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

From rogueclassicism ... a little cluster from the persecution under Valerian:

iv nonas decembres
c. 255 A.D.—martyrdom of Hippolytus
c. 256 A.D.—martyrdom of Aurelia and Paulina
259 A.D.—martyrdom of Pontian

From a reader:

I went to confession last evening at my parish after the Advent Penance Service, and one of the visiting priests (there were several), after hearing my sins, said something like "Your sins are forgiven, go in peace." No absolution, no penance, no Act of Contrition… no Sacrament as far as I can see. So I went to our pastor in the confessional, told him what happened, and he gave me absolution, had me say the Act of Contrition, and gave me penance.

Isn’t the Sacrament invalid if the words are not there? Was I right to go to the pastor to receive a real absolution? I feel like our pastor, who is very spiritual and holy and traditional, in inviting other priests into the parish, opened the door to at least one wolf, who came in and attacked the sheep by sabotaging their confessions… and some of those who suffered this were children making their first confessions.

First, don’t be too tough on the pastor.  He is trying to offer the sacrament of penance and took the effort to invite priests to hear confessions.  Also, it might not be entirely fair to paint the priest in that light, since you have no idea what happened with the other people who went to him.

Second, the words of absolution must be pronounced by the priest.  Also, the priest should be assured that there is true remorse and firm purpose of amendment, which is partly what the Act of Contrition is for.  Also, there must be some kind of penance.

Thus, you were right to go to the other priest and explain what happened.

We need a revitalization of the sacrament of penance.

From a reader.  I will include his name here, Philip Johnson, for I asked you to pray for him in another entry and he chimed in.

This is Philip Johnson, the Naval Officer who is dying of brain cancer (PhilipGerardJohnson.blogspot.com).  I appreciate you posting my blog 
a few weeks ago, which has gained me many prayers and Masses.  

For my last "hurrah" before brain surgery for a biopsy, I was MC for a Mass in the Extraordinary Form in Rocky Mount, NC for the First Sunday of Advent.  Our Lady of Perpetual Help – a "country" parish in the Diocese of Raleigh which was never "reformed" in the 70’s.  Bishop Burbidge has been amazing in allowing the EF to whoever wants to offer it.  He comes as often as he can to assist in choir.  Celebrant was diocesan priest Fr. Tim Meares (one of the holiest and humblest priests I know), and photos were taken by Mrs. Penny Silvers.  She also took videos of the Mass.  I hope you enjoy, and feel free to use them on your blog if you see fit! 

God bless you!

In Christ,
Philip Johnson

An alert reader sent this article from The Liguorian with this interesting comment:

"A TLM article in a "mainstream" Catholic publication published by the Redemptorists may measure the pace of the Benedictine reform."

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

December 2008 Liguorian

THE LATIN REVIVAL
WHICH WAY FORWARD?

by Diana M. Amadeo

[ Top page 30 photo shows Fr. John Arthur Orr elevating the chalice at St. John Neumann Church (Knoxville, TN), 16th Sunday after Pentecost, 16 September 2007. Page 31 top right photo shows deacon Fr. David Carter (right, chanting gospel) and subdeacon Fr. Patrick Resen (left, holding Evangelium) at solemn high Mass at Holy Ghost Church (Knoxville, TN), 4th Sunday after Easter, 20 April 2008. ]

My parents, nine siblings, and I went to daily Mass at St. Michael’s, a tiny, white clapboard church in Carney, Iowa. On warm days, we sat in the front row, with the window beside us wide open. Often the priest, speaking Latin with his back to us, had to compete with the cows mooing in the pasture just outside the window. Two of my brothers served Mass (girls and women were not allowed on the altar at that time). Females of all ages clutched rosaries as they knelt at the altar rail awaiting Communion. Back then, the closest girls could get to participating was to conduct their own service at home by smashing bread into perfect little circle wafers. [So far, we are off to a rocky start.  My observation is, first, "data" is not the plural of "anecdote".  Also, I wonder if there is an underlying assumption that old women are going to be against Latin because of the way they were "oppressed"?]

Many changes have occurred since then. When our parish priest was allowed [See why I caught an hostile attitude about the Church?  Now they are "allowed" and before they were probably really longing to "face the people", but they weren’t "allowed" to.] to turn around and face us, the new altar table he stood at was built by my father. The Second Vatican Council brought women to the altar, and my mother became a lector [Actually not a lector in an official sense.  Only males can be Lectors.] and eucharistic minister. [Actually not.  Only bishops, priests and deacons are "Eucharistic ministers".] Unfortunately, at that time priests began to leave the Church in droves. Our beloved St. Michael’s closed in lieu of a megachurch in Ankeny. Even Carney ceased to exist as Des Moines and Ankeny grew and swallowed up the tiny town. As time marched on, my daughter became an altar server.           

We survived [note the list that follows…] plaid uniforms, parochial school, nuns with rulers, Limbo, purgatory, indulgences, infallibility, Vatican councils, confession, Saint Christopher’s demotion, relics of the saints, and fish sticks on Friday. But on the surface, nothing separated us more from our Protestant brothers and sisters than the Latin Mass (Tridentine rite). [Nothing separated us from the Protestants other than the older Mass?  Interesting comment.] It had a mystical quality, made us all bilingual, and allowed us to sing the ancient carols like pros. We were devout and faithful.  [This is a really interesting flow of ideas.  No?]

ET HOC GENUS OMNE

"And all that sort of thing."

Two of my three children took Latin in high school. Then it was deemed a dead language and discontinued. Vatican II, with its liberalizing reforms, swept away the Latin Mass. Some parishioners were devastated. I took it all in stride. Didn’t the Baltimore Catechism stress that we were to blindly obey all rules and regulations of the Church? Didn’t that include changes too?  [I would like the citation for that.  Consider that the entire schema of the Baltimore Catechism was consummately reasonable.  It helped the student think and see the connections of concepts even as it taught material through memorization.  Does the BC anywhere say in any volume that we must obey "blindly"?]

Overnight, the members of the one true Church were no longer just Roman Catholics. We had divided into traditional conservative Roman Catholics and liberal-minded Catholics. Fortunately, some of us manage to keep a foot on each side, playing it safe and avoiding the near occasion of sin.  [Isn’t that wonderful.]

GRATIAS AGIMUS DOMINO DEO NOSTRO

"Let us give thanks to the Lord our God."

Many clergy within the Church were also upset with the change to the vernacular. Ultratraditionalist [Not just "traditionalist" but an "ultra".] Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, now deceased, was at odds with the Vatican, and Pope John Paul II particularly, concerning the loss of the Latin Mass. Lefebvre was excommunicated in 1988 after consecrating four bishops without Rome’s consent. After that, the Tridentine Mass went mostly underground but persisted around the world. [HA!  No.  1988 is when the late Holy Father issued Ecclesia Dei adflicta.]

PAUPERTAS OMNIUM ARTIUM REPERTRIX [Okay… I think this salting of Latin through the article is getting cutesy.]

"Poverty is the inventor of all the arts."

But things are changing once again, and we are heading back to the future. In July 2007, Pope Benedict XVI removed restrictions on celebrating the Old Latin Mass. Benedict issued a document authorizing parish priests to celebrate the Tridentine rite if a "stable group of faithful" requests it. [And even if they don’t, really.] Lefebvre’s group is pleased and hopes this will lead to more traditional changes.

DONEC ERIS FELIX MULTOS NUMERABIS AMICOS

As long as you are fortunate, you will have many friends."

There are a few problems with this backtracking, [Notice the assumption that this is backtracking.] however. I spoke with my parish-priest friends. The Second Vatican Council was held in the 1960s. Many priests ordained after Vatican 11 were not required to learn Latin. [Actually, they were "required".  The requirements were ignored.] Many of the elder priests have long forgotten it. The majority of Catholic priests across the country are stretched so thin because of the shortage that a service in another language just isn’t feasible.

ITE, MISSA EST

"Go, you are dismissed."

My Jewish friends aren’t too happy, either, since the traditional Latin Mass contains a prayer for their conversion. I try to be a good Catholic role model and listen to both sides of the issue.  [Huh?]

DOMINUS VOBISCUM

"The Lord be with you."

ET CUM SPIRITU TUO "And with your spirit."

It’s true that the Latin Mass adds mystery and romance [I don’t think this writer is using the word "mystery" in the sense that any person who is well-read in liturgical matters.] to the celebration of the Eucharist, but these are not pre-Vatican II days when churches were places of silence and meditation. Churches now tend to be alive and vibrant with laughter, conversation, and singing. Silence is beautiful and meditation good for the soul, but will today’s congregation embrace the quiet lilt of a Latin service? Can we embrace the Lord on a higher dimension with a language most cannot understand? [Obviously the writer doesn’t think so.  The writer now thinks that noisy churches are the way it should be.]

For now, I’ll keep one foot on each of the traditional/liberal sides and not entertain an opinion. ["tepid" I think is the other way of describing this.] Let’s just see how it goes.                               

VIVAMUS ATQUE AMEMUS

"Let us live and let us love."

Diana Amadeo is a freelance writer from Merrimack, New Hampshire. Her book Holy Friend: A Child’s Guide to American Saints is a 2006 Catholic Press Association award winner.

Okay… I believe we have to stay positive and return to the comment at the top!

"A TLM article in a "mainstream" Catholic publication published by the Redemptorists may measure the pace of the Benedictine reform."

From a reader:

I am singing in a small Gregorian chant "schola" that my wife has organized.  My voice continues to be mediocre, but one thing that I find myself drawn to is the resuscitation of my high school Latin.
 
We are singing "Rorate Caeli" in an upcoming Advent service.  I have a small handbook and a low-budget Latin-English dictionary.
 
Here is a line from the song that I find somewhat confusing.

Ne ultra memineris iniquitatis.
"May you no longer remember [our] iniquities."

I am puzzled by the form "iniquitatis." It looks like a genitive singular, where I am expecting an accusative plural.

Is "memini, meminisse" a verb that takes a genitive object? (Even if so, why would the object be singular?)  The dictionary just says "perfect form for present meaning," and I do appreciate that much information.
 
 
Do you know of someone to whom I could turn with questions of this sort?

You can consult a normal dictionary.  Doing so, you will find that the defective verb memini, "to remember, recollect, to think of, be mindful of a thing" has an "object" in the genetive.  It can also go with the accusative and even be construed with de.  There is a common phrase in Latin Church circles "memento mei"... "be mindful of me". 

The other day our friend John Sonnen reported with photos about the Pontifical TLM celebrated at Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome celebrated by Dario Card. Castrillon Hoyos of the P.C. Ecclesia Dei.

Subsequent to the wonderful Mass Italian journalist Bruno Volpe has interviewed Card. Castrillon.  Among the tidbits revealed, His Eminence speaks about the clarificatory instruction about Summorum Pontificum.

Also, the Cardinal continues to refer to the older rite as the venerable "Gregorian rite".  He also speaks very well of Fr. Nicola Bux.

In his recent wonderful book, the noted liturgist and theologian Fr. Nicola Bux underscored the pressing necessity of rediscovering the sense of the sacred in Mass.  Does [the Cardinal] share that? "The Liturgy in itself must aim at the sacred.  I esteem Fr. Bux, but what he says is at the basis of a good celebration."

...

Finally: the by now famous Instruction on the Motu Proprio which freed up the Mass according to the old Roman Rite, ... a what point is it?  "In the Pope’s hands, now it’s his business.  Let’s trust in the Pope’s wisdom."

I am getting to the point where I am not sure I really want the "Instruction".

We continue to look at our prayers for Mass during Advent.

SUPER OBLATA (2002MR)
Placare, Domine, quaesumus,
nostrae precibus humilitatis et hostiis,
et, ubi nulla suppetunt suffragia meritorum,
tuae nobis indulgentiae succurre praesidiis.

This prayer is identical to the Secret of the older, 1962 editio typica of the Missale Romanum.  I have already written a full article on this prayer for The Wanderer.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Be Thou appeased, O Lord, we beseech Thee,
by the prayers of our humility and by our sacrificial offerings,
and, where no favorable points of merits suffice for us,
succor us by the helps of Thy indulgence.

LAME-DUCK ICEL:
Lord,
we are nothing without you.
As you sustain us with your mercy,
receive our prayers and offerings.

We continue with our glance at the Collects of the days of Advent.

Our friends over at Kansas Catholic have brought back the "church sign dialogues"!  We are pleased.

Here are the first few frames of the recent offering.  You can go over there and read the rest.

Church Signs: Discussing the Traditional Latin Mass That is Not Near You

Continued at Kansas Catholic.