What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

A long time ago, in a parish far far away, I got in terrible trouble on the feast of St. Angela Merici (+1540), foundress of the Ursulines in Brescia and a patroness of Catholic education. 

I was asked to bless the school rooms of the K-8 parish school.  This would clearly also involve talking with the children to make sure they knew what this was all about. 

One reasonably expects some confusion in the very youngest children about, say, the difference between a sacrament and a sacramental. After 6-8 years of Catholic education, however, the older children ought to know this. To my astonishment, in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes I could not find a single child… not a single child… who could tell me even the name of ONE of the sacraments, much less what a sacrament is much less a sacramental.   Seeing how things were going I spent some time in each room explaining what a sacrament is before I blessed the room and then asked some questions afterward.  I figured that if the kids were going to HOLY COMMUNION at school Masses, they might as well know that "that piece of bread thing"* was a sacrament.

In most schools when the priest comes to the classroom, the teachers are pleased to see him and make sure the kids know that it is a special occasion.  Not at this school!  What was the reaction of the teachers? They got angry with ME for explaining to the children what sacraments are and what the difference is between them and sacramentals (like blessing the room).  Leave aside the fact that it was THEIR responsibility in the school room to teach the basics of our Catholic faith. 

To make a long story short, I always remember with bittersweet fondness the feast day of St. Angela Merici.

Here is the "opening prayer" for today’s great saint, St. Angela Merici.

COLLECT:
Pietati tuae, quaesumus, Domine,
nos beata virgo Angela commendare non desinat,
ut, eius caritatis et prudentiae documenta sectantes,
tuam valeamus doctrinam custodire
et moribus profiteri.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
We beg You, O Lord, let the blessed virgin Angela
not cease to commend us to Your mercy,
so that, closely following her concrete examples of charity and prudence,
we may be able to guard Your fundamental teaching
and make progess in a good conduct of life.

Here I think is in doctrina an echo of the Italian "dottrina", "teaching" in the sense of "catechism" for children, the fundamentals.  When Italians call religious instruction for children "la dottrina". Since this prayer concerns a saint foundress of an order dedicated to teaching children, this seems a good choice.

I will thus put to you simple questions.

• Do your children know what a sacrament is?
• Do they know the names of the sacraments?
• Do they know what the difference is between a sacrament and a sacramental?

Take time to review the fundamental teachings of our Catholic Faith. We read in 1 Peter 3:15: "Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence." A good way to make this review would be with your own copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Get one and give one to those whom you love.

*This was an actual response from a child two days before making their First Holy Communion. I was asked to show the kids the church and help them understand what to do.  I showed them how to genuflect before the tabernacle. They were previously unaware of such a practice.  Children like to know WHY they do things, right?  I said we pay special attention to the tabernacle (pointing to it and explaining that I meant that beautiful box, etc. etc.) because that is where Jesus is present in the Host they were going to receive for their First Communion. Blank stares.  So, we had a little quiz about Communion, and its meaning. Blank stares. I asked about Jesus and His being present in Communion. Blank stares. I asked about if they had ever noticed that their parents receive the Host during Mass. At that point one young boy said, "You mean that piece of bread thing?"

The Cardinal Secretary of State has a big job, to say the least. But these days, he is busy with book presentations.

He had one a couple days ago, for a book on people who helped Jews during WWII. Today he was at one (as was I) for a new book by Nicola Bux and Adriano Garuti, Pietro ama e unisce: La responsibilita personale del Papa per la Chiesa universale (Bologna: ESD, 2007) considering the Petrine ministry in a solidly Catholic way.

Also present at today’s presentation were José Card. Saraiva Martins (Prefect of Causes of Saints), H.E. Rino Fisichella (auxilliary of Rome) various other prelates and functionaries. 

The advertised presence of Cardinal Bertone was sure to bring out some of the curial workers bees, seeking face time. You can always tell the careerists of the Secretariate of State, who came in through the finishing school, from their carefully planned hair and the peculiar walk that results from shoes that are too tight. But I digress.

On both occasions Cardinal Bertone spoke of Pius XII. In the first case it is an obvious thing to talk about Pius XII because of his amazing efforts to save the lives of thousands of Jews (a fact the mainstream media hates and therefore hides).

Today, however, Card. Bertone mentioned that Pius XII had received an apparition of the Lord, something His Eminence clearly believed, judging from the way he spoke about it.

I find it interesting that in a span of about 48 hours, His Eminence spoke at book presentations about Servant of God Pope Pius XII. 

Today is the feast of St. Vitalian, Pope (657-672), who is also a co-patron of the Suburbicarian Diocese of Velletri-Segni.  He was born in Segni (where the finest chestnuts of Italy are found). I would be remiss if I did not mention him today, which is his die natalis.

In the Basilica of St. Peter there is a proper prayer for him used with the Common of Pastors (with the Mass Suscitabo):

COLLECT:
Deus, qui beatum Vitalianum divina caritate flagrantem,
fideque, quae vincit mundum, insignem,
sanctis Pastoribus mirabiliter aggregasti,
praesta quaesumus, ut ipso intercendente
nos quoque in fide et caritate perseverantes
eius gloriae consortes fieri mereamur.

LITERAL RENDERING:
O God, who wonderously included in the ranks of Shepherds blessed Vitalius,
burning with divine charity
and outstanding in the faith which refutes the world,
grant we beseech You, that as he intercedes,
we also, persevering in faith and charity,
may merit to become sharers of his glory.

St. Pope Vitalianus tried to put relations of Rome and Constantinople on a better footing even as he battled monothelitism (the heresy that Christ had only one will, and therefore lacked a perfect human nature).  The other day we saw Pope Benedict bless lambs, the wool of which is destined for the pallia to be given to metropolitans.  In 633 Constans gave golden pallium to Vitalian, dined with him after Mass, and then stole some of his bronzes, including some of the bronze from the Pantheon.  Beware Greeks bearing gifts, I guess. Vitalian also defended the authority of the papacy when the Archbishop of Ravenna decided it was time to go autocephalic (he mutinied). 

Claudio Card. Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, has written to all the priests of the world via the website of the Congregation. Let’s look at the central section and pull it apart. I have some obervations along the way.

Here are some excepts from the letter. Some of it sounds a little like gobbledegook, but we can sort it through:

 

... We are bearers of a specific identity that constantly characterizes us in our existence and in our activity. We are consecrated and incorporated into the activity of Christ. The gestures and the words of Jesus become re-actualized (It: "riattualizzati") in time and in history to elicit in those who fulfill them "the same sentiments of Christ" and the same effects of salvation.

The Church, in conferring the sacrament of orders, ontologically constitutes the priest as an "alter Christus," or as some say, an "ipse Christus"; and it establishes him as a minister of the word and as a minister of the prophetic action and pastoral love of Christ. His function, therefore, is not to exhaust himself exclusively in the dimension of worship, but to fulfill himself in the prophetic dimension by proclaiming the word and in the pastoral dimension by being a guide for the community.

Among the beautiful expressions of the Second Vatican Council is the following statement, which synthesizes the functions of the priest while delineating his identity: "Priests, while engaging in prayer and adoration, or preaching the word, or offering the Eucharistic sacrifice and administering the other sacraments, or performing other works of the ministry for men, devote all this energy to the increase of the glory of God and to man’s progress in the divine life" ("Presbyterorum Ordinis," 2).

...

From the Vatican, Jan. 24, 2007
Memorial of St. Francis de Sales

More than one odd phrases cause us to scratch our heads. For example, "The gestures and the words of Jesus become re-actualized (It: "riattualizzati") in time and in history".

The dicta et acta of the Lord, especially known through Scripture, are central. But, "reactualized"? What on earth does that mean? The Italian, "riattualizzati" is one of those jargon words Italians put together when talkin’ purty. In Italian "attuale" is "present, current". Thus, "attualizzare" means "to bring into the present, ripopose in modern terms", which makes perfect sense in this context. "Riattuallize" is just a fancier sounding way of saying this. The English translation is a bit to slavish in sticking to the Italian.

Let’s pull this apart at the seams:

... We are bearers of a specific identity that constantly characterizes us in our existence and in our activity. [The sacrament of Holy Orders changed who we are and effects all that we do.] We are consecrated and incorporated into the activity of Christ. [Because of that, we are "set apart" (clerus) and Christ acts through us in a particular way.] The gestures and the words of Jesus become re-actualized (It: "riattualizzati") in time and in history to elicit in those who fulfill them "the same sentiments of Christ" and the same effects of salvation. [In priests, Christ’s words and actions are brought into the present and cause His will to be done in the ongoing salvation of souls.]

The Church, in conferring the sacrament of orders, ontologically constitutes the priest as an "alter Christus," or as some say, an "ipse Christus" [When the Church ordains a man, he is so conformed to Christ that he can be called "another Christ"]; and it establishes him as a minister of the word and as a minister of the prophetic action and pastoral love of Christ. [thus, he proclaims and explains the Word of God and preaches the Good news while being active in good works according to Christ command to love.] His function, therefore, is not to exhaust himself exclusively in the dimension of worship, but to fulfill himself in the prophetic dimension by proclaiming the word and in the pastoral dimension by being a guide for the community. [Therefore the priest should not remain only "in the sacristy" but should also be active in the community.]

Among the beautiful expressions of the Second Vatican Council is the following statement, which synthesizes the functions of the priest while delineating his identity: "Priests, while engaging in prayer and adoration, or preaching the word, or offering the Eucharistic sacrifice and administering the other sacraments, or performing other works of the ministry for men, devote all this energy to the increase of the glory of God and to man’s progress in the divine life" ("Presbyterorum Ordinis," 2).

Tha last part is fairly clear.

One of the things I find a bit odd in this piece is the way the liturgical role of the priest is so diminished in view of "pastoral" work, as if those two things are somehow not in harmony. Furthermore, while it is true that the letter does speak clearly about the ontological change Holy Orders makes in the soul, this dimension seems to take a back seat to "activity" and "functions". It almost sounds as if there is a zero-sum view at work: a focus on liturgy can’t be "pastoral", a priestly identity is more active than contemplative.

I find this dichotomy frequently among priests and prelates: if you are contemplative, you are not "pastoral"; if you are liturgical, you are not "pastoral"; if you are intellectual, you are not "pastoral" and therefore… if you are contemplative, liturgically minded and smart… you are suspect. You might even be dangerous. As a result, the model for modern priests shifts in formation and pressure from above and from peers to emphasize being constantly busy, not too interested in all that liturgy stuff, and being "just plain folks". Therefore, "pastoral" priests are constantly on the move, they delegate liturgical matters to lay people, and usually eschew being very challenging in preaching, counseling, and conversation.

I know I am just playing around with this to see what is going on, and maybe I am being too hard on the letter, but here is my rendering again, extracted from the original text above. See what you think:

The sacrament of Holy Orders changed who we are and effects all that we do. Because of that, we are "set apart" (clerus) and Christ acts through us in a particular way. In priests, Christ’s words and actions are brought into the present and cause His will to be done in the ongoing salvation of souls. When the Church ordains a man, he is so conformed to Christ that he can be called "another Christ"; thus, he proclaims and explains the Word of God and preaches the Good news while being active in good works according to Christ command to love. Therefore the priest should not remain only "in the sacristy" but should also be active in the community.