I use the following good news as a stepping stone into a little rant of my own.
A reader with the Latin Mass Society in the UK sent me a copy of a letter they received from the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" concerning the April training workshop at Ushaw College for priests who desired to learn to say Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
Here is a bit of the letter, with my emphasis:
[…]
While thanking you for the communication, I congratulate the organisers most heartily for such an opportune and necessary initiative, and I urge you to persevere in this path, always in full communion with the Apostolic See and in humble obedience to the Supreme Pontiff.
[…]Mons. Guido Pozzo
Secretary
"Opportune and necessary." "Persevere."
We need more workshops.
Our identity as Catholics is inextricably bound together with the way we pray as a Church.
Only with a solid identity can we, as Catholics, have something positive and healthy to offer to the world at large, a clear voice offering important contributions in the public square.
To give shape and strength to our Catholic identity in these difficult times, we need an authentic liturgical renewal, a renewal that reintegrates us with our tradition, brings us into continuity with the deep roots of our Catholic Christian experience of two millennia.
Younger priests will tell you that after learning the traditional Latin Mass they never say Holy Mass in the Novus Ordo the same way. There are things you learn about priesthood and Holy Mass from the traditional Latin Mass that you simply don’t pick up from the Novus Ordo, especially as it is usually celebrated in so many of our parishes and chapels.
How a priest says Mass affects a parish profoundly, at the level of reverence, vocations, everything.
Support priests who want to learn the older form of Holy Mass.
Invite them, suggest to them that they learn the whole Roman Rite.
Be ready to ante-up to send them to a workshop and get them the resources and tools they require.
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Younger priests will tell you that after learning the traditional Latin Mass they never say Holy Mass in the Novus Ordo the same way.
Yes. I am one of those. Not that it looks any different. I followed the NO words and rubrics as best I could before learning the TLM, and continue to do so now. But it’s not the same; my attitudes and sense of what’s going on having been informed and formed by what I have learned. For me, this is the “mutual enrichment” that Benedict has invited.
What can one do to encourage priests to do the workhops if the TLM is not allowed in an area?
I am curious as to if these things picked up by the Priest in the EF Mass may be picked up by the Priests that celebrate the OF Mass ad orientam, in Latin, or ad orientam with the Canon in Latin???
“What can one do to encourage priests to do the workhops if the TLM is not allowed in an area?”
That’s the whole point of Summorum Pontificum, it’s up to the priest. If a bishop is getting in the way, write to Ecclesia Dei, tres vite!
My Vietnamese parish priest doesn’t seem to want to have anything to do with the EF. He’s annoying in that he evades rather than being direct. I pray for him though as well as all other priests. Another priest I know is a convert to Catholicism from Buddhism, and he tells me I need to be careful when it comes to the EF. It seems like he’s uninformed or misinformed by those who guided and taught him., I’ll have to try to talk with these men again. They can’t run away or be so ignorant forever.
The Mass in Vietnamese had been more conservative and traditional in the past, but now I’m seeing more altar girls, poorly trained altar servers, excessive handshaking, clapping, the laity taking over the direction of the Mass, and other things.
I’m slowly transitioning over to a FSSP community.
Konichiwa,
I understand what you are talking about. I am very close to some Vietnamese people and know firsthand that what happens in certain immigrant communities (for better or for worse) is that there is a strong desire to “Americanize” themselves; so the first generation is usually very traditional, but like most groups who over time integrate into American society, the second, third, and beyond generations integrate into society as it is seen around them. Unfortunately what they see mostly is the badly formed priests and laity celebrating the Mass terribly. I believe that if that if what they saw were Mass celebrated traditionally (meaning reverently and in a theologically correct manner) then this is what their practice would develope into. I’ve recently been to a mass where a Philippino priest celebrated the Mass very loosely and irreverently with an obvious desire to entertain the congregation in a way that, to me, displayed a real desire, on his part, to be accepted as “one of us” (so to speak). I sometime think that even if you attempted to give these priests resources to help them understand what the Church officially teaches (Papal documents, authoritative books, etc…) they would not, due to ingrained biases, be inclined to read them. It’s very sad. Pax Christi
Father Z,
I wholeheartedly agree with your comments in the article above. I would like to make you aware of an organization I helped found in New Orleans called the Servants of the Holy Eucharist. We are a brotherhood dedicated to reverently serving in the Holy Sanctuary at the holy sacrifice of the Mass in the EF and the OF, to learning all that pertains to the liturgy (rubrics, theology, history, development, etc…), and to teaching and training any priests and laymen who have a desire to bring the EF to their parish or who simply have a desire to celebrate and serve the OF in the way its meant to be done. We began in 2008 and currently have one chapter established, at St. Patrick’s Church in New Orleans, with a desire to establish more in the future wherever there is a need and a real desire to have a group of men who can assist the priest in bringing about these reforms in his parish. We’ve served already at multiple churches in the Archdioces of New Orleans where our services were requested. We will be serving, along with other non-Guild servers, at an EF Mass for the closing of the Year of the Priest on 17 June at 9 p.m. in at the Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in New Orleans in case anyone will be in the area and wishes to attend. We hope to have a website soon. Any advice or guidance you can give will be appreciated. Please see my profile for information. Deo Gratias.
There are things you learn about priesthood and Holy Mass from the traditional Latin Mass that you simply don’t pick up from the Novus Ordo, especially as it is usually celebrated in so many of our parishes and chapels.
That is for sure. That’s one of the big reasons why I prefer the E.F. Mass (which, however, I can’t get nearly as often as I’d like).
Since Fr. Z. is drawing our attention to the need for workshops, I’d like to draw attention to a Gregorian Chant workshop to be held in Nyssa, Oregon (Bishop Vasa Country) in September:
The Workshop will be held at St. Bridget of Kildare Catholic Church in Nyssa. Oregon.
The dates and times:
1. September 16, 2010, starting at 6:30 PM unti18:00 PM, followed by a Missa Cantata of the Extraordinary Form for those who wish to attend a sung Mass.
2. September 17,2010, starting at 6:30 PM until 8:00 PM, followed by a Missa Cantata of the Extraordinary Form for those who wish to attend a sung Mass.
4. September 18, 2010, starting at 4:00 PM unti16:00 PM, followed by a High Mass of the Extraordinary Form to be sung by the participants of the workshop.
Father Andrew is extending an invitation to all of the participants of the Workshop to sing the Ordinary of the Mass on Sunday morning – that is, the Asperges, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo I, Sanctus, Agnus Dei and Ite Missa Est of Mass XI, Orbis Factor- at St. Bridget’s on Sunday morning, 9:00 AM, September 19, 2010.
Re “always in full communion with the Apostolic See and in humble obedience to the Supreme Pontiff” I trust I am not misrepresenting by eliding down to “always … in humble obedience to the Supreme Pontiff”?
If so, am I alone in being insulted by the obsession from the Vatican authorities about the submissiveness of TLM-devotees? Do other groups in the Church always get told to “obey obey obey”?
Let’s face it – if there’d been less obedience to Paul VI et al’s abuse of power in 1969 in the attempt to suppress the TLM, then wouldn’t the world be a better place now?
God bless,
Paul
Anita – I’m a native Oregonian – from the “populated” side of the state, where one cannot find a workshop like that! (only one parish in all of the Portland diocese offers the TLM – *one* – that’s it.) You are blessed to be in the Baker diocese – I wish you a good workshop and many blessings upon Archbishop Vasa!!
Paul: I think you may be too much negativity reading into it. My personal reading would say that they already are in that good path, thus “persevere.” One cannot persevere in what one does not have. It seems more congratulatory, and perhaps animating toward those who are not on said path to return or start on it.
I get told to obey all the time as well, and I have yet to celebrate any TLM Mass.
“What can one do to encourage priests to do the workshops if the TLM is not allowed in an area?”
I’d offer two observations: First, the concept of the TLM not being allowed is troublesome because it means that the ordinary or those who act in his name are defying the will of the Supreme Pontiff and the present law of the Church. One must naturally wonder what else they dissent from, and one would logically assume that living in such an environment is not a healthy thing for a faithful priest. In such an environment it is difficult to “encourage” a priest who doesn’t already have some inkling on his own. Job #1 ought to be to identify those priests who do have some interest in (and reverence for) the liturgy and start with “encouragement” of a more general sort.
Secondly, as Father mentioned, in many cases it’s up to us to provide a priest with the means to attend one of the workshops. If there is one in a city within driving distance, raise the funds to pay for his hotel room. Una Voce America offers financial assistance for the cost of the F.S.S.P. workshops, but airfare isn’t included. I know one group that was able to pool some frequent-flier miles to send their pastor. And there are discount airfares out there if you look. if you have a few like-minded families you can probably raise the funds pretty quickly. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
Servant,
Thank you for you words.
So this blog post motivated me to Email my parish priest. I asked him to be clear about his opinion and thoughts of the EF, and I also asked him if we would ever have a workshop for the EF of the Mass. In his reply, he either missed my first question or decided not to voice what his thoughts are about the EF. A good move was that he directed me over the sanctamissa.org for info on the EF. His reply to regarding the workshop was just as expected. He says that it is not a “need” in the parish. Let me paraphrase it, “It ain’t gonna happen!”
@ New Sister: I’m actually in the Diocese of Boise. But Nyssa is just an hour away. It is in fact the only place within a reasonable distance (other than the SSPX chapel in New Plymouth) where I can get Mass in the Extraordinary Form (albeit not nearly as often as I’d like). And I am definitely a fan of Bishop Vasa.
Chère Anita – is His Excellency Vasa still your bishop? I had to google Nyssa (!!) and was surprised to see Caldwell so close on the map. If you’ll pardon the expression, it’s a bit “out in the middle of no where” (relative to us West of the Cascades) and yet you get TL Missa Cantata & Gregorian chant workshops?? Wonderful! If I knew we could keep Bishop Vasa a long time, I would be SO tempted to move “way out there”! God bless you, “neighbor”!
Woops – dumb question, Never mind.