It is not often we consider links between authentic Catholic
liturgical practice and education but here goes…
At a ‘Year of Faith’ conference in the City Chambers of
Glasgow on December 1 2012, Cardinal George Pell called for significant reforms
in contemporary liturgical practice. His support for the practice of Mass
celebrated ‘ad orientem’ (facing East towards the risen Lord) was the most
poignant moment for me. His words merit repetition:
Christ should always be at the
centre of the Mass, rather than the priest. As a consequence, I strongly
support placing a crucifix between the people and the officiating priest and
would support a return to the practice of the celebrant facing east, with his
back to the people. This would make it abundantly clear that whoever is at the
centre of the celebration, it is not the priest.
This makes utmost sense in liturgical terms. It
is rooted in the history of the Church as seen in its artistic patrimony. Even
today, it is the standard practice at the side altar used for daily morning
Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome. (See also this example of the Pope saying Mass ‘ad orientem’ in the Sistine Chapel.)
Putting liturgy to the side, what does the symbolism
of ‘ad orientem’ mean in educational terms? I suggest that it is a sign of the
importance of the ‘other’ in place of the idolization of self, of the community to which we belong. The educational
journey at its best is a process leading us out of our own limited vision and
allowing the core of our being to be refreshed by the encounter with the ‘other’
- the great minds of the past and present. This allows us to ‘rise’ from our limitations
and seek wisdom in those ancient streams of knowledge which are so often unjustly
blocked in the field of contemporary education. The well-trodden pathways of
beauty, truth and goodness are the antidotes to educational programmes which
promise excellence yet offer nothing more than a rusty chain of paltry, platitudinal
and performative ‘aims, outcomes and success criteria’.
There is a better way. It lies hidden beneath
the crust of so-called progressive education and its horizontal anthropology.
It is called the Catholic Intellectual
Tradition’. Taste it and see!
