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

This comes from the Italian daily Il Messaggero.

Some are saying that Pope Benedict might release his third encyclical on 19 March, the feast of St. Joseph.  It is rumored to be an encyclical on social doctrine and it may concern globalization.

Il Papa sferza la globalizzazione
«Preferiamo il bene comune»

«I conflitti per la supremazia economica ostacolano un mondo giusto»

di FRANCA GIANSOLDATI

CITTA’ DEL VATICANO - Benedetto XVI alleato dei no-global. Tanto fermo in dottrina quanto aperturista in questioni sociali e ambientali, con la sua ultima presa di posizione in materia, Papa Ratzinger scatenerà sicuramente l’entusiasmo dell’intero popolo di Seattle.
Le parole pronunciate durante la messa dell’Epifania, in una basilica gremita di fedeli, sono lo specchio delle preoccupazioni della Chiesa, testimone diretta, col suo esercito di missionari sparsi ai quattro angoli del pianeta, del divario tra il Nord sempre più opulento e il Sud sempre più povero. «Anche oggi resta vero quanto diceva il profeta: una nebbia fitta avvolge le nazioni» ha denunciato. Poi di seguito l’affondo: «Non si può dire che la globalizzazione sia sinonimo di ordine mondiale, tutt’altro. I conflitti per la supremazia economica e l’accaparramanto delle risorse energetiche, idriche e delle materie prime rendono difficile il lavoro di quanti, ad ogni livello si sforzano di costruire un mondo giusto e solidale». Col movimento anti globalizzazione il pontefice condivide l’analisi sullo strapotere delle multinazionali, un potere a volte così forte da pilotare le scelte dei singoli governi verso politiche non sostenibili da un punto di vista ambientale, energetico, in buona sostanza non rispettoso delle peculiarità locali, persino dannoso per le condizioni dei lavoratori. Ciò che il Papa suggerisce ad un Occidente distratto e ripiegato su se stesso è di aprire la porta del cuore alla speranza cristiana, unico antidoto in grado di tenere a bada le sirene dell’egoismo, la ricerca del superfluo, gli eccessi, in fondo la rovina di se stessi: «C’è bisogno – ha ammonito – di una speranza più grande che permetta di preferire il bene comune di tutti al lusso di pochi e alla miseria di molti». La moderazione – da regola ascetica – si trasforma in una vera e propria «via di salvezza per l’umanità». Condivisione, generosità, giustizia sono i binari sui quali dovrebbero muoversi popoli e governi: «E’ ormai evidente che solo adottando uno stile di vita sobrio, accompagnato dal serio impegno per una equa distribuzione delle ricchezze sarà possibile instaurare un ordine di sviluppo giusto e sostenibile». L’auspicio è di avere governanti lungimiranti e «coraggiosi», capaci di scelte ardite, proprio come i «re Magi che intrapresero un lungo viaggio seguendo una stella e che seppero inginocchiarsi davanti ad un Bambino e offrirgli doni preziosi». Il tema della globalizzazione – assai caro a Papa Ratzinger – sarà al centro della sua prima enciclica sociale. Secondo quanto filtra dai palazzi vaticani il testo dovrebbe vedere la luce il giorno di San Giuseppe, il prossimo 19 marzo. [L’onomastico der Santo Padre, tra altro.] L’argomento gli sta particolarmente a cuore, come del resto testimoniano i suoi recenti interventi. Dall’appello al G8, nel giugno scorso, con tanto di lettera personale ad Angela Merkel per spronare i Grandi ad aiutare l’Africa e sollecitare la cancellazione del debito ai paesi poveri, fino all’omelia pronunciata nel corso della visita pastorale a Velletri, [!] nel settembre scorso. Quel giorno denunciò la globalizzazione intesa soprattutto come fenomeno economico. Senza condannare il profitto in sè, Papa Ratzinger metteva paletti etici poichè il guadagno non può mai divenire il criterio ultimo dell’agire umano dato che dovrebbe tradursi sempre in condivisione e solidarietà. «La generosità si esprime in un amore sincero per tutti». A fare da battistrada al filone no-global è stato Giovanni Paolo II. Tre encicliche sociali e una sfilza di discorsi tanto che arrivò persino a meritarsi il plauso dell’allora segretario di Rifondazione Comunista, Fausto Bertinotti e di Fidel Castro. Ratzinger ha ripreso il cammino no global invitando le nazioni ad aprirsi, ad essere generose nella consapevolezza che le parti sociali, gli stati, i popoli sono interdipendenti, che dallo sviluppo degli uni dipende lo sviluppo degli altri. L’Occidente non può più restare in silenzio davanti al dramma di miliardi di persone affamate. Non vederne le conseguenze significa minare lo sviluppo dell’intero pianeta.

UPDATE: 7 Jan 2007 – 16:47 GMT

USCCB CHANGES COMMENTS ON CATHOLIC JEWISH RELATIONS

Father McManus compared the teaching style of Pope Benedict XVI with that of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, particularly in regard to the organic development of the liturgy. He then commented upon the July 7, 2007 Motu Proprio of Pope Benedict XVI that widened permission for the use of the Latin Missal of 1962, which includes a Good Friday Prayer for the conversion of Jews. Father McManus reported that at the close of summer, Cardinal Bertone had suggested that active consideration was being given to the idea of substituting the prayer for the conversion of the Jews in the 1962 Missal with the prayer for the Jews found in the 1970 Missal. While other possibilities had also been considered by the Holy See, Cardinal Bertone’s suggestion seemed so far to have been found most practical.

END UPDATE

_________

There is a new press release from the USCCB which contains an odd point.  The press release concerns Catholic-Jewish relations.

There was, apparently a consultation between Catholic Bishops and the National Council Of Synagogues.  to looka to how the worship texts of one group treat religious beliefs of others.  The discussion took place during the annual fall meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the National Council of Synagogues on 19 November at Saint Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore.

Take a look at this excerpt from the release.  It concerns Summorum Pontificum:

My emphases.

Father Dennis McManus, consultant to the Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, addressed the problem from the Catholic standpoint. He referred to the July 7, 2007 Motu Proprio of Pope Benedict XVI that widened the use of the Latin Missal of 1962, and to the Good Friday Prayer for the conversion of Jews. The Motu Proprio was issued in part to meet the needs of Catholics attached to the old Missal, but also to bridge the gap between the Catholic Church and the followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who led some Catholics into schism in 1988, Father McManus said.

Father McManus compared the teaching styles of Pope Benedict XVI with his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict’s concern with organic development in the Church’s liturgy. Father McManus suggested that for the few communities that use the 1962 Missal on Good Friday a substitute prayer might be inserted. In particular, he thought that the 1970 prayer of the Missal of Pope John Paul II, used by the vast majority of Catholics, might be translated into Latin and read back into the earlier liturgy. Other possibilities include using a more ancient prayer or the creation of a new one that better reflects the teaching of Nostra aetate, the historic Decree on Non-Christian Religions of the Second Vatican Council, which put Catholic-Jewish relations on a new course.

1) I know Fr. McManus. He is a pretty sharp guy.  He understands that Pope Benedict has for years been very concerned with that "organic" development of liturgy.  To my mind, this is one of the purposes of Summorum Pontificum.  It seems Fr. McManus thinks so too.

2) What would this mean: "the 1970 prayer of the Missal of Pope John Paul II".  Remember that there was the first edition of the Novus Ordo Missale Romanum issued in 1969/70 under Paul VI, and then the 1975 edition, also under Pope Paul.  Under Pope John Paul II we got the 2002 edition.   So, it could be that what was meant is the 1970 Missale in its third edition of 2002. But that does not need to be translation into Latin, because it is in Latin already. 

Does anyone have an idea what this means?

Biretta tip  o{]:¬)  to The Anchoress for this link.   You must go and check out the video on Love To Be Catholic which is a brief glimpse of monastic life, including Gregorian chant.

This just in from a very interesting website set up for the Jesuit General Congregation, which opened today:

General Congregation

Press Release – January 3, 2008
The opening Mass of the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus will take place at 10:00 a.m. Monday, 7 January, at the Gesù Church.

The concelebrated Mass will be presided over by His Eminence Franc Cardinal Rodé, Prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, who will deliver the homily. Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society of Jesus will assist at the altar.

After the Mass the remains of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, which are housed under the altar at the right side of the church, will be venerated, and a lamp will be lit and will remain burning during the time the Congregation meets. Similar lamps will be lit in Jesuit chapels throughout the world as a symbol of the continuous prayer for the success of the Congregation.

The Mass is open to all who wish to join the 225 members of the Congregation.

Photographers and television crews who plan to attend the Mass are requested to apply for a permit via email before noon Sunday, 6 January indicating the number of the crew and specifying the type of permit: still photography or television. E-mail: infosj@sjcuria.org. On Monday, 7 January photographers and television crews are to register at the entrance to the Gesù Church by 9:30 am. They will be escorted to the location set aside for them. They will stay in this location for the entire ceremony.

The General Congregation will have its first formal meeting the afternoon of Monday, 7 January. No press coverage is planned. The first phase of the Congregation (scheduled to last approximately 10 days) will be private and communication about it will be minimal. After the election of the new Superior General, the second phase of the Congregation begins. Daily communiqués are planned.

A visit to the “aula” where the 225 members meet is being considered. Information about this and other points of interest will be available from 8 January on the webpage: http://www.sjweb.info/35.

NOTE ON THE RESTORED ALTAR OF SAINT IGNATIUS AT THE GESU CHURCH.

The altar is considered a masterpiece of Brother Andrea Pozzo, S.J. (1642-1709) who succeeded in giving a visual expression to the basic elements of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. The Trinity, the Incarnation, the monogram of the name of Jesus, the mission of the Society and many other elements of Ignatian spirituality are represented. Presiding over Br. Pozzo symbolic creation is the statute of the Saint, originally cast in silver. The statue was lost during the French Revolution and replaced in 1798 by an imitation with stucco head, hands and legs within the original chasuble.

According with the artistic tendencies of the time, Pozzo conceived the altar as a dramatic presentation composed of various scenes. Following the taste of the day, he created a piece of cloth which usually concealed the statue of Saint Ignatius. On given occasions, by means of a clever mechanism, the cloth would slide down and the statue would appear in all its splendour. This piece of cloth has great artistic value. The passing of time and the humidity of Rome caused the cloth to deteriorate; but now it has been restored.

Press and Information Office (infosj@sjcuria.org)

On the blog Sacri Palazzi Andrea Tornielli reports that the body of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, "Padre Pio", will exhumed and examined.  Here is the story in my translation:

The announcement was made at the end of the Mass of Epiphany, last evening, in the church of the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in San Giovanni Rotondo by Archbishop D’Ambrosio of Manfredonia: the body of St. Pio of Pietrelcina will be exhumed for a canonical  recognitio (examination) of the remains (never before done) and then will remain exposed for some months for veneration by the faithful.  Today in il Giornale I recount the words with which the prelate gave the announcement and also a brief interview with Cardinal Saraiva, Prefect of the Congregation for Causes of Saints, who gave the authorization.

There is an interesting article in the The News Observer which deals with the TLM in Raleigh, ... which seems to be getting a lot of WDTPRS coverage these days… and our friend Fr. Parkerson.

What is great about the page I link about is that there is a brief audio clip available.

My emphases and comments.

Latin Mass revives an ancient Catholic rite

A Raleigh cathedral celebrates Tridentine Mass for the first time in years

Yonat Shimron, Staff Writer

Roman Catholics filled Sacred Heart Cathedral to overflowing Sunday afternoon to celebrate Mass in a language not heard in that church in nearly 40 years: Latin.

It was a historic moment for the Raleigh church, a chance to experience the Mass as it was celebrated in Catholic churches for centuries.

Worshippers arrived appropriately attired: men in suits, women wearing lace head coverings, and many clutching dusted off missals—prayer books containing the Latin and English texts of the Mass.

They sat in the church in silence as tradition dictates, contemplating God before the priests arrived wafting incense through the sanctuary. There were some awkward moments as worshippers fumbled, not knowing when they were supposed to rise, sit and kneel. But that was to be expected. The rhythms of the ancient rite are no longer second nature to Catholics. [But we can fix that.]

Last year, Pope Benedict XVI gave permission to broaden the use of the so-called Tridentine Mass. Since then, Catholic churches across the country have been gradually [Brick by brick!] adding the service alongside the now common English- and Spanish-language Masses.

"It reminds us of our roots and our tradition and where we come from," said Bishop Michael Burbidge, who delivered the homily at Sunday’s Mass. Burbidge said he has received 50 to 75 requests from Catholics asking for the Mass in Latin since he arrived in Raleigh about a year and a half ago.

From now on, the Latin Mass will be provided monthly at Sacred Heart and monthly or weekly at three other churches across the diocese, which spans 54 of North Carolina’s eastern counties.

To prepare for the additional services, 15 of the diocese’s 115 active priests will participate in a three-day seminar, beginning Tuesday, to train them in performing the Mass in Latin.

An olive branch

The addition of the Latin Mass is aimed at ending a liturgical dispute that has alienated traditional Catholics for decades.

By allowing the old rite, the church is, in effect, extending an olive branch to people who felt left out after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 conference that deliberated how the church should function in the modern world.

"I’ve been waiting for the Latin Mass for more than 30 years," said Barbara Padovano, 66, as she stepped into the tiny stone cathedral on Hillsborough Street.

Fans of the Latin Mass [I wish they wouldn’t put it this way.  This simply contributes to the segregation of Latin away from the Novus Ordo.] said they appreciate the sense of solemnity and pageantry in the old rite in which the priest [with the congregation] faces the altar and chants the prayers and Scripture readings in Latin. Since 1970, when the new Mass was published in English, many traditions associated with old rite disappeared.

Called Tridentine after the 1570 Council of Trent in which it was standardized, the Latin Mass [grrrrrr….] is elaborately choreographed. The ritual includes rules called "rubrics" that call for kneeling, bowing and making the sign of the cross. To many Catholics, that careful attention to detail connects them more intimately with the purpose of the Mass, which is receiving the Eucharist, or the bread and the wine transformed into the body and blood of Christ, according to the Catholic faith.  [Pretty good for a secular paper.]

"It makes you realize there’s solemnity going on at the altar," said Stan Wesner, 61, of Raleigh, who participated Sunday.

Unlike in the modern Mass, parishioners take communion by kneeling at the altar rail and receiving the wafer on their tongue.

But traditionalists aren’t the only ones who like it. Catholics too young to remember the rite were well-represented at Sunday’s Mass. They are people such as 28-year-old Erich Engel of Cary, who said the English Mass is lacking in spirituality, in large part because parishioners feel obliged to hang on every word the priest says—an experience they say places the priest rather than God at the center of the service.  [Sadly this is often the case, though I am not sure it need be that way.  Celebrating Mass ad orientem would help a grat deal in this regard.]

The Latin Mass [grrrrrr] is not entirely new to the diocese. In 1988, Pope John Paul II gave permission for the Latin Mass [grrrrrr] to be celebrated in its traditional form with the consent of the local bishop.

Since 2004, it has been celebrated monthly, and now weekly, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Dunn. There, the Rev. Paul Parkerson was trained to celebrate the Mass in Latin after retired Bishop F. Joseph Gossman gave him permission to do it.

Last year, two churches—one in Rocky Mount and another in Wrightsville Beach—added a monthly Latin Mass. [Novus Ordo?] But there is no plan to incorporate the Latin Mass [grrrrrr] at each of the diocese churches or to substitute the Latin Mass [grrrrr] for the regularly scheduled English- and Spanish-language Masses.

"We’re already stretched thin and overworked," said the Rev. Patrick Keane, vicar to Hispanics, a large and growing group in the diocese. "In our diocese I would love to see more priests learn Spanish. I can’t imagine a whole lot of us learning Latin."  [How about celebrating more Masses, Novus Ordo even, in Latin so that both groups could pray together?   Wouldn’t that cut down the work?]

Keane, like 14 other priests, signed up to learn the Latin Mass nonetheless, mostly as a way to educate himself about it.

For some priests, such as Parkerson, who celebrated the rite at Sacred Heart on Sunday, the tradition has renewed and transformed his faith.

"It is similar to discovering in your 20s and 30s who you really are," said Parkerson, 37. "You discover you’re a descendant of a royal family, and there’s a whole lot more to your identity than what you’ve been taught to believe about yourself."  [YES!]

yonat.shimron@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4891

I have been saying again and again that Summorum Pontificum is really for priests, more than it is for lay people.  Of course both benefit.  However, when younger priests learn the older form, or older priests relearn it, they begin to understand something more about who they are as priests, what Mass is, how the priest and Mass fit together.  Since the way we pray has a reciprocal relationship with what we believe, who the priest is, who the people and the priest perceive him to be, and how he says Mass has an incalculable effect on a congregation.  Through the priest, who is altar Christus, the Church is formed around the altar of Sacrifice.  Time and again I hear stories about priests discovering something new about themselves as they learn the older form.   This is, I am convinced, one of the insights which lead the Holy Father to issued Summorum Pontificum in the face of so much opposition.   Aside from all the issues of unity, and justice to tradition, and continuity, and organic development of liturgy, the priest himself is the true beneficiary.