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

Some new from Down Under: 

Archdiocese of Melbourne:

Solemn Pontifical Mass at the Throne will be celebrated in the traditional Latin rite (1962 Missal) by His Grace, Archbishop Denis Hart, at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne, on Saturday, 25 August, at 10.30am.

The Mass will be celebrated in thanksgiving for Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio.

* Priests interested in learning to celebrate the extraordinary usage of the Roman Rite (1962 Missal) are invited to contact Fr Glen Tattersall, on (03) 9532 4154, or email: chaplain@latinmassmelbourne.org

* Solemn Mass in accordance with the 1962 Missal is celebrated every Sunday at 11am at St Aloysius’ Church, 233 Balaclava Rd, Caulfield North. After Mass on Sunday, 19 August, instruction will be available for those lay faithful who wish to learn more about the older usage of the Roman Rite. Please BYO lunch. The day will conclude with Vespers at 4.00pm.

* * *

Archdiocese of Sydney:

In addition to the FSSP Apostolate at Maternal Heart Chapel in Lewisham, Mass according to the 1962 Missal will now celebrated in the Lady Chapel at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, every Wednesday and first Friday of each month at 4pm.

A Latin-English Booklet Missal is now available for $5.00.

Inquiries: The Alliance of the Holy Apostolic Tradition, PO Box 4, Allawah, NSW 2218; tel (02) 4358-3861; email: lmonteiro@munichre.com

SOURCE: AD2000 Vol 20 No 7 (August 2007), p. 4

 

There is an interesting piece by Robert Mickens in the lefty The Tablet about the controversial Good Friday prayer for the Jews in its older form before the phrase pro perfideis Judaeis was removed.

Some of the points made here are old chestnuts, but others are interesting.

My emphases.

Vatican blocked reform of anti-Semitic prayer

Robert Mickens

AN ITALIAN historian has raised new questions over the Vatican’s culpability in fomenting an anti-Semitic mentality in Catholic Europe that may have helped pave the way for the Holocaust. Emma Fattorini, a university professor and author of several books on nineteenth- and twentieth- century history, recently said German studies showed that in 1928 the Vatican emphatically blocked efforts to removed references to the “perfidious Jews” that were for centuries part of the Good Friday liturgy.

In an article late last month in the newspaper Il Sole-24 Ore, Professor Fattorini cited a work by the historian Hubert Wolf (in Historische Zeitschrift in 2004) showing that the future Cardinal Idelfonso Schuster OSB was sharply reprimanded by the Holy Office in January 1928 for requesting the change. The Benedictine, who became Archbishop of Milan a year after the incident and was beatified in 1996, made the request on behalf of a shortlived Catholic association called “Amici di Israele” (Friends of Israel). The group was founded in 1926 to combat theological anti-Semitism and included some 19 cardinals (including the Vatican Secretary of State), 279 bishops and 3,000 priests. To underline Vatican opposition to the proposed change in the Good Friday prayer, the Secretary of the Holy Office – Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val – ordered “Amici di Israele” to be disbanded in March 1928, saying it promoted “interconfessionalism” and “religious indifferentism”.

An article last Sunday in Il Corriere della Sera cited other recent historical studies showing that Pope Pius VII blocked efforts to eliminate liturgical references to the “perfidious Jews” in 1808. The article cited an essay by Msgr Giuseppe Croce, an archivist in the Vatican Archives, which chronicled the little-known episode. After conquering Tuscany in the spring of 1808, Napoleon ordered all the churches in the region to make two changes in the Good Friday prayers: to substitute the “prayer for the emperor” with a prayer for Napoleon; and, because he believed it “injurious”, to substitute the prayer for the “perfidious Jews” with one for the “blinded Jews”. Pius VII allowed the first change, but strongly refused the second. “If we were to change [the prayer] it would appear that the Church had erred up to now,” the Pope said.

 

 Whatever else this might be, this is really interesting!

The lefty English Catholic tabloid The Tablet has an article in the 25 August issue.  It is about the reaction to the Archbishop of Glasgow’s reaction to the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.  His Excellency Most Reverend Mario Conti’s had issued a harsh response, which we covered here. 

My emphases and comments.

Conti questions demand for Old Rite
Elena Curti
Hugh Farmer
In Glasgow

TRADITIONALISTS HAVE reacted with anger to a letter sent by the Archbishop of Glasgow setting out tough conditions [Hmm.. even The Tablet sees them as tough.] for the celebration of the Tridentine Rite.

Archbishop Mario Conti casts doubt on whether there is sufficient demand for the Old Rite to provide more than the one Mass he has already authorised in the archdiocese.

Like other Catholic bishops around the world, Archbishop Conti is required to implement Pope Benedict’s motu proprio which is designed to widen provision of the old Mass according to John XXIII’s 1962 missal for those Catholics who want it. The new regulations are to be implemented on 14 September.

But in his letter Archbishop Conti points out that the Pope is concerned that provision is made for “a stable group [bad translation of the Latin of the Motu Proprio.] of the faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical rite”.

“I find it difficult to envisage that there are any ‘stable groups’ in our diocese who ‘adhere’ to the 1962 Missal,” he writes. Archbishop Conti lays down that there should be just one celebration in the Old Rite on Sundays and feast days and that it should never replace the New Rite or “ordinary form”.

Quoting the Pope’s letter to bishops on the motu proprio, Archbishop Conti reminds priests that the new norms do not lessen bishops’
 responsibility for liturgy. He expects to be consulted each time a priest wants to celebrate the Old Rite so that he can confirm the priest is suitably “qualified”.  [I wonder if His Excellency is checking up on the liturgical practices of priests celebrating with the Novus Ordo.]

The chairman of the traditionalist Una Voce Society said he was “dismayed at the archbishop’s negative attitude”. Alex Todd added
 that the letter contrasted with the statement made by the bishops of Scotland last month saying they intended to ensure the motu proprio’s provisions were fully available to those Catholics in Scotland who wanted the Old Rite.

Una Voce’s chaplain Mgr Hugh Boyle said that several “young” priests indicated an interest in learning the “extraordinary” form. Fr John Zuhlsdorf, a traditionalist American priest based in America, [Well… this is wrong is in two ways.  First, I am not a "traditionalist".  Second, have not been based in America for some years, though I am here now.] made public excerpts from Archbishop Conti’s letter on his blog describing them as “among the coldest, most hostile” he had read. [Still are, too.] A Catholic online discussion forum, Catholic Action UK, claimed that Archbishop Conti was attempting to frustrate the Pope’s intentions.

In response, Archbishop Conti’s office issued a statement saying his guidelines were not intended “in any way” to obstruct the Holy Father’s wishes. The archbishop explained that the intention of the motu proprio was to enable reconciliation for those who felt ostracised or marginalised, or had joined schismatic groups in response to the 1970 modernisation of the Mass. [This is simply WRONG.  The Motu Proprio, like John Paul II’s in 1988, provides for anyone who is interested in the older form of Mass.  It is NOT limited or intended only for people in questionable unity with the Holy See.  If some person who is rather more attached ("the Archbishop’s use of "adhere" is misleading.) to the newer form would desire to attend the older form on occasion, that would be sufficient.  All Catholics should be able to benefit from these provisions.  They should not be shoved into a ghetto.] “In this the Holy Father is seeking to restore unity within the Church. I do not have any evidence that the archdiocese is affected in this way,” he said. [Well… I think by this very move the Archdiocese is NOW affected, since those hard norms laid down for the archdiocese are probably even now causing people who have never been anything but loyal to the Holy See and the Archbishop to "feel ostracised or marginalised"!]

Folks, you don’t have to be a "traditionalist" to want the Motu Proprio to be seen with openness and generosity by bishops and priests.

I am not a "traditionalist", in the sense desiring to use only the older form of Mass.  I use both books, for the older and newer forms of Mass.  I was was not ordained for a book after all.  But I was ordained for the Latin Church, to use the Roman Rite!  In that sense I am "traditional".

I am expending a lot of energy on this issue of the Motu Proprio for a couple reasons.

First, I firmly believe that more celebrations of the older Mass will help correct the way the Novus Ordo is celebrated.

Second, the Motu Proprio is just one component, albeit an important one, in Pope Benedict’s larger vision of continuity and healing in all sectors of the Church’s life.  I think Pope Benedict is implementing a kind of "Marshal Plan" for the Church after the devastation we have experienced from a long dominant "hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture", as he described it in his Christmas Address to the Roman Curia in 2005.  To my mind, every priest ought to back this document, and the other good provisions of the Holy See, and not hinder them. 

An interesting story is developing in Denver.  This just in via The Rocky Mountain News.

My emphases.

By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
August 24, 2007

A group of breakaway Catholic traditionalists who will embark on an annual pilgrimage through Denver today has been banned by the archdiocese from going inside two downtown Catholic churches.

"This is just stunning," said Grider Lee, spokesman for St. Isidore the Farmer parish in Watkins.

Since 1999, the hardier members of the parish have made a 50-mile pilgrimage to the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden to thank God for the completion of their church.

This is not the first time the pilgrims have clashed with Archbishop Charles Chaput and his representatives over their use of Catholic sites during the pilgrimage.

The congregation of 250 families belongs to the Society of St. Pius X, an international sect, which relies upon a 16th century version of the Latin Mass and opposes the Second Vatican Council and its modernizing influences on the church.

Pius X members insist they are faithful Catholics, but the Catholic Church disagrees.

In 2002, Chaput stopped the group’s plan to celebrate a Latin Mass at Cabrini because of its schismatic standing. Since then, the pilgrims have celebrated their Mass at the highway turnout below the shrine.

Until now, however, the group was never stopped from praying in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception or Holy Ghost Church, two flagship parishes that are along the route to Golden.

"By then (the pilgrims) are 25 miles into it and they’re pretty tired," Lee said. "It’s nice to get into air conditioning, frankly, and spend time with our Lord, praying."

The ban was imposed because the archdiocese was receiving complaints from worshippers in past years that the St. Isidore crowd was leaving Pius X literature in the churches and trying to make converts, Communications Director Jeanette DeMelo said.

St. Isidore’s pastor, the Rev. Joseph Lester, said the group will abide by the archdiocese’s decision.

I have two point and a piece of advice.

First, because I know that His Excellency Archbishop Chaput has for many years been very friendly to groups wanting the older Mass, I am confident this decision does NOT stem from any dislike for the older form.  Archbp. Chaput was one of the very first bishops in the USA to welcome the FSSP, when he was in Rapidopolis, South Dakota.

Second, when guests start scratching eyeballs, even the well-disposed shut down the welcome.  The SSPXers, it seems, wore out their welcome by – can you believe it – leaving their literature in the churches they visited.  Brilliant move, that. 

Folks, I am sorry to hear this news from Denver, especially when some positive expectations have been raised by the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.  Nevertheless, we can take this as an object lesson.  It would be great if something could be worked out.

Remember that when you are very zealous for the traditional liturgy, and you are faced with convincing priests and bishops to be open, don’t do stupid things.  Don’t get in their faces.  Don’t be rude.  Don’t insist on your superior position.  Persuade, don’t bludgeon. 

One of the faithful readers here sent me the following e-mail.  Apparently there will be a public meeting with an official of the Diocese of St. Augustine, Florida, about Motu Proprio.  As you may be aware, the Bishop of Pensacola-Talahasee said that all the bishops of Florida had adopted the less than optimal norms developed by the Bishop of St. Augustine. 

One wonders what this meeting will be about.  A call for a public meeting suggests that there is great interest in the older form of Mass.

Here is the e-mail I got:

While listening to the local Catholic radio station WQOP in Jacksonville, FL I heard an ad that there will be a meeting open to the public, about the use of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite in the Diocese of St. Augustine.  The guest speaker will be none other than Fr. Tom Willis, Director of Liturgy of the diocese who disseminated the memorandum to the clergy.  Since I am sure there are people who read your columns who are in this diocese and are attatched to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, I would appreciate it if you’d get the word out.  This would be THE opportunity for those who are trying to promote the extraordinary form and be faithful to tradition to get the word out.  This is a chance to challenge the restrictions that this diocese intends on imposing upon us in spite of the directives of the Holy Father’s motu proprio.  I have e-mailed WQOP to ask them to post this on their events column on their own webpage.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
7PM
St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish- Cody Enrichment Center
11757 Old St. Augustine Road
Jacksonville, FL 32258
(904) 880-6404

WQOP Radio

Okay folks.  I want to make something perfectly clear.  If you are in that area and intend to go to that meeting, do NOT be belligerent or unkind to that priest or generally make an ass of yourself.

You can do more harm than good if you go to this meeting and are nasty. 

If you go, be courteous and level headed.

Do NOT get in anyone’s face.

Do not harden hearts by aggression.

If you think you cannot contain yourself, don’t go.

I have listened to your voicemails which you have left on my virtual SKYPE numbers, one in the USA and another in the UK, and via skype itself (wdtprs). 

Thanks enormously! 

I won’t be accepting contact details through that skype username, btw.  I won’t be chatting via that skype address.  Just voicemail, please!

It has taken me a while to figure out how to convert the voicemails to a usable audio format in order to integrate them into PODCAzTs, which is tricky, but I finally found a good solution.

I already have a couple voicemails I will be able to use in an upcoming PODCAzT.  There is even one in Latin!

 

This is an interesting day in ancient history.

The Romans, by which I mean ancients and also Catholics of the Roman Church, call this day ante diem ix kalendas septembres.  

On this day in ancient Rome there were rites in honor of Luna at the Graecostasis mundus patet.  In this case the mundus was a ritual pit which had a vaulted cover. Three times a year the Romans removed this cover (24 August, 5 October, 8 November).  This is when the gates of the underworld were considered open and the manes (spirits of the dead) walked the streets of Rome.

In A.D. 72 St. Bartholomew was martyred perhaps at Albanopolis

In A.D. 79 the volcano Vesuvius erupted, destroying Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae

In A.D. 410 Rome was sacked by Alaric, sparking a crisis of culture and identity for the Romans and leading St. Augustine to write The City of God.

What a difference a day makes.