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

The traditionalist newspaper The Remnant interviewed by good friend Fr. John Echert, pastor of St. Augustine’s in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.  St. Augustine was the single parish in that Archdiocese where people could find approved celebrations of the traditional, the extraordinary, the classical, the older form of Holy Mass. 

Fr. Echert, a friend of many years, is a fine fellow and usually holds no punches when he speaks.   Let’s see what he had to say to The Remnant.

My emphases and comments.

Interviewed by Michael J. Matt
Editor, The Remnant


Mass at Holy Trinity since 1969
Editor’s Note: We are very pleased to present the following interview of Father John Echert— pastor of the Church of St. Augustine (site of the Indult Mass here in St. Paul/Minneapolis since 1984) and the Church of the Holy Trinity (So. St. Paul).  Ever since Pope Benedict XVI released his historic motu proprio in July of this year, we have maintained that not only the prayers of traditional Catholic laypeople have been answered, but also those of countless tradition-minded priests within the diocesan structure of the Church.  It is also our contention that a seismic shift in the direction of Tradition is taking place.  [Another good image.]  As persecution of the Church throughout the world becomes imminent, [hmmmm] it shouldn’t surprise any Catholic that God in His mercy would allow this dramatic restoration of the Old Mass (even on a daily basis) as part of the process by which we might all strengthen our resolve and prepare our souls for whatever eventuality may be in the offing.  Fr. Echert’s courageous compliance with the wishes of the Holy Father is well worth considering and perhaps could be seen as a model for other diocesan priests trying to return to Tradition during these turbulent days in the life of the Church. MJM

____

Michael Matt: Can you give us some background on your priestly career thus far, i.e., your areas of expertise and maybe a word or two on the apostolates you’ve served?

Fr. John Echert: I was ordained twenty years ago, though my awareness of a vocation to the priesthood goes back about forty-five years (I just turned fifty).

Even as a little boy I knew that I wanted to be a priest, and expressed that dream to my parents and any priest who would listen.  Without doubt my vocational awareness was awakened by the traditional form of the Mass, even at that young age.  My parents were in the church choir and I have lasting memories of the beautiful music, the smell of incense, and the graceful movements of the priest in the sanctuary.  Were it not for those early experiences which occasioned a very strong desire in me to be a priest, I do not know that I would have found sufficient inspiration in subsequent years.

As for my assignments as a priest: after having served three years in a large suburban parish, I was sent away for studies in Sacred Scripture to the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, after which I spent a dozen years teaching in my field at the local major seminary and Catholic university.  During this period I also served as a Catholic Chaplain in the Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard, and was twice deployed to desert locations in connection with the War in Iraq.  Five years ago I began assisting at the local Indult Parish, and a bit over two years ago I was assigned as pastor of two parishes, one of which is that same Indult Parish at which I had assisted.

MJM: So, how is life these days for a tradition-minded priest serving in the military chaplaincy?

Fr. Echert: I have been connected with the military since 1975, at which time I enlisted in the Air Force right out of high school.  Years later I received a commission as a Catholic Chaplain.  With regard to the issue of serving as a priest in the military, it is not without its complexities.  When we are serving our own religious communities we have full freedom to operate as we would with any civilian congregation or individual.  But when we function within the context of the broader military community, there are limitations.

Recently, as a response to a Protestant Chaplain who was too evangelical with troops, the military curtailed many aspects of our public function as chaplains.  This actually seems preferable to having the troops exposed to evangelization by non-Catholic chaplains and to requiring Catholic chaplains to dumb-down their invocations to the lowest common religious denominator—which is now quite low, given the plurality of religions and chaplains in the military.

The military follows the principle of “religious liberty”:  one has the right to any religion, but no religion is favored or excluded—unfortunately! Once in Kuwait I had a Satanist request to use the chapel altar, and in Qatar I had Wickens request religious support. In both cases I did not accommodate them but these are examples of “religious liberty” at its worst. Still, at least one fourth of our military troops identify themselves as Roman Catholics on their dog tags (whether or not they attend Mass), and we represent the largest single religious group.  Let me add that with regard to the present situation in Iraq, over time I have reconsidered my position on the war and its aftermath; still, my months of priestly ministry to the troops there were rewarding.  As they say, “there are no atheists in foxholes”—or behind sand dunes.

MJM: So, some years ago you began offering the Traditional Mass.  Why?

Fr. Echert:  I began offering the traditional form of the Mass about five years ago, at a time when there was a need for a priest to assume primary responsibility for the weekly Indult Mass.  I had the advantage of college Latin studies and so my language skills were functional.  I was encouraged by close traditional friends to learn the Mass and request permission from the local bishop to say the Mass at the Indult parish.

I learned the Mass through videos, attending the Tridentine Mass itself, and with the assistance of a priest friend who was steeped in tradition.  For weeks I offered the Mass in private and, once comfortable and after approval, I began offering the weekly Indult Mass.  [See, folks.  It just isn’t a huge mystery.  You study a little, get a little help from resources and people and then… JUST DO IT.  It is not rocket science.] Beyond my love for the traditional language and form of the Mass, I was also becoming more familiar with aspects of traditional thinking, through books and publications (to include The Remnant) and conversations with tradition-minded Catholics.

MJM: In the first sermon you preached after July 7, 2007, you said something that hadn’t, to my knowledge, been considered before:  You said it is well within the spirit of Pope Benedict’s motu proprio for a priest to actually initiate with his parishioners the discussion of the benefits of restoring the old Mass. Can you explain?  [I agree.]

Fr. Echert: The Holy Spirit works in many ways and through the instrumentality of human beings.  If we are called to evangelize the nations with regard to Christ and the Church, it is also legitimate—and imperative, may we say—to evangelize with regard to tradition, including the traditional form of the Mass.  [A good way to put it.] In other words, instead of waiting for the Holy Spirit to whisper to the souls of the faithful or for someone to stumble into the world of tradition, should not traditional parish priests be inclined to introduce the souls entrusted to them to the traditional form of the Mass?  It seems to me that the allowance of the Holy Father that any priest can privately offer the traditional Mass without restriction, at which the faithful may be present, suggests this as support for this view and even a means to accomplish this end of the evangelization of tradition.  [Reasonable approach.]

MJM: You recently restored weekday Masses according to the Traditional Rite both in your Indult parish [Not "indult" any more!  Hurray!] as well as in the other parish (non-traditionalist!) you serve as pastor (thus providing Catholics with daily access to the Traditional Mass).  Can you tell me why you took this dramatic step [normal step, to me] in accord with the MP?

Fr. Echert: The past model for the now defunct Indult system [right] often became the means to contain, control and restrict the traditional Mass and Sacraments—the “leper colony” approach.  [I think I prefer the "nutty aunt locked in the attic" image.] The new model allows for an expansion of the traditional Mass and Sacraments to any parish or community which desires it, with minimal restrictions (faithful who request it and a priest capable of offering it).  While I could have continued with the old model and scheduled all additional traditional Masses at the former Indult parish, I didn’t do that because I see a positive value in introducing this venerable form of the Mass into my other parish as well, with the consequence that more Catholics will have contact with and access to the Tridentine Mass.  Again, it is a method of the evangelization of tradition.

Thus, I used the following strategy:  [PRIESTS: pay attention]  in the former Indult parish, I changed some weekday Masses to Tridentine; but in the other parish, I also added some Tridentine Masses to the existing schedule.  In both cases, I have heard very few complaints from those accustomed to English Masses only—many of whom are now attending both forms of the Mass and learning more about tradition every day.  I suspect that Pope Benedict XVI sees value in having the Novus Ordo and the Tridentine forms of the Mass side-by-side in parishes in order that contact with the traditional Mass by the faithful will eventually lead to a reform of the Mass of Paul VI or a complete return to the traditional form.  [He is correct, of course.  This is the "gravitational pull" I talk about.  It is all part of Pope Benedict’s "Marshall Plan" to rebuild the Church’s identity from within.] 

MJM: Communion rails are reportedly being reinstalled and table altars permanently removed from some churches that now offer the old Mass around the world (most recently, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin designated St. Kevin’s church in Dublin as a chaplaincy where Mass will be celebrated regularly using the 1962 Missal, and the priest in Dublin is now permanently restoring the interior of the church building to accommodate the Traditional Mass.)  What are your thoughts on this development and how do you account for such a strong desire among priests to implement Benedict’s MP that they’d voluntarily renovate their sanctuaries to facilitate this initiative?

Fr. Echert: In my own parishes, this is being accomplished even now.  In the former Indult parish we have eliminated the free-standing altar completely, even for the Novus Ordo Masses.  By the grace of God and with many words, my Parish Council (with only one traditionalist among the dozen members) was recently persuaded of the value of this change.  [This is quite an accomplishment.]  Many parishioners who attend only English Masses urged me to eliminate the free-standing altar, and several guest priests who have assisted us at the English Masses later told me that saying the Mass ad orientem was a most reverent experience for them.  [You see?   "Gravitational pull".   This is how it is done.  Bit by bit.  Patiently.   "Brick by brick, my citizens."]  In my other parish, which has only now been introduced to the Tridentine Mass, we are presently soliciting funds to restore the Communion Rail that was discarded decades ago.  Again, even from among those who are only familiar with English Masses, there are many who support this restoration plan.  [Priest friends tell me that when project like these are presented as "restoration", they go over pretty well.]

Two months ago, I had our parish carpenters rebuild the front steps to the High Altar, which, ironically enough, they were quite happy to do since a previous pastor had long ago directed these same men to remove them.

MJM: On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, you compared the Church’s rediscovery of the traditional Mass to the rediscovery of the true Cross in AD 312.  This is a fascinating analogy and I wonder if you would be good enough explain what you mean by it.

Fr. Echert: It is the comparison of something which is most sacred and precious that had been lost—or taken—that has now been restored to its rightful place.  In one case it was the most sacred relic of the Church:  the True Cross of Christ; in the other case it is the most sacred worship of the Church: the Traditional Mass.  Just as our Lord taught in the parables recorded by Saint Luke (chapter fifteen): there should be great cause for rejoicing when that which is lost has been found!  In many ways, having been nearly without the traditional form of the Mass for forty years (practically speaking), I anticipate that as this Mass is more widely restored to its rightful place, the faithful will appreciate it all the more—that is the experience of many already.

MJM: Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis was, I believe, the first bishop to introduce daily Masses according to the old Rite after the MP (I’m told he’s now set up a program to teach Latin and the old Rite to the many young priests requesting instruction, as well).  Bishop Finn, who himself recently offered the Old Mass in Kansas, also seems to be looking in that direction, as does, obviously, the Archbishop of Dublin, Ireland.  Is such a thing possible here in St. Paul, and is there any move to establish traditional personal parishes here?

Fr. Echert:  Thus far there has been no official communication to priests in this diocese with regard to the implementation of the motu proprio.  I am not complaining about that silence, as it is preferable to other dioceses in which there have been directives which may thwart its implementation.  I know of several priests—mostly young—who are interested in learning the Tridentine Mass and hope for opportunities to say it publicly. I have an open invitation to them to offer Mass in my two parishes.  [YAY!]

 For the short term, then, it appears that in this diocese my parishes will remain the primary parishes to serve traditional faithful, though I know of Catholics in many other parts of the diocese who are requesting the traditional Mass of their pastors.  This is the beauty of the motu proprio: it falls to the faithful and pastors (the grass roots) to bring about the resurgence of this Mass, rather than from the top down—which did not work well or at all, in countless dioceses.

As to personal parishes (those which are strictly and fully traditional), I pray that such parishes will be allowed in every diocese and region worldwide.  It is a very complicated matter to have a fully functioning mixture of Novus Ordo and Tridentine faithful and Sacraments in the same parish and it would be preferable for both pastor and congregation that there would be exclusively traditional parishes.  My hope is that one day I will serve as pastor of such a parish.  Locally we have had the support of the Ordinary for a limited use of the Tridentine Mass since the Indult was first granted; pray for a generous response to the allowance of the Holy Father for bishops to establish personal parishes in their dioceses.

MJM: In an interview with Vatican Radio on September 13, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos explained that Pope Benedict’s MP affirms the right of any priest to use the "extraordinary form" of the Latin liturgy even without his bishop’s permission. The Cardinal seems intent to prevent certain liberal bishops from frustrating the Pope’s plan to restore the old Mass as they did with John Paul’s 1988 MP Ecclesia Dei.  Why do you suppose the Pope is so determined to establish wider use of this Mass that he would even encourage his priests to offer it without their bishops’ permission if it comes to that?

Fr. Echert:  The Pope is affirming a universal right which belongs to all clergy in good standing with the Church, as is fitting for his supreme office and the matter at hand.  [Yes.   I contend that the MP is especially about priests.]  One thing I learned in the military:  a subordinate authority does not have the right to countermand the law of a higher authority.  In spite of the fact that Pope John Paul II asked for generosity on the part of bishops in establishing Indult parishes in their dioceses, this approach did not work.  In my own state, there were only two Indult parishes with weekly Sunday Masses, which meant that many Catholics had to drive incredible distances to attend a Tridentine Mass (one man drove 500 miles round trip to my parish).  Had this motu proprio entrusted primary responsibility to the bishops to establish the traditional Mass, there is no reason to believe the outcome would have measurably exceeded that of the Indult in the past.

In spite of incredible pressure to the contrary—as was widely reported—the Holy Father entrusted responsibility for responding to the needs of the faithful into the hands of pastors.  [YES!]  And while there will be many pastors who will not comply, there are many more parishes than dioceses, and traditional Masses will soon be found scattered everywhere.

MJM: There are a few traditionalists who still argue that so-called “approved” traditional priests are more or less in business only to undermine “unapproved” traditionalist priests.  Judging from your sermons, however, undermining anyone except modernists and liberals doesn’t seem to enter your mind.  You seem to have a good relationship with the priests in the SSPX, for example, and I’ve heard you recommend The Remnant from the pulpit.  Is it fair to say, then, that you offer the old Mass because you regard its restoration as vital for the life of the whole Church and that you are not attempting to undermine anyone?

Fr. Echert:  I offer the traditional Mass for its own value and for what it has to offer to the faithful and the future of the Church.  [RIGHT.   The value of the older form of Mass is centered within the rite of Holy Mass itself.  If you argue for its value from advantages external to the rite, you risk devolving the Mass into a kind of spectacle, interesting, beautiful, but devoid of mystery.]  I have never offered the traditional Mass with any ulterior motive of undermining other expressions of tradition.  I am on good terms with priests who belong to the SSPX and have worked with the local Society pastor on some pastoral issues of mutual concern.  I am an avid reader of The Remnant and many other traditional publications and books.  These are difficult times and sadly there is much discord among traditionalists.  [No kidding.  I seems that so many people are interested in defending their own little slice of the pie, as if it were a zero sum pie, that they have not been able to function together well and be a serious lobby for change in the Church.  Hopefully some of this will rinse away under the laver of the Motu Proprio.] Even at my Indult parish there is not universal agreement on many of the fine points of liturgy, theology and strategy, and so the issues get battled out in the parking lot or at coffee and donuts in the church hall.  I know that there are many Catholics and clergy in particular who view the Indult as a means to keep Catholics from SSPX and other expressions of tradition but this has never been a motive or goal for me.  I believe that the multiplicity of adherents to tradition has collectively helped to bring about this important step of Pope Benedict.  As you note, I principally go after the modernists, who should be the common enemy of all traditionalists—and all Catholics!

MJM: Father, put your prophet’s hat for a moment. How’s all this going to end?  If the Mass is restored widely and throughout the whole world, would that change everything, or is it too late?

Fr. Echert:  It is never too late, unless we are living in the end times, of which I am not yet convinced.  It will be like seed which is widely scattered but in a variety of difficult and sometimes extreme conditions.  Here and there a seed will take root but it will be some time before the field is clothed in the mantel of tradition.  There will be many clergy who will resolutely oppose it and refuse it to the faithful, but there will be others who will enable it.

There are certainly some initial hurdles, but, over the course of years—less than a blink of the divine eye—this Mass will be widely found throughout the Church. One of the looming questions is what impact it will have upon the Novus Ordo Mass.  Will there be a “reform of the reform,” as some suggest, or a replacement of the reform with the traditional form?  One concern I have is that some priests—including some good-willed priests who are misguided—will offer Tridentine Masses in their parishes, but may allow some modern practices to infiltrate the traditional Mass: altar girls, the new lectionary, Communion in the hand.  Hopefully, clarifications from Rome will prohibit such aberrations.  [Yes.  As discussions in other entries of this WDTPRS blog reveal, we do need clarifications.]

Let me sum up my hope with this biblical lesson:  forty is often a number of testing (Israel in the Old Testament, our Lord in the New Testament).  We have wandered through a veritable desert for forty years but now have a glimpse of the Promised Land (forgotten land).  We have not yet arrived, by any means, but we have taken a giant step in the right direction.  May the Lord now speed us on our pilgrimage back to tradition!

MJM: If you had to choose one rite of Mass to offer exclusively every day for the rest of your life which would it be, New or Old?  Why?

Fr. Echert: The traditional Mass, hands down!  It was the Mass which first inspired in me a vocation to the priesthood and it is the Mass which I intend to offer until my last breath on earth.

Editor’s Note:  Please forward this interview to as many priests as you possibly can.  Also, The Remnant is giving out free physical reprints of the interview upon request.  Those requests can be emailed to editor@remnantnewspaper.com, requested by telephone at (651) 204-0145, or sent via snail mail to:


The Remnant
PO Box 1117
Forest Lake, MN 55025

You can nearly hear the jubiliation bounce out of the words of this interview.  At the same time, while "modernists" take it in the chin (justly), it doesn’t degenerate into cheap shots.

This is an excellent interview.   It is constructive and hopeful.  It demonstrates that a modicum of good will on the parts of bishop, pastor, and flock can produce very good fruits.   It might take a little time, but obstacles can be gently displaced.

I was intrigued also at the interviewer’s comment at the beginning that he sees a persecution of the Church on the horizon, and that the derestriction of the older form of Mass is timely.  Later in the interview, Fr. Echert mentions the end times, though says I thinks they are not imminent.   OVer the last couple weeks in my travels, more than one person with whom I have spoken has made a comment about the end times in relation to the older form of Mass.  Food for thought.

I am delighted by the picture presented at St. Augustine’s.  I am maybe a little jealous too!  

To my friends Fr. Echert and Mr. Matt, I solemnly tip my biretta.

o{]:¬)

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has issued its guidelines for Summorum Pontificum.

My emphases and comments.

GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM

The Holy Father wrote to the bishops with great trust and hope that his apostolic letter Summorum pontificum would be accepted in the best positive light as the Church’s attempt to be more inclusive [!] in our worship of God as he welcomed the faithful who are committed to the form of worship practiced in the Church before the reforms of the liturgy according to mandate of the Second Vatican Council in Sacrosanctum Concilium. With that same trust and hope, I offer to you a positive framework for establishing a process in the Archdiocese of New Orleans to guide those who wish to celebrate the Holy Mass using the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII.

Precis of the Holy Father’s apostolic letter Summorum pontificum [Hmmm…]

The Holy Father expressed multiple purposes in his letter which should be of note to all. He issues the letter:

    * to re-emphasize that the Missal of Pope Paul VI is the ordinary text of the Mass in the Latin rite;
    * to grant legitimate freedom in the choice and use of liturgical texts which have been judged by the Church to be faithful doctrinal expressions of liturgical prayer;
    * to present the Missal of Bl. John XXIII as an extraordinary text approved for use as long as there is full acceptance and use of the ordinary text of the Missal of Pope Paul VI and of the Second Vatican Council;
    * to recognize that the extraordinary form of the Latin rite is attractive to some people because of a perceived loss of a sense of the sacred in some celebrations using the Missal of Pope Paul VI; [There are other good reasons too.  For example, people simply find that that form of Mass points them to the Mass’s central mystery in a more efficacious way.]
    * and, to specify parameters for the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Mass, specifically:

    * Any priest has the option [also right] to celebrate a private Mass using the extraordinary form;
    * The Archbishop and the pastor [Hmmm… actually I think the pastor can do it himself.  It is also true that the Archbishop can do this by himself!  But it need not be both the Archbishop and pastor in each circumstance, as if both of them have a nuclear missle launch key they must turn at the same time.] may grant requests for Mass using the extraordinary form to any group of stable faithful [as opposed to "unstable" faithful?] who adhere to the earlier [and now present!] liturgical form;
    * The celebration of the Mass using the extraordinary form takes place under the oversight of the Archbishop; [though according the MP the pastor is the one who decides in the parish]
    * Any group of stable lay faithful [Maybe that wasn’t a slip after all.   The problem is that "stable" in this case sounds as if it relates to a precise term used in canon law.  It doesn’t.  It goes back to continenter, not stabiliter.  Also, this says "lay faithful".  Surely clergy can be included in the coetus continenter existens.] may petition the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" to have Mass celebrated in the extraordinary rite if the pastor or the bishop cannot satisfy them.

Process to be used [Hmmm…] in the Archdiocese of New Orleans to make for a smooth introduction and use of the "extraordinary form" of celebrating Holy Mass.

1. St. Patrick’s Church, where Mass according to the Missal of Bl. John XXIII is already celebrated is the first [I hope this is chronological and not a "preference", as in "If people want this stuff, here’s where they have to go first.] locus of the extraordinary form of Mass.
# At St. Patrick’s the Sunday Mass is celebrated using the extraordinary form.
# The other sacraments and sacramentals are also celebrated, according to their extraordinary forms, at St. Patrick’s Church.  [It sounds like they are doing their level best to keep it only at this location.]
# Pastoral care can be and is appropriately provided to the people attracted to the extraordinary form of the Latin rite at St. Patrick’s. [This makes it sound like a "personal parish".  Perhaps someone there in N.O. knows the score.]

2. The Archbishop will consider a public or parish Mass [Summorum Pontificum says the "pastor" considers this.] in the extraordinary form wherever there is a stable group [Okay… we made a switch.  Indication of a different author?  In any event, this is founded on a bad translation of the Latin.] of lay faithful attracted to the extraordinary form of the Mass. But before authorizing such a Mass, the affected deaneries [Is that "affected" or "affected"?] are to meet and discuss the best way to accomplish regularly scheduling such a Mass. [That is all very interesting, but not really indicated in the Motu Proprio as necessary. It sounds more and more as if restrictions are being placed on the provisions of the Motu Proprio.]
# The Dean(s) may want to offer opportunities to the/a community claiming to be a stable group ["Claiming"?  This is awful.  It sounds like proofs will be demanded.  PROVE you are "stable".  Ausweis, bitte!  Based on whose criteria?  And remember… this is all based on an inaccurate English rendering of the Latin.  And the Deans have nothing to do with this!   The Motu Proprio says "pastor", not "dean".] of lay faithful to meet with them to determine size and commitment to the extraordinary form.  [?  "size and commitment"?]
# The Dean(s) are to recommend a location/parish at which services according to the extraordinary form will be offered.
# The Dean(s) will recommend two priests [where do they get this number?  There is nothing about this in the MP.] to the Archbishop who will be the celebrants of the extraordinary form of the liturgy. [The Deans can also recommend what football teams to bet on this Sunday.  The Deans can’t make these decisions for pastors, at least as far as the Motu Proprio is concerned.]

3. All priests who wish to celebrate according to the "Extraordinary" form are to have appropriate formation and education for this purpose.  [Here we go…..]
# Prior to any training programs being developed, the Pastoral Practices Committee of the Presbyteral Council will survey the priests to determine who, and how many, priests desire to celebrate the "extraordinary" form of the Mass.   [For their "opportune knowledge" I guess.] They will also determine which churches are properly equipped for the celebration of the ‘extraordinary" form of the Mass. [Also, very interesting information.   However, the the church has a consecrated altar, it should be properly equipped.]
# Notre Dame Seminary, with the participation of the Office of Worship, will develop a program to provide training [Good.] to and to determine the competency [Not good.] of, priests who wish, or are approved by the Archbishop, to celebrate the ‘Extraordinary" form of the Mass.

A. Training is to be a practicum/workshop designed by the Liturgist and Latinist [!] who teach at the seminary. Other help may be brought in if needed. The practicum/workshop will have a tuition charge.  [Look… dignus est operarius and all that… but this is starting to sound like too much work.  Ihat is probably what they desire the effect of this to be: "I don’t have time for this stuff."]
B. At the completion of the practicum/workshop, assessment will be made of the competency of the priest [This sets up a double-standard for priests desiring to celebrate the older form of Mass.  Will priests who don’t want to use the older form be tested to see if they are competent?] as regards the Latin language, [Let us not forget the (correct) interpretation by Card. Egan.] and familiarization/knowledge of rubrics and requirements for vesture, plate and furnishings. Remedial work, [for the newer Mass too, I hope?] including attendance at the seminary’s Latin class (2 years) [This goes WAY BEYOND what idoneus means in the Motu Proprio.  This imposes an undue burden, though I would be happy if more priests had Latin.] will be recommended if necessary. Tuition will be charged. This judgment is based on the Holy Father’s statement that Apriests who use the Missal of Bl. John XXIII must be qualified to do so@ (Art. 5’4)  [Repeat: This seems punitive.]
C. One practicum/workshop will be provided in the fall semester and one in the spring semester.

# Approval for a parish Mass to be celebrated is conditioned on the acceptance of the Holy Father’s and the Ordinary’s policies [I seems out of keeping with what the Motu Propriosays.  It says that the pastor deals with this and the ordinary is to provide help if the pastor can’t repond to requests properly.] regarding celebration of the "extraordinary form" of the Mass.
# Priests will celebrate the "extraordinary form" at St. Patrick’s Church with Fr. Stan Klores in attendance to "fine tune" the celebration. Fr. Klores will give an analytical critique to assist the priest.  [Now it’s getting a little weird.  I am sure Fr. Klores is a very good man.  But this is simply too complicated.  How many men are going to want to submit themselves to this sort of procedure?]

4. Deacons [!] who wish to participate in the extraordinary form of the Mass will need to attend a special training program sponsored by the Office of the Permanent Diaconate and staffed by Notre Dame Seminary personnel. The Office of Worship and Fr. Klores will assist in this training program as called upon.  [I am in favor of training programs.  But look at the way this is being presented.]

5. Costs for all vesture and other items needed are to be borne by the priest(s) who wish to celebrate the "extraordinary form" of the Mass, except in those instances where the Archbishop designates/approves a parish for the celebration of a Sunday Mass using the "extraordinary form". [Sound like a lot of trouble.  Thankfully, most priests have a lot of their own things.]

6.. It is recommended that worship aids, such as the Latin-English Booklet Missal for praying the traditional Mass published by the Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei, be purchased for each parish or church where the Mass according to the Missal of Bl. John XXIII is used.  [A good suggestion.]

7. Administrative records of priests approved to celebrate and deacons approved to assist [Ausweis, bitte!] in the celebration of the "Extraordinary"form of the Mass will be handled in the Office of Worship and forwarded to the Office of Priests Personnel and the Permanent Diaconate Office. [Good heavens!]

This is the "best possible light" mentioned in the first paragraph?  This is to inspire "trust and hope" among the priests and people?  This is a "positive framework"?

Other than the offering of formal training, which could be really good, this also strikes me as pretty being pretty top heavy,
über-bureaucratized.

Words escape me at the moment.

Okay… I’m back.  I’ll come back to that positive point. 

I wonder if this could be the first diocesan training program we have seen so far.  It is formalized at the seminary.  Does that mean that the seminarians will also have access, or be required to take, that training too?   If so, this is amazing. 

If not, well… then this is, even in light of that positive point, the manifestation of a harsh double-standard being imposed on priests who want to learn or use the older form of Mass.

I am back to "words escape me".

We’ll see how this plays out, I guess.

Here is very interesting development.  This piece is from the St. Louis Review:

My emphases and comments.

    Archdiocesan priests attend meeting on Latin Mass rules


    by Jennifer Brinker, Review Staff Writer

    Priests of the archdiocese interested in celebrating the traditional Latin Mass attended a meeting last week to learn more about what is needed to offer it in their parishes.

    Archbishop Raymond L. Burke and Father Karl W. Lenhardt, rector of St. Francis de Sales Oratory in South St. Louis, met with some 30 priests [30!  I wonder what the mean age was.] to discuss the papal norms of Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic letter, "Summorum Pontificum," which went into effect Sept. 14.

    Last month the archbishop appointed Father Lenhardt as his delegate for implementing the apostolic letter in the archdiocese.

    Issued July 7, "Summorum Pontificum" eases restrictions on the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass and gives priests the ability to freely celebrate the Latin Mass using the 1962 missal. Previously, priests were required to request permission from their bishop to celebrate the older form.

    The letter also instructs priests to honor requests [The writer of the article did some homework.] from the faithful for access to the traditional Latin Mass. The letter designates the traditional Latin Mass as the extraordinary form and the current Mass as the ordinary form. The pontiff noted that one form should not be favored over the other.

    "I wanted to offer to the priests of the archdiocese an opportunity to become more acquainted with what the Holy Father has set forth for us," Archbishop Burke told priests at last week’s meeting, held at the Cardinal Rigali Center in Shrewsbury.

    He said that the implementation of "Summorum Pontificum" likely isn’t coming as a surprise to the archdiocese, which already has a history of offering the traditional Latin Mass.

    "I’m certainly grateful for the letter and new discipline, and I’ve tried to express that both to the priests and to the faithful," said the archbishop. "I anticipate that this will happen in a way that will be very enriching for us. I just don’t find that it’s going to be something terribly shocking in the archdiocese."

    The archbishop thanked Father Lenhardt for overseeing the implementation of "Summorum Pontificum" here. The priest is a member of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, a society of apostolic life best known for its celebration of the 1962 Latin Mass.

    "He is a very approachable person and will be very kind to assist you in whichever way you wish," Archbishop Burke said of Father Lenhardt.

    Father Lenhardt told the group that the institute is offering to priests of the archdiocese classes and other resources to prepare those interested in celebrating the older Mass form in their parishes. Priests also are invited to assist at Masses at St. Francis de Sales, he said.

    Father William Avis, ordained in St. Louis in June for the institute, will be helping Father Lenhardt to provide resources to priests. Father Avis, a native of Wisconsin, was appointed a vicar, or assistant priest, at St. Francis de Sales shortly after his ordination.

    In a speech to priests at the meeting, Father Lenhardt noted that the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Mass cannot be opposed to one another, "because they are united in the person and in the inner dynamic of Christ’s prayer to the heavenly Father."

    "The liturgical prayer of the Church is not the expression of the self-esteem of the celebrating congregation, but it is the prayer of Christ to his Father that is so much more than we could express on our own," he said.

    In 2005, the archbishop invited the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest to the archdiocese. That same year, he designated St. Francis de Sales as an oratory with a focus on the celebration of the 1962 Mass. He also placed the oratory under the pastoral care of the institute.

    Before that designation, St. Agatha Parish in South St. Louis had been offering the traditional Latin Mass in the archdiocese for many years.

    The archdiocese also had another group, the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem, dedicated to celebrating the traditional Latin Mass in the West St. Louis County area. The archbishop reported at last week’s meeting with priests that the group left the archdiocese this summer.

    Because of a need to continue offering that form of the Mass to the faithful in that area, the archbishop said he has asked the Benedictine monks of St. Louis Abbey in Creve Coeur to offer one traditional Latin Mass each day of the week, including Sunday.

    Abbot Thomas Frerking, abbot of St. Louis Abbey, told the Review that his community will celebrate the Masses in the chapel of St. Anselm’s parish center.

    Masses are expected to begin by the first Sunday of Advent, Abbot Frerking said.

    The traditional Latin Mass is celebrated daily at St. Francis de Sales Oratory, 2653 Ohio Ave. Mass times are 8 a.m. weekdays and Saturdays; 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays and 8 and 10 a.m. Sundays.
    Review staff writer Barbara Watkins contributed information to this story.

One of the great liturgists of the 20th century, vastly under appreciated in his day, was Klaus Gamber.  When writing about the post-Conciliar reforms he held that perhaps the most damaging change made was the shift from celebration of Mass ad orientem to Mass with the priest "facing the people".

Slowly but surely people are rethinking the position of the priest in relation to the people and the altar. 

One of writers who is making a solid contribution to the discussion is Fr. Uew Michael Lang, of the London Oratory, now in Rome with the Pont. Council for Culture.  

He was interviewed by Zenit.

My emphases and comments.

Reorienting the Mass

Father Lang Comments on

LONDON, SEPT. 21, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The statement asserting that the priest celebrating the older form of the Mass has "his back to the people" misses the point, says Father Uwe Michael Lang.

The posture "ad orientem," or "facing east," is about having a common direction of liturgical prayer, he adds.

Father Lang of the London Oratory, and recently appointed to work for the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, is the author of "Turning Toward the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer." The book was first published in German by Johannes Verlag and then in English by Ignatius Press. The book has also appeared in Italian, French, Hungarian and Spanish.

In this interview with ZENIT, Father Lang speaks about the "ad orientem" posture and the possibilities for a rediscovery of the ancient liturgical practice.

Q: How did the practice of celebrating the liturgy "ad orientem," or "facing east," develop in the early Church? What is its theological significance?

Father Lang: In most major religions, the position taken in prayer and the layout of holy places is determined by a "sacred direction." The sacred direction in Judaism is toward Jerusalem or, more precisely, toward the presence of the transcendent God—"shekinah"—in the Holy of Holies of the Temple, as seen in Daniel 6:10.

Even after the destruction of the Temple, the custom of turning toward Jerusalem was kept in the liturgy of the synagogue. This is how the Jews have expressed their eschatological hope for the coming of the Messiah, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the gathering of God’s people from the diaspora.

The early Christians no longer turned toward the earthly Jerusalem, but toward the new, heavenly Jerusalem. It was their firm belief that when the Risen Christ would come again in glory, he would gather his faithful to make up this heavenly city.

They saw in the rising sun a symbol of the Resurrection and of the Second Coming, and it was a matter of course for them to pray facing this direction. There is strong evidence of eastward prayer in most parts of the Christian world from the second century onward.

In the New Testament, the special significance of the eastward direction for worship is not explicit.

Even so, tradition has found many biblical references for this symbolism, for instance: the "sun of righteousness" in Malachi 4:2; the "day dawning from on high" in Luke 1:78; the angel ascending from the rising of the sun with the seal of the living God in Revelation 7:2; and the imagery of light in St John’s Gospel.

In Matthew 24:27-30, the sign of the coming of the Son of Man with power and great glory, which appears as the lightning from the east and shines as far as the west, is the cross.

There is a close connection between eastward prayer and the cross; this is evident by the fourth century, if not earlier. In synagogues of this period, the corner with the receptacle for the Torah scrolls indicated the direction of prayer—"qibla"—toward Jerusalem.  [This is very much in keeping with J. Ratzinger’s The Spirit of the Liturgy.  You can hear part of his argument in a PODCAzT.]

Among Christians, it became a general custom to mark the direction of prayer with a cross on the east wall in the apses of basilicas as well as in private rooms, for example, of monks and solitaries.

Toward the end of the first millennium, we find theologians of different traditions noting that prayer facing east is one of the practices distinguishing Christianity from the other religions of the Near East: Jews pray toward Jerusalem, Muslims pray toward Mecca, but Christians pray toward the east.

Q: Do any of the other rites of the Catholic Church employ the "ad orientem" liturgical posture?

Father Lang: "Facing east" in liturgical prayer is part of the Byzantine, Syriac, Armenian, Coptic and Ethiopian traditions. It is still the custom in most of the Eastern rites, at least during the Eucharistic prayer.

A few Eastern Catholic Churches—for example, the Maronite and the Syro-Malabar—have lately adopted "Mass facing the people," but this is owing to modern Western influence and not in keeping with their authentic traditions.

For this reason, the Vatican Congregation for Eastern Churches declared in 1996 that the ancient tradition of praying toward the east has a profound liturgical and spiritual value and must be preserved in the Eastern rites.

Q: We often hear that "facing east" means the priest is celebrating "with his back to the people." What is really going on when the priest celebrates Mass "ad orientem"?

Father Lang: That catchphrase often heard nowadays, that the priest "is turning his back on the people," misses the crucial point that the Mass is a common act of worship in which priest and people together—representing the pilgrim Church—reach out for the transcendent God.

What is at issue here is not the celebration "toward the people" or "away from the people," but rather the common direction of liturgical prayer. This is maintained whether or not the altar is literally facing east; in the West, many churches built since the 16th century are no longer "oriented" in the strict sense.

By facing the same direction as the faithful when he stands at the altar, the priest leads the people of God on their journey of faith. This movement toward the Lord has found sublime expression in the sanctuaries of many churches of the first millennium, where representations of the cross or of the glorified Christ illustrate the goal of the assembly’s earthly pilgrimage.

Looking out for the Lord keeps the eschatological character of the Eucharist alive and reminds us that the celebration of the sacrament is a participation in the heavenly liturgy and a pledge of future glory in the presence of the living God.

This gives the Eucharist its greatness, saving the individual community from closing in upon itself and opening it toward the assembly of the angels and saints in the heavenly city.

Q: In what ways does "facing east" during the liturgy foster a dialogue with the Lord?

Father Lang: The paramount principle of Christian worship is the dialogue between the people of God as a whole, including the celebrant, and God, to whom their prayer is addressed.

This is why the French liturgist Marcel Metzger argues that the phrases "facing the people" and "back to the people" exclude the one to whom all prayer is directed, namely God.

The priest does not celebrate the Eucharist "facing the people," whatever direction he faces; rather, the whole congregation celebrates facing God, through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit.

Q: In the foreword to your book, then Cardinal Ratzinger notes that none of the documents of the Second Vatican Council asked for the altar to be turned toward the people. How did this change come about? What was the basis for such a major reorientation of the liturgy?

Father Lang: Two main arguments in favor of the celebrant’s position facing the people are usually presented.

First, it is often said that this was the practice of the early Church, which should be the norm for our age; however, a close study of the sources shows that this claim does not hold.  [Some of the mania which fueled the altar "revolution" stemmed from work by the great liturgists Joseph Jungmann and Louis Bouyer.  What is not so well-known is that both of them later stated that they were wrong about the position of the altar in the ancient Church.  Of course, that correction of their error didn’t get the publicity it deserved.]

Second, it is maintained that the "active participation" of the faithful, a principle that was introduced by Pope Pius X and is central to "Sacrosanctum Concilium," demanded celebration toward the people.

Recent critical reflection on the concept of "active participation" has revealed the need for a theological reappraisal of this important principle.  [A better, deeper understanding of what "active participation" really is all about is critical in the next few years.  We need strong liturgical catechesis.]

In his book "The Spirit of the Liturgy," then Cardinal Ratzinger draws a useful distinction between participation in the Liturgy of the Word, which includes external actions, and participation in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, where external actions are quite secondary, since the interior participation of prayer is the heart of the matter.

The Holy Father’s recent postsynodal apostolic exhortation "Sacramentum Caritatis" has an important discussion of this topic in Paragraph 52.

Q: Is a priest forbidden from "facing east" in the new order of the Mass promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970? Is there any juridical obstacle prohibiting wider use of this ancient practice?

Father Lang: A combination of priest and people facing each other during the Liturgy of the Word and turning jointly toward the altar during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, especially for the Canon, is a legitimate option in the Missal of Pope Paul VI.  [This is true.  But in practice, younger priests will sometimes get tremendous pressure from the progressivists and aging hippie crowd never to exercise their legitimate options.]

The revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which was first published for study purposes in 2000, addresses the altar question in Paragraph 299; it seems to declare the position of the celebrant "ad orientem" undesirable or even prohibited.  [It seems to declare that only in the truly lousy English translation.  I have commented on this more than once on the blog.  Here is one piece.  It is odd that the bad translations persist even after the Congregation for Divine Worship issues a response to a dubium about the meaning of GIRM 299.  The Congregation even explained the grammar of 299, if you can believe it.]

However, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments rejected this interpretation in a response to a question submitted by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna. Obviously, the relevant paragraph of the General Instruction must be read in light of this response, which was dated Sept. 25, 2000. [Yes.  This is our hope.]

Q: Will Pope Benedict’s recent apostolic letter liberalizing the use of the Missal of John XXIII, "Summorum Pontificum," foster a deeper appreciation for "turning toward the Lord" during the Mass?

Father Lang: I think many reservations or even fears about Mass "ad orientem" come from lack of familiarity with it, and the spread of the "extraordinary use" of the Roman rite will help many people to discover and appreciate this form of celebration.   [A "gravitational pull" will take place.  I am convinced of it.]

Here is an interesting little piece from Zenit with remarks made by Card. Pell of Sydney about the Holy Father’s Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.

Cardinal Pell: Pope Didn’t Turn Back Time

SYDNEY, Australia, SEPT. 21, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI’s move to make the older form of the Mass more available "is not a step backward," according to Cardinal George Pell.

The archbishop of Sydney said this during a press conference earlier in the week on the preparations for World Youth Day 2008.

"I agree with Benedict XVI on this subject," he said. "The Holy Father insists on the continuity between the old Church and the Church of today: He often says that there was not a break with the past, present, future and the time of the council, and I fully agree with him."

The cardinal added, however, that there is not a lot of interest in Australia for the Mass said according to the 1962 missal: "It is not a highly important topic. Even in my meetings with priests in the last three to four days, I wasn’t even asked o