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

What’s up with the term "Gregorian Mass"?  Or "Gregorian Rite"?

The other day in London Dario Castrillon Hoyos spoke of the Gregorian Rite saying "this is the just [correct] name for the Extraordinary Form,".

I think we can call the older form of Mass many different things.  However, surely will be seeing more of the label "Gregorian".

Some people called the Mass in the form we find in the various editions of the Missale Romanum from before the changes in the 1960’s, "Gregorian", rather than "Pian" (after St. Pope Pius V), because its essential structure and many of the prayers go back to the time at least of Pope Gregory I (+604).   Gregory did a great deal to codify liturgical law and practice for the Church of Rome.  His influence endures today, in an even greater measure again, now that Summorum Pontificum is in force.

However, hard on the heels of this Card. Castrillon’s statement, I received a question today by e-mail:

I had a call referred to me by the diocese of "x" in regard to a request for Gregorian Masses.  I told the woman who inquired about the matter that I would look into some possibilities.  She had a couple of questions.  First, what is the usual stipend for such a request?  Second, is it possible to have the Masses said for two deceased individuals who were husband and wife in one series of Masses, or must the intention of the 33 consecutive Masses be only for one person?  The questions I have in regard to Gregorian Masses include:  Is it 30 or 33 consecutive Masses?  Must they all be requiem Masses?  (That would not seem possible given the liturgical calendar).  Must Gregorian Masses be said consecutively by the same priest?  Given the nature of Gregorian Masses where might I be able to direct this woman to have these Gregorian Masses said?  Thanks for any assistance rendered.

Let’s get to the bottom of this.

What are "Gregorian Masses"?

When you hear "Gregorian Masses" you are usually talking about the celebration of thirty Masses for thirty consecutive days for the soul of someone who has died.  It is thought that St. Pope Gregory I (+604) spread this practice, which was already a tradition by his day.  Pope Gregory had these Masses said for, at least, a fellow Roman monk named Justus (Dialogorum 4,57: Vade itaque, et ab hodierna die diebus triginta continuis offerre pro eo sacrificium stude, ut nullus omnino praetermittatur dies, quo pro absolutione illius salutaris hostia non immoletur.)  At the end of the thirty days the dead monk appeared to his brother to let him know he was free from Purgatory.  In any event, this became a widespread practice after Pope Gregory.  I believe that the Dominican’s even had special Mass prayers in their Rite for this practice.

In any event, there are some basic guidelines. 

First, thirty Masses must be said on thirty consecutive days for the same intention.  If the priest can’t say one the Masses himself, for any reason, he must arrange for another priest to say the Mass for that same intention on that same day so that the series is not broken.  They are said only for the dead.

The Masses can be said anywhere, and they need not be Requiem Masses.

Because this is a heavy commitment, the stipend offered should usually be pretty generous.  Given that very few priests are able to take their own chosen intention every day for 30 days, that is fitting.  The stipend can be whatever is agreed on, of course.  How much should it be?  That can’t really be fixed down.  I have done Gregorian series three times.  On one occasion I was offered 450 euros, and the person who offered the stipend was very pleased to have found a priest who could do it.  On another occasion I took far less, because it was requested by an elderly woman on a limited income for her dead husband.  So, it depends on the circumstances.  Whatever is decided, if the stipend is accepted, in justice the priest is strictly bound to fulfill his part of the commitment.

So, there is one way "Gregorian Masses" can be understood.

Another way also relates to the dead, though these are less commonly called "Gregorian Masses".

There is a custom in the Roman Church for Requiem Masses to be said on the third, seventh and thirtieth days after the death of a person.  In this case, these are indeed Requiems.  The third, seventh, and thirtieth days can be counted either from the day of death or from the day of burial, exclusive. 

Yet another type of "Gregorian Mass" is a Mass said at a "Gregorian altar".

A Gregorian altar is a privileged altar, that is, an altar to which certain added benefits or indulgences were attached such that when priests said Mass there the indulgence was gained.  A Gregorian altar was therefore an altar that had the same privileges as the altar of the Roman basilica of San Gregorio in the Caelian Hill, where St. Gregory the Great had his monastery.  That original Gregorian altar had a plenary indulgence for a soul in Purgatory.  No Gregorian altars, called Gregorian altars ad instar, were so blessed after 1912.  Naturally such an indulgence, a mighty application of the power of the keys indeed!, depends entirely on God’s will.

So, there are various uses of "Gregorian". 

 

 

Every once in a while the nice folks at Angelus Press send me something to review.  For example, we have looked at their daily hand missal (which I see is on sale right now) and a spiffy little inexpensive intro booklet for people who want to know more about the pre-Conciliar form of Mass.

This time I get to preview something for you. 

They sent me a pdf of something they haven’t printed yet.  I hope they get to it soon, because it is very useful and well done.

"But Father! But Father!  Are you ever going to tell us what it is?  C’mon!  Spit it out!

Patience.

You know, life at the Sabine Farm has its positives and its negatives.

One of the positives is the chapel.  One of the negatives is the chapel.

That is, one of the negatives is that I am pretty much the only one who cleans it and keep everything in order. 

That means doing all the linens.

I really hate ironing.  No… really... I do.

As a matter of fact I detest ironing.

Therefore, I am highly in favor of anything that will help other people learn how properly to iron purificators, corporals, amices… all that stuff.

Here is where I rapidly become a fan of the Angelus Press and their forthcoming (sound the trumpet):

 

 

So what if they are the publishing arm of the SSPX. 

They just might have expanded my pool of potential ironers! 

Seriously, this is going to be a very useful booklet in parishes far and wide, old Mass, new Mass, in union with Rome or not.  Very useful.

All the various common linens are presented with descriptions of what they are for and what they might mean, for example in the case of the symbolic meaning of the amice, a vestment the priest uses during Mass.

There are clear directions and also step by step drawings for how to fold the linens, which is very important, especially in the case of a corporal, which has the function of capturing particles of the Host which might have been missed.

Here is what we find on the contents page:

i Quick Reference Chart
ii The Purificator
iii The Corporal
iv The Pall
v The Lavabo Towel
vi The Amice
vii A Few Guidelines and Tips
viii Altar Linens
ix Glossary
ix Notes page

This little book provides a bit of direction for those ladies who are so generous
helping Holy Mother Church (and her sacristans) with laundering,
ironing, and mending.

What sort of thing might you find in "A Few Guidelines and Tips"?  Let’s see what they say about the hated ironing.

Ironing
? There is a linen setting on most irons. If you have tough creases to remove, you
might try squirting a little water onto the crease or try the iron’s steam setting.
? The corporals call for heavy starch, but be careful with the spray-on starch.
If you saturate the cloth, the starch will flake when it dries (during Mass, the
celebrant scrapes the corporal with the paten; if the starch is flaky, it will mix in
with the Particles of the Sacred Host). To prevent this flaking, apply the starch
in thin layers and iron it in before the next layer is sprayed on.
? Keep all edges nice and square and crisp. Any strings such as those on the
amice should be pressed out flat. Lace also needs to be ironed out flat.
? If you find that your linens look “rumpled” or “wumpled” or kind of wrinkly no
matter how much you iron, you might try using a thinner ironing pad.

I will also give you a tip.  When washing Father’s amices, do not – I repeat – DO NOT just thrown them into the machine and start the cycle.  You must first tie up the long ties attached to the corners or YOU - WILL – BE - SORRY.  Another solution might be small mesh bags to wash them in.  Whatever your solution might be… be careful with the treacherous amice.

I have sent them a couple suggestions before they go to press.  For example, it might be helpful to talk about the wonderful custom of the priest first washing linens that come into contact with the Sacred Species and then pouring the water down the sacrarium before they go to be laundered.

There is a very good glossary toward the back.  Here are a few examples:

 

antemensium a “Greek corporal” which is used as a “portable altar stone”

gremial the cloth a bishop uses over his lap during confirmations

predella the top platform of the altar steps

At the end there is a good fervorino:

Be sure that any work you do for the chapel will redound to your
merit. We are meant to love the altar and everything that pertains to
it, and remember that even the smallest work or smallest detail does
not go unnoticed nor unrewarded by our beloved Master.

I think the word "chapel" in this reflects the SSPX origin.  A better way would be "chapel or church".

This should be available in July! 

I can hardly wait! 

I plan on giving out copies.

The site of Newsweek has an article by George Weigel about Pope Benedict’s "revival" of the "Latin Mass".

As you begin, keep in mind what WDTPRS has been saying since Summorum Pontificum was released.  This incredibly important document, perhaps the most important thing Pope Benedict has done so far, is a key part of what I term as his "Marshall Plan" to reinvigorate Catholic identity.  We we Catholics don’t know who we are within our own Church (the ad intra dimension of Pope Benedict’s project) then we will have nothing useful to say to the rest of the world, in the public square (the ad extra dimension).  Pope Benedict knows that our liturgical practice must change for our identity to be strengthened.  Thus, liturgy is, as I term it, "the tip of the spear".  Widespread celebration of Holy Mass and the sacraments in the older, pre-Conciliar form will exert a gravitational pull on every other aspect of the Church, especially because it will change priests’ perception of who they are and what Holy Mass is.  Once they learn something about the older form, they will never say Mass the same way again.  That will affect a whole parish and thus a community.

That said…

Shall we have a look with my emphases and comments? 

Latin Days Are Here Again?

Pope Benedict wants to revive the Latin mass in Roman Catholic worship. But what exactly does that mean?
George Weigel
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Updated: 11:19 AM ET Jun 19, 2008

Is Pope Benedict XVI determined to restore the Latin mass that many Roman Catholics thought had been consigned to the dustbin of history? The answer, in short, is both yes and no. But neither the "yes" nor the "no" quite fits the conventional speculations in several recent media reports [He is proabably talking about Damian Thompson’s reports and the parsing on WDTPRS and other blogs.] following off-the-cuff remarks to a small Catholic association in Great Britain by a Vatican official. In unraveling this, it helps to begin at the beginning.

As he reminds us in his memoir, "Salt of the Earth," the young Joseph Ratzinger was deeply influenced, both spiritually and intellectually, by the mid-20th-century movement to reform the Roman Catholic Church’s public worship—a movement that helped pave the way for the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Father Ratzinger was a peritus, a theological expert, at the council, and like many others, he welcomed the