Concelebration ad Orientem

During the Canon.

The adjacent photographs shew a Pontifical Mass in the Ordinary Form being celebrated ad orientem. 

There is something distinctive here about the arrangement of the concelebrants. The celebrant and the deacons-assistant are prominent in the congregation's view of the Altar. The concelebrants, however, are gathered around the altar, not standing next to, or behind the celebrant.

Some scholars suggest that the words of the Roman Canon in the Commemoration of the Living omnium circumstantium refer precisely to this arrangement of ministers: those STANDING here around. Note that all the concelebrants are focussed not only on the altar, but also on the celebrant.

The Elevation.

In these photographs, taken in September 2011, the Bishop of Le Mans, France, gives the Abbatial Blessing to Mother Claire Sazilly OSB, during the Pontifical Mass in the Abbey Church of Sainte-Cecile de Solesmes. The vestments used on this occasion are ample and simple in the French monastic tradition.

The High Altar in the Abbey Church of Saint Cecile.
Beyond the screen is the choir of the nuns, which forms a transept.
The nave of the Church is to the right in the photograph.

Mother Abbess after the Blessing.