There is a wonderful phrase in Latin…
Repetita iuvant.
The Pertinacious Papist has a good reminder:
Una Voce America’s Nota (No 39, Fall 2008) carries the following brief excerpt from the address of Pope Benedict XVI to the Bishops of France on the Anniversary of his Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum:
Sunday, September 14, 2008 It is never too often said that the priesthood is indispensable to the Church, in the very own interest of the lay faithful. Priests are a gift from God to the Church. Priests must never delegate to the faithful [those] functions which are related to their own mission. Dear Brothers in the episcopacy, I ask you to remain desirous to help your priests live in intimate union with Christ. Their spiritual life is the foundation of their apostolic life. You shall exhort them gently to daily prayer and to a dignified celebration of the Sacraments, particularly of the Eucharist and of Reconciliation, as Saint Francis de Sales did with his priests. Every priest should be able to feel glad to serve the Church. At the school of the Curé d’Ars, son of your land and patron of all preists of the world, do not cease to repeat that a man can do no greater deed than to give the Body and the Blood of Christ to the faithful, and to forgive sins….
Liturgical worship is the supreme expression of priestly and episcopal life, and also of catechetical teaching. Your mission of sanctification of the faithful people, dear Brothers, is indispensable for the growth of the Church. I was prompted to detail, in the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the conditions for the accomplishment of this mission, in that which relates to the possibility of using both the missal of Blessed John XXIII (1962) and that of Pope Paul VI (1970). The fruits of these new dispositions have already seen [the light of] day, and I hope that the indispensable pacification of the spirits is being accomplished, thank God.
I comprehend your difficulties, but I do not doubt that you will be able to reach, within reasonable time, solutions which are satisfactory to all, so that the seamless robe of Christ is not torn anymore. No one is excessive within the Church. [If you are within the Church you are, by definition, not excessive.] Everyone, without exception, must be able to feel at home, and never rejected. God, who loves all men and wills that no one be lost, entrusts us with this mission of Pastors, making us Shepherds of His sheep. We can only give Him thanks for the honor and confidence He places upon us. Let us endeavor to always be servants of unity.
[Acknowledgement: from "Strong words on Summorum Pontificum," Una Voce America – Nota (No. 39, Fall 2008), p. 2.]
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“the indispensable pacification of the spirits” — What does this mean?
Thank you for posting this particular “a lot” from Pope Benedict, his reminder of our “God, who loves all men and wills that no one be lost.”
I come to appreciate this blog more and more.
Thanks be to God and gratitide for the intercession of Our Blessed Mother and St Joseph for giving us Pope Benedict! The Holy Father (to use the current slang) SO gets it–after years and years of being told that the TLM is dispensable and that those of us who love it are “out of touch,” “possessing a faulty Ecclesiology,” “disobedient to Vatican II,” etc, the Vicar of Christ himself reminds the French bishops that we are not to be rejected.
Who would have thought it, even as recently as three or four years ago? I could not have imagined–in my home parish, as well as in the neighboring, my sons are being taught to serve Holy Mass in the way that Catholic boys have for centuries. The little groups who thrive on the TLM are growing, and more and more holy priests are learning the TLM and allowing it to enrich their own spirituality. God is not just answering our prayers, but sending a superabundance–opening the floodgates–of grace for us.
In Christ,
Irenaeus, “pacification of spirits” is a reference to the need to heal the ill feelings of those Catholics who have been unjustly deprived of their right to the traditional Roman liturgy, and of those who hold the traditional liturgy in contempt.
This is a remarkable statement… hadn’t seen it up to this point! I see in this VERY clearly that Benedict has a plan, and that Summorum is one part of it, but is by no means the “end” …
“Your mission of sanctification of the faithful people, dear Brothers, is indispensable for the growth of the Church. I was prompted to detail, in the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the conditions for the accomplishment of this mission, in that which relates to the possibility of using both the missal of Blessed John XXIII (1962) and that of Pope Paul VI (1970). The fruits of these new dispositions have already seen [the light of] day, and I hope that the indispensable pacification of the spirits is being accomplished, thank God”
I also like the re-iteration of an important point:
“I comprehend your difficulties, but I do not doubt that you will be able to reach, within reasonable time, solutions which are satisfactory to all, so that the seamless robe of Christ is not torn anymore.”
In other words… “I’ll give you time…but it’s not going to go on forever… I want to see results.” I wonder now, seeing this, if this is somehow connected to the mention at the end of the letter accompanying SP of a “review” after three years…could that be the “reasonable time” he is talking about?
Wow…in related news just off the wire. Apparently Cardinal Llovera has made quite a strong statement about receiving communion on the tongue…I think this was from a Madrid newspaper interview.
There are still folks who use the internet to search for Latin Masses they might attend. I am finding there are still parishes who offer the traditional Holy Mass but Ecclesia Dei and other websites have not been notified. If some of you would take the time to see if your Latin Mass is listed on these directory websites (Ecclesia Dei, Una Voce, etc.), it would be of great service to the rest of us.
Is there a list of some dioceses where Summorum Pontificum is basically ignored?
If the names of such dioceses are listed, then we could pray specifically for their pacification.
Father Zuhlsdorf:
I have two thoughts.
First, a technical question. Can you think of any reason why I would be unable to post to your blog from my home computer?
Second, since I can finally post from this computer, do you think it’s an accident that the Holy Father is using the language he is in this address? Here’s why I ask:
In the brouhaha over the Good Friday prayer, he took out the “offending” words and left the intent intact or even strengthened, thus exposing the hypocrisy of the original complaint.
In the issuing of Summorum Pontificum, he called the usus antiquor “extraordinary”, and therefore exposed the hypocrisy of “extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion”.
In sending Cardinal Castrillon to London, he assert (through him) that the 1962 Missal is not for the few or the many, but for all. [Do you see the pattern I’m seeing?]
At Regensburg, he quoted a man who asserted the violence of Islam, and his comments were greeted with violence and threats of violence.
Now, here, he talks about including everyone (the watchword of the progressive movement) as his motivation, he speaks of pacification to a group of pacifists, and uses a seamless robe to expose the “seamless garment” nonsense.
Is this what you meant by the “Marshall Plan”?
Chris Garton-Zavesky