Advent

The first Sunday of Advent has come and gone, and I have been looking into the extent to which parishes have have heeded Cardinal Sarah's suggestion that the new church year would be a good time to start celebrating the novus ordo form of the Mass ad orientem.  In England and Wales, I have come across no examples, although I am sure that there are a few.

In the USA, things are a little different.  Two bishops, Bishop Robert Morlino of Maddison and Bishop James Conley of Lincoln have publicly stated that they will be celebrating ad orientem at their personal Masses.  No doubt many of the priests in those two dioceses will be doing likewise at least on some occasions.  Fr Zuhlsdorf reports on his blog that, according to one priest, there are 10 priests in the Diocese of Lacrosse who are adopting the practice.  It would seem that in the States novus ordo Masses are beginning to be celebrated  ad orientem in a significant number of locations.

Of course, in this country Archbishop Nichols has all but ruled it out in the Archdiocese of Westminster and at least one other bishop has acted similarly.  However, I often say that what happens in America frequently happens 10 years later in this country.  So maybe we will have to wait a while for Cardinal Sarah's suggestion to be adopted here.