Digital Liturgy?

I like tech, I also like the look and feel of the codex information storage and retrieval technology Western civilization has been using for a couple millennia now. I'll be happy if the parish church starts using digital misallettes, or if we keep using the paper ones I've been used to.

Anyway, it doesn't matter what I want. For now, the Holy See says that we stay with printed misallettes, so that's what we do.

A century or two from now, misallettes may be nth-generation descendants of today's iPads. Then again, we may still be using ink-on-paper technology during Mass.

"Priest says iPads, tablets no substitute for missalettes"
CNA (Catholic News Agency) (August 10, 2012)

"In a recent blog post, Father Antonio Spadaro, known as the Vatican's 'cyber theologian,' said that devices such as iPads, smart phones and tablets should not be used instead of missalettes at Mass.

"It is 'unimaginable that an iPad or a laptop would be carried in procession, or that a monitor would be incensed and kissed during the liturgy,' Fr. Spadaro said.

"The liturgy, he explained, is 'the bastion of resistance' against the separation of the written word from the ink on the page. 'The page remains the "body" of a text,' he underscored...."

"Unimaginable?"

I'm not so sure that using an iPad or laptop at the altar is literally "unimaginable." I imagined it pretty easily.

I think I understand what he said about ink on a page being important, though: and a page being the "body" of a text. Catholic liturgy isn't just somebody reading off cue cards or a teleprompter. The materials used are important.

But, like I said, I'm good either way. If Rome says we go digital, I won't be demanding a return to 'real' text. And I certainly won't set up my own little mini-church of 'real' Catholics. That'd be silly.

Besides, I agree with Peter:

"Jesus then said to the Twelve, 'Do you also want to leave?'

"Simon Peter answered him, 'Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

"We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.' "
(John 6:67-69)

Movable Type, Apps, and Blogs

I can't see that Father Sparado is a technophobe, someone who doesn't like, or is afraid of, (new) technology. He discussed information technology, worship, prayer, and the liturgy - - - in his blog.

"...A member of the Pontifical Council for Communications, Fr. Spadaro wrote in his blog about the decision of the Bishops' Conference of New Zealand to deny the request by several priests for permission to allow mobile devices to be used at Mass.

"He noted that while apps such as iBreviary are making it easier to pray the Liturgy of the Hours or follow the liturgical readings of the day, 'The pages of the Gospel remain an integral part of the ritual action of the Christian community.'

"He noted that the Council of Trent embraced the technological advances of the day, including the printing press, 'and allowed for the creation of useful editions for the creation of a truly global liturgy, that is, uniform in all dioceses and parishes.'..."
(CNA (August 10, 2012))

The Church Online

We pray during Mass: but not all prayer is part of a Mass. I'm glad to read that apps like iBreviary are okay. I don't use i-anything, but I have used online resources to help prayer along now and then.

It's nice to know that, in cases where the material components aren't important - the Church is okay with digital resources. No surprises there, and that's another topic.

Back in 2010, the Congregation for the Clergy supported a study done by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and the University of Lugano. Wow, that was a long sentence.

---

OOPS!

A tip of the hat to esther francisco, for catching a major error in the following outline. I've corrected it (I hope). Check out this post's comments, for what I'd originally said: unintentionally.

I've highlighted the new, corrected, text.

---

They found that the world's priests used the internet to pray the liturgy of the hours:

• At least once per day - 17.5%
• At least once a week - about a third

---

Okay, that's the end of the corrected section. Again, thanks!

---

I don't think we'll ever see the Vatican approving something like iMass - for the busy Catholic. There's more going on at the altar than someone reciting lines. And that's definitely another topic.

Related posts:

• Mass
  • "New Roman Missal, Advent 2011: Snits and Sense"
    (November 27, 2011)
  • "CREDO! New Roman Missal Coming"
    (November 6, 2011)
  • "Corpus Christi, and Running into Walls"
    (June 26, 2011)
  • "Aerobic Worship"
    (December 17, 2010)
  • "Celebrating Mass, Flossing My Teeth"
    (October 20, 2010)
• Catholic Church
  • "Faith and Obedience"
    (March 25, 2012)
  • "The Man Who Wouldn't Stay Dead"
    (March 11, 2012)
  • "Ancient Style and Today's Discussions at the 'Vatican Science Academy' "
    (October 2, 2011)
  • "We Won: Quite a While Ago"
    (January 13, 2011)
  • "Unity, Diversity, and Being Catholic"
    (August 26, 2010)
• Information technology
  • "Spreading the Gospel, Social Media, a 10-Point List, and All That"
    (July 8, 2012)
  • "Information Technology, Blogging, and Practicing Patience"
    (May 13, 2011)
  • "Modernism, Luddites, Catholicism, and Godzilla"
    (April 7, 2011)
  • "A Catholic Blogger In the Digital Continent"
    (November 15, 2010)
  • "Giving the Internet a 'Soul?!' No, Really: This Makes Sense"
    (May 8, 2010)