What does iconographic evidence from Late Antiquity and the early Middle
Ages tell us about this question?
Patrick Nugent.
>Right, and Gamber's argument, I believe, is that where the bishop's chair
>was in the center of the apse wall, obviously there was a freestanding
>altar and the bishop stood behind the altar, facing the apse wall, facing
>in the same direction as the people (assuming the church was oriented to
>the east) as he celebrated Mass, not that he came from the chair against
>the apse wall to stand at the east edge of the free-standing altar, facing
>the people and facing west. Of course, at this time altars were not
>attached to the wall of the apse and there were no tabernacles on the
>altar against the wall. I would imagine that altars became attached to
>the sanctuary wall first in non-cathedral churches without a bishop's
>cathedra, where the litrugy was being celebrated by a priest. But that is
>speculation on my part.
>
>Dennis Martin
>
>>>> [log in to unmask] 01/23/01 08:26AM >>>
>I believe the architecture of some of the churches in Rome also contributes
>to this idea. The placing of the bishop's throne in the apse, facing the
>congregation, might be taken as showing a different orientation for the
>liturgy in late Antiquity & the early Middle Ages.
>Tom Izbicki
>
>At 07:53 AM 1/23/2001 -0600, you wrote:
>>This reflects one of the myths of the liturgical movement of the last four
>>decades. Klaus Gamber, The Mass of the Roman Rite (title may not be
>>exact) is the most thorough study of this question. He argues that the
>>issue in the ancient chuch had nothing to do with "toward the people" or
>>"away from the people." The celebrant always faced east--that was the
>>fixed, firm principle. Most churches were oriented to the East, so, in
>>most cases, the celebrant was facing, like the people, toward the
>>east--all facing the same direction, toward Christ, to the Son of
>>Righteousness etc. with all that symbolism.
>>
>>Those few churches that were oriented (hardly an appropriate word here) to
>>the west, posed a problem. The priest had to face East even if the people
>>were not facing East. Gamber argues that these are what the references to
>>"versus populum" refer to.
>>
>>To my knowledge, though Gamber has been denounced as a tradtionalist, he
>>has not been refuted on his research on this point. Joseph Ratzinger
>>summarizes Gamber in his recent book, _The Spirit of the Liturgy_.
>>
>>The rubrics of the 1970 Roman Missal assume that the priest will be facing
>>the same direction as the people because they say at some points that he
>>should turn and face the people. Incidentally, many of these "turning
>>points" were also in the rubrics of the Roman Missal of Pius V (the
>>"Tridentine" Mass).
>>
>>I imagine Jungmann may be responsible for the widespread idea that
>>sometime during the Middle Ages, alas, the priest turned his back on
>>people and the Mass ceased to be a popular celebration and became a
>>clerical affair. This is the general tone of Jungmann others of his
>>era. Eamon Duffy has challenged him on a number of points of scholarship,
>>pointing out how Jungmann used modern criteria of "participation" rather
>>than medieval criteria for what constitutes "popular participation." This
>>was in an address to the Society for Catholic Liturgy, published in their
>>journal, _Antiphon_ vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 3-12 (approximately 1997 or 1998).
>>
>>Dennis Martin
>>
>>
>> >>> [log in to unmask] 01/22/01 09:37PM >>>
>>Some of us were discussing an issue this am that we could not resolve: when
>>the celebrant at Mass turned away from the congregation to face the
>>wall/apse. Some thought it was in the Carolingian period, accompanying a
>>rise in the sense of awe and fear in the presence of God, so that the priest
>>becomes chief suppliant and go between; others placed the turn in the 13th
>>century perhaps associated with the heightened devotion to the Eucharist and
>>the "secrecy" that would dictate its confection being hidden from the
>>congregation. What is the real answer?
__________________________________
Patrick J. Nugent
Earlham College
Richmond, Indiana 47374 USA
(765) 983-1413
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