.jpg) |
| POPE FRANCIS, RESTORE THIS ALTAR PLEASE! |
In light of the last Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage and the Altar placement confusion I think it is time to campaign for a full restoration of the Altar of the Chair to it's original splendor (place!, viz. permanently affixed on the platform three steps up, directly under the Bernini Chair and Reredos). Monsignor Guido Marini should be in charge. And all Masses should be done "ad orientem" (facing that glorious Altar piece), as is the case in most of the Altars of the Basilica. Eliminate the free standing Altar altogether. It is an insult to the Christian heritage to have to say Mass with one's back to such great sacred art commissioned for the Altar of God!
A reflection on this past weekend.
The weekend of Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage coincided with the Schoenstatt pilgrimage (predominantly Hispanic), and apparently the two never meet. That makes no sense! Why not coordinate the efforts? It was the height of irony to have a German Shrine devotion celebrated by mainly Spanish speaking people with a Mass in sundry vernaculars. The Latin Mass was made for them. They are not liberals. The loyal Catholic disposition of the people at that Mass actually represents the majority of traditional Catholics pre-Summorum Pontificum. And the upshot was that the Holy Father did not even mention our Pilgrimage during the Angelus yesterday. That, to me, is a great failure on the part of the organizers of this Pilgrimage!
So, it seems to me that the organizers of the Annual Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage, in addition to the Altar of the Chair restoration, should have the incorporation of the two pilgrimages as priority number one for next year (which would mean a warming up to Pope Francis!). Perhaps you need an Spanish speaking influence in Rome to mediate the joining of forces with the other strong Catholic influences in the present day Rome, which are predominantly Spanish speaking! What we saw over this past weekend is that Spanish is the predominant language of the Church today and we would do well to acknowledge it (as many Church leaders have done, including the Holy Spirit [deigning that we should have an Argentine Holy Father]).
While we are at it, perhaps someone might meet with the leaders of Rome's "El Senor de los Milagros" Confraternity (Peruvians), who also have several hundred pilgrims for that weekend.