What Does The Prayer Really Say?
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I bet that got your attention.

Over at the Lion and the Cardinal I found a great image of the cruel bishop of Mainz, Hatto II.

I was intrigued.  I hate mice a lot, but I hate cruel 10th century bishops too.

So.. here’s the story, with the help of wikipedia.

The Mouse Tower (Mäuseturm) is a stone tower on a small island in the Rhine, outside Bingen. The Romans were the first to build a structure on this site. It later became part of Franconia, and it fell and had to be rebuilt many times.

Hatto II, the Archbishop of Mainz, restored the tower in 968. The story of how it came to be called the "Mouse Tower" comes from a folk tale. [I think it must be true… because I want it to be.] This popular legend goes as follows: Hatto II was a cruel ruler who oppressed and exploited the peasants in his domain. He used the tower as a platform for crossbowmen and demanded tribute from passing ships, shooting their crews if they did not comply. During a famine in 974 the poor people were without food, and Hatto, having all the grain stored up in his barns, used his monopoly to sell it at such a high price that most could not afford any.

The peasants were getting angry and organizing to rebel, so Hatto devised a cruel trick. He promised to feed the hungry people and told them to go to an empty barn and wait for him to come with food. The peasants were overjoyed and praised Hatto heartily, and all of them journeyed to the barn to await his coming.

When he showed up with his servants he ordered the barn’s doors shut and locked, then set the barn on fire and burned the peasants to death, saying "They are like mice, only good for eating up the grain." When Hatto retired to his castle, he was besieged by an army of mice. He fled the swarm and took a boat across the river to his tower, hoping that the mice could not swim. The mice followed him and rushed into the river by the thousands. Many of them drowned, but even more crawled onto the island. There, they ate through the tower’s doors and crawled up to the top floor, where they found Hatto and ate him alive.

The "Mouse Tower" story about a cruel ruler has been told about numerous rulers, but this is the most famous version. An allusion to this tale can be found in the poem "The Children’s Hour" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

    They almost devour me with kisses,
    Their arms about me entwine,
    Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
    In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

I wonder if the modern version of mice isn’t e-mail spam… or hate mail.  It eats your life away.  Hmmm….

GREAT NEWS:

Vatican will drop Eucharistic Prayers for Children (Subscribe to RSS Feed)

Washington, Oct. 3, 2008 (CWNews.com) – The Vatican plans to remove the Eucharistic Prayers for Children from the authorized prayers of the Roman Missal.  [Not to be confused, of course, with the entire lame-duck ICEL translation of the Missal sadly still in use.]

Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, New Jersey, the chairman of the US bishops’ liturgy committee, has disclosed the Vatican plans in a letter to the American bishops. He reported that the Congregation for Divine Worship plans "to publish a separate text at a later time."

The Eucharistic Prayers for Children, like many other liturgical texts, have been criticized for failing to convey an adequate sense of the sacred in the liturgy. [Uhhhhh….. DUH!]  In recent years the Vatican has made special efforts to recover that sense of the sacred, and to curtail the proliferation of liturgical texts in order to encourage consistency in the liturgy.

"This does not change our present practice," Bishop Serratelli wrote in his September 29 letter. The change will take effect at an unspecified future date.

However, the US bishops’ committee has decided to suspend work on a new translation of the existing Eucharistic Prayers for Children. [Oh shucks. And I was so looking forward to those.]  In light of the coming change, Bishop Serratelli said that he was removing that item from the agenda for the November meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

Brick by brick, folks.

I was out in the Sabine forest today, behind the house enjoying the autumn leaves. 

I had my little camera with me and took some movies as well as stills.  Just experimenting a bit.

So, I tinkered with my editing program to make this filmette as a learning project.

 

 08-10-03 In the Sabine Forest: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I picked this up via Stella Borealis, a blog focused on my native place of Minnesota.

It is an interview with the Rector of the St. Paul Seminary, where I did two years of the hardest time of my life back when it was a dissident "Hole", as some of us called it.  I finished my seminary in Rome.

The place has changed as night changes to day.

One of the main reasons for the change is the work of the Rector, Msgr. Aloysius Callaghan.

The interview was in the Catholic Spirit, the weekly of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

My emphases and comments.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Monsignor Aloysius Callaghan, Rector: This is grace-filled time for seminary

Catholic Spirit editor Joe Towalski interviewed Msgr. Aloysius Callaghan, rector-vice president of St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, on Sept. 11. Excerpts of the interview follow.

Msgr. Callaghan

Q: The theme of a new springtime comes up a lot in regard to the St. Paul Seminary. How do you see the seminary experiencing a new springtime?

I would say the experience in recent history of Pope John Paul II’s desire for a new evangelization, to get out and spread the word, is maybe at the heart of this new springtime that we’re experiencing.

He gave the call, he gave the example — with such great determination and strength — with all of those World Youth Days, and we’ve seen his successor so gloriously calling young men and women to think about religious life and to be strong in building up families. I think that’s at the heart of what the new springtime is.

The men who come here to prepare know that they have to take that Gospel and the word of God, make it their own and enflesh it in their own lives so that they can proclaim it to others. We see it in their prayer and their devotions. We see it in the desire for “lectio divina,” we see it in so many ways today.

Q: How would you describe the men who are in formation here?

They’re coming with a real strong and determined desire to respond to a calling to serve the church, to serve the Lord. They’re coming with a willingness to do whatever they have to do, so there’s a certain courage that comes from that. To respond to a call at any time, but most especially today in the call to priesthood, takes some courage because they’re going to say yes to the Lord and no to other things.

They want to be men of the church. They have a love for the church.  [This is an amazing thing to read from a rector of SPS (though not from Msgr. Callaghan).  I revel in it.  I remember what SPS was like back when.]  They don’t know as yet all about what their responsibilities or calling will be in that church, but that’s what formation is. They love the church, and they somehow want to respond to the call to serve the church.

Second, they want to be gentlemen, [!] and we want to help them to be just that. We pray in the Mass for vocations for ardent, but gentle, servants of the Gospel. . . .

We’ve had so many examples of what that means. From the time I came here, and for the first years I served here, we had Archbishop [Harry] Flynn. He’s the quin­tessential gentleman. He just knows how to touch the hearts of people. All the leaders that I’ve had the good fortune to serve with, and now Archbishop [John] Nien­stedt, that’s a hallmark of their ministry. They want to be men of the church and gentlemen. They respect [other people].

Then, they have to be men of the Eucharist. They have to have a love of the Eucharist because that’s at the heart of what we do. . . . We have eucharistic adoration every morning here. [Unthinkable when I was there.  We were told, "Jesus said ‘Take and eat’ not ‘Sit and look’!"] It’s optional from 6 to 7, but the majority of the men are there praying in the morning because they know that’s where they’re going to get the grace and the energy they need to do the work they’re called to do.

Then, they have a desire, which becomes more and more apparent, to have a devotion to our Blessed Mother. [One of my classmates was expelled for an "exaggerated Marian devotion".  He had a statue of O.L. of Fatima in his room.] Who better than Mary could help them understand the Lord they’re going to serve.

Q: What do you think brings men here to discern whether priesthood really is the vocation for them?

I think for most people — and it’s been the history of the calling from the time the Lord began to call — it’s somehow a response to an invitation. So often, like the Lord himself when he called the Apostles, some person — whether it be their priest or the encouragement of their family or parents or their teacher or a nun — planted the seed.

Then, it’s the good example they’re teaching them. In my own life, it was my old pastor, an Irish priest whom I served from the time I was in the third grade. My brother and I served every day, and just seeing that old man struggle at times to just say Mass, you knew that was the most important moment of his day . . . and it never left me. . . .

For the majority of these men [at the seminary], the only pope they knew was John Paul II. And he had a strong influence in their lives. And so many of them, either by word or by action, have indicated that somehow he had a major influence in what they were going to do.

Then, in this local church in the last 13 years or so, Archbishop Flynn was the shepherd and his heart and soul was seminary work, and his priority was to encourage an increase in vocations. And the numbers we’ve had, I think, are phenomenal.

In his time as archbishop, he ordained close to 100 men. Between this seminary and [St. John Vianney College Seminary], we have more than 65 seminarians. Just look around the country, and that is a special grace. So there’s the influence of the shepherd. If you talk about the pope, and the archbishop and then priests who are promoting vocations, grace builds on nature, and these men are doing it.

Archbishop Nienstedt, since his arrival here, has come out once a month, and he’s had Mass here, and he has lunch with the seminarians. [Admirable!] He is always concerned and interested in knowing about the life of the seminary. That makes it easier for me in a way knowing that you have your shepherd right there with you in this work of formation.

Q: After the clergy sexual abuse scandal came to light, there was a renewed focus on seminary formation. How has seminary formation changed over the last decade or so?

Not that it wasn’t there before, but I think there’s a dogged determination to highlight the importance of leading a virtuous life, and how important and essential the virtues are to one’s life, not only as a human being, but most especially as one who is going to be a leader or a priest.

Both from the point of view of spiritual direction and human formation, the priests who are involved in formation are trying to help the men develop a truly balanced life and to grow in holiness. If we do that, and do that in a very deliberate way and with the help of psychological assistance and all those things modern medical science tells us, I think we’re well on the way. . . .

And then there is the church itself. We had an apostolic visitation, which was to help strengthen the formation program that we have. We also have the most recent edition of the “Program of Priestly Formation” put out by our bishops, and we use that to guide our work so we’re not just pulling it out of the air.

Q: In addition to forming men for the priesthood, does the seminary contribute to the archdiocese in other ways?

We’re the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, so we’re forming and preparing lay people — men and women — to be collaborators with their priests in this mission of preaching, teaching and sanctifying in their own roles, and to help build up the body of Christ. Right now we have 74 lay students among our four degree programs here. Sixteen new students joined us this summer.

And then we just launched the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute with our interim director, Jeff Cavins. We’re excited about that because we have 150 people signed up for it. It’s not only to help enrich their faith and grow in the faith, but it’s supposed to be one of these areas where we reach out into the local church, local parishes and communities to help people strengthen their knowledge of the faith, and then to become leaders in announcing the Word.

We have a scholar-in-residence program. We’re delighted in having Dr. Janet Smith, who’s such a renowned personality. On the teaching of morality, on the teaching of John Paul II, on “Humanae Vitae,” she’s one of the outstanding people in our country. That’s been a real blessing for the seminary. The first class that she had was standing-room only.

I’d like to envision, if you will, [the seminary] as eventually a center for formation — both for the ordained and for those who are not ordained but who work in ecclesial service in the archdiocese. In many ways we’re moving strongly in that direction.

What a breath of fresh air.
 

Better late than never to post this.

Archdiocesan Candlelight Family Rosary Procession; Friday, October 3

WORLD APOSTOLATE OF FATIMA
SAINT PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS DIOCESAN DIVISION

The annual ‘Candlelight Rosary Procession’ is fast approaching. Its purpose isto unite thousands of individuals and families in the prayer of the Rosary for the intentions of their own families and all the families of the world on first Friday, October 3rd, 2008. Gathering time begins at 6:15 p.m. on the State Capitol approach.

Beginning at 7:00 we will process down John Ireland Boulevard to the Cathedral of St. Paul, for a homily by Father Robert Altier and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

We bring all the needs of our families, our country and prayers for world peace to Our Lady and her Son Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Bring the children too, they will carry glow sticks instead of candles.

A question from a priest reader:

Hi Fr. Z.
 
Thank you for your work.  I have been a priest for sixteen months and have a desire to learn the EF, and some of my parishioners are even asking for it and would attend if I offered it.  My best friend, a priest in _, and I have plans to visit the good Fathers of St. John Cantius in Chicago for training when the time permits. 

My inquiry is this.  I am visually handicapped and find it hard to read the large OF Sacramentary on a missal stand.  The EF altar Missals I have seen have even smaller print than that, and it is usually bunched up. 

I would not be able to see those…let alone use altar cards. 

Do you know of anyone who prints a larger Missal?  Would it be tacky to print larger texts for myself and have them in a binder?  Please advise if you can.

I know there are some very large editions of the old Missale with larger print.  They tend very old editions, reeeally large, and I am sure very hard to find.

I think in your situation using a binder, as elegant as possible, might be a good idea.  Perhaps you could get high quality color enlarged photocopies of the whole of the Ordinary, and then add the Propers you need as you go.  I think this could be done well and it wouldn’t be tacky at all.  Also, I am sure everyone would understand why you were doing it and no one in their right mind would complain.

In Italy there are some very beautiful document "binders" for presentation of important documents.  I don’t know what things are available in the USA.  Surely some readers will know more.

I hesitate to add this, for surely a few people will freak out… but once upon a time in a WDTPRS column I joked about having a liturgical laptop Missal: Sacramentarium Cyberense Romanum.  And because you just can’t make some things up fast enogh… I must also confess that I once wound up saying Mass privately from a laptop.  My missal had grown legs and I was stuck for a couple days somewhere without any book.  It was use the laptop or not say Mass at all.  I chose the laptop.  I had no printer where I was.  I had digitally photographed the whole 1962 Missale Romanum and had it on my hard drive.  I just copied the necessary pages to a folder, numbered them in order so all I had to do with the Picture Manager was click to "turn" the "page".  It worked fairly well.  I am not saying that that is a long term solution, but it could help you at least during the learning process.

Maybe some folks here have a recommendation or two.

Thanks and persevere!

When I returned to the Sabine Farm, I found packages waiting for me from readers who use my amazon wish list.

I am over due in thanking those who sent them.

I am prompted because Mr. Mail Man on this lengthy rural route pulled up with a box too large for the PO box at the end of the long drive.

But first, a Sabine REPORT:

Last night I knew we were in for frost by morning when I saw the mist rising not just On Sabine Pond



But also on the higher ground.



This morning when I rose, sure enough, there was frost, which melted, thawed and resolved itself into a dew… which was no challenge to Shakespeare, but would have posed serious problems for the defenders of the old, lame-duck ICEL theory of translating. 

The dew sure made the lawn sparkle.



But it also signaled the true end of summer. 

You would think that the changing leaves would have been a good clue, as well as the heavily laden apple tree ….



Yesterday, we still had these.




Alas… no more.

Lot’s of things died last night and are being removed today.



And in the midst of the removal, here comes Mr. Mail Man!



With a wonderful mysterious BOX from amazon.



Within said box I found something from JJ of CA, The Catholic Revival In English Literature,1845?-1961: Newman, Hopkins, Belloc, Chesterton, Greene, Waugh by my friend Fr. Ian Ker.

Many thanks also go out to CG of the UK for sending Musical Evenings With The Captain and Musical Evenings With The Captain, Vol. 2 which accompany Patrick O’Brian’s aubrey/Maturin books.  They are great!

JH of OH sent Pastoral and Occasional Sermons by Ronald Knox, whom I do not know well enough at all. 

GS of MD sent Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life by Archbishop Chaput.  This is a must, folks.  Get it.  You can click that link, above.

JH of GA sent Puccini – La Boheme (The Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series) which is the Zeffirelli production on DVD.  Superb.

I received also Abortion, the Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective by John R. Connery, The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings by Peter Keeft, and Bonsai Basics: A Step-By-Step Guide To Growing, Training & General Care  by Christian Pessey and Remy Samson.

I am also quite grateful to those of you who have voted and who have used the donation button.

Speaking of Bonsai… it’s time for a …

Penjing, I am happy to say, thrives.  My absence had no negative effect.  In fact, Penjing needs a serious trim.



On the other hand Irohamomiji is, well… losing it.



I am not sure what else I expected from a maple tree in autumn.

But I find the buds a very curious thing. 

I don’t understand this tree.



Still…the grounds are rather pretty right now.  Very serene, which is an aid to work work work.

Maybe its my low spirits today, but this strikes me as so very very sad…

This is from Damian Thompson’s blog Holy Smoke.

Defiant parishioners carry on mowing the lawns of their lost churches

Heartbroken parishioners of the West Yorkshire churches closed by Arthur Roche, Bishop of Leeds, are continuing to mow the lawns and tend the grounds of their padlocked churches as a gesture of defiance. One parish – I won’t say which – is continuing to hold Masses at another venue.

...

My source tells me: "Elderly people feel the most eloquent protest they can make is to keep mowing the lawns and cleaning up litter in the church grounds, even though they can see the padlocks on the door. In some cases, the stress of the whole affair is having a bad effect on their health."

...

I just created a new category:

Mail from priests

Some of the most interesting feedback and news I get is from priests (and bishops) who are readers.

I like to be able to share more mail from priests with WDTPRSers.

If you are a priest, I assure you that I will maintain your anonymity if you write to me.

However, if you are writing about what happened in a public event, such as a solemn Mass or what you said in your sermon on Sunday, I will probably talk about where it was and I will probably include names, etc.  After all, it was public.

But, Reverend and dear Fathers and brothers, I will keep your name and location out of the entries if you request it. 

The important thing is that you feel free to write in with your observations and reflections, news and insights.

I also hear from bishops from time to time.  If you ever want to say anything to this very wide readership, I will help.

Click here for my E-mail.  If you put something catchy in the subject line, such as "From Fr. .... to Fr. Z" I will spot it more quickly.

Keep in mind that I get an avalanche of e-mail as it is.  I might not use everything I get and I may not respond to your mail right away or at all, depending on how life is going.  You understand, I’m sure.

Also, a request to all WDTPRsers….

I would like to go back through posts from the past and add them to this category.  Will you help?   If you find a post that fits this category, will you send me the LINK?  Or maybe post it here below?  I can add the tags.

Many hands will make lighter work.

An Australian blogger, Sentire cvm Ecclesia, alerted me to a distressing story.

You will remember that in the Diocese of Brisbane, Australia, there was a terrible… and I mean terrible… problem of invalid baptisms being performed by priests who were using an invalid form.  Instead of using the proper and valid "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (while pour the water), they were saying something like "in the name of the Creater, Redeemer and Sanctifier", or some such invalid nonsense. 

WDTPRS looked at this here.

The Holy See intervened and the local bishop at last intervened to put this to a stop.

Now we get this story from The Australian. The writer the biographer of Card. Pell.  My emphases and comments.

Brisbane church defies Pope on baptism

Tess Livingston, October 2, 2008

DESPITE four years of pressure from Brisbane Archbishop John Bathersby and a recent Vatican crackdown on invalid baptisms, the controversial St Mary’s South Brisbane has again defied church authorities.

A recent baptism, captured on video and dated September 21, has been posted on the YouTube internet site.  [It has since been made "private".  Sentire cvm Ecclesia wrote that the video has been made available to Church authorities.]

The clip shows resident priest Terry Fitzpatrick baptising a young child with the words, "We baptise you in the name of the creator, sustainer and liberator of life", adding "who is also father, son and spirit".  [Sorry, Father.  That’s invalid.]

The priest then added: "That’s good, nice and cool" and invited "everyone to put water on him".  [Groovy!]

The Australian put several questions to Father Fitzpatrick yesterday but he declined to comment.  [What is there to say?  How about, "I regret my terrible mistake.  I apologize and I will never do that again.  From now on I won’t be stupid and defy the Church in the matter of validity of the foundational sacrament Jesus instituted for our salvation.]

Catholic commentator and editor of Annals magazine, Paul Stenhouse, said he doubted the baptism was valid "because the form of the Sacrament cannot be varied".

"It sounds like green theology to me," Father Stenhouse said. [Good catch.]

The legitimate form of baptism is: "I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

The two priests at St Mary’s, Father Fitzpatrick and Peter Kennedy, were ordered to revert to the correct form of baptism in 2004 after it emerged that hundreds of children had been baptised using the wrong formula.

In March, a statement released with approval from the Pope outlawed baptisms being conferred with the words "I baptise you in the name of the creator, and of the redeemer, and of the sanctifier" or "I baptise you in the name of the creator, and of the liberator, and of the sustainer".  [That can be found here.]

The fresh controversy has emerged after Archbishop Bathersby wrote to St Mary’s in August warning that the church could be closed down "by practices that separate it from communion with the Roman Catholic Church".

The letter was prompted by complaints to the Vatican about a Buddhist statue in the church.

Three Vatican Congregations—for bishops, clergy and worship and the sacraments—asked the Archbishop to act.

The St Mary’s community, which includes a significant number of Catholic teachers and school principals, has been meeting to consider its position.  [I could help them with that.  I think the Archbishop there is going to help them with that very soon.]

St Mary’s has sparked controversy for years because of its own Eucharistic prayer, which is said by the congregation as well as the priest, its elimination of important sections of the mass, its occasional substitution of other material for scriptural readings, and its female and non-Catholic preachers.  [Sounds like a great place, huh?]

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Brisbane said: "Once those with liturgical expertise have had an opportunity to view the YouTube link/footage and discuss it with others, they will be able to provide some advice to the Archbishop as to the validity."

What did the Holy See issue about the form of baptism they were… um.. are using at that parish?   There was a response by the CDF to a dubium.

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS PROPOSED
on the validity of Baptism conferred with the formulas
«I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer, and of the Sanctifier»
and «I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer»

QUESTIONS

First question: Whether the Baptism conferred with the formulas «I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer, and of the Sanctifier» and «I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer» is valid?

Second question: Whether the persons baptized with those formulas have to be baptized in forma absoluta?

RESPONSES

To the first question: Negative.

To the second question: Affirmative.

The Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved these Responses, adopted in the Ordinary Session of the Congregation, and ordered their publication.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, February 1, 2008.

William Cardinal Levada
Prefect

 + Angelo Amato, S.D.B.
Titular Archbishop of Sila
Secretary

[00327-02.01] [Original text: Latin] 

From a priest via e-mail:

Dear Fr. Z,
  Hope all is well.  I am enjoying your foodie kick you’ve been on lately.

I have 2 very short questions.

1. I remember reading somewhere (and it may have been something in an EF hand missal) that every word of the EF Mass was from Scripture or at least based on Scripture.  If this is the case, can you say the same about the OF Mass?  Or shouldn’t that be a key to the new translation of the OF, especially with the collects?

2.  Thank you for the article on the EF from 10/2.  I read it and said "I guess I ought to really learn the EF."  I guess I may actually have time to do that now in my assignment, plus I probably know a few of the newer Priests who are celebrating the EF ….

Thanks for your service to God and the Church

Rev.
Diocese of

I hope priests continue to write in.  I would like their contributions to be a regular feature here.

1)  I don’t think every word is from Scripture, or that every phrase in Mass has a direct basis in Scripture.  That is surely the case for the proper prayers.  Certainly there are verses of Scripture directly assumed into the texts of the Ordinary.  And nothing in any of the prayers will contradict Scripture.  There will be harmony.  I think this can be said of both the EF and OF.  I know from my study of the Collects, Super Oblata and Post Communions that there are sometimes direct phrases of Scripture to be found in them, but not always.  They are separate compositions for the most part.  And that’s fine!  Our venerable liturgical prayers of Holy Mass constitute their own theological source, as Papa Ratzinger reminded us in The Spirit of the Liturgy.   Translating liturgical texts is not the same thing as translation of Scripture.   That is to say, we mustn’t bend the liturgical texts to say something other than what they say just because there may be connections with verses of Scripture.  That was the dire mistake made years ago in the botched translation of pro multis in the consecration of the Precious Blood.  Because scholars such as Joachim Jeremias had spun an argument that the Lord might have said something in Hebrew or Aramaic (which we really can’t know, can we) therefore in comparison to an assumed connection with versus in Isaiah, etc. etc. etc., we were supposed to make the Latin pro multis and the Greek peri ton pollon mean something they had never meant in the history of either language, and the inspired Greek Scripture account of the Last Supper was wrong.

2) You are welcome!  I am VERY happy to hear that you are going to learn the older form of Mass.  I hope you will drop me a note from time to time to describe how you are progressing and what your impressions are.  I would share them with the readers here.  You could be a real help to other Roman Rite priests who are thinking about learning the rest of the Roman Rite!

This came from a priestly reader:

Fr. Z,
I thought I’d pass along a piece of fan mail I received after instituting the Benedictine Altar arrangement in my parish. Never a dull moment!
Fr _

Here is the note he received complaining about the "Benedictine" arrangement of the altar:

Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy states that “Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful be led to the full, conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people’(1 Peter 2:9), is their right and duty by reason of their baptism.”

How does the current configuration of the altar of Holy Cross Church encourage such participation? The laity must look through a screen of large candlesticks and face the BACK of the crucifix during the Offertory and Consecration. Since the 4th century, chancel or rood screens were placed in churches to denote a hierarchically differentiated space separating the clergy from the laity. Such enclosures served as a mark of the higher position of the priest and to minimize that of the laity. Most such screens were removed from Catholic churches during the 15-16th centuries.

Many now want to go back to pre-Vatican II but do we need to go back to pre-Counter Reformation?

I am rather interested to hear your responses to what that writer said.

The writer may be confused about his manner of participation at Mass, how the baptized share in Christ’s priesthood.  He seems to think that distinctions between the priesthood of the baptized and the priesthood of the ordained somehow "minimize" the laity.  That is, of course, not the case.

Clearly the writer has not looked at what Joseph Ratzinger wrote about this issue in The Spirit of the Liturgy.   I would steer that person to that book and also to my PODCAzTs on the subject.

037 07-07-18 The position of the altar and the priest’s “back to the people”
038 07-07-25 Ratzinger on “active participation”; The Sabine Farm; Merry del Val’s music
043 07-08-23 Benedict XVI on Mass “toward the Lord” and a prayer by St. Augustine

Perhaps you might have your own reactions or counter arguments/explanations which both the writer and the priest could find useful. 

We should be ready to explain these things, after all.

I received a nice note from Fr. Eric Kowalski, Pastor of Holy Angels in the Diocese of Charlotte, NC.

I hope priests continue to write in.  I would like their contributions to be a regular feature here.

Let’s have a look…

Fr. Z,
Greetings in the Lord!  Just wanted to share with you and your readers how things are going "brick by brick" in the Diocese of Charlotte, NC.  We had our first Solemn High Mass in the diocese on the Feast of Our Lady’s Assumption [August 15th].  Since the Diocese of Charlotte is a relatively young diocese [founded in 1972], there is every indication that this historic Mass may be the first ever Solemn High Mass offered by a priest of the diocese since its’ inception.  The Principle Celebrant was Fr. Eric Kowalski, Pastor of Holy Angels, Mt. Airy, NC; assisting as Deacon was Fr. Robert Ferguson, FSSP; and assisting as Subdeacon was Fr. Christopher Davis, Pastor of St. Joseph, Asheboro, NC.  The Mass was held at Holy Family Church in Clemmons, NC [a relatively new church facility] with other diocesan clergy and seminarians in attendance.  Response to the Mass was overwhelmingly positive.  Pictures are included.

The number of Masses in the Extraordinary Form that are offered weekly is growing and we hope to have the opportunity to offer another Solemn High Mass somewhere in the diocese during the Easter season.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Eric Kowalski,
Pastor, Holy Angels

Excellent news.  And happy recent patronal feast day for your parish!

Let’s have a glance at the photos.

Note that the church is quite "modern", obviously constructed after the Novus Ordo was introduced.

Let’s have a look at the Collect for the upcoming Sunday in the TLM - 1962 Missale Romanum.  This a portion from my article for The Wanderer.

This Collect has been in use at least since the time of the Liber Sacramentorum Gellonensis, which is a variation of the ancient Gregorian Sacramentary.  It survived the Novus Ordo cutter-snippers as the Collect for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

COLLECT (1962MR)
Familiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine,
continua pietate custodi:
ut a cunctis adversitatibus,
te protegente, sit libera;
et bonis actibus tuo nomini sit devota.

The first part was used almost like a template in other prayers, as in the Collect of the 5th Sunday after Epiphany: “Familiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, continua pietate custodi, ut, quae in sola spe gratiae caelestis innititur, tua semper protectione muniatur.”   Note not only the similar beginning, but also a connection in the vocabulary with that form of protego.  This suggests to me that the prayers are related.

That word familia, though it seems so familiar, should have some attention.  Familia and forms of famulus occur often in our prayers.  Think of the line in the Roman Canon including “Memento, Domine, famulorum, famularumque tuarum… Be mindful, O Lord, of Your household servants and handmaids”.  These words look like "family", as does familia, and that is often appropriate depending on the context.  However, the core meaning of the root of the word, fama, which comes from Latin’s ancient cousin Oscan must guide our minds to the whole body of people in an ancient household, including especially the servants.  The different words for “family” in Latin include all the servants and staff, with the extended family, not just the core.  The paterfamilias, “father of the family” had virtual power of life and death over most of his household and his word was law.

Custodio, common in military language, means “to watch, protect, keep, defend, guard”. Pietas is complicated, as we have seen many times.  Obvious English “piety” comes from this, but the Latin is more involved.  Your Lewis & Short Dictionary, oddly cheap considering its usefulness, says pietas is “dutiful conduct toward the gods, one’s parents, relatives, benefactors, country, etc., sense of duty.” The classic application of pietas and the adjective pius is to the figure of Aeneas in the Latin poet Virgil’s Aeneid.  As Troy was being destroyed by the Greeks after the incident with the wooden horse, Virgil (+A.D. 19) has Aeneas carry his elderly father Anchises from the wreckage of the burning city while leading his little son along by hand.  This image of the man with his father on his back and his son by the hand perfectly expresses the duties Aeneas, future founder of what will become Rome, had toward his family, his pietas.  He was also scrupulous in relation to the gods.  So he is usually called pius Aeneas, which as you now know is far more complicated than the mere “pious Aeneas”.  

Christians adapted ancient terms like this to a new context, to express new meanings. In Jerome’s Vulgate in both Old and New Testament pietas is “conscientiousness, scrupulousness regarding love and duty toward God.”  You see that the core of pietas remains “duty.”  Pietas is also one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (cf. CCC 733-36; Isaiah 11:2), by which we are duly affectionate and grateful toward our parents, relatives and country, as well as to all men living insofar as they belong to God or are godly, and especially to the saints.  In loose or common parlance, “piety” indicates fulfilling the duties of religion.  Sometimes “pious” is even used in a negative way, as when people take aim at external displays of religious dutifulness as opposed to what they is “genuine” practice (cf. Luke 18:9-14).

All this is involved when we use pietas to describe ourselves, what human beings have regarding, God, family, country, etc.   But in our prayer today, we are asking God to guard us with His pietas.   When we speak of the pietas of God, we are generally referring to His mercy toward us.  While it is not strictly right to imply that God has a duty toward us, He has made promises and God is true to His promises.  We can depend on Him not because He is obliged by pietas, as we are, but because He is loving and merciful.  So, God’s pietas towards us has a different tone altogether.

I note as well that in that line from the Canon I quoted above in respect to familia, down the line a bit, we come to the Latin word devotio.  We have a form of that word in today’s Collect.  There must be a connection between the concepts of familia, pietas and devota, an adjective connected with familia. 

Your L&S reveals that devoto “to dedicate, devote” as well as “to bewitch, enchant” and, in a related sense, “to invoke with vows”, and by logical extension it comes to mean “to curse”, though clearly today’s use doesn’t bear that connotation.  In the French source for liturgical Latin we call Blaise/Dumas, we find that the adjective devotus, a, um has a specially connection to devotion to service of the Lord.   We can also draw insight into what is really being said here by bringing in the force of devotio, an obvious derivative.  In classical usage devotio is “fealty, allegiance, devotedness; piety, devotion, zeal.” Devotio also means, as devoto implied, “a cursing, curse, imprecation, execration, a magical formula, incantation, spell.” Again, that is not our direction today.  Briefly, I hear devotio as “a devotion to duty”.  In that sense it picks up the meaning of pietas.  Our “devotion” leads us to keep God’s commandments and attend with focus to the duties of our state before all else.  If we are truly devout, pious, in respect to God, devoted to fulfilling the duties of our state in life truly is here and now, then God will give us every actual grace we need to fulfill our vocations. We are, in effect, fulfilling our proper role in His great plan and thus He is sure to help us.   God fulfills what He promises to us as we do our part in His plan in which He gave us a role from before the creation of the universe.

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Father,
watch over your family
and keep us safe in your care,
for all our hope is in you.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Guard your family, we beseech you, O Lord,
with continual mercy,
so that that (family) may be free from all adversities
as You are protecting it,
and in good acts may be devoted in Your Name.

This prayer speaks first of all to how interconnected we are as Catholic Christians.  By baptism, we are the adopted children of the Father.  We look to Him with the reverence of children, not merely as cowering slaves.  We belong to a family.  In the arc of our lives we have roles and states to fulfill.  Within the Church we have our manner of participation.  We are all in this together.  My strengths support yours.  My sins weaken us all.  My defeats become your concern. All our triumphs are shared as we raise them up to God.  In remembering our common bonds with each other in the Father, we must also remember a profound inequality in our bonds – children are no less members of the family than parents, but they are dependent they are not the equals of their parents.  God is not our peer.  We are not His equal.  We are all children before His gaze. 

I am amused and horrified at times when I hear the modernist, progressivist types suggest that modern man is all grown up now and that we no longer have to kneel as if cowering before a stern master God. 

Our prayer gives us an image that runs very much contrary to the prevailing values of the last few decades, a period in which the family as a coherent recognizable unit has been systematically broken down.  Our Latin prayers also often reflect the Church’s profound awareness of our lack of equality with God.  The prayers are radically hierarchical, just as God’s design reveals hierarchy and order.  The prayers are imbued with reverence.  Compare this attitude with prevailing societal norms.

About things that are apparent sometimes I use the phrase "It ain’t astrophysics!"