Brick by Brick: Another parish implements Summorum Pontificum. Wherein Fr. Z rants.

Posted on 31 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

For your Brick by Brick file.

A reader sent me a link to a story in the St. Louis Review (a publication of the Archdiocese of St. Louis) about a parish which as started up a Traditional Latin Mass.

‘Mysterium tremendum’ | St. Barnabas begins offering the Traditional Latin Mass

With a single intoning of the bell, Mass had begun at St. Barnabas.

But this was no Ordinary Form of the Mass.

“In Nomine Patris, et Filii et Spiritus Sancti …”

For the first time in nearly 50 years, the Extraordinary Form of the Mass — better known as the Traditional or Tridentine Latin Mass — is being celebrated at the northern O’Fallon parish. In January, Father Raymond Hager began offering the Mass at 10 a.m. on Sundays, after a group of parishioners wrote a letter last January requesting it.  [See what happens when you ask?]

[…]

“At the first Mass, people had tears in their eyes,” said Father Hager. He said that all of this is “directed toward God and what’s called the ‘mysterium tremendum,’ or the tremendous mystery. [the sort of “tremendum” which makes one shudder with awe…] The sense of the sacred, and the mystery of God becoming present in His most sacred Body and Blood is proclaimed profoundly in and through the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

[This part might sound familiar to longtime readers here…] “In the Eastern Churches they have the iconostasis … where you can’t see everything that’s going on, because what is happening is so holy it should be veiled. When the elements of the bread and wine become Our Lord’s Body and Blood, you’re not seeing that at that moment, but you do see Our Lord and God at the elevation of the consecration in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. It really speaks to that sense of mystery.”

[…]

Ordained in 1997, Father Hager taught himself how to celebrate the Mass according to the 1962 Missal. Born in 1960, he has no memories of going to the Traditional Latin Mass as a child. As a seminarian, he would occasionally visit St. Agatha, where the Latin Mass was offered in St. Louis at the time. “I was blown away by the beauty and sacredness of the liturgy,” he said.

The process of learning the language and rubrics took several months. Father Hager approached Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, who connected him with Canon Michael Wiener, rector of St. Francis de Sales Oratory, one of two churches designated specifically for the Latin Mass in St. Louis. Canon Wiener, the episcopal delegate for the implementation of the Traditional Latin Mass in the archdiocese, offered his guidance.

Father Hager also watched videos, read books and sought help from several others, including Sister Michaleen Vomund, CPPS, PSR director at St. Barnabas, and Bill Guelker of the Latin Liturgy Association, a local organization that promotes the use of ecclesiastical Latin in the liturgy. Several changes had to be made in the sanctuary, including moving the nearly 1,500-pound altar back four feet and adding a communion rail.  [Well done!  And it was worth all the effort.]

[…]

Read the rest there.

We need as many celebrations of the older form of the Roman Rite as possible in as many places as possible as soon as possible.

These are trying times, and there is a lot of confusion right now.  Some people are showing signs of defeatism.

NO!

This is precisely the time to get to work.  Let’s keep our eyes focused on what is really going to make a difference.  I think that is located in exactly the vision that Pope Benedict XVI offered us.

So, I will repeat what I have been saying for some time now.

Make things happen.  Work with sweat and money to make them happen. If you thought you worked hard before, forget it.  Work harder.  Pope Francis wants some “lío”?  We’ve got some “lío” right here.  ¡Hagan lío!

Get involved with all the works of charity that your parishes or groups sponsor. If Pope Francis wants a Church “for the poor”, then we will respond, “OORAH!!” The “traditionalist” will be second-to-none in getting involved.  “Dear Father… you can count on the ‘Stable Group of TLM Petitioners-For-By-Now-Several-Months” to help with the collection of clothing for the poor!  Tell us what you need!”

Pray and fast and give alms. Have you been doing that?  Do more.

Form up and get organized.  Find like-minded people. Put in your request for the implementation of Summorum Pontificum.  Raise the money to help buy the stuff the parish will need. Make a plan. Find people. Execute!

Get your ego and your own little personal interpretations and preferences out of the way.  It is team-work time.  If we don’t sacrifice individually, we will stay divided and we won’t achieve our objectives.

The legislation is in place.  Young priests and seminarians are eager to get into this.

Give them something to do.

As I have written before, Pope Benedict gave us, boys and girls, a beautiful new bicycle!  He gave us a direction, encouragement, and a running push.  Now, take off the training wheels and RIDE THE DAMN BIKE!

Meanwhile, Fr. Z kudos to Fr. Raymond Hager and St. Barnbas parish!

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, "How To..." - Practical Notes, ACTION ITEM!, Be The Maquis, Benedict XVI, Brick by Brick, Fr. Z KUDOS, Just Too Cool, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity, Si vis pacem para bellum!, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, The future and our choices, Wherein Fr. Z Rants |
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More from the mighty pen of Daniel Mitsui

Posted on 30 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From time to time I post about art from Daniel Mitusi, the talented Catholic artist who has worked under the inspiration of the Medieval period as well as Japanese prints. He gets proper inculturation.

You may recall that his little daughter has spent quite a bit of time in the hospital.  You know what that means.

Here are a couple more pieces which he sent recently.

The first is a treatment of a psalm.    HERE

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I was especially amused by the rabbits, which multiply along the decorative margin.

 

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The second is an ink drawing of the dream of Joseph when the angel reveals Herod’s plot and tells the Holy Family to flee to Egypt.  The image of what the angel wants is depicted on the raised fan.  Very cool.

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Marvelous.  And there is a reference to the cherry tree.  HERE

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His site is HERE.  Please visit.

Speaking of the cherry tree, recently when I was in Washington DC, I saw the exhibit of images of Mary. They had a well-known Barocci on loan from the Vatican Museum of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt. Joseph, with a beautiful smile, hands the diminutive Lord a branch with cherries.

Barocci_holy-family

Posted in Just Too Cool, The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged ,
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Finding one’s way deeper into the Faith

Posted on 30 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

On the threshold of the big… *yawn* … game, there is something of interest in a piece at the National Catholic Register, an interview with the grandson of the legendary Vince Lombardi.

Finding one's way deeper into the FaithJoe Lombardi is the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions.

Take note of this in particular:

LOMBARDI: I first started becoming truly interested in the greatness of the Catholic faith around the time I got married 15 years ago. My wife, Molly, and I were concerned about all the health dangers of contraceptive pills, so we looked into natural family planning [which the Church approves]. A priest we met with wanted us to listen to a talk on CD from Dr. Janet Smith called “Contraception: Why Not”; but we said we were already sold on the topic. He insisted that we listen to it anyway, and we were blown away by what Dr. Smith said. Even though we were on the path it recommended, our beliefs and motives were reinforced or augmented in many ways.

Q: That was the first step toward becoming more fully Catholic?

LOMBARDI: Yes, we started looking into what the Church teaches, and our search has produced so many great results. Now, we love being immersed in Catholic traditions, including the extraordinary form of the Mass. We attend a parish that has this one Sunday a month, and the other Sundays they have the ordinary form in English, but with the priest facing ad orientem [“toward the east,” or in the same direction as the congregation] and with suitable music.

Posted in Just Too Cool, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged ,
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ASK FATHER: Where to bow or genuflect in confusing church

Posted on 29 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Genuflecting2From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I attend a “modern” church with the traditional long, central aisle. At one end (not the east) is the rose window above the wooden table that serves as an altar (ad popularum). At the other end is the Tabernacle in a small chapel with glass doors. Thus the tabernacle is just about as far from the altar as possible, but can be seen from the aisle through the glass doors. Some folks when they enter genuflect toward the bare altar, and bow when they cross from left to right in front of the altar (on their way to give a reading etc.). Before the consecration shouldn’t they bow toward the Tabernacle, and not the bare altar?

When Constantine legalized Christianity in the 4th c., the Church moved from worshipping in homes, caves, and makeshift gathering spaces into larger venues built (or in some cases, adapted) specifically for the worship of God. In times of persecution, the Church went back to worshipping in whatever space was available.

When persecution comes again (as it will) we’ll do the same.

In the meantime, we have the ability -now – to construct buildings specifically for the worship of God. We have a tradition of such structures, built by our forebears, upon which we can draw. From past constructs we can what works, and what doesn’t work.

We don’t need to re-invent the wheel.

There are those for whom “creativity” means starting with a blank slate, ignoring the past, and creating something altogether new. Beauty is irrelevant, what works is cliché, logic is thrown out the window (which usually contains some chips of colored glass in some abstract pattern). It’s a passing trend, but it’s something we have to deal with now.

Two hundred years from now art and architecture students will write theses entitled, “What WERE They Smoking in the 20th – 21st Century?

Reverence should always be shown to Our Lord. He is our Creator and Redeemer. We owe Him EVERYTHING. We genuflect when we pass before the Blessed Sacrament because throwing ourselves prostrate before the Lord of the Universe each and every time we encounter Him would simply be impractical.

Genuflecting3Yet, we also have liturgical law. In a spirit of humility, we should obey liturgical law. After all, the Church, which is properly deputized to do so, puts this in place to govern our actions when we worship God.

The current liturgical law in force for the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite requires that the ministers genuflect when entering the sanctuary if the Blessed Sacrament is reserved there. They must also genuflect at the end of the Holy Mass as they leave. If the Blessed Sacrament is not reserved in the sanctuary, the ministers bow to the altar. During the Holy Mass, the ministers are instructed to bow to the altar when they pass it.

Happily we also have now the full use of the Extraordinary Form.  It is to be hoped that the Extraordinary Form will exert a powerful “gravitational pull” on the hearts and minds and knees of the faithful, and then upon the rubrics and laws of the Ordinary Form.

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Jesuits here, Jesuits there

Posted on 29 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The latest from Sandro Magister involves Pope Francis, a writer for the Jesuit produced journal La Civiltà Cattolica, the bishops of the Philippines, Pope Francis, and Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ.

ROME, January 29, 2015 – They have not gone without notice, the harsh criticisms addressed by an authoritative Jesuit of the authoritative “La Civiltà Cattolica” to the bishops of the Philippines, for their strenuous opposition to the law on “reproductive health” successfully backed in the country by Catholic president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino.

The criticisms, formulated in a book, were presented in detail in this article from www.chiesa:

> Bishops of the Philippines Under Pressure. Examined and Rejected

The Jesuit who slammed the Filipino bishops for being “backward” and “closed off” not only with respect to the beacons of modernity but also with respect to the requests of Pope Francis is the Frenchman Pierre de Charentenay, a former president of the Centre Sèvres, the Paris institute of higher education of the Society of Jesus, director from 2004 to 2012 of the magazine of the Jesuits of France, “Études,” and since last year part of the team of writers of “La Civiltà Cattolica,” the magazine of the Rome Jesuits printed after inspection by Vatican authorities and directed by a man very close to the pope, Fr. Antonio Spadaro.

His [Pierre de Charentenay’s] dismissal of the bishops of the Philippines made an even bigger impression because it coincided with the journey of Pope Francis to that country, which is not only the only one in Asia with a majority Catholic population, but also distinguishes itself by the strong presence of its bishops in the public sphere. [So, the Jesuits in orbit about Pope Francis right now are against “culture warriors”?]

Receiving the pope on January 16 at the presidential palace (see photo), Benigno Aquino, educated in the Jesuit schools of Manila, also took the opportunity to criticize the Filipino bishops. In welcoming his guest he cited and turned against them the pre-Christmas address of Francis to the Roman curia, with the condemnation of those who by virtue of their roles make themselves “sowers of discord.”

But neither in the discourse delivered immediately after that circumstance – where he nonetheless struck a blow for the “inalienable right to life, beginning with that of the unborn” – nor in other moments of his visit did Pope Francis expend a single word in defense of the bishops.

Not everyone, however, among the Jesuits agrees with the accusatory theses of their confrere of “La Civiltà Cattolica,” […]

From San Francisco, after reading the rejection of the Filipino bishops decreed by Fr. de Charentenay because of their closure to modernity, the Jesuit Joseph Fessio reacted by sending us the letter reproduced below.

Fr. Fessio is not an unknown. Formed in the theological school of Joseph Ratzinger – and a prominent member of the circle of his disciples, the “Ratzinger Schülerkreis” – he founded and directs the publishing house Ignatius Press in the United States, which recently made an Jesuits here, Jesuits thereimpression with the book “Remaining in the Truth of Christ,” with contributions from five cardinals against communion for the divorced and remarried.

The following are the “errors of reason and of fact” that Fr. Fessio sees present in Fr. de Charentenay’s criticisms of the bishops of the Philippines, on matters of “reproductive health.”

[…]

Read Fr. Fessio’s letter there.

 

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, The Olympian Middle | Tagged , , ,
27 Comments

Videos of Solemn Masses 1960, 1962 at Ushaw Seminary

Posted on 29 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A priest friend sent a link to this film from 1960.  A Solemn Mass at Ushaw College (Seminary).

Play video

Notice that the place is full.

And there is this Christmas Mass from 1962.

Play video

The next year Vatican II started.

Ushaw is pretty much empty now. HERE

BTW… notice the rabbit on their logo HERE.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Mail from priests, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries | Tagged
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Pope Francis will no longer impose the pallium on Archbishops

Posted on 29 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Pope Francis will no longer impose the pallium on ArchbishopsA letter dated 12 January was sent out to all the nunciatures by Msgr. Guido Marini, the papal Master of Ceremonies.  HERE

Pope Francis has changed the way the pallium will be distributed to new Metropolitan Archbishops.

The pallium is a liturgical vestment comprised of strips of white wool embroidered with black crosses, held together with pins, worn over the shoulders at certain solemn events.  It symbolizes the close union of the archbishop, and his region, with the See of Peter.  For a long time, new Archbishops would travel to Rome to receive the pallium from the hands of the Roman Pontiff in St. Peter’s Basilica on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Before they receive the pallium, the archbishops take a public oath in Latin:

Ego… Archiepiscopus… beato Petro apostolo,  Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae, ac tibi, Summo Pontifici,  tuisque legitimis Successoribus  semper fidelis ero et oboediens.   Ita me Deus omnipotens adiuvet.

I… Archbishop of the _____ diocese (these are adjectives) will always be faithful and obedient to St. Peter the apostle, the Holy Roman Church, and to you, the Supreme Pontiff and to your legitimate Successors. So help me God Almighty.

No longer.

Now the pallium will be put on the Archbishops in their local churches.

It seems that the Pope will give the archbishops the pallium, but out of the limelight. Then the archbishops take the pallium back home and they arrange to get it from the nuncio. So, they’ll have a Mass, and then there’s the “Here’s this thing” moment.

I suppose that will give bishops of suffragan dioceses a chance to be present, as well as more people from the region.

Once upon a time, the pallium was simply sent out to those who were to receive it.  There is nothing new here, historically speaking.   Also, there is nothing magical about the pallium.  It doesn’t make an archbishop more of an archbishop.

However, …

Although the pallium will still probably be blessed by Pope Francis on 29 June, and although the pallium is still supposed to symbolize  the union of the archbishops with the Bishop of Rome, and although I imagine that the archbishops will still make the same oath, probably in the vernacular (since, after all, who uses Latin?), the sign value of the archbishop receiving it from the hands of the Successor of Peter will be lost.

Keep in mind that Pope Francis has as part of his project for his pontificate, to weaken the Roman Curia and decentralize the Church.  Whatever other value sending the pallium out to local churches might have, I see this move also as part of that project.

…

But… wait…

It seems that the Pope will give the archbishops the pallium, but out of the limelight. Then the archbishops take the pallium back home and they arrange to get it from the nuncio. So, they’ll have a Mass, and then there’s the “Here’s this thing” moment.

Posted in Francis, The Drill | Tagged ,
67 Comments

Of Cardinals and Canaries

Posted on 28 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Of Cardinals and CanariesA post by the distinguished scholar Fr. John Hunwicke caught my eye. Here it is, in toto, but do check the comments over there as well.  My emphases:

Cardinal Rodriguez [That’s Oscar Card. Rodiguez Maradiaga… Archbp. of Tegucigalpa, sometimes referred to only by the second (matronymic?) of his parental, family names.]
I have tried to read carefully a paper by a Cardinal Rodriguez. [Not in Tegucigalpa, but in California at Santa Clara Univ, run by, who else, Jesuits.  Coincidently, around the same time, Card. Marx, speaking in California, did an interview with American Magazine, Jesuit run.  HERE] There are entire paragraphs that I actually don’t understand. Perhaps there are problems of translation; Fr Lombardi will know. But three points do strike me: (1) Christology. The Second Person of the Glorious and Undivided Trinity is referred to in phrases like “The God of Jesus” [I believe Card. Kasper has a book called “The God of Jesus Christ”.] and “God through Jesus”. I did not identify language clearly affirming that our Redeemer is God. [Odd.] (2) “Mercy” seems to be construed as being at the heart of theology. [I wonder if “mercy” can be entirely disconnected from justice and truth.] But any attempted reconstruction of Christianity which concentrates singlemindedly on one word or slogan (“Justification by Faith Alone”, for example, or “Sola Scriptura”) has tended, throughout history, to have disastrous effects. [A key phrase in the Cardinal’s talk: “The Pope wants to take this Church renovation to the point where it becomes irreversible. The wind that propels the sails of the Church towards the open sea of its deep and total renovation is Mercy.”] (3) The Roman Pontiff’s role is to protect the Tradition and to define and exclude heresy. [NB] This paper seems exclusively concerned to prepare the way for an agenda of radical but unspecified change centred upon the non-Magisterial utterances of just one pope during a ministry of less than two years. This is accompanied by a bizarrely curious suggestion that the Holy Father’s public style and personal gestures are his Magisterial Encyclicals.  [Have you noticed that on the Vatican website there is now a page dedicated to his non-Magisterial, off the cuff, fervorini at daily Mass? HERE]

Even during the pontificate of Pius XII and his canary, did papolatry go quite as far as this?

pius xii canary

 

 

Posted in The Drill | Tagged , ,
62 Comments

Life with Capuchins? Take me back to jail!

Posted on 28 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A priest friend sent this, no doubt to amuse and edify.

From the Daily Mail:

Criminal serving his sentence with monks pleads to be sent back to prison… because monastery life is too hard

A convicted criminal who was serving out his sentence in a monastery has escaped for the second time and asked to be sent back to prison because life was too tough.
Thief David Catalano, 31, was sent to a Santa Maria degli Angeli community run by Capuchin monks in Sicily last November.
But he found their austere lifetstyle too tough to handle and soon escaped. After a short while on the run he was caught by police and sent back.

On Monday he fled for the second time in six weeks, only to swiftly turn himself in at a police station and beg officers to send him back to jail in the nearby town of Nicosia.
He told the stunned policemen: ‘Prison is better than being at that hostel run by monks.’
A police spokesman said: ‘Catalano arrived out of the blue and said there was no way he could stay on with the monks.

‘He said it was too tough and he wanted to go back to prison, so we happily obliged and he is now back behind bars serving the rest of his sentence.

[…]

Not exactly three hots and a cot.

Read the rest there.

Posted in Lighter fare, Mail from priests | Tagged ,
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San Francisco parish takes step in right direction. Sky falls on pastor’s head.

Posted on 28 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

UPDATE 29 Jan:

I had this note from a reader:

Check out how much the faithful have donated to support Fr. Illo in his decision for altar boys at Star of the Sea- $22K so far in 1 day! www.gofundme.com/kvc80g
God bless you!

_____ Originally published on: Jan 28, 2015 ____

In San Francisco, the new parish priest of Star of the Sea parish has decided to end service at the altar by girls in favor of exclusive service by boys.

In this he is to be praised.

However, right on schedule, the spittle-flecked nutty has begun. It started only by a couple disgruntled grousers. Then the press got it. Now pressure is on. HERE and HERE.

I have, as a gesture of support, sent Fr. Illo and the assistant some of my Z-Swag. You might drop them a line of support.

Let’s thank Archbp. Cordileone in advance for backing the priest.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged ,
58 Comments