Fr. Z has a point....

An interesting take on the EF illuminating the OF.  Extraordinary Form illuminating the Ordinary Form is a wonderful post....

Fr. Z says

In the practice of the Extraordinary Form, the priest, having sung the Preface, would recite the Sanctus quietly while the schola or other choir began the sung version.  Once the priest was done with the Sanctus, he moved straight into the Canon, since the Preface, Sanctus and Canon all form a whole.  If the musical setting was longer, as is the case with many polyphonic and orchestral settings, once the Sanctus was concluded the choir would stop when they came to the Benedictus.  They would begin the Benedictus after the two-fold consecration. Again, for the Ordinary Form…. I think we can take a clue from the “mutual enrichment” desired by Pope Benedict.  Before his election he even mused in his writings about the usefulness of having a silent Canon from time to time in the Novus Ordo.
Keep in mind that in the older form of Holy Mass, it was essential that the priest, if no one else, said all the texts.  In the Novus Ordo it is foreseen that, if other people are present, many of the texts are said by priest and people together (e.g. Gloria, Sanctus/Benedictus).
For the Ordinary Form, the Novus Ordo, the rubrics indicate that there should be no music during the Eucharistic Prayer.  I have firmly in mind the piano bar style rubbish that tinkled from the ivories in during the consecration in the chapel of our seminary… piano… an absurd instrument for a church… but I digress.

Fr. Z has a point.  If the OF is to have had organic growth from the EF, then it would follow that we should try to incorporate various aspects of the EF into the OF, in order to make the OF more perfect.  Using chant and following the ebb and flow of the older form in the newer is a way for this to happen.

At St. Anthony's, the MC corps is attempting to make this a reality.  We are incorporating small things, such as postures of the servers, chaplaining the lectors, procession/recession practices, and postures of the MC to name a few.  The first and easiest is that the MCs are starting to emulate the same role from the EF to the OF.  The MC stands and faces the congregation, bowing to the ministers at the Holy Name, assisting the celebrant at the altar, and leading the servers in their duties.

Obviously, this isn't something that can change overnight, but by working with Monsignor, we are able to start making the changes that are necessary to bring the OF in line with the EF.

The next step will be to do a purge of the altar servers, find out who is and who is not interested in serving and then break them into 4 teams of 10. Thurifer, Cross & Candles, and 6 torches.  The team would only be on once a month, that way the kids won't be overworked and they will know their roles.  This will start first with the 10am Mass as we would like for hite sto be the OF High Mass and eventually ease the 8:30 and 11:30 into OF low Masses which only require 2 servers.  It will make serving easier and it will make scheduling a lot easier....

All this will take is a little coordination and we'll be able to knock it out of the park.