Thursday, April 28, 2005

The “Reform of the Reform” Has Already Begun

His first act was the inauguration mass of his pontificate. Benedict XVI is a pope of the great tradition of the liturgy, with the eucharist at the center. It is a tradition of liturgical texts, rituals, and music – and symbolic places.

by Sandro Magister

ROMA, April 28, 2005 – On Sunday, April 24, Benedict XVI inaugurated his “Petrine ministry as bishop of Rome” in the sunlight of a Saint Peter’s Square overflowing with crowds.

But his first intention was different. He had wanted to celebrate his first solemn mass as pope, not in the square, but inside the basilica of Saint Peter. “Because there the architecture better directs the attention toward Christ, instead of the pope,” he told the masters of ceremonies on Wednesday, April 20, his first full day as the elected pope. Only the immense number of faithful who were coming induced him to change his mind and celebrate the mass outdoors.

That same day, speaking to the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, he immediately made it clear that in the first place of his agenda for the papacy, above anything else, would be the eucharist. He defined this as “the permanent center and source of the Petrine ministry that has been entrusted to me.”
...
Accompanying the procession was the chant of the "Laudes Regiae," pure Gregorian chant from the time of Charlemagne. Benedict XVI is very demanding in this regard as well. The choir of the Sistine Chapel sang exclusively Gregorian chant and classic polyphony, all in Latin. (emphasis added)
Link.

No comments: