History Of The Lay Proclaimer
Imagine for a moment that we are back in the year 1955. We are conducting a poll among Roman Catholics. Our question: "Who are the ministers in the Catholic Church?" In 1955, most Catholics would have responded: "The hierarchy - the Pope, bishops and priests." If questioned further, "Anyone else?" some may have added: "Well, perhaps nuns and brothers too." At the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century, very few Catholics would have thought to include lay people in the category of ministers. "Call to ministry" was synonymous with vocation to the priesthood or the religious life.
Since Vatican 11 (1962-1965), we have witnessed a significant change, the unexpected phenomenon of ministry shared among clergy and lay people, and among men and women. This ministry expansion became apparent first in the emergence of lay lectors at Sunday Eucharist. Some Catholics still regard the lay lector as a mere twentieth century innovation in the Church. A knowledge of history, however, can free us from preconceived notions.
A brief examination of the history of the lector confirms the lay proclaimer's role in Sunday liturgy. In reality, the Vatican 11 reinstatement of the lay proclaimer signals the recovery of the best tradition of shared ministry.
The First Three Hundred Years
The earliest source of our liturgy of the Word is the Jewish synagogue service, in which any male Jew could be invited to proclaim from the Jewish Scripture and to give a commentary. Jesus himself was a forerunner of the Christian lector. In the Nazareth synagogue, he unrolled the scroll of Isaiah, proclaimed a passage, and announced that he was the Spirit-filled servant described by Isaiah (Luke 4:16-22).
Another source of Christian proclamation was the activity of first century missionaries, such as Paul and Barnabas. Because the entire Christian community assumed responsibility for proclamation, we would be in error if we described the urgent task of first century evangelization and proclamation as the exclusive activity of ordained bishops and presbyters. Commissioned and sent by their community, itinerant ministers of the Word announced the Good News of salvation in the risen Lord. They invited their listeners to conversion, which meant rejection of sin and acceptance of God's saving activity in Jesus.
Liturgical ministries in this period were diversified and shared. Christ's command, "Do this in memory of me," was accepted as a commissioning of the entire community to celebrate Eucharist. Who led the celebration? Usually the local bishop. Who proclaimed Paul's letters and the Old Testament scriptures? Designated baptized (lay) members of the community.
The Arian Heresy
Arius, a third century priest in Alexandria, propagated an erroneous doctrine that Jesus was no more than a superior creature. Arius thought Jesus was not God's eternal Son in any strict sense. After years of heated debate, Arius' teachings were solemnly condemned by the Council of Nicea (325 A.D.). The Church then found it necessary to emphasize Jesus' divinity. Oddly enough, this well intentioned emphasis led to the eventual disappearance of the lay proclaimer.
The Celebrant Becomes Sole Liturgical Minister
In the first three centuries, the Eucharist was regarded primarily as a meal of brothers and sisters worshipping the Father through their risen Brother. In the centuries that followed Nicea, the Church began to stress the awesome moment at which the God-Man became present on the altar. To enhance that mysterious event, the celebrant
turned his back to the assembly and often spoke hardly above a whisper.
Significant changes in the Mass occurred from the fourth through the ninth centuries. With apparently unanimous support and encouragement, the ordained ministers gradually assumed all the liturgical ministries previously shared within the community. Why? Because bishops and priests were considered least unworthy to be near the Holy of Holies. The structure we call the Communion rail served to separate the celebrant from the passive assembly. As a result, these new attitudes and changes eliminated the need for lay liturgical ministers, including the lector.
The Gap Widens
In addition to the church's reaction to Arianism, other circumstances widened the gap between the clergy and a less involved laity.
First of all, there was the lengthy and heated theological debate over the precise distinction between the natural and the supernatural. For all practical purposes, the question was resolved in this unhappy manner: the natural occurred "in the world," in lay concerns and in family life. The supernatural occurred in the ecclesiastical realm, especially in the dispensing of sacraments. Most theologians in the Middle Ages failed to mention that the family is an expression of and an experience of church. Church was regarded primarily as the role and concern of the hierarchy.
By the eleventh century, marriage was forbidden to the clergy of the western church. One obvious reason for the law was to safeguard the retention of church land. The expressed intention of the celibacy law was to inspire the clergy to a supposedly higher, non-lay and more spiritual lifestyle. The celibate priest at the altar seemed even more distant from the lay assembly.
In the middle ages, lay people were encouraged to build magnificent cathedrals, but were denied their rightful roles in the Eucharistic celebration. The Mass seemed so sacred and mysterious. Fewer and fewer lay people dared to approach the Communion rail. The attention of the laity was centered on the moment of consecration and the subsequent elevations of the Host and the Chalice.
It would not be unusual to have a large assembly present at Mass and have only the priest receive Communion. Lay participation in the Eucharist fell to such a low level that the bishops at the Fourth Lateran Council (1215 A.D.) mandated Catholics, under pain of serious sin, to receive Communion once a year during the Easter season.
Eucharist, once considered a shared banquet, was now described by theologians as an austere reenactment of the sacrifice of Calvary.
The Protestant Reformation
The sixteenth century Protestant reformation and the subsequent Catholic reaction made the return of the lay lector virtually an impossibility for the next four hundred years.
On the eve of the Reformation, all liturgical ministries in the Catholic Church were performed by ordained ministers. The Mass was in Latin, a language then understood only by bishops, scholars, and kings. The liturgical assembly, once actively involved in the celebration, did no more than attend Mass and pray quietly. The readings, no longer proclaimed in a language understood by the people, were read in Latin by the priest in a low voice.
The Catholic Church's reaction to Arianism was greatly intensified by a further reaction to Protestant teachings. Most Protestants denied Jesus' real Eucharistic presence and a sacramentally ordained priesthood. Catholics, on the other hand, tried to find safety in a rigidly correct liturgy led by those in Sacred Orders.
The liturgical reforms of the Council of Trent seemed absolutely necessary at the time. But, in fact, Trent fashioned a liturgical iceberg, which many of our contemporary adult Catholics have experienced in their childhood years. All that still remained of the early centuries' community expression of Eucharist were the altar boy, organist, and choir, who spoke and sang in Latin.
The Iceberg Melts
During the past 400 years, most adult Catholics have held the incorrect notion that Trent's reform worship was the precise way the Church had worshipped since apostolic times. Through study and research, however, liturgical scholars in the last 100 years have rediscovered the richness of a forgotten heritage. These scholars raised questions which would subsequently be addressed by the Vatican 11 bishops: Why wasn't the liturgy celebrated in the vernacular? What had happened to the active assembly and shared ministry? Where was the lay proclaimer?
The Lector Today
In 1964, the lay proclaimer officially reappeared. The Vatican 11 Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and the liturgical documents that followed successfully reinstated the proclamation of scripture readings as a lay ministry: "The reader, although a layman, has his own proper function in the Eucharistic celebration, which he himself should perform even when ministers of a higher rank are present" (Pope Paul VI, New Order of Mass, #66).
In some parishes, the lector is still called upon to be a Jack or Jill of all trades. In addition to proclaiming a reading, the lector often has to give comments, lead the responsorial psalm, lead hymns and read the announcements. The ideal is expressed in the Constitution., "In liturgical celebrations, each person ... should carry out all and only those parts which pertain to his office" (#28).
The cantor's role is to greet the people, practice new hymns, lead the songs and the sung responsorial psalm. Some parishes also have sung intercessions (Prayer of the Faithful) and a sung penitential rite. All of these are basically musical functions and do not belong to the lector.
The lector carries the Book of Gospels in procession and proclaims the first two readings. Liturgists now recommend that there be two lectors, one for each reading. The lector who prepares and proclaims the Scriptures performs a full ministry. It is not important that the lector keep busy throughout the liturgy of the Word. Additional duties should be done by a commentator.
If your church has two lecterns with microphones, the lector should proclaim from the pulpit, the place used for the Gospel and homily.
For Your Reflection:
How has this brief history of the lector expanded my understanding of the lector's role?
Why is it appropriate for a lay person like myself to proclaim God's Word to the Sunday assembly?
