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

I was alerted to this by a reader.

On ZENIT Fr. Edward McNamara often gives useful answers to liturgical questions.  Here is tackles the older, Extraordinary Use of the Roman Rite.  

Let’s have a look with my emphases and comments.

Complications of 2 Forms in 1 Rite
And More on Mass Intentions

ROME, SEPT. 9, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.

Q: I am the parish priest for a dual-form parish and some of the complications are currently unavoidable. I have returned the tabernacle to the center and shifted the presider’s chair to the side. The free-standing altar is used for both forms, with the placement of altar cards and candles in the traditional form and the resetting of the altar for the celebration of the ordinary form. I’ve returned the altar rail in two spots and cushions for kneeling at the reception of Communion. Part of the "experiment" of Pope Benedict XVI lies in the "working" of both forms where the fervor and piety authentic to the Roman rite can be regained, nurtured and renewed. It is a pastoral chore to prepare a decent homily with different working ordos.  [It is a sacrifice, to be sure… but in the end it will pay off a hundred fold!] It gets very interesting when the feasts don’t match (Baptism of the Lord vs. Holy Family) and when the seasons clash (Septuagesima vs. Ordinary Time); there’s more work for the parish priest. [Something a lot of people really don’t understand.] The rather stilted English of the Douay-Rheims also presents some challenges, yet it is often preferable to the Revised New American Bible. In the midst of the mayhem, there seems to be no guidance as to how a solemn high Mass would be celebrated when the order of subdeacon no longer exists. One might punt and use an instituted acolyte but that presumes training.  [Well… any of the roles at Holy Mass presume that.  And it isn’t rocket science.  It just takes some practice.] The use of the deacon (transitional or permanent) requires even more training. The suggestion to use priests in the functions as was often done presumes a liturgical fluency that simply doesn’t exist at present.[Give it time.]  In addition, the celebration of the Easter triduum in the extraordinary form is so ornamented that the presence of a master of ceremonies (archpriest) seems required. [Yes, very useful indeed.]  Adding to that conundrum, the present discipline of the Church in celebrating a true vigil presents a clear conflict where two communities celebrate two forms under one parish priest in one parish church. Is there any Roman guidance for local adaptation?—W.S., Pennsylvania

A: [Fr. M responds]  When Benedict XVI took the initiative of allowing the universal celebration of John XXIII’s missal he foresaw that some practical problems would arise. For this reason he increased the authority of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" precisely to address these issues. Consultations can be made to the commission at the Vatican.  [Actually, I think they had that authority before under their previous faculties.  But let us move along…]

This commission, along with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, is working on an instruction which will help clear up some of the difficulties that arise from having two forms of the Roman rite at the same time.  [Hmmm…] Such questions constantly arrive at the desk of Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, the commission president.

Indeed, in a recent interview the cardinal said that he has more work now than when he was prefect of the Congregation for Clergy.

Closer to home, a priest desiring to celebrate the extraordinary form may also consult with those institutes dedicated to its celebration. They already have long experience in this field. They are also able to provide useful resources for training priests and ministers.

Regarding some of the questions at hand, it is an open question if an instituted acolyte may perform the duties formally reserved to the subdeacon. On the one hand the extraordinary form considers subdeacon as a member of the clergy, whereas the instituted acolyte is certainly a lay ministry. On the other hand many of the liturgical duties of the subdeacon were transferred to the ministry of acolyte. The editor of the new edition of the classic Trimelloni liturgical manual opines that it is possible to use the instituted acolyte for this purpose.  [In fact, when Paul VI reduced the order of Acolyte, he said that the roles shifted to the Acolyte and that the Acolyte could even be called "Subdeacon".  I think this is the best solution in the absence of a deacon or, in the absence of a deacon, a priest, to take the role.]

The order of subdeacon still exists in those institutes specifically dedicated to the extraordinary form.  [Not sure it is really the order of subdeacon in the sense it existed before it was supressed by Paul VI… but go ahead…] It is not impossible to suppose that it could eventually be restored for all seminarians desiring to celebrate both forms of the rite.  [Wow!  An interesting idea.  I would be for that.] Also, I see no particular difficulty in deacons or a priest performing these functions as this possibility is foreseen in the rubrics of the extraordinary form.

Regarding the readings, the Holy Father gave permission for the readings to be in the vernacular, provided that an approved translation was used. I would interpret this as a translation specifically approved for liturgical use and not just with an imprimatur. [The question remains whether the readings of the NO could be used in the vernacular instead of Latin readings from the TLM.  The language of the Motu Proprio is a bit vague.  I would definitely counsel against doing such a thing either way.]

It is probably permissible to use the translations approved for use before the reform when it was a fairly common practice to proclaim the Gospel first in Latin and then read a vernacular version. [Reasonable] It should also be possible to use the vernacular renditions found in the bilingual missals used by the faithful.  [There were approved, after all, and are not contrary to faith and morals.]

This has the added advantage of corresponding exactly to the official text found in the Latin missal as some texts might not be found in the new vernacular lectionary exactly as they were in the Latin.  [Right!]

While the full Easter triduum may be celebrated in a parish dedicated exclusively to the extraordinary form, I’d say that in a dual-form parish it is probably better to opt for the ordinary form unless the majority of parishioners prefer the extraordinary form. [I wonder.  I have pondered this.  It originally struck me that if the parish is usually for the NO, and the TLM is celebrated exceptionally, then it seems there should be only one celebration of the Triduum, in the NO.  But Fr. McNamara introduces the desires of the people.  I like that approach, though it could be very hard to gauge what the real attitude of most of the people is.  If most people want the older form of Mass, however… that should say a great deal.]  This is because insofar as possible the celebration of the triduum should gather the whole community together.

Finally, the question of the calendar is perhaps the hardest to resolve and will probably require much study and patience. The calendar has been historically the most flexible part of the missal, and several popes have reformed it over the centuries.

The Holy See might end up publishing a completely new edition of the missal of the extraordinary form, the “Benedict XVI Missal,” perhaps. Such a missal would leave John XXIII’s text fundamentally intact, but would add the celebrations of the new saints classified according to the traditional mode. The rubrics would probably need to be adjusted so as to take into account major feasts that have been transferred so that everybody, for example, celebrates Corpus Christi on the same day.  [I think that would be a good solution.  It would be sure to freak some people out, but it could be helpful.  I would hope, however, that the NO calendar be adjusted back to some ancient observances of seasons and traditional feast days.  I digress.]

Also, as the Holy Father suggested in his letter issued "motu propio" (on his own initiative), a few prefaces and Mass formulas (especially those coming from ancient Roman sources) could be added. These changes would help smooth out some of the difficulties in the calendar mentioned by our reader while remaining faithful to the organic development of the traditional rite as carried out by Popes such as St. Pius X, Pius XI, Pius XII and John XXIII.

All in all, a pretty good response though he really doesn’t say all that much that will be new to readers here.

At the same time I am impressed with the priest who asked the question!

Whoever you are, WDTPRS to you, Father!

This just in:

There will be a Sung Tridentine / Extraordinary Form / 1962 Missal Mass at St Ethelbert’s in Ramsgate, Kent, this coming Saturday, September 13 at 2.00pm. Everybody is welcome to attend. Whilst we have had low Mass every week for the last couple of years this will, I think, be the first Missa Cantata since the introduction of the Novus Ordo Missae.

From a reader:

Hello Fr. Z.,
This Sunday, September 14, a Missa Cantata will be offered at St. Joseph Church, Woonsocket Rhode Island, at 3 p.m. in the afternoon.  Propers from the Graduale Romanum and the Missa de Angelis will be chanted by the Schola Sanctae Caeciliae under the direction of Henri St. Louis; the Schola will also sing sacred polyphonic works during communion and before the Mass. Refreshments will also be served after Mass in the Church Hall.  That makes at least three Missa Cantatas in Rhode Island this Sunday(Holy Name of Jesus in Providence, and St. Timothy’s in Warwick being the other two I’m aware of)!

God Bless,
Fr. Michael Woolley
Pastor
St. Joseph Church
Woonsocket RI

P.S.  It will be the first Missa Cantata I’ve ever celebrated (although I’ve offered publically a half a dozen Low Masses).

WDTPRS kudos to you, Father!

This is in from SpaceWeather!

FIREBALL OUTBURST: This morning, Sept. 9th, a surprising flurry of fireballs lit up the sky over eastern parts of the United States.  All-sky cameras at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recorded 25+ meteors, most as bright as Jupiter or Venus.  A preliminary analysis by NASA astronomers suggests this is an outburst of "September Perseids," a little-known shower that has erupted this way three times in the past century. 

Although the show is almost certainly over, sky watchers are advised to be on the lookout for more fireballs tonight and in the nights ahead; the September Perseids are not well understood and they could surprise us again.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates to this developing story.

Our friend John Sonnen of Orbis Catholicus, whom I hope to see in a few days in Rome, has a truly interesting report of the goings on in the Vatican Basilica:

Revolution Guido: il divertimento a Roma…
For the Mons. Guido Marini crowd there’s more great news. They’re bringing all the old treasures out of storage!

Today while in the Vatican Basilica I saw something I didn’t think I’d ever see and something that hasen’t been seen here likely in about forty (or more) years in St. Peter’s Basilica!

They brought back the old giant carpet covers for the choir benches at the altar of the chair. It’s difficult to explain what exactly these are, and it will be impossible to get close to get a photo. But today they were putting them out.

They’re likely from the era of Pius IX, but difficult to date. They’re full of colors and designs, they cover the benches and resemble nineteenth century carpets made for sanctuaries you sometimes still see in and around Rome.

They add a lot of color and look great.

From the mail:

Sunday, September 14th, at 2:00PM, there will be a Missa Cantata at Mission San Juan Bautista, CA for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and in Thanksgiving for the one year anniversary of the issuance of Summorum Pontificum.  The Mission is located at 406 Second Street, San Juan Bautista (click here for a map). 
 
We also have a blog to keep people informed about the Traditional Latin Mass Community in the Diocese of Monterey.  The address is www.monterey-tlm.blogspot.com  Thanks for everything, Fr. Z!

Last night I was chatting by phone with a well-informed priest, brilliant and with a vast knowledge of history ancient and contemporary, about various developments political, social and ecclesial.

He told me alarming thing which I hadn’t heard before.

He mentioned that Presidential candidate Sen. Barak Obama (D-IL), in a speech in Colorado Springs last July, went off the prepared pre-released stump speech and announced his desire for a "civilian national security force".

"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

Civilian… just as strong.. just as well funded as the military….

What would that cost?  From what segment of the population would such a civilian security force be recruited?  Who would opt to enlist in such a force?  If there is recruitment of the military, who would then be the target for such a force?

Those comments, which he spoke, were not in the text of the speech as released by the campaign.  Thus, he either spoke them off the cuff, which is plausible, or they were cleansed from the speech, which is unlikely, since these speechs wind up being recorded by many sources.

 

Aside from the incredible expense of such a thing, I wonder how that would be different from what local law enforcement and state national guards do.

But there is a rather disturbing dimension to this idea, which I think we can surmise reveals something of the candidate’s mind, since he went off script to talk about it.

The paramilitary nature of such a "security force", has the ring of the Sturmabteilung, the SA, of 1930’s Germany.  Brownshirts.  They were unleashed on those who opposed the goals of the poltical party the NSDAP… which is known usually by a different name these days.

I don’t care who the candidate is or what party he belongs to... I find even the whisper of the musings of an idea of a proposal about such a thing truly disturbing. 

Compound this proposal with the oversight of someone rooted in the Marxism of Black Liberation Theology and formation in the radical thought of Saul Alinsky, who dedicated his Rules for Radicals to Lucifer, I start to get alarmed.

I frankly don’t know what at the time were the reactions to this proposal in the press.  It seems to have gone off the screen.  This suggests to me both that people at the time didn’t perhaps catch some of the darker implications of such a "security force", or the press at the time quieted the coverage.  

As a result, I must suspend to a certain extent alarm in favor of disturbed curiosity.

Since this post is likely to bring out the wackos, who will inevitably leap to the stupid conclusion that I am being politically partisan, I will leave the comments off. 

I need to understand more about this whole thing.

If people have helpful things to contribute, they can e-mail me and, if I consider them apt, I will post them.

ALL: In a few days I will be in England, in the London area and then, perhaps, in the south. 

I hope to see many good friends there.   Also, I will attend the launch of Usus Antiquior on 14 September. 

I will probably dart down to Rome for the conference on Summorum Pontificum as well and spend a few days there on needed errands.

Hopefully will be an opportunity for a blognic or two while I am in Old Blighty! 

This came via e-mail:

The newly designated minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury CT will have a Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form for the victims of 9/11 on Thurs 9/11/08 at 7pm.  Fr. John Bevins also says a weekly Mass in the Extraordinary From every Sunday at 6pm.  There is a Schola during most of the year, but during the summer there is none, so he does a Low Mass. 

Not sure if you have ever been to Waterbury CT, but the Basilica here is the absolutely amazing.  And to top it off, not a few blocks away is the Shrine to St Anne.  http://www.shrineofsaintanne.org/  This structure is absolutely amazing too.  We are blessed here in this part of CT. 

 Web Site   ...   http://www.theimmaculate.com/

 

I got word about this event, for the anniversary of Summorum Pontificum.  Alas, there is not indication of WHERE or WHEN.

Folks, when you send news… please provide details if you want to staple your notes to my telephone pole? 

Sung Mass at Notre Dame on September 14th

This Sunday, September 14th (Exaltation of the Holy Cross), the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite liturgy at the University of Notre Dame will be a sung Mass!

This will be the first Missa Cantata, according to the liturgical books of 1962, since the liturgical changes in the late 1960s. This is very exciting news. The student coordinators of the Traditional Latin Mass on the campus of Notre Dame continue to do great things! Our prayers are with these efforts, and for Our Lady’s University by the Lake.

Folks, I know that it is hard sometimes to tell others how to get to this blog.  It sure is for me! 

Trying to get people accurately to transcribe WDTPRS can be a challenge, and "What Does The Prayer Really Say?" is a mouthful, to be sure.

So, I am simplifying matters a bit:

You can now also use

fatherzonline.com

An old photo I thought I had misplaced: