Free thinking and the Second Vatican Council

Lent 2016: Day 28

For AdTheLad

The fourth week of Lent approaches its end, past the half-way mark and I'm beginning to feel a sense of sadness that this dear old friend of mine for 25 years, will soon be over. At Christmas, with its excesses of food and drink, I sense Lent looming, months away still, the first few days are hard but then I get back into the swing. And with each passing year it becomes less about the body and more about the spirit.

AdTheLad took me to task about my comments regarding the spiritual search, when, he says, the answer is 'right under my nose', meaning the Catholic Church. Searching for absolute truth is not something that can be accomplished by any one person in any one lifetime, I would argue, and Scriptures and their interpretation are but one starting point from which one can but begin the journey - and a journey that is unlikely to end in a satisfactory conclusion.

Are we right to search? The pre-Vatican church was against free thought or attempts to independently seek answers to spiritual questions. The Second Vatican Council introduced much change; some clearly visible (Mass in the vernacular, priest facing the congregation, no altar rails etc) and some - as I wrote about in my Lenten blog posts from three years ago (final part here) to do with the very heart of Catholic theology.

The Second Vatican Council has divided the Church. There's the Traditionalist wing, the most extreme of which (the Sedevacationists) claim that an Anti-Pope has been sitting in the Vatican these past 50 years, and the Liberal wing, who find their more open and accepting vision increasingly difficult to sell to those who want simple answers.

The Second Vatican Council opened the door to ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue while reducing the accent on pious ritual and the role of the priest as intermediary between God and Man.

Since the death of Pope John Paul II, the Catholic Church in Poland has tended to drift back towards a pre-Second Vatican Council form, albeit without the Latin or the altar rails. Communicants can still choose to receive the Host in their hands rather than having it placed on their tongue. But in terms of theology, the voice of openness, inclusivity and dialogue that I would hear at the Dominican Abbey in Służewiec is being drowned out by the less tolerant voice of Radio Maryja, which dangerously mixes nationalist politics into the Catholic faith.

Reading Fr Tischner or Fr Heller does give hope that the Polish church is still capable of producing excellent minds, capable to reaching out to all those who sincerely seek. Following Fr Tischner's commentaries on the post-Second Vatican Council catechism, I found that I learned much that was new and useful on my spiritual journey. It is easier to journey with such books at one's side than to make everything up on one's own.

This, I think, for me is crucial - not to wander off entirely on one's own, but to read deeply and broadly, watch your own opinions take form over time, become more sophisticated, able to answer ever tougher questions. But still, at the end of the course, we will be only a tiny way further along that great path from Zero to One. And here's my biggest gripe with selling of salvation - it's a one-shot solution, a three-score (now more commonly four-score) and ten attempt at doing right in exchange for an eternity in paradise. Would that it were so simple...

This time two years ago:
Getting ul. Karczunkowska ready for Biedronka opening

This time three years ago: God's own risk

This time four years ago:
A third of the way through Lent

This time five years ago:
Balancing surfeit and shortage

This time six years ago:
Congruent consciousness

Same as it ever was

Ul. Nowoursynowska, a sunny Sunday afternoon in late summer. Five Dominican friars, out for a stroll in the vicinity of their Abbey. The sight of five young men in flowing white robes looks most incongruous against the background of the newly-finished thoroughfare, now widened to four lanes with cycle path, and the modern housing.

Past posts from the Abbey here, here and here.

May the monks remain here for centuries to come.

This time last year:
Late summer moods, Jeziorki

This time two years ago:
The next one hundred years

This time three years ago:
"What do we want? Early retirement!
When do we want it? NOW!"

This time four years ago:
Twilight of Warsaw's greenhouse economy

A long night in church

Moni had her confirmation last night at the Dominican abbey in Slużew. And quite some ceremony it was too, starting at eight in the evening and finishing well after 1 am.

She had been attending confirmation classes for the best part of two years; the lead up to the ceremony is not taken lightly (skip too many classes and you're name's off the list). Confirmation takes place on the eve of Pentecost and the sacrament is administered by a bishop.

Although the Dominican Abbey is a modern building, bereft of the built-up trappings of centuries - holy paintings, miraculous statues, etc, the Dominicans still know how to Put On A Show. To quote John Betjeman: "Church and Stage have always been closely connected". The music is staggeringly good at putting the congregation into a deeply spiritual mood (helped by first-rate accoustics), the ritual, steeped in symbolism, the incense, the vestments are traditional and As They Should Be, yet never have I heard a dodgy message from the pulpit (re: politics, the EU, Jews, masons, cyclists); sermons stick to Christ's Love. The congregation itself it is in good measure young (many students) and intellectuals. The first non-communist prime minister of modern Poland, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, worships here.

The sermon from Bishop Pikus, finished with the words "True human happiness is impossible without Belief"; words to ponder upon, an idea worth lengthy contemplation.

The picture above was taken with my Nikon D80 (the battery memory issue seems to have mysteriously cleared up!). I used my 105mm f1.8 Nikkor wide open (640 ISO at 1/40 sec). Being able to use my old Nikkor lenses is one reason why I chose to go digital with Nikon rather than Canon. Click to enlarge and see the detail.

If you are wondering why the shops are shut* today, it's because it's Pentecost and the nation is commemorating the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles (Zielone Świątki in Poland, Whitsun in England).

* Last year, a radio journalist called a prominent PiS politician and mischievously asked him whether he was going shopping that day. Hearing the answer 'yes', the journalist told the politician that he couldn't. "And why's that?" asked the politician. "Because you lot voted to close all shops today", replied the journalist. Collapse of stout party.

Christ's Passion at the Dominican abbey

The spiritual highlight of Lent for me so far this year was going with Eddie to the Męka Chrystusa (the Passion) at the Dominican abbey in Służew. I was expecting a mass, but this format I found more uplifting, allowing one more time for deep contemplation.

The procession, led by the Dominican friars around the 14 Stations of the Cross, was accompanied by Gregorian chant, Latin prayers and candlelight (to which my Nokia N95's camera has given a purple cast). As I've mentioned before, the abbey's accoustics are excellent, and the vox humana fades beautifully into the dark vastness.

This time last year
Last snow of the winter

Roraty

Another early start to get Moni to Roraty, the Advent mass which starts at the Dominican abbey at Służew at 06:00. The mass is called Roraty from the first word of the first hymn sung in Latin: "Rorate caeli de super nubes pluant justum..." (O dew from heaven's clouds, fall on us...) The photo above, taken on my Nokia N95 mobile phone with the barest amount of light, is poor quality but lends something of the atmosphere. Moni sings in the choir (in the foreground, right). The abbey's acoustics are perfect for multi-part harmonies; the sound of the singing dissipates into the stillness of the massive enclosed space.