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

In this first PODCAzT since I returned from my recent trip to England and, briefly, to Italy, we hear on this Feast of the Cathedra of St. Peter, a sermon by Pope Leo the Great (+461) and my translation of an article by Fr. Uwe Michael Lang from today’s L’Osservatore Romano.  

I read the whole sermon of St. Leo, in both English and Latin.  It is a magnificent exposition of the living role of Peter in the Church, the Petrine ministry.  Leo also speaks of the great dignity of the laity.

Fr. Lang writes of the meaning of the Feast of the Cathedra of Peter, with a special reference to Venerble John Henry Newman.

Follow along in Latin!
 
http://www.wdtprs.com/podcazt/08_02_22.mp3

Anybody want to give this a shot?

COLLECT:
Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus,
ut nullis nos permittas perturbationibus concuti,
quos in apostolicae confessionis petra solidasti.

There is nothing especially difficult about the grammar and vocabulary of this prayer, though it is theologically profound. 

NB: the solidasti is really solidavisti, a "syncopated" form.

I got this via e-mail:

St. Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to annoiunce that by letter dated 21 February 2008, Bishop John Magee of Cloyne, has CONFIRMED that he will celebrate the Holy Mass in the extraordinary form – according to the Roman Missal published by the Blessed John XXIII - in St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland, on Easter Tuesday, 25 March 2008 at 12 noon.   The Bsihop has also informed the Society that he will celebrate the low Mass, to the direction of the Cathedral’s Master of Ceremonies with music provided by the Cathedral Choir.

St. Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is most pleased with this development which will be the first time the TLM has been publicly celebrated in St. Colman’s Cathedral in almost 40 years.  The Society is also very encouraged by  Bishop Magee’s openess to the very first request made in the diocese of Cloyne for the TLM and wishes to encoourgae as many as possible of its members and of the faithful in general actively, fully and consciously to participate in this important celebration of the Holy Mass

I shot this from my window in Rome a couple years ago, today:

Some of you lay folks out there probably recite the Liturgy of the Hours. Maybe you also use the Office of Readings. If you don’t read Latin, you might not know how glorious the sermons of St. Leo the Great (+461) sound when pronounced. For today’s feast we have a selection from a sermon Leo delivered on the anniversary of his election as Successor of Peter. Leo was quite interested to assert his direct connection, even identity, with Peter and therefore Peter’s authority. This comes out in his preaching.

Here is the second reading from the Office for 22 February.   I made a PODCAzT for this also!

Ex sermonibus sancti Leonis Magni papae (s. 4 de Natali ipsius, 2-3)

Out of the whole world one man, Peter, is chosen to preside at the calling of all nations, and to be set over all the apostles and all the fathers of the Church. Though there are in God’s people many shepherds, Peter is thus appointed to rule in his own person those whom Christ also rules as the original ruler. Beloved, how great and wonderful is this sharing of his power that God in his goodness has given to this man. Whatever Christ has willed to be shared in common by Peter and the other leaders of the Church, it is only through Peter that he has given to others what he has not refused to bestow on them.
The Lord now asks the apostles as a whole what men think of him. As long as they are recounting the uncertainty born of human ignorance, their reply is always the same.
But when he presses the disciples to say what they think themselves, the first to confess his faith in the Lord is the one who is first in rank among the apostles.
Peter says: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Jesus replies: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven”. You are blessed, he means, because my Father has taught you. You have not been deceived by earthly opinion, but have been enlightened by inspiration from heaven. It was not flesh and blood that pointed me out to you, but the one whose only-begotten Son I am.
He continues: And I say to you. In other words, as my Father has revealed to you my godhead, so I in my turn make known to you your pre-eminence. You are Peter: though I am the inviolable rock, the cornerstone that makes both one, the foundation apart from which no one can lay any other, yet you also are a rock, for you are given solidity by my strength, so that which is my very own because of my power is common between us through your participation.
And upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. On this strong foundation, he says, I will build an everlasting temple. The great height of my Church, which is to penetrate the heavens, shall rise on the firm foundation of this faith.
The gates of hell shall not silence this confession of faith; the chains of death shall not bind it. Its words are the words of life. As they lift up to heaven those who profess them, so they send down to hell those who contradict them.
Blessed Peter is therefore told: To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth is also bound in heaven. Whatever you lose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.
The authority vested in this power passed also to the other apostles, and the institution established by this decree has been continued in all the leaders of the Church. But it is not without good reason that what is bestowed on all is entrusted to one. For Peter received it separately in trust because he is the prototype set before all the rulers of the Church.

 

 08--02-22 St. Leo the Great on Peter, Fr. Lang on the Cathedra [52:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

De toto mundo unus Petrus eligitur, qui et universarum gentium vocationi, et omnibus Apostolis cunctisque Ecclesiae patribus praeponatur: ut, quamvis in populo Dei multi sacerdotes sint multique pastores, omnes tamen proprie regat Petrus, quos principaliter regit et Christus. Magnum et mirabile, dilectissimi, huic viro consortium potentiae suae tribuit divina dignatio; et, si quid cum eo commune ceteris voluit esse principibus, numquam nisi per ipsum dedit quidquid aliis non negavit.
Omnes denique Apostolos Dominus quid de se homines opinentur interrogat; et tamdiu sermo respondentium communis est, quamdiu humanae ignorantiae ambiguitas explicatur.
At ubi quid habeat sensus discipulorum exigitur, primus est in Domini confessione, qui primus est in apostolica dignitate. Qui cum dixisset: Tu es Christus, Filius Dei vivi, respondit ei Iesus: Beatus es, Simon Bar-Iona, quia caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi, sed Pater meus qui in caelis est; id ist, ideo beatus es, quia te Pater meus docuit, nec terrena opinio te fefellit, sed inspiratio caelestis instruxit; et non caro nec sanguis, sed ille me tibi, cuius sum unigenitus Filius, indicavit.
Et ego, inquit, dico tibi: hoc est, sicut Pater meus tibi manifestavit divinitatem meam, ita et ego tibi notam facio excellentiam tuam: Quia tu es Petrus: id ist, cum ego sim inviolabilis petra, ego lapis angularis, qui facio utraque unum, ego fundamentum praeter quod nemo potest aliud ponere; tamen tu quoque petra es, quia mea virtute solidaris, ut quae mihi potestate sunt propria, sint tibi mecum participatione communia.
Et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam. Super hanc, inquit, fortitudinem aeternum exstruam templum, et Ecclesiae meae caelo inserenda sublimitas in huius fidei firmitate consurget.
Hanc confessionem portae inferi non tenebunt, mortis vincula non ligabunt: vox enim ista vox vitae est. Et sicut confessores suos in caelestia provehit, ita negatores ad inferna demergit.
Propter quod dicitur beatissimo Petro: Tibi dabo claves regni caelorum. Et quaecumque ligaveris super terram, erunt ligata et in caelis; et quaecumque solveris super terram, erunt soluta et in caelis.
Transivit quidem etiam in alios Apostolos ius potestatis istius, et ad omnes Ecclesiae principes decreti huius constituio commeavit; sed non frustra uni commendatur, quod omnibus intimetur. Petro enim ideo hoc singulariter creditur, quia cunctis Ecclesiae rectoribus Petri forma praeponitur.

The whole Latin text.

Here are a few photos of St. Peter’s taken last year on this feast of the Cathedra of St. Peter.

It is pretty dark in the Basilica, so steady is the name of the game. Here is a shot through the columns over the main altar toward the apse, where you can see the candles arrayed.

A closer view.

The bronze Cathedra is decorated with lighted candles only once a year, today.

The black bronse statue of St. Peter attributed to the marvelous Arnulfo di Cambio was always dressed up in his cope and tiara, with a ring on his finger and pectoral Cross on two days, 29 June and today. Then the moderists in the Fabrica started fooling around. Too triumphalistic. They started cutting out elements. But all of them were back today except for the griccia alb, which I can live without I guess.

And ….

Do you remember my post the other day about Pope Benedict saying their are problems with huge outdoor Masses?  Do you remember that Msgr. Guido Marini was to be sent to the USA to help prepare the papal ceremonies?

I got this note from a seminarian in New York:

I am an avid reader of your highly acclaimed blog. I am also a seminarian studying for the Archdiocese of New York. You might be happy to know that Msgr Guido Marini (Papal MC) is currently here in New York, visiting and making preparations for the upcoming papal visit. Yesterday (2/21) he was at St Patrick’s Cathedral. Today we have the good fortune of having him here at our seminary, St. Joseph’s, Dunwoodie. Msgr Marini was gracious enough to pose for a quick snapshot with some of us. (See file attached.) Please share the good news!

 

 

What a great photo! 

I got a question via e-mail.  I bet some of you can help quicker than I can:

Father Z – is there an English language version of the Breviary in force in 1962 that you would recommend?

Since Summorum Pontificum went into effect, questions about the older, pre-Conciliar form of Mass have, as was inevitable, begun to surface. 

The Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" (PCED) is, at this time, the clearing house for these questions, since the Commission has competence in all things concerning the older liturgy.  

I received via e-mail a copy of a letter someone received from the PCED.  A question was raised about the service of deacons for the older forms of liturgy.

Every once in a while questions pop upo about deacons ordained with the newer books and the older form of Mass, and also about the service of permanent deacons.  For example, some people question if men ordained as deacons with the newer book De ordinatione, that is, who are not ordained with the older form of the Pontificale Romanum as deacons or subdeacons, can function as sacred ministers in the older Mass.  In a nutshell: not ordained with old book – can’t be sacred minister.

I contend that a deacon is a deacon is a deacon.  Men who were ordained with older books are no more deacons than men ordained with the newer books.

Similarly, some people think that permanent deacons are somehow a lesser sort of deacon and therefore cannot function as a sacred minister in the older form of Mass.  I respond again: a deacon is a deacons is a deacon.

Now we let us see the business part of text of the response sent by the PCED forwarded to me with my emphases.

The Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, just as the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei, presupposes that any deacons, transitional or permanent, may function as deacons in the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, provided, of course, that they are familiar with the rites and can function with sufficient ease.  The local Ordinary can not impede a deacon in good standing from functioning as a deacon in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite provided that the deacon is qualified.
 
With prayerful wishes I remain
 
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Rev. Msgr. Camille Perl

First, this letter clarifies that the ability of the deacon to serve does not depend on which book was used to ordain him.  Thus, men ordained with the newer book can serve as sacred ministers with the older form.

Second, it makes no difference if a man is a permanent deacon or a transitional deacon.  A "transitional" deacon usually identifies a man promoted to the holy order of the diaconate as a stage before his being ordained a priest.  So, these are usually seminarians in the last stages of their formation.  The point here is that a permanent deacons and transitional deacons are equally deacons.  This may seem like a point to simple to need clarification, but it does come up. 

Third, note the statement that the "local Ordinary" (usually the local bishop) can’t "impede" a deacon in good standing from functioning as a deacon in the extraordinary form.   This would have an impact on seminarian transitional deacons.  The idea is this: if a deacon is in good standing, he can function as a deacon in his rite.  Men ordained for the Roman Rite can function in their Roman Rite.  The Roman Rite has two forms. 

Bishops cannot tell their seminarian deacons who are in good standing that they can serve in the ordinary form but can’t serve in the extraordinary form.  If you can serve in one, you can serve in the other, provided you know what to do.

What I find interesting about this is that during the rite of ordination of a deacon, the ordaining bishop explicitly asks someone speaking on behalf of those responsible for the formation of the deacons whether or not he knows they are worthy of ordination.  That worthiness would refer not only to their reputations and moral life, but also their concrete training.  

If a man is going to be ordained for the Roman Rite, should not knowledge of the older form of the Rite be included in the formation of men to be ordained deacons, transitional or permanent?  If someone responsible for the training of deacons is going to answer that question about the worthiness of the men presented to the bishop for ordination, should he not know they were prepared for the celebration of the Roman Rite?