Pope Francis meets participants in an international training course for liturgical celebrations in Catholic dioceses on Jan. 20, 2023 / Vatican Media. See CNA article for full slideshow.
Vatican City, Jan 21, 2023 / 05:10 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Friday encouraged diocesan leaders to prioritize awe, evangelization, and silence before mere aesthetics in liturgical celebrations like the Mass.
“A celebration that does not evangelize is not authentic,” the pope said Jan. 20, quoting from his 2022 apostolic letter on liturgical reform, Desiderio Desideravi.
Without evangelization, he added, the liturgy “is a ‘ballet,’ a beautiful, aesthetic, nice ballet, but it is not authentic celebration.”
Pope Francis spoke about the liturgy in a Jan. 20 meeting with participants in an international training course for liturgical celebrations in Catholic dioceses.
The Jan. 16-20 course, organized by the liturgical institute of the Pontifical University of St. Anselm in Rome, was on the theme “living liturgical action in fullness.”
The pope said one of the aims of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council was “to accompany the faithful to recover the ability to live the liturgical action in its fullness and to continue to marvel at what happens in the celebration before our eyes.”
Francis underlined that the Council was not talking about aesthetic joy or the aesthetic sense but wonder and amazement.
“Awe is something different from aesthetic pleasure: it is encounter with God. Only encounter with the Lord gives you awe,” he said.
To this end, the pope said, the liturgical formation of priests is essential, since they go on to form the faithful, who see whether they celebrate Mass properly and in a prayerful way.
Pope Francis also urged those who help organize liturgical celebrations to cultivate silence, especially immediately before the Mass, when people sometimes act like they are at a social gathering.
Silence in the pews and in the sacristy “helps the assembly and the concelebrants to focus on what is going to be accomplished,” he said.
“Fraternity is beautiful, greeting each other is beautiful, but it is the encounter with Jesus that gives meaning to our meeting with each other, to our gathering,” he said. “We must rediscover and value silence.”
The pope encouraged those who help a priest or bishop organize all of the ministers of liturgical celebrations, called masters of ceremonies, help “enhance the celebratory style experienced” in parishes.
He gave the example of when a bishop goes to celebrate Mass at a local parish.
“There is no need,” he said, “to have a nice ‘parade’ when the bishop is there and then everything goes back to the way it was. Your task is not to arrange the rite of one day, but to propose a liturgy that is imitable, with those adaptations that the community can take on board to grow in the liturgical life.”
“In fact, going to parishes and saying nothing in the face of liturgies that are a bit sloppy, neglected, poorly prepared, means not helping the communities, not accompanying them,” he added. “Instead, with gentleness, with a spirit of fraternity, it is good to help pastors to reflect on the liturgy, to prepare it with the faithful. In this the master of celebrations must use great pastoral wisdom.”
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NFL star Benjamin Watson discusses his work in the pro-life movement with "EWTN News Nightly" host Tracy Sabol on June 22, 2023. / Credit: EWTN News Nightly/YouTube
CNA Newsroom, Jul 1, 2023 / 08:00 am (CNA).
The pro-life movement cou… […]
Vatican City, Feb 26, 2018 / 05:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Many were skeptical, but when Romans awoke Monday morning the forecast was right: the city was covered in a blanket of snow – a phenomena so rare that schools were closed and public transport largely suspended throughout the day.
However, while much of the city is closed indoors sipping tea or hot cocoa, many of those near the Vatican zipped to St. Peter’s Square for a bit of snow-filled fun: some instigated snowball fights, some built miniature snowmen and, at least one man even donned skis to make his way through the slush.
Nuns, priests and seminarians also joined in the excitement, and as locals slowly began to emerge from their houses, wrapped head to toe, they stopped to admire and snap photos of their major landmarks covered in a dusting of white, including the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Though there was only a dusting or a few centimeters in some areas, for many locals in Rome the very presence of snow thick enough to cover the streets might as well be a blizzard.
Snow in Rome is so rare that some say it happens only once a decade, or, by Vatican standards, once in between each conclave. The last major snowfall in Rome took place in February 2012. Before that, the most recent heavy snows were in 1956 and then in 1986.
Due to Monday’s snow, various tourist sites and modes of public transport in the center of Rome where shut down, including the Colosseum and the archaeological areas of the Roman Forum and the city’s Palatine Hill, the center-most of the seven famous hills in Rome, and one of the most ancient areas of the city.
The Vatican Museums are also closed, however, St. Peter’s Basilica remains open to pilgrims and tourists courageous enough to brave the snow and slush covering the cobblestone piazza outside.
In addition, the mayor’s office has encouraged citizens to limit their mobility to the absolute necessity, and said they are working to clear the roads as soon as possible. According to Italian daily Fatto Quoditiano, Rome’s Department for Civil Protection called a special working committee who requested the help of the army to help remove snow from the streets.
In general, transport within the city center has been suspended save for a few bus lines. Trains are running roughly 2 hours behind, and some flights coming into Rome’s Fiumicino and Ciampino airports have also been delayed or canceled.
Parks, villas and cemeteries have also been closed, however, as of Sunday night train and metro stations were opened to offer shelter to homeless who had no place to go.
Much of the snow had begun melting by mid-morning, however, the city will likely still face closures and delays going into the week as the slosh is expected to freeze overnight.
Seminarians at Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Nigeria’s Kaduna state where four students were kidnapped and one, Michael Nnadi, was killed in 2020. / Credit: Good Shepherd Major Seminary Kaduna/ Facebook
ACI Africa, Jan 26, 2024 / 11:40 am (CNA).
Last year, 2023, was a difficult year for Brother Peter Olarewaju, a postulant at the Benedictine monastery in Nigeria’s Ilorin Diocese who was kidnapped alongside two others at the monastery. Olarewaju underwent different kinds of torture and witnessed the murder of his companion, Brother Godwin Eze.
After his release, Olarewaju said his kidnapping was a blessing, as it had strengthened his faith. He even said that he is now prepared to die for his faith.
“I am prepared to die a martyr in this dangerous country. I am ready any moment to die for Jesus. I feel this very strongly,” Olarewaju said in an interview with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, on Nov. 26, 2023, days after he was set free by suspected Fulani kidnappers.
The late Brother Godwin Eze who was kidnapped from the Benedictine monastery in Nigeria’s Ilorin Diocese and murdered by his kidnappers in October 2023. Credit: Benedictine monastery, Eruku
The monk’s testimony is not an isolated case in Nigeria, where kidnapping from seminaries, monasteries, and other places of religious formation has been on the rise. While some victims of the kidnappings have been killed, those who survived the ordeal have shared that they have come back stronger — and ready to die for their faith.
Seminarian Melchior Maharini, a Tanzanian who was kidnapped alongside a priest from the Missionaries of Africa community in the Diocese of Minna in August 2023, said the suffering he endured during the three weeks he was held captive strengthened his faith. “I felt my faith grow stronger. I accepted my situation and surrendered everything to God,” he told ACI Africa on Sept. 1, 2023.
Father Paul Sanogo (left) and Seminarian Melchior Maharini (right) were kidnapped from their community of Missionaries of Africa in Nigeria’s Diocese of Minna. Credit: Vatican Media
Many other seminarians in Nigeria have been kidnapped by Boko Haram militants, Fulani herdsmen, and other bandit groups operating in Africa’s most populous nation.
In August 2023, seminarian David Igba told ACI Africa that he stared death in the face when a car in which he was traveling on his way to the market in Makurdi was sprayed with bullets by Fulani herdsmen.
Seminarian Na’aman Danlami died when the Fulanis attacked St. Raphael Fadan Kamantan Parish on the night of Sept. 7, 2023. Credit: Photo courtesy of Aid to the Church in Need
In September 2023, seminarian Na’aman Danlami was burned alive in a botched kidnapping incident in the Diocese of Kafanchan. A few days earlier, another seminarian, Ezekiel Nuhu, from the Archdiocese of Abuja, who had gone to spend his holidays in Southern Kaduna, was kidnapped.
Two years prior, in October 2021, Christ the King Major Seminary of Kafanchan Diocese was attacked and three seminarians were kidnapped.
Seminarian David Igba during a pastoral visit at Scared Heart Udei of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi. Credit: David Igba
In one attack that attracted global condemnation in 2020, seminarian Michael Nnadi was brutally murdered after he was kidnapped alongside three others from Good Shepherd Major Seminary in the Diocese of Kaduna. Those behind the kidnapping confessed that they killed Nnadi because he would not stop preaching to them, fearlessly calling them to conversion.
After Nnadi’s murder, his companions who survived the kidnapping proceeded to St. Augustine Major Seminary in Jos in Nigeria’s Plateau state, where they courageously continued with their formation.
The tomb of seminarian Michael Nnadi, who was brutally murdered after he was kidnapped alongside three others from the Good Shepherd Major Seminary in the Catholic Diocese of Kaduna in 2020. Credit: Father Samuel Kanta Sakaba, rector of a Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna
As Christian persecution rages in Nigeria, seminary instructors in the country have shared with ACI Africa that there is an emerging spirituality in Nigerian seminaries that many may find difficult to grasp: the spirituality of martyrdom.
They say that in Nigeria, those who embark on priestly formation are continuously being made to understand that their calling now entails being ready to defend the faith to the point of death. More than ever before, the seminarians are being reminded that they should be ready to face persecution, including the possibility of being kidnapped and even killed.
Father Peter Hassan, rector of St. Augustine Major Seminary in the Archdiocese of Jos, Plateau state, said that seminaries, just like the wider Nigerian society, have come to terms with “the imminence of death” for being Christian.
Father Peter Hassan, rector of St. Augustine Major Seminary in Jos, Nigeria, walks with an unnamed companion. Credit: Father Peter Hassan
“Nigerian Christians have been victims of violence of apocalyptic proportions for nearly half a century. I can say that we have learned to accept the reality of imminent death,” Hassan said in a Jan. 12 interview with ACI Africa.
He added: “Nevertheless, it is quite inspiring and comforting to see the many young men who are still ready to embrace a life that will certainly turn them into critically endangered species. Yet these same young men are willing to preach the gospel of peace and embrace the culture of dialogue for peaceful coexistence.”
Shortly after Nnadi’s kidnapping and killing, St. Augustine Major Seminary opened its doors to the three seminarians who survived the kidnapping.
Hassan told ACI Africa that the presence of the three former students of Good Shepherd Major Seminary was “a blessing” to the community of St. Augustine Major Seminary.
“Their presence in our seminary was a blessing to our seminarians, a wake-up call to the grim reality that not even the very young are spared by those mindless murderers,” Hassan said.
Back at Good Shepherd, seminarians have remained resilient, enrolling in large numbers even after the 2020 kidnapping and Nnadi’s murder.
Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna, Nigeria. Credit: Father Samuel Kanta Sakaba, rector of a Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna
In an interview with ACI Africa, Father Samuel Kanta Sakaba, the rector of Good Shepherd Major Seminary, said that instructors at the Catholic institution, which has a current enrollment of 265 seminarians, make it clear that being a priest in Nigeria presents the seminarians with the danger of being kidnapped or killed.
ACI Africa asked Sakaba whether or not the instructors discuss with the seminarians the risks they face, including that of being kidnapped, or even killed, to which the priest responded: “Yes, as formators, we have the duty to take our seminarians through practical experiences — both academic, spiritual, and physical experiences. We share this reality of persecution with them, but for them to understand, we connect the reality of Christian persecution in Nigeria to the experiences of Jesus. This way, we feel that it would be easier for them to not only have the strength to face what they are facing but to also see meaning in their suffering.”
“Suffering is only meaningful if it is linked with the pain of Jesus,” the priest said. “The prophet Isaiah reminds us that ‘by his wounds, we are healed.’ Jesus also teaches us that unless the grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it will remain a single grain, but that it is only when it falls and dies that it yields a rich harvest. Teachings such as these are the ones that deepen our resilience in the face of persecution.”
Seminarians and their instructors at St. Augustine Major Seminary in Jos, Nigeria. Credit: Father Peter Hassan
Sakaba spoke of the joy of those who look forward to “going back to God in a holy way.”
“Whatever happens, we will all go back to God. How joyful it is to go back to God in a holy way, in a way of sacrifice.” he said. “This holiness is accepting this cross, this pain. Jesus accepted the pain of Calvary, and that led him to his resurrection. Persecution purifies the individual for them to become the finished product for God. I believe that these attacks are God’s project, and no human being can stop God’s work.”
However, the rector clarified that those who enroll at the seminary do not go out seeking danger.
“People here don’t go out putting themselves in situations of risk,” he said. “But when situations such as these happen, the teachings of Jesus and his persecution give us courage to face whatever may come our way.”
Sakaba said that although priestly formation in Nigeria is embracing the “spirituality of martyrdom,” persecution in the West African country presents “a difficult reality.”
“It is difficult to get used to pain. It is difficult to get used to the issues of death … to get familiar with death,” he said. “No one chooses to go into danger just because other people are suffering; it is not part of our nature. But in a situation where you seem not to have an alternative, the grace of God kicks in to strengthen you to face the particular situation.”
Sakaba said that since the 2020 attack at Good Shepherd Major Seminary, the institution has had an air of uncertainty. He said that some of the kidnappers who were arrested in the incident have been released, a situation he said has plunged the major seminary into “fear of the unknown.”
“It hasn’t been easy for us since the release,” Sabaka told ACI Africa. “The community was thrown into confusion because of the unknown. We don’t know what will happen next. We don’t know when they will come next or what they will do to us. We don’t know who will be taken next.”
Seminarians at St. Augustine Major Seminary in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria, during a Marian procession. Credit: Father Peter Hassan
In the face of that, however, Sabaka said the resilience of the seminary community has been admirable. “God has been supporting, encouraging, and leading us. His grace assisted us to continue to practice our faith,” he said.
The jihadist attacks, which continue unabated in communities surrounding the seminary, do not make the situation easier.
Church at the Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna, Nigeria. Credit: Father Samuel Kanta Sakaba, rector of Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna
“Every attack that happens outside our community reminds us of our own 2020 experience. We are shocked, and although we remain deeply wounded, we believe that God has been leading us,” he said.
This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.
They can be. His point on the bishop coming to Mass is illustrative. Awe is not dependent on great music, fine vestments, and “parades.” Though these can help sometimes. Awe is something to strive for when there may be no music, not many people, and in the humblest of circumstances.
Jesus was born in poverty, yet shepherds approached with awe, Anna and Simeon recognized immediately, and Magi offered gifts in a carpenter’s home. Aesthetics are under human control. Grace is for God.
Awe is easier to find with the desire for reverence, easily found at Latin Masses, than a desire to be entertained with clown outfits and bishops blowing bubbles, unless you’re talking about the jaw-dropping awe of witnessing profound stupidity.
Beauty is a transcendental, there can’t be awe without it. In John 5:46 Jesus affirms a Mosaic backdrop; however, so far Pope Francis has been skirting the issue.
Now I find this interesting, I wasn’t looking for it, a mosaic is a beautiful and intricate decoration in crafted pattern and fashioned material. It is not a pun.
May I remark on a personal note. I do not go to Mass to be awed. I go because God is in the Holy Eucharist whether or not anything wondrous, etc., will ever happen to me.
Awe??? But no Latin Mass if he can possibly stamp it out. Silence in the pews?? Yet OK’s a gross interruption in the Mass with the greeting of peace smack in the middle. I would personally like to see that process dropped from Mass totally and did not miss it while covid fears were indulged. Or, put a greeting prior to the actual start of worship as I have seen the Protestants do. Then it doesnt interrupt the flow of Mass and disturb people’s focus.
Was Jesus left outside the door on this one? Jesus is the reason for the sacraments. He is preeminent. The horse goes before the cart. He shoulders our burdens, Ceremonies are to honour our Lord and Saviour, not to take His place.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
I’m getting a headache just reading this title. Awe and aesthetics. Are they mutually exclusive?
They can be. His point on the bishop coming to Mass is illustrative. Awe is not dependent on great music, fine vestments, and “parades.” Though these can help sometimes. Awe is something to strive for when there may be no music, not many people, and in the humblest of circumstances.
Jesus was born in poverty, yet shepherds approached with awe, Anna and Simeon recognized immediately, and Magi offered gifts in a carpenter’s home. Aesthetics are under human control. Grace is for God.
Awe is easier to find with the desire for reverence, easily found at Latin Masses, than a desire to be entertained with clown outfits and bishops blowing bubbles, unless you’re talking about the jaw-dropping awe of witnessing profound stupidity.
Beauty is a transcendental, there can’t be awe without it. In John 5:46 Jesus affirms a Mosaic backdrop; however, so far Pope Francis has been skirting the issue.
Now I find this interesting, I wasn’t looking for it, a mosaic is a beautiful and intricate decoration in crafted pattern and fashioned material. It is not a pun.
May I remark on a personal note. I do not go to Mass to be awed. I go because God is in the Holy Eucharist whether or not anything wondrous, etc., will ever happen to me.
Awe??? But no Latin Mass if he can possibly stamp it out. Silence in the pews?? Yet OK’s a gross interruption in the Mass with the greeting of peace smack in the middle. I would personally like to see that process dropped from Mass totally and did not miss it while covid fears were indulged. Or, put a greeting prior to the actual start of worship as I have seen the Protestants do. Then it doesnt interrupt the flow of Mass and disturb people’s focus.
AMEN
Awe and reverence add further meaning and beauty to liturgical celebrations.
Was Jesus left outside the door on this one? Jesus is the reason for the sacraments. He is preeminent. The horse goes before the cart. He shoulders our burdens, Ceremonies are to honour our Lord and Saviour, not to take His place.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.