One year today the text of Summorum Pontificum was released.
I clearly recall having gathered the necessary bottles of Veuve Clicquot and getting up at oh-dark-hundred to use my access to the Holy See Press’ Offices embargo area to find the text and compare it to the advance copy just to be sure they matched.
Hitting that enter key to post about it was a real joy. It was a joy that persists.
Every time I can post a positive story about the fruits of the implementation of Summorum Ponitificum I am a happy man.
Noteworthy among its fruits is how we see more and more what a great gift it is to priests.
When priests learn to say the older form of Mass, something inside them changes.
There are things in the older Mass which speak to priesthood, who the priest is at the altar and who he is for people, which simply are not discerned through the newer form of Mass. The priest learns something vital about what Mass is and who he is in it and through it.
Once a priest learns to say the older Mass, he never says the Novus Ordo the same way again.
This, naturally, will create a ripple effect in parishes.
I focus on this one dimension of the fruits of the Motu Proprio, though there are many others we can distinguish, because I think it may be the most important of them all.
However, I would very much like to hear what you think are the fruits of Summorum Pontificum.
What has the Motu Proprio meant for you?
Even if you have not in a concrete way been able, yet, to benefit from the older Mass in your area, it still may be bearing fruits for you, even through what you hear others are doing.
Please share some of your thoughts.
Let’s make this one of those threads where you simply post your own reflections and thoughts without reacting directly to others to trying to engage them in conversation. We had another thread like this, about your first experiences of an old Mass, and it was stunningly interesting. Let’s do that same things here.
Your reflections on Summorum Pontificum one year later. Brief, clear, and yours.
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To be honest, the S.P. has not born much fruit where I live, in Montreal. There is already one not so well attended EF mass in the city. I tried to help organize a one-time EF mass at my regular parish (a pretty straight shooting OF parish in an old historic church) and my pastor shot the idea down. Interestingly, he started cited various passages from S.P., namely the infamous Art. 5 “stable group” sentence, to “prove” that he didn’t have to honor my request to allow an FSSP priest from another diocese to say mass in “his” church. I say interestingly because I never once mentioned S.P. to him!
Still, we did manage to find a pastor at another church willing to host the mass. More importantly, there has been some buzz and interest among *some* Catholics that I talk to–usually younger Catholics. Of course, I have also talked to other Catholics in the last year who either don’t know about S.P. or who are adamantly against “going back to the Latin mass.”
So progress, at least here anyway, is slow, and S.P. has had little practical impact to date. That said, it is bearing fruit in Toronto and Quebec City. Perhaps one day soon we will feel the ripples here.
Fr. Z.,
I linked to your “look back” for Zenit and Shawn Tribe’s review for the UK’s Catholic Herald and added a few comments about the state of things in Cincinnati and nearby Covington (KY):
“heels” above, ‘natch.
‘Not sure why only the first paragraph was captured by the blockquote command.
The response to S.P. has been favorable in my area, which is north central Indiana. In the north, Bishop D’Arcy has allowed the use of the Gregorian Rite for a number of years, and has celebrated it himself on occasion. Since the motu proprio, he has appointed a chaplain for the Latin Mass Society and moved the celebration of the Mass in South Bend to an historic parish well suited for the use.
In the diocese of Lafayette in Indiana, Bishop Higi, who over the years has not been accomodating to those attached to the Gregorian Rite, has seemingly had a change of heart. There is now a regular Sunday E.F. Mass in Carmel, IN. He has told them to “think big” and it appears he will provide a regular E.F. Mass in every deanery. These are both pretty important developments for us here in Indiana. Both situations will allow for further growth and for increased interest.
We had LM here every Saturday for about a year. Then the change in priests, changed that. I don’t know that saying the LM changed the NO Mass in our parish, the reason I say that is we were blessed to have priests from The Society of Jesus Christ the Priest and their Masses were already a far cry from what we see here in the US. The care which was taken in the purification after Communion and the solemness when they celebrated the Mass were already there. There are a few who would like to have the LM back but not enough to make an impact. We in the US are very much a people who think “What can I get out of Mass?” instead of “What am I putting into it?” I fear,we have forgotten that Mass is about worshipping God. Now when I go to Mass I am reminded of a line from a movie I once watched where the romantic leads were having a casual sexual relationship and the man looked at the woman and asked “Is what we are doing, good enough for you?” I wonder that a lot about our Masses, is what we are doing good enough for God?
My experience with the EF has been one that is, overall, positive. That’s not to say that it wasn’t a lot of work and practice to make sure that I was offering it correctly. A number of priests of my diocese, including myself, had the support and encouragement of our bishop, who also provided, free of charge, a weeklong training seminar, for those priests who were interested. The response and reception of a weekly Saturday night EF Mass in our parish was overwhelmingly positive and the church [which seats 70] is almost always full. The addition of this Mass into our liturgical life as a parish has been seamless and non-disruptive from our parish members. In fact, many who would not normally attend this Mass have come to see for themselves, and while they might not attend it weekly, are always positive in their reaction to their experience of it. The ONLY negativity that I have encountered during this entire period has been from SOME of the more conservative fans of the EF [not from our parish] who still harbor judgmental, critical and complaining attitudes about ANYTHING that doesn’t measure up to the way they think things should be. Some of these folks also press unrealistic demands on their local clergy [like insisting that ALL priests add an EF Mass in their parish]- a nice dream, but not realistic, and certainly NOT going to happen just because someone DEMANDS it. This is unfortunate because I know for a fact that some of these individuals, by their negativity and complaining and sniping at other priests, are hurting the advancement of the EF in this diocese simply because they are giving everyone who loves the EF a bad reputation. I have tried to point this out to these individuals with little success [talking to a brick wall bears a more fruitful response]. Still, we continue on and pray that these individuals will learn the expression “Silence is golden” before they cause more damage. I apologize for the length of this post and for some venting, but Fr. Z, you wanted honest reflections, so here you go. Pax.
On February 3rd, 2007, I wrote a long post about “What I Have Lost”, namely, that I no longer found my faith enjoyable, and had grown apathetic about it. I explained in the piece that I had always struggled with the interior life, with the deeper emotional moorings that are a vital part of a vibrant faith, and that the intellectual richness of Catholicism is what kept me anchored there. That richness led me in 2004, at the age of 27, to the Traditional Latin Mass. And as the time of the rumored motu proprio drew seemingly never nearer, I began to lose hope. I wrote:
“Considering the crumbling framework of intellectual Catholicism, I’ve begun to lose my moorings. I have grown bone weary of the struggle for substance in the faith; for the bait and switch rumors of greater freedom for the True Mass; for the minimalist acceptance of the scraps of Catholicism accepted by the majority of my family and friends. The fact that I have had to pay to fly a priest across the country so my son can be baptized appropriately boggles my mind. Every day, the struggle to find the most basic expression of the Catholic faith that any saint in heaven would recogize has turned me cold.
Today, I finally began reading Martin Mosebach’s The Heresy of Formlessness, which my wife bought for me for Christmas. In the second chapter, Mosebach recounts the following story:
…a group of women who were in the habit of praying together began looking after the altar linen. I would like to tell you about these women. One day they asked the person in charge of the chapel what happened to the used purificators, that is, the cloths the priest uses to wipe away the remains of the consecrated wine from the chalice. He told them that they were put in the washing machine along with the other things. At the next Mass the women brought a little bag they had made specially, and afterward they asked for the used purificator and put it in the bag. What did they want it for? “Don’t you see? It is impregnated with the Precious Blood: it isn’t right to pour it down the drain.” The women had no idea that in former times the Church did indeed require the priest himself to do the initial washing of the purificator and that afterward the wash water had to be poured into the sacrarium or into the earth; but they just could not allow this little cloth to be treated like ordinary laundry; instinctively they carried out the prescriptions of an ancient rule – albeit one that is no longer observed. One of these women said, “It’s like washing the Baby Jesus’ diapers.” I was a bit taken aback to hear this. I found this folk piety a little too concrete. I observed her washing the purificator at home after praying the Rosary. She carried the wash water into the front garden and poured it in a corner where particularly beautiful flowers grew…
At this point, my eyes welled up with tears. I don’t know anything about repressed emotions, but I believe that people repress them when they are too traumatized to handle them. That’s what I feel like. I feel as though my lack of desire for or enjoyment of the faith is a case of repressed emotions: I do not care any longer because it hurts to much to care. And when I read about these simple, beautiful acts of piety that were once commonplace and are now so rare – and the physical reality of those flowers flourishing on their supernatural nourishment – it strikes me that the stakes are unfathomably high. That I do in fact love Him, but that I have grown to loathe and resent His Church, even though I cannot escape from it because there is nowhere else to go.
And yet we are supposed to have hope. But hope in what? It is one thing to wait in hopeful expectation of Christ’s return; for two millenia Catholics have done so with the consolation of the sacraments and the Mass to keep them close to God while they awaited Him. But now, even these have been taken from us or so stripped as to have only a fraction of their richness, a richness that has been the lifeblood of Catholics since the apostolic age.
What Summorum Pontificum means to me is that this wound, this rift between myself and my beloved faith, has begun to heal. I have seen no concrete difference in my daily life, save the few extra Masses that have been added to my area (most of which are as inaccessible to me as my indult always was.) But I have hope. I have hope in spades, hope like I haven’t felt in quite a while.
I watch the Holy Father doing all that he is doing to repair and restore the beauty and majesty of the Church, so ravished in the ecclesiastical revolution of the late 20th century, and I feel joy, inspiration, possibility!
The walls have stopped closing in, and there is room now for orthodoxy to flourish and grow. The fight now has purpose in this ultramontane age, because the pope said that tradition is good, and after all, he’s the pope. That component, perhaps above all, was what was missing. Thank God in heaven that it has been restored.
I said to my wife yesterday, as we drove home from a Gregorian Rite liturgy that is still perhaps a curiosity to its attendees, that we may never live to see a truly traditional parish in our hometown, one where we have all that we need – daily Mass, the sacraments, parish life – all bound to the traditional understanding of the faith. But our children may, and that, that is something worth working toward.
Finally being able to say the TLM has been a great blessing. I have advocated the cause of the traditionalist for years now and it is hard to describe the joy of being able to say Mass for them myself. I would say that it was about 10 years ago, about a year after my ordination that I saw the writing on the wall and began studying and preparing for the day that I would offer the TLM, and when it happened I can only use the words of the Psalms, “we were like men dreaming.” However, there is only one other priest in my diocese who can say the Mass and does so regularly and helps me from time to time, but he is retired. To be honest I feel a little “lonely” and look forward to the day when I can help another priest learn to say the Mass.
To the encouragement of others out there. I know, believe me I am painfully aware, that the old guard is really digging in their heels, but look at thier ages. Give it 10 more years. 10 more years and the liturgical architects will have retired or died. There is reason to hope.
A large section of that post was to have been bold and/or blockquoted to show that I was citing what was written in 2007.
Hopefully the point comes through nonetheless.
I am emboldened by Vox Borealis’ comment and by the fact that a young priest has just been appointed as a new associate at our suburban parish, precisely now at the one year anniversary of SP. I have been praying for a while for the courage to approach him to see if he would be interested in celebrating at least an occasional low mass for the parish (we don’t have the musical resources for a missa cantata yet). I ask everyone’s prayers for this intention, especially given that we are in one of those (arch)dioceses where unreasonable conditions have been placed on a pastor’s right to implement the motu proprio.
In Connecticut, I am aware of only two additional churches offering the TLM, St. Mary’s in Norwalk and Immaculate Conception Basilica in Waterbury. I honestly do not think that most Catholics are aware that the TLM is something that can be requested. When I contacted the Office for Divine Worship of Hartford about where masses were being celebrated in the archdiocese according to the “Extraordinary Form,” I was asked what I meant. Once I explained, they said they had no definitive list, but they managed to send me the names of a couple of places that had been celebrating the TLM even before Sum. Pont. was promulgated. Although not a TLM enthusiast, I find the fact that the only liturgies that place an emphasis on praying “ad orientem solem” are frequently relegated to the afternoon or evening frought with disappointing irony.
On the other hand, the Bridgeport Diocesean Choir has been directed to sing the Missa de Angelis as the standard mass for pontifical celebrations rather than the OCP Heritage Mass. The priest at a nearby parish has placed a crucifix in the middle of the “versus populum” altar. Coincidence?
…..to be once again able to receive the Body – Blood – Soul – Divinity of our Lord… KNEELING was overwhelmingly the most satisfying “surprise” to me. The moment that happened, I physically, spiritually and emotionally experienced a grace that had been missing a long, long time.
Here in the Diocese of Rockville Centre we now have a number of priests who have learned the Gregorian Mass…They are very young indeed and since we are a parish many mile from the Diocesan seat…they come out here to say their “first” Mass.
They are so reverent (and a little nervous) and are very very good. They went to the Nebraska sessions…
I thank Bishop Murphy for his earnest encouragement….by the way, Bishop Murphy administered Confirmation at the Cathedral (St. Agnes) using the Extraordinary Rite….last month.
Personally, I couldn’t be happier!!!
An announcement just posted at NLM:
“The Reverend Monsignor Steven L. Brovey, V.F., Pastor of Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Taylors, South Carolina (just outside of Greenville) announced, that beginning the first Sunday of August 2008, the 11 am Mass will be the Missa Cantata in Latin with Gregorian Chant according to the 1962 Roman Missal.”
This is not precisely my personal experience, although I have attended the (then weekly at 5 pm) TLM at this church. But I doubt that prior to Summorum Pontificum we’d have ever seen any such announcement of a big suburban Catholic parish changing its principal Sunday morning Mass to a 1962 Mass.
An experience closer to home — which I likewise would not have envisioned before the motu proprio was a magnificent solemn high Mass ( https://wdtprs.com/2008/04/knoxville-tlm-success-and-eye-candy/ ) with a standing-room-only overflow-in-the-basement crowd in one of our city’s principal churches.
Yesterday, a “stable” group had the distinct privilege of reclaiming our heritage at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Yardville, NJ, with the celebration of the Gregorian Mass at 3PM.
Reclaiming our heritage? Absolutely. A little tentative around the edges in terms of the rubrics…but, hey, the journey of a thousand miles begins with that single step of seeing a holy priest, vested in the cope, walking down the center aisle to perform the Apserges.
Kneeling to receive our precious Lord in Communion? Priceless.
Hearing in low tones (it was a Low Mass) the prayers at the foot of the altar? The Creed as it was meant to be said?
Contemplating the great mystery of the consecration as it was united to Jesus’ unending sacrifice for our redemption?
One year, and in the Diocese of Trenton, no less?
Brick by brick. Nail by Nail. Shingle by shingle. Whatever metaphor you want to use. SP, I pray, will be the rule that disproves Gresham’s Law as applied to the Faith and practice.
As an acolyte for the EF, I have been struck, as I watch the priest quietly say the Propers for the Mass, at the AWESOMENESS of the priestly office, its eminently exalted status. It has really struck home to me that this priest is serving as my emissary to the august God, that without this priest I am virtually lost, and that his office has been instituted by Christ out of His great love for us.
The priest is not just a Master of Ceremonies for a choreographed public performance, his office is fundamentally ordered to the holy.
I am attending an FSSP Church which was here before I moved, so in that sense the Motu Proprio hasn’t made greater availability of the Traditional Mass for myself, though it has gifted many other faithful and priests in that manner.
Rather, it has made me less cynical about the future, and I am very cynical about everything. It has given me a lot of hope for the Church and for a true renewal, not like the faux ones we keep hearing about.
It said the TLM was never abrogated, nor could it be, and that what was previously held as sacred remains so for us as well. It a nutshell, it destroyed the arguments of the modernists intent on preventing the restoration and it opened he way for reconciliation of traditional orders with the Vicar of Christ.
You see, my friends, it’s as simple as this: if you believe that Pope Benedict XVI is the Vicar of Christ, you must desire and seek union with him. You cannot criticize him publicly and infer that he is acting in a way inimical to the Faith. He has authority and charisms/graces that you simply do not have.
Reverend Father :
TE DEUM LAUDAMUS ! That sums up my reflections…I was confirmed into Holy Mother Church, after an absence of some 30 years, last Easter. It was not the leadership of Benedict XVI or the Summorum Pontificum which caused that to happen, but I must admit that it may have sped up the process and made me less anxious about the plunge. I am ineffably and eternally grateful to the Holy Father, the bishops who are cooperating with him, and all the priests, religious, and faithful laypeople who have made this possible and continue to foster love for the TLM. A special “shout out” must go to you, Fr. Z, for your work in the trenches. Thank you for being such an eloquent voice in defence of Tradition, orthodoxy, and the Usus Antiquior. Brick by brick !
As a military nomad, I’ve endured my share of liturgical abuse and the “Church of Aren’t We Fabulous” (quote from Amy Wellborn). When I experience the Holy Mass celebrated reverently, in either form, I’m grateful.
In our current diocese, liturgical abuse is the standard, not the norm…and I am praying for MP/SP to begin to influence the way our priests celebrate the Holy Mass. There is only one TLM in the diocese at present, most people would have to drive over an hour to attend, we’re 45 minutes away.
For those raised with the Pauline Mass, especially one prayed in such a stripped down fashion, the Gregorian Mass is a tough transition. It’s the same, but different…but after attending a TLM and having time to reflect on it…I’m feeling the “gravitational pull”
I’d like to relate, briefly, two experiences…one with the Gregorian Mass and one with the Pauline Mass…to illustrate my point.
The TLM we attended on sort of a “liturgical field trip” was a Low Mass for Sunday. I enjoyed the reverent silence, and I loved praying the Latin responses, as well as hearing the familiar prayers prayed in Latin, as well as the older formulations of prayers I hadn’t heard before. It was difficult for my family of converts who don’t share my love of the liturgy to follow along, but I think with practice and repition (and a little bit of effort) they could manage just fine (its not that hard…and my son is a fourth year Honors French student to boot…)
The most wonderful experience of the Pauline Mass I have experienced lately was at the Franciscan Univ of Steubenville…and its hard not to gush. Silence, Latin, piety, devotion, and “Red/Black” discipline…and the fruit of said liturgical piety was a student body who filled the church at Sunday/0830 Mass, then remained behind after Mass to pray…in silence…en masse… It was a reminder of my good boyhood pastor, Msgr Vincent Wolf, who embodied authentic liturgical renewel in his celebration of the Pauline Mass with the focus remaining on Our Lord instead of himself.
What did these two celebrations have in common? Rubrically speaking, very little, but both the Holy Mass at Steubenville, and the TLM we attended enabled me to focus on Jesus and worship Him with no distraction. During the Sorsum Corda, I really could “lift up my heart” and feel his presence. Deo Gratia.
It’s my ardent desire that my grandchildren will never know the difference…that they will simply take go to Holy Mass on Sunday (and during the week!) and worship without ever knowing that there was a time when their grandfather sometimes left Holy Mass feeling lonely because he had gone to see Jesus, but people wouldn’t get out of the way.
This year two things happened in our Archdiocese that would have been unthinkable before Summorum Ponitificum. A newly ordained priest of the diocese said his first Mass in the Extraordinary Form. He had spent 10 hours a week, every week his last year in seminary to learn the form. Later that same day he had his second “first” Mass in the ordinary form. It was obvious to those who attended this Mass that it was highly influenced by the extraordinary form.
The second incident was the first Solemn High Mass of a young man from our Diocese who was a newly ordained priest for the FSSP. His first Solemn High Mass was said in a diocesan Parish. Several Priests from the diocese were in attendance along with about 400 friends and family members. At the reception afterwards individuals who a year before would have eyed each other with suspicion from across the room, came together in celebration.
In the past I had experienced the “oh, that’s nice… (Awkward silence)” syndrome when I told someone I attended the TLM. The other person usually left unasked the question, “Are you one of those radicals who don’t believe the new forms are valid or that the Pope is the Pope”. Summorum Pontificum is tearing down the invisible wall that once separated faithful Catholics. We are all now better able to see the Liturgy through a Hermeneutic of Continuity.
Since last year, there are two new weekly EF masses in my diocese, one of which is in my own parish. I try to go often, but I often end p serving later masses, so I don’t have (m)any ‘free’ Sundays. We have new parishioners also, due tothe new mass. It’s only a low mass, though we did have a sung mass on Christmas morning. I’m so happy that we have it! Who would have thought a year ago, that there would be three weekly EF masses in Philadelphia? I don’t know how things are in the local seminary, but they do have a reputation for orthodoxy, thgough liturgically, Philadelphia is mostly a wasteland with three or four bright spots. But there’s hope for the future.
Not much as changed in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. There are no new regularly scheduled TLMs, only the weekly one at St. Alphonsis. The Archdiocese did offer one at St. Bartholomew on Pentecost and about 275 people attended and the response was wonderful.
We have been told by the chancery that they are currently looking into how to proceed in having the TLM in more places and we are hopeful that things will begin moving along soon. As for now, many faithful who are not near Baltimore, go out of state to celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form.
As for local parishes, there has been no discernable change in how Mass is celebrated but we never had much problem with masses not being celebrated reverently (my own church still has its altar rails and we kneel and take communion on the tongue). It would be nice to have better music and more Latin and I believe a nearby TLM would be a positive influence in that regard.
One year ago today I thought that on 9/14/07 there would be an explosion of EF masses around the nation. How silly of me, or rather, how naive. Since Rome was not built in a day, how could I expect 40 years of (fill in the blank) to be abrogated overnight? My dear Mother, 83 years young, likes the OF. She likes the priest facing the people, likes communion in the hand, and is OK with the EMHC. I did take her to an EF in Harrington Park, NJ and she never repeated the attempt. I am an “old fuddy duddy” at 52.
Father, you are right. It is brick by brick and it be a slow progress to restore what has been lost.
Here in the Archdiocese of Washington, the status quo has been maintained. 3 churches offered the EF on 9/13/07 and the same three churches continue to offer the EF as of 7/6/08. Sure there have been “experimentations” with the EF at some churches, but these seem to be one offs, never to be repeated again.
However, in the Archbishop’s defense, many of the churches have been wreckovated or designed since V2 and it may be difficult to celebrate an EF with those designs.
So Father, I pray daily for something to happen in the ADW to have a greater outreach of the EF. I must learn to be more patient and trust the Holy Father’s plan.
There is one plus to all this. I discovered WDTPRS and it has been required daily reading since last summer. THANKS Father and all the other WDTPRSers.
God bless you Father Kowalski and Father Lane, and all other holy priests that are offering the EF! You are doing a great service for the Church and your parishes are lucky to have you!
Andrew
The last time I posted here it was deleted. My comments were heartfelt and
their deletion was very personal to me and dealt a blow to the respect I had
for you, Father Z.
This former Catholic no longer attends Mass, so the availability of the
Traditional Latin Mass means almost nothing to me. I do hope, however, that
it brings changes to the Catholic Church in its wake that will move the bishops
to reevaluate many changes which have taken place in the Church which have
resulted in it no longer being a home/refuge for people such as myself.
I say this because there simply is no other place for us to be. But, I will
not be in the Catholic Church as it exists today. So my hope is that one day
I can return to my home. To be something other than Catholic is to be less
than nothing.
I hope this comment offends no one here. It is not meant to in the slightest.
Father,
The following is not so much a reflection on how well or poorly I think Summorum Pontificum has been implemented in my area as it is a reflection on my own personal experience with it:
I do not know whether or not I am a rare case amongst younger Catholics or if I represent a broader cultural trend, but I think that an apt description would be to say that, before Summorum Pontificum, I had read, but not experienced. Loving the Faith, and desiring to cleave to orthodoxy the way a husband should cleave to his wife, I have always tried to deepen my Catholic identity by reading what I can about it. The Documents of Vatican II and other Conciliar Documents, The Church Fathers – East and West – the Doctors of the Church, etc. The world of Holy Tradition fascinated (and fascinates) me. The beauty of what I read called to me. The Truth compelled me. And yet, there was a disconnect. Ought and is were not united. The Liturgy that I was reading about was not the liturgy I was experiencing. The Catholicism of my books was (is) not the Catholicism of my parish. And what is more, I couldn’t stand the polemics and disrespect that, sadly, so often came from those who were trying to bring the rich tradition I so desire to life.
In one sense, Summorum Pontificum has not “fixed” this: polemics still fly, disrespect still taints the discussion, and my experience – liturgical and otherwise – is that things are far from the way that they should be. But Summorum Pontificum has, for me, very much changed the context. To see the Holy Father, step by step, with a change here and a change there, move to bring the way liturgy is into conformity with the way it ought to be, is truly inspiring. Further, that he does so in such a “pastoral” way and without polemics, viewing it in the context of making available to all the faithful numerous treasures of the Church, is an incredible blessing. There is a feeling of it being “ok” to love and desire the concrete expressions of the tradition of the Church. I am happy to say that I was able to attend my first Mass in the Extraordinary Form in the Crypt Church of the National Basilica in Washington, and it was beautiful. Moreover, I was able to participate without having to worry about associating myself with the sad polemics that so hurt my understanding before. The Holy Father is leading the way, and this gives an air of serenity to what used to be, for me, a heavy and sad issue. There is still so much to do, and still so far to go, before “is” and “ought” embrace, but following Christ through the Holy Father, the yoke is easy and the burden light. We are digging the field and finding the buried treasure, the pearl of great price, of being Catholic. Summorum Pontificum has given this, for me, the feel of something like a joyous and childlike romp.
What has the Motu Proprio meant for you?
It has caused me heart to soar. The response to it has been minimal in my area (Diocese of Palm Beach in Florida) but the Diocese has sent two priests to the Canons of St.John Cantius and they have completed their training. One will assist with the Indult at Jensen Beach (I’ve been there but it is too far from my home)and the other has yet to be assigned.
I pray he will be assigned in my area.
I have spoken with and written to my Pastor about all of this and I am patiently waiting for this great Pope’s initiative to realise fruition there.
No matter how one looks at it(either an increased inertia in the right direction or as a belated response to right reason)I think it undeniable that as a Church we are moving in the right direction.
Deo Gratis and Gob Bless you Fr. Z for all of your good work.
Whether or not the Motu Proprio is practiced in every parish it still has monumental effects on ecclesiology, and offers countless opportunities for us to open conversations with priests and others on this essential topic.
For me, the Motu Proprio symbolizes everything liturgical in its most universal and fundemental sense. It is not the particular Latin Mass that is so important, but rather a turning towards all things ‘liturgical’, which is essential…the ‘Extraordinary Form’ being only a focus and tool for bringing the idea and practice of ‘liturgy’ across. Because, when we get to the bottom if it all, ‘liturgy’ is fundementally equivalent to to true adoration, holiness and communication with God.
So, with bad liturgy, or even the destruction of liturgy, as Pope Benedict might say, there is a destruction of true prayer and communion with God the Creator. But on the other hand, everything that supports true and universal liturgy, in all its varied manifestations and forms, supports true communion with God.
In many senses, ‘True Liturgy’ means separation. It means there is a ‘door’ dividing the sacred from the profane. In the most fundemental sense the ‘Sabbath’, that model of everything liturgical, is such a door, because it separates the 6 days and times, of the work week, from the 1 day and time of the Sabbath rest, which is required to be ‘Holy’. So the very fact that all of the days are not the same, denotes a door.. a separation.. that particularly distinguishes them. And the symbolism of this Sabbath rest and ‘separation, should applied to all things liturgical, wherein every liturgical act must be holy and distinguished from the profane. This is also reinforced by the fact that the Lord admonishes us to “Go into your room, and close the door..” when we pray to Our Heavenly Father.
Thus, there is always the problem present when liturgy ‘has no door’, or the door is not ‘well closed’, wherein it permits everything, person or idea to enter, sacred or profane… and this possibly even “in the name of love and inclusiveness’. However, this mixing of sacred and profane destroys the liturgy, even in the same manner as hard work and preoccupation destroys the ‘Sabbath Rest'(which moreover is a commandment of God).
And this, I think, is what has been happening to the Church for the last 40 years: the doors of the Church and ‘liturgy’ have been either opened, or even ‘removed’, wherein there is little to distinguish true religion and adoration, from worldliness and secular interests. Now, however, with Pope Benedict’s leadership, holiness in the Church is once again being more highly distinguished and made noticible. Doors are being reinforced to separate the profane from the Sacred. And true liturgy, prayer and adoration are being more highly promoted in the Church of God.
In our very little chapel here in Argentina, we had the Novus Ordo Mass celebrated “ad orientem”. Our priest is “studying” the Extraordinary Form.
Laudetur Iesus Christus!
Perhaps those are the best words to express my sentiments about this one-year anniversary of Summorum Pontificum. When I look back at the IMMENSE progress that has been made since last year at this time, I am utterly astounded, and can only give thanks to the Almighty God who has brought about this growth. Who would ever have thought that the EF would have grown so much in a year’s time? Admittedly, there is so much that still needs to be done, but even still! As I often say, “Summorum Pontificum: It’s The Law!” We who are attached to the EF have rights and we have dignity which is to be defended in law.
I look forward as well to the impact that Summorum Pontificum will now have on theological discourse. Again, as Fr. Zuhlsdorf constantly reminds us, this is all part of a broader framework of a hermeneutic of continuity, which no doubt will have its ramifications in the proper interpretation of Vatican II, in continuity with all prior documents of the Magisterium. I look forward to seeing the liturgical texts of the EF enrich all theological discussion as a “locus theologicus.”
I can only say that there is far more good fruit to come. For those of us who have not yet seen fruit borne from SP in our local parishes and dioceses, we need only to be a bit more patient. Moses himself did not see the Promised Land, and it’s worthwhile to bear in mind that it took 7 years to get us from the 1962 to the 1970 Ordo Missae.
Maria Mater Ecclesiae, ora pro nobis!
People – if your comments get deleted, why not go to blogspot and start your own blog?? If you’re interesting, they will come.
Vox Borealis said…”That said, it is bearing fruit in Toronto…”
Yes, slow but sure.
The Toronto Oratory at Holy Family Church offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the usus antiquior Monday to Friday (modified dialogue Low Mass) at 11:30 and 8:30 on Saturday because of Summorum Pontificum. They continue with the former “indult” at Missa Cantata at their St. Vincent de Paul Parish apostolate on Sunday at 9:30 (both Oratory Churches are within 2 miles of the SSPX).
The old “indult” parishes continue at St. Thersa Shrine Church and St. Patrick’s in Schomberg with one Mass each Sunday in addition to the normal parish Ordinary Form schedule.
A priest under 40 is now saying the Mass on Fridays at St. Elizabeth Seton in Newmarket, just north of Toronto because of Summorum Pontificum.
I personally know of another priest in his late 30’s studying it for his suburban parish because of Summorum Pontificum.
The FSSP has been invited by Archbishop Collins and has accepted and the formality of the parish they will have is still in the works because of Summorum Pontificum.
I know of another 5 priests being taught the Mass because of Summorum Pontificum.
Brick by Brick…
Thank you Archbishop Collins for the respect you have shown for those in Toronto desiring tradition…a big change from the past!
Personally, the motu proprio has been a vindication of a third-of-a-century of resistance to the excrescences of the Novus Ordo (i.e., as it is usually celebrated — my own movement away from radical traditionalism was spurred in part by the belated discovery of how reverently the N.O. can be celebrated in Latin). I am only sad that an entire generation was led into liturgical indifference, contempt and rebelliousness through the abuses that were attendant on the introduction of the new form. Many are too embittered now to appreciate the ray of light that is represented by this pope’s initiatives.
Here in Anchorage, where the chancery is run by retrograde liberals for the most part, there has been lip service paid to the extraordinary form but not a trace of implementation. Our archbishop’s inane remarks, concerning fears that the churching of women and forced abstention of women from the baptism of their own children (huh?) would return with the older Mass, were aired on this site and nationally some months ago.
Unfortunately Summorum Pontificum remains a closely guarded secret in the AD of Washington. Nothing announced from the pulpit or printed in the Archdiocese newspaper There has not been a single new scheduled Gregorian Mass. It is still difficult for me to get to a mass.
Fr.Z.
I am extremely grateful for the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI and his efforts to “reform the reform” and the complete restoration of the TLM to the Church. I deeply appreciate the fidelity shown by many groups of priests and people over the last 40 years to the TLM and their prayers for restoration. We are greatly blessed because the TLM does indeed take you into a deeper union with our blessed Lord in His great Sacrifice. I now attend Fr. Gregoire Fluet’s TLM Sundays at noon at St. Bridget of Kildare Church in Moodus,CT as well as some of the Solemn Masses of the St. Gregory Society at Sacred Heart Church in New Haven,CT. Assisting at these Masses truly has deepened my faith in, and love and gratitute for, our blessed Lord. We truly live in exiting times
Deo gratias!
SP served as a significant spiritual consolation to me during a difficult time. I entered the Church primarily through an intellectual journey. I had heard things were bad at the parish level, but was still shocked to find what I did, especially in terms of liturgy. The first time that I experienced the EF I thought to myself this is the Church to which I converted.
As a Canadian seminarian, my hope is that seminarians across this country will soon have access to both forms of the Roman Rite (for Holy Mass, firstly, but also for all the sacraments/sacramentals). I have only heard positive feedback by priests who celebrate Mass or pray the Breviary under both forms (not at the same time, of course! No need to “double” the Liturgy of the Hours with the Roman Breviary!). Many of them see the older form as “informing” the newer, in a very positive sense: more reverence, more understanding of the importance of symbols and liturgical gestures, more interiority, more of a spirit of prayerful accomplishment of the rites.
For now, there are no Extraordinary Masses (sic!) being offered at the seminary where I am (nor any Masses in Latin, even under the Ordinary Form). But I don’t think that that’s (completely) due to a lack of good will; it’s also due to practical reasons. None of the faculty know how to celebrate Mass according to the Usus Antiquior and, (and here’s a more long-term problem), very few of them know enough Latin to be able to do so. The same is true, alas, with seminarians, in regards to lack of knowledge of the Church’s lingua franca.
But I hope and pray that things will change. I know some seminarians who are eager to learn the Extraordinary Form of Holy Mass, and also to pray the Roman Breviary (1962 version). But first things first: they need to learn Latin. In the famous words of Cicero:
“Non tam praeclarum est scire latine, quam turpe nescire.”
The Traditional Mass is a gift from Heaven and was never abrogated. I had attended the Traditional Mass prior to this document.
My personal reaction was one of being encouraged tha things were headed in the right direction. In our Diocese we have had a chapel for the older form for several years, and before that it was celebrated in a couple a of parishes on Sundays. From that stand point we have been graced. But I seldom went to this form feeling that it was more a part of history that was slowly fading. With Summoroum Pontificum I became aware that it was not part of the past but a very important part of the living Church. The movement has expanded to another city in the diocese and the promise of some celebrations in parishes and the Cathedral are an indication of a steady slow growth. I believe that for the Church as a whole some unexpected benefits are in the works and hopefully the unification for which the Holy Father wrote the MP will be secured. It is also bound to affect the celebration of the NO and it now appears that Pope Benedict has some plans to spur that along a little. As he has gained his foothold on the Papacy we are beginning to see more of the benefits of his careful Liturgical thinking. It will take some time; but, we are on the right road and we must follow Peter>
Here, in the Diocese of Venice in Florida things are moving along at a good although measured pace. A year ago there was one TLM offered at St. Martha’s in Sarasota (Northern Deanery). On July 8th, 2007 (the next day) Bishop Frank Dewane announced the following:
“Father James Fryar, F.S.S.P. appointed to begin an apostolate in the Diocese of Venice, offering the Latin Mass and sacraments for the faithful, with residence at St Martha Parish, Sarasota, Florida.”
Some of you may be familiar with Fr. Fryar. His presence has been an incredible grace to this Diocese. Under his guidance another “permanent” TLM was scheduled at St. Agnes in Naples (Southern Deanery), another followed soon afterwards at Resurrection of Our Lord in Ft. Myers (Central Deanery), followed by the establishment of regularly scheduled EF weekday Masses and Sunday Mass, as well as Latin OF Masses at the new “Quasi-Parish” of Ave Maria University in Naples. This means we have regularly scheduled EF Masses in 3 out of 4 deaneries (the western deanery, largely rural and overwhelmingly spanish speaking has yet to have a regularly scheduled EF Mass). Although it is a quite large Diocese, this means that for most Catholics, a regularly scheduled EF Mass is no more than a 1/2 hour away since 90%+ of the population lives in either Naples, Ft. Myers or Sarasota area. There are plans for expansion as Priests are being trained. The progress is not headline news, nor is it easily noticeable, but it is certainly moving along.
For those who are skeptical still, consider that is more than a Five-Fold increase in the number of EF Masses said in just one year. There is great reason for hope….
I hate to be the sour grapes man, Father, but I have seen little effect in my own Archdiocese. My own Parish Priest, despite being old enough to remember the older Liturgy maintains he doesn’t know anything about it, and that no-one wants it.
I only know of one Priest in the Archdiocese who occasionally celebrates the forma extraordinaria, and that is largely due to a) his liturgical “taste”; and more importantly b) he’s not afraid of anyone, so no-one’ll shoot him down for it.
There’s maybe still a culture of fear out there…
Here in the Arch-Diocese of Galveston-Houston, I have not seen much of a change. To my knowledge, only one parish offers a 1962 Mass, and I don’t know if that was brought upon by the S.P. or the previous allowance by Pope JPII. There might be more, but I only know of one.
Personally, it has piqued my interest in the subject. I’ve never attended an EF mass, and until recently knew very little about it. I’m a curious guy by nature, and so the research I have done on both forms of the Latin Rite mass have borne interesting fruit. One of my resources on the matter is the proprietor of a local catholic supply store. He is a retired theology teacher who started teaching just before the second Vatican Council opened, so he has a lot of experience with both forms of the mass. The most interesting thing I have learned from him is how the Ordinary form can be said, particularly if none of the ‘options’ are taken. This means all the prayers in Latin, Gregorian chant, English readings, chanted gospel, ad orientum consecration, incense, altar rails, intinction, and the whole 9 yards. He goes to a parish in town that does all of that.
Also, the S.P. has lead to many arguments between me and several of my family members and friends. Charitable arguments, but heated ones none the less. The biggest sticking point I have found is the Latin language itself. I can sympathize with the problem some people have with Latin. Some people have no gift at all for languages and the vernacular really and truly helps them to better understand and appreciate what’s going on. As the saying goes: “The better we understand, the better we worship. The better we worship, the better we understand.” My argument to them is none of us really appreciates what’s going on in its entirety. If we did, I don’t think any one would have the strength, let alone the courage, to even kneel during the consecration (but that’s a whole other conversation).
Imagine the stunning and overwhelming feeling of joy that I am unworthily blessed to experience every first Saturday in a small town in rural Minnesota, where, by some grace of the Holy Ghost, a small and faithful coetus has come together to do the Church’s public worship according to the venerable Extraordinary Form of the Roman Mass. All of the elements are here for proper and reverent celebration: two unbelievably energetic and talented young professional musicians/liturgists dedicated to the beauty and truth of the liturgy, a small, 3-man schola cantorum, two intelligent and pious young priests willing to travel to say Mass for us, a small and faithful cadre of altar servers and rising deacons, a steady and generous group of fifty in the congregation, who even provide the coffee and rolls for the after Mass “Dogma and Doughnuts” session that the priests so generously stay for. Even the (now removed) Jesuit priests were kind enough to provide us with the use of the church on Saturday mornings. These are circumstances that I have not ceased praying for over the past forty years.
And I am convinced anew every first Saturday of the power of persistent prayer. One morning in 1961, when I was a first grader at St. Anthony’s, I boldly approached Sr Helen Patrick, the nun in charge of altar boy instruction, and explained to her that I intended to become an altar boy when I was in the fifth grade. I then proceded to recite to her “Introibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.” This utterance – so ironically appropriate – became the leitmotif for a life of the Word in words. A couple of years later one of brothers made fun of me for taking my St. Andrew’s Missal to daily morning Mass and reading the Latin side. “You can’t udnerstand that,” he snickered (I was all of nine years old, he was eleven). He was right, I knew; so I started comparing the right column and the left column and after a while the Latin made some sense to me. When it was time to become an altar boy, I knew the prayers and the rubrics, I could follow the priest’s inaudible recitation of the Canon by the actions he performed at the altar (I could tell, even if his “back was turned to me”), I had a good sense of the liturgical year, knew when the rogation days were, when there would be double collects, what liturgical colours were appropriate. Then, just as I was beginning to serve, directives came to change things. This is the part of the story that you all know so well, but that many of you did not have to experience – the misguided and willful removal of the Western Liturgical Tradition form the Mass. To an emotional adolescent, who had a very deep devotion to the Sacrifice of the Mass, this was akin to the death of a parent. I am not exaggerating the sense of loss here; it was quite a trauma. I expressed my opinion of the “new liturgy” in quite inappropriate ways and was even relieved to be removed from the altar boy roster for my behaviour. I watched the liturgical observances deteriorate. I kept singing in the choir but now hymns replaced the nifty Reanissance Masses and motets we had tried to sing, the congregation never bought into the idea of singing Protestant hymns and going to Mass became part of my “offering it up.” The slap I had gotten on the face at Confirmation from Bishop Leeech now meant something to me.
At a certain point it became quite clear to me that “active participation” meant praying the Mass. It also became clear that the generations of grandmothers and grandfathers and school children who said a series of specially composed prayers at Mass (rather than the Mass texts themselves) were “participating” in a way that was more profound than giving perfunctory responses. Using those meditative prayers as a model, I decided to keep on praying the prayers of the “Tridentine rites” during Mass. There were two reasons: I thought that the Tridentine Mass should be remembered in case anyone ever asked for it again (sort of like the memorizers in Fahrenheit 451), and I would, by praying frequently in this way, be asking Our Lord for the return of the traditional solemnity of the Mass.
Many times I thought the Extraordinary form was defunct. But stubborness has its own value and in the late 1990s it becme clear that a new generation of Catholics was arising, unencumbered by the propaganda of the 1970s and unafraid to work hard at learning to celebrate the mysteries. That God has seen fit to touch the younger generation with a sense of beauty that too many of my generation were brow beaten into thinking irrelevant, well, mirabilis est. Those of us who never lost sight of the justice of the traditional Mass are grateful beyond expresssion.
Pope Benedict’s Summorum pontificum is the result of many thousands of our collective and individual heavenward supplications for the renewal of the Church’s most important public work, Her liturgy. I am grateful to have seen the spirit of renovation take hold, I am humbled to have had my prayers answered. Deo gratias.
In the Diocese of Spokane (WA), the MP has been a relatively mixed bag. On the one hand, we do have an LM at one of the parishes every single Sunday at noon. That same Mass, however, is not advertised in the parish bulletin or in the local diocesan newspaper. It would be nice if it was because it could bring in more people, but the parish priest has his reasons for not listing it in the bulletin. Currently that Mass has around 50 people who are attending it from week to week. It is my hope that it grows.
I think this diocese could truly benefit from the Latin Mass because we have so many traditional Catholic groups around. For example, we have two schismatic parishes in the area. One of them is Mount St. Michael’s and it is run by the CMRI (Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen), while the other is an independent parish run by Fr. Kevin Vaillancourt (editor of the “The Catholic Voice,” a sedevacantist publication). Totalled to geterh these parishes service around 1000 people. Over the border in Idaho, we have another CMRI parish in Rathdrum and an SSPX church together with its own school and academy. There is also an FSSP Mass that was granted by the local diocese in Boise, but I do not know where it is celebrated or how many people attend it.
Judging from these statistics, it seems to me that the Latin Mass would be a boon to our area since we have such a large traditional Catholic population. I hope that we will be able to see more results in the future.
God bless,
Brother Juniper
I can’t believe it’s been a year….
After this year, and after reading all the great articles you’ve posted, I think our Pope is a genius. I just wish that, after a year, the Bishop of Dallas/Ft. Worth would get with the program. We still only have 2 places that say the Extraordinary Rite, and both are pretty far away from me… the “closest” holds them at ridiculous hours, and the other is only on Sunday, and is jam packed everytime I’ve gone. But those two were “in business” even before the Summorum Ponitificum, so really, there’s been no change here at all. It’s disappointing, to say the least.
I pray that the Bishop’s heart is opened to what our wise Papa is trying to do (and our priests as well).
In the Diocese of St. Augustine, we are still pretending that the Motu Proprio wasn’t meant for us. We have one Indult Mass at 8 a.m. on Sunday in Jacksonville. That’s it. Petitions have been signed, forwarded, and silence reigns from the chancery office. No other EF Masses have been celebrated or added on an on-going basis. And people are sorely discouraged.
On the positive front, I know of one priest who went to the FSSP course and is working diligently to master the EF. I do know of one other priest who was “certified” by our Bishop and he is allowed to offer the Mass at Jacksonville about once a month. If one is located in the central part of our territorially large diocese, there is an EF at Queen of Peace in Ocala (Diocese of Orlando) offered every other Sunday at 6 p.m. by the tireless Fr. Fryar of the FSSP.
Consequently, the impact of the Motu Properio has been mixed for us. We rejoice at every report we see of the EF spreading and of the good impact it is having on the celebration of the Pauline Mass. At the same time, it is more difficult to bear its restriction here.
Dear Father Z,
When I was first told that we had a German for a Pope, I thanked God. After living in Germany for three years, I became convinced that they are generally intelligent people who do everything with a plan.
In the past few years, we have seen numerous changes, which – though minor in themselves – are starting to have a cumulative impact on the Church. Summorum Pontificum has been his most important change, and yet we have little tangible effect to show for it in most dioceses (especially here in the diocese of Syracuse). Nonetheless, it has caused a change in attitude throughout the Church. The liberals are disheartened, the conservatives are emboldened.
I cannot help but think that Pope Benedict already has his next ten moves planned, and I pray that he will reign for many more years so that we may see them implemented.
Thank God for Pope Benedict XVI!
My cathedral parish introduced the EF last October. It is celebrated at 2:00 PM on Sundays
1. 50 to 70 people attend in a parish of 500 to 600 families
2. The congregation is youngish. Relatively few of the congregation are old enough to have experienced the EF before VII.
3. A high percentage of the EF attendees are active in the parish, possibly more so (on the average) than the attendees of the OF Masses. I see many of them at daily OF Mass.
4. The celebration of the EF today is far more reverent than the way I remember it being celebrated pre-VII.
5. I serve the EF as a sacristan, and (as of yesterday) as a 62 year old altar “boy.” Most of the other lay people helping out with the EF as sacristan, altar boy, organist and choir are young enough to be my children or even grand children. Thus they have no pre-VII experience of the EF.
6. Putting together the EF is kind a struggle. As sacristan I have to do a lot of furniture moving. Yesterday was low Mass because our teenage organist is on vacation with his family.
7. The younger priests (and seminarians) are much more interested in the EF than are their older brothers.
On a more personal note, I have to “pinch” myself to remind myself that indeed the EF is a reality, and, that I have the blessing and honor of being one of the people who help make it happen in our parish. The changes of the 60s were so difficult for me to accept. I was so angry about them. I couldn’t see how the EF in use for centuries could then be considered so unacceptable, so forbidden. I felt the the Church administration treated me and the others who loved the EF as second class citizens.
Thus I was “at war” with the Church because of the “changes.” From time to time (when they were available) I attended SSPX Masses. When JPII first allowed limited use the EF in 1984 I felt “at peace” with the Church. His reaction to the SSPX epispcopal consecrations of 1988 were gracious and grace filled. SP is frosting on the cake.
Perhaps 45 or more years ago the celebration of the EF had gotten careless. Perhaps we needed to go into the desert to learn to appreciate it all over again.
Our bishop is simply not listening. I don’t think he knows how. One day he will retire…or die. We can go mad…or hope.
While Summorum Pontificum by-passed the bishops it is they who have to invite priests in to the diocese to offer the EF. the priests of this diocese are so ‘dumbed-down’ and liberal none have the desire to learn nor the formation to understand ‘why’.
The release of Summorum Pontificum did at least restore my faith in the Church and boost that obscure ‘hope’ we are all challenged to live with in our days.
Still suffering, especially as we read each day how ‘easy’ implementing SP is in some necks of the Catholic woods.
…forgot to mention, Thanks to Summorum Pontificum the Transalpine Redemptorists can come in out of the cold. That is good news. St, Alphonsus would be very happy about this.
Up front, Summorum Pontificum has not visibly changed the landscape in the Diocese of Richmond (Virginia), that I am aware of. Certainly my former parish in Newport News is just as rife with liturgical abuse as ever, and Gregorian Rite is not even in the cards there (and the reception of the Pope’s program is met with cold indifference by the parish “liturgical team.”). As far as I know, situation the same in most of the other churches in the area. But then, we are the diocese where Catholic Charities funds young girls to get abortions…
However, what SP did, was like Steve Skojec said above, was to give me hope that the Church will be defended from the dissenters, the progessives and their ilk and that they will not triumph in the end. At the time it was released, I learned that there was a traditional option to the crippled liturgy I had faced, and discovered that we even have a FSSP chapel 30 minutes from me, St. Benedict’s in Chesapeake. I started attending and it was not long until I registered there. It is a wonderful parish and Mass is glorious. I am much more hopeful and positive about the future of the Church based on my experience in that community and seeing the demand for the Gregorian Rite slowly grow throughout the world. Going to Gregorian Rite ever week has changed my life, and given me impetus to spread the word, both of the Gospel to the world at large, and of our true Catholic identity and worship to other Catholics who are languishing in the places ruled by the spirit of the times. It has also motivated me to start learning Latin.
I think what the Holy Father has done is on a par with what his namesake Benedict did, planting the seed of the True Faith in the ashes of the Roman Empire, that life and civilization would grow anew out of the ruins; we are, I believe, near a similar place today, and the Pope’s program will ensure that the Church will be there to shine like a beacon during the coming night.
Arlington Diocese Overview:
It has been a rather disappointing & tepid response so far to Summorum Pontificum. Only two churches in the entire diocese have the EF every Sunday — St John in McLean & St John the Baptist in Front Royal. St John the Baptist already had a Sunday EF before the Motu Proprio. Six other parishes have the EF but, for the most part, at highly unusual times (1st & 3rd Fridays at 7:30pm or Thursday evenings at 7pm). So, the EF hasn’t really caught fire like I thought it would in this diocese which is supposedly “conservative”.
I am in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and, as previously mentioned, not much has changed on the surface. But with our new bishop has come much hope, at least in my neck of the woods. His Excellency put out a call to his priests, asking that the EF Mass be made availavle more widely. Unfortunately, only one priest responded. Fortunately for our community, it was a priest in our neighborhood. I was fortunate to be able to sing and lead the schola for the Missa Cantata on Pentecost. The next celebration is planned for the Feast of Christ the King. No EF every week for sure but at least people are starting to talk about chant and reverence at Mass as a real possibility. I have hope that our pastor might allow a schola to sing some chant at one of our OF Masses. This was all unthinkable 2-3 years ago. Brick by brick indeed.
There has been no indication that anyone at my parish has even read SP. In fact, quite the opposite has happened. There are more masses with drums and guitars that there were before SP. The pastor has changed some of the words said at Mass to be more inclusive “May the Lord accept the sacrifice at our hands…” and “May our God bless us…” for the final blessing.
We are one of the 9 diocese in the US without a bishop. I am praying for a new bishop who will follow the Holy Father’s lead. If anyone would be willing to join my prayer it would be appreciated.
Bryan-College Station, TX (Austin Diocese), which is so conservative it has been labeled by Planned Parenthood as “The most Anti-Choice community in the United States”, and which is home to Texas A&M University where tradition is sacred, and which has 5 parishes and one mission in the city limits, has had no response whatsoever to the motu proprio. It’s very sad, because all the ingredients are present for an extremely favorable turnout at a TLM. I’ve talked to multiple leaders in the community, and I’ve been told, “There is definitely an undercurrent.”
People are tired of the folk Masses with bongo drums.
Speaking personally, this example of this Pope and the miracle of the Motu Proprio have given me that extra bit of courage to return to the communion of the Holy Roman Church from Eastern Orthodoxy.
“There is no doubt, and in fact it has been known in all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, pillar of the faith, and foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, and that to him was given the power of loosing and binding sins: who down even to today and forever both lives and judges in his successors.” – Acts of the Council of Ephesus, A.D. 431.
Deo gratias!
*Noteworthy among its fruits is how we see more and more what a great gift it is to priests.*
Very true, Fr.! When the Priest ascends the three steps of the Altar to offer the Sacrifice, he should understand that what he is doing is the unbloody re-enactment of the Sacrifice of Christ Himself on Calvary (perpetuated only once, of course, for the remission of sin.)
The Holy Sacrifice is only, fully, appreciated in the Traditional Latin Mass. The Priest acts in persona Christi, and only his hands confect the Eucharist–the Soul and Divinity of Christ. In the Sacrifice of the Mass we again experience Christ’s eternal Sacrifice.
The early Christians understood it to be so, and it is clearly there in the Bible:
“For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until he come.” 1 Cor. 11:26.
My reflections are contained in a article which is in the online edition of this week’s Catholic Herald at:
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/f0000282.shtml
The glorious blessing of the Motu Proprio has for me been that the TLM is now be celebrated regularly at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA and at Ave Maria College in Naples, FL. The power of grace for all these young people is immeasurable and will certainly bring more men into the priesthood and more women into traditional religious orders.
My own prayer life and peace always increase when I am able to attend the TLM. Starting in August, this great gift of God to the Church will be available on Sundays where we live.
Praise God in His Holy Temple.
It gives me greater hoper for Church unity, a topic very close to my heart.
When I talk with High Lutheran, High Anglican, or Eastern friends, they often comment, “The Catholics are finally taking liturgy seriously again.” Without good liturgy, there is little hope for reunification.
One Lutheran friend commented, “If you [Catholics] don’t take the Mass and other Sacraments seriously, how can you expect us to?” Another commented (in a very friendly debate), “My church is more Catholic than your parish. We pray the rosary, we teach scripture, we teach firmly on moral issues, we sing classic hymns. Your parish has some clapping, some hand holdings, and some made up prayers for the consecration. The last homily I heard there talked about how the Resurrection didn’t happen, and it’s just a symbol for self-healing. What sounds more Catholic?”
So, it gives me much greater hope for Church unity. When we take the mass seriously, so will they. In the mean time, our divisions remain the wounds in the Body of Christ.
Simple : we’re remembering what it should be like to be Catholic. We’re coming home.
The University of Notre Dame has a weekly Tridentine Mass. Such a thing would have been considered a laughably insane pipedream on 07 06 07. In my home diocese, nothing has changed; no parish has started offering any new Extraordinary Form Masses, and the bishop is dragging his heels. Maybe when he retires…
In raw numbers, I think the last year can be considered a stunning success.
It seems there has been a marked increase in the number of EF masses offered, nationwide, on a regular basis. Even if that increase is only 10% (probably much higher), it represents a profound trend. A 10% increase every year for the next several years would be astounding. Investors dream of such growth in their portfolio.
I know 3 priests who are quietly pinching their pennies, saving up money to attend an EF training session. They may be aiming for 1-2 years down the road… but the seed is planted. The real growth will occur 5-7 years from now when seminarians are being ordained fully capable of offering the EF. I know every seminarian in this diocese, and all of them are HIGHLY interested in the EF. Their reasoning is simple, “It’s the mass of the saints.”
So many good things have happened in the past year. I think, though, our challenge is to:
1) focus on weekly Sunday morning Masses, in addition to the scattered afternoon, evening and weekday Masses that have become sort of a trial plan.
2) find men who can form and sustain Gregorian chant scholas at these parishes. We need to have steady Sunday morning High Masses to grow this effort.
I am so happy to hear about the TLM at Notre Dame, as that is my alma mater. I did not know that was happening, as I have been so busy with our family in our area. I am in tears, as those of us who went there who were traditional clumped together like little children in a life-boat. Our Lady has blessed us and I hope she claims the university as hers again, after all these years.
I live in a city in South Texas. The city was named for the body of Christ. We have had fluctuating EF masses here. We used to have a month Mass at the Cathedral. The celebrant was the retired former Bishop of our Diocese. He became ill and too weak to continue. That mass went away. We had one priest, who was a member of FSSP, but he was replace with another. The former stay in the diocese and now we have two priests saying the EF mass. Before MPSP, we had one mass said daily, now we have 1.5 said daily. The second priest has NO resposibilities now at his new parish assignment, so he does not always have the time to say mass in TLM form. We have gained, and we have lost, but we have gained more than we have lost.
Ever since Summorum Pontificum I’ve sought to assist at the TLM in the Diocese of Cleveland because of Pope Benedict XVI’s freeing of the TLM, and for me, it is the most reverent form of Mass to worship our Lord. The OF seemed to be spinning off more and more into a laity-centered Mass taking over the priesthood’s role. I’m not aware of any future plans the Diocese has but there is one, maybe two, locations that the TLM is offered at, and I think they were offered even prior to SP. Unfortunately, they’re in areas of the inner city I’ve been warned are crime ridden and one of the TLMs is offered in the evening. So not exactly being “user friendly” locations I wrote my local pastor and requested the TLM one time per Sunday. He responded that “regretfully, the sanctuary was remodeled in 1969…so we no longer have a proper altar”, and he suggested one of the churches referred to above. Back to square one.
I’m considering writing the Bishop as to any TLM plans, but in the meantime, a call to the Diocese informed me that the SSPV offers a TLM, though they stopped short of endorsing it. So off I went a couple of months ago to the SSPV to experience the TLM for the first time in decades…and it truly felt like I’d come home. What reverence! What beauty! What a relief to have the real deal! But…”they’re not in communion with Rome”. I also tried the SSPX chapel and experienced a reverent TLM and a rock solid sermon.
What a sad situation for good, traditional priests whose aim has been to keep the Faith to be on the outside looking in, and to be scorned and marginalized. These priest have gone the mile (literally),traveling to offer the TLM to those who want it. Maybe some viewers won’t like me saying it, but I admire their efforts. How I pray that those who have the power to forgive them for their “disobedience” in preserving the TLM, realize the upheaval that’s been foisted upon we Roman Catholic faithful in the decades following the changes of Vatican II, and take that into consideration. Many, many of the faithful have been lost. I think Pope Benedict XVI realizes that, hence the discussions with SSPX.
A question: if a permanent N.O. altar is placed in front of a high altar, is it proper for the TLM to be celebrated at the high altar, with the other in-between? The Bishop in one of my friend’s diocese has forbidden the moving of movable “tables” to free up the space for Solemn High Tridentine Mass. I have assumed that the TLM must use the permanent NO altar. I would appreciate clarification if any is available.
Sorry for confusion, I am asking Father Z for this answer, as not to break the use of this thread, which is not to engage in conversations today. Thank you, Father Z for any help on this one. No comments from the gallery, please.
“Let’s make this one of those threads where you simply post your own reflections and thoughts without reacting directly to others to trying to engage them in conversation.
We had another thread like this, about your first experiences of an old Mass, and it was stunningly interesting,” from our mentor here.
I think really, this has been the most concrete example of Pope Benedict’s “hermaneutic of continuity.”
He has also given legitimacy to those who have (rightly) desired higher standards for the Mass (even in the “Novus Ordo”).
And although the media has not been the best at covering the the motu proprio accurately or in an unbiased way, it has gotten the topic of the extraordinary form of the Mass out into the forefront.
It has also been a good litmus test of which bishops and clergy are really “on board” with Pope Benedict.
I think one of the greatest fruits, though, is that now more people are able to find places which allow them to focus on the Mass rather than be distracted by it.
Let us pray for an exponential increase of these fruits we have already seen.
Here in the Diocese of Gaylord(c’mon…you remember us…where the bishop said all Masses must be said in English, and priests must prove their competence… yeah, that diocese) we have an EF Missa said in the most out-of-the-way, difficult-to-get-to parish in the Diocese. Despite this, the Mass is attended by a fair number of advocates. Had the bishop intended to kill the EF in our diocese, he couldn’t have picked a better place, but in fairness to him, the young priest celebrant is an associate pastor of the parish, and the church is probably the only one in our diocese suited for the celebration of the EF. I went there once and loved it. I hope to be able to attend again in the future, when gas prices fall.(If?) Does a 68 mile drive one-way count as heroic virtue?
I have a few reactions. First, the bishop has not impeded (as far as I know) the Gregorian Mass in our diocese. Nor has he promoted it. I think he has been essentially silent. We had one monthly Mass for several years, and now we have two, the second being in my parish. But the two masses are said by the same priest, one in HIS parish, and now one in my parish, at the request of my pastor. The Mass in his parish WAS monthly, now it is weekly. My pastor feels incapable of saying the Gregorian Mass, but he participates, and distributes communion.
The “traditionalists” who attend the Mass in my parish, are often the same ones who attend the one in His parish. And they don’t have to travel as far.
Pretty much the same attendees of the usual N.O. Thursday Mass attend the Gregorian Mass which replaces that Thursday Mass, with the addition of the “traditionalists” who are generally not from our parish, or often, even from our diocese.
Attendance was high at the first Mass, and it has slipped every month since then. This is partly due to the schedule being a little erratic. I think it is partly due also to it being the same priest saying the Mass. I think many of us were hoping that another priest was going to join the roster. I often find myself wondering: “What’s the point?” We have two scheduled Masses said by the same priest, just in two locations.
Musically, I find it troubling. There are essentially 3-5 of us who are interested in singing the propers for the Mass, but there is some unwillingness or inability to do much preparation. The organist insists on accompanying every chant, so, combined with the lack of preparation, we are limpingly following the organ, which obscures our voices, so no one can hear our voices or the words. It sounds so thrown-together and not terribly musical. As one who does prepare, and who loves chant, and prefers the unaccompanied voices, I find it extremely discouraging and disheartening. I find such a last-minute, thrown-together Gregorian Mass to be far less dignified and inspiring than the weekly Sunday Latin/English Novus Ordo Mass my choir sings at, with well-prepared unaccompanied chant and pieces by Palestrina and Byrd and Des Pres.
Father Z asked:
“What has the Motu Proprio meant for you?
Even if you have not in a concrete way been able, yet, to benefit from the older Mass in your area, it still may be bearing fruits for you, even through what you hear others are doing.
Please share some of your thoughts.”
)(
Slowly but surely the embracing of Tradition is taking hold. There are bold and enlightened bishops and priests who making the effort, while we have a lot who deliberately refuse to embrace this great patrimony of ours. As I have said before, in my diocese ( PRAY 2011 ) the Tridentine Mass is available but is NOT ALLOWED to be said by diocesan clergy. A Claretian Father travels from parish to parish, facility to facility once a week to say the Usus Antiquior, and has a great following, but not regularly sheduled by the parishes. There are Tridentine Masses in parishes but they’re not on their regular schedule. This is why the TMs are held at odd times in the afternoon rather than in the morning if Father is scheduled there to say it. ( Two exceptions. One is St Therese parish, Alhambra, which has regularly scheduled Tridentine Masses. This parish, though, is run by the Carmelites and it held at 1:00 in the afternoon. Notice the caveat, no diocesan clergy and still at an odd hour. The second, one is held at 10:00AM every 2nd Tuesday at St Joseph’s Chapel, Santa Teresita Medical, again, a Carmelite facility. )
I believe Summorum Pontificum is a major milestone in the Church, a great turning point. While Ecclesia Dei Adfilicta was a stepping stone, it didn’t go far enough. Summorum Pontificum should have been released then and what great fruits we would be seeing now twenty years later rather one. It is what it is, however, and we have the Motu Proprio now.
In one year’s time, it can’t be doubted Summorum Pontificum has provided fresh air into a liturgically fetid Church, allowing clearer thinking for the need to re-embrace Sacred Tradition, to reconnect with our past so as to maintain continuity with it.
I now can take the Novus Ordo in stride although that doesn’t mean it’s still not grating at times and creates a further desire for the Tridentine. While the Novus Ordo is really the Mass I’ve grown up with, I’ve seen it celebrated from the most solemn ( as it could be ) to the most ridiculous. Since the release of the Motu Proprio and the fruits we see being borne, there is still a chance for the reform of the Novus Ordo, especially with the linguistic changes on the way–or we hope they are.
We still must continue to pray, and pray that those who are deliberately standing in the way of Summorum Pontificum graciously step aside lest someone ( The Pope ) or something shoves them aside. Which would they prefer.
God bless all.
Things here in Colorado Springs are mixed. We had one priest (out of the entire Diocese) attend training with the Fraternity of St. Peter and is planning on offering at least one Mass a month (to begin with) in the EF at the Parish. That Parish will be offering the EF on August 15th to kick-off the once a month celebration (timing is EVERYTHING!).
Also, our Bishop elevated (I am not sure that is the right term) to “Parish” our TLM Community. The priest is from the Fraternity and the community is over flowing with Joy!
Even with all of that, there is still resistence and reluctance, but all in all, I think that we will continue to see positive changes.
God Bless,
Chris
The Archbishop of Cincinnati was pleased to grant the formation of an FSSP chaplaincy in Dayton, due to the prayers and work of many but in part, I think as a response to the Motu Proprio. We are very blessed to have a wonderful priest as our chaplain. Our community is growing as people who seemed to be afraid of the word, “indult” don’t have a problem with the word, “community.”
Know that I am praying for all who long for the EF Mass who have not yet been granted this blessing!
(Part two)
I enjoyed the part about the champagne– it reminds me of the line from Casablanca : “Veuve Cliquot ’26– a good French wine.”
Your remarks about the TLM and its effect on priests, Father, were quite beautiful. I am currently discerning a vocation, and I may make those same arguments to my bishop should I ask him to send me to Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary.
Thanks again for your leadership and example. May God bless you richly in the important work you do for Christ’s Church.
Lots of interesting bits and pieces in the most densely-populated region of New England, the Boston-Worcester-Providence triangle:
In Boston the sad saga of Holy Trinity is well known, however as a direct result of the Cardinal’s desire to suppress that parish (and even as the appeals are heard) there have been some opportunities for growth. There is now a daily TLM at Mary Immaculate of Lourdes in Newton and, beginning yesterday, a Sunday TLM in the “lower church” at the Cathedral. The latter situationis less-than-ideal, however it represents a wonderful opportunity to gain some serious leverage and visibility for the EF in Boston. Cardinal O’Malley has not publicly changed his opinion, which he shared on a “wide and generous” basis one year ago, that “there is very little interest in the Latin Mass in the U.S.A.” but there are several parishes that are in fact receiving sufficient interest that regularly-scheduled weekly (non-Sunday) and monthly Masses are starting to gain some traction in several parishes.
In Worcester Bishop McManus sponsored a day of training for any priests interested in learning the traditional Mass and while I am not aware of any new regularly-scheduled Masses there have been several one-time Masses as well as Requiems and Nuptial Masses. I’m expecting there to be some activity there in the next few months.
In Providence Fr. Santos has run at least two one-day training sessions for priests which have been well attended. There are at least three new one-Sunday-per-month Masses in the diocese and more are expected. Just today I heard of a newly-ordained priest who is itching to learn the TLM.
All-in-all there has been some significant progress, especially considering the challenges of forty years of dilution of the region’s once-strong Catholic identity, the sordid episodes of priestly venality which have surfaced in the past decade, and present-day episcopal hostility and/or clerical indifference in a few dioceses in the region. But a year ago there were three entire sees without a single every-Sunday TLM, now, less than ten full months into the implementation of SP, every New England diocese has at least one weekly TLM which fulfulls the Sunday obligation. It’s far from perfect, but it’s a start…
Until a year ago, I was a lector at the Cathedral Parish in the Diocese of Arlington. While the Mass there (ordinary form) was reverent enough, I found certain practices to be novelties, and felt like a puppet on the string of some committee. Had it not been for the motu proprio, I probably would have moved on anyway.
But when it was announced, I found the opportunity to fulfill a dream I had had for years, to be a master of ceremonies for the Traditional Mass. Since we began at St John the Beloved in McLean last October, I can honestly say that my preference for the ancient form is more so than ever, and that I would be unlikely to return. It has also given me an opportunity to work with a fine group of young men who comprise our server corps. We have also been blessed with some very fine priests, including the one who reads this blog regularly. He knows how grateful I am for the opportunity to train and develop boys, who may one day grow up to be priests.
When you look at it that way, it becomes about more than just yourself.
Right now, in our Diocese, there are three locations for the regular Sunday celebration of the Traditional Mass, and five or six locations where it is celebrated occasionally. While the bishop has been most supportive, the Traditional Mass has not grown as quickly as some of us would have liked. The biggest reason, I believe, is that we cannot train either priests or servers or scholas quickly enough.
I guess that makes us the victims of our own success.
In the diocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul I’ve seen (or heard of) little effect. Apart from parishes already known for the NO in Latin (St. Agnes, St. Paul; which began celebrating the TLM as well) and the TLM (St. Augustine, So. St. Paul, an already established “indult” parish), I’m unaware of any parishes instituting the TLM on any regular basis. Our former Archbishop, Harry Flynn, was silent (from what I can recall) on the subject, as were the various offices of the archdiocese. Our new Archbishop, John Nienstedt, has not spoken particularly agressively on the subject, although he has faced other controversies since taking office which he has met with both firmness and great pastoral sensitivity.
I personally rejoiced at hearing the news last year, and found a great deal of irony in the fact that it came literally on the same day as pre-convention events began for the National Pastoral Musicians national convention in Indianapolis, IN. There was sufficient hand-wringing and casting of stones against it on the part of professional liturgists, which can be read in the transcripts of keynotes delivered during the 4-day event (published in “Pastoral Music Magazine”).
Coming from a musician’s perspective, I do hope that we’ll experience more of a gravitational pull from the motu, but right now from where I sit it appears to have deepened the controversy surrounding orthopraxis and sound liturgical music, and sharpened the distinctions between well-crafted and carefully selected music for the liturgy and typical trends in Catholic suburban parish music.
The fruits of S. P. have not really blossomed yet in the diocese of Evansville, IN. Before S. P. there were no EF masses offered. The congregation of Holy Trinity had asked for it before and were denied by Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger. After S. P. he “allowed” them to have the EF on the third Sunday once a month for six months, starting in October 2007. Well, six months have past and they now have it only on the third Sunday at 12.15 pm. They did re-install the old communion rail which had been put into storage. Liturgy in this diocese is still in total crisis. Hopefully, our next bishop will help this. Gettelfinger is almost ready to retire.
In the diocese of Cleveland, where I mainly reside as a student at the Oberlin Conservatory, there has been a stable EF community at Immaculate Conception in Cleveland and at St. Mary in Akron. I’ve been told that two more parishes have requested it since S. P. We’ll see if they get it.
One thing that interests me, being a student at a very liberal school, is the interest among non-Catholics, in fact non-Christians in the liturgical practices of the current pope. Comments from an Episcopal friend reference Pope Benedict’s excellent taste in vestments and his sense of solemnity and reverence with which he celebrates mass. As an organ major, my fellow organist friends agree with me that, with the rise in praise and worship style music in mainline protestant churches, the future of the pipe organ is probably in the Roman Catholic Church. One friend, a sort of born-again atheist, said he’d rather play for the EF than the Novus Ordo, as it’s musically more rewarding. Newer, younger bishops and priests seem to be totally disinterested in the schlock produced by Oregon Catholic Press and other similar companies. The number of cathedrals installing beautifully crafted, new pipe organs from reputable builders is also a good sign. Fine examples include St. Cecilia’s Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska, where so many children were interested in joining the schola cantorum that the number had to be capped off at 150 (http://www.stceciliacathedral.org/music2.htm). St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio boasts a large new Fritts organ and a choir of 30+, 17 of which are paid professionals (http://www.cathedralmusic.org/). The tide is turning, even if slowly. What a fantastic time to be a Catholic church musician!
I’m 31 and have lived in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for most of my life. Growing up, I was always attracted to the more traditional elements of Catholicism, including the Traditional Latin Mass. I was sometimes led to believe by well-meaning people that the Second Vatican Council was a new beginning for the Church that somehow relegated everything traditional in Catholicism to the dustbin of history. I am so thankful that Pope Benedict is bringing about the much-needed inner reconciliation in the heart of the Church. Contrary to what some Catholics think, the Church didn’t have it all wrong up to 1962.
“Summorum Pontificum” fills me with hope. It’s going to take decades to see the greatest effects of the Motu Proprio, but I rest easy knowing that the Barque of Peter is turning around and the course cannot be reversed. Those who had hoped to re-make the Church into some enlightened diversity club are moving into the nursing homes. More Tradition-minded and friendly Catholics will move into the chanceries, seminaries, and parishes with each passing year.
Do all that you can to support Catholic Tradition and the priestly societies like the FSSP and ICKSP. The best days are yet to come.
May Pope Benedict reign gloriously for 100 years!
The first thing that springs to mind is the change in attitude of my mom towards the older form of mass. Two years ago she the best she could say about it was, if some people like hearing mass in a language they can’t understand, more power to them. The implication being that it’s just one preference among many others that are equally valid, whether one likes it in English or any other language, whether one likes classical music, Gregorian chant, folk or rock-and-roll, it’s all just a matter of preference.
Shortly before SP was issued, my family and I started attending the TLM under an indult. We did it only because I strongly wanted to experience what until then I had only read about, yet still longed for. My wife was indifferent. But after a year, she has fallen in love with the TLM. She says it’s more prayerful and focuses your attention on the altar. You just feel a lot more worshipful.
Her enthusiasm for it has affected my mom to the point where she has expressed interest in giving the TLM another try with a more open mind. We will be attending one together next weekend.
By the way, I have written to my pastor requesting the TLM in my parish. My letter was ignored.
Father Z asked:
“What has the Motu Proprio meant for you?
I just a few words, it has given me hope. But I do not think that I will see any changes where I live. Here in Western Canada (Diocese of Regina) it isn’t even on the radar. From where I live the nearest Gregorian Rite Mass is five hours drive away. The ordinary form that is celebrated locally has so many variables that I find it painful to attend. I do usually, but it is still painful.
My hope is based on the renewed possibility that the Church can once again tend toward balance and beauty.
Because I was not part of the conversation last year, I didn’t realize the impact of this major event. I just returned to the Catholic church a few months ago, after being away for 25 years. What has surprised me is my ever-deepening love for what Pope Benedict XVI calls the “Gregorian Rite.” My parish celebrates the EFM and I am stunned by how it has answered the cry of my heart.
For years, I attended non-denominational churches where “sacred” and “reverence” held no meaning nor place. I am thrilled to discover a resurgence in the Catholic church regarding rediscovering its liturgical roots. I have joined the choir to learn Latin and am trying to find ways to study it, suspecting that as I learn more Latin, I will feel more connected with the strong history of Catholicism. My “Catholic Identity” question is being answered in this quest.
God bless our Holy Father and his determination to press forward on making sure each Catholic has the opportunity to experience the Gregorian Rite. It seems as though it’s time for “The Reform of the Reform” and the Summorum Pontificum may have started it.
I’ve been ordained a priest of the Diocese of Providence (RI) for 9 years. Up until S.P. came along, I focused more on the reform of the reform, as I was of the mind that one needed an indult to say the older Mass, even privately. S.P. came out exactly a week after I became a pastor of a parish for the first time. I started learning how to celebrate it in my spare time over the summer, and meanwhile several people in the parish expressed an interest in having the Mass at the parish (the necessary “continuous group”). By November, I was confident enough in practicing the Mass to begin training altar boys. With the full support of my Bishop, I finally offered the Mass the second Sunday of April, May, and June at 3 pm in the afternoon; the first Mass had over 200 people in attendance, the second over 100 (a very good showing considering it was Mother’s Day) and the third about 150. The vast majority of people in attendance loved it! I’m planning to learn the High Mass this summer, and to schedule more Traditional Latin Masses in the fall. God Bless Pope Benedict XVI for Summorum Pontificum!
Before S.P., we had 1 viable Traditional Latin Mass said by 1 priest in my corner of the world; and now, we have 1 viable Traditional Latin Mass said by 1 priest, and this priest is heavily embattled by his own parish over the matter. Guitars and bongos and holding hands continue to rule here.
We’ve had a few bright moments, with our Solemn High Mass in April that packed the grand old church downtown, but it really hasn’t affected the mainstream of Catholic worship here too much. It seems, though, that some of the choir directors who appreciate the full musical tradition of the Church have become a little bolder in presenting good music in the N.O. parishes (what a funny thing to have to say!).
I’m not negative, though. I pray with confidence that this seed planted by the Lord will continue to grow and bear much fruit.
You asked what the fruits of Summorum Pontificum have occurred. Here in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, absolutely nothing. Nothing has changed. I have repeatedly phoned the Archbishop’s office over the course of a year and have received no response whatsoever. To be sure, 7/7/07 filled my heart with such great joy as I waited 40+ years for the great news, but so let down to see no implimentation in my area. I know one good priest an hour’s drive away from where I live, did the EF on Pentecost. God bless him abundantly. It’s almost as if S.P. didn’t exist here in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where right next door in PA. the wonderful Bishop Rhoades loves the E.F. and already has two parishes established one of which has even the daily Mass in E.F. It’s a long ride to PA. but we do go there as often as we can. I’m praying that there will be some response in the near future here in Baltimore.
There was significant pent-up demand for the EF on the part of both priests and faithful in the Archdiocese of Detroit. Pre-SP, we had only one indult location, plus one nearby in the Diocese of London, Ontario.
Post-SP, the archdiocese now has nine regular EF sites, of which three are weekly Sunday, one is weekly Saturday (anticipated Sunday), one is weekly Tuesday, and the remainder are monthly or less frequent. Three more sites are in the works. And the one in Canada continues, in an improved location with a professional choir each week.
We consider ourselves blessed. Those in other dioceses may be interested to know that all of these initiatives started at the parish level. The chancery was not asked for assistance.
My limited exposure to the EF (I’ve only been to it three times) has been sufficient to get me thinking seriously about becoming a priest. Please pray for me!
Re Bryan’s comment from earlier today:
Yesterday, I too was at the Gregorian Mass at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in
Yardville, NJ! Bryan’s comments are so true….we are living through the
restoration of the sacred as it is restored brick by brick. My 2 sons, regular
altar boys at the parish, were asked if they would be interested in learning
how to serve Low Mass. They agreed and both served their first Gregorian Mass
yesterday. Both continue to speak about the powerful experience. They can’t wait
to continue their training so that they may serve God as countless other boys
have through the centuries. Our family was profoundly affected by the beauty and
reverence of this Mass. Who could have imagined that we could have come so far
in one year? Our pastor has recently added a monthly Gregorian Mass to the
parish schedule, and many of our friends from other nearby parishes are
interested in attending. Amazingly, most of those attending yesterday were too
young to have grown up with this Mass.
I have very clear memories of “sacred” as I grew up in a devout Polish family
in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in the 1960s, but we moved to the Midwest in
1972 and everything changed. Suddenly, it seemed as if our focus during Mass was
to be less about the worship due to God, and more about the celebration of the
community. My parents were heartbroken as we witnessed such a breakdown
in traditional Catholic piety, worship and devotion, particularly at Mass.
As we then moved from the Midwest to NJ, I experienced life in no less than 7
parishes over 35 years. I began to feel exactly like Steve Stojec’s comment…
“I have grown bone weary of the struggle for substance in the faith”. Until last
year. Until we found this wonderful parish that is rooted in faithful,
reverent worship to Almighty God, whether in the Ordinary or Extraordinary form.
With Summorum Pontificum, more of us forty-something Catholics who have very
poignant yet distant memories of “sacred” may now have an opportunity to discover
the Mass that our ancestors treasured…the same Mass that remains a treasure
today. I don’t want to return to the past. I just want to raise our family
immersed in the continuity of the incredible tradition of our Church.
Thank you Father Z, for giving us all a forum to share our experiences.
May God bless our Holy Father!
“How can I keep current of new TLM celebrations popping up in DC Area?
Comment by Marcin — 7 July 2008 @ 1:57 pm”
The directory I’d recommend is the one published by the Ecclesia Dei Coalition, which is pretty current as far as I can tell:
http://www.ecclesiadei.org/masses.cfm
You mention “experimentation” in the Traditional Mass. A number of changes to the rubrics in 1960 were published in the 1962 Missale Romanum. They include dropping the “second Confiteor” before Communion, and allowances for responses by the faithful which were previously limited to the servers. There was a lively discussion on this very subject on WDTPRS just a week or two ago. They are often characterized incorrectly as abuses or experimentation.
I mention this in the context of my own experience with the motu proprio, particularly in my work with other priests as a master of ceremonies and trainer of altar servers. The discord that results from varying opinions on this subject, and the complaints from adherents to the TLM, are a source of great frustration among priests, some of whom are accused of ill intent. In more than one case, a priest has been badgered to the point of giving up on saying the TLM altogether. I am NOT making this up.
That has been the downside of my experience, to know that those of us who want the Traditional Mass so badly, may be our own worst enemy. I would invite people to read what the good Father has written on this subject only recently.
https://wdtprs.com/2008/07/quaeritur-congregational-responses-at-tlm/
Other than the results I have observed, I am loathe to broach the topic here, and suggest that it be done at the other post.
I haven’t heard much in the Seattle area. I know of only two places celebrating the TLM. I have
been wanting to go, but sadly, haven’t.
I am still thankful for the opportunity that is there and hopeful more areas will support one.
Everyone should at least name their dioceses! I understand that naming names of parishes might be uncomfortable…
We are extremely fortunate in the Archdiocese of Detroit to have multiple sites that are offering the Extraordinary Form each weekend, generally in architecturally fitting edifices. One parish even has a daily offering of the Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form. While there has not been an enthusiastic embrace from all corners of the Archdiocese, there has not been any official hostility either. I am aware of a handful of priests who, quietly, are learning and offering the Gregorian Mass privately, preparing themselves for public celebrations and feeding their own interior lives and priestly sensibilities.
I had attended an Indult Mass regularly before, and so in concrete terms, the motu proprio had little effect on my life, when I look at my interior life, I can see some significant changes. There is a growing sense of tranquility and calm that wasn’t there before. I no longer let stories of liturgical shenanigans get to me.
Pope Benedict has granted a great boon to the Church in our day by removing the spectre of disloyalty from devotion to the traditional liturgy. No more need we act defensively when someone accuses us of rejecting the Council or not being in keeping with the times or somehow lumping all tradition-minded Catholics in with the sedevacantist fringe. I find a bemused smile growing on my face each time I think about it, in fact. What a wonderful time to be Catholic!
A celebratory day truly calling for a gin and tonic!
We are still waiting for the start of EF here, the date has been pushed back twice. Patience…
However, I have watched several EFs on Utube and EWTN, the last one I could follow even without my missal, so any time now…
AFAIK, nothing has changed in either Dallas or Fort Worth, TX.
I don’t even know where to begin. I was originally drawn to the TLM for the opportunity to receive Our Lord on my knees. I had occasionally attended an indult Mass in the Diocese of Lansing but that was a drive of just over an hour and a half each way. It just wasn’t practical to drive that far and be gone from my family that long every Sunday. The indult Mass in the Archdiocese of Detroit, once that began, was closer; only about 50 minutes one way. But since the Motu Proprio, there is a TLM just 15 minutes from me.
It is just wonderful. The more I go to the TLM, the more I fall in love with the silence and the reverence and awe in the face of the mystery. The focus is much more on the sacrificial aspect of the Mass than it is on the meal aspect of the Mass and I think that’s the way it should be. And I think as the TLM spreads, the focus of the NO will begin to shift a bit more to the sacrifice, too.
Summorum Pontificum’s greatest effect that I can see goes far beyond the basic list of who is offering it and where. S.P. started a dialog. It started people talking. It brought into sharp relief how organic change SHOULD happen in our Church, but, unfortunately did not post Vatican II.
Has S.P. caused an immediate tidal wave of change? No. I did not expect that it would and, neither, I think, did the Holy Father. In his wisdom as Supreme Teacher of the Church Militant, he teaches us methodically. He makes connections. Everything he says, from the most, seemingly mundane, comment has meaning. He is truly the Vicar of Christ.
S.P. also further solidified my respect and admiration for Pope Benedict XVI. I’m still thanking God for his selection.
FOLKS: This is very good stuff.
I am reading with great interest.
Keep it up!
Nothin’ could be finer
Than to be in Carolina
In th’extraORRRRRRRdinary Form!
North Carolina, that is. Thank you Bishops Jugis and Burbidge! Who would have thought it one year ago!
Most people speak of whether the reaction in their area has been positive or negative. The reaction in my area has been absolutely non-existent. Not a word. Not from a Priest, not from the local Catholic paper… much less from the Bishop. For this reason the period after the release of the MP has been quite frustrating for me. However I have rejoiced in reading about the positive effects of the MP throughout the world, and I feel a sense of unity with the universal Church when I hear about progress being made in other places. God bless Pope Benedict for this wonderful gift to the world! Viva il Papa!
While it didn’t take Summorum Pontificum to have the ability to attend a TLM in Atlanta (the FSSP have a personal parish in Mableton), it certainly has had no affect on my own parish. I think more than that it has opened my eyes to what I’ve been missing. It more clearly defines what is forbidden to me in the confines of my parish. I know I can simply make the hour long drive down to Mableton, but why should I have to? I have been told time and time again, “you can have all the traditional masses you want, just don’t do it here.”
On the other hand, I feel as though it’s given my leanings legitimacy. It’s given me ammunition in debates with fellow parishioners. It’s also given me the leverage I need to go and ask my priest for a Latin Mass (even if it is in the ordinary form), and while I have no idea if this is actually going to happen, I know that I am well within my rights to even make the request in the first place.
In a broader sense, I think it’s done a lot to unite traditionalists. It’s simply backing up what we’ve been saying all along as well as giving us a rallying flag. That being said, I think S.P. also makes the point that it’s not “us” against “them”. They are one in the same rite in different forms, exactly as it is amongst the people who prefer one or the other. So it creates a kind of neutral space in which to have these discussions because it doesn’t praise one at the expense of the other. It values both equally and allows for both to exist in the Church. It is, after all, the Universal Church.
Dear Father Z.,
brothers and sisters,
I celebrated the motu proprio when it was released. I read it, and took note of the various translation issues, and possible problematic phrases resulting. Still, it was a day of great joy and hope.
In Montreal, there is hostility to the ancient usage; there has been since before the promulgation of the Pauline Missal. But I have, with the assistance of friends, and the generosity of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, with the permission of the HOLY FATHER via Summorum Pontificum, had the Classical Rite said in an historical church not far from down-town. We ran into a few roadblocks and experienced some stonewalling, all the while keeping our affairs…regular. However, on December eighth a Solemn High Mass was said in Honor of Our Lady and testifying to her glorious immaculate conception.
The Church was packed. Confessions were heard before and after the liturgy (the lines were gargantuan). The Rosary was prayed before we were lead into the Holy of Holies, and I had the very great honor of serving at the altar, most especially ringig the bells of consecration.
Said in thanksgiving for S.P. and for the protection and sanctification of His Holiness Benedict XVI, the sublime event would not have occurred were it not out of filial love to the aforementioned Pontiff and his truly pastoral commitments with regards to the ancient mass, and its genuine spirit.
I finish this comment thanking you, Father, for your perpetual insight and fatherly admonition on your blog. Your presence is inspiring, and words, invigorating. I try to remember you and your personal intentions (whatever they may be) at every mass.
Yours on the Bark of Peter, and in Christ, who is King and Lord of All,
Tony
Summorum Pontificum has revolutionized my life. I’ve been slowly but surely falling deeper and deeper in love with the Liturgy over the past few years, and had been just beginning to uncover the depth of theology, beauty, and unity of detail contained within the Liturgy around the time SP came out. That piqued my interest, and on the Sunday immediately preceding its release I accompanied some trad friends to their local indult parish (we’d heard the rumors). That began a period of learning and loving deeper than I could’ve imagined. And the more I learned about the EF, the better I’ve been able to pray the OF, and vice versa (to a degree).
In short: Our Holy Father’s declaration that the OF and EF are not two separate creatures but more like two sides of the same coin has drawn me in and formed me with a sense of unity and tradition that would have been otherwise unknown to me – and now this is an essential base for my own way of looking at the world (my insertion into the hermeneutic of continuity, I suppose).
Thank you, Papa!
The Gregorian Mass has been quite an experience for my family. We started last summer in training with 2 of my sons (age 12 and 14) to learn the Mass. They learned (and I learned so much) about the Mass itself from the priest. One son has commented often how much more he appreciates the Mass in general since being trained to do the Gregorian Mass. Many (even priests they don’t know whom they serve for at a Mass or Funeral) have noticed that both boys (who also serve at a Monastery) have become more devout in their service. They (the priests) are almost speechless when talking to me about they way they serve at the altar. Both are considering the priesthood. Thank God for such a holy priest who fought to have the Gregorian Mass in our Diocese.
Thanks be to God.
David L Alexander:
I would recommend the following directories of TLM’s in the USA:
1) http://honneurs.free.fr/Wikini/wakka.php?wiki=ListeEtatsUnis
2) http://web2.iadfw.net/carlsch/MaterDei/churches.htm
Sid Cundiff:
I second your praise of Bishops Burbidge and Jugis.
One year ago, North Carolina’s two dioceses offered ONE TLM in my home parish, Sacred Heart in Dunn.
One year later, six churches in the Charlotte diocese offer a TLM at least one day each month
while another six churches in the Raleigh diocese do the same. The number of TLM’s in the Raleigh diocese
appears certain to grow as a young Hispanic priest has been celebrating the TLM privately and a fair share
of the diocesan seminarians are TLM enthusiasts who are being educated about the TLM at Philadelphia’s
St. Charles Seminary.
Bishop Burbidge has led by example, attending a TLM in Dunn last September 14 and hosting another
at his cathedral in January. Im fact, his cathedral hosts a monthly TLM.
SSPX attedance at two chapels in the Raleigh diocese is down as a good number of SSPX parishioners
have returned home.
Thank you, Your Holiness!!!
In Denver, we are hopeful. We have an FSSP church about 35 minutes from downtown Denver. We have only one priest in all of the rest of metro Denver that who says the EF on Sunday mornings at an old parish in an old part of Denver. Our new Auxiliary, Bishop Conley, seems to be quite devout, and is said to be favorable to the TLM. Maybe he can get something going for more TLM availability. Archbishop Chaput is not known to be friendly to the EF, so it may boil down to how tight of a leash he puts on Bishop Conley. Please pray for Denver.
After the MP was released, I made a comment expressing concern that OF Latin Masses might be replaced by EF ones. Prior to the MP I had attended about half a dozen low Masses and didn’t really ‘get’ it. Since 14 September I have attended many, many more and now I greatly prefer the EF – both High Masses and (to my surprise) low Masses.
I knew of no priest in my diocese who said the traditional Latin Mass prior to the MP (though I subsequently learned of one who said one every two months). There are now at least 5 churches in my diocese where the EF form is said. Progress is slow, and it is not yet affecting the vast majority of parishes. But gradually the situation is improving.
The wdtprs blog has been the first resource I have turned to for information about the MP. It has been truly invaluable, and thank you, Father, for all the hard work you have done to keep it going. I suspect that many priests and laity have gained much encouragement from this blog, and that you, Father, deserve much credit for the brick-by-brick positive developments that are taking place. Thank you.
Father Z.,
In Pittsburgh, we have been blessed with the Extraordinary Form since shortly after Pope John Paul II issued his motu proprio Ecclesia Dei Adflicta. Our story has been slow, steady growth – in the number of souls attending, the number of baptisms and marriages, the number of vocations (three of our young men have been ordained to the holy priesthood), and the number of Masses offered. Summorum Pontificum has not resulted in an explosion of Extraordinary Form Masses; however, we’ve seen occasional Masses at other churches (including one at St. Anthony’s Chapel, which is the home to thousands of holy relics). I’d counsel everyone who is hoping for an immediate success to be patient. People will come, and you need to advertise and to tell everyone you meet about the Mass.
However, our neighbors in Greensburg, who were denied the Extraordinary Form for many years, have now seen regular Masses at St. Vincent’s Archabbey in Latrobe. And our friends in Steubenville have also reason to rejoice. Summorum Pontificum is not like flipping on a light switch, but instead another step towards turning a large ship.
Here in Montgomery in the Archdiocese of Mobile, there has been some effect. In Advent, in my home parish (church built in 1967), the LIFETEEN Mass was changed–ad orientem, cassock and surplice instead of alb on servers, Gregorian Chant (directed by Jeff Tucker). In the course of four weeks, the 5 PM Sunday Mass was full for the first time in years. Then, they ended it. There are many traditionally-minded priests in Montgomery, but they are proceeding cautiously. There is, I believe, still a monthly EF in a small town in the archdiocese. There was an article about that parish in our diocesan weekly, but it said nothing about this. We have a new archbishop, and it is unclear what the future holds exactly.
On the other hand…I went to Columbus, Ohio for school on September 14. I had never seen the EF, and I was skeptical that I would make it a weekly venture. It took a few weeks, but I found my way into the choir, and then we started a schola. I believe we have taken the Mass to 5 other parishes in the diocese, with stunning success. I now can hardly imagine life without it. I am in Montgomery for the summer, and Sundays don’t seem as big in my week, and this saddens me.
There is a long way to go, but in many ways, change is very close, but sometimes the questions are not being asked, and there is much silence. Summorum Pontificum provides the needed oomph for change, but there are still people, informed people, who have not yet heard of it.
Well, for us personally, the motu proprio, WDTPRS, New Liturgical Movement and The Hermeneutic of Continuity have inspired us to take another look at TLM. We had gone to St John Cantius at a friend’s invitation in 1988, I believe, when Fr Phillips was just getting started, and the liturgy and music simply grated on our nerves. We went back last week and it was very, very different. And this Sunday again we went to the 10 o’clock Mass in the basement of St. John Vianney in Northlake, IL. Were it possible to go to Mass daily at SJC, and the offices, I would gladly do so, but we are moving to Oregon in weeks.
One thing I did notice, though, is that the sermon at both these Masses was simply stellar. In the first, Fr Brendan noted that the Chicago Gay Pride would be taking place blocks from SJC and that we should pray for the conversion of sinners. The conversion of sinners! I have not heard that phrase from the pulpit in decades. He mentioned the word Hell, another stranger to the pulpit. Yesterday at SJV, Fr. Dwight expatiated on the life of St. Maria Goretti, whose feast it would ordinarily have been, dwelt on the virtue of purity and how to maintain it. This is, to say the least, extremely unusual. Again, the word Hell came up.
Maybe TLM carries a priest deeper into the eternal realms, from which he returns to share a much more grace-filled perspective. Am I the only one who has noticed this, the grace filled solidity of the sermons?
The Diocese of Grand Rapids, MI has had an indult Mass since 1990. A wonderfully holy priest began a Monday morning EF Mass at another Parish after SP, Deo gratias.
Our Bishop is completely indifferent to SP, smugly asserting in the local paper that the Diocese has
‘fully complied’ by supplying the existing indult “ghetto”, which is surely what the EF Mass is in this Diocese.
On a happier note, our schola has been honored to work with great priests who have started a regular EF Mass in the Diocese of Kalamazoo, as well as a tireless young priest doing the same in the Gaylord Diocese.
The biggest difference we (our schola) have seen since SP has been the freedom granted to the wonderful (mostly) young priests we have met who felt constrained to work within the gradual framework of the ‘reform of the reform”, but now can work directly in the EF and “have it all” now. In fact, this seems to have been a Papal call to action to priests all over the world waiting for the sign to get to work.
Personally, the recognition from the Pope himself that I am not simply a disaffected Catholic unable to fall into line with the “restoration of the liturgy” since Vatican II, given the “indult crutch” to hobble on as a spiritual cripple, but rather can legitimately be recognized as someone completely in love with the Church in her finest liturgical expression is a consolation beyond words.
Within an hour or so of where I sit, in addition to the long-standing and fairly large Latin Mass community that begins in 1989, the last year has seen a number of Masses the far end of the diocese, irregular but increasing celebrations on a nearby Catholic campus, a weekly Sunday Mass on another college campus, quiet weekday celebrations a few times a month at at least two parishes (in two different dioceses) and a weekly Sunday Mass in a neighboring diocese where it had been flatly forbidden.
Not a bad score, all in all.
SP has given me tremendous hope for the future, both of the Church and of the world. The Church is again learning how to pray . . . what more can I say?
Diocese of Arlington, VA
I have been disappointed. Like Mr. Hessell above, I also have noted a “disappointing and tepid” response. I know of the two regularly offered EF Sunday Masses, and of the smattering of others. There was an attempt to begin a regular EF Mass at a nearby parish, but the pastor scheduled it at a very inconvenient time, especially for families with younger children, and it died out. I do not believe the pastor (orthodox, fairly conservative) did this to ensure failure, but neither did he seem to have any real interest in it. Indeed, on one occassion during the Christmas season, he canceled the already scheduled EF Mass because he did not want to move the manger scene that was on display in front of the altar.
In my own parish, our pastor (following the custom of our previous pastor, now pastor of one of the parishes with a weekly EF) offers a Latin NO High Mass with a full polyphonic choir every Sunday. Some parishioners were hoping that this would convert somewhat naturally into a weekly EF, but it was not to be. Indeed, immediately following the release of SP, our pastor wrote in his weekly column that he believed the Latin NO sufficient and that the EF was really only for “nostalgic” Catholics. I’m 39. My desire cannot be “nostalgic.”
Now I am grateful for my pastor, and I believe him to be a holy man. Even so, I note among some “orthodox and conservative” priests like him an opinion that being orthodox and conservative is perfectly fine and that there is no reason to go any further than that; there is a line that they will not cross: over to the EF. I was blessed to have attended an FSSP parish in Sacramento, CA for one year, and I developed a love for the EF. While I am grateful to have a weekly Latin NO, it pales in comparison to the EF, for which I yearn.
I continue to pray for my pastor and for my adherence to God’s will.
One year ago we witnessed the outbreak of Motu Madness! (exclamation mark required): not a tabloid exposé of a Japanese cult, but the celebration of Pope Benedict XVI’s Extraordinary Gift to the Church. It should be noted that this feast has an octave in locis particularibus.
For me the most important aspect of SP was the declaration by the supreme authority of the Church that the EF was NEVER ABOLISHED. I said it then, and I say it now, those words deserve to be written in letters of gold. How many priests and faithful suffered for the recognition of this truth! Beati oculi qui vident quæ vos videtis. Dico enim vobis quod multi prophetæ et reges voluerunt videre quæ vos videtis, et non viderunt: et audire quæ auditis, et non audierunt (Lc 10.23-24).
The Sunday after SP I assisted at the EF at the same church where I first experienced it. I will probably be there this Sunday. Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus!
Here in the notorious Diocese of St. Augustine, the MP has had no effect, which was definitely disappointing. But somehow I feel better simply knowing that it’s there. It had the effect of reconnecting me with a Catholic past that seemed to me to have been permanently rejected and lost, that is, the poetry, the literature, the art that were to me simply a natural and essential part of being a Catholic. Not that I had ever ceased to read these things or regard them as passe myself, but I felt very isolated and as if they had been sealed off into some sort of space that was not only inaccessible to most people, but had a vague whiff of something unsavory and prohibited about it (you know – gasp!- the dread “pre-Conciliar times”).
It is as if somehow the MP has opened that door again and has revived not only the liturgy, but the entire visual, auditory, tactile and intellectual and emotional experience of the Church that was built around that liturgy.
So many personal reactions, most of them emotional. I know that the Mass is not about feelings, but after experiencing the EF, I had to admit that at most OF Masses, I was just going through the motions, often distracted in a way that really did not give the Lord the reverence He deserves.
1. Gratitude, that this treasure of our heritage has been generously restored.
2. A little residual anger at first as I began to explore the texts, and realized how little resemblence the OF prayers currently bear to the EF prayers. Why were these prayers watered down, or practically eviscerated? The OF now seems more Protestant-like to me, and the EF more genuinely Catholic.
3. OF always took me back to the Last Supper, but the EF takes me to Calvary. But more than that–it takes me through the whole mystery of Christ’s passion and his Resurrection.
4. This is something that just hit me recently. At the Confiteor, I remain silent while the priest and the servers say that prayer, for the sake of MY SINS as well as their own. A good priest, and these young boys/men who I have to assume are far less wretched in their sins than I am, do that for me. So at that point, even thought I am silent, I am entering into the mystery, standing at the foot of the cross, and knowing He is offering His Life for my sins. I never never experienced that during the penitential rite at an OF Mass.
5. There is a serenity and a quiet joy in this little OF community that gathers each Sunday. I feel more connected to the people I worship with than I have ever felt in the last 12 years at my large suburban parish. Maybe it’s the smallness of it, or the fact that people arrive a little early, and linger after Mass to chat in the hallway. More sense of community without the “Greet your neighbor” and “Sign of Peace”–pretty amazing.
All in all, it’s been wonderful for me. It’s worth getting up earlier, and driving a little further for.
Concerning the Diocese of Arlington, the Traditional Mass is offered every Sunday at: St John the Baptist, Front Royal, 12:30pm; St John the Beloved, McLean, 12:00pm; St Lawrence, Franconia, 12:30pm.
As a neophyte, the Catholic faith is still very new to me. I was drawn to the Church because of its Traditions and I am most glad that the TLM is back. While I do not know how Mass was celebrated the Tridentine way, when I attended the first early this year, it was awesome. It was indeed very insipiring.
Unfortunately, the TLM is not really favoured by my bishop in Singapore and it is indeed causing much misery to the Traditionalists. The EF is actually making them more angry people since it becomes that of the bishop not being obedient to the Pope and us the faithful gotta be obedient to a disobedient bishop.
I used to be averse to the idea of receiving Communion on the tongue but after trying it out one day, it was just different. Receiving it on the tongue gives a different reverence and love as compared to that from receiving on the hand and I’m glad I chose to make that change. Now, its the kneeling part which might be a lil difficult because I am afraid of ‘jamming’ up the queue, and people may think I’m a weirdo. Hah.
Oh and of course there’s the veil part as well, which I believe will be done soon.
I can’t wait for the TLM to go full swing in Singapore. More people needa be exposed. But first thing first, let the kneelers be brought back to Singapore first. That would really be great.
It has had mixed results in St. Louis. We have two great oratories, one which by the grace of God saved a beautiful 140 years old church. However, we also had 5 seminarians out of a 9 person class of diocesan priests who are trained in the EF, and also have ordained several priests for the institute of Christ the King.
The Oratory I go to (I do still attend my local parish, its my community, and community should be important), is nothing to boast about building wise. Its a small chapel, that is apart of a parish center of another parish. But that simple little oratory, has about 100 people in the pews every week. What is even more profound is the amount of young (and might I say VERY WELL BEHAVED) children that are in attendence with their parents. I think “traditionalists” because they value the sanctity of the mass tend to raise pretty good children. So you have the next generation who is going to have a solid church upbringing. Why , just last week, I saw a beautiful thing, where a father took his young, maybe 3 year old up to explain the Virgin to him, the little child venerated the statue by kissing the rosary hung around her hands. Truly beautiful, and I dont think you would find that without a traditional upbringing.
Where I would like to see it in every parish here, as some of you who follow the events from St. Louis, we have a pretty strong supply of what could only be called “liberal” or “cafeteria” catholics. Its evident in the fact that the Archbishop, (well past archbishop) was openly criticized by those who were heralding the banner of being “catholic”, whenever he would simply hold us all to church teaching and doctrine. So I think we have a ways to go in that regard. I dont expect to see an EF mass at my local parish any time soon, and thankfully we have the oratories. I do attend both, because I see it as a fullness of liturgical life, and the document is very particular in that regards that they are different forms of the same rite.
Attending a mass in the extraordinary form, I think is very healthy for the soul. You are reminded of the greatness, and mystery of the Holy Eucharist, by the very actions of the priest. Its a true act of faith, to not “hear” the words of consecration, but to trust that Christ is working in and through the Priest, to offer the sacrifice.
I really think that when the EF becomes more a “standard”, many of the catechism issues we have will go away. You look at the people who were in “the greatest generation”, many of our parents, grandparents , great grandparents. Many of them arent what we would considered “educated”. The probably cant quote the catechism, and probably had a vague knowledge of the actual “text” of the mass, or what words meant. But because they had a mass as a norm, that was truly demonstrative, they had/have a faith that you would be hard pressed to find amongst us youngsters. that is what the I see the EF giving back to the church, a true understanding of faith.
God Bless you Holy Father for your gift to the church!
Here in Australia there hasn’t been much expansion in availability of the TLM. But there has been a big change in attitude – helped by the fact that all of the Archbishops bar Brisbane (where they can’t manage to baptise validly, and worship budha in parish churches) and Hobart (where the Archbishop claims priests are too busy to say the TLM) assisted at TLMs last year. There were articles about it in a couple of the diocesan newspapers. And in my own parish, we’ve had a lot of visitors come and look, and some have stayed.
There are still problems – we have a lot of liberal bishops and a very active liberal laity, and the sandalistas are doing their best to be difficult. And among the bishops, most of those interested in reform of the reform (with some notable exceptions in Victoria) don’t seem to appreciate the potential for the TLM to help with this.
So it will take time for the full effects of SP to be felt. But I think the momentum is building.
Father Z,
Last Year I was incredibly skeptical that the Motu Proprio was ever going to be issued. I prayed for it but, stated (as if St. Thomas) I will believe it when I see it.( I can be very cynical an occupational hazard as a cop.) My prayers were answered and the Summorum Pontificum was issued by Pope Benedict XVI on my birthday. Now I am fortunate to have 2 parishes within 20 minutes of my home offering the EF Mass and one of them is my parish. My five children ages 8 through 3 now see they’re own parish priest singing mass in the EF. Most people may not understand how important that is. When my children see the priests they know from Church and school saying mass in the EF it becomes normal and part of their lives. The Holy Father is making progress! There is still resistance however it is being overcome. My faith in the future of the church is much stronger now. It amazes me to see people on this blog and others speak of impending doom with the state of the Holy Church. When I assess the progress made in one year I now cry with joy! Traditional Catholics in the Church will increase exponentially. Only the Traditional Catholics are having children. The Traditional Catholics children are much more likely to consider a vocation to the priesthood. The wishy-washy bishops and priests of the 60’s and 70’s are getting older and I am impressed by the orthodoxy of the younger priests. We are on the course our Lord has charted.
Pray of Pope Benedict XVI all bishops and priests and have faith,
FXR2
Here in the Diocese of Yakima, we have two parishes which have a TLM once a month. These Masses are not advertised anywhere, never talked about, and if you don’t know to ask, you’d never know about them. I asked the parish priest of one of these parishes who is a friend, and he didn’t want to talk about it, says he doesn’t have time for this. An elderly retired priest from far away comes in and says it. It’s still a big secret.
In our country the Philippines, Summorum Pontificum is now bearing much fruit (I reckon) inspite of the so-called diverse oppositions from both lay and the clergy. Our priest-moderator in the weekly TLM community I belong to has since been celebrating the Extraordinary Form way back 2004 but it was only during the release of the Motu Proprio that *everyday* EF masses had been organised. I remember this priest’s Mass during the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross in which he was so elated at the thought of a “most august gift of bringing back the Traditional Latin Mass” and that he gave a thorough explication on the significance of what the current Pope is doing and intends to do.
Personally, my experience of the TLM has modified the way I currently look at things: all due to the intrinsic liturgical beauty and reverence that I have had the chance to delve into. Of course, such should also be a matter to be considered for all Ordinary Form masses; but the fact remains that the Extraordinary Form seems to possess those noteworthy characteristics like no other in the Western Church.
My reversion to the Church from being a member of one of those homegrown Filipino sects was primarily due to the Eucharist. However was I even more strengthened in faith when given the privilege to assist in EF Masses. It was through “this august gift” that I was knocked into faith-consciousness, with the resolve to thus remain Catholic till my last breath.
For eleven years I experienced a particularly beautiful, reverently celebrated Novus Ordo and felt little need to attend a TLM regularly. Although it was indeed a pleasure to take part in a Novus Ordo Mass celebrated in this way, after a move out-of-state two years ago I had the privilege to begin to participate daily in the TLM, which has been an eye-opening experience into the singular beauty and mystery of the TLM. The TLM is pregnant with a symbolism that the Novus Ordo in many ways lacks, and the silence or Gregorian chant of the TLM makes the Mass palpably prayerful, there being no distraction by the lyrics of the vernacular pop Glory and Praise “songs” that we experienced subsequent to our move (and which we fortunately didn’t have to endure at our previous parish). As an aside, it is interesting, if not surprising, to note that the chant or hymns sung by the Schola in Latin are far less distracting to prayer because the language is foreign and I therefore need not constantly yank my attention away from the unfortunately understandable (and oft banal) lyrics upon which I do not wish to concentrate. (Not to speak of the added distraction that my knuckles buried deep in my Eustachian tubes causes me.) Yet if I wish to follow the chant, Renaissance polyphony or hymn I can do so through the Missal or program of the Mass.
Modern man always seems to be agitating for “choice” in all the wrong ways. Well, with the TLM there is finally a place where “choice” is edifying in a way that is unfortunately not possible in the Novus Ordo because even best-celebrated Novus Ordo Mass is simply too noisy. The silent, reverent atmosphere of the TLM enables one to choose to pray and participate in many ways – not simply in listening and responding to the celebrant: for example, I can actively follow Mass in the Missal or choose instead to engage in personal prayer in silence; perhaps I’ve chosen that day to come to understand the Latin better by comparing and meditating upon the Latin and English versions of a section of the Mass; perhaps I decide instead to spend some of the quiet time engaged in a meditation based upon something from the Missal about the history and tradition of the Church such as the seasons of the liturgical year, the meanings of the Stations of Rome that were once visited during solemn times of the year, the prayers composed by great saints of the Church and nearly lost in the past 40 years, the many beautiful, poignant (and seasonal) Prefaces, such as that most powerful, incisive, glorious description of the Triune Godhead in the Preface of the Most Holy Trinity. Yes, it’s all in the TLM: vocal active participation, silent active attentiveness, and passive participation through meditation or a prayer of contemplative silence can all be chosen to make one open to the grace necessary to become one of the Chosen.
Thank you Holy Father, may God grant you strength, wisdom and many years!
The fruits of Summorum Pontificum are:
– watching young people, freshmen, who have never been to an old Mass, discovering the richness of its prayers and gestures;
– having animated conversations at the dinner table with the same students, who want to know everything about the liturgy, whose meaning has never been explained to them;
– glimpsing signs of how their faith grows in proportion to the engagement they make with the traditional piety and practices of the Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict has given the youth of the Church a tremendous gift. Right now, only a few are benefiting from it, but let us be patient, as is the Lord. Good news spreads from person to person, as it did in the early Church.
In Indonesia there has nothing happened since SP released. As a matter of fact churches here always packed full with congregations in every mass, that’s why the bishop conference has no interest to force EF, beside the possibility of a fraction among congregations. The only effect we have is a latin NO mass available in a chapel in the capital city Jakarta every first Sunday of the month.
For my family, we attend the old mass organized by SSPX once every two months that looks like a clandenstine activity in a private house, with only 10 participants. People feels allergic to SPPX due to the status of excommunication.
Cardinal Bishop of Jakarta openly said there is no urgency for this EF mass until further notice, even once he got upset with a bishop due to a SPPX mass celebrated in a Fransiscan seminary chapel in his area.
Frankly speaking people’s interest to EF mass is vey low almost zero, could be because charismatic movement is quite strong in this country and latin is a language nobody knows anymore. Also inculturization and thematic masses are very populair as well.
Yeah, I’ll get back to you with those reflections after I finish my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and this beer here (it’s still 45 minutes until the end of 7/7 in the Pacific Standard Time Zone).
When it first came out, I was thrilled. I took a class in Latin and found a missal so that I could study it and be prepared. However, despite over 400 people expressing an interest, the Archdiocese of Anchorage has yet to experience a publicly celebrated EF Mass.
I believe (but am not sure) that one priest has expressed a desire to learn it from the only priest in the diocese who remembers it. We have an SSPX chapel, but I can’t get a straight answer on whether or not I can legally attend their Masses. The day they make peace with Rome, I’ll be there – despite the fact that it is an hour’s drive from my house.
On a more cheerful note, God gave us airplanes. I attended my first high, sung EF Mass about three weeks ago (in another state) and it was so beautiful I cried behind my veil. I felt closer to God and to the people around me. It was worth everything it took to get there. I left feeling Catholic and wondering what had happened to the Church, and sang the recessional hymn all the way back to where I was staying. When I got back to AK, I reread my missal and am still astounded at all the prayers that were gutted from the NO.
I pray for the day we will have an Archbishop who will give the Holy Father more than lip service on this, but until then I plan to fly somewhere once a month to attend the EF when I can. In the long run, I think it will happen. Most of the people at the EF were young and had large families. The liberals aren’t having children or producing vocations to the priesthood. May God grant me patience – now, please.
isabella
In my diocese the motu proprio is a cause for hope, with little to show in the way of concrete results. Our bishop seems to regard it as something to be put up with, and his sole public remark about it is that it’s an act of generosity on the part of the pope that isn’t really needed here.
The diocesan newspaper has published one article about the motu proprio. It is half a rather disinterested description of the difference between Gregorian and Novus Ordo liturgies, and half an attempt to squelch interest it’s influence here. I do not know of a single priest within the diocese who has attempted to learn the TLM, much less one who has celebrated it in his parish. Even if such a priest existed, the diocese would make no effort to publicize his good works.
The article also featured quotes from the handful of priests who celebrate the indult masses tolerated by our bishop. They demonstrate no particular enthusiasm about what they are doing. They instead talk about how hard it is to learn Latin, and how there’s no real demand for the Gregorian rite in the diocese. One priest worried that the motu proprio was “divisive”.
I offered to give one priest I know, a good and sober man, some Ecclesia Dei material, including a “how-to” cd. I had high hopes, but its been several months now. I suspect the material is gathering dust in some corner of his office.
The diocese does tolerate two indult masses. One is early in the morning. The other is in the afternoon, and is attended by a small but resolute group which includes people from well outside the diocese, who travel, some of them, over a hundred miles to attend. I can’t help but contrast their zeal with the stated attitudes of the priests saying the mass.
My diocese is Buffalo, NY. My bishop is Edward U. Kmiec. My experience is, I hope, atypical.
Having grown up in the Toledo Diocese and witnessing the constant and steady resistance to ‘Ecclesia Dei’ and subsequently moving to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and seeing the same thing, I see two attitudes occurring. In the case of Toledo the Traditional community has a place to call their own, but until very recently, didn’t have a weekly Sunday EF of the Mass. The emergence of the EF was due DIRECTLY to Summorum Pontificum. This community now has a new parish Priest, while not specifically trained in the 1962 Missal, is currently learning and is very excited to do so for the sake of his parish. However this is only 1 parish in the Toledo Diocese. There is certainly the feeling of ‘containment’ and maybe even appeasement in an attempt to keep a wider implementation from occurring.
My experience in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is pretty much the same. While the Archdiocese of Cincinnati may have had a stronger core of traditionally minded individual (evidenced by the fact there were 2 weekly ‘indult’ Masses) there was certainly a feeling of attempts to contain widespread use of this form of the Mass. After Summorum Pontificum was issued, an FSSP apostolate was established in Dayton. It’s hard to imagine Dayton being the only place that has requirements for the EF of the Mass.
While there is the feeling of begrudging compliance on the part of the episcopate in these areas (Toledo and Cincinnati, historically speaking), the faithful, at least in the case of Toledo, aren’t even asking for it. It’s not that they don’t want it, but in the face of YEARS of resistance to Ecclesia Dei, the desire to continue to fight for was is already clearly given in Summorum Pontificum isn’t there. Priests summarily reject requests for the EF of the Mass and that is as far as it goes.
The behavior of certain Bishops in regards to Ecclesia Dei in many ways shaped the faithfuls expectations in regards to Summorum Pontificum, thereby negating the true hope that Summorum Pontificum should have provided them. It is very easy to become sour in this atmosphere.
All this being said I have been attending an FSSP parish in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis for 2 years. This Archdioceses has been very welcoming to the EF of the Mass and it flourishes where it is asked for. From this vantage point the progress that has been made in places I have previously been gives great reason for hope, for 15 years ago these things would NEVER occurred if not for Summorum Pontificum. This document forces the issue from the top down, however old patterns of behavior in regards to Ecclisia Dei still affect implementation of Summorum Pontificum.
Personally, I’m very ecstatic about things that have been occurring, even if I’m cautiously so. All comments above are purely my own observation, which is limited indeed.
Thanks for all the work you do Fr. Z.
On the ground in the Pacific Northwest, there has been little change that I’ve observed. There was exactly one “indult” EF Mass in the Portland/Vancouver area prior to SP, and that is still the only regularly-scheduled EF Mass. Our pastor (who has now been transferred, as his term was up) said a couple of EF Masses at our “mother” church (I attend a mission), but did not have enough support to start a regular EF Mass, especially considering the Seattle archbishop’s apparent opposition to the EF. At least we have a “by the book” OF Mass, which seems to be a relative rarity on the West Coast.
I have hope, though, that we will eventually see tangible results here. If nothing else, it has at least changed the terms of the debate, and made some people aware of the reality of the status of the EF.
Summorum Pontificum one year later in my diocese: “very little effect” as predicted by our bishop last summer.
One year and one day later, I have come to love the old mass.
I honestly was not very excited about it initially, although I had been to the the traditional Mass before, and was always interested in the reform of the reform, and a reverential liturgy. By accident, I attend a parish that has a weekly TLM. To my surprise, I now feel enriched by the understanding I have gained, and the deep spirituality of the ancient rite, and am a great advocate. Count one ‘convert’.
Thanks to Benedetto XVI.
I feel I should explain a little of my background before I give my thoughts on the Motu Proprio, as my perspective could be considered unusual.
I have attended the Pauline Mass in Latin all my life until the past couple of years (that’s 20-odd years – I’m getting old.) My parish (in the Oakland diocese) also obtained the indult back in the 80s, so I have already had the option of attending the TLM for some time.
Consequently, Motu Proprio hasn’t affected me much personally. (Even the news of it didn’t make an impact- I was away on retreat last July and so didn’t hear of it ’til a couple weeks after the fact.) I do know the TLM has become more available in my area at home since the promulagation of Summorum Pontificum.
(I have moved to the Archdiocese of Washington, DC in the past year, but as I don’t choose to attend the TLM, I don’t know what impact the Motu Proprio has had here.)
One positive thing I have noticed since the Motu Proprio was announced is that those who cherish the liturgical patrimony of the (Latin) Church (not just self-proclaimed Traditionalists) seem to feel more free to discuss, preserve, and hand on that patrimony. “Solemn” seems to be less of a dirty word in Catholic circles.
If, however, as a result of Summorum Pontificum (or “just” as a result Benedict XVI’s pontificate – because I would expect nothing less of him) the experience I had in my home parish —of the Mass first as a sacred sacrifice and sacrament, then also as the center of parish life, as the primary source of spiritual nourishment, and as prayer in continuity and communion with the whole Church past and present— were to spread even a very little farther within the Church, I would count this Motu Proprio as a very great blessing.
Our parish, St. John’s in McLean, is one of the several Arlington VA parishes with a weekly TLM. Those who attend this Mass — several of whom are friends — are loyal and devoted, and lots of them travel some distance from other parishes. The vast majority of our parishioners, however, have never attended this Mass, despite the considerable efforts of the pastor at generating interest. Attendance is now standing room only at the Mass immediately preceding the TLM. I’ve been at this parish many years, and recognize only a handful of faces at the TLM.
This is not an average parish. Our parishioners are extremely well-educated, both in their secular pursuits and in their faith. The two daily Masses are well-attended. Many members are involved with Regnum Christi, Opus Dei, Cursillo, and other lay groups. There is a serious adult educational program — Fr. Groeschel is speaking at St. John’s this very evening. There are no guitars, no Haugen and Haus, no Our Father handholding, no altar girls, no priestly ad-libbing. There are always lines for confession at the scheduled times. We have more than 100 altar boys and, before the institution of the TLM, a half-dozen “master servers” who devoutly and reverently served at the old Novus Ordo “High Mass.” But people just don’t seem to feel the need for the TLM, and it’s hard to imagine the circumstances under which they would change their minds.
Is that a problem? Well, the TLM as celebrated at St. John’s is extremely expensive. The majority of parishioners who did not ask for and do not attend this Mass are, not surprisingly, probably not going to step up to the plate to increase their financial contributions so that this Mass can continue. The financial strains on the parish from this Mass are a source of some tension, which is a sad thing to see.
Here in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, which is still the 19th largest Diocese in the US with nearly 800,000 Catholics (not that all of them go to Mass each week)…..
There was exactly ONE parish – Holy Wisdom at St. Boniface Church – that offered the Extraordinary Form prior to Summorum Pontificum. Today, there is exactly ONE parish – Holy Wisdom at St. Boniface Church – that offers the Extraordinary Form. Not a lot of change.
My first Traditional Mass was at St. Mary’s in Washington, DC with my then-fiancee. I admit to not knowing much about it at the time. It took several attempts to understand what is doing on in the Traditional Mass. I made it a habit to go to St. Boniface for First Saturday Mass and I still go when I’m able – we have a five month old baby at home and I can’t always get there at 9AM but I go when I can. My wife, who was born and raised in Colombia, knows nothing of the Latin language. I find myself explaining a few Latin terms to her when a Papal Mass is on EWTN. Today, I am grateful for the Traditional Mass and that I have the ability to go. I rejoice with those who have posted here and told how it has enriched their lives as Catholics and I will pray for those who live in dioceses where MP has been ignored or worse.
The Traditional Mass is superior – I am not denigrating the Novus Ordo but it just isn’t the same as being at Mass worshiping the (nearly) same way as my ancestors and all those who have held – and spread – the Catholic faith throughout the world. I feel a connection to my ancestors who worshiped in the Traditional Mass – and the missionaries who evangelized two thirds of the Western Hemisphere – using the Latin Mass.
Deo Gratias!
Thank you, Father Z for such a fine blog.
I live in the Rochester diocese, but on its far SE corner, so that all of the major towns and the city near here, are in the Syracuse diocese. The city near here is Binghamton, NY. There has been one TLM here for several years, which may now be threatened. The older priest of a parish whose church still has a high altar, has said the TLM for a congregation of people from all over the area. HIs parish has been combined with another parish. One parish got to keep its church, blessedly the one with the high altar, and the other got to keep its pastor, sadly not the one who says the Latin mass. (although I hear he is a good preacher.) That priest has been transferred to a parish whose church is not well adapted to the TLM. Right now, no one knows what will happen. Perhaps they will adapt the new church a bit for the TLM? Perhaps the new pastor will let the old pastor come back to say the TLM? Prayers that this mass will be able to continue would be appreciated. The people who attend it have few other options. I imagine there might be one TLM in Syracuse, about 45 mins to an hour north. There is a FSSP parish about an hour south in Scranton Pa. But many people could not afford the gas to drive for two hours every Sunday.
I myself have been attending an Eastern rite parish, where the liturgy is very beautiful, reverent, and traditional. It is easier to transition to this liturgy because few parts are silent, and the people chant many responses. I had been to the TLM a few times, but have never quite “gotten” it. I was no good at silent active participation. But I believed that other people are, and being a a traditional type at heart, have “rooted for” the TLM and read this blog with interest. Recently reading this blog has made me think I should try again, and I have attended the TLM twice in the past month. I was beginning to feel less lost at it. And then to hear that it might not continue…please pray.
I think the attitude of most local clergy varies from hostility to indifference, underlined by the comment that they already say the three masses per Sunday that they are allowed to say, and people are already upset with them that the number of masses is being reduced as there are fewer and fewer priests. Even if they wanted to learn the TLM and even if they had the time, how could they justify using one of their 3 masses per Sunday to say a mass few of their parishioners are interested in? Of course, how can their parishioners be interested in something they are only vaguely aware exists.
Next week my husband and I are going to Oratory Summer School in Toronto, where I am sure there will be opportunities to attend the TLM. Last year we studied the Motu Proprio on the last day of the summer school.
Blessings to all. I hope this works this time; this is the second time I have typed this comment. I kept getting a message saying the anti spam word was wrong; I would type the new one and be told that was wrong also.
I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be able to contribute here. I just discovered this blog a few days ago, and for the most part, I knew of the Summorum Pontificum only in title until reading Fr. Z’s reflections on it. Because of my lack of knowledge of the document, this post is not really a reflection on it but instead a possible affirmation of its claims for the renewal of traditional practices.
Even without knowing about the Summorum Pontificum, or really, traditional Catholicism at all, I have unexpectedly been very much drawn to the traditional Catholic customs within the past year. I entered a public university this past year, and when I entered, I found something that I did not expect at my Newman Center: a group of devout, reverent, well-catechised, traditionally-minded Catholic young adult peers. I came from a “modern” Catholic parish growing up, and while our youth group was strong socially, we did not get the opportunity for as much catechesis as we probably should have, so the level of reverence and most of the theology they presented were completely new to me. At first, I was a little taken aback by how little I actually knew. However, as God’s grace helped me to receive the information they presented me, I found myself craving the reverent atmosphere and a greater level of understanding of Catholic traditional teaching. I even attended my first Latin Mass earlier this year on the Feast of Corpus Christi, loved it, and came back a second time. I hope to attend even more later. While it is new to me, and I cannot yet fully explain why I like it so much, I know that the level of reverence towards the Mass and the Blessed Sacrament is very refreshing and uplifting.
My knowledge of the Summorum Pontificum is very, very minimal, and I am still learning about many traditional Catholic practices, but I can attest to young adults’ cravings for the reverence called for by traditional practices and the traditional Catholic practices stemming deep into our heritage. I thank God that I have had these opportunities to grow in love and knowledge of my faith during this past year, and I look forward to learning even more throughout my lifetime. I hope that bishops and priests will be open to the Summorum Pontificum so that it can help to bring more reverence and adherence to tradition into the Mass.
God bless!
Kristin
Regarding the implementation of Summorum Pontificum, and the “recalcitrant” bishops, I’d like to relate an observation. In the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Fla., sheperded by Bishop Robert Lynch, the Tridentine rite has been available for years, but only one day per month, and recently offered weekly, only at the cathedral in St. Pete. In a recent mass honoring the 50 year anniversary of the diocese, Bishop Lynch, with Archbisop Lavada who is a former bishop of St. Pete, told the attending parishioners that the diocese of St. Pete is cheerfully a Second Vatican Council diocese and spoke gleefully of the spirit of Vatican II. Well, while those of us who have informed ourselves about what Vatican II really said (since the heirarchy never told us until recently) knew better than the obvious meaning of their commentary. That meaning was, palpably, that the Diocese of St. Petersburg would continue to be what it has been from the beginning, a place where tradition is frowned upon, mass is usually a mockery of our catholic tradition with hand-clapping, drums, guitars, liturgical innovations and at best piano music instead of using the organ that sits gathering dust. The Tridentine mass offered is little more than a prophylactic offered as little as possible over the years in order to keep the Commission on Ecclesia Dei off the bishop’s back. Yes, there are some “acceptable” masses offered in the area but we should not be relegated to finding an “acceptable” mass. My family drives 50 miles round trip to attend mass, as the parish literally 1 mile from our home is one that I REFUSE to inculturate my children in. Oh yes, catholic schools in our diocese are as likely to tell teenage girls that pre-marital sex is OK as they are to recommend abstinence. Bishop Lynch was confronted on this issue and took no action other than to recommend “counseling” for the person who complained! Sadly, there are other diocese’ in Florida infected with this same sin.
That being said, I would like to point out that the Tampa Bay area is rapidly growing and one day may be thought of as requiring its own archbishop. When that day comes I pray the Holy See has paid attention to what bishop Lynch and his predecessors have done here and has put the right pieces in the right places. The last thing this diocese needs, or the church at large for that matter, is an archbishop (or God forbid someday a cardinal!)that openly obstructs the pope and marginalizes much of his own flock.
Holy Father, help us!
“Is that a problem? Well, the TLM as celebrated at St John’s is extremely expensive. The majority of parishioners who did not ask for and do not attend this Mass…”
…might betray a popular misconception about the Holy Father’s motives for implementing Summorum Pontificum; namely, that it is only for those who prefer it, or who ask for it.
In fact, the good Father Z himself has repeatedly mentioned Pope Benedict’s “Marshall Plan.” It is for the whole Church of the Latin rite, including those who think they can live without it. (We cannot: “Save the liturgy. Save the world.”) Some parishes with a regular TLM effectively function as “magnets” for those from surrounding parishes. That is generally how it will be for this stage of things. They are also obliged to support where they attend, if they wish for the Traditional Mass to continue. This, in addition to their parish of record.
As to the TLM being “extremely expensive,” such would have already been the case with the “Latin Novus Ordo,” including the music program. Of the “more than 100 altar boys” at St John’s, many are from other parishes, including those that use altar girls. (Can you blame them?) When Father Groeschel appeared last night at St John’s, he spoke at length of the educational institutions that were built, from what little wealth was possessed by immigrant families of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The splendor of many urban churches that have been abandoned for the suburbs, stand today as testament to our forefathers. They would have had no qualms about having to “step up to the plate” financially, for enhancing worship that served the greater glory of God. Such a prospect should be less likely to offend residents of one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the Diocese.
Further, it is no surprise that a 10:30 am Mass is more convenient, therefore more crowded, than one that starts at noon. I cannot speak for those in charge, but it is likely that this was planned deliberately, to minimize the imposition on the parish at large.
I am available privately by e-mail to engage on this matter further. I present this in light of my own experience at the parish in question, therefore complying with the moderator’s intent of staying on topic, but also in defense of those priests whom I serve, and to set the record straight.
Arlington Diocese again:
Lest anyone think I am overly negative I would like to report the following at my parish St Timothy’s in Chantilly. I gave an altar missal to a priest who was a parochial vicar there about a couple of years before Summorum Pontificum. He expressed reservation about celebrating the EF. However, his curosity was piqued and he started studying the EF. Well, once Summorum Pontificum came along he started celebrating the EF on Wednesday nights. And low & behold, he is now on a one-year discernment at the FSSP!
The MP means that our family will have at least one good Mass option when we relocate to the South Bend area next month. Although we do not currently attend the TLM at our present parish (also St. John’s in McLean), we have been spoiled by the high level of orthodoxy at St. John’s and don’t want to settle for less in Indiana. We look forward to being part of the TLM community at Notre Dame, even if our family ends up finding a good parish home elsewhere, and are hopeful that there will be a good mix of students, faculty (and their families), and “townies” there. We are also hoping that our sons — who are used to being Knights of the Altar at St. John’s — will have the opportunity to serve at the TLM, since they have indicated in no uncertain terms that they won’t serve in “bathrobes” with girls, as is the case at every other parish we’ve visited in the area. Our college-age son would welcome the chance to meet other students who think guitars belong in bars rather than churches….
Everyone: These responses are very good.
I have benefited from reading them.
Thank you for abiding by my request to make this a place to post your thoughts without engaging in conversation.
Feel free to keep posting.
I will leave the combox on for your reflections.
Sandhurst Diocese. (Victoria Australia)
Unfortunately (as of yet) we have yet to succeed in obtain a regular Mass in our Parish of Wangaratta but I started the ‘Wangaratta Latin Mass Society’ about 2 years ago in anticipation that the Holy Father was going to release a document concerning the TLM….and didn’t he what. In light of the Motu Propio we renamed ourselves ‘Summorum Pontificum Wangaratta’ (or as Mons Culcains says ‘the supreme pontiffs of Wangaratta’ at our meeting with him over easter ;) )
There are but one or two priests who show any interest at all in the old Mass in the diocese of Sandhurst and with Sandhurst being as large as it is it’s very hard to obtain the Priests services when they live almost 3 hours drive away. We have had 6 masses in the last year with the help of visiting priests but we really need a priest from a Fraternity to be able to reside in the area and provide us with the Ex-Form on a regular basis as the local priests wish not to say it. It’s very sad but we get there. Our last Mass was on June 29 (I sent you an email, Fr. ;) ) where we had over 80 people in attendance and also a baptism and 2 first communicants just to add some lovely icing on the cake.
The Bishop of Sandhurst, Joseph Grech, has been very supportive toward us but is a little hesitant inn allowing a Fraternity to move in. But I know he will allow it in time.
Keep summorum Pontificum Wangaratta in your prayers, it’s wonderful to see the youngsters of Wang getting into the Traddy liturgy and also the beaming smiles on the elder peoples faces when they assist at the Mass they grew up with.
Marty
Perhaps I am the only one here. But after a full year of participation at an EF parish, I was disappointed by the bitter attitude of the priests and the parishioners. Especially concerning the OF, Vatican II, and JPII. The priests seemed to make it a point to bash the OF whenever possible, and many of the parishioners were against attending it. I am now back where my heart is, attending an OF mass regularly. I would rather that the abuses were gone and that every OF was celebrated to the 1970 Missal, for that is my preference, but the bitterness just didn’t sit well with me.
Sorry to be so late in posting this, but I have been on the road in Europe for the past month.
As to Summorum Pontificum, I can honestly say that it has had very little impact on my diocese in Tennessee, partly because our bishop has made it clear that he does not care to encourage its use beyond a couple of parishes where the Extraordinary Form is being said each Sunday. I believe the phrase he used to describe his attitude towards the Extraordinary Form was that he wanted “to contain it.” And so, the liturgical nightmares here continue from the top down.
However as for what Summorum Pontificum has meant to the Universal Church, I certainly agree that the de-restriction of the Extraordinary Form has been a great blessing and is an integral part of what is needed to recover the sense of the sacred in the liturgy. It will, in time, enhance a more reverent celebration of the Novus Ordo and will establish that continuity that Pope Benedict is calling for in his “Marshall Plan” for the Church.
While traveling Europe, from Rome to Ireland, I attended Mass each day in a variety of locations: from St. Peter’s Basilica to a Cistercian monastery in a remote part of Ireland; from the Carmel in Lisieux to Brompton Oratory in London. The Masses I attended were in both the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms. Despite the varieties of locations, I noticed that the priests celebrating these Masses were most definitely more reverent in the manner of celebration, with much less ad libbing, much more attention to establishing a sense of the sacred, and a much more generous use of Latin than in my previous trips to Europe the last 20 years. There is no doubt that the papacy of Benedict XVI and the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum has had a positive effect on all the Masses I attended.
Slowly but surely, brick by brick, the liturgical scenery is changing for the better. While there is much more work to be done, it’s been a very exciting and positive year for the Church.
I’m a 22 year old university student in Columbus, OH. I went to my first EFM 2 years ago at the indult parish here in Columbus and hadn’t returned until about 5 weeks ago. When I went the first time it was so foreign to me that I wasn’t really sure what to think, and I had no real desire to return. I even have been following the liturgical developments and the release of the Motu Proprio w/Pope Benedict.
One of my friends, though, is very much in love with the EF and he was coming up to go to a low Mass…the indult parish now offers the EF 4 days a week. It was going to the Low Mass that really grabbed me. I left saying, “There’s something so right about this”, and ever since I have been going about three times a week.
I love this Mass because it is so centered on the Trinity, and not us. It is so beautiful and it has reawakened my faith again! Deo Gratias!
I as a member of that parish that Matt Q was talking about: (St. Thérèse) and a friend of the priest who offers Mass for us there (Fr. Bishop CMF)
The impact is slow, but growing. I didn’t know that the priests in the Archdiocese weren’t allowed to say the Gregorian Mass.
The change in the approach to Liturgy is definately there! Especially at St. Thérèe)
Dear Father:
With all due respect to those who prefer the Extraordinary Rite, I don’t, although I attended at least 5 different ones (3 High, 2 Low). I can’t adjust myself to the Eucharistic Prayer being only between the priest and God. Throughout the Low Masses, you could barely even hear the priest. I also like the Old Testament reading, and the active participation of the laity. I am still undecided if I like the priest’s back facing the people.
What I hope for that the Novus Ordo will become more solemn as a result of the Holy Father liberalizing the usage of the Tridentine Rite.
I also like the role of lay people serving at mass when it is appropriate.
One priest friend told me that before the SVC, it was common for priests to rush through the Latin. Now, a lot of things are making sense to me, like why we used to have multiple altars in certain churches and would have multiple masses said side by side at the same time.
I still don’t understand the role of the priest’s hat. My daughter asked me why he was allowed to wear a hat and her brothers couldn’t. I was disappointed, however, that the Catholics attending the Rite were not dressed appropriately. Even the senior citizens came in shorts!
There really is something to be said about the Liturgy drawing both the priest and the people closer to God through the sacrifice of the Mass and I hope that both rites accomplish just that.
When our Archbishop sent us a new Pastor about a year ago and the liturgical abuses began, my wife and I did not know what we were going to do. We had come to this parish about 3 or 4 years ago so as to avoid the liturgical craziness that exists in the county. Now, our haven from liturgical abuse was being taken away from us as was our beloved Pastor.
After many discussions with the new Pastor and being told by him that “I am not going to celebrate Mass in a way that makes me uncomfortable” which means when translated ‘I will not follow the GIRM’ and after complaining to the Chancery only to have nothing happen, except that Father got worse in his liturgical abuses and was now preaching dissent….my wife and I knew that it was time to move on. The problem was that the parishes in the area are in general really bad when it comes to orthodoxy and the liturgy.
During this time, the MP was released and many of us from this parish found refuge in the Extraordinary Form (although we must drive at least an hour away to get there). We are in the process of getting the EF of the Mass in our county at least once a month through an MP request and we hope that eventually the EF will be available more often in our county as interest grows.
In a nutshell, I would say that the MP is something that has given us Catholics, like me and my wife, who are subjected to dissent and disobedience from those in the priesthood and the Episcopate, hope, a way to try to defend ourselves against spiritual abuse, and a way to remain Catholic in a place where the forces within the Church really discourage one from accepting and living the faith in its fullness.
Celebrate, on my own natal anniversary, the gift to the world of the full freedom of Christ’s Church to worship with all due reverence and glory our Father and Creator God in the holy Rite dated from the year of my natal anniversary.
Quid retribuam Domino…
What Motu Propio?
I am blessed to live in the diocese of Raleigh where our bishop obviously a man of prayer has modeled obedience to Our Holy Father. That sets the pace. Second I have personally witnessed an evidence of a deeper understanding and love for what priesthood is by both those priests who have stepped up to the plate (personalwhether from desire or service to their people or both) and the laity. Third….people are beginning to ‘get it’….It is The Unbloody SACRIFICE !!!! Even those who are not avid fans of the Tridentine Rite have verbalized the need for reverence, ad orientem posture, kneeling and Latin…..the dominoes are beginning to fall…Praise God…..thank you Pope Benedict……
Nothing has changed in the Diocese of Dodge City. The last extraordinary form of the Mass here was celebrated before Summorum Pontificum was promulgated, on the feast of SS Peter and Paul, in 2006, I believe. It was a newly ordained FSSP priest, saying his first Mass (if I remember correctly). Since then, the diocese has remained in its state of liturgy where abuses are prevalent, and ignorance is all too common. However, I have hope in my generation, and younger priests to be more orthodox and traditional. God, please bless the Diocese of Dodge City with a devout, and beautiful liturgy.
In the diocese of Helsinki we have some encouraging interest in the TLM. We only have about ten thousand Catholics in the whole country, so is a TLM attracts 30-50 people I think it definately shows interest. Our bishop wrote a rather strict letter concerning the implementation of the motu proprio, nevertheless, he has never prevented us from getting priests in from abroad to celebrate the TLM. So last year the TLM was celbrated in Finland for the first time in forty years. Since then we have had a few priests over, including Fr. Tim Finigan.
As for the reform of the reform or mutual enrichment, there really hasn’t been any of that. I mean, we’ve always had some Gregorian chant, and we sing the Kyrie, Gloria etc. in Latin, but the altar set up hasn’t changed and it is still the norm to receive Communion standing and in the hand.
Our bishop was recently moved to another diocese, and so we pray for a bishop who will understand the Holy Father’s reforms and continue to allow us to celebrate the TLM. All prayers are very welcome.
I am currently living in the San Jose, CA diocese but am originally from Monterey.
At the beginning of last year, six months prior to the motu propio, Bishop Patrick McGrath regularized a small oratory, The Oratory of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Santa Clara, at which the TLM previously had been and is still exclusively celebrated. My wife and I began attending Mass there when it was regularized and, beside attending Divine Liturgy at a nearby Byzantine Catholic church, do so quite regularly.
Concerning the Monterey diocese, a TLM has been celebrated at the diocese’s southern tip since the motu propio was released. Geographically, this location is way off the beaten path for many in the diocese, so, shortly before the chimes tolled in the first anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, a long anticipated TLM was celebrated near the northern border of the diocese at Mission San Juan Bautista last Sunday, June 29. I was so happy for the diocese that, despite the ability to only drive 15 minutes to Santa Clara, I (with my wife’s blessing, of course) drove an hour with my wife and our son to the mission for Mass. The TLM fit hand and glove with the well-preserved, original Spanish architecture of the old mission church. And, as far as attendance is concerned, it was standing room only. A high Mass was celebrated with the apt accompaniment of a well-trained choir who was situated in the center of the church, presumably to make the most of its acoustics. During the offertory, many people standing away from the pews scurried over to the men taking the collection in order to contribute their tokens of appreciation for the Mass. The grapevine in the Monterey diocese now carries news that if the demand keeps up, there may just be a regular TLM at a very central location for the diocese in Seaside. If that indeed happens, that would mean three regular Sunday TLM’s being celebrated at three well-spread-out locations in the diocese. Talk about fruit of Summorum Pontificum. God bless Bishop Richard Garcia!
In the Southern Maryland portion of the AD of Washington not much has changed in one year. I have heard of one local priest that will be attending TLM training being given by some traditional institute. Being a cradle Catholic, I had always heard about the “old Latin Mass”, but never had experienced it for myself. When the SP came out the diocesan paper ran a story on where the TLM was located in the AD. of W. That peaked my curiosity, and I went to my first TLM at St. Francis de Sales parish in Benedict MD. After that first Low Mass, I was convinced this was the way I wanted to worship. Later I attended a Missa Cantata there that was simply beautiful. My overwhelming thoughts were: how could the Church have abandoned all this beauty and reverence after VCII. After attending a few TLMs, I made the decision to join the parish and now attend the TLM regularly. I even wrote a thank you letter to Pope Benedict via the Ecclesia Dei Commission. Just recently I went to a Solemn High Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in DC. I was so impressed by the reverence in which the priests of the FSSP said Holy Mass, and the schola sang the chants, it was truly a beautiful and holy experience. I must also note, that I have enjoyed the TLMs that EWTN has televised. EWTN’s support will go along way in introducing and educating the public on the TLM.
May God Bless Pope Benedict and give him length of Days.
When the motu came out, our pastor told us that there wasn’t going to be any EF stuff happening in our parish, because none of our priests knew the EF (not strictly true of our oldest retired priest, but he was having serious health problems). He also said that they didn’t have enough time to learn it, either, so don’t even bother bothering him about it. If you wanted the EF, you could go to the Dayton indult Mass. This was disappointing to me; but honestly, it shouldn’t have been surprising to me. Our parish is pretty scheduled up already, and the pastor is a decent priest but also has health problems. So he just doesn’t want to take any trouble that isn’t absolutely necessary. And since we have some really witchy people who absolutely hate Latin, it would certainly cause him trouble.
I can’t honestly say I’m “attached” to the EF, but since we have a lot of older people in our parish and a lot of their funerals, I honestly feel that they’d get a lot of benefit. Also, I think kids (and everybody else) should get a chance to be exposed to more of their heritage. Having both forms just seems like an obvious thing to do — like having a school, or Perpetual Adoration, or restrooms.
Anyway, I’ve been doing a bit of educating myself on stuff like Latin and chant, and I hope we can sneak some more of that in. We are scheduled to get a new bishop in a couple years, and we have a new priest now who actually got to learn Latin in the seminary; so maybe implementation of Summorum Pontificum isn’t all that far off.
One priest friend told me that before the SVC, it was common for priests to rush through the Latin. Now, a lot of things are making sense to me, like why we used to have multiple altars in certain churches and would have multiple masses said side by side at the same time.
Comment by DJP
What is the age of the priest who made the remark about rushing through Latin mass? Did he ever habitually say the old mass, or is he just giving you the company line?
My guess is that the number of priests then who rushed through mass in Latin is probably less than the number of priests now who change the words (“He broke the bread, gave it to his friends“), invent their own rubrics (which are often hand gestures), or generally ham it up during the canon.
Reporting from the Diocese of Savannah there has been some small glimmers of hope, pushed from the bottom up and not the top down.
The only weekly TLM remains the one in Savannah that was an indult parish before SP. It has changed venue from their small church to the Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Savannah.
The only other regularly scheduled TLM is a once a month done in Macon at St Joseph.
I know of a TLM that was done in the Valdosta AREA but it was a one off event.
My home town parish remains heterodox and quasi-Baptist (they even have Baptist literature right next to the copies of America in the racks in the Narthex) and the pastor there, who put into writing in the bulletin his opposition to SP immediately after it was published has not been admonished, but was recently promoted to Monsignor.
The Diocesian Newspaper (Southern Cross) rarely runs articles about the re-establishment of Catholic Identity of any sort, let alone about the TLM, but when it does the articles run negative to positive at the rate of 3 to 1, and the negative ones seem always to be writen by clergy or scholars, while the positive ones are by the laity. In short the overall “feel” is one of anti-SP in this Diocese.
On the up side, I can not escape the feeling that my own personal prayers are continually answered. Re-embracing my faith in 2005 after 2 decades of alternating between tepid practice and no practice I prayed fervently for God to lead me. I did so because I was not getting very much from the horrible masses and worse homilies at my home town Parish. I knew I needed to be there, but I wasn’t feeling engaged no matter how much I participated. When SP was released I know only vaguely of the TLM and had grown up with the words “Vatican II changed all that” no matter what the subkect was, echoing in my head. When SP was released I started to investigate, and the more I did the more my heart soared, and the more I prayed for God to lead me to where the faith that produces THESE masses is practiced. Those prayers were answered when the TLM was introduced at Macon. It is a 45 minute drive for me to attend, but despite the price of gas it is a trip I make gladly not just for the TLM but even for the OF masses on the other weeks because there I feel Catholic. My heart soars as I sing, tears of joy frequently stain my face when I receive, and I know that I, one insignificant sinner, stuck in Middle Georgia has had his prayers answered by God on high. For me, the release of SP has worked miracles on a personal level. In the Diocese there are glimmers of hope, but only minor progress.
My conclusion is we need more prayers, more penance, more patience, and more perserverance.
Paul VI built the Wall and exiled Tradition behind it, in the
cultural and liturgical equivalent of an “East Berlin”.
John Paul II opened a few heavily guarded checkpoints to permit a trickle of
traffic through the wall.
Benedict XVI was the one to finally say: “Tear down this wall!”
Though there has been no appreciable change in my diocese, this act has
definitively taken the “radioactive” sticker off Tradition. I’ve noticed
a major change among friends and relatives. And this alone demonstrates
a monumental paradigm shift. I have more Faith, Hope and Love now because of SP.
Thank you Holy Father!
One year later, we just had announced that the Traditional Latin Mass will be offered at our parish at 11 a.m. as the main Mass each Sunday, after 12 years of blood, sweat, tears, sacrifices and prayers and moving between three different churches.
Our parish of Prince of Peace in Taylors, SC, will have a weekly Missa Cantata at 11 a.m. in a parish of more than 2,000 families. We will also have a regular Wed. a.m. Traditional Latin Mass and a first Saturday Traditional Latin Mass at 8:30 a.m.
Deo Gratias!
Carthusian, just reading your comment, there is a TLM parish in Saskatoon.
2 hours away (you mentioned there was nothing closer than 5 hours).
Our Lady of Czestochowa. They have a Missa Cantata every Sunday at 9AM.
A good friend goes there. The priest gave their baby a Traditional Form baptism
recently.
On another note, though SP hasn’t changed my diocese (Regina) it has made
the EF more accessible when I travel.
Here are my EF attendance statistics to prove my point.
2006 – 2 masses
2007 – 5 masses
2008 – 8 masses so far!
Last June I attended the workshop at Denton for priests to learn how to say the (then-labeled) Tridentine Mass. I should say I attended with the blessing of my ordinary who had created an Oratory for the ICKSP in the see city of the diocese only a year before. The training was excellent, top-notch, and a great deal of background (not only the what, but the why). I was elated on 7/7/07 with the promulgation of S.P. I continued to hone my skills by working with the pro-rector of the aforementioned oratory throughout the summer and into the fall, all the while practicing on my own. Finally, late last October, I celebrated Mass in the extraordinary form for the first time. It was a truly “private” Mass at an unannounced time in an oratory far from home. In attendance were our Blessed Mother, Angels, Saints and one seminary classmate who is a priest in another diocese. It was a beautiful way of praying the Mass. On All Soul’s day, we had our first public parish Mass – a sung Requiem in the extraordinary form. It was well-attended, drawing nearly 300 souls. About a month later, I offered Mass in the EF on the First Sunday of ADvent, and I have continued to do so every Sunday since (when I have been absent, another priest has come in to offer this Mass). On average, we have only 35-40 souls in attendance at each Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary form. I wonder whether the time is bad (1230pm – so as not to conflict with the established parish Mass schedule) or if we have not suitably promoted this Mass. One ray of hope is the large proportion of students who attend (during the school year) from nearby Benedictine College – including several young men who have since learned to serve the Mass in the E.F. On disappointment is the lack of interest and the great difficulty I have been having in establishing a proper schola.
S.P. has made an impact upon my parish (however small the attendance at the 1230 Mass is) it has impacted upon my own understanding of the priesthood and therefore upon my celebration of Mass in either form. Sometimes, however, I feel like that householder, or rather perhaps like the servant of the householder, you know, the one from the Gospel who planned a sumptuous banquet for his friends, for his neighbors, well the servant knows how tremendous this will be, so he shares the householder’s disappointment when he goes out to tell the neighbors about it and they are all more interested in lesser affairs. There is such a tremendous richness present in Mass in the E.F. despite what some may term as “obstacles” (i.e. ancient language, etc.) and so few avail themselves of this incredible opportunity.
I will continue to offer this Mass as long as I am able, I will continue to promote it, I will continue to seek to develop a regular sung Mass attended to by a proper schola and I will pray for the patience of an arborist who plants a sapling one spring in hopes that a mighty oak may one day occupy that space providing majestic shade for those around it. Rome was not built in a day, it would be unreasonable to assume that the patrimony of the Roman church will be restored by the single stroke of a pen.
It was on EWTN (September 2007) where I saw and experience my first ever Latin/Gregorian Rite Mass. It was very reverent and solemn and I can still feel the tears flowing from my eyes during the entire Sacrifice. Right there and then, I know this is the Mass of all ages – a communion between heaven and earth.
Now, I’m attending the TLM every Sunday and what a beautiful experience. On Sanctus Sanctus, I can absolutely feel and envision all the Choirs of Angels descending from Heaven to the main altar to adore and glorify the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist.
I love you Pope Benedict XVI. All honor, praise and glory to Jesus Christ.
I’ve already posted above, but after reading the many subsequent posts I thought it was important to share one other observation. Some of us have noted the changes of attitude toward the TLM and traddies by clerics and laymen alike. I’ve seen two very significant manifestations of that in my area.
Every year we take a “vendor”/exhibitor table at our diocesan’s religious ed workshop day. Ours is hardly comparable to Cardinal
BalonyMahony’s annual dissent-fest but as you can imagine it has usually been a somewhat unfriendly crowd. A few actively hostile folks who insisted upon engaging in arguments, but mostly just the averted glances and abrupt turns one might expect from someone approaching a leper.This year, for the first time, we were actually treated almost like normal people. A number of priests and deacons stopped-by looking for resources – without first peering around to make sure nobody saw then at our table – and a few pantsuited sisters and DREs even came over to ask questions. It was a very surprising contrast to the previous several years.
Also there has been a noticeable thaw in the diocesan newspaper which now actually reports on newsworthy events related to the local TLMs. Pre-SP, we used to joke that if a fire ever broke out during the TLM, the headline in the diocesan paper would consist of: “Fire at Holy Name Church Traced to Excessive Use of Candles and Incense, Antiques Damaged”!
It’s apparent that the direct experience of the fruits of SP vary widely.
In my own case – I happened to move out of my old diocese of Venice, Florida right before the motu proprio, and thus missed the new impetus given to the EF by the new ordinary, Bishop Dewane. There has been little change in my new community – the archdiocese of Washington – but it’s tolerable for me since there was already a parish in a beautiful church (Old St. John’s in Silver Springs) literally just up the street.
But then again I’m back in Poland after a two year absence – and from having no traditional masses at all, Krakow now offers a regular FSSP missa cantata in two locations, and several other churches offer a Latin N.O. or TLM on their own hook, including the cathedral basilica itself. My only complaint is the lack of a daily public mass.
I could not help but read Fr. Totton’s comment directly above – and this illustrates the wide variety at work. You’re plainly in the Kansas City Mo diocese, under Bishop Finn, Father – and I think the only real problem is that KC has an embarrassment of riches to offer to traditionalists, since they have the ICK parish in KCMO, the FSSP parish in KCK, the SSPX chapel (yes, I know), and a semi-Latin NO at Our Lady of Good Counsel. Even so, maybe you just need to get the word out more (your advantage is that there’s no other such service in the northland, from where I used to have to drive a good 40-45 minutes down to Blessed Sacrament to attend a TLM) – what a wonderful problem to have in your diocese.
In Southern California, Diocese of San Bernardino, I see little change. I twice requested the Tridentine Mass from my new (now former) parish priest and was simply dismissed. Per the priest, the Diocese and Bishop were in charge. I politely pointed out the sections of Summorum Pontificum that clearly stated that the parish priest is in control, and again the response was the Diocese and Bishop are in charge.
Ultimately, I changed parishes to San Secondo d’ Asti and am happier. I get the Tridentine Mass every Sunday, confession is offered before every Mass, and even the Novus Order Mass is done with (my opinion) fidelity to the intent of Vatican II – the alter is still against the wall, altar rails, the priests face East, and I don’t have to listen to a bunch of protestant songs without mention of the Saints, the Eucharist or the Ever Virgin Mary.
Although I began to attend the Tridentine Mass prior to the Summorum Pontificum, the SP has opened my eyes further. I am happier with my faith, my parish and the Church. What has surprised me can be found at my old parish. I am surprised by some of the responses when discussing the Tridentine Mass. They seem to love their parish (or priest) more than they love the Mass. Also, most Catholics do not know of their rights to the Tridentine Mass (and at a Novus Order parish, they will not inform you of your rights to the Tridentine Mass).
I miss my friends at my old parish, but I now love the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass more than ever.
Dear Fr. Zuhlsdorf:
I live within the geographic area of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and, to the best of my knowledge, neither His Eminence, Roger Cardinal Mahony, nor his fellow bishops of the several diocese here, have seen fit to comment about His Holiness’ encyclical, Summorum Pontificorum”.
It is fortunate for me, however, that for the past 21 years, I have been a member of a Russian Catholic parish, St. Andrew Church, and we have celebrated and served the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and have been fed with the spiritual treasures of the East. Recently, and through the kindness of His Eminence, I was able to change my rite from Roman to Eastern Catholic.
Regardless of my change in rite, I value the spiritual treasures of both East and West, and appreciate the patrimony of the west.
It is unfortunate, however, that due to the interest of the Los Angeles Archdiocese in other priorities, I have been privileged only twice to be present at a Latin Mass, the first served by an English priest with an indult to serve the usus antiquior, and the second for the (Novus Ordo) requiem mass of the father of a friend of mine (who was a doctoral candidate in Mediaeval History). At both events I helped to sing the Gregorian Chant propers and ordinary, and my knowledge of Latin was sufficient that I could follow everything chanted or read, including the Epistle and Gospel readings.
I write now, not so much to speak about what Summorum Pontificorum means to me, but what it means for many of my Orthodox and Eastern Catholic friends: we are both hopeful that it will mean that Roman Catholics will have the opportunity to return to a divine liturgy informed by Holy Tradition.
In New Orleans things are improving slowly but steadily.
St. Patrick’s is a downtown parish that has offered the EF every Sunday morning (and on other scheduled and special occasions) ever since the original indult. Before the indult a very trad-feeling ad orientem mass in the Novus Ordo had been celebrated there from the time of the Council. How many American parishes can claim to have celebrated mass in Latin, with the celebrant ad orientem, virtually every Sunday for 175 years? St. Patrick’s continues to feature the EF every Sunday morning, now followed by solemn mass in the OF. Attendance at the EF is steady and substantial, if by no means overflowing; the solemn mass in the OF immediately following draws about a third as many. This second mass – the one in the OF – is frequently celebrated by the rector of the archdiocesan seminary, which is encouraging, given that it too makes healthy use of Latin, the ad orientem posture, communion rail, etc.
Since the promulgation of SP, the archdiocese of NO issued instructions purporting to regulate the celebration of masses in the EF. Not exactly a prohibition, but an obnoxious bureaucratic obstacle IMHO. Happily, the required vetting of clergy has been assigned to the pastor of St. Patrick’s, who feels strongly about fostering and encouraging wider celebration according to the traditional form. In practice, the EF in this archdiocese is available to any pastor willing to make the effort.
Clergy from around the archdiocese of NO were invited to assist at a solemn mass in the EF celebrated at St. Patrick’s last September 14: I’d guess about thirty showed up in choir, plus some ecumenical guests who observed from the pews. Another opportunity to showcase the EF came in April at a solemn mass in choro episcopo – a form of the mass not seen here for 50 years. This latter liturgy naturally attracted a great deal of attention from corners of the chancery and the province that ordinarily wouldn’t give a fig about the EF.
Other parishes: since SP, the suburban parish of St. Benilde has initiated a weekly mass in the EF, Sunday mornings at 7.00. I hear it has attracted a loyal following in respectable numbers. On the feast of Corpus Christi the parish of St. Dominic (devastated by flood after hurricane Katrina) hosted a Missa Cantata in the EF – sadly underattended because of torrential rain. Jesuits and at least one Dominican have lately been showing up on Sunday mornings at St. Patrick’s, where twice in the past month the Sunday EF mass was celebrated by the visiting pro tem pastor from the neighboring Jesuit parish (shortly bound for Rome, I hear). I can think of one, possibly two other Jesuits (also younger men) likely to attempt the EF soon. Finally, just this afternoon I heard that the new pastor of another, established older parish here is very well disposed to the EF (which he has celebrated in private). This priest has already taken steps to make liturgy at his new parish more traditional, and plans to introduce his people to the EF as soon as he’s more confident in his Latin.
I have been attending a FSSP parish in Sacramento, CA for 7 years, so the TLM is not new here. However, since SP I have found myself more comfortable among other catholics. Only a year ago, if I mentioned that I attended a TLM I was given suspicious looks and asked derogatory questions. Now I receive smiles and asked polite questions of interest. We have seen more and more new faces at our parish and I think we are truly accepted by many in a new and refreshing way. I can only thank God for a bishop who has shown us unusual support and gave us full parish status last year.
Viva Benedict!
Glad to hear that the Coastal area and Middle Georgia have something positive happening but still nothing here in the outlands of West Georgia. Macon is 90 miles away, Atlanta 100 miles, Savannah even further.
If I could get past the front page of the Southern Cross I would know about the TLM’s in Macon and Savannah but after reading about a procession with an Episcopal priestess to the Cathedral to honor her ‘creative liturgy’ or a report on the new labyrinth, centering prayer retreats, etc… I lose focus on the rest of the paper.
I am also prayerful( years and years and years in fact of prayer and fasting ) as is Templar but some action is necessary such as good appointments. We are still rushing headlong to extinction ‘in the spirit of Vatican II’ whatever that is.
Having read all these posts, some of them several times, I am inspired to try and go to the Toronto Oratory for Sunday Mass. Nary a mention of the TLM or the MP around here. But things are getting so bad that we have to do something; I fear especially for my husband who converted only five years ago and is now completely “disillusioned”. There has to be a better way than being on tenterhooks every Sunday wondering what antics Father will come up with this time and feeling cheated, hungry and mad (not very edifying but this is the truth). We now have regular dramatizations of the gospel by female readers and the priest at Mass, a repertoire of finger snapping, toe-tapping hymns from the red Gather hymnal and often exclusively female Extraordinary Ministers of Communion. We’ve also had 0 catechumens for 3 years running, dropping Mass attendance, no children’s liturgy, no youth program…..just constant tinkering with the liturgy.
Currently there are three parishes in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, which
offer the Latin Mass. In the parish in which I attend, there appears to be an
increasing number of parishioners at the Latin Mass. What a joy it is to witness
families with their children who are developing respect for our traditions. For
many many years I was faithful to the Novus Ordo;howver, it was very apparent
to me that the Masses were being choreographed for the adulation of the “cantor” o
or the priest. At some Masses, crystal wine goblets were used for the consecration and dist
and distribution of the Blood of Our Lord while gold vessels were locked
in the sacristy. In general, the homilies at these Masses were anything EXCEPT the
teachings of the Church. After the motu proprio was issued I started attending
the Latin Mass and I am grateful to the Holy Father for his prayerful insight
into this need in the Church. I am not holding my breath, however, waiting
for Archbishop Wuerl, to offer a Latin Mass at my parish.
the Latin Mass and
To my sister Rose in Toronto.
I sympathize with your plight up there, as my brother lives in Toronto and regularly informs me of the insanity practiced by Latin rite churches there. He also does not attend mass any longer. That is truly a shame, and the sin of that omission is square on the head of your bishop. The truth is there are bishops who will not willingly obey the Holy See, as they are the reason we are in the mess we are. They grew up loving this lunacy and must be forced to change. The Holy Father can’t do it all by himself, so here is the strategy I have adopted;
1. Do not financially support parishes that obstruct SP. Their bottom-line is what will get their attention.
2. Do not attend such parishes either. If a better one is too far away, then consult your conscience on how to proceed. I know the requirements of canon law, but being in their pews only empowers such traitors.
3. Inform on disobedient priests and bishops, TO ROME. You have that right and the smoke of battle must continue to rise to the Curia.
4. Write to your bishop and INFORM him why you do not support his diocese financially or in attendance, whichever may be the case. He should know, and reading this puts the onus squarely on HIS conscience.
I may sound a bit militant, but really, the politeness with which we treat many of our bishops and their priests is neither warranted or returned. As long as they can eat their next meal and live without obeying their ordination oaths, they will. Waiting for them to retire and be replaced is too long. Too many souls are in peril due to their sinful attitudes and actions, and their only hope of change is from the Holy See and US.
I personally think many such bishops are desperately needed for our brethren in Iraq or in missionary fields in places such as Afghanistan, or certain yet to be catholicized African regions. Certainly their talents would best serve Holy Mother Church there. And, new ordinaries could then be appointed to help save the civilized world before it crumbles. Just a suggestion.
Resist the recalcitrant, and pray daily for our Holy Father!
Deus lo Vult!
I just want to thank our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who, even before “Summorum Pontificum”, I have been calling the Great. Until this document I was told by many priests in the seminaries that I have attended that my attachment to traditional spiritual practices (the Mass, Breviary, etc…) was a sign that I lacked a real vocation and that I probably hate the Church. Thank God we have a Pope and I am blessed with the best bishop in America who both know to the contrary.
For me, Summorum Pontificum, made me feel like the love that I have for the TLM is indeed a good thing and in complete unity of faith with the mind of the Church. Thank You Holy Father, you have saved many vocations!
Oh, that last post reminded me with the comment referring to Pope Benedict XVI as the “Great.” I couldn’t agree more! However, I am rather tired of hearing John Paul II called “The Great.” In fact, I’m sick of it. What was he great at? Sure, he helped topple Soviet communism in a major way, but he did so with the assistance, or was it the other way around, of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Toppling Soviet communism was their policy, not the church’s. John Paul II merely helped. So, again I ask, what was he “great” at, or for?
Well he was great with children you may say. So? Are the youth of our world, or even the catholic church any holier for it? Look around. Teen sex, casual drug use, heavy-metal music, wicca and worse are pandemic. Where’s the effect of JPII? I watched his pontificate over the two long decades and now scratch my head whenever I hear some one fawn over him. He must have spent half the Vatican treasury with his incredible travel itinerary, and failed to obtain the obedience of his bishops to his two attempts to reinstate the TLM. When it was apparent to all that his bishops scoffed at his decrees, he just melted away to another foreign visit and didn’t discipline them. Now, Pope Benedict XVI has to pick up these pieces and try to rubber-band the catholic church together again. He did, however, smile copiously, but as far as I can tell that in itself did nothing to further the Kingdom of God. His TLM attempts, and his experience with the Commission on Ecclesia Dei demonstrate that he knew full well what was going on but chose to ignore it as too painful or controversial to deal decisively with. What’s “great” about that? Please!
Let’s stop toadying to JPII, which is really toadying to the disobedient clergy who loved him because they could get away with anything whilst he reigned, and start using such adjectives to describe the greatest pope since Pius X, our current Holy Father.
The catholic church is a burned-out heap lying on the floor, full of “faithful” who understand less about their church than protestants do, while they clap their hands (except when extending them irreverently to recieve the body of our Saviour) during holy mass. They are everywhere. Indeed, they may BE the church. Yet, there are still those who deeply love our Holy Mother Church and her traditions. At least WE should not patronize the foolishness of prior pontiffs and put credit and admiration where it is truly due.
To all I apologize for the angry tone here, but seeing the church I love decimated from within invokes such emotion that I think fire must be fought with fire, not “tolerance.” After all, are the “spirit of Vatican II” liberals at all tolerant of us, or the tradition we love? NOT!
God bless Pope Benedict XVI!
Deus lo Vult!
I am intrigued by John’s comment (@12.30 pm) that Pope John-Paul II had two attempts at reinstating the TLM. This is the first time I have read this. I wonder why this information was not more widely known at the time?
“I am rather tired of hearing John Paul II called “The Great.” In fact, I’m sick of it.”
I am rather tired of hearing people constantly berate a saint. In fact, I’m sick of it.
Ioannes Paulus Magnus, ora pro nobis!
Well, Geoffrey, with all due respect, I haven’t yet heard of his canonization. Have you?
Yes, by all means, John Paul (sans the Magnus), pray for us!
Anyway, can you refute my comments? What did JPII do for the traditionalists that even remotely compares with SP? The Commission on Ecclesia Dei? I think not, as it possessed no “hammer.” A “commission” is a bureaucratic means of coping with an issue, not solving it. All that was needed was a DECREE.
John: Pope John Paul the Great was not the pope of “traditionalists” only. He was the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, head of us all. He placed a lot of trust in his brother bishops. He expected them to be generous with Ecclesia Dei. They weren’t. He looked into a “universal indult” but died before he could do anything about it. His last encyclical was on the Eucharist, an encyclical well-received by even Bishop Fellay, which astounds me, personally. I have no doubt John Paul the Great would have tackled the liturgy next, had his glorious reign been longer. Pope Benedict XVI, who has even referred to the Servant of God John Paul as being in heaven, is simply picking up where he left off.
Geoffrey:
I’m sorry, I simply do not agree. I grew up in the wake of Vatican II remembering the old mass and ways, and wondering what happened to my church. I also remember JPII’s pontificate well, and the behavior of the bishops and their priests, to say nothing of the seminaries and the unfolding sex abuse scandal left even the liberals wondering what was going on. Yes, Pope John Paul II was our Supreme Pontiff of our Universal Church. As such, he had a responsibility to those who in good conscience resisted the abhorrent innovations and suffered for it. The bishops ran amuk and he did nothing about it. Perhaps he would have followed the path that Benedict XVI is, but that will never be known and he wouldn’t have had to if he had set the tone early in his reign. It would be a done deal.
I’m sure JPII was a holy man, and I don’t doubt for a minute he is in heaven with our Lord. However, there is a difference between holiness and leadership ability, and as a leader, I didn’t see that kind of sand in him.
Being pontiff must be an extremely difficult job. Remember: “By their fruits you will know them.”
Frankly, I wish I had no basis for my observations, as I’d much rather have had a strong catholic church all these years, but the fact is I do.
I read the last few entries with interest. I also have to agree with John. We must remember that Pope John Paul II is the pontiff who promoted all the bishops who were not only not “generous” with the TLM after he tried to liberalize its use, but many actually refused to cooperate with his further efforts and are now in open disobedience with Rome. A perfect example of this was the “mass” said in the open air forum when Benedict visited the U.S. It was a farse of liturgical foolishness and rediculous music, which was an obvious affront to His Holiness the Pope. We can thank Archbishop Wuerl for that one, and guess who ordained him a bishop?
No Geoffrey, I disagree with you. I don’t think the catholic church could have stood many more years of John Paul II’s “glorious reign” as you put it!
John, you’ve got it right! Don’t give them money or sit in their pews, and yes, a few should be made examples of and sent to the middle east to the “mission” field. That ought to get their attention!
I pray for Pope Benedict daily. May his pontificate be long and effective!
JPII belongs to the ages now.
It’s time to move on. There is no room for any ongoing cult of personality.
I won’t comment, except to say that JPII was on a journey as any other
believer, and it took him a long time to warm up to Tradition. He spent
1978 to about 1997 or so totally committed to the notion that Vatican II
and all of the changes it brought about were an unqualified success.
Back in 1988, he brushed off the TLM and the entire cosmos of
traditional spiritual practises which came with it as
being no more than “their traditions” (Ecclesia Dei types) and not
“our Tradition”, much less our future.
That one sentence sums up the difficulty future Catholic historians
will have in praising his pontificate without some qualifiers.
“JPII belongs to the ages now. It’s time to move on.”
We are one Body of Christ: the Church Militant, the Church Triumphant, and the Church Suffering. You should read up on the Communion of Saints.
I am growing weary of “traditionalists” and “Lefebvrites” constantly being so negative, complaining, and downright depressing.
JPII belongs to the ages now. It’s time to move on. There is no room for any ongoing cult of personality.
Amen.
JPII belongs to the ages now. It’s time to move on.”
We are one Body of Christ: the Church Militant, the Church Triumphant, and the Church Suffering. You should read up on the Communion of Saints.
I am growing weary of “traditionalists” and “Lefebvrites” constantly being so negative, complaining, and downright depressing
* * * *
Geoffrey! Come on! I’m no Lefebvrite and I even like the novus ordo mass when done with reverence. But JPII acted as though anyone who was disgusted with liturgical dancing, flag waiving, idiotic music having nothing to do with reverent worship, or God forbid, tradition, simply did not exist. As the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, as you put it, he had a broader obligation than that.
Also, you pointed out in an earlier post that JPII had relied upon the “generosity” of his bishops in allowing the TLM. Well, Pope Benedict now asserts that no “generosity” was needed as the TLM was ALWAYS licit. That means that the deliberate, systematic suppression of the TLM, under JPII, was illicit! I remember well that illicit activity, which I believe amounts to delict under the CIC.
If you wish to feel love and admiration for JPII, then by all means do so. He was our pope, for better or worse, and deserves some admiration from the faithful. But you simply lack credibility when you assert that he is John Paul the Great and should have reigned, gloriously, longer, when his pontificate was punctuated by a near abandonement of the pews across the instrustrialized world, the seminaries being in large part finishing schools for openly practicing homosexuals, the priesthood obtaining the moniker “the gay profession,” the unfolding sex-abuse scandal and a failure to deal with bishops who concealed these crimes by transferring pedophile priests to fresh hunting grounds (schools/parishes), and lost BILLIONS of dollars through lawsuits for these criminally irresponsible activities. Moreover, the great catholic Orders, such as the Dominicans, Jesuits and especially the Franciscans have been totally ruined to where they now sport too many liberals and homosexuals to be viable change agents for the gospel, and in the case of the jesuits, can’t seem to run a SINGLE college in the U.S. that adheres to the magisterium of the church! Maybe you think the Vagina Monologues and school-supported Gay and pro-abortion groups are “catholic”? Why did JPII allow that to go on?
I must point out too, that I do not agree with everything that Pope Benedict is doing. The one thing I disagree with is his seeming rush, to satisfy those, like you, who just love JPII, to declare him a saint. In terms of holiness I’m sure he was, but his administrative record is shameful and I think the Holy See would be wise to let the process take its normal, long, protracted course.
In total, JPII’s failures really aren’t about the TLM. They are about the tradition that he enjoyed as a youngster and young priest, which he FAILED to honor, and authentic CHRISTIANITY that calls sin sin and fights it rather than supports it.
Tim
Well, in San Francisco, the weekly TLM is celebrated pretty far from where I live. It is all the way in San Rafael, and to get there, one has to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and drive for about 15 minutes. Another TLM is celebrated once a month, every first friday, by my old pastor, but its way out in east Palo Alto. I love going, but its difficult to find the time, especially with a Church just a couple of blocks from the house. The head acolyte told me that he would be able to teach me how to serve the extraordinary form, but I have no time. However, the extraordinary form is the only thing on this earth that truly gives me peace and solace. the current Archbishop seems uncooperative, but he will be retiring along with Mahony and their little gang. MP has not really had any effect here in the City. Very few people even know about it, but after reading all of these stories, and reading this and other blogs, I am given the hope that the Marshall Plan will prevail.
John: Pope John Paul the Great was not the pope of “traditionalists” only. He was the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, head of us all. He placed a lot of trust in his brother bishops. He expected them to be generous with Ecclesia Dei. They weren’t. He looked into a “universal indult” but died before he could do anything about it. His last encyclical was on the Eucharist, an encyclical well-received by even Bishop Fellay, which astounds me, personally. I have no doubt John Paul the Great would have tackled the liturgy next, had his glorious reign been longer. Pope Benedict XVI, who has even referred to the Servant of God John Paul as being in heaven, is simply picking up where he left off.
Comment by Geoffrey
Your thesis that JPII would have reformed the liturgy is contradicted by the presence of his MC, Abp Piero Marini, who was opposed to BXVI reforming the liturgy. As you know, Abp Marini was summarily fired by this pope.
I am sorry that in a moment of enthusiasm I called Benedict “the Great”, in no way did I ever expect there to be backlash that would cause such division. For gosh sakes, it is really silly to be calling anyone “the great”. Please forgive my sophomorish action. I never thought it would cause a debate over two holy Popes and which one is “greater”. Both are future saints! Both deserve much credit for the reform of the liturgy. Sure JPII was not able to get as far as B16 has, but if it weren’t for him creating a climate of atleast near orthodoxy in the Church after the tumult of the previous decades B16 wouldn’t have been able to enact all that he has, and we would still be waiting for a climate change to occur to provide the foundation for the “Reform of the Reform.”
Anon.sem – there is no apology necessary on your part.
Philip – I hear you. I too live in your diocese and have lamented the situation we face on a couple of occasions already on this blog.
Pray for (better) bishops.