A gloss on “Say the Black Do the Red”

From a reader:

Thanks for the website.  It nevers fails to engage me.  Deo gratia.

I have a cousin an elderly priest in Ireland.  He visited us last week and we were discussing the TLM and I mentioned, "Say the Black Do the Red."  He said when he was in the seminary in the early fifties learning the TLM the joke going around was, "You have to say the Black, but do not have to understand it  Not say Red, but must understand it."

 

A fine gloss!

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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2 Comments

  1. Paul Jones says:

    What does “Say the Black, Do the Red” mean?

  2. Lawrence says:

    It means be obedient to the faith and put it first, not personality.

    During Mass the words written in Black are read and the red ones are the instructions for what to do.

    Say the “Black Do the Red”is a way of saying, be faithful to the faith and live it with obedience in your words and actions.

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