to the ancient rhetoric such Canon, deserves particular attention as our traditional repetition, which seems redundant in modern Prayer kept for over 1400 years. It has a complicated English, was understood to add emphasis and force history. The Prayer continued to undergo to the text.

Autumn 2019 LITURGY NEWS 5 Disregarding internal problems and looking at the Conclusion whole Roman Canon, we can see that it contains the same elements as the other Eucharistic Prayers, but it At every step of the way we see that the Eucharistic is helpful to notice that it has a particular structure. Prayer is an activity of the whole faithful The kernel remains the words of Christ. The other congregation; the priest gives it its main voice, and elements are arranged more or less symmetrically presides over it on behalf of and speaking in the around this centre. It is called a chiastic structure. person of Christ. But the people are not incidental. They are full participants in  Praise and Thanks (the Opening Dialogue, the Preface, the Holy Holy) this offering,  1st Petition (accept and bless these gifts… we offer) both in the words of the  1st Intercessions (for the Church, Pope and Bishop, the Living) Prayer and in  1st List of Saints (we pray in communion with them) the sharing of st the bread and  1 Formula of Offering (accept this oblation of our service) wine over  1st Invocation (be pleased… to bless, acknowledge and approve) which the Prayer was said  Memorial Declaration (This is my Body… my Blood) – the holy  Memorial Acclamation (We proclaim your death, O Lord) communion  Memorial Dedication (…Passion …Resurrection …Ascension) towards which the Prayer  2nd Formula of Offering (remembering him we offer this pure victim) leads in the  2nd Invocation (be pleased to look upon these offerings... accept them) action of the Mass.  2nd Petition (that we may be filled with every grace and heavenly blessing)  2nd Intercessions (for the Dead and for participants)  Rev Dr Barry nd  2 List of Saints (grant us some share and fellowship with them) Craig is a priest of  Praise (expressed in the final sentence and the concluding formula) the Diocese of Cairns.

however has consistently seen Confirmation as sealing Baptism and leading the baptised to holy communion, that is, as the second of the three sacraments of Christian initiation. This might mean that it is celebrated outside Mass (since the children will not yet have received their first communion) or within a parish Sunday Mass (since initiation concerns the whole Church, represented by the Music at Confirmation Sunday assembly). Where Confirmation is celebrated during the Sunday by Anthony Young Mass, the hymns, responses and acclamations chosen for the celebration ought to be familiar to the whole assembly, precisely so that the people can participate Music and the Rite fully in the liturgy. The decision of choosing this Confirmation should be a great event in the life of the music should be made by the trained liturgical candidates and the worshipping community. We musicians who usually prepare the parish music and know that the full and active participation by all the not left to those who prepare the children for the people is the aim to be considered before all else (SC sacrament. 14) and that the participation must be both ‘internal’ Pastoral Contexts and ‘external’ (MS 15). Accordingly, choosing the best music possible is an essential part of the Music at Confirmation needs to take account of a preparation. variety of pastoral circumstances. Where the sacrament of Confirmation is conferred at 1. The candidates may be active members of the a later age after first communion, it would usually parish and the celebration may occur during a parish take place during Mass. The Catholic tradition Sunday Mass. In this case, everyone involved knows

6 LITURGY NEWS Autumn 2019 the parish repertoire and the music ministers may consternation. Adults may not be comfortable skilfully incorporate special music for the singing children’s songs – anyone remember Carey Confirmation ceremony into the music program for Landry’s I’m Like a Bright Giant Love Ball from the the preceding weeks so that the music becomes 1973 Hi God album? By contrast, traditional hymns known. The candidates themselves learn the music such as Firmly I Believe and Truly (CWBII 486) as part of the sung prayer in their preparation. The might work well, as might We Believe (AOV 149). music ministers would choose familiar Catholic Use the index in you hymnal: CWBII gives a music so that visitors know the music or are handful of suggestions for Confirmation and carried along by the singing of the well-led suggests looking further in the Pentecost assembly. Music to accompany the section. anointing of the candidates need not be 2. Range and Intervals Research into sung by all. voice development in children makes 2. A second scenario is that some of it clear that people cannot sing the candidates and their families music that their voices cannot are not active members of the manage. We should avoid faith community. Pastorally choosing pieces with a this is an opportunity to range too far over an evangelise. When the octave. If young untrained Confirmation rite is part of the children are singing, try not to Sunday Mass, regular parishioners go below C3 or above C4 and will provide a pastoral welcome and check for awkward intervals. model good participatory behaviour. 3. Rhythm In modern music, favour Prayerful and joyful music may encourage songs where the syncopated rhythms are the ‘disconnected’ families to come back to natural and speech-like and similar rhythmic church more often. Perhaps these families will patterns are repeated. If the word setting to be more likely to sing music they know from the rhythm changes with every verse, even trained time in the past when they did attend church. singers at worship will give up. 3. When Confirmation is not celebrated during a 4.Form A simple repeated chorus or hymn form weekend Mass and few parishioners are present, it will teach itself through the repetition of the verses. will be more difficult to involve ‘disconnected’ If the piece is in verse/chorus form, the chorus families. Again, an intergenerational and ecumenical should be simple. If the verses are simple too, that is repertoire will assist. The candidates, parents and even better. If the verses are difficult, they may be sponsors must learn the music as part of the sung by a cantor. If the piece has a bridge, it can be sacramental preparation. Praying aloud, reflecting in deleted or sung by a cantor. And if the form of the silence and singing together should occur in the first piece is not easy to follow, do not choose it. preparation meeting so as to normalise silent communal reflection together with spoken and sung 5.Style Music ministry is about service. The music prayer. should suit the assembly, not just the musicians. Reflect on the demographic of your worshipping At the ceremony itself, those present need to be community. A congregation from western nurtured from the start of proceedings. A short song Queensland will engage with different church music practice ‘breaks the ice’. A few kind words of than a congregation from inner city Melbourne. guidance before the ceremony will set expectations of behaviour and participation. People do need to be 6.Resources There is no point in choosing music silent at key moments, respond to the prayers, and that the parish musicians cannot lead well. Parishes sing the congregational music. Mobile phones need to work to develop a well-equipped, strong should be switched off and no photographs or music leadership team, but further exploration of this videos should be allowed. Such respectful issue lies beyond the scope of this article. attentiveness can no longer be presumed in church. The need for hospitality does not do away with due What Next? reverence for the sacred and respect for a solemn There is no point having a wonderful Confirmation and important rite. celebration if the newly confirmed attend a dreary Mass the next weekend. Confirmation should be a Choice of Music high point in reliable, vibrant and active liturgical These are practical suggestions about the choice of practice in our parishes. We must all work together music in addition to the usual considerations for every week to make the Mass the summit and source music at Mass. of Catholic life. 1. Text Confirmation involves the assembly in sung prayer. It is not a concert by the candidates or a  Dr Anthony Young is Assistant Head of the Music Faculty soloist. Texts should be neither arcane nor banal. at St Laurence’s College, Brisbane, and director of the music For example, if Come Holy Ghost is chosen (CWBII ministry in the Parish of Toowong, Brisbane. 382), the terms ‘ghost’ and ‘paraclete’ may cause

Autumn 2019 LITURGY NEWS 7 LITURGICAL TRANSLATION separating the authority of and of the bishops conferences under the new No one wants to go back and arrangements is proving delicate. A retranslate the Missal, said Auckland Canadian bishop and canon lawyer is Bishop Patrick Dunn (below), president currently drafting ICEL’s new of the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference constitution. Magnum Principium also and the bishops’ representative on the moves away from the strictly literal international translation body ICEL. translation imposed in 2001 and restores Providing a rare insight into the current the earlier flexibility in rendering Latin work of translation, Bishop Dunn said, into good English. the general mood is that [the bishops] are very happy to translate more freely. Many have proposed the adoption of the We are breaking up long Latin senten- 1998 translation. Even this would ces and doing it with great joy. But the require considerable work after twenty bishops of the English-speaking world years of evolving liturgical practice. AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY are preoccupied with other issues and Bishop Dunn is on record as supporting OF LITURGY the fight over translations has lost steam. such a proposal and most of the New The University of Notre Dame in the Zealand bishops would be in favour, but historic precinct of Fremantle was the he now suggests that it might be more setting for the recent conference of the appropriate to look at revising the 2010 ecumenical Australian Academy of version, given that people have become Liturgy. Exploring the topic ‘The Art of used to much of it during the past decade. Liturgy’, keynote speakers presented the St John’s Bible illuminated manuscript, uncovered justice issues implied in Western liturgy, and explored the use of icons in Protestant Churches. These were backed up by a range of seminars on related topics. BETTER THAN THE OLD ONE OLD THE THAN BETTER I LIKE THE NEW TRANSLATION TRANSLATION NEW THE I LIKE

During the 1990s, the Congregation for

Divine Worship and the Discipline of the KWARD Sacraments took control of the translation process; it rejected the 1998 Missal translation which ICEL had prepared and the bishops approved, and Participants examine a volume of the it established new structures and Heritage Edition of the St John’s Bible. principles for translation in its 2001 DISTRACTING AND document Liturgiam Authenticam. The conference was the occasion to SOME OF THE LANGUAGE IN THE Eighteen months ago, IS AW TRANSLATION NEW launch the next Mandorla Art Award for revised the process in Magnum Priests may not like the new Missal, he Christian art, to inaugurate the Principium giving control of liturgical said, but I think people are less Hardiman Library Collection of liturgical books within Notre Dame, and to language back to bishops’ conferences as concerned about it. This would be experience a performance of the ‘Seven originally intended. But having devoted supported by the results of questions put Last Words of Christ’ by contemporary years to the approval of the 1998 and in Australia in 2016 by the National composer Alan Ridout played on the then the 2010 versions of the Missal, the Church Life Survey (above). Asked organ at St Patrick’s Basilica by Dominic ICEL bishops conferences do not seem whether they liked the new translation Perissinotto. As always, one of the most interested in going through the entire better than the old one, 45% agreed or powerful aspects of the conference is to process again. strongly agreed. A third were unsure or gather with like-minded liturgists across The Congregation has advised ICEL that neutral. Remarking on the results, one various denominations for prayer, they should draft a new set of statutes priest wondered whether perhaps people reflection and convivium. for themselves, but establishing the line have stopped listening to the prayers.

8 LITURGY NEWS Autumn 2019 AUSTRALIA DAY HONOURS ECCLESIA DEI Pope Francis has suppressed the Ecclesia Dei. It was set up thirty years ago to work for the reconciliation of the Priestly Fraternity of St Pius X (FSSPX). This schismatic group, followers of Archbishop Lefebvre, reject the liturgical reform of Vatican II and celebrate the Tridentine Latin liturgy. Its suppression does not mean that efforts at reconciliation have been abandoned. But the situation has changed since its establishment in 1988. In 2007, Pope Benedict made provision for any Catholic to celebrate the Tridentine liturgy in Latin and, controversially, in 2009 he lifted the on the Fraternity’s four bishops. Since then, Pope Francis has accepted the validity of their priests’ absolution in confession and allowed them, if necessary, to witness a Catholic marriage. Congratulations to two prominent These moves have clarified that the liturgists who were recognised in the barriers to reconciliation are no longer 2019 Australia Day Awards. ROBERT simply liturgical; they are more clearly GRIBBEN and CHARLES SHERLOCK were doctrinal. Consequently the both admitted as members of the Order responsibilities for dialogue are now of Australia. wholly with the Congregation for the Robert Gribben, pastor and academic, Doctrine of the Faith. The doctrinal issue has been the representative of the is accepting the validity of Vatican Uniting Church in Australia on the World Council II, not only in its liturgical reforms, but also its ecclesiology, Methodist Council, taking part in religious freedom and the Church’s national and international dialogue Anglican priest of the Diocese of Bendigo, teaching authority, embracing for groups. He was general secretary of the Charles Sherlock has been a lecturer in example, questions such as ecumenism Victorian Council of Churches and theology and liturgy. He was a key and interfaith dialogue. professor of worship and mission at the figure in the Anglican Liturgical University of Divinity in Melbourne. He Commission, notably in 1995 when A The suppression of Ecclesia Dei also was co-founder and chair of the Centre Prayer Book for Australia was resolves an irksome political for Ecumenical Studies in Canberra. He published. He was a long-time member development in the Church. Since 2009, played a key role in the production of the of the Anglican Roman Catholic a variety of traditionalist groups in the liturgy resource for the Uniting Church, International Commission (ARCIC) and Church have perceived an ally in the Uniting in Worship, writing a has taken part in the conferences of both Commission which tended to attract staff commentary on the first edition and Societas Liturgica and the Australian inclined to be sympathetic to these analysing the Eucharistic Prayers of the Academy of Liturgy. doctrinal and liturgical tendencies. They second edition. He has played an active have sometimes appeared to promote the extraordinary form over the ordinary part in the Australian Consultation on POPE ON MUSIC the Liturgy and the English Language and, by giving FSSPX too much leeway, Liturgical Consultation, in the Speaking to 8,000 singers at a meeting of may have created unrealistic expectations international Societas Liturgica and the choirs in Rome, Pope Francis remarked: concerning the possibility of reconciliation. local Australian Academy of Liturgy. His Please, do not be a ‘prima donna’! You In fact the Fraternity have remained wisdom and insight, his ecumenical are the musical animators of the whole quite intransigent, notwithstanding the acumen and liturgical expertise, were in congregation. Don’t take its place, extensive concessions given to the traditionalist position. One commentator evidence at the recent conference of the depriving the people of God of the chance remarked of the dialogue, We sent in AAL in Perth where he responded to to sing with you and bear witness to our doves; they sent their hawks. each of the keynote presentations. the Church’s communal prayer.

Autumn 2019 LITURGY NEWS 9 NEW COMMEMORATION On his way back from World Youth Day, the pope spoke of celibacy to the Pope Paul VI (1897-1978), canonised last reporters in the plane. He affirmed that year, now has a commemoration in the he thought celibacy was a gift to the General Roman Calendar. His feast day is 29 May, the date of his ordination in Church. He said he was clear he would 1920. Texts will be translated not move to make it optional. I don’t feel and made available as soon I can put myself in front of God with as possible. this decision, he said. On the other hand, he agreed that in far-flung or Giovanni Battista remote places there would be possibilities Montini became Paul VI for a change in discipline, and in 1963 during the theologians should discuss this issue. Second Vatican Council When there is a pastoral need, the and immediately decreed that it pastor must think of the faithful ones. should continue. He was responsible for overseeing the Council’s liturgical reform LITURGY CONGREGATION and promoting the active participation of the people. He promulgated the revised The Congregation for Divine Worship liturgical calendar and the corpus of new and the Discipline of the Sacraments liturgical books for the Mass and the called a plenary meeting of all its consultants in February this year. The sacraments. These were then translated conferences and the of the into the vernacular and approved for the topic set down was the ‘Liturgical Apostolic See which performs the task of celebration of the liturgy. In his teaching Formation of the People of God’. promoting the sacred liturgy’. The he tried to focus on that which is Theoretically an annual gathering, they hope is to continue on the path of essential and common in Catholic are rather infrequent: previous mutual collaboration, aware of the spiritual life. Thus, he wrote, the gatherings of the Congregation have responsibilities involved in ecclesial Church will be the Mother of Charity, taken place in 2009, 2005 and 2001. th communion, in which unity and [and] the liturgy will be the preferred This assembly took place on the 50 variety are united. It is a question of way for my religious spirituality. anniversary of the promulgation of the Roman calendar and the liturgical year. harmony. Both of Vatican Council II, John Addressing the plenary gathering of the Here we find also the challenge of XXIII and Paul VI, have now been canonised and included in the Roman Congregation, Pope Francis set clear formation, the specific object of your calendar. directions for its work, urging a spirit of reflection. Speaking of formation,we service. We know that it is not enough cannot forget, first of all, that the CELIBACY DISCUSSION to change the liturgical books to liturgy is life-that-forms, not an idea-to- improve the quality of the liturgy. To be-learned. It is useful in this regard The permanent council of the German do this alone would be a deception. to remember that reality is more bishops conference is planning to debate For life to be truly a praise pleasing to important than the idea. And it is the issue of celibacy for priests at its God, it is indeed necessary to change good therefore, in the liturgy as in Easter meeting this year. Against a the heart... This is also the purpose of other areas of ecclesial life, not to end secular culture which suggests it is your work today… In ecclesial up favouring sterile ideological outdated, there has been considerable communion, both the Apostolic See and polarisations, which often arise when, discussion of the history and purpose of the bishops conferences operate in a considering our own ideas valid for clerical celibacy in Germany. The spirit of cooperation, dialogue and all contexts, we tend to adopt an Central Committee of German Catholics, synodality. In fact, the does attitude of perennial dialectic towards a lay organisation, voted in November in not replace the bishops, but works with who does not share them. Thus, favour of abolishing mandatory celibacy. them to serve, in the richness of the starting perhaps from the desire to It is an issue also likely to be debated in various languages and cultures, the react to some insecurities in the current October this year at the regional synod prayerful vocation of the Church in the context, we risk then falling back into for the Amazon where many isolated world. The Magnum a past that no longer exists or of communities are deprived of Eucharist. principium It may well be brought forward also for (3 September 2017) follows escaping into a presumed future. The the 2020 Plenary Council for Australia. in this line; in it, I intended to starting point is instead to recognise And in last year, sensing a possible promote, among other things, the need the reality of the sacred liturgy, a shift in policy, a large group of married for ‘a constant collaboration, filled living treasure that cannot be reduced former priests wrote to the pope, offering with mutual trust, vigilant and to tastes, recipes and currents, but to resume the ministry if they were needed. creative, between the episcopal which should be welcomed with

10 LITURGY NEWS Autumn 2019 IN MEMORIAM last time four years ago in Hobart when, against doctor’s advice, he arrived REV DR RUSSELL HARDIMAN, priest of unannounced (and somewhat the Diocese of Bunbury for 52 years, died disoriented) at the meeting of the on 19 January 2019 at the age of 75. In Australian Academy of Liturgy. May he 1970, he became the first Australian to rest in peace. earn a doctorate in liturgy, studying at Sant’Anselmo in Rome. He was thus involved with implementing the liturgical renewal of Vatican Council II from the earliest days, notably through founding and editing the journal Pastoral Liturgy which is still being published five decades later. Beginning in 1993, he spent over twenty years teaching liturgy and sacraments in the School of Philosophy and Theology at Notre Dame University in Fremantle. SISTER WENDY BECKETT, a hermit who lived in a caravan in the grounds of the Carmelite convent at Quidenham (Norfolk), died 26 December 2018 at the docility and promoted with love, as age of 88. In the 1990s, she became very irreplaceable nourishment for the well known for her penetrating, pastoral organic growth of the people of God. and spiritual documentaries on art. The liturgy is not ‘the field of do-it- Introducing one of her popular television yourself’, but the epiphany of ecclesial films she said: This has been my home communion. Therefore, ‘we’, and not for over twenty years. My caravan ‘I’, resounds in prayers and gestures; may not look much, but it is my haven the real community, not the ideal subject. When we look back to where I can be alone with God; and nostalgic past tendencies or wish to one of the ways for me of looking at impose them again, there is the risk of God is by looking at art. Now I spend placing the part before the whole, the ‘I’ Three days before his death, the several hours every day looking at art before the people of God, the abstract university inaugurated the Hardiman and writing about it. All great art before the concrete, ideology before Library Collection of liturgy books from deals with human emotions and takes communion and, fundamentally, the his vast personal library donated to the us deep into somebody else’s world, so worldly before the spiritual. university. Many of us saw him for the we can learn more about ourselves.

NEW CHAIR CHOIR document of Vatican Council II (SC 29) Dr Bill Griffiths has been Irregularities in the directors’ use of the which calls for a choir to exercise a appointed to chair the liturgical ministry. National Liturgical Council funds of the Sistine Chapel Choir are until the end of 2020. After being investigated in Rome. Now Pope Guido Marini, Master of a career spent in Francis has placed the choir under new Pontifical Liturgical Ceremonies, has educational leadership in management. The job of overseeing the been entrusted with the duty to guide Adelaide and Darwin, he choir’s finances has been given to the activities and the liturgical, then completed an MA in Archbishop Guido Pozzo, the former pastoral, spiritual, artistic and Liturgical Studies at St John’s University, secretary of Ecclesia Dei (now suppressed). educational areas of the Chapel, Collegeville, before undertaking the role always making more perceptible in it of CEO of the National Catholic The choir itself was formerly part of the papal ‘household’. One of the last and in its particular components the Education Council in Canberra. The first end of sacred music which is ‘the appointment of a lay person to this role remaining vestiges of the old papal court, glory of God and the sanctification of is new. Traditionally it would have been the pontifical household may well be the bishop in charge of the Bishops’ abolished in the forthcoming reform of the faithful’ (SC 112). He is charged Commission for Liturgy who would chair the . Henceforth the choir with rewriting the statutes of the Chapel the NLC, but this was recently changed will come under the authority of the and its choir, and with promoting its by the bishops conference after a major office for papal liturgies. In making the prestigious artistic and musical review of its commissions and councils. move, the pope referred to the liturgy heritage.

Autumn 2019 LITURGY NEWS 11 WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS WOMEN’S DIACONATE be making the liturgy more open, more public (with a sacristan, teacher or Where your treasure is, there will your In answer to a question on women parent present in the church). The heart be also was the of a deacons in 2016, Pope Francis initiated a Archdiocese of Melbourne has adopted Symposium on Catholic liturgical study commission to look at the history this approach: …ensure that the heritage organised by the National of women in the diaconate. Made up of Sacrament of Reconciliation in schools Liturgical Architecture and Art Council six women and six men, the commission (NLAAC). It was held on the East recognised that women indeed have had is celebrated in a church in an open Melbourne campus of Australian Catholic a long history in the diaconate. What setting in the full view of all University. the historical evidence cannot always participants, who are supervised by determine is whether their ministry was staff… ensure that there is a direct line On the opening night, with music and a identical to the diaconate for men and of sight to the individual penitent. poetic text, images and video, two new how it relates to the structure of the publications were launched. The first Yet some dioceses are seeking instead to ordained ministry (deacon, priest, was Fit for Sacred Use: Stewardship enclose the ritual for reasons of bishop). Some years ago, Pope Benedict and Renewal of Places of Worship. It safeguarding. The Archdiocese of XVI refined canon law to differentiate the is a companion volume to the NLAAC Sydney, for example, has promulgated ministries of priest and deacon and for publication And When Churches Are To norms mandating that all confessionals decades now the Church has had Be Built. This sets out official guidelines are to have a fixed screen between deacons who are not on the pathway to on building new churches; the new penitent and priest so that physical priesthood. No details of the report of volume addresses the renewal of existing contact between them is not possible… the study commission have been church buildings and the heritage there are to be separate entrances for released, but its work is complete and the principles involved in such projects. penitent and priest (with glass panels in document is on the desk of Pope Francis. (SEE BOOK REVIEW, page 15). the doors). The second ‘publication’ launched was CONFESSIONALS Cultura. It is a web-based resource for Since the recommendations of the Royal producing and maintaining a catalogue- Commission, dioceses have been inventory of items and furnishings in considering the place for celebrating the places of worship and other church sacrament of penance. It is now properties. It has been developed in generally accepted that the door and wall conjunction with of the reconciliation space should be Insurances and will help parishes to completely or largely clear glass. This is recognise and value items of cultural not only for safeguarding priest and significance and to avoid inadvertent penitent, but also because the space for alienation of the patrimony of the the sacramental liturgy is a public place Church. for an ecclesial act. These provisions The two guest speakers made the are enshrined in the national guidelines Symposium a most interesting event: for new and existing churches (And What this arrangement looks like is  Sophie Andrea, architecture historian, When Churches Are To Be Built, 413; illustrated by the recently modified who has long been involved with the Fit For Sacred Use,1204). We have been confessionals in St Mary’s Cathedral in Patrimony Committee of the Catholic advocating this arrangement for twenty- Perth (above). The penitent enters and Bishops Conference of England and five years (see Liturgy News, June 1995, may kneel behind frosted glass panels Wales. p. 2). which completely obscure the priest. A  Richard Vosko, priest and liturgical The place for celebrating this sacrament disembodied voice is the only contact designer/consultant, who has worked on is set up as a chapel (not a counselling between them. Or the penitent may take the renovation of over 135 churches and room or a tribunal) because what takes a few more steps and sit facing the cathedrals in the United States of place here is a prayerful ritual in which priest. But here they communicate over America. the penitent and priest encounter the a metre-high timber wall and through mercy of God. The confessional box of fixed glass slats. This arrangement In addition there was a range of yore is a recent phenomenon: it was hardly speaks of the joyous welcome and workshops and case studies of designed after the Council of Trent by ministry of mercy presumed by the ritual restoration projects. Bishop Charles Borromeo. In medieval of penance. Copies of the two NLAAC publications are times, the priest’s seat was in the open in available from the online shop at Liturgy the church and the penitent knelt beside Brisbane www.liturgybrisbane.net.au. or in front of him. This may be a good solution for the present day. We should Happy easter!

12 LITURGY NEWS Autumn 2019 Days in principle, but left it to local bishops conferences to determine the extent and form of the observance. In 2008 the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference decided that the Australian Church would observe the first Friday of March and September as Autumn and Spring ember days. Living in a rural diocese, I know the people who work on the land and live in a close relationship with mother earth. I know how important God’s blessing is to them. I have experienced the success and hardship resulting Ember Days: from different weather events. Even though many Australians no longer have this direct relationship to From the grandeur and beauty of created things land, everyone has some experience of the comes a corresponding idea of their Creator unpredictable brutality of climate extremes. (Wis 13:5) Regardless of where we stand on climate change, for people of faith a relationship to the Creator charges us . with the responsibility to care for creation. In his by John Briffa letter Laudato Si’, Pope Francis uses the creation stories of Genesis to say that human life is id you mark the ember day on the first Friday in grounded in three fundamental and closely March? To be honest, if I was asked to describe intertwined relationships: with God, with our my experience of celebrating ember days, I D neighbour and with the earth itself (LS 66). would have nothing much to say. Perhaps those in their autumn years would have a better recollection of past Issues around sustainable and socially responsible ways practice, but for a relatively young person of faith, of living are increasingly in the spotlight. This is not lost ember days do not carry memories which readily spring on the young members of the Church, as interest in the to mind. Our comfortable and secure lifestyle has made environment is a cause often championed by the youth. them fall into obscurity. However the unprecedented Perhaps this creates the perfect point of entry for re- bushfires and the simultaneous drought-and-flood engaging our communities with the observation of which we have seen recently in north Queensland may ember days. Parishes with schools could celebrate a be cause for us to embrace these special days of prayer liturgy with a creation focus. This would help express and abstinence which we call ember days. the connection between liturgy and life, something which is often questioned by young people today. The document governing the liturgical year and calendar describes them this way: On ember days the At Masses the previous weekend, the faithful might be practice of the Church is to offer prayers to the Lord for reminded that the upcoming Friday is a day of fasting the needs of all people, especially for the productivity of and abstinence in recognition of our responsibility to be the earth and for human labour, and to give him good stewards of the world’s resources. Pew bulletins public thanks (GNLYC 45). Originally instituted to ask could include suitable prayers for families to say God’s blessing for a bountiful harvest or a good vintage, together on the day. The Prayer of the Faithful on the ember days also call us to be aware of the impact of our day itself could feature petitions for the productivity of relationship with the environment and the responsibility the earth and for human labour; for the victims of placed before us to care for our planet. famine and exploitation; for the grace to be good stewards of God’s gift of creation. The first Friday of both March and September are set down in the Australian liturgical calendar as days to Fasting, and abstaining from something we like, offer penance, fasting and special prayers for the needs encourages us to be restrained in our exploitation of of all people and the productivity of the earth. These natural resources. School tuckshops could ban the sale two days loosely correspond with the commencement of pre-packaged or over packaged and processed food. of the seasons of Autumn and Spring. In our liturgical Home meals could be simple salads or plain rice. A day calendar they are what remains of a tradition which of penance expresses our solidarity with those who are once marked the beginning of all four seasons, each disadvantaged, especially those who suffer through with a period of three days of abstinence. famine and inequitable distribution of the world’s goods. Although the exact origin of ember days is uncertain, If you missed the ember day on Friday 1 March, look to they can be linked to pagan practices connected with Friday 6 September. On caring for our common home, the annual events of harvest, planting and vintage. At a Pope Francis writes: in nature God speaks to us and time when empires were built on agricultural prosperity grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness and the human labour required to sustain it, seeking (LS 12). Promoting and observing ember days provides God’s blessing on the harvest and on the workers was an opportunity to encourage everyone to do something natural. The ritual pattern was well established in more to protect the natural world and to share God’s church culture by the fifth century when Pope Leo I beauty and goodness in creation. preached a series of sermons on ember days. The reform of the Second Vatican Council retained Ember  John Briffa is the liturgy officer in the Diocese of Toowoomba.

Autumn 2019 LITURGY NEWS 13 the goldfields were harsh when the priests and nuns of days gone by brought Christ to the

outback. Then the mines closed, towns dwindled and schools were shut.

An amazing period of regeneration began in 1982. Fr Luke Fay, a Redemptorist priest from Ballarat, was giving the priests’ retreat in Geraldton. Bishop Foley showed him a map of the diocese which covers 1.32 million square kilometres. He pointed to the remote towns on the edge of the Great Victorian Desert where nickel had been discovered but where there were no priests. Fr Luke volunteered for a year. He lived in a caravan in Leinster and he celebrated Mass in the annexe. His pastoral ministry saw him travel to Leonora, Laverton and other small centres, including aboriginal LEINSTER, LEONORA, LAVERTON communities and station homesteads. After this, a place for the priest and a Mass centre were built by the mining company at Leinster and the towns kept their resident priest into the late 1990s. Now there is no resident priest (nor a pastoral leader) here in this part of WA. On the by Annette Dever SGS fourth Sunday of each month, a priest from Geraldton drives the 900 km each way to celebrate Eucharist. I was excited to read Sr Gerri Boylan’s story of ministry in Mt Magnet in the Diocese of Geraldton (Liturgy News I am eternally grateful to have had the opportunity to December 2018). I was sent to join her in the Good celebrate liturgy with people in the outback. I feel Samaritan community there in 2003, with a special humbled to have followed the priests and nuns of earlier responsibility for the remote communities of Leinster, years and to be inspired by the way they brought Christ to Leonora and Laverton. This is the next parish further people in very difficult conditions. I owe enormous inland from Mt Magnet – 4½ hours drive to Leinster and gratitude to the bishop who trusted me to celebrate word over 7 hours to Laverton. and communion as pastoral leader in these towns. It has been a privilege to minister to those in need in the outback: A group of asylum seekers arrived in Leonora in 2010. So praying morning prayer, preparing children and adults for until my retirement in 2016, I was based there between the sacraments, supporting families, visiting people in their Leinster and Laverton. The four years that the asylum homes, visiting the schools, taking communion to the sick, seekers remained in town was a very enriching and sacred presiding at funerals and memorials, blessing homes. time for all involved. The local community welcomed For me, the time was like a retreat. The beauty, the peace them and we shared liturgy together. At first we went to and the isolation, the long long roads and the red soil, the the detention centre, and then they were able to come to mulga, spinifex, saltbush and occasional sea of wild- our beautiful but simple Sacred Heart Church (above) to flowers, gave me time to reflect and added to the share the word and music, and join the locals for a cuppa contentment of my life with the people of outback each week. Australia. I remember the people of these towns and I am grateful for my time in ‘the three Ls’. It was a unique settlements. They have become part of my life and will mission and it is good to tell the story. The early days of remain so always.

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both a careful study of a building’s worship. Many points within the text liturgical purpose, along with the specific flow directly from these documents. The needs of those who are to use it. It books are set up for easy cannot be haphazard. I was horrified reference with headings and numbered when a pastor told me once about his bullet points, but it is essential that each need to brief an architect who was book be regarded as a whole and the designing a new parish church. He said, specific sections should not simply be I found an article on the web flipped open without a careful reading of NLAAC - National Liturgical describing church buildings and sent basic tenets. Architecture and Art Council it to the architect. Luckily, he read it!

 ‘And When Churches Are To Be The of the books come from Built…’: Preparation, planning Vatican Council II: And when churches and construction of places of are to be built, let great care be taken that they be suitable for the celebration worship (2014) of liturgical services and for the active  Fit For Sacred Use: participation of the faithful (SC 124); Stewardship and renewal of and Holy mother Church has always places of worship (2018), been a friend of the fine arts and has Companion volumes published by ever sought their noble help, with the Liturgy Brisbane, each 126 pp. special aim that all things set apart for use in divine worship should be truly worthy, becoming, and beautiful, signs by Julie Moran and symbols of the supernatural world… and thereby fitted for sacred A recently-developed housing estate use (SC 122). In the foreword of ‘And When Churches urgently needing a place for worship. The covers of the books are simply Are To Be Built…’ Archbishop Denis Hart A country town with a dwindling designed, cleverly representing their notes that to build or renovate a place population working hard to maintain contents. The first has a drawing of a of worship is also to build up and and retain a precious building. Though circle intersected by vertical, horizontal poles apart, both scenarios are and diagonal lines, evoking the geometry renew the faith and communion of experienced within the Australian of sacred space. The design of the God’s people, forming them for mission Church today. second book evokes the process of and witness. Assisting parishes with an change and evolution through the effective design or renovation process is What needs to be considered by those necessarily intensive. It involves setting involved in the construction of a church? generation of the Fibonacci spiral. Internally, the small clear typeface is up committees, providing liturgical How should a building and its artworks education as broadly as possible across be properly conserved? What issues are offset by wide margins and the books are printed on the best quality off-white the parish, and formulating processes to involved when renovations take place discern and articulate needs. within a church? What protocols are paper. necessary if, sadly, a church can no Each book is structured in the same way, The preparation of these two books for longer be used for worship? These are beginning with basic principles in part Australia has long been needed and is among the questions clearly heard and one (liturgical/architectural and extremely welcome. ‘And When addressed by the NLAAC in the liturgical/heritage); then, in part two, Churches Are To Be Built…’ is a must compilation of these two documents. Fit providing details regarding each specific for all communities and architects For Sacred Use, dealing with heritage area within a worship space; and finally undertaking the creation of a new issues and the renewal of churches, was in part three, moving on to look at tasks church building. Those thinking of the launched in February at the Symposium and processes and providing practical care and renewal of an existing building Where Your Treasure Is, There Will information. may think Fit For Sacred Use is the only Your Heart Be Also. The two books will purchase necessary, but much of its A wide range of official Church content relies on a thorough grasp of the help answer many questions and solve documents and liturgical books has been much uncertainty when it comes to basics set out in the first volume. sourced, including key documents in the Throughout the second volume Fit For establishing and caring for worship area of heritage and patrimony. Indeed spaces. Sacred Use cross references are often the books provide a convenient given to the first book. I hope these Before the creation of a building or its compendium of scattered and often companion volumes will grace the renovation, a design brief needs to be inaccessible sources relating to the bookcase of every parish in the country! established. Such a brief should contain construction and renewal of places of

Autumn 2019 LITURGY NEWS 15

OUR COVER Last Supper Jenny Nakamarra Timms

Jenny’s country is The painting expresses beautifully not only the Lajamanu in the coming together of Jesus and the disciples for Northern Territory and the Passover feast, but also the gathering of the her language is Christian community for Eucharist. The Warlpiri. The central liturgical assembly with Christ at its centre is desert community of renewed and nourished by the sacrament of his Lajamanu is towards body and blood at the altar-table. the Western Australia border, about 900 kms from Darwin. It is a strongly traditional community of less than 700 people. Lajamanu was one of the first places where Warlpiri iconography was adapted to tell the new stories of Christianity. Here Jenny shows Jesus at table with his twelve disciples. The bright flowered background gives joy to the scene before Judas leaves to betray Jesus. This is one of the works Jenny writes: I’m a widow with grown up of art contained in children who have their own children as well. I Our Mob, God’s Story feel the Lord likes me to paint these stories Bible Society Australia about the life of Christ. I have a strong spiritual (2017) connection when I paint. We witness and help Christians in other towns.

IN THIS ISSUE ... EDITORIAL BOARD Rev Dr Tom Elich (editor) 2. Editor: An Easter Imperative Sr Maree Byron OSU 3 The Eucharistic Prayer Mrs Elizabeth Harrington Music at Confirmation 6 Ms Julie Moran News 8 Sr Ursula O’Rourke SGS 13 Australia: Ember Days PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY Mrs Clare Schwantes 14 Comment: Leinster, Leonora, Laverton Mrs Jeanette Smyth 15 Books Articles for publication are welcome. 16 Our Cover We reserve the right to edit material in consultation with the author. Volume 49 Number 1 CONTACT Liturgy News PRICE PER CALENDAR YEAR AUTUMN  March 2019 GPO Box 282, Brisbane Australia 4001 ORDER ONLINE Imprimatur:  Mark Coleridge DD DSS Telephone (07) 3324 3314 www.liturgybrisbane.net.au Archbishop of Brisbane Facsimile (07) 3324 3313 Magazine by Mail $30 (o/s $40) [email protected] © Liturgy Brisbane. All rights reserved Magazine by Email $25 per year www.liturgybrisbane.net.au ISSN 1039-0464

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