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

Here is an article suggesting that the Motu Proprio to derestrict the older form of Mass may be issued,... ehem… tomorrow Saturday 2 June.

Frankly I don’t believe it.  With my luck it will actually be Monday when I am on an airplane.

Still, FWIW, yesterday evening I was out with someone VERY well-informed who offered on his own initiative that the document is "signed".  My emphases and comments.

Thus we come to the piece in the Telegraph.

A senior figure in the Vatican, a monsignor close to the Pope, has been told that the long-awaited motu proprio lifting restrictions on the Tridentine Latin Mass will be issued tomorrow.

The Latin Mass
A profound and numinous experience

I’ve cried wolf on this subject before, so don’t bet on it – but the announcement seems imminent, and traditionalists MUST be ready to react the second the document appears.

For, make no mistake about it, liberal European bishops – including English ones – already have a strategy in place to smother the Pope’s ruling. My guess is that the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales will try to claim that the motu proprio won’t make much difference in practice, that there already lots of Old Masses celebrated, that there’s not much demand for any more, etc etc.

Be very suspicious. If this ruling is just a minor adjustment, why have the ageing trendies in the Church fought tooth and nail to try to stop Pope Benedict issuing the document? [Exactly!]

We don’t know the contents of the motu proprio, but it is expected to curb the power of local bishops to restrict [Which would make it historic, in a sense.  It would be a document that favors priests rather than bishops.] the celebration of the Tridentine Rite, in which the priest celebrates Mass facing in the same direction as the congregation – eastwards, towards a symbolic Jerusalem.

To my mind, this Mass, in which the celebrant says the Latin words of the canon sotto voce – the “blessed mutter” – is one of the most profound and numinous experiences in the history of worship, [Very well put.]  so different from the game-show mateyness of modern services.

I hope the media will grasp the magnitude of the cultural shift signified by Benedict’s decision to restore parity to the Old Rite, and will put the Bishops of England and Wales (and those of America and Europe) on the spot.

The motu proprio may contain an opt-out clause which allows a local bishop to refuse to grant permission for the Old Rite, sending the decision to Rome (which will grant it in most cases).  [Cunctando regitur mundus.  Gosh!  How popular will that move make a bishop?]

If [IF] this clause exists, each bishop must be asked: will you be one of those invoking it, and therefore forcing traditional Catholics to go through some sort of appeals process?  [RIGHT!  "Which list do you want to on, Your Excellency?"]

Once the ruling is out, I’d like to see a detailed response from every bishop in this country, so we can work out which dioceses are prepared to enter into the spirit of Pope Benedict’s reform – and, equally, which ones will surreptitiously try to ignore it.

Last night in Rome we had a blue moon.  Here it is from my window along with Jupiter over the P.za Navona.

This just in:

Study: Cocaine, Cannibis Found in Rome’s Air

Friday , June 01, 2007

ROME —
Researchers may have figured out what makes la vita so dolce in Rome. A report from Italy’s National Research Council released Thursday found that there are traces of cocaine and cannabis in the air of the Eternal City.

The institute made the discovery during a study of toxic substances in the air of Rome, Taranto, in the heel of boot-shaped Italy, as well as in Algiers. The results found that in Rome, there were traces of cocaine and cannabis — as well as nicotine, caffeine and benzopirene, which is commonly released in cigarette smoke and auto emissions.

"The highest concentrations of cocaine were found in the center of Rome and especially in the area of the University of La Sapienza," said Dr. Angelo Cecinato, who led the investigation.

Researchers can’t say for sure why the high concentrations were registered in those locations, [Hmmm…. near the University… hmmm what could the reason be…. hmmm…] but Cecinato stressed that the findings didn’t necessarily mean that cocaine and cannabis are more heavily used there.

The report said the maximum concentration of cocaine in Rome — 0.1 nanograms per cubic meter — was five times less than the legal limit for toxic substances in the air. Nevertheless, researchers said even the small amount was reason for concern.

There were small traces of the drugs found in Taranto and none in Algiers, the researchers said.

There has been a great deal of controversy about the so-called "Third Secret of Fatima".   It is proposed by some that there is a second part to the secret which the Vatican has not revealed.   In Italy this controversy is heating up.  Books have been published about this, on both sides.  I have read a few of them.  One of the books was co-authored by none other than H.E. Tarcisio Card. Bertone.

Tonight on a TV show "Porta a Porta" on the Italian network RAIUNO Card. Bertone appeared through a live hook-up from the Apostolic Palace in order to "resolve" the controversy. 

I watched it.

Card. Bertone did something extraordinary.  He displayed on the air the envelopes in which the Third Secret was contained.  After opening them one by one, with many closeups of the camera, Card. Bertone then took out of the last small envelope Lucia’s written sheet with the text of the Third Secret.  Bertone explained that that is all there was.  Perhaps the reason why some assumed there was some other part to the secret is because of the way the sheet was folded.  Instead of being folded in half, it was folded twice, into fours, as it were.

Alas, the other folks on the show were less than helpful.  In fact, they were unedifying.  For example, Marco Politi of La Repubblica…. well…

Of course what was seen on TV tonight doesn’t really resolve anything.  Still, some one bent on saying that there is more to the secret will have to explain how what Card. Bertone showed on TV was inadequate proof.