Paganisation of the Liturgy in India
by
C.B. Andrade Ph.D.
Part II.
The national biblical, catechetical and liturgical centre
and an order of the mass for India (NBCLC)
In Part I of this article I dealt with the subject of the 12 Hindu gestures and symbols that had been forcibly and fraudulently introduced into the liturgy. That calculated heresy on the part of the Indian hierarchy and clergy was disgustingly horrendous enough but something even more diabolical was to follow and, as in the case of the 12 points of adaption, it was spewed forth from the septic focus of paganism with-in the so-called 'Catholic' Church in India – the National Biblical, Catechetical and Liturgical Centre, – a positively satanic organization spawned by the 'Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) spearheaded by two crypto-Hindus: D.S. Amalorpavadass. These two evil men are the architects and evil genious of the paganisation of the Church in India, ably aided and abetted by the majority of the Indian Bishops.
The NBCLC
What is the NBCLC? To the uninitiated, the name suggests a Catholic organisation, but it is not. It is nothing but a hot-bed of paganism, a hub from which heathen practices and beliefs radiate like the spokes of e wheel to permeate and saturate the fabric of what was once pure, reverent, solemn Catholic worship.
Physically, it is a sprawling complex of buildings constructed on a large area of urban land at the cost of some 60 lakshs of rupees (1.5 million DM, approximately) which, in a poor country like India, is a positively staggering and iniquitously wasteful sum. And this money was provided by MISSIO, an organisation run by the Bishops of West-Germany providing almost unlimited funds for the work of evangelisation mostly in the developing countries. It is therefore the German lay Catholic who gives his hard-earned money to MISSIO. The sole purpose of the NBCLC is to brainwash Catholics into Hinduism - a purpose that is evident from the very architectural style of the so-called 'Church' and its trappings as can be seen from the photographs an illustrations reproduced alongside this article.
Innumerable seminars have been held at the NBCLC and are regularly attended by 'priests' and a large number of 'nuns' - more dangerous than the sultans wives. These indoctrinated 'priests' and 'nuns' then return to their localaties and institutions to disseminate the pagan poison they have imbibed at the seminars conducted at the NBCLC by poojari (Hindu priest) Amalorpavadass and his minions. The West-German lay Catholic is therefore donating money to MISSIO which is used to convert Catholics into Hindus.
The following extract from a letter to the CBCI by Fr. T. J. Chacko, Assistant Director, Pastoral Training Centre, Imphal / Manipur, who attended the NBCLC's tenth Intensive Training Course throws much light on the character of that Institution and on the so-called training imparted at its seminars.
Fr. Chacko writes:
"Interpersonal Relationship (IPR).
One of the highlights of the course was the fostering of IPR. Besides the many lectures on IPR, we had a night-long discussion on sex relationship, physical expressions of love etc. It started at 8.30 p.m. and lasted till 2.30 a.m. of the following morning, which was short compared with the one during the previous course, which lasted till 4 a.m. Most of the participants perserved till the end anxiously and curiously waiting for the solemn conclusion given by the Director as to how far and how deep one can go in fostering IPR. The happy and infallible conclusion given by the Director in short was:
'Let us begin from the end, say, sexual intercourse; of course that is not allowed by the Church. But there are opinions that permit even that. I don't hold it, and the magisterium does not permit it. (Nor do I condemn it as none has the right to condemn.) As the attraction towards each other is good and normal, so also the physical expression of love is good and normal. Of course, we have to be mature and honest, respect each other's feelings, agree as to what sign to use and must not scandalise anyone... etc.'
From this one can logically conclude the necessary consequences that would follow with-in the walls of the NBCLC of the CBCI, where all are taken to be mature and honest and well-instructed in IPR. No wonder, quite a few priest-nun pairs emerged and were noted deepening their IPR often through the greater part of the night, some even spending weekends together elsewhere. Of course no one has the right to judge or get scandalized. Even if all this is natural and normal for those who are mature and learned, as our director, many of us thought that it is a little too early to go that deep, as most of us are not that mature, especially, as the Church's law of celibacy is not yet abolished."
Nothing I could say about the NBCLC would give the readers of EINSICHT a clearer picture of the true character of that institution and his Director. From what Fr. Chacko has written the place appears to be nothing but a "house of ill-fame". And let me add that no action was taken by the CBCI either to reprimand the director of the NBCLC or to intervenc in any way to change the character of that iniquitous, pagan, heretical and scandalous institution. If the Indian Bishops were true bishops they would have excommunicated Director Amalorpavadass, kicked him out into the gutter where he belongs and closed down the NBCLC which is a scandal to the Faith and a monument to iniquity. But, perhaps, the Indian Bishops adopted a policy of laissez faire towards the NBCLC and its Director in the hope that they themselves might have the opportunity of practical participation in one of Amalorpavadass' IPR classes!
An order of the mass for India
The following is the liturgy of the 'Mass' concocted by Amalorpavadass and used regularly in the NBCLC and several convents and other so-called 'Catholic' centers in India with the full approval of the CBCI: (The 'Order of Mass' can be ordered from the editor)
Some comments on the 'Indian Mass'
(The serial numbers are those of the text of the ritual.)
No. 1(b): Washing of hands and feet before entering 'the place of worship' (why not call it a church, if it is one) is unknown in the liturgy of the Church; it is a Muslim custom, whereas Hindus take a bath which could not very well be done in the bitter cold of North India. The 'Commentary' at the end of No. 1 is the worst passage of the whole text clearly revealing the intention of its author(s). It does not contain any Christian, let alone Catholic term. According to it the celebration has to be a national one, for national purposes, in national religious forms. Thus, it ceases to be Catholic (i.e. universal).
No. 2: In the 'Commentary' the celebrant is called 'a sign' of Christ. Certainly not! If he is a Catholic priest, he acts in the person of Christ (a doctrine denied by protestantism) which is much more than being only 'a sign'. The celebrant is greeted with arati (the waving of a lighted lamp before his face). Walker's "Hindu world" Vol.11, London 1968, says that the "object of the arati rite is to please the deity with bright lights and colours and also to counteract the evil eye" (P. 609). Dubois-Beauchamp, in their famous "Hindu manners, customs and ceremonies" Vol.1, Oxford 1897, tell us that arati is one of the commonest religious practices of the Hindus. It is performed by married women and courtesans; the object is to counteract the influence of the evil eye and any ill-effects arising from the jealous and spiteful looks of ill-intentioned persons. It is performed over distinguished persons or those of high rank, elephants, horses, domestic animals, idols etc. Therefore, arati used at the beginning of the celebration of the Mass is apt to create the impression that a pagan ceremony is about to follow. This impression is fortified by what follows immediately.
No. 3: The celebrant greets the community with 'OM' and words in Sanskrit which have no Christian meaning but reflect Hindu polytheism. This is definitely the case with the word 'OM' (our 'AUM'). Abbé Dubois, who completed his work about 160 years ago, says that the Brahmins of his time tried to keep the real meaning of this word ('OM') a profound secret and the greater number of them did not even understand it. He himself did not have much doubt that 'OM' is "the symbolic name of the Supreme Being, one and indivisible". But Beauchamp, the editor of Dubois' book, added in a footnote, quoting an unnamed authority: "As long as there has been a Hindu Faith the power of sound has been recognized in the Sacred word. In that word lie all potencies, for the Sacred word expresses the one and latent Being, every power of generation, of preservation and of destruction...". Walker notes that 'OM' is the most solemn of the most powerful class of mantras (magic words) and magical utterances, called bijakshara. Every true bijakshara mantra ends with a nasal sound actually going over in a kind of 'vibration'. The bijakshara are used to worship the deities like Siva, Ganesa, Lakshmi etc. The brief 'Mandukya Upanishad' is entirely devoted to the mystic syllable OM. "It is compounded od three sounds: "a u m", representing the three Vedas (Rig, Tajur, Sama), the three worlds (heaven, atmosphere, earth), the three universe, which are, as it were, gathered to a point within it, it is used for invocations, affirmations and blessing and at the commencement and termination of prayer, meditation or work. It is said to be the mystical quintessence of the entire cosmos... the monarch of all sounded things, the mother of vibrations, and the key to eternal wisdom and power". (Vol. II, pp 103-104)
No. 5: Enhances the impression that one is present at a Hindu ceremony because it begins with what is called Shuddi. Walker's Encyclopedia states that sadhana (purification) and suddi (purity) play a vital part in Hindu religious observance; they are related to the concept sancha (cleanliness) and he who practices this "is qualified to witness the Self". The Commentary to No. 5 says that the five-fold suddi is meant to remove "all the barriers that stand in the way of... the wholeness of our person, our oneness (instead of unity) with the community of men and our total harmony with the universe". There is not a single Christian word in all this; it is all Hindu and many OM's have to be said to make the five-fold suddhi effective. Christ did not practice the ritual washings and purifications of the Jews and the Apostles abolished them, except one: – the Holy Sacrament of Baptism. But now these washings and purifications have again been fully introduced in the order of worship by Amalorpavadass in order to turn Christian worship into a Hindu ceremony. What a betrayal of Christian principles and practice!!
No. 11: After the complicated ritual purification, a lamp is lighted and the commentary proceeding No. 11 says that by the ritual purification "all barriers of sin have been removed and all darkness of sin dispelled". This is a typically Hindu idea. In the Catholic religion, only in an act of full contrition and in the Sacraments of Baptism and Penance does God forgive our sins; not by mere ritual.
No. 13: The light, thought to symbolize the presence of God among us, is venerated by celebrants and the congregation by touching it with their finger tips and bringing the fingers to the eyes. This ceremony is totally unknown in Christianity and after all the preceding Hindu worship, gives the clear impression of fire worship which is still very much alive in India as everybody knows, and not only among the Parsees. Indead, it is not only an impression, for fire worship and sun worship are both propagated by the NBCLC.
No. 14: Homage to the Bible. This is taken from Protestantism, which has a real cult of the Bible. Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox venerate the book of the Gospels because it represents Christ, the invisible Head of the Church, the High Priest of our faith, the one who is represented (not only symbolized) by the priest at the altar. The Bible (and not the Gospels) is incensed while the celebrant sings "Brahma is truth, knowledge infinite". Brahma is, as is well known, no Christian, but a Hindu deity, the first god of the Hindu triad. He who prays to Brahma denies his Christian faith and adores the Golden Calf.
The readers (of the Old Testament, Epistles and Gospels) are blessed by the celebrant, not with the sign of the Cross but with a Hindu gesture of the hands called mala mudra (mudra = 'seal'; gesture). Readings are from the Old Testament, the Epistles and the Gospel (although passages from the Hindu Scriptures are read by many who perform this 'Hindu Mass'). Between the first and second readings there is a chant in Sanskrit.
No. 21: There is now a procession of gifts in which "the whole universe and all mankind are brought back to God through Jesus Christ in the Eucharist". This idea, taken as a symbol, is wrong. The Holy Eucharist belongs to the covenant concluded between God (Christ) and the faithful, as the words of the Institution (Consecration) clearly say. All the gifts are to be laid (if possible) on the little table, called peeta, behind which the celebrant is squatting all the time, watching the congregation. According to No. 23 the celebrant invokes "the spirit of the Father" on the offerings (on all of them, not only on the bread and wine). According to Christian thought and eucharistic practice, this is nonsense. It also does not appear that we have to do with the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. European modernists like to speak of "the Spirit of the Father".
No. 23: OM is repeated 8 times. The author never gets enough of this mantra and repeats it often in the Hindu way. The more it is repeated the more powerfully it is said to work.
No. 24: Mentions the "Eucharistic Prayer" but does not quote it. This makes one suspicious, because if one of the approved canons is to be used, at least the shortest of them might have been quoted. But it is known that there is also an "Indian canon", forbidden even by Rome but still used. So the silence of the formula leaves room for illegal texts.
The 'Canon' is followed by a communion rite which is introduced by the celebrant in a few words called Prasada mantra. Prasada has a special and very living meaning in Hindu worship as everybody in India knows. It means the food given to the gods and, from the use of this word, one gets the impression that a magical ceremony is to follow, resembling Hindu temple worship. The Blood of Christ is not called by its name, but is called nectar which, in Hindu mythology is the drink of the gods, giving them immortality (as in Greek mythology). Sure, the Eucharist is for us the "food of immortality", but the taking over of a term (and necessarily its underlying idea) from a living religion is one more item of syncretism intended to mislead the faithful, especially those who might come to the Church from a Hindu environment.
No. 28: Nowhere in the text is it clearly said that the bread and wine have been changed into the Blood of Christ. The words used do not need to have more than a symbolical meaning.
No. 31: Manasa puja! Flowers, a light and a vessel of ointment are placed on the peeta table. A manasa is, again, a magic text, a mantra. The author of this liturgy never gets enough of giving the impression that he is practising magic. In the Oriental rites (and originally in the Latin as well) nothing could be placed on the altar except the Gospel, the Cross and the holy vessels and their contents needed for Mass.
No. 32: The celebrant tells God that the faithful "feel our limbs are made glorious by your touch" (a not very Christian expression) and that God has made Himself known to us today in "the breaking of the bread". Again, no clear expression of the eucharistic doctrine of the Church.
No. 34: The words of what is called the "solemn blessing" of the celebrant (nowhere called priest) mention a "God beyond all name and form"... "who became manifest in Jesus Christus" (this is the language of the modernists of Europe; God became man in Jesus Christ, who is a divine Person) ... "the indweller in the cave of your hearts". All these words can be understood with a pantheistic Hindu meaning (Christ mentioned as an avatar (in Hindu mythology, the descent to earth and incarnation of a deity); they are not specifically Christian.
To conclude: The impression one gets from this strange rite is that of a curious mixture of Hindu and Christian elements. It deliberately tries to do away as much as possible with the distinction bet-ween Hinduism and Christianity and also between Catholicism and Protestantism. It tries to suppress the unique character of the Christian religion and consequently of Catholic worship. A liturgy like this concoction of Amalorpavadass has never been produced in the whole of Christianity, and it is a deliberate, premediated break with the whole tradition of the Church.
This is not only serious but bad because he has introduced Hindu worship into the Church in India, spurred by the false idea that liturgy should be national and that there are no "false religions" in India. His syncretistic liturgical blend will not attract any intelligent Hindu to the Church, but will create a new sect, a Hindu-Christian one, and it remains to be seen whether this will be predominantly Christian or Hindu.
The comments on the 'Indian Mass' are taken with some adaptations from an artic. by J.P.H.Van der Ploeg O.P.
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