24 October 2011

Enjoy!

The Bishop of our sister Church, the SELK (in Germany), celebrates "the holy Mass" at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Berlin-Wilmersdorf.  Members of St. Paul should note that it looks strangely familiar in ceremonies.  The Bishop is vested in chasuble.  He uses the full Eucharistic Prayer, but note the chanting of preface, prayer, Words of Consecration, and also the Lord's Prayer.  Note as well the bells ringing during the consecration, the genuflection after elevating each element, and the same Agnus Dei we sing (you'll recognize the music).  Reverent from start to finish!:



Hat tip:  Loschwitz on ALPB.

5 comments:

Terry Maher said...

What's up with the left-legged genuflexion?

Had to rewind three times, and damn if it didn't look left-legged each time. Utterly bizarre.

Scott Diekmann said...

Wunderbar!

Graham Glover said...

Pr. Weedon

Thank you for this post.

I am an Active Duty Army Chaplain currently stationed in Germany. In August my family and I visited a former classmate of mine from Concordia-St. Louis who lives in Berlin, is a member of St. Mary's-Berlin, and a recent PhD grad from the University of Tubingen.

During our visit, we had the privilege to attend the Divine Service, with the service of Corporate Confession and Absolution beforehand, at St. Mary's, with Bishop Voigt serving as the celebrant.

Although my German is very poor (almost non-existent!), it was one of the most reverent Divine Services I have ever been a part of. My children, ages 6 and 4, didn't move during the 2 1/2 hour service, attention constantly on the altar and pastors (why won't they do that when I celebrate the Divine Service?!) My wife said afterwards, "That is exactly what a Lutheran Service should always be like."

Again, we speak very little German, yet we were able to confess, pray, and sing with no difficulty. (The sermon was a different story...although I got a rough translation afterwards.)

A testament to Bishop Voigt, Pr. Martens (pastor of St. Mary's), and the congregation for maintaining a confessional Lutheran identity in a land where such a confession is all but extinct.

To God be the Glory!

Pr. (Chaplain) Glover

Terry Maher said...

Reverent schmeverent. All religions have reverent participants in their rituals. Does the guy know how to genuflect or what, is the film backwards, is it actually a real genuflexion just hard to tell with the get-up, what?

Bishop Robert Lyons said...

Not being a German major, minor, or other, is there anywhere I could find an English translation of the body of the Eucharistic Prayer of the SELK?

Rob+