The Catholic Morning Show

Why the Priest Faces East: Ad Orientem Explained – Dr. Peter Kwasniewski – 07/10/2026

Episode Summary

Author and liturgical scholar Dr. Peter Kwasniewski joins Bo Bonner to discuss his new TAN Books release, Ad Orientem: The Direction that Changes Everything, exploring the ancient Christian practice of priest and people facing East during Mass. Kwasniewski traces the practice to the apostolic era, addresses common misconceptions about early "table fellowship" worship, and explains why the General Instruction of the Roman Missal still presumes ad orientem in the Novus Ordo today. The conversation unpacks how bodily posture in the liturgy shapes belief, reverence, and the priest's own spiritual disposition at the altar.

Episode Notes

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is a Catholic author, lecturer, and longtime advocate for traditional liturgy. His new booklet, Ad Orientem: The Direction that Changes Everything, published by TAN Books, examines why the direction of worship — toward the East, symbolizing Christ — has shaped Catholic prayer since the age of the apostles.

Highlights from the conversation:

• What ad orientem means: Priest and people facing the same direction — historically East — during the Eucharistic liturgy, a practice St. Basil the Great described as received from the apostles
• Debunking the "banquet table" theory: Kwasniewski explains why the idea that early Christians worshiped facing one another around a table doesn't hold up to scholarship from historians such as Fr. Josef Jungmann, Fr. Louis Bouyer, Fr. Uwe Michael Lang, and Msgr. Stefan Heid
• The exception of St. Peter's Basilica: Built facing west due to the location of Peter's tomb, requiring the pope to stand at the west end of the altar while still facing liturgical East
• Can the Novus Ordo be celebrated ad orientem? Yes — Kwasniewski points to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), which presumes the priest turns toward the people only at specific points, implying an eastward-facing default
• The spiritual stakes: Why facing the same direction as the congregation helps the priest avoid becoming the center of attention, and how it re-orients worship toward God rather than the assembly

Order the booklet or learn more: tanbooks.com

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Episode Contributors Bo Bonner, Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

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