Liturgical Piety And Eschatological Orientation

[bardegaulois]

Like many of the issues I bring forward here, this will likely be more open-ended than pointed, more a prompt for discussion than a direct question.

In wondering why the profession of the evangelical councils is not considered a sacrament, I found myself at first flummoxed, but then led to a deeper meditation that might have some great import for the way I (and certainly others) might think about their spiritual lives. So, the consecration of a soul according to the counsels is looked on as the perfection of baptism and the espousal of the soul directly to Christ the Bridegroom--directly, therefore unmediated by any symbolism, if I'm not mistaken. The soul thus comes to live as though in the Kingdom of Heaven and is thus from that point oriented to the eschaton rather than to the Incarnation.

The Church's sacraments, though, as well as the liturgical context in which most of them are ordinarily ministered, seem more oriented toward the Incarnation, with created objects being used in the matter of the sacraments, liturgical arts and music designed to be sensually appealing, and so forth--a physical, visible Christ the high Priest through the intermediary of His ordained priest ministering to His faithful. We hear a lot about this today with disputes about the liturgy being among the sharpest in the Church, and with many, particularly those in EF communities, developing a particularly liturgical sense of piety.

But how ought we to reconcile the very exterior devotional life of a focus on the liturgy with the very interior preparation in this world for complete union with Christ in the next? Or perhaps in short, where do the realms of the clerical (intermediary) and the consecrated (unmediated) meet? This would, I think, be quite a quandary for those who come from a more traditional background and are discerning a vocation to the consecrated life.

[freedomreigns]

Yeah, consecrated persons are not above the need for the Sacraments or the liturgy.  Although, maybe I am misunderstanding what you are trying to say.  I guess I don't see the quandry you are talking about.  Consecrated people are still human and living in this world and the Sacraments and Liturgy are a particular place for the human and Divine to meet according to the plan of God. 

Edited September 8, 2014 by freedomreigns

[freedomreigns]

 

Also, one other little point.  Consecrated persons are in need of a great deal of grace to be faithful in their vocation.  The Sacraments are the ordinary means of sanctifying grace in this life,. They are not in conflict with the union with God that consecrated persons are called to by any means.

[freedomreigns]

Also, I am really puzzled by the idea that consecrated persons are oriented "to the Eschaton" as opposed "to the Incarnation."   What does that mean, and where did that idea come from?  Christ's self-emptying and the taken on of our human nature to be Fully God and Fully Human, and His Life, Passion, Death and Resurrection are all Incarnational.  Without our participating in that reality there would be no Body of Christ, no Church, no Christianity, and actually no Age to Come either.

 

I am sorry if I am misunderstanding you somehow.  I have just not ever heard such a phrase and just trying to figure out what it is referring to.  

[puellapaschalis]

The consecrated life - especially the enclosed, contemplative life - is the foretaste of Heaven. As such religious profession, like funerals, is outside the 'sacramental economy', to use a term from the Catechism.

 

The difference is that the person making profession is still yet a living human in this sinful world, with all those consequences, whilst the person for whom the funeral is being offered is himself truly beyond this world's life, not just the structure of the Sacraments.

 

So whilst the life of the religious is not yet concurrent with the person, there is what might be perceived as a mismatch.

 

But why on earth this might be more of a point for someone from a trad background I have no idea.

Edited September 9, 2014 by puellapaschalis

[bardegaulois]

First of all, if you think that I'm saying any person in this world is without need of the sacraments, you would be gravely mistaken. Indeed, you are misunderstanding me. Let me attempt to be clearer.

 

Every state (and even sub-state, to coin a term) in life has a particular facet of the Christian mystery to which it is particularly ordered--through its ordering to which it is ordered to the entire mystery, but I'll leave that aside for now. If we look at the theology of religious consecration, we must necessarily look toward the end of Part II-II of the Summa, and which Aquinas speaks of the state of perfection of the religious--not, bear in mind, a state in which all are perfect, but a state ordered directly toward Christian perfection, i.e., directly toward the end of all souls, and thus I use the term "eschatological" to describe it. Now all states are indirectly ordered toward this final perfection, but the means by which others are sanctified are different than by beginning to live the life of perfection while on this earth.

 

Now, as we know a vow to observe the evangelical councils is not a sacrament, and I think this is the big crux of the issue here. All the other initiations, involving baptismal or matrimonial vows or clerical promises, are sacramental. So perhaps I should be asking before any conjecture, why are not solemn vows imbued with sacramental character? I am presuming that because of the direct ordering of the religious state toward the perfections of heaven, where all souls are completely enraptured in the love of God and the outward signs of the sacraments are not needed, the vows are thus not sacramental but a prefiguring of the unmediated relationship of the soul to God. But I could be wrong. So let's focus on this for a moment before even exploring how this might relate to liturgical piety.

[freedomreigns]

But how ought we to reconcile the very exterior devotional life of a focus on the liturgy with the very interior preparation in this world for complete union with Christ in the next?

 

Okay.  Since I am not a philosopher or a theologian I am not even going to try to respond to what you last posted.  Sometimes I can figure out what St. Thomas Aquinas was saying, but usually I am just like "Yeah, he wrote some beautiful hymns."  (His hymns were outwardly devotional too, which I suppose means that he didn't see that as being a quandry with his understanding of living the consecrated "life of perfection.")

 

 I am a practical sort of person, so I am going to try to look at what your original question was.

 

I think the crux of the problem is whether or not an orientation to the Incarnation is somehow opposed to an orientation to our teleological goal of union with God.  (I think not.)  When I was in formation in religious life it was explained that as religious we would be living a special participation with the Incarnate Christ's poverty, chastity, and obedience.  Since Christ will forever be the God-Man, the Incarnation is not something that will pass away with the next age.

 

The thing about the liturgy is that it is exists in heaven as well and that our earthly liturgy is actually a participation in the heavenly liturgy of eternal worship and beatitude.  The liturgy itself is eschatological.  It makes sense to me that it would be a special area of focus for the consecrated person.  

Edited September 9, 2014 by freedomreigns

[marigold]

So perhaps I should be asking before any conjecture, why are not solemn vows imbued with sacramental character?

Because the Roman Catholic Church decided there could only be seven sacraments? :)

But how ought we to reconcile the very exterior devotional life of a focus on the liturgy with the very interior preparation in this world for complete union with Christ in the next?

The former enables the latter.

It's good to see you again, Barde. I think of you from time to time and wonder how you are getting on. Other than overthinking things, that is ;) Edited September 9, 2014 by marigold