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

We are coming up on the 40th Anniversary of the implementation of the Novus Ordo in the Latin Church.

Forty years ago on 30 Nov 1969 the Novus Ordo went into force.  It was the 1st Sunday of Advent.

Therefore, we welcome as our guest Pope Paul VI (+1978) who gave a General Audience 26 Nov 1969 address on the subject of the changes people were about to experience.

It is interesting to return to such a moment, in the face of the changes we are facing today with the reintegration of the older, traditional form of Holy Mass through the provisions of Summorum Pontificum and the change in the English translation of the Novus Ordo.

You will hear Paul Paul’s General Audience text along with my commentary. 

The pop music selections were all hits from 1969.   Their choice is also part of my commentary.

 

Summorum Pontificum has been in force for over two years.

That is more than enough time to figure out how to integrate training of seminarians into programs of formation.

In another entry, I had asked seminarians to send reports about training and availability for the TLM in their seminary formation.

St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia:

"St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia does in fact offer a course on the TLM, and does frequently include Latin in the propers of the Mass celebrated in the OF."

And …

"Daily Mass: Ordinary Form, usually with Latin Sanctus.  Feast Days: Ordinary Form with incense.  Usually Latin Common, and sometimes Missa de Angelis or Polyphony.  Latin Benedictus and Magnificat. Once a month there is a Saturday Ordinary Form with Latin Common and Propers. Once a semester there is a Mass in the Extraordinary Form. A course (elective) on celebrating the Extraordinary Form is taught in the Theology Division each year."

Catholic Theological Union, Chicago:

"I have diligently searched their course offerings and unfortunately there is no course offering for the Traditional Latin Mass.  I have spoken to several of the men who will be going there, and all of us have a strong desire to learn the TLM, and so we will be petitioning CTU to add such a course offering.  If not, we will find a way to learn it ourselves."

Our Lady of Corpus Christi Seminary:

"Our Lady of Corpus Christi, run and established by the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, has two Extraordinary Form Masses every week, one by the FSSP on the Sunday, and another during the week by Fr Sam Medley, a Society priest and formator. He has been introducing SOLT seminarians, studying philosophy, to the Extraordinary Form and giving them serving lessons. Also, every SOLT seminarian at the college learns Latin. 
 
In the ordinary form, primarily a mixture of the vernacular and latin is used. For example, sometimes the laity parts of the Mass are in Latin, and other times the Priest says the Eucharistic Prayer in Latin. On other occasions the whole Mass has been said in Latin, and on a few occasions the Priests say Mass Ad Orientem."

Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, St. Louis, MO:

This program was established by Archbishop Raymond E. Burke and is being continued by Archbishop Robert Carlson

Mass is offered in Latin with Gregorian Chant (a capella) every Friday.
OF and EF alternate.
All Souls Day is celebrated in the EF.

Every Saturday there is an English Chant Mass, usually B.V. M. on Saturday, sung a capella.
Sanctus and Agnus Dei in Latin, Our Lady’s Mass on Saturday, Mass X
Ave verum Corpus sung after Communion.
Salve, Regina (or appropriate Marian Antiphon) sung after Mass.
Other parts sung in English chant, from the Saint Louis Gradual.
Preparations are being made to sing the Introit “Salve, sancta Parens.”

On Mondays and Wednesday, the proper Vesper Hymn is sung in English, Gregorian Chant melody, from the Saint Louis Hymnal for the Hours.

On most days, except Sundays, a Low Mass (EF) is celebrated at 7:30 a.m. and 11:10 a.m.  Those who wish may attend this Mass.  The seminarians have an opportunity to practice serving.  Seminarians, faculty and staff attend as they wish.

For all who wish, complete training is available in the EF for celebrating Mass, Vespers and the Sacraments, and for learning how to serve.

Latin is taught every semester.  The first year Latin course (an elective) at the present time has an enrollment of 34 students.  The Latin texts of the both the OF and EF are explained and practiced as part of the course.

Students have asked to form a “Latin Club” to continue working on their knowledge and pronunciation of Latin for the liturgy.

A course in Gregorian Chant is available as an elective, usually once a year.

OF and EF Masses are celebrated by the Rector, and four priests who also teach in the seminary.

Fostering Gregorian Chant, the Latin liturgy and the study of liturgical and patristic Latin is one of the important responsibilities of the Institute of Sacred Music established by Archbishop Raymond L. Burke."

St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California:

"I am a seminarian at St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California, which is run by the Sulpicians.  There is currently no training offered in either the Extraordinary Form or in the Ordinary Form with Latin.  Latin is not even offered as a course anymore (before this year it was always an elective.)  Last year the Dean of Students (who is now the Rector) told a seminarian friend of mine that there are no plans to introduce training in the EF."

Conception Seminary College, MO.

"In regards to your post about TLM training, etc., here at Conception I believe that they offer TLM once a semester…maybe. We just had one last Saturday morning, which was about 4 hours before the normal mass on Saturday. That obviously made it very unappealing to someone who had maybe never been. I was a little miffed about the time, but there were still about 20-25 of us there. I don’t know if they’re offering another next semester. As far as training goes, they wouldn’t offer something like that in college seminary, but really they don’t mention it at all here. "

St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, MN:

"St. Paul Seminary offers a monthly Mass in Latin in the ordinary form.  This Mass was added in response to Sacramentum Caritatis #63 (though only seminarians who voluntarily sing with the schola are taught about the execution of Gregorian Chant).  Once in a while there will be a schola at this Latin Mass, but it is normally done with hymns (in English or Latin) and the responsorial psalm is always sung in vernacular.  The sung ordinary is Jubilate Deo.  As for the Extraordinary Form, there is no apparent move to expose seminarians to it, or to have it taught.  I use the word "apparent" because it is not mentioned to students; however, things move slowly here and the faculty may have discussions or plans which have not yet been made known.  I know that a desire for instruction in this form of the Mass has been expressed to the faculty (perhaps not frequently), but there has been little apparent response.  Additionally, there are likely more students than those who have made requests who would learn this form of the Mass if it were available, and many seminarians here have never seen the extraordinary form."

Sacred Heart School of Theology in Milwaukee WI:

"Just a Report on Sacred Heart School of Theology in Milwaukee Wisaconsin.  Run by the Priests of the Sacred Heart with a focus on later vocations…

There is neither the EF nor the OF Latin mass offered—though there has been the slightest emergence of Gregorian Chant in the Novus Ordo and the LOH, just this year.

Several seminarians from different Diocese about the country were seeking instruction from the Archdiocesan approved ICKSP Parish (St. Stanislaus) on our own time (weeknight instruction and serving on Sundays)  The entire school was encouraged to attend mass outside the seminary on Sundays as the chapel is used for neighbors and SCJ donors, etc for mass.

Once they realized (after one of last years graduates offered a Solemn High Mass, at his home parish, as his mass of thanksgiving upon ordination) what we were doing we were forbidden to attend St. Stanislaus.  Our Bishops and VDs complained and now everyone is required to attend the "normative mass" in school which of course still has the neighbors and donors in attendance—all this ostensibly to come into compliance with the report of the Apostolic Visitation and the PPF.

They showed their cards, however, by denying us the opportunity for mass away from school first.  Now my Bishop (he wants me and my Diocesan Brothers to learn as he himself has been doing at home) intervened again and we can attend out side "on occasion" and no longer require pre approval for the "visit" and must discuss what we learned with out Formation Advisor.  This still isn’t over as the aged and uber liberal formation staff of a priest or two and some pantsuited sisters are actively opposed to the Holy Father, his initiatives and the Trad Latin Mass—womens ordination they’d go for…Latin never."

Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, MA:

"We have been told explicitly that there will be no celebration of, nor training in the extraordinary form of the Mass at this seminary."

Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, Michigan:

Availability of Extraordinary Form Mass: No
Training for Extraordinary Form Mass: No

Ordinary Form Mass in Latin: Yes, once a week on Saturday as an option for Mass (there are two options, an 8AM Latin OF, or an 11:30AM English OF)

Availability of Extraordinary Form Mass in area: Yes
Seminarians allowed to go: Yes, as long as seminary commitments come first.

St John Vianney, Denver:

There are no scheduled EF masses. There is only one priest here who knows how to say the EF Mass. When he doesn’t have a scheduled Mass on a given day, he says a low Mass in a side chapel around 05:00. I am pretty sure he would allow anyone to assist who woke up early enough.

There is at least one (and I believe it is only one) course for saying the EF Mass. It is taught by an FSSP priest who comes in just for that.

Mount St. Mary, MD:

Last year we introduced the EF form, with training for seminarians who’s respective bishops allowed.  We had a weekly EF Mass on Tuesdays and another on Saturday. We celebrated our patronal feast, Dec. 8th, with a Missa Solemnis, with polyphonic ordinary.  It was told us that this would be the regular use for the patronal feast.
 
[...]

The training class was reduced to one semester, for deacons only.  The weekly EF Mass has been removed, as well as the Saturday EF.  The December 8th Mass has returned to it’s former status.  
 
We have an Latin OF Mass once a month on Saturday. 

Theological College at Catholic University of America:

Theological College at the Catholic University of America, DC does not offer the Extraordinary Form nor training for it (though there is one available at the National Shrine across the street), but we do have a few Latin OF masses each year and Latin mass parts and chants are a staple of the music program.

Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, TX:

Nothing at all with the TLM.  ... Latin is an elective at another college, if wanted, but it is not encouraged.  Theology classes are taken at Oblate School of Theology, which is hostile to anything traditional.  ... There is only one TLM in the city, but seminarians are required to stay on campus for the community Mass, meaning they cannot make it to the TLM.  Those interested must learn from DVDs and on break from the seminary.

University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, Chicago

Still nothing.

The Liturgical Institute at USML in conjunction with St. John Cantius hosts a conference in May on the extraordinary form.  It’s quite a good conference, and is conveniently scheduled immediately after the seminarians have finals, during ordination season, and/or have left for their summer assignments.  Even for those seminarians who are available and participate, it isn’t part of seminary formation.

St. Mary’s Seminary (Roland Park) in Baltimore:

St. Mary’s has not had nor does it intend to have any sort of training for the Extraordinary Form, however hostility by faculty towards the EF and more traditional practices has certainly been reduced (in fact there are even a few faculty members who have encouraged seminarians to attend the EF or to at least watch a video of it).  Many of the bishops who send seminarians here have flat out said NO to the EF.  There is a local EF mass at St. Alphonsus in downtown Baltimore on Sundays but as most seminarians are assigned to parishes for Sundays it is a rare opportunity to be able to attend.  There is no Latin Novus Ordo either, however we do have Latin mass parts usually one or two days a week.  We also chant Vespers in English for all Solemnities and Feasts.  About three years ago Latin began to be offered again as an elective, however only for one year.  There are many Seminarians who would like to be trained but it doesn’t look very promising.  St. Mary’s is also run by the Sulpicians.  

 

 

It has been over two years since Summorum Pontificum went into effect.

That is more than enough time for seminaries to get with the program and start providing both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form.

In the Brick by Brick department, this comes from our attentive friends at Rorate who are all over this great news from the Netherlands:

Dutch seminary to offer a course on the TLM

The website of the St. Willibrord seminary in the Tiltenberg, the Netherlands has announced that it is establishing a course for priests and seminarians on how to offer the Traditional Latin Mass. St. Willibrord’s is the major seminary of the Diocese of Haarlem.

The following is a translation of the announcement on the seminary website. Emphases mine. (H/t to There was a boy):

On 7 July 2007, Pope Benedict XVI published the Apostolic letter "Summorum Pontificum". In it the pope decides that the Roman Missal of Pope Saint Pius V, which was rereleased in 1962 by Blessed John XXIII, would now be the extraordinary expression of the same "legis orandi" of the Church and would be kept in suitable regard because of its respectable and ancient use (art. 1). The Saint Willibrord seminary at the Tiltenberg will therefore organise a course for priests and seminarians to learn this rite, to be announced on the day of continued formation for young priests on Monday 2 November.

In his motu proprio, Pope Benedict XVI emphasises that liturgy is an expression of faith, so that liturgy and prayer define faith (lex orandi, lex credendi). This is why the Church asks that liturgical texts, such as prayers and also the acclamations, be authorised by Church authorities, and why the Second Vatican Council emphasised that no one can change, remove or add liturgical texts on their own authority (Sacrosanctum Concilium 22, par. 3). The importance of this decision becomes immediately clear when one considers the close bond between the faith of the Church and its expression in the liturgy.

In the education of priests and deacons special attention is paid to students becoming thoroughly acquainted with the liturgical books and the practice of the several priestly and diaconal liturgical duties, including in the first place Holy Mass, but also the other Sacraments, Adoration, Vespers, blessings, funerals and so on. The appointments which are received in the course of their education, chiefly that of acolyte, must also be practised. The seminarians will receive this practice from the priest who is responsible for this in the seminary: drs. F.J. Bunschoten. In this, he’ll be assisted by Deacon J. Versteeg, who will be mostly working with the candidates for the permanent diaconate. The seminary’s MC, Rudy Kinds, will assist him in this. The priest has been mastering the Tridentine rite and gained the required knowledge and abilities to practice this rite with other priests and the candidates for Holy Orders.

For more on the seminary of St. Willibrord, please read this.

Some videos of the cantores of this seminary singing Gregorian chant are available on Youtube.

This leads me to wonder….

I want to ask seminarians out there to send me an e-mail about what is going on in this regard in their seminaries.  Tell me about availability of Extraordinary Form Masses and training for same at your seminary.  Tell me about the use of Latin in the Ordinary Form as well.   Seminarians: be brief, and write what you write in such a way that I don’t have to "anonymize" it too much.  I would like to name your seminary, but I of course will not identify you.

It has been over two years since Summorum Pontificum went into effect.

That is more than enough time for seminaries to get with the program and start providing both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form.

More than enough time.

If they are providing seminarians with training by now… there must be some problem.

More than enough time.

More than enough time.

From CNA:

Vatican begins dialogue with Society of St. Pius X

Vatican City, Oct 26, 2009 / 02:23 pm (CNA).- A meeting today between representatives of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) and officials from the Vatican identified the doctrinal differences that still separate the Society from the Roman Catholic Church. The gathering also served to identify the manner and structure of future discussions between the two groups.

Though Pope Benedict lifted the excommunication of four Lefebvrist bishops earlier this year, he also told the bishops of the world that “until the doctrinal questions are clarified, the Society has no canonical status in the Church, and its ministers – even though they have been freed of the ecclesiastical penalty – do not legitimately exercise any ministry in the Church.”

Today the representatives of the SSPX and the Vatican agreed that they would focus their dialogue on the concepts of Tradition, the Paul VI missal, religious freedom, the relationship between Christian and non-Christian religions, Catholic principles of ecumenism, themes regarding the unity of the Church, and the interpretation of the documents of Vatican II in continuity with Catholic doctrine.

Liberals are beginning to twit.

They are just warming up, but soon it will be a grand mal twit.

They are panicking about Pope Benedict and his provisions for Anglicans who, after their long nightmare with liberal on their side of the Tiber, may want unity in the Catholic Church.

Be alert.

The liberal Catholics will try to pull a sleight of hand.  They will attempt to get you to believe that what Pope Benedict is doing is not true ecumenism. 

They will claim to be the sole arbiters of true ecumenism.

They will claim that conservative Catholics, traditional Catholics are not interested in true ecumenism.

Do not accept their definition or their premises.

I want to invite all you readers into a project.  

My idea is that we should start to refer to Pope Benedict XVI as …

It becomes clearer each year that Benedict goes beyond his immediate predecessors, but always in continuity with them, in promoting Christian unity.

His efforts in this direction can be seen on several fronts:

1) with the Orthodox in general, and the Russian Orthodox in particular;
2) with the SSPX;
3) with the Anglicans.

I can hear it now.

"But Father! But Father!", my liberal readers will say, squirming. "Pope Benedict’s efforts with the SSPX and with the Anglican trads are not really about ‘Christian unity’!  They aren’t even endorsed by many high-ranking Catholic prelates or conspicuous newspaper theologians!"

Exactly.

That is precisely why Pope Benedict is preeminently the Pope of Christian Unity.

Pope Benedict has been struggling against forces within his own fold to achieve Christian unity.  

His is decidedly not the unity that liberals (Richard McBrien, Gerald O’Collins) have in mind when they think of Christian unity, with its watered-down version of Roman primacy, liturgy, catechesis, sexual ethics and church discipline. In other words, a Christian unity without a Christian identity (christian with a small ‘c’).

No, Benedict’s unity is real unity, true unity that costs something, that stretches people, but that does not compromise what is essential to the Church.

This is not Rahner’s "world church" where anything and anyone goes.  It is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Christ Jesus.

Benedict’s true ecumenism is consonant with everything we are as a Church. 

People are going to be stretched, but absolutely nothing essential will be given away.

You see where I am going with this.

Liberals want ecumenism only with those whom they want in their sort of church.

They want ecumenical dialogue with those who agree with the manifestos of, for example, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

But true ecumenism is not about compromise on essentials, giving away fundamental elements of our Catholic identity.

True ecumenism requires that we be stretched, to be sure, but that we submit.  We stretch, but we give nothing essential away.

The liberal model of ecumenism gives nearly anything for the sake of bringing in their sort of compromised Christian.

Pope Benedict is the true ecumenist.

He is the Pope of Christian Unity.

I am digging out of the archive an old PODCAzT.

These days in the Liturgy of the Hours we have had readings from St. Augustine’s Letter 130 to the wealthy widow Proba, who had fled to North Africa after Alaric the Visigoth sacked Rome.  Since I talked about Augustine and Proba in an old PODCAzT I thought I could just trot it out again.  There are some interesting things in that little project.

Also, I make some remarks about how to treat newcomers at celebrations of the older form of Mass.  Since Summorum Pontificum is now in force, people who haven’t been to the older Mass will be getting first impressions. 

Let’s make sure they are good impressions.

Our friend John Sonnen has some first images of His Excellency Most. Rev. Raymond Burke’s Solemn Mass in the Vatican Basilica.



UPDATE

Another view from Messa in Latino:



I found some of the accounts interesting.

I was especially amused by that of Robert Moynighan and how he found out about the Mass.

If he read this blog more often, he would have known days before.

But the important thing is that it a) took place and b) was well attended.

May there be many more of the same.

I suspect that this is, in fact, a prelude.

UPDATE:

Another from Orbis Catholicus:

It is a big day for the priests and people in the Diocese of Sioux City.

His Excellency Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless, Bishop of Sioux City, four years as bishop, during this year for Priests, has issued a pastoral letter Ecclesia Semper Reformanda (The Church is Always in Need of Renewal).

This is "A Pastoral Letter on the Future of the Church in the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa".

I can’t reproduce the whole letter here, but here are the headings and some points I find especially interesting.  As you go on, keep this in mind:

Raising our worship is like raising the tide: all the boats rise at the same time and without it, no boat rises.

In the Introduction Bp. Nickless tackles the implementation of the Second Vatican Council and the New Evangelization.

He asks in II. The Second Vatican Council and the New Evangelization:

We now find ourselves forty-four years since the close of the Council. Many questions still need to be asked and answered. Have we understood the Council within the context of the entire history of the Church? Have we understood the documents well? Have we truly appropriated and implemented them? Is the current state of the Church what the Council intended? What went right? What went wrong? Where is the promised “New Pentecost”?

And then immediately goes on to quote Pope Benedict XVI’s pivotal address to the Curia in December of 2005 about the hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture versus a hermeneutic of reform in continuity with the past.  Bp. Nickless also identifies a false "spirit of Vatican II".

In III. The Current Context Bp. Nickless speaks of a dualism at work.  People are either this or that in every sphere of Catholic life, along progressivist or traditional lines.  He returns to the problem of a hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture.

In a passage that could have been straight from this blog.  Note the ad intra/ad extra paring, the emphases on identity and then mission.  If we don’t know who we are as Catholics, then we have nothing to contribute to the wider world or the smaller spheres of our influence.

My brothers and sisters, let me say this clearly: The “hermeneutic of discontinuity” is a false interpretation and implementation of the Council and the Catholic Faith. It emphasizes the “engagement with the world” to the exclusion of the deposit of faith. This has wreaked havoc on the Church, systematically dismantling the Catholic Faith to please the world, watering down what is distinctively Catholic, and ironically becoming completely irrelevant and impotent for the mission of the Church in the world. The Church that seeks simply what works or is “useful” in the end becomes useless.

Our urgent need at this time is to reclaim and strengthen our understanding of the deposit of faith. We must have a distinctive identity and culture as Catholics, if we would effectively communicate the Gospel to the people of this day and Diocese. This is our mission. Notice that this mission is two-fold, like the Second Vatican Council’s purpose. It is toward ourselves within the Church (ad intra), and it is to the world (ad extra). The first is primary and necessary for the second; the second flows from the first. This is why we have not been as successful as we should be in bringing the world to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ to the world. We cannot give what we do not have; we cannot fulfill our mission to evangelize, if we ourselves are not evangelized.

With this in place, Bp. Nickless goes on to IV. Pastoral Priorities for the Diocese of Sioux City:

1. We must renew our reverence, love, adoration and devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament, within and outside of Mass. A renewal of Eucharistic Spirituality necessarily entails an ongoing implementation of the Second Vatican Council’s reform of the liturgy as authoritatively taught by the Church’s Magisterium, the promotion of Eucharistic Adoration outside of Mass, regular reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Eucharist and our Mother.

He is absolutely correct to start here, of course.  He opens this part reminding his people that the Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life. 
"All that we are and do should flow from our participation in the Eucharist and lead back to it. It is absolutely central to our identity and faith as Catholics. It enables us to engage in our mission. Without a proper reverence, love, adoration and devotion to the Eucharist and the liturgy, we are lost."

So, for Bishop Nickless, proper worship is the first priority.  "When we worship God in this way, He sanctifies us, that is, He makes us holy. This is the second purpose of the Liturgy." 

Since, in the Church’s liturgy, we meet God in a unique way, how we worship – the external rites, gestures, vessels, music, indeed, the building itself – should reflect the grandeur of the Heavenly liturgy. Liturgy is mystical; it is our mysterious encounter with the transcendent God, who comes to sanctify us through the sacrifice of Christ made present in the Eucharist and received in Holy Communion. It should radiate Heavenly truth and goodness. This radiance, the splendor of truth, is called beauty. Our liturgy should radiate true beauty, reflecting the beauty of God Himself and what He does for us in Christ Jesus. It should lift up our soul—first through our intellect and will, but also through our senses and emotions—to adore God as we share already in Heaven’s eternal worship. In this vale of tears, the liturgy should be a lodestar, a transcending place of wonder and comfort in the midst of our day-to-day lives, a place of light and high beauty beyond the reach of worldly shadows.[13] So many people only connect with the Church, and sometimes with prayer and God, through Sunday Mass. Should we not offer an experience of beauty and transcendence, compellingly different from our day-to-day lives? Should not every facet of our offering be proportionate to the divine reality?

That footnote #13?  That’s J.R.R. Tolkien, by the way.

Bp. Nickless has gotten all this exactly right.

A reform of our worship has logical priority. 

In this section the Bishop quotes important passage from Papa Ratzinger’s book Feast of Faith.  He is placing his own vision within that of Benedict XVI.

"It is imperative that we recover this wonder, awe, reverence and love for the liturgy and the Eucharist. To do this, we must feel and think with the whole Church in “reforming the reform” of the Second Vatican Council. We must accept and implement the current stream of magisterial liturgical documents coming from the Holy See: Liturgiam Authenticam (2001), the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal, and its new General Instruction on the Roman Missal (2002), Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (2002), Ecclesia de Eucharistia (2003), Spiritus et Sponsa (2003), Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004), Sacramentum Caritatis (2007), and Summorum Pontificum (2007).

It seems that all is not well with the Liturgy, and the Church is trying to help us. The pendulum swings, the hermeneutic of discontinuity, and the divisions within our Church have been seen and felt in the Liturgy more than anywhere." 

At this point you must see the important of his mentioning Summorum Pontificum in his list of documents pertaining to the liturgy: Summorum Pontificum (2007).  It is unfathomable that he wouldn’t mention this tool of continuity and reform.  And there it is.  Bp. Nickless sees Summorum Pontificum as a tool – one among several in the tool box – for the number one priority in his diocese within this Benedictine vision.  Another important tool for executing that Benedictine "Marshall Plan" is Sacramentum caritatis.

The Bishop goes one to speak of "active participation" and "clericalizing" the laity and "laicizing" the priesthood.  I liked this comparison: "The liturgy, like the Church, is intended to be hierarchical and polyphonic, respecting the different roles assigned by Christ and allowing all the different voices to blend in one great hymn of praise."

Does this part sound familiar to WDTPRS readers?

"Yet active participation does not preclude the active passivity of silence, stillness and listening: indeed, it demands it. Worshippers are not passive, for instance, when listening to the readings or the homily, or following the prayers of the celebrant, and the chants and music of the liturgy. These are experiences of silence and stillness, but they are in their own way profoundly active."

Furthermore:

"Conscious participation calls for the entire community to be properly instructed in the mysteries of the liturgy, lest the experience of worship degenerate into a form of ritualism. But it does not mean a constant attempt within the liturgy itself to make the implicit explicit, since this often leads to a verbosity and informality which are alien to the Roman Rite and end by trivializing the act of worship. Nor does it mean the suppression of all subconscious experience, which is vital in a liturgy which thrives on symbols that speak to the subconscious just as they speak to the conscious. The use of the vernacular has certainly opened up the treasures of the liturgy to all who take part, but this does not mean that the Latin language, and especially the chants which are so superbly adapted to the genius of the Roman Rite, should be wholly abandoned. If subconscious experience is ignored in worship, an affective and devotional vacuum is created and the liturgy can become not only too verbal but also too cerebral."

A bit of understatement there about Latin chants, since they are the official music of Holy Church and should always have priority over every other choice.

This has been our push for a long time here.  It is nice to see that those far above my pay grade are moving in the same stream of thought.

HEre is a nice bit that concerns, inherently, the correct understanding of inculturation:  "It is time to dig deeper, “to put out into the deep,”19 into a new and authentic liturgical spirituality that is both old and new, active and contemplative, historical and mystical, Roman and Iowan, familiar and challenging."

He goes on to address Adoration and the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation and Marian Devotion.

His next priorities:

2. We must strengthen catechesis on every level, beginning with and focusing on adults. If we, who are supposed to be mature in faith, do not know the Catholic Faith well, how can we live it and impart it to our children and future generations of Catholics?

3. The first two pastoral priorities, renewal in Eucharistic Spirituality and Catechesis, will foster faithful families that are the foundation of the Church and the society. We are called to protect, build up and foster holy families in our midst, without whom the Church and the world perish.

4. If we renew the Eucharistic, catechetical, and family life of our diocese, we will simultaneously foster a culture where young people can more readily respond to the radical calls of ministerial priesthood and the consecrated life.

5. We must acknowledge and embrace the missionary character of the Catholic Faith and the vocation of all Catholics to be, not only disciples, but also apostles.

Folks, this is an outstanding letter.

Bishop Nickness places a reform of the liturgy according to a Benedictine hermeneutic as the number one priority for the life of the diocese.   Of course all the other priorities are worked on contemporaneously.  But liturgy must have a logical priority even if chronologically we are working on everything simultaneously.

He is working within the thought stream and vision of Pope Benedict.

If we don’t know who we are as Catholics, then we have nothing to contribute to the wider world or the smaller spheres of our influence.  Reform of our worship as Catholics, in continuity, is the key to this Benedictine "Marshall Plan".  To use another image, liturgy is the tip of the spear.

Massive WDTPRS kudos to Bishop Nickless!

From the site of the Holy See Press Office, the papal spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ has announced that the talks between the Holy See and the SSPX will begin on 26 October.  They will take place at the Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio, which houses the CDF and the Pont. Comm. Ecclesia Dei.

DICHIARAZIONE DEL DIRETTORE DELLA SALA STAMPA DELLA SANTA SEDE, P. FEDERICO LOMBARDI, S.I.

Il prossimo lunedì 26 ottobre, nella mattinata, avrà luogo il primo incontro dei previsti colloqui con la Fraternità San Pio X.

Vi parteciperanno, per parte della Commissione Ecclesia Dei, oltre al Segretario della stessa Commissione, Mons. Guido Pozzo, il Segretario della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, S.E. Mons. Luis F. Ladaria Ferrer, S.I., e gli esperti già nominati: il Rev. P. Charles Morerod, O.P., Segretario della Commissione teologica internazionale, Consultore della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, il Rev. Mons. Fernando Ocáriz, Vicario Generale dell’Opus Dei, Consultore della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, il Rev. P. Karl Josef Becker, S.I., Consultore della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede.

L’incontro avrà luogo presso il Palazzo del Sant’Ufficio. I contenuti delle conversazioni, che riguarderanno le questioni dottrinali aperte, rimarranno strettamente riservati.

Al termine dell’incontro verrà rilasciato un comunicato.

 

A good initial news report about these talks would be a great birthday present!

Folks, start praying to your favorite saints and the guardian angels of those involved in the talks.  Start NOW and keep praying everyday until they start.

Mary, Seat of Wisdom….
Mary, Mother of the Church….
St. Peter….
St. Paul….

I heard tell that during the upcoming conference for the anniversary of Summorum Pontificum in Rome his Excellency Most Rev. Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Segnatura, will be celebrant for a Pontifical Mass in the older, traditional Roman Rite in… wait for it…

the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter!

It was unclear if the Mass was to be in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament or in the transept where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved, at the tomb of the Apostles Simon and Jude.

I suppose it is a very long time since something like this has taken place in the Vatican Basilica.

May it be a sign of the times!

Be sure to check out this Polish site Nowy Ruch Liturgiciczny for photos of a Solemn TLM coram episcopo, Most. Rev. Marian Golebiewski, Archbishop of Wroclaw.

The photos are GREAT.





Folks… this is what the RED MASS should always look like.

This is what the pols and judges need to see.

Remember my Liturgical Political Manifesto?

As I have said before, when the younger clergy learn the older form of Mass, it changes who they are and how they say both forms. 

This is the terrible nightmare of the aging liberals.  The biological solution is pushing them aside and bringing up these younger priests who have a healthier and more integrated vision of our liturgical worship.

On that note, I want to share a  nice brick by brick note from a priest, Fr. Ryan Hilderbrand in Montgomery, IN.  I asked him if I should "anonymize" his note and he said I could post away.  My emphases and comments.

I’m dropping a quick note to give you further hope in the new priests of our age. I am Fr. Ryan Hilderbrand, and I was ordained to the priesthood on 6 June 2009. My first Mass in the ordinary form was that evening. The next morning, I was the celebrant of a Solemn High Mass in the extraordinary form; in effect, this was my second "first" Mass, and my pastor billed it as such. The people of the parish had requested such a Mass, and one of the best things about it was the fact that, with a few exceptions, this was entirely an "in-house" job – the servers were trained for this Mass, and the parish choir chanted. The deacon and subdeacon were classmates of mine from Mundelein, and the assistant priest was a good friend of mine from the south side of Chicago. Please find two photos, attached, of the Mass. Credits to my brother-in-law, Mr. Richard W. Morris, Jr. [Excellent.  I think the work of specialist groups is important, but the real work will be done when diocesan priests and seminarians make the provisions of summorum Pontificum and the vision of Pope Benedict their own.]

My own reflection on the Mass is not particularly deep. I remember thinking ahead of time being afraid of dropping something, turning left instead of right, &c. However, the nerves stopped as soon as the "Asperges" was finished. Assuming the grace of the Holy Spirit, of course, I believe this was because I realized quickly that I didn’t have to "act," that the people’s eyes weren’t "on" me, but "with" me. The old joke is that people go to first Masses and to NASCAR races for the same reasons – to see the accidents. When the "actor" feeling dissolved with ad orientem worship, all of the nerves went along with it. I remember PRAYING the Mass that morning.

Incidentally, I had a "first" Spanish-language Mass in the OF that afternoon. We didn’t bother to take down the setup for the EF Solemn Mass, so that was done "ad orientem" as well. No one complained! Peace!

Brick by brick.

Thanks, Father, for that great note.

On ZENIT there was a question put to their resident liturgical expert, Fr. Edward McNamara, of the Legionaries of Christ.

Frequency of the Extraordinary Form

And More on Habit-Wearers

ROME, SEPT. 29, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.

Q: I am confused about the permission given by our Holy Father regarding the celebration of Mass using the Tridentine rite (the extraordinary form). Can a parish substitute for all daily Masses throughout the week the "Tridentine form" instead of the "ordinary form"? I understand Sunday Masses must be of the ordinary form, with perhaps the exception of one Tridentine Mass.—D.F., St. Clair Shores, Michigan

A: The most relevant document regarding this point is probably Article 5 of "Summorum Pontificum":

"In parishes, where there is a stable group of faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition, the pastor should willingly accept their requests to celebrate the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962, and ensure that the welfare of these faithful harmonizes with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the guidance of the bishop in accordance with Canon 392, avoiding discord and favoring the unity of the whole Church.

"§2 Celebration in accordance with the Missal of Blessed John XXIII may take place on working days; while on Sundays and feast days one such celebration may also be held."

Canon 392 refers to the bishop’s overall right and duty to oversee and enforce the observation of ecclesiastical laws within his jurisdiction.

While the papal document certainly allows some leeway, the fact that it asks pastors to ensure that the celebration of the extraordinary form harmonizes with the ordinary pastoral care would suggest that a parish should not habitually substitute all daily Masses for the extraordinary form. [Okay… there are some rather vague things going on here, "leeway… harmonizes… suggest… habitually".]

A parish with more than one priest could have daily Mass in both forms.  [Well… probably a parish with a single priest could also.]

Likewise, in areas where churches are in close proximity, the bishop could allow one parish to celebrate a daily Mass in the extraordinary form for the faithful from several parishes. [It rather sounds as if Fr. M is applying Ecclesia Dei adflicta.] Other possibilities include rotating the celebration of the extraordinary form during the week among two or three nearby parishes.

If the need arises, the papal letter issued "motu propio" (on his own initiative) also foresees the possibility of the bishop establishing a special parish, thus Article 10:

"The ordinary of a particular place, if he feels it appropriate, may erect a personal parish in accordance with Canon 518 for celebrations following the ancient form of the Roman rite, or appoint a chaplain, while observing all the norms of law."

As is obvious all celebrations in such a parish or chaplaincy would be according to the extraordinary form.

The above document says that it is important to seek positive and charitable solutions to the needs of all the faithful so as to avoid discord and to favor the Church’s unity.

It is obviously not a bad think to have all daily Masses (or the only daily Mass) in a parish be in the Extraordinary Form, or there would not be the possibility of parishes where only the older books are used.

So, in all other parishes, it is a matter of working out the "pastoral" exigencies for how to use the TLM in a parish.

I cannot imagine a priest, facing things as they are today in most parishes where the older form hasn’t been used in years, would be able to change all the daily Masses to the TLM in anything like an irenic manner.

I guess this could come up in a parish where there is one priest with one daily Mass scheduled. 

You would think that if everyone who went to daily Mass at a parish, and the priest himself, really wanted the TLM rather than the Novus Ordo, and there were requests along those lines and consultation with the regulars, there is little reason why the priest shouldn’t use the TLM for the daily Mass.

Here is some nice brick by brick news from Seattle.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer with my emphases and comments.

 

Saturday, September 26, 2009
Last updated 1:59 p.m. PT
Dominus vobiscum: Latin mass returns to Seattle

By JOEL CONNELLY
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

The chants are stuff of childhood memory for today’s middle-aged Catholics, but a ritual that has lately been resurrected and restored in the Archdiocese of Seattle—the Tridentine rite Latin high mass.

In what he calls a "personal parish, not a geographic parish," Archbishop Alex Brunett a year ago authorized patient advocates of restoring the Latin liturgy to form North American Martyrs parish in Seattle.

About 500 people packed into its temporary home, St. Alphonsus Church in Ballard, on Friday night as Brunett presided over a stirring, deeply spiritual high mass. [It is nice to read something like this in a major newspaper.  Notice that the writer doesn’t lead with "it was really strange".]  Saber-bearing Knights of Columbus in full regalia escorted the procession. Gregorian music wafted down from the choir loft, while sweet-smelling incense filled the air.

Many women’s heads were draped in lace. Young children, present in large numbers, were quiet as, well, church mice. There were no response readings by the congregation. No laypeople walked to the microphone to read scripture.

The congregation’s participation could be described in two words, prayerful and contemplative.

Only to the once-familiar words "Dominus vobiscum" (May the Lord be with you) did the congregation deliver a full voiced reply, "Et cum spiritu tuo" (And with thy spirit).

The priests, as in pre-Vatican II days, faced the altar. Why? "The same reason a bus driver faces the road and not the passengers: The priest is leading the congregation to the Mount of Calvary," explained Fr. Gerard Saguto, the parish pastor, who arrived from Indiana a year ago.

Fr. Seguto hails from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, an order of priests founded by Pope John Paul II in 1988 to minister to the increasing demand for the mass in its older form.

In the past several decades, liturgical reform has swept out the old and ushered in a not-always-satisfying new [well put] in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Episcopal Church, which shares many of its worship patterns.

The result has been the "Kumbaya cult" of guitar liturgies with emphasis on informality. Often with a tin ear, language of worship has been "modernized" and adjusted to meet the requirements of political correctness.  [This guy has got it figured out!]

A substantial number of the faithful have hoped that older forms of worship could at least be tolerated.

A prominent Episcopalian, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, has lamented the appearance of what he calls "an ordinary and genderless God."

In the Catholic church, the Tridentine rite has hung on for four decades until it received long-sought restoration from Pope Benedict XVI.

Where it survived, from St. Mary Mother of God parish in Washington, D.C., to Old St. Patrick’s in New Orleans—even St. Mary’s Cathedral in far off Sydney, Australia—the pews have been packed.

"We have about 150 regulars, and much larger attendance for a special occasion such as this," said Archbishop Brunett.

Nearby, Fr. Saguto was assuring a visitor: "We’ll get a mass in Tacoma."

The appeal of the Latin mass, in Fr. Saguto’s words, is "an evocation of the sacred." "Look at the world," he added. "There has been a loss of the sense of the sacred, the need for God. The mass conveys a real sense of that need . . . It is raising the heart and the mind to God."

At the well-attended Sunday night mass in St. James Cathedral, known for Gregorian music beautifully sung by a women’s choir, lay people read scripture. Members of the congregation join hands at the Lord’s Prayer. Priests and worshippers exchange a handshake of peace.

The Tridentine rite as practiced by North American Martyrs parish is different. The movement of priests and acolytes around the altar is intricate. There is no spontaneity. "There’s a very intense focus on the sacrificial nature of the mass, of Christ’s presence," said Fr. Saguto.

At a fast-busting dessert reception after Friday night’s mass, Archbishop Brunett joked about Western Washington’s Catholics. "I spend time with Korean Catholics, I spend time with Filipino Catholics, we have a large and growing Hispanic population: We are a very diverse people, and I try to accommodate them," he said.

North American Martyrs parish celebrates a high mass at 11:30 a.m. every Sunday at St. Alphonsus. Archbishop Brunett, 75, is waiting for his successor to be chosen, but told the congregation he hopes to preside when the new parish moves to a church home of its own.

The battle over Latin liturgy has produced rifts in places. In Paris, a breakaway group, the Society of St. Pius X, celebrates the Tridentine Latin mass a few blocks from Notre Dame. In response, the cathedral holds its own Gregorian mass on Sunday mornings.  [Post hoc ergo propter hoc?]

Una Voice of Western Washington, a group led by lay people, spent years patiently working to see the Tridentine mass restored. Supplanted by a simpler Latin liturgy during Vatican II (the Second Vatican Council), the rite was brought back by Pope Benedict XVI, who encouraged its use.

Archbishop Brunett praised its local advocates. "The Latin mass community of the Archdiocese of Seattle has been led by lay people, responsible people," he said in his sermon.

"The mass should have a dignity: It should direct us to the Lord in the fullness of our faith," the archbishop added. "No matter how we celebrate the Mass, it should be celebrated with dignity and respect . . . It should be done with reverence and respect."

North American Martyrs parish takes its name from 17th Century French priests who gave their lives carrying their faith to "New France." Several were horribly tortured and scalped.

Joel Connelly can be reached at 206-448-8160 or joelconnelly@seattlepi.com.

 

Kudos to the writer.

In his Letter from Rome Robert Mickens of RU-486 (aka The Bitter Pill aka The Tablet) offers these observations about the older form of Mass and Pope Benedict’s "emancipation proclamation" Summorum Pontificum.  Shall we have a look in the usual way?

Monday marks two years since Pope Benedict’s moto proprio, “Summorum Pontificum”, came into effect and allowed general use of the Tridentine Mass. The papal document changed our liturgical terminology, redefining the old and new rites respectively as the “extraordinary and ordinary forms of the one Roman Rite”. Until recently I had seen only portions of the extraordinary form.  [Lemme get this straight.  After all these years of sniping at the older form of Mass and the people involved with it, Mickens finally got around – good reporter that he is – to going to one.  It has been available in Rome for years, long before the 2007 document Summorum Pontificum.  But he has now gotten around to it.]

But last Sunday I decided to go to the vicariate of Rome’s designated parish for the “extraordinary form” of the Mass. [and all the sacraments.] Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini (Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims) is run by the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP), the first group of former Lefebvrists to return to communion with Rome. They pride themselves on saying the old Mass with great care and reverence. [Which is, in this day and age, something to be proud of.  He could have walked into nearly any other church in the centro for a very different celebration of Mass.] In fact, last Sunday’s rite featured a magnificent schola, unobtrusively situated in the choir loft at the back of the lugubrious baroque church. [Nota bene: That’s what choir lofts are for.  But, "lugubrious"  SS. Trinità?] The music was gorgeous and spiritually moving, at least for meditation. But the rest of the liturgy was not. The church was half full, [It’s a big church.] mostly with regulars who had their own missals – or rosaries. Without the black book it was impossible fully to participate. [Hardly.  If you are entirely of your own Rite, it is perhaps more challenging, but it is not impossible.  You are going to have to go in with a little good will, first of all, and determination to try to participate.  It would also help to have a fuller understanding of what "active participation" means.] The  sacred ministers (priest, deacon, sub-deacon and several altar servers) did everything. [Wrong.  The people in the pews were also doing something, something very important.] There was lots of criss-crossing in the sanctuary, bowing, a constant moving of books and the removal and replacement of hats.  More than prayerful, I found it distracting and even dizzying.  ["dizzying"?  He must be very delicate.] Except for the Gospel, the readings and prayers were done ad orientem and inaudibly. The paternoster was chanted by the priest alone. We faithful chimed in only on the last line – “sed libera nos a malo”. [A final stab.]

From priest reader:

I just started praying the usus antiquior low mass after a year of preparation (of latin and the rubrics).

Question:  When may I opt to say a missae defunctorum?  When may I not?  In other words, may a missae defunctorm be chosen over a 3rd class feast, etc.?

First and foremost, thank you for learning the older form, traditional form of Mass.  I am always happy to learn that another priest is not ignorant of our common Latin Rite.  Kudos to you.  I am also hoping that you are young, so that you can say this form of Mass for many many years for many many people.

There are those special occasions as in, for example, when people die or it is the anniversary of their death.  However, I think what you are aiming at is really the daily Requiem Mass.

The rules for these daily Requiem Masses are along the lines of the rubrics for votive Masses.

A Requiem is of the 2nd class on the day of death (or getting news of the death) or on the day of burial.  That’s the Missa in die obitus seu depositionis defunctorum. It is of the 3rd class on the third, seventh, and thirtieth day after the death or burial.

A "daily" Requiem is 4th class and can be used on ferial days of the 4th class.

So… tomorrow 16 September is the Feast of Ss. Cornelius and Cyprian.  It is a 3rd class feast.  But the day after tomorrow, 17 September, is a "dies non", a 4th class feria.  You can say the "daily" Mass for the Dead, the Missa quotidiana defunctorum.

I hope that helps.

And remember that there are some differences in the Requiem Mass.  You exclude the Iudica me at the beginning, and do not bless the water.  Kiss the altar at the end, but don’t give the final blessing before the Last Gospel.  Leave off the gloria after washing your fingers and exclude the first of the three private prayers before your Communion.  The Agnus Dei is a little different and your say Requiescat in pace for the dismissal.

So, Father, put on those nice black vestments.  Put those unbleached candles on the altar and fire ‘em up!

A question from a reader:

I thank you for taking the time to read this.  I have been a loyal daily reader of your blog for a long time now.
 
My son was baptized in our parish church this morning during the 9 AM mass.  The priest conducted the ritual after the gospel and before his sermon.  I knew before that this priest was very liberal and has taken liberties before, but I was disheartened at what happened during the baptism.  We were invited up to the font and immediately Father began by lighting a candle and asking what name did we give to my son.  He then continued by saying some "off the cuff" commentary, crossed the sacred crism on the baby’s head then proceeded to pour the water "in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." "Recieve the light of Christ" was then said and the candle was handed to us. No other rites were observed or administered and we were then told that he had finished and we were to go back to our pew.
 
Being an altar boy for many years during my childhood, I know that there are a few other rituals that accompany baptism and I was disappointed that they were not done.  I know that the baptism was still valid in its most basic form, but I wonder how much my son was deprived of.  Is this a common trend of many priests presently? Should I try to find another priest who will administer the other parts of the sacrament?  Did my son receive all of the grace that is intended my the Church for baptism?  If you have time, please advise.  Thank you in advance.

I know that baptisms are permitted during Sunday Masses, though I am  not especially a fan of that practice.  I have not been in a parish where baptisms are done that way, nor have I as a priest ever done this.  Therefore, I am not as familiar with the rite of baptism during Mass as some other priests may be.

That said, I do know that when baptism is integrated into Holy Mass on a Sunday, parts of the regular rite of baptism are distributed over different parts of Mass.  For example, the right of reception is integrated into the beginning of Mass.  The Creed can be substituted by the baptismal form of the profession of faith, and so forth.

I am not quite sure exactly what happened at the Mass and baptism for your child, but I think your reaction is telling.  You sensed that there should have been something more.  You said that there was the anointing with chrism.  That was supposed to be done.  There was to be an exorcism before hand.  You said something about an "off the cuff commentary".  Not sure what that might have been.

Some people will say that baptism during Mass is "so very meaningful".   I think that the rite of baptism itself is meaningful and that rite, as a matter of fact, is the norm for conferring baptism.

To the meat of your question: No, you don’t have to find another priest to supply the parts of the rite you might not have witnessed.  If the priest poured the water and said the words of baptism, then your child is baptized.  Those other elements of the rite wouldn’t cause the child to be more baptized.  They might cause all of you who participated in the rite to have experienced the rite more fully, but the child wouldn’t be more baptized.  While we must avoid a "minimalist" attitude about our rights (i.e., so long as the matter and form were valid, that’s enough), in this case where the moment is over and in the past, I wouldn’t say that you should want to do anything over.

I want to add another thing, since this is the anniversary of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.

The provisions of Summorum Pontificum make is clear that the older, traditional form of baptism can be used.  Priests can use the old Rituale Romanum.  My personal view is that the older form of baptism brings people to an encounter with mystery in a way that the newer form does not.  I regret that some elements of the older form of baptism were omitted from the revised post-Conciliar form.

Finally, priests need to SAY THE BLACK AND DO THE RED.  Whatever rite they use, traditional or revised, they should stick to it especially so that doubts are not raised in the minds of the people present.

People have the right not to doubt or wonder whether or not a sacrament was valid or licit or whether something that should have been there was changed or left out.

A reader pointed out this article from telegram.com, of Fitchburg, Mass.

 

Sunday, September 13, 2009

In Fitchburg, Latin Mass ‘resonates with rhythm’
Fitchburg church celebrates traditional service

By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
bkush@telegram.com

FITCHBURG —  The pews at Immaculate Conception Church contained a scattering of congregants as the solemn and somber chanting soothingly echoed through the cavernous nave of the Catholic house of worship.

The women, in a throwback to simpler times, ["simpler"?] wore veils or kerchiefs to cover their heads and many of the men, despite the oppressive summer heat, were conservatively attired in suits or sports jackets.

The worshippers — some struggling to follow the liturgy because of their unfamiliarity with the language — reverentially [note the juxtaposition of "struggling" and "reverentially"] focused their eyes on the altar where the Rev. David Phillipson, [CLICHE ALERT!] his back to the congregation, celebrated the 8 a.m. Sunday Mass in ancient Latin.

It seemed as if the veils of time had been peeled back.

Two years after the Vatican allowed for its wider use, the Latin, or, Tridentine Mass, [the writer seems not to have done much research before writing this] is being celebrated again on a regular basis at diocesan churches.

“The Latin Mass resonates with rhythm,” said Rev. Phillipson. “It’s a way in which individuals may deeply immerse themselves in faith.”

Pope Benedict XVI, in the summer of 2007, eased restrictions on the celebration of the millennial-old Latin rite, to the delight of many who believed the church had moved too far from its traditional spiritual moorings. [umm… including Pope Benedict XVI, right?]

In making the worship service more accessible, the pontiff acknowledged he was, to some degree, attempting to heal rifts with traditionalist groups within the church, including ultra-conservative followers of the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

The Latin Mass was “codified” in 1570 and remained the standard Catholic liturgy for about 400 years.

After the sweeping reforms of the 1960s Second Vatican Council, however, the Latin Mass was mothballed [wrong] in favor of a worship service celebrated in vernacular languages encouraging more interactive participation by lay congregants.

Nonetheless, the Latin Mass could be conducted with permission of a local bishop. [Note the sloppy use of the term "Latin Mass".]

But church officials said, upon its introduction, the so-called “modern Mass” ["so-called"?] quickly caught on with Catholics and there were few calls for a return to the old rite.

Some, however, clung tightly to the Latin Mass.

Locally, many traditionalists have traveled for years to Still River in Harvard to attend services at St. Benedict Center, a non-diocesan facility operated by the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a religious congregation.

Many of those Catholics are now attending the Latin Mass in the Fitchburg church,. Other worshippers include families who send their children to the small Trivium School [great name!] in Lancaster, which provides students in Grades 7 to 12 “a Catholic perspective” of the liberal arts.

Raymond L. Delisle, diocesan spokesman and vice chancellor of operations, said despite all the hoopla generated internationally when the pope announced his intention to slacken restrictions, there’s been very little interest in the Latin rite among Central Massachusetts Catholics.

“There’s no question there’s a vocal minority that favors it and there is some curiosity among others,” he said. “But most Catholics have grown up with the current form and prefer it.”

The Latin Mass is a complex service replete with centuries-old trappings — harkening participants back to a time when the church served as the central authority of Western civilization.

With its stylized rituals, it conveys a sense of majesty and mystery. [BTW… any form of worship which doed not do this is a failure.] Imbued with formality, the old liturgy is precise and it can lull congregants with its cadence. [Does this writer really get what he is saying?  On the one hand it converys a sense of mystery, but it lulls?]

The service runs a bit longer than the modern Mass, and many parts of it are sung.

At Immaculate Conception, only the scripture readings and the homily are in English. Missals are available that provide English translations of the Latin text.

Even the Mass accoutrements are different. For example, the priestly vestments are more ornate than those used in the “modern” service. [Again, no sense of what is inherent in the two forms of Mass and what is accidental.  Okay, just read to the end… you get the idea.]

“Going to a Latin Mass is like enjoying a piece of classical music,” said Ted Turner, a Lunenburg resident who was instrumental in bringing the rite to Immaculate Conception. “It’s an enriching experience. It truly is an antidote to all the bad things in the world.”

Mr. Turner’s family was among those who had been attending the Latin Mass in Still River for years.

Though spiritually satisfied, those families yearned for a parish life, something they couldn’t get at St. Benedict Center.

Representatives approached the Rev. Thien X. Nguyen, the pastor of Immaculate Conception, about holding Sunday Latin Masses at his parish, which was founded by French Canadians in 1886.

Mr. Turner was familiar with the church because his daughter, Annie, was married there two years ago in a service using the Latin rite.

Rev. Nguyen agreed and, with the blessing of Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus, Latin Masses began to be celebrated this summer.

The Masses are celebrated by Rev. Phillipson, who was born in Middletown, Conn., but raised in New Jersey.

Rev. Phillipson, who was ordained in 2003, is from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in New Mexico and is associated with, though not a member of, the Fraternity of St. Peter. He has been celebrating the Latin Mass for three years.

Though the first, which was held on June 28, drew about 250 worshippers, subsequent services have attracted far fewer.

“We expected that,” said Mr. Turner, a former member of the Episcopal Church who converted to Catholicism in 1968. “It really takes awhile to appreciate the Latin Mass.”

Mr. Turner, who is originally from north Virginia and who works in the information-technology field, said he hopes the influx of Latin Mass worshippers will help the parish at Immaculate Conception grow. There’s some fear, among parishioners, the church might be closed by the diocese.

Since the introduction of the Latin rite, about a dozen families have joined Immaculate Conception.

Besides the Fitchburg parish, the Latin rite is conducted on Sunday mornings by the Rev. Daniel J. Becker at St. Paul Church in Warren.

Contact Bronislaus B. Kush by e-mail at bkush@telegram.com. 

 

I didn’t get any sense from this article that the writer had done much homework.  There wasn’t much evidence that he asked questions or did any reading so as to understand what the terms were, etc.

The upside is that something is growing in Fitchburg, despite certain attempts to downplay what is going on.

The writer did, however, pick up on the sense of "mystery" which is conveyed through the older form of Mass.  This is the single most important point people who are not used to the TLM have to deal with.  It often leaves them, at least at first, confused, disoriented.