Teaching Grounds by Mandy Davis
I have never cared much for the service of Benediction for multiple reasons. The primary one is that it takes the Sacred Body of Christ out of the context of the Eucharistic celebration in which the faithful share in Communion, partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, intimately sharing in the divine life and being renewed in their identity as the Body of Christ in the world. Secondly, Benediction has an atmosphere of sacerdotalism. The priest handles the monstrance. The monstrance encloses the Sacrament, keeping it sealed off from all but view. The priest does this only with hands covered by a humeral veil (if you don't do church jargon, thank God for that mercy--it's the shawl covering his shoulders and arms lest he touch the holy things).
The reverence in all this does not offend me at all. The distancing does. Having someone make the sign of the Cross over a congregation with the consecrated Bread is no substitute for faithfully consuming that Bread. When the People of God almost never received Communion, this was their consolation prize.
The imagery bothers me too. The priest looks like one of the angels in an icon of the Baptism of Christ.
The reason the angels have their hands covered is not because they have the towels to dry Jesus with; it's because even the holy angels are not privileged to "touch God." But in the mystery of the Incarnation and the amazing event of the Theophany, John, a sinful human being, is commanded to touch the Creator. This is a very great mystery, a profound grace, and is pondered and proclaimed in many ways in the Orthodox services of the Theophany of our Lord and God Jesus Christ (known in the West as the Epiphany).
The image of a priest settling for the role of an angel instead of the whole People of God claiming their role as God's children, redeemed and invited to partake, leaves me cold. It speaks too much of keeping God at a distance, keeping ourselves safely sealed off from the one who no longer calls us servants but friends.
Having said all that, and dumped my daily load of anti-clericalism, the following video from a charismatic Catholic community takes Benediction in a new direction. This is liturgical dance that is not esoteric but simply exuberant and joyous. The joy seems to grow and explode and fill the entire congregation. Iberian Catholicism meets Ladino aesthetics and is infused with joy in the Spirit. In other words, I like it.
If I have any of the Spirit's charisms, it is probably joy. My heart responds easily to any expression of joy. I would love to see more liturgical processions, Good News parades, with happy people in motion. Color, music, movement, devotion -- no didacticism, just faith and joy expressed with our bodies and through the senses.
Dance, my sisters and brothers! Rejoice in all that is good and loving, joyous and life-giving.
h/t to Padre Rob+
--the BB
2 comments:
Paul, in my childhood in the Roman Catholic Church, the Benediction service often came after mass. You could hear muffled groans of the congregation when the priest made the announcement, for no one but the celebrant knew it was coming.
I never quite saw the point of it. We had just celebrated the Eucharist. Why adoration of the host locked away in the monstrance, with the priest having to use a veil to touch the monstrance? We had just consumed the body and blood of the Lord. It's not a service I'm fond of at all, for the Eucharist is to be shared.
I don't know what to make of the video. It's good to see folks joyful before the Lord, but the priest dancing around with the monstrance seemed disrespectful, almost sacrilegious.
I keep coming back to my idea that the Eucharist is to be shared among the members of the community, but not like that. It seemed almost a mockery.
I like it too!
It's like Simchat Torah, is what it is. With the monstrance instead of the Torah and dancers of both genders. The words at the beginning look like Portuguese to me, but Ladino and Portuguese are a lot alike. Iberian for sure. But from where?
I'm also with you on the rant about Benediction. In general, not my thing. But this has the joy of the Torah (Jesus as Torah, which is not "law" in the misused sense at all, but is more like "the way") and note, the main movement is circular and the priest is barely the main player -- more like the instrument.
If you've seen a Simchat Torah celebration (the feast in the Jewish tradition comes in the fall, watch for it -- and it's not only Hasidim who dance around with the Torah, though they are best known among those who do this) you'll recognize this as very similar in spirit.
Very interesting indeed.
Hmmm. (Jane goes off to ponder some more. And maybe dance.)
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