Decision To Restore The Liturgy

By a C.H. Reporter
THE UNDER TWENTY-FIVES MET AGAIN LAST FRIDAY NIGHT IN LONDON.
After they had heard Dom Bernard McElligott, 0.S.B., the Rev. John Fitzsimons and Mr. Donald Attwater talk about the essentials of the Catholic religion, and about the need of carrying out the corporate prayer and worship prescribed by the Church, they came to some decisions as to how the beginnings of the restoration of the Liturgy in England could be put into immediate effect.
"It is not the Catholic's first business to make a perfect world," said Fr. McElligott.
"Catholicism, Not Just Team Spirit" "It is not the centre of Catholic doctrine the idea of loyalty to a Captain Christ. "Some Catholics are brought up to think of Catholicism as concerned with
loyalty rather than truth. The loyalty idea so easily develops into a play-up-side religion, concerned with a quantitative greatness and the scoring of points. Catholicism then becomes just team spirit, and the members of the Learn become exclusively concerned with making Catholicism ` top church.'
But Catholicism is the co-operating with Christ in his own redeeming act. Redemption is a process which goes on in each one of us individually. It is not enough to be baptised; we have to will our redemption."
Fr. McElligott spoke on the whittling down of the essential meaning of words so that such words as spiritual and supernatural have lost their real meaning for the majority of people.
" Many people, including Catholics, have the idea that we suddenly rise to a
supernatural life after death. But our life here and now is a supernatural life, made supernatural by baptism and strengthened by the Sacraments, through Christ. We go to God through Christ.
Per Dominum Nostrum Jesum Christum. " All nature comes under the influence of the Redemption. There is no such thing as a purely spiritual salvation. We take material things and make them signs of the spiritual, as with water in baptism. Always we achieve the spiritual through the material."
Bad Manners During Mass
Donald Attwater who described the Mass as " a public meal in which we go out to dinner with God," commented mordantly on the " bad manners " of whispering private prayers during the Mass.
" During Mass we've got to be connected consciously with each other person present, therefore we should take that active part in the Mass, which the whole structure of the Mass and the teaching of the Popes and the tradition of the Church demand."
Fr. Fitzsimons spoke of the interrelation of the Liturgy and Social Action. "Catholic Action," he said, " begins and ends in the Mass."
The discussion as to the practical means of restoring the Liturgy, produced a general decision that for a beginning each individual should accomplish the actions required of him during Mass— standing, kneeling, making the sign of the Cross, as perfectly as possible.
It was thought also that the form of dialogue Mass by which the people answer with the server could be instituted without difficulty in many parishes.
Fr. McElligott gave details of a study week-end to be held at The Grail, 271, Upper Street, Islington, December 10 and 11.