Why was Gregorian Chant suppressed even though the Council commanded that it be used?

Posted on 29 November 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Because the Devil hates Latin and Gregorian chant.

From the “Map Psalter” – England (1262-1300)

Those who suppressed Latin and Gregorian chant were doing the work of the Enemy.  They were willing or unwitting (maybe witless) agents.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Save The Liturgy - Save The World |
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Daily Rome Shot 1186 – amazing

Posted on 29 November 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

In churchy news…

In chessy news… HERE

White can mate in 2. Find it. FAST!

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
10 Comments

Notre-Dame de Paris

Posted on 29 November 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Notre Dame in Paris has been spiffed up.

Who can ever shed from memory the images of the fire?

A great deal of hard and meticulous work has gone into restoring this amazing place, much of it dedicated to other problems that developed over the years and that were unrelated to the fire.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
2 Comments

Getting things wrong and then getting it right

Posted on 28 November 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I thought you all might like to know about this, posted by Fishwrap.

Fishwrap chose to use a photo of Bp. Baron for this.

So, Jesus “got it wrong”.

Along with that…

It’s as if the first commission on deaconettes never took place (i.e., no evidence for female deacons).   As one in a text group I am in remarked, “It’s like California: the election was three weeks ago and they’re still counting votes!” So, Phoebe was Paul’s FedEx guy. Called “a servant” (Greek diákonon), she is claimed by some to have been sacramentally ordained.  Paul also called Phoebe his “sister”. I strongly suspect that – being a Corinthian – she was not really Paul’s sister, in a literal sense. The term “sister” was used by Paul, as it is today, analogously. So, too, “deacon/servant”. She was really helpful in the community, probably wealthy, and a good person to deliver some mail.

Moving on to more interesting stuff from the internet…

And, for your Thanksgiving Day entertainment…

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
7 Comments

Daily Rome Shot 1185 – Downs and ups and gratitude

Posted on 28 November 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From during my last Roman Sojourn… not turkey, but at least it’s poultry.

And, true “thanksgiving”, though in a muted mode.   It heralds a Requiem I’ll say today.

Speaking of Requiems, you might in your goodness, please pray for the soul of this priest who committed suicide.   I recommend him to the intercession of St. Joseph, to the Queen of Priests, and to the High Priest Himself who will know what truly was going on in his heart and mind in the irreversible moment.  May God have mercy.

Not to be too much of a downer today, I am reminded of all the good Fr. Martins has done, how many have benefited from his apostolate, and that the Enemy is constantly at work to bring down those who are effective.

This…

Here is someone I miss. I am grateful that we had him for as long as we did. What a lasting impact. R.I.P.

In churchy news…

Nah…

In chessy news… nah… but there is a puzzle. HERE

White to move and mate in 4.

UPDATE:

This is nifty…

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
7 Comments

ASK FATHER: What if Father misses with water during one of the three pours during a Baptism.

Posted on 27 November 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a priest reader…

Thank you for your post: HERE (very helpful; answered a question of mine some time ago).

I have had some discussions with some of our Priests regarding Baptism. Here’s a scenario that came up:

Many times, baby baptisms are unpredictable in that babies constantly move their heads, etc.

Say, during Baptism, Fr. (n), says,

“(N.), I baptize you in the name of the Father, (water pour), and of the Son (water pour, but, say, father sneezes or coughs and misses while pouring or the child thrashes or moves head so the water either misses the head completely or Priest is unclear if it really hit the head, so he repeats, “and of the Son” [water pour]), and of the Holy Spirit.”

I assume the above scenario also applies to the other Sacraments, say, Confession, e.g., during the recitation of the Absolution formula, Father (N.) sneezes and mispronounces a phrase or word so he repeats it correctly, e.g. “And I absolve you from your sins (coughs/sneezes to the point where he’s flustered, so he repeats, “and I absolve you from your sins . . .”).”

Good to go?

Good to go.

Those blips don’t change the essence of the form, it’s meaning, or matter.  Especially if there is a repetition.

In the case of baptism it doesn’t make any difference whether the water is poured once, twice or three times.  This was clarified by the Council of Trent.

Three times can help assure that water has run on the head.   What is critical for validity is that water is used (pouring, immersion, sprinkling) and the Trinitarian form is used.

On a related issue:

From a reader…

I have noticed that priests sometimes add the word “all” to the formula i.e “I absolve you from ALL your sins…”

Would this have any bearing on validity? I hope not.

This does not have any bearing validity.  The priest should stick to the exact form.  However, the addition of “all” merely makes explicit what is implicit in “a peccatis tuis …“.  “I absolve you from your sins” means “from all your sins”, not “from some of your sins”.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box |
3 Comments

Surprise! I found them. Sorry about that.

Posted on 27 November 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I have been wondering why I hadn’t seen “Ask Father” questions for a while.

Then I discovered that an old email filter had decided to work and was funneling questions into an old folder I had made to make it easier to find them.

So… I wasn’t intentionally ignoring you.

There  are over 600 questions sitting in that folder.   I can’t make any promises about them.  I’ll do some triage.

It took the death of a friend of many years and someone trying to hunt up my phone number to give me the news which pulled me eye to something that lead me to the old folder.

So, say a prayer for L.A.L., who died recently.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Requiescat in pace. 

 

Posted in ASK FATHER Question Box |
1 Comment

Daily Rome Shot 1184 – Pippo Bbono! – UPDATED

Posted on 27 November 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Photo from Fr. JJ.   Pippo Bbono!

Welcome Registrant:

aburch

Reminder about this new and useful book. Peter teases out 10 objections to the Vetus Ordo in favor of the Novus.

Turned Around: Replying to the Most Common Objections Against the Traditional Latin Mass – by Peter Kwasniewski

US HERE (and Canada, I think) – UK HERE

The US has a Kindle Version and Audible recording.  The UK also has an audio version.

In churchy news…

Pope Francis then goes on to describe the Document as part of the “ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter” and asks that its authoritative nature be respected as such. “It represents a form of exercising the authentic teaching of the Bishop of Rome”, explains the Pope, adding that “it contains elements of novelty but aligns with what I clarified on October 17, 2015, when I stated that synodality is the proper interpretive framework for understanding hierarchical ministry”.

However, he clarifies that the Document “is not strictly normative” but rather a call for reflection differently applied in each context.

I don’t get it.

In cool news…

In chessy news… HERE

White to move and mate in 2.

 

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

UPDATE:

I just scrambled to get my mother’s car started.  It wouldn’t turn over due to a low battery (from 2022, so not that old).  I don’t know what might have drained it.   Her neighbor had some sort of service vehicle in the driveway and I ask the guy if he had cables.  He produced a small portable car jump starter. After it was hooked up and warmed up, it did the trick.  Handy.   If you don’t have one you might consider getting one for yourself or as a Christmas gift.  Right now there are BLACK FRIDAY sales.  I looked at THIS ONE and put it on my list.

UPDATE:

I have some additional relics which need reliquaries.   Thinking there might be a BLACK FRIDAY sale for them, too, I looked around and found this, which is like others that I have.  But there is a curious item in the description.   Could it be that it is intended only for St. Lawrence?

 

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
13 Comments

Daily Rome Shot 1183 – fighting back

Posted on 26 November 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

Welcome Registrant:

MarkZaff

In churchy news…

You might have read an account – not entirely responsible – that Fr. Carlos Martins, well-known for his apostolate with relics and for a recent book about exorcism – was accused of something when he was visiting Joliet with the relic of the arm of St. Jude.

It is important that you read this.

In chessy news… HERE

White to move and mate in 2.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
22 Comments

WDTPRS: Novus Ordo – Solemnity of Christ the King – An example of the core difference between the new rite and the traditional

Posted on 25 November 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Yesterday was the Novus Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the liturgical year. In the Vetus Ordo, Christ the King is celebrated on the last Sunday of October. The feast was originally instituted to underscore that Christ is not just going to be King of the Universe after His Second Coming. He is also King NOW, of all social structures. The Feast was instituted as a counter to the deadly agenda of Communism. The fact that it was in October, underlines this.

However, the choice to move the observance of Christ the King to the End of the Year points to a different view of the meaning of the feast. But the calendrical change was not the only change. The content of the prayers changed. A comparison of the two different Collects, Vetus and Novus, is instructive.

Let’s have a quick review.

The Collect for Mass in the Novus Ordo is a new composition, similar in some respects to the Collect in the Vetus.

1970 Missale Romanum:

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
qui in dilecto Filio tuo, universorum Rege,
omnia instaurare voluisti,
concede propitius,
ut tota creatura, a servitute liberata,
tuae maiestati deserviat ac te sine fine collaudet.

Instauro is a wonderful word which deserves more attention: “to renew, repeat, celebrate anew; to repair, restore; to erect, make”.  It is synonymous with renovo.  Etymologically instauro is related to Greek stauros.  Turning to a different L&S, the immensely valuable Liddell & Scott Greek Dictionary, we find that stauros is “an upright pale or stake.”   Stauros is the word used in the Greek New Testament for the Cross of Jesus.  Also the word immediately makes us think not only of the motto on the coat-of-arms of Pope St. Pius X, but also the origin of that motto Ephesians 1:10: “For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Eph 1:9-10 RSV).

There have been, by the way, some changes in the Latin texts of this passage.  The older Vulgate says “instaurare omnia in Christo” while the New Vulgate says “recapitulare omnia in Christo”.

Recapitulare is related to Latin caput (“head”) and was deemed by the scholars behind the New Vulgate as a better translation of the Greek anakephalaioô, “to sum up the argument.”  This harks to the headship of Christ over the Body of the Church and expresses that He is the Final Statement, the Conclusion of All Things.  At any rate, in 1925 and in the 1960’s when the older version of Vulgate was in use, the Collect had instaurare and not recapitulare.

Why all this electronic ink about recapitulare?  The phrase, “renew/reinstate all things in Christ” points to the Kingship of Jesus.  In everything that Jesus said or did in His earthly life, He was actively drawing all things and peoples to Himself.  In the time to come, when His Majesty the King returns in gloria and maiestas this act of drawing-to-Himself (cf. John 12:32) will culminate in the exaltation of all creation in a perfect unending paean of praise.  In the meantime, by virtue of baptism and our integration into Christus Venturus (Christ About-To-Come), we all share in His three-fold office of priest, prophet, and also king.  We have the duty to proclaim His Kingship by all that we say and do.

We are to offer all our good works back to Him for the sake of His glory and the expectation of His Coming.  This glorious restoration (instaurare) is possible only through the Lord’s Cross (Greek stauros).  The Cross is found subtly in the midst of this Collect, where it is revealed as the pivot point of all creation (creatura).

LITERAL TRANSLATION:

Almighty eternal God,
who desired to renew all things
in Your beloved Son, the King of the universe,
graciously grant
that the whole of creation, having been freed from servitude,
may zealously serve Your majesty and praise You greatly without end.

1962 Missale Romanum: 

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui dilecto Filio tuo universorum Rege, omnia instaurare voluisti: concede propitius; ut cunctae familiae gentium, peccati vulnere disgregatae, eius suavissimo subdantur imperio.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:

Almighty eternal God, who desired to renew all things in Your beloved Son, the King of the universe, graciously grant that all the families of peoples, torn apart by the wound of sin, may be subject to His most gentle rule.

Let’s see them side by side:

1970 – Novus Ordo 1970 – Novus Ordo1962 – Vetus Ordo
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
qui in dilecto Filio tuo, universorum Rege,
omnia instaurare voluisti,
concede propitius,
ut tota creatura, a servitute liberata,
tuae maiestati deserviat ac te sine fine collaudet.		 Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui dilecto Filio tuo universorum Rege, omnia instaurare voluisti: concede propitius; ut cunctae familiae gentium, peccati vulnere disgregatae, eius suavissimo subdantur imperio.
Almighty eternal God,
who desired to renew all things
in Your beloved Son, the King of the universe,
graciously grant
that the whole of creation, having been freed from servitude,
may zealously serve Your majesty and praise You greatly without end.		 Almighty eternal God, who desired to renew all things in Your beloved Son, the King of the universe, graciously grant that all the families of peoples, torn apart by the wound of sin, may be subject to His most gentle rule.

Sometimes people who run down the Traditional Latin Mass will say that the tone of the orations is too negative, since there is a regular emphasis on sin, guilt, propitiation, etc., and not even stress on the goal, the joy of Heaven. On the other hand, the Novus Ordo orations were edited to remove most of the negative references. They now stress eschatological happiness. The problem is that the prayers of the Novus Ordo don’t clearly help us understand how to attain that heavenly joy, while the prayers of the Traditional Latin Mass do. To obtain the happiness of Heaven, we must deal with sin, guilt, penance, propitiation, etc. Life isn’t just daisies and cuddly kittens.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Save The Liturgy - Save The World, SESSIUNCULA, WDTPRS |
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