The following two-part column by Fr. Galens was originally printed in our parish bulletins on November 6 and 13, 2022. It has been merged and slightly edited, and put online here for reference.

There has been a long-standing tradition of turning East for Christian prayer. This tradition precedes Christianity. It was a Jewish custom to turn towards “Jerusalem” to pray. Even the Muslims turn toward Mecca to pray. Obviously, when they turn, they do so in the direction of the sacred site for them to worship. The point is that they turn, and all face the same direction in prayer. It is rightly stated that Christians do not turn towards an historical site because we worship God who is Spirit and Truth, and we worship Him in Spirit and truth. Our Lord said to the Samaritan woman at the well “… the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. … But the hour is coming, and is now here when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” (Jn 4:21-24.) While this is true, the Christians, from the very beginning have always turned toward the Lord for worship.

Where is the Lord? East was always used as the reference “towards the Lord” because the rising of the sun in the East was used as an image of Christ’s return in glory. Interestingly, even with the apparitions at Fatima, Lucia would describe Mary as coming from the east and would leave towards the east. In the early church it was not an issue of whether the priest was facing the people or not, it was simply all turned east as if in a procession towards the Lord. Worship is directed towards God, particularly through Jesus Christ, the 2nd person of the Trinity incarnate. We worship God in, with, and through the person of Jesus Christ, uniting our worship with His. He worships the Father in His complete and perfect obedience even unto death on the cross. This is the worship of the Mass.

The communal aspect of the Mass is not to be negated but it must be remembered that the Mass is first and foremost a perpetuation of the sacrifice of the Cross; Jesus offering Himself to the Father for our salvation. We are called to enter into communion with His offering at Mass. We do enter into a communion with each other but there is no communion with each other without first a communion with our Lord’s sacrifice. I do not mean here Holy Communion. Holy Communion is the summit of Worship, but even if one does not receive Holy Communion, they still can enter into a communion with the Sacrifice of the Cross by their presence and the uniting of their prayers and sacrifices with our Lord’s. The main point here that I want to make, it is still always directed to the Lord. This is not to say that Mass cannot or should not be said facing the people. This is to say that Mass should be said facing the Lord. If our Lord is present by way of the Blessed Sacrament being in the sanctuary, then we should be turned towards our Lord. If the Blessed Sacrament is not present in the sanctuary, then we should be turned towards the Crucifix. To quote Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), “Facing east … was linked with the ‘sign of the Son of Man’, with the Cross, which announces the Lord’s Second Coming. That is why very early on the east was linked with the sign of the Cross. Where a direct common turning toward the east is not possible, the cross can serve as the interior ‘east’ of faith. It should stand in the middle of the altar and be the common point of focus for both priest and praying community. In this way we obey the ancient call to prayer: ‘Conversi ad Dominum’, Turn toward the Lord!” (Spirit of the Liturgy: Ch. 3 p. 83). But this works if we are all facing the same direction toward the Lord.

Did not Vatican II change this? No! Neither the Vatican II documents nor the post Vatican II documents that implemented the Council did away with having Mass said with the people and the priest all facing the same direction. They have given permission for the Mass to be said facing the people, versus populum, but it is neither the norm of the law nor required. The norm in law is ad orientem. As you are aware, the norm in practice is versus populum, even for me.

I want to conclude with a rather lengthy quote form Cardinal Ratzinger in “The Spirit of the Liturgy”:

The turning of the priest toward the people has turned the community into a self-enclosed circle. In its outward form, it no longer opens out on what lies ahead and above, but is closed in on itself. The common turning toward the east was not a “celebration toward the wall”; it did not mean that the priest “had his back to the people”; the priest himself was not regarded as so important. For just as the congregation in the synagogue looked together toward Jerusalem, so in the Christian liturgy the congregation looked together “toward the Lord”. As one of the fathers of Vatican II’s Constitution on the Liturgy, J.A. Jungmann, put it, it was much more a question of priest and people facing in the same direction, knowing that together they were in a procession toward the Lord. They did not close themselves into a circle; they did not gaze at another; but as the pilgrim People of God they set off for the Oriens, for the Christ who comes to meet us.

… It was also important clearly to distinguish the place for the Liturgy of the Word from the place for the properly Eucharistic liturgy. For the Liturgy of the Word is about speaking and responding, and so a face-to-face exchange between proclaimer and hearer does make sense. … On the other hand, a common turning to the east during the Eucharistic Prayer remains essential. This is not a case of something accidental, but of what is essential. Looking at the priest has no importance. What matters is looking together at the Lord. It is not now a question of dialogue but of common worship, of setting off toward the One who is to come. What corresponds with the reality of what is happening is not the closed circle but the common movement forward, expressed in a common direction of prayer. (Ch. 3 pp. 80-81)

What are my intentions with sharing all of this with you? I know that saying Mass facing the people is the ordinary experience of most Catholic today and most of you. I am not a reformer of the Liturgy. Some have a charism in this regard, others by the fact of their office; i.e. the bishops. I do not plan on saying the Mass ad orientem as the ordinary experience for the parish. I wish it could be but, unfortunately, I believe too many of our parishioners would not take kindly to this and I have come to serve you, not myself. It could be argued, and I believe rightly so, that saying Mass ad orientem is “serving you” because it orients you towards true worship. Not that versus populum is not true worship, but our bodily posture is not directed towards the Lord, but towards each other. However, a pastoral sense indicates to me that most are not ready for Mass to be offered ad orientem on a regular basis. As much as I believe ad orientem would provide a far more substantial spiritual and liturgical nourishment, I choose not to offer it regularly. As St. Paul said to the Corinthians: “I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it.” (1 Cor: 3:2). At the same time, I want to be mindful of those who desire a proper orientation of the Mass towards our Lord. Since, as of yet, I still believe this to be a minority of the parishioners, versus populum will remain the ordinary norm for our parish. In this regard I want, on occasion, to say Mass ad orientem. I hope you do not have strong objections to this. If you do, I hope you can understand my reasoning and remember that it will be done only on occasion. It will be announced before hand when Mass will be offered ad orientem so that you are not surprised.

On Nov. 20th, 2022, on the Solemnity of Christ the King, Mass will be said ad orientem at each of the churches. While the priest already says Mass towards the East at St. Margaret Mary’s, the design of the church does not allow the congregation to face in the same direction.

In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
Fr. Jeffrey Galens