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

As you know I have in the past had a few problems with syndicating my audio projects to iTunes.

I think that problem is solved.

However, if there is someone out there who is Podpress (the WP plugin I use) savvy, I am having another problem.

When I first started making the audio projects, Podpress also kept track of the accesses from iTunes.

The it just stopped.

Any idea why?

I think I am only getting a fraction of the stats.

This just in:

Dear Father,

In case you have not already gotten this heads-up I wanted to let you know that Bishop Joseph N. Perry, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, will celebrate a solemn Traditional Latin Mass at Holy Rosary parish in Indianapolis on Tuesday, February 12, at 7:00 PM.  This is apparently the first time in decades that a bishop has offered the Traditional Latin Mass in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.  On the 13th Bishop Perry present a talk entitled "The role of suffering in Christian life."  Two edifying days to be sure!

We would also request everyone’s prayers for the health of Archbishop Buechlein of Indianapolis, who announced earlier this week that he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and will soon undergo chemotherapy.

His Excellency is right about "instant communication" today.  Let’s have as many people as possible hear this.

I applaud the initiative of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, His Excellency Most Reverend Robert Lynch, to use video and audio on the internet to help people reflect on the Eucharist.

However, this bishop’s true view of the older form of Mass is veiled with what I can only think is carefully polite language.

Here is a clip from the livingeucharist.org.

Listen especially to the way Bp. Robert Lynch speaks of the "clerical" style of Mass in the older form.  People couldn’t see or hear "unless Father wanted you too" etc. 

UPDATE 28 Jan 2008 – 20:55 GMT:

Be sure to read this disclaimer I received from the business manager at the FSSP seminary where they are offering to train priests in how to say the TLM.  It is interesting.

______________________

I got this note from someone at Franciscan University at Steubenville.  It is from the school newspaper.

My emphases and comments.

Students turn out for local Latin Mass
by Kristi Moore, Assistant Editor

     Although many consider it ancient and out-dated, an unanticipated [Not unexpected by those who know better…] young, enthusiastic crowd is filling the pews of Catholic churches for the traditional Latin Mass.
     The trend has proven both national and local, as an estimated 250 Franciscan University students showed up to celebrate [participate at] the traditional Latin, or Tridentine, Mass at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Steubenville on Sunday.
     "I think it’s because there is a hunger for, first of all, greater reverence at Mass," said Mark Spencer, the president of the Dom Gueranger Society on campus.  "There’s an excitement about all things Catholic and a desire to enter into a sacred tradition."   [Remember that Pope Benedict is working to reinvigorate our Catholic identity.]
     The Latin Mass [Oppps…. bad terminology here, but let’s go on.] was put on tight restrictions a few years after the Second Vatican Council introduced the "Novus Ordo," or the new order Mass, which is said in the vernacular.  [You see why I insist that saying "the Latin Mass" is to strumble into error?  The Novus Ordo is, can be, should be, in the Latin language.  Latin is the language of our Rite.]
     But last summer [last autumn… the document was released in July but it went into effect in September.], Pope Benedict XVI eased the 40-year-old restrictions on the Tridentine Mass, which was codified at the Council of Trent in 1570, after which it is named.
     In the Latin Mass, the priest faces east, the traditional direction of prayer, towards the tabernacle. [Okay… not bad, provided there is a tabernacle.  It would have been better to emphasize the Crucifix, rather than the tabernacle.]  He prays in Latin, much of it in a whisper, while readings from Scripture and the homily are in the vernacular.  A missal in Latin and English allows parishioners to follow along.
     All of these elements create a solemn atmosphere that is "conducive to properly worshipping [sic] God," said Fr. Paul Scalia, 37, the son of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.  Scalia celebrates the Tridentine Mass at St. Rita Church in Alexandria, Va.
     Despite the noticeable differences, Monsignor George Yontz asked all in attendance at St. Peter’s to avoid treating the rite as a "museum piece."  Instead, he said, the Mass—no matter what form—is sacred and a reminder of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.  [Noooo…. it IS Jesus Sacrifice on the Cross, sacramentally renewed and made present again.] Nevertheless, some believe that the Latin Mass in particular, "helps younger people in their 20s and 30s who have grown up in a culture that lacks stability and orthodoxy see something larger then themselves: the glory of God," said Geoffrey Coleman of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter’s Our Lady of Guadalupe seminary in, Neb.,[sic] which is responsible for thousands [Really?  Thousands?] of Latin Mass training sessions across the country [sic]. 
    Spencer hopes that the two forms of the Mass can "influence each other so that sometime down the line we can have on unified liturgy."
     Despite the significant turnout by Franciscan students at the Tridentine Mass on Sunday, the University has yet to come to a conclusion about having the Mass on campus.  [Hmmm… I was under the impression that the University had in fact decided this.  They decided against celebrations for the students making their legitimate requests.  Instead they decided that the students would have to go to St. Peter’s Church, the regional parish.  Am I missing something?  Did the administration actually leave this matter open?] The Dom Gueranger Society has been working towards the celebration of the Latin Mass on campus and has said that there is decent support for the Mass among the administration and the student body.
     "It’s likely to happen, just maybe not this semester," said Spencer.

 

Rorate tips us, and I tip back   o{]:¬)   to an interesting comment in the Italian monthly 30 Giorini, of the Orthodox Patriarch of Russia, Alexius II, about the derestriction of the older form of Mass by the Pope of Rome.

I posted on this news months ago it seems, but this is a great moment to recall that we cannot expect the Orthodox to take us seriously if we show the world that we have contempt for our Tradition.

Not my translation, but my emphases:

30 Giorni: What has the recent text of Pope Benedict on Latin in the liturgy meant to you? Does you Church also find itself today facing delicate liturgical questions? Besides, have you read the recent letter of the Pope to the Chinese Catholics? For the eightieth birthday of the Pope, you wrote, among other things, that "that which renders your position convincing is that you, as a theologian, is not merely a scholar of theoretical thought, but above all a sincere and deeply devout Christian who speaks from the bountifulness of your heart (cf. Mt 12, 34)". In what [aspect] do you find yourself today in greater agreement with pope Benedict?

Alexis II: "I believe that the question of the liturgical language and the relations among the various components of the Roman Catholic Church are internal matters. As for us, who are a Church for which the concept of Tradition has great meaning, the tension to find efficacious forms of harmonization between the centuries-old experience and the objective present-day reality and demands is nevertheless quite understandable and familiar. I see in this one of the most valuable aspects of the work of the current Pope of Rome, Benedict XVI."

His Excellency Most Reverend John Nienstedt, the Coadjutor Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis was recently at the great St. Agnes Church for the celebration of their patronal day, Sunday 20 January 2008.

His Excellency had a photo with the altar boys (NB: not "servers"):

Lots of them.

Also, His Excellency took time to show a young man  his pectoral Cross, which it seems is also a reliquary.

Just a nice moment.

Who knows what impact that might have on this kid in years to come.

The Catholic faithful of the Diocese of Baker are invited to participate in the offering of a Missa Cantata (High Mass) on the occasion of the 8th Anniversary of the Episcopal Ordination of His Excellency, the Most Reverend Robert Francis Vasa, D.D., J.C.D., Bishop of Baker, OR.

Missa Votiva in Anniversario Consecrationis Episcopi (Missa "Sacerdotes tui") according to the extraordinary form of the Latin rite, the 1962 Missale Romanum of His Holiness, Blessed Pope John XXIII and in accord with the 2007 Apostolic Letter of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum cum permiso parochi

Saturday, January 26, 2008  *  3:00 PM

St. Francis of Assisi Church
494 Northwest Lava Rd
(corner of Franklin & Lava)
Bend, Oregon

For more information, contact:

Mr. Jesse Daggett, President
Society of St. Gregory the Great
Una Voce Central Oregon
Tel. (541) 536-4108
jdaggett@unavoceco.org

This is the annual week for Christian Unity.

Is there not another angle here?

In Summorum Pontificum we read:

Art. 5, § 1.  In parishes, where there is continuously present a group of the faithful attached to the previous liturgical tradition, let the pastor willingly receive their petitions that Mass be celebrated according to the Rite of the Missale Romanum issued in 1962.  Let him see to it that the good of these faithful be harmoniously brought into accord with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the governance of the Bishop according to canon 392, by avoiding discord and by fostering the unity of the whole Church. 

Also, in Pope Benedict’s accompanying letter, wherein he explains something of his mind about the Motu Proprio:

Pope John Paul II thus felt obliged to provide, in his Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei (2 July 1988), guidelines for the use of the 1962 Missal; that document, however, did not contain detailed prescriptions but appealed in a general way to the generous response of Bishops towards the "legitimate aspirations" of those members of the faithful who requested this usage of the Roman Rite. At the time, the Pope primarily wanted to assist the Society of Saint Pius X to recover full unity with the Successor of Peter, and sought to heal a wound experienced ever more painfully. Unfortunately this reconciliation has not yet come about. Nonetheless, a number of communities have gratefully made use of the possibilities provided by the Motu Proprio. On the other hand, difficulties remain concerning the use of the 1962 Missal outside of these groups, because of the lack of precise juridical norms, particularly because Bishops, in such cases, frequently feared that the authority of the Council would be called into question. Immediately after the Second Vatican Council it was presumed that requests for the use of the 1962 Missal would be limited to the older generation which had grown up with it, but in the meantime it has clearly been demonstrated that young persons too have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist, particularly suited to them. Thus the need has arisen for a clearer juridical regulation which had not been foreseen at the time of the 1988 Motu Proprio. The present Norms are also meant to free Bishops from constantly having to evaluate anew how they are to respond to various situations. 

Well, I emphasized that last part just as a little shot at some episcopal fussbudgets who are overly evalulating everything having to do with the old Mass, but I digress.

The Pope continues…

I now come to the positive reason which motivated my decision to issue this Motu Proprio updating that of 1988. It is a matter of coming to an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church. Looking back over the past, to the divisions which in the course of the centuries have rent the Body of Christ, one continually has the impression that, at critical moments when divisions were coming about, not enough was done by the Church’s leaders to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity. One has the impression that omissions on the part of the Church have had their share of blame for the fact that these divisions were able to harden. This glance at the past imposes an obligation on us today: to make every effort to unable for all those who truly desire unity to remain in that unity or to attain it anew. I think of a sentence in the Second Letter to the Corinthians, where Paul writes: "Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return … widen your hearts also!" (2 Cor 6:11-13). Paul was certainly speaking in another context, but his exhortation can and must touch us too, precisely on this subject. Let us generously open our hearts and make room for everything that the faith itself allows.

Here is the Holy Father’s Message for the 2008 World Day for Communications.

My emphases:

The Media: At the Crossroads between Self-Promotion and Service.

Searching for the Truth in order to Share it with Others

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

1. The theme of this year’s World Communications Day – "The Media: At the Crossroads between Self-Promotion and Service. Searching for the Truth in order to Share it with Others" – sheds light on the important role of the media in the life of individuals and society. Truly, there is no area of human experience, especially given the vast phenomenon of globalization, in which the media have not become an integral part of interpersonal relations and of social, economic, political and religious development. As I said in my Message for this year’s World Day of Peace (1 January 2008): "The social communications media, in particular, because of their educational potential, have a special responsibility for promoting respect for the family, making clear its expectations and rights, and presenting all its beauty" (No. 5).

2. In view of their meteoric technological evolution, the media have acquired extraordinary potential, while raising new and hitherto unimaginable questions and problems. There is no denying the contribution they can make to the diffusion of news, to knowledge of facts and to the dissemination of information: they have played a decisive part, for example, in the spread of literacy and in socialization, as well as the development of democracy and dialogue among peoples. Without their contribution it would truly be difficult to foster and strengthen understanding between nations, to breathe life into peace dialogues around the globe, to guarantee the primary good of access to information, while at the same time ensuring the free circulation of ideas, especially those promoting the ideals of solidarity and social justice. Indeed, the media, taken overall, are not only vehicles for spreading ideas: they can and should also be instruments at the service of a world of greater justice and solidarity. Unfortunately, though, they risk being transformed into systems aimed at subjecting humanity to agendas dictated by the dominant interests of the day. This is what happens when communication is used for ideological purposes or for the aggressive advertising of consumer products. While claiming to represent reality, it can tend to legitimize or impose distorted models of personal, family or social life. Moreover, in order to attract listeners and increase the size of audiences, it does not hesitate at times to have recourse to vulgarity and violence, and to overstep the mark. The media can also present and support models of development which serve to increase rather than reduce the technological divide between rich and poor countries.

3. Humanity today is at a crossroads. One could properly apply to the media what I wrote in the Encyclical Spe Salvi concerning the ambiguity of progress, which offers new possibilities for good, but at the same time opens up appalling possibilities for evil that formerly did not exist (cf. No. 22). We must ask, therefore, whether it is wise to allow the instruments of social communication to be exploited for indiscriminate "self-promotion" or to end up in the hands of those who use them to manipulate consciences. Should it not be a priority to ensure that they remain at the service of the person and of the common good, and that they foster "man’s ethical formation … man’s inner growth" (ibid.)? Their extraordinary impact on the lives of individuals and on society is widely acknowledged, yet today it is necessary to stress the radical shift, one might even say the complete change of role, that they are currently undergoing. Today, communication seems increasingly to claim not simply to represent reality, but to determine it, owing to the power and the force of suggestion that it possesses. It is clear, for example, that in certain situations the media are used not for the proper purpose of disseminating information, but to "create" events. This dangerous change in function has been noted with concern by many Church leaders. Precisely because we are dealing with realities that have a profound effect on all those dimensions of human life (moral, intellectual, religious, relational, affective, cultural) in which the good of the person is at stake, we must stress that not everything that is technically possible is also ethically permissible. Hence, the impact of the communications media on modern life raises unavoidable questions, which require choices and solutions that can no longer be deferred.

4. The role that the means of social communication have acquired in society must now be considered an integral part of the "anthropological" question that is emerging as the key challenge of the third millennium. Just as we see happening in areas such as human life, marriage and the family, and in the great contemporary issues of peace, justice and protection of creation, so too in the sector of social communications there are essential dimensions of the human person and the truth concerning the human person coming into play. When communication loses its ethical underpinning and eludes society’s control, it ends up no longer taking into account the centrality and inviolable dignity of the human person. As a result it risks exercising a negative influence on people’s consciences and choices and definitively conditioning their freedom and their very lives. For this reason it is essential that social communications should assiduously defend the person and fully respect human dignity. Many people now think there is a need, in this sphere, for "info-ethics", just as we have bioethics in the field of medicine and in scientific research linked to life.

5. The media must avoid becoming spokesmen for economic materialism and ethical relativism, true scourges of our time. Instead, they can and must contribute to making known the truth about humanity, and defending it against those who tend to deny or destroy it. One might even say that seeking and presenting the truth about humanity constitutes the highest vocation of social communication. Utilizing for this purpose the many refined and engaging techniques that the media have at their disposal is an exciting task, entrusted in the first place to managers and operators in the sector. Yet it is a task which to some degree concerns us all, because we are all consumers and operators of social communications in this era of globalization. The new media – telecommunications and internet in particular – are changing the very face of communication; perhaps this is a valuable opportunity to reshape it, to make more visible, as my venerable predecessor Pope John Paul II said, the essential and indispensable elements of the truth about the human person (cf. Apostolic Letter The Rapid Development, 10).

6. Man thirsts for truth, he seeks truth; this fact is illustrated by the attention and the success achieved by so many publications, programmes or quality fiction in which the truth, beauty and greatness of the person, including the religious dimension of the person, are acknowledged and favourably presented. Jesus said: "You will know the truth and the truth will make you free" (Jn 8:32). The truth which makes us free is Christ, because only he can respond fully to the thirst for life and love that is present in the human heart. Those who have encountered him and have enthusiastically welcomed his message experience the irrepressible desire to share and communicate this truth. As Saint John writes, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life … we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing this that our joy may be complete" (1 Jn 1:1-3).

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to raise up courageous communicators and authentic witnesses to the truth, faithful to Christ’s mandate and enthusiastic for the message of the faith, communicators who will "interpret modern cultural needs, committing themselves to approaching the communications age not as a time of alienation and confusion, but as a valuable time for the quest for the truth and for developing communion between persons and peoples" (John Paul II, Address to the Conference for those working in Communications and Culture, 9 November 2002).

With these wishes, I cordially impart my Blessing to all.

From the Vatican, 24 January 2008, Feast of Saint Francis de Sales.

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

I got this provocative little item via e-mail from a WDTPRSer.  It is a copy of a note he sent to the Bishop of Birmingham, AL, His Excellency Most Reverend Robert Baker.  My emphases:

Most Reverend Robert J. Baker
Bishop of Birmingham

Your Excellency:

I am writing regarding the recent broadcast of our Holy Father’s celebration of Mass on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, broadcast on EWTN on Sunday, January 13.  At this Mass, the Holy Father celebrated the Mass ad orientem.  I’m sure you are well aware of this.

Ironically,  the  "Norms for Televised Masses for the Diocese of Birmingham"  issued by your predecessor, Bishop David Foley, in February 2000  directed that all televised Masses in the Diocese of Birmingham be celebrated  versus populum, which EWTN has faithfully done.  While EWTN certainly has no control over what the Holy Father decides to do, there seems to  be an inconsistency here.  If it is acceptable to broadcast the Holy Father’s Mass ad orientem on EWTN, why is it not acceptable for EWTN to broadcast their Masses ad orientem?   If the Holy Father wants the faithful to experience the fruits of the Mass ad orientem, why would the Diocese of Birmingham continue to deny its broadcast by EWTN?

This just in from Apcom in my translation:

Città del Vaticano, 24 January (Apcom) – There will be a change to the communications structure of the Vatican, also if "the when and how is still a point of reflection, however we are moving in this direction."  This was announced by [Archbp.] Claudio Celli, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication, presenting this morning in the Vatican the Pope’s Message for the World Day for Social Communication for 2008.  "I received this mandate from the Pope and Cardinal Bertone," [Archbp. Celli] explained, "and we are starting to dialog with the directors of various sectors of the media.  The when and how are still a point of reflection, however we are moving in this direction," Celli concluded, "because this need was also felt on our part."

It’s about time! 

I remain cautiously sceptical, rather than optimistic. My experience from working in the Curia brought me in frustration eventually to coin the phrase that "In the Vatican, equipment is update every 75 years… whether it needs it or not."

We’ll see.

Preserving Christian Publications is reprinting the Benzinger edition of the 1962 Missale Romanum. 

Happily, they made sure that it really is a 1962 edition. 

You have the choice of it being bound in red or green, just like the old editions were back in the day.

And for the pre-publications sale it costs…

... are you sitting down? ....

$410

This is the price for the pre-publication, until February 28, 2008.  After that it will be $460.00.

It looks like it is going to be a very nice book, worthy of the altar.

But…

Whew!

With a tip of the biretta to TNLM   o{]:¬)  I direct your gaze to a site called Christus Rex for some stunning photo of a Mass recently celebrated back on 14 September 2007:

And another well-dressed bishop:

 

I received this notice via e-mail:

New York City Traditional Candlemass

On February 2, there will be a (traditional) Solemn Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel. The church is located at 230 East 90th Street, between 2nd & 3rd Ave’s.

The traditional blessing of candles will start at 1pm and it will be followed by a procession inside the church and then the Solemn Mass.

Fr. Richard Trezza will be the Celebrant, Fr. Matthew Talarico (ICK)will be the Deacon and Fr. James Miara will be the Subdeacon.

All are invited and encouraged to attend.

Please, share this information with people who might be intested in attending this Mass.

This just in from CNA:

Liturgy Commission expects 2008 completion of Roman Missal draft

Mumbai, Jan 24, 2008 / 07:15 am (CNA).- The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) met in Mumbai last week, planning to complete the revised draft of the Roman Missal by its next meeting in September.

The January 14-18 meeting revised translations from the 2002 edition of the Missale Romanum.  The revisions were made after comments were received from English-speaking bishops’ conferences and from the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship.

The eleven bishops of the commission also concelebrated Mass with Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai during the meeting. 

The ICEL Commission is planning their next meeting in Vancouver, Canada in September 2008, at which it expects the entire revised draft translation of the Roman Missal to be completed.  The draft will then be submitted to bishops’ conferences for “further processing and eventual publication.”

I got this note from a student at the Jesuit operated Boston College (me emphases):

Fr. Z,

     I’m a sophomore at the Jesuit-run Boston College and a Catholic who longs for liturgy and worship that is spiritually fulfilling, having been greatly pained by what His Holiness has called "arbitrary deformations of the [Novus Ordo] liturgy". It was suggested to me by another faithful reader of your blog that I email you with the tale of my attempt to bring the TLM to this Catholic institution.
     I’ve attended the TLM whenever and wherever I could, ever since I discovered it a bit over a year ago. When Summorum Pontificum was released, I saw in it the possibility of wider acceptance and performance of the form of our liturgy that I have come to know and love. Having heard no word of the TLM being held on campus, I attempted to contact our Campus Ministry, to see whether there had been any thought to the matter. Over a period of months I received no response, so I made an appointment to meet with our university’s Vice President for Mission and Ministry.
     The tone of the Jesuits here toward the TLM has, in the past, seemed less than congenial, but when I met the kindly old priest/Vice President, I sensed only a bit of reluctance. The man told me that his only real concerns in holding an even somewhat-regular TLM on campus would be the availability of resources (namely priests), as well as interest among a group of people who would attend. Due to the popularity of a regular TLM on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, for instance, these concerns didn’t seem to me too pressing, but I accepted them at the time. Certainly these concerns are nothing like the response that was given to one professor who, several years ago, had attempted to bring the TLM to the Boston College campus, as even the Byzantine Rite mass has been celebrated here, and was told that the TLM was "a camel whose nose will not find its way under this tent."
     I have heard from any number of students who would be willing to attend such a mass regularly, among them two seniors with whom I travel to a parish that holds a weekly TLM. A few males have even expressed interest in altar serving for such a mass. I have the name of one priest who is a professor here, and who has expressed interest in performing the TLM. I am planning to speak with him, to see if we couldn’t get this thing going.
     I will be sure to keep you posted on developments.

<supportLineBreakNewLine]—>I am glad for the information.

From the onset this sounds like a bit of an uphill climb.

I am convinced that Summorum Pontificum is not about "nostalgia".  The real aim of the Motu Proprio is to help revive Catholic identity by giving the priest more tools.  After that, yes, it is about fostering unity and all that… and let it not be forgotten that this is the week for prayer for Christian Unity.  However, after priests I cannot help but think that the Motu Proprio is really aimed at younger people.  As a result, I am quite interested in what happens in schools and universities that claim a Catholic identity.