Myth And Ritual In Christianity Part 19

and beyond which lies the unknown, and this point is not "on" but "in". "The kingdom of G.o.d is within you. "l For if I explore myself a little way, I come to a point when I do not understand or recognize myself any more. The "I was" which I know becomes the "I am" which I never see. The roots of my consciousness disappear into an unknown region where I am as foreign to myself as to the pulse of my heart and the currents of my nerves. For what is most truly and inwardly myself is ever beyond that small area of knowledge and control which is called the ego. Paradoxically, the most central and fundamental region of my being seems to be most "other"-like the G.o.d of theistic imagery. Thus while I think of the ego as my actual self, I am of -centre. I am "beside myself", so that the coursing of my blood and all the deeper processes of body and mind seem to be the work of someone or something else, giving a sensation of strangeness and "the creeps" when I feel them.

This basic "s.h.i.+ft" in the position of G.o.d from the periphery of the world to the centre requires also a s.h.i.+ft of faith. We have to recognize that the totally undefinable and incomprehensible "something" which is our most inward self is-in all important respects-beyond our control. For the self which knows and controls is never, at the same time, the known and controlled.2 This is the most important lesson in the world for a civilization which aspires to omnipotence, to the control of everything. For every attempt to establish total control on the part of the As one would expect, the "social.gospellers" interpret Luke 17: at as "The kingdom of G.o.d is among you"-in terms of the "fellows.h.i.+p" of the Church. This is in line with the current theological fas.h.i.+on for avoiding all "mystical" interpretations because of the inability to distinguish between what is truly inward and what is merely subjective and "psychological".

a "Self~control" is always a form of "feedback" mechanism. But in every such mechanism there is a lag between the initial action and the return of information making it possible to correct the action, so that literally instate taneous control of the controller is ever impossible. Furthermore, the feedback mechanism is self~correcting in relation to its environment rather than in relation to itself.

conscious ego starts a vicious circle. Thus our culture becomes a system of controls in which the solution of each problem simply multiplies the number of problems to be solved, as in the myth of the Hydra monster who grows seven new heads for each one cut off. The complete control of life is impossible for the reason that we are pan of it, and that, in the last a.n.a.lysis, the system is not a thing controlled but a thing controlling.'

We are therefore compelled to have faith in something which is at once ourselves, in the most basic sense, and not ourselves, in the sense of the ego, the remembered I.But this faith cannot have any tangible content, such as a system of beliefs, for the simple reason that the fundamen tal Self cannot be defined.2 Therefore it is not to be verbalized positively as a believing in or about. It is to be expressed negatively, as a not trying to control and to grasp, as a "letting,go" and not as a holdingto. Furthermore, such lettinggo" faith must come about not as a positive work to be done, but through the realization that there is really nothing else to do, since it is actually impossible to grasp the inmost Self.

The positive consequences of this faith in terms of love, joy, and illumination are strictly gratuitous. They emerge unpre. dictably and uncontrollably from the inner depths. The letting/go removes the obstacle to their coming, but the actual coming, the Second Advent, is like a thief in the night", and we "know not the day nor the hour. Generally speaking, they follow immediately upon the act of release. The apparent delay is usually due to the fact that one is trying to force their arrival, so that the release is not actually complete.

G.o.del has now proved that no system can explain its own axioms without self cotmadiction, in an elaborate mathematico logical verification of the point that a knife cannot cut itself.

2 And this, furthermore, is the proper sense of the "supernatural"-that which transcends "nature", where nature is understood as cla.s.sification, genera, species, etc.

And the mind stops "forcing" only through the clear conviction of its uselessness.

As soon as one gets used to looking at the Christian images from this outside'in point of view, it becomes obvious that, in this way, they make sense as they never did before. G.o.d returns to his temple, the heart, the centre of all things -of man, of time, of s.p.a.ce. Heaven is no longer in the place of h.e.l.l, she "outer darkness" of the most distant s.p.a.ces and far-off times, but appears in the place of the most intense reality-the now. Christ actually rises from the dead, and is revealed in this moment, and is no more locked up in the tomb of the remote past, in the dead letter of the written Gospels. The Ma.s.s is for once effectively sacrificed, for the Body of Christ, the Church, is really willing to be broken, finding no further need to hold itself together with definitions and claims. The Faith becomes actual faith, which is self-surrender, as distinct from all anxious clinging to dogmatic rocks and doctrinal idols. The authority of the Church becomes self'evident, which is to say that the Church actually realizes authority, so that there is no more necessity to prove it, to convince itself, by exaggerated proselytism and preposterous claims of spiritual monopoly. The dispensation of the Law, in which virtue is forced, actually gives way to the dispensation of Grace, in which virtue happily "happens", and is not grotesquely imitated.

So understood, the marvelous symbols of Christianity might still--one is tempted to say, might begin to-have a message for Western man, that anxious and restless eccentric who has "no time because he has reduced his present to an abstract dividing line between past and future, and who confuses his very self with a past which is no more and a future which is not This is not the place to enter into a detailed account of the psychology of mystical faith and spiritual experience-a subject which I have discussed in a number of works entirely devoted to it, such as The Meaning of Happiness (2nd edn., Stanford, 1953), Behold the Spirit (New York, 1947), The Supreme Ident.i.ty (London and New York, 1950), and The Wisdom of Insecurity (New York, t9Sr).

yet. He, too, needs to be turned outsidein, to live in the real world which he thinks is abstract, instead of in the abstract world which he takes for reality. And for this he must know that the true place of Bethlehem, Calvary and Olivet is no more in history, and that Death, the Second Advent, and Heaven are not in a time to come. His "sin", his missing of the point, can only be forgiven if he repents-turns back-from his past, as from the future which it implies, and returns again to his Creator, the present reality from which he "exists". Whereupon the life which had seemed momentary would be found momentous, and that present which had seemed to be no time at all would be found to be eternity.

GLOSSARY.

A.

ABSOLUTION.

The form of words whereby a priest or bishop absolves or frees a penitent from the penalty of everlasting d.a.m.nation incurred through sin.

ACOLYTE.

Originally one of the seven Holy Orders (see Chapter VI). One who serves or a.s.sists the clergy at the altar, and in the various ritual and ceremonial functions of the Church.

ADONAS.

A Hebrew word meaning "the Lord", cognate to the Greek Adonis and possibly to the Egyptian Aton or Aten. When the Hebrew scriptures are read aloud, the word is always used in place of the written Tetra, grammaton (q.v.) Yxvx-the unutterable Name of G.o.d.

ALLELUIA.

In Hebrew "Hallelujah"-"Sing praise to YHVH." An exclamation of praise, adoration and joy, const.i.tuting the eternal song of the saints and angels in heaven. Actually a "nonsense" sound, expressive of a state of consciousness beyond any sense which words can express. It is not sung in the Church between Septuagesima and Good Friday inclusive, but is particularly connected with the joy of Easter. As a part of the Proper of the Ma.s.s, the Alleluia is a verse sung immediately after the Gradual (q.v.), and during the Lenten season its place is taken by the Tract.

ANAMNESIS.

A Greek word signifying the "recollection" of Christ's Sacrifice, some, times translated "memorial". In particular, it is that part of the Canon (q.v.) of the Ma.s.s in which the action of Christ at the Last Supper is repeated, in obedience to the commandment, "Do this in remembrance of me".

ANTIPHON.

From the Greek "contrary sounding", as when a choir is divided into two parts so as to sing antiphonally, one part responding to the other through the alternating verses of a psalm or canticle. More particularly, an antiphon is a verse, changing with the season, which is sung at the beginning and at the end of psalms and canticles (q.v.).

23 8 Glossary APOCALYPSE In Greek, the exposure of hidden things, or revelation. The opposite is "anacalypse". Thus it is the Greek t.i.tle of the last book of the New Testament, called Revelation in the English Bible. This book belongs to a cla.s.s of Jewish literature called "apocalyptic", books looking forward to a catastrophic intervention of G.o.d in the course of events, usually written in symbolic language so as to be understood only by those "in the know".

APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION.

The tradition of faith, sacrament, and wors.h.i.+p handed down from the original Apostles-those "sent forth" into the world by Christ himself. To be in the Apostolic Succession is to receive both the faith and order of the Church from the supposedly unbroken line of bishops descending from the Apostles themselves.

APSE.

The s.p.a.ce enclosed by the semicircular East wall of a church sanctuary, or other semicircular alcove.

ARK OF THE COVENANT.

A receptacle placed in the Holy of Holies (q.v.) of the Hebrew Temple. It consisted of a box surmounted by a throne, the back and arms of which were in the form of outstretched wings. The box was said to contain the Stone Tables of the Law written by Moses, a vessel of the "bread from heaven" or manna found by the Israelites in the Wilderness, and the nebusbtan, or brazen serpent. The Ark is believed to have been made under the direction of Moses himself, and to have been preserved in the Temple of Jerusalem until at least the sixth century B.c.

ATONEMENT.

The reconciliation or "at'one'ment" of G.o.d and man achieved by the Sacrifice of Christ.

AVATAR.

The Sanskrit word for an incarnation of Vishnu, of the Supreme Reality, in human form.

B.

BAPTISM.

The sacrament (q.v.) of initiation into the Christian Mystery, consisting of being immersed in water, or in having water poured upon the body, in the Name of the Holy Trinity. Its effect is spiritual regeneration, or rebirth, whereby man is "en,Christed" (christened), involving both union with Christ and the remission of sin.

BASILICA.

The Greek word for the throne,room of a basileus, or king. Thus a cathedral.church (q.v.) patterned after such a throne.room. The word is now used as a tide for certain major shrines of the Catholic Church, the first of which is St. Peter's in Rome.

BENEDICTUS.

The Canticle (q.v.) of Zacharias, father of St. John the Baptist, found in Luke I: 68. Its regular place in the wors.h.i.+p of the Church is in the Office of Lauds (q.v.) and also at the Burial of the Dead. The opening words are, "Blessed (Lat., benedictus) be the Lord G.o.d of Israel; for he bath visited and redeemed his people". The word is also used for that part of the ordinary of the Ma.s.s which is sung immediately after the Sanctus (q.v.)-Benedictus qui vent-Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!"

BHAGAVAD'GITA.

Sanskrit, "The Lord's Song". Perhaps the most celebrated scripture of the Hindus, being an epitome of Hindu doctrine attributed to Krishna, the great Avatar (q.v.) of Vishnu.

BREVIARY.

The book of the divine office (q.v.) recited daily by all clerics of the Catholic Church, whether ordained or simply in religious orders-i.e. monks or friars below the rank of Subdeacon, commonly called lay brothers. Also used in religious orders for women. The Breviary is usually published in four volumes, one for each of the seasons.

C.

CANON.

The Greek word for a rule, standard or level, used ecclesiastically in the following senses: (I) Canon of the Ma.s.s. The central section of the ordinary, or unvarying part, of the Ma.s.s, sometimes called the Prayer of Consecration whereby the priest effects the transubstantiation of the 240 Glossary Bread and Wine. (2) Canon of Scripture. The books of the Old and New Testaments, sanctioned by the Church as the authentic Word of G.o.d. In the Roman Catholic Church this includes also the books of the Apocrypha, called deutero-canonical because they were admitted to the Canon at a later date. (3) The Canonical Hours. The regular Hours (q.v.) of the divine office (q.v.). (4) Canon. A cleric living under a rule, usually attached to the staff of a cathedral (q.v.).

CANTICLE.

A song. The word is applied to scriptural hymns other than the psalms employed in the service of the Church.In the plural, Canticles, it is another name for the Song of Songs attributed to Solomon. The main canticles used in the Church are the Benedidte, or the Song of the Three Children found in the book of Danel; the three Gospel Canticles-Benedictus (Luke I: 68) sung at Lauds, Magnjcat (Luke I: 46) sung at Vespers, and Nunc dimittis (Luke 2: 29) sung at Compline; the Venice, which is Psalm 95, used as a Canticle at Lauds; and the Te Deum, an ancient hymn of praise, purely Christian in origin, sung on occasions of solemn thanksgiving.

CATHEDRAL.

A church designated as the "seat" (Gk., cathedra) of a bishop, and in which is therefore to be found an episcopal throne.

CATHOLIC.

The Greek term for "universal", "all-inclusive", and "complete"-literally, "according to the whole". As a matter of faa, almost all Christians claim to belong to the Catholic Church, though the term Catholic must be understood not only as the Church inclusive of all Christians, but also as the Church inclusive of all the fulness of faith, order, and wors.h.i.+p handed down in scripture and tradition. In popular use it designates those Christians in communion with the See or Episcopal Jurisdiction of the Pope, who is the Bishop of Rome. But the designation Catholic, in its fullest sense, is also claimed by the Eastern Orthodox and the Anglican Communions.

CENSER.

Also called thurible. A vessel of bra.s.s, gold, or silver, usually hung on chains, for the burning of incense. The acolyte (q.v.) who carries it is termed the Thurifer.

CEREMONY.

Strictly speaking, this term should be distinguished from the (q.v.), for ceremonial is the adornment of a ritual action by such marks of reverence as the carrying of candles, the performance of reverential gestures such as kneeling, genuflection, kissing, etc.

CHALICE.

The golden or silver goblet in which the wine is consecrated at Ma.s.s. The usual form is that of a plain cup, having a stem with a boss at the centre, and a wide, heavy base. Uniform with it is the Paten or plate upon which is laid the Host (q.v.).

CHANCEL.

From the Latin cancellarium-the screen dividing the choir and sanctuary of a church from the nave. Thus it comes to mean that part of the church which lies behind the choir.screen.

CLERGY, CLERGYMAN, CLERIC.

Originally from the Gk. deros, a lot, as in casting lots. Applied to the clergy as those "drawn" to perform a sacred function. Thus, through the Lat. clericus, we get clear, clever, or, in other words, literate. The terms date from a time when the only literate persons-clerks-were either in holy or religious orders.

COLLECT.

Lat., oratio. The "prayer of the day" used at Ma.s.s, before the Lesson (q.v.), and at each of the Canonical Hours (q.v.). The collect changes with the feast or the season, is usually quite brief, and is always intro. duced with the formula: Dominus vobisc.u.m (The Lord be with you), to which is answered, Et c.u.m spiritu tuo (And with thy -spirit), and then Oremus (Let us pray).

COMMON.

A section of the proper or variable part of both Ma.s.s and Office used upon feasts of the saints when either the particular feast or the particular saint has no specific proper a.s.signed. On such occasions one uses the Common (or "all.purpose") propers provided for Martyrs, Doctors, Virgins, etc., as the case may be.

coMMTJNIO That part of the proper or variable section of the Ma.s.s which is sung at the time of Communion (q.v.).

242 Glossary COMMUNION (I) The reception of the Body and Blood of Christ under the forms of Bread and Wine. Communion is normally received by the faithful at Ma.s.s, and always by the celebrating priest. It may also be received outside Ma.s.s, as when the priest takes it to the bed of one sick or dying. (2) A group of Christians in Communion with one another, who, by reason of unanimity in matters of faith and order, will celebrate Ma.s.s and receive Communion together. Those outside such a Communion are, from its standpoint, excommunicate. (3) Communion of Saints. The koirionia or fellows.h.i.+p of all members of the Body of Christ, of all realizing him as their Had or real Self.

COMPLINE.

v. Hours.

COPE.

v. Vesture.

CREED.

Lat., Credo, a summary of the articles of faith. The Catholic Church has three Creeds: (r) The Nicene~Constantinopolitan, dating from the fourth century, which is sung at Ma.s.s after the Gospel for the day. (2) The Apostles' Creed, of uncertain but early date, in general a shorter form of the Nicene. Recited in the divine Office (q.v.). (3) The soycalled Athanasian Creed or Quic.u.mque volt, from the first words, "Whosoever would be saved", dating from the ninth century, and recited on certain occasions at Matins.

D.

DEACON.

From the Greek diakono, to minister or serve. Deacons occupy the third rank of the Holy Orders (v. Chap. VI) and their traditional function is to a.s.sist the priest at Ma.s.s and in other sacraments, to sing the Gospel at Ma.s.s, and to have care of the sick and needy of the Church.

E.

ELEVATION.

The ceremonial climax of the Ma.s.s, when, immediately after the cone. cration of the sacred dements, the priest genuflects and elevates first the Host (q.v.) and then the Chalice (q.v.) in the sight of the people. This act is accompanied by the solemn ringing of bells, at the altar and in the church tower, and with the offering of incense.

Glossary 243 EMBER DAY The Ember Days occur four times a year, being set aside as special days for the ordination of priests and deacons, and for the prayers of the people for the clergy.

EPISTLE.

(I) The books of the New Testament which are the epistles or letters of the Apostles, such as St. Paul, St. John, and St. James, to the early congregations of the Church. (2) The portion of such an Epistle read at Ma.s.s, by the Subdeacon, immediately after the Colley (q.v.) and before the Gradual (q.v.).

EXORCISM.

The casting out of devils from a person, church or house, or from any object intended for holy use.

F.

FONT.

Lat., funs, fountain. The receptacle for the baptismal waters, usually a large stone bowl mounted upon a pedestal and placed by the West door of the church. Sometimes a sunken bath or stone.lined pool.

G.

GLORIA.

(I) The hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory be to G.o.d on high) sung at Ma.s.s immediately after the Kyrie (q.v.). (2) The doxology (ascription of glory) Gloria Patri sung at the end of each psalm in the divine office (q.v.). "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, unto all the ages of ages. Amen."

GOSPEL.

The G.o.d (good) spell (tidings), or ev' (good) angel (message), const.i.tuted by the life and teaching of the Christ, and recorded in the Four G=ospels. More particularly, the portion of the Gospel solemnly sung by the Deacon at Ma.s.s.

GRADUAL.