Of course I can see the word "communion" in the paragraph. We have quoted
the passage to each other often enough. But it reads: "... mass NOR
communion... ". Not one and the same things.  It says "Mass ought to be in
Latin .... Greek or Chinese ... in fact, any abracadabra... "  [emphasis
supplied]

Mass and communion are often perceived to be one and the same, or at least
it is often assumed that communion is the essence of the mass.  But, as I
said, that is not the view taken by many conservative liturgists, who would
assert that the mass is a ritual-drama  which re-enacts, in its language and
symbolic gesture, the central mystery of the Sacrifice.  The essence of your
argument, if I may restate it without any intention of distorting it, is
that the religious experience consists in the communal brotherhood of the
congregation with each other, in their worship of God, and that the language
and the ritual should therefore interpose no barriers to this communal bond.
But Latin does so; and the separation of men into two classes, elect
priesthood and laity, does so. The essence of my argument is that Pound is
focusing not on the communal aspects of the liturgy but on the sacrifical
mystery it re-enacts. It is more than a matter of emphasis: Community or the
Ultimate Isolation of the Divine Mystery.

Tim Romano

----- Original Message -----
From: "En Lin Wei" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2000 7:59 AM
Subject: Where is communion mentioned?


> "You haven't adduced any evidence that Pound is talking about "the
> ceremony of communion".  Where is communion mentioned?"
>
> I am reproducing the quote under discussion.  Communion and mass are
> mentioned in the first line.
>
>
> Re European belief:  Neither mass nor communion
>   are of Jew origin.  Nowt to do with that nasty old
>   maniac JHV [Jehovah] and are basis of Xtn. religion.
>   Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in
>   Greek or Chinese.  In fact, any abracadabra that no
>   bloody member of the public or a half-educated ape
>   of a clargimint cd. think he understood
>    (Letter to Rev. Henry Swabey, Mar. 1940).
>
> How should we interpret Pound's use of the term "communion"?
>
> Regards,
>
> Wei
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