The Sacrifice of Praise & Ecstatic Orientation of Man
Dr. Peter Kwasniewski gave this lecture in Davenport, IA, on March 2, 2022, at a gathering sponsored by Una Voce Quad City. The full text is available at New Liturgical Movement (published on Monday, March 14, 2022).
The talk explains the unique nature of the form of prayer known as praise, which is done solely for God, because of His goodness. This praise finds its highest expression in the "sacrifice of praise," that is, the Holy Mass. For this ultimate prayer, only the "ad orientem" stance is appropriate: orientation away from self, this world, the immediate community, and toward God, the world to come, the kingdom of the saints, reflects man's "ecstatic nature" as made to the image and likeness of God, destined to find his happiness outside of himself, and in contemplation rather than construction or mastery. This analysis allows us to identify several key errors plaguing modern styles of liturgy.
