Wherein Fr. Z made a rubrical mistake. Mea minima culpa.

Today I said Mass on a live stream for St. Mark.  I stuck to St. Mark rather than the Rogation Mass, because, well, I’m alone, and a procession of one guy alone, is just a guy going for a walk.

I checked my Ordo – from the Cantians in Chicago – and saw to my surprise WHITE vestments.   “Okayyyy”, quoth I and set up for white.  There was a tingling in the back of my head that this wasn’t right, but there it was in the Ordo.  And – this year – it is only only Ordo I have – the FSSP didn’t send me one this year.  Just sayin’.  If they want me to make their Ordo visible…

So, I set up for white.

No sooner have I finished Mass but the pickers start to pick.  “Why white and not purple or red?”

Purple, no, because it was not the Rogation Mass.  But… red.  In fact, that turns out to be the CORRECT color.

Here are some shots.

The Ordo from St. John Cantius:

There it is.  WHITE

Now, the rubrics on colors of vestments in the Roman Missal.

For white – NB: Mark is an Evangelist, but not listed as a martyr.

For red: Note that Mark is an Evangelist.

So, white for non-martyrs, and non-martyr Evangelists are exceptions to the rule.  They get red.

You know… I’ve only been doing this for almost 30 years.  I guess I’m getting old and forgetful.

Of course when I looked at the Introit, and found the Mass “Protexisti”, which I have said yesterday and the day before for Sts. Fidelis and George, that was a hint.  But, by that point, the die was cast.

Anyway, Ordos have errors.

I recommend double checking.

Nevertheless, I don’t think I have to go back and say the Mass over again.   And I don’t think that Mark will mind very much.

I’ll file this under “Lighter Fare”.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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

  1. Akita says:

    In this case Father it really is say the black, DO the red.

    [Or perhaps, read the black and then WEAR the red?  o{]:¬)  ]

  2. Imrahil says:

    But… wasn’t St. Mark a martyr?

    Yes, he’s not listed as one, but I thought this is because “Evangelist” tops that. (The Calendar does not say “St. Bartholomew, Apostle, Martyr” or “St. John, Apostle, Evangelist, Confessor” either). I also thought the reason for the “excepto festo S. Ioannis” in the picture you inclided was that St. John was not a martyr, and that which implicitly means that St. Mark was. (According to “a Coptic tradition”, if we can trust Wikipedia, he was indeed.)

    But yes, lighter fare.

  3. Filiolus says:

    Wow, interesting. I always thought he was a martyr, too. But the story we read in St. Jerome at Matins today just says, “Mortuus est octavo Neronis anno, et sepultus Alexandriae…”. A quick check of Eusebius reveals almost the exact same information.

    From other sites it seems that stories of St. Mark’s martyrdom come from a text called the “Acts of St. Mark”, which apparently dates to the 4th century. I don’t know anything about that text. I guess I’m a bit confused about where the story of martyrdom comes from, and even whether he was a martyr at all!

  4. Fr_Andrew says:

    I don’t use it as a primary source, but whenever I have a question about my hard-copy ordo I’ve been known to use the SSPX’s : https://1962ordo.today/

  5. JustaSinner says:

    Something tells me St Mark isn’t too upset…he had a wicked sense of humour!

  6. Discerning Altar Boy says:

    Someone at SJC must have caught the error, because they were in red for their EF Mass for St. Mark.

  7. Filiolus says:

    The martyrology read this morning says St. Mark was martyred, so I guess that settles that!

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