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

A question has come:

Dear Father Z,

I had a call from a young priest friend of mine this morning.  He was wondering whether there was any way for a PRIEST, to write to the Congregation for Divine worship and report the many abuses going on in the diocese, that the bishop is ignoring, and remain anonymous.

For obvious reasons the anonymity would have to be guaranteed.

Once again thank you for all that you are doing for the TLM and the Church.

 

First, I remind you of the clear statement in Redemptionis Sacramentum.

6. Complaints Regarding Abuses in Liturgical Matters

[183.] In an altogether particular manner, let everyone do all that is in their power to ensure that the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist will be protected from any and every irreverence or distortion and that all abuses be thoroughly corrected. This is a most serious duty incumbent upon each and every one, and all are bound to carry it out without any favouritism.

[184.] Any Catholic, whether Priest or Deacon or lay member of Christ’s faithful, has the right to lodge a complaint regarding a liturgical abuse to the diocesan Bishop or the competent Ordinary equivalent to him in law, or to the Apostolic See on account of the primacy of the Roman Pontiff. It is fitting, however, insofar as possible, that the report or complaint be submitted first to the diocesan Bishop. This is naturally to be done in truth and charity.

 

So, if the bishop has been informed, and the bishop has done nothing, then it is necessary to write to the Congregation.

Remember that when writing to the Congregation, or any Vatican office such as the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei or the CDF, you need to send evidence of what you claim is going on. 

Your letter is itself a kind of evidence, but if you send photos, video, printed matter which prove the abuse took place, is taking place, is scheduled to take place, that is better.   The Congregation can more quickly act when there is concrete evidence beyond someone’s mere report.

Here are some tips for writing:

• BE BRIEF. Make your cover letter no longer than one side of one sheet of paper.
• Avoid writing long-hand.  Make it easy to read.  Type or use your computer.
  
• Include relevant documents: Vatican dicasteries can’t act solely on the basis of Mrs. Joe Bagofdonuts’s description of events.  The best thing you can do is send concrete evidence, printed.  If someone wrote and distributed something, send a copy.
  
• If you have relevant past correspondence, such as previous responses from priests or bishops, send copies.
• Do not tell them their job!  Don’t quote canons, blah blah, as if they didn’t know them already.  Leave the incredibly obvious unsaid.
  
• Do not engage in character assassination.  State FACTS with as little editorializing as possible.  Blathering on and on about how "disobedient" priests or bishops are will not strengthen your case.  State facts. They will know if they are disobedient.
• If you must talk about your feelings, keep it incredibly short, and do not be mean-spirited. If something made you sad or angry, okay, say it, but don’t DWELL on it.  The nastier you are, the weaker your letter will be.
• At the end thank the one you are writing to for his service, and promise your prayers.  And mean it.
  

In summary, be brief, send evidence, leave out the obvious, don’t vent.

The address:

His Eminence
Francis Card. Arinze
Prefect of the Congregation
   for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments
Palazzo delle Congregazioni
P.za Pio XII
00120 VATICAN CITY

Can you write anonymously?

I suppose you can, but that itself presents some problems.  You should be willing to put your name to something.  However, if you have amassed enough concrete evidence,  and you do not require any direct reply, then take a shot.

I do understand that priests must be careful when writing.  Bishops and priests inclined to liturgical abuses will not thank you for writing to the Congregation.  Priests have every reason to believe that there will be reprisals.   So, exercise extreme caution.  This is one of the reasons why letters to Vatican dicasteries should be as clear and objective as possible, without harsh language or personal attacks, etc.

 

I got this by e-mail from SC of CA, wife of a past president of Pasadena Audobon Society:

Hi Father Z:

I’m a daily reader of your blog.  I’ve really been enjoying your bird feeder visitors.  However, I tend to disagree that Mr. Say’s Phoebee is a Phoebee.  You were right before.  After consulting hubby, who is an avid birder, he confirmed that your cute little guest is an Eastern Peewee.  Say’s Phoebee’s have a more upright posture and a buff underbelly—no yellow.

Good birding!

Allow me to give you the bird:

 

 

The problem remains that this bird with absolutely no hesitation bobs his tail.  That suggests Phoebe, not Pewee.

The controversy rages!

Here is my column in The Wanderer for this coming Sunday.  Please subscribe to The Wanderer.

What Does the Prayer Really Say?   3rd Sunday after Pentecost (1962 Missale Romanum)

I have good news and bad news. 

First, the good news.  A kind contributor to the WDTPRS blog (wdtprs.com) sent a notice that in England, in the magnificent Winchester Cathedral (Anglican) on Saturday 21 June there will be a Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary (“Tridentine”) form.  Fascinating, no?  It seems that some Anglican members of the world-famous Choir at Winchester Cathedral want to have a Mass in thanksgiving for the Pope Benedict’s Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, which derestricted the pre-Conciliar form of Holy Mass.  The Dean and Cathedral Chapter were all in favor and agreed. His Excellency the Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth, Most Reverend Crispian Hollis agreed as well.  So the Cathedral Choir will be singing a polyphonic Mass with Gregorian chant. The celebrant will be the former Abbot of the Catholic Abbey of Belmont, Laurence Hemming.

This is what I call true ecumenical dialogue!

On the other hand, on 18 May there was to be a Pontifical High Mass with the 1962 Missale Romanum in the Catholic Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales arranged by the Latin Mass Society.  However, the Mass was cancelled at the last moment because the Dean of the Cathedral, suddenly insisted that there be a female server in the sanctuary.  A lot of people were put out and many came, even in busses, from far away, to find the usual scheduled Mass.  I am told there were several hundred people showed up for a Mass that is usually attended by only about 40 people.  There are a lot of hurt feelings and anger over this being expressed on the WDTPRS blog.  It may very well be that the Church’s present law does not strictly forbid females to substitute for duly installed acolytes to serve at Mass, however, this so flies in the face of the sentiments of the people who were hoping for that Pontifical Mass as to stagger the imagination. It is hard to grasp how callous the Dean was in insisting on this oddity, which was hurtful to everyone.

Another very odd thing to grasp is the recent edict of His Excellency Most Reverend Robert Brom, Bishop of San Diego.  He issued to his priests a memo about the use of the Latin language and, obviously, the implementation of Summorum Pontificum.  Some of the highlights of the memo are that sacraments cannot be given with the older forms in the Rituale Romanum to people who are not parishioners of that particular parish.  I guess that means that Father has to ask for i.d.’s and check them against the parish database before absolving them of their sins, anointing them when they are dying, or marrying and baptizing.  Perhaps they will stop them at the door of the church?  In any event, no such restriction is in Summorum Pontificum. Also, a Latin in the Liturgy Committee is being established to authorize if priests are “competent” to use Latin or say Mass in the older rite.  May we therefore expect that priests will be examined for competency to celebrate in the Novus Ordo as well?  In any language?  I think we might find interesting results if we started testing priests about the meaning of texts or the rubrics in the Novus Ordo.  So, get this:  “Competency to celebrate the Mass or other sacraments in Latin will not be presumed but verified by the Latin in the Liturgy Committee before any such celebrations are attempted…. Pastors will consult with the Latin in the Liturgy Committee before they schedule Mass in the extraordinary form or other sacraments according to the older ritual.”  Speaking strictly about the TLM, the memo says that priests (assuming they are so authorized) may celebrate privately the older form of Mass “in churches or chapels only with permission of the appropriate authority, and may not advertise these private celebrations.”  Does Summorum Pontificum not also apply to the Diocese of San Diego?  Priests would still need permission of the bishop, or whomever, to say Mass privately in a church or chapel.  Furthermore, “Permission of the Bishop is needed by any priest who wishes to preside at a celebration of Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962 or at a celebration of the other Sacraments according to older rites outside of a parish church, for example, in chapels. … Permission of the Bishop is also required for individuals or groups of the faithful who desire interparochial or non-parish-based celebrations of Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962 or celebrations of the other Sacraments according to older rites.”

It is as if Summorum Pontificum didn’t exist.  You would have thought this sort of thing was over by now.  After all, Pope Benedict became Supreme Pontiff in 2005 and this document went into force on 14 September 2007. 

That said, let’s move to today’s …

COLLECT: (1962 Missale Romanum):
Protector in te sperantium, Deus,
sine quo nihil est validum, nihil sanctum:
multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam;
ut, te rectore, te duce,
sic transeamus per bona temporalia,
ut non amittamus aeterna.

There is a very pleasant alliteration in lines 2-3 of the collect. We can find a nice pair of pairs: nihil validum, nihil sanctum and some great ablative absolutes te rectore, te duce.

Where does prayer really come from?  The first part, Protector in te sperantium deus, seems to be a fairly common introductory phrase in ancient Roman prayers.  But after that, we find the whole prayer as it appears in the 1962MR in the Liber sacramentorum Gellonensis or Gellone Sacramentary, which a couple weeks ago I reminded you was one of the Frankish “newer Gelasian” type sacramentaries, an attempt at a complete service book in the late 8^th century, and in the Liber sacramentorum Romanae ecclesiae or Book of the sacraments of the Church of Rome, which is another “Gelasian” type book.  However, the snipping and pasting experts employed by the Council’s Consilium hacked off the end of the Pian edition’s ancient prayer and for the Pauline version of the Missale Romanum, tacked on a chunk of another ancient prayer in the Veronese Sacramentary or Leonine Sacramentary or for good measure Codex sacramentorum vetus Romanae ecclesiae a sancto Leone papa I confectus, for the month of July, perhaps on the 13th of the month, and perhaps as part of a preface formula: Vere dignum: qui mutabilitatem nostram ad incommutabilia ita iustus et benignus erudis, ut nec fragilitatem destituas et coherceas insolentes: quo pariter instituti pia conversatione et caelestibus sacramentis, sic bonis praetereuntibus nunc utimur, ut iam possimus inherere perpetuis. They even tinkered with that.  In the Novus Ordo Missale this prayer is used on the 17^th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

COLLECT: (1970 Missale Romanum):
Protector in te sperantium, Deus,
sine quo nihil est validum, nihil sanctum:
multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam;
ut, te rectore, te duce,
sic bonis transeuntibus nunc utamur,
ut iam possimus inhaerere mansuris.

Protector is, according to our always valid Lewis & Short Dictionary, from protego, meaning “to cover before, or in front, cover over” and obviously also “to shield from danger” as well as things like “put a protecting roof over”.  Amitto is “to lose” in the sense of “let slip”.  A Latin dux is a “leader, guide”, and also “commander, general-in-chief”.  This is why Benito Mussolini was in Italian called “il Duce”.  A rector is pretty much the same as the first sense of dux, but it can also be a “helmsman” or “governor”.  Interestingly enough, gubernator means “helmsman” also, while an English “governor” is a moderator.

St. Andrew’s Bible Missal (1962):
O God, guardian of those who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing holy,
increase your mercy towards us.
With you as our ruler and guide,
may we pass through the good things of this world,
so as not to lose those of the world to come.

LITERAL VERSION (1962MR)
O God, protector of those hoping in You,
without whom nothing is efficacious, nothing holy,
multiply Your mercy upon us,
so that, You being our guide and leader,
we may pass through temporal goods in such a way
that we do not lose the eternal.

We have the image of a people asking God to cover them over abundantly with mercy.  We are acknowledging how we need a roof over our heads to protect us, so we want God’s mercy upon us. Also, since a protector is something or someone that covers us in front, God is our shield before us.  In His mercy He guards us from the attacks we face as soldiers in the Church Militant.

We must never forget that we are members of the Church Militant, the part of the Church which is in the world, on the march, as a pilgrim people.  We must be clear in our minds that the Lord says this world has its prince (cf. John 10:31 and 14:30).  Satan and his fallen angels desire our everlasting damnation and agony with them in Hell.  Jesus broke their power over us, but we still for a time are in this world which they dominate. We are living in a state of “already, but not yet.”

As soldiers traveling through enemy territory we need strong shields, a sure leader to set our feet on the right path out of the danger zone, a sturdy roof over us when we rest, some way to grasp what is holy and what is deception. God is the one without whom nothing is worthwhile or holy. He must provide for us all that we need on the march.  Because of the wounds to our nature from the Fall, we are susceptible to the passing things of this world and vulnerable to the attacks of hell.  We need shielding, protection, so that we are not overly mired or stained, lest we lose track of our pilgrim route to heaven.

LITERAL TRANSLATION (1970MR):
O God, protector of those believing in You,
without whom nothing is efficacious, nothing holy,
multiply Your mercy upon us,
so that, You being our guide and leader,
we may so use things that pass away
as to be able to cleave to those that endure.

Notice the slightly different emphasis.  This version also contrasts the passing things of this world with those that do not pass away.  This version also stresses that we must cling to, or not let slip, eternal things, so that we lose heaven.  However, whereas the older version seems to take a position of suspicion about the dangerous nature of worldly, or temporal, things, the newer version indicates that we use them correctly.  The structure is ita with a result following in the subjunctive: in such a way that….   Lest anyone get their shift all in a twist about how the Novus Ordo version obviously reflects the dangerous modernism of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et spes, remember that the final two lines are also essentially from an ancient prayer.  After all, our ancestors also were concerned actually to use the things of the world, which remain good.  They are bona temporalia. <supportLineBreakNewLine]—>

Lame-Duck ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
God our Father and protector,
without you nothing is holy,
nothing has value.
Guide us to everlasting life
by helping us to use wisely
the blessings you have given to the world.