Fr. Z's Blog

From a reader:

When I travel I frequently have to attend NO Masses.  Such was the case last Sunday.  The parish is liberal and so is the “guest” priest, but I was with a friend, so on I went.

The priest changed the words of the consecration by substituting the words “friends” for “disciples”.  He did that for both the bread and the wine.  I recognize that words are important and I think it is a poor but not surprising substitution to use the word “friends”  given the social action personality of this priest (He broke bread and gave his friends….).  I checked the actual version in the weekly (monthly???) pew missal,  while listening.  The missal uses the word “disciples”.

My question is does this in any way invalidate the Mass.  If not, fine.  I am subject to this Mass on occasion and really can’t get out of going so it is good to know that at least I satisfied my Sunday obligation (on Sat, naturally).  Mostly I am curious.

First, isn’t it wonderful that you can go to Mass when you travel?

Second, the priest had NO authority to change those words.  What he did was just plain wrong.  The pastor of the parish or his superior/bishops should admonish him in this regard.  By changing the words he caused people to wonder about the Mass. 

Third, the change you related did NOT make the Mass invalid.  Be at ease about that.

We must not ever fall into the trap some minimalists had dug, namely, that as long as the bare bones essentials are left untouched, we can do what we want with the Church’s liturgy.  

Just because that Mass wasn’t invalid, doesn’t mean that what he did was okay.

You also start appreciating Mass in Latin more: for most priests it is a little harder to ad lib, and those who are able to wouldn’t generally be the type who would.

I have had a couple questions via e-mail already about dopey plans in some parishes to empty holy water fonts during Lent and even dopier plans to replace the holy water with sand or dirt.

Anyway, some time ago I wrote an Ask Father response to this which I now repost.

_________________

Lately I have read some items about the blogosphere that the , persists in some places. 

Q:  Our Sunday bulletin states that Holy Water will be removed from Ash Wednesday on during Lent to remind us that we are in a desert. What is the latest rule for removing Holy Water? It used to be done on Good Friday.

A: Good question! Thanks for asking this. No doubt thousands.. maybe millions of people will be subjected to all kinds of rubbish during Lent. One day I should relate the stupid things we had to endure in seminary about this very thing of sand in the holy water stoup.

Any way… This is a response from the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments about this question. Enjoy.

The emphases are mine:

    Prot. N. 569/00/L

    March 14, 2000

    Dear Father:

    This Congregation for Divine Worship has received your letter sent by fax in which you ask whether it is in accord with liturgical law to remove the Holy Water from the fonts for the duration of the season of Lent.

    This Dicastery is able to respond that the removing of Holy Water from the fonts during the season of Lent is not permitted, in particular, for two reasons:

    1. The liturgical legislation in force does not foresee this innovation, which in addition to being praeter legem is contrary to a balanced understanding of the season of Lent, which though truly being a season of penance, is also a season rich in the symbolism of water and baptism, constantly evoked in liturgical texts.

    2. The encouragement of the Church that the faithful avail themselves frequently of the [sic] of her sacraments and sacramentals is to be understood to apply also to the season of Lent. The "fast" and "abstinence" which the faithful embrace in this season does not extend to abstaining from the sacraments or sacramentals of the Church. The practice of the Church has been to empty the Holy Water fonts on the days of the Sacred Triduum in preparation of the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil, and it corresponds to those days on which the Eucharist is not celebrated (i.e., Good Friday and Holy Saturday).

    Hoping that this resolves the question and with every good wish and kind regard, I am,

    Sincerely yours in Christ,
    [signed]
    Mons. Mario Marini [Now the Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei]
    Undersecretary

One of these days I will tell you about the hijinx over holy water in Lent we had in seminary, the infamous Saint Paul Seminary, in Minnesota, where I did a couple years of hard time. But that’s another story.

About the holy water thing. 

Holy water is a sacramental. 

We get the powerful theology of its use in the older ritual in the prayers for exorcism of the water and salt used and then the blessing itself.  I wrote about this in an article for the WDTPRS series and it is on this blog. 

The rite of blessing holy water, in the older ritual, is powerful stuff.  It sounds odd, nearly foreign to our modern ears, especially after over 30 years of being force fed ICEL pabulum.

Holy Water is a power weapon of the spiritual life against the attacks of the devil. 

You do believe in the existence of the Enemy, … right? 

You know you are a soldier and pilgrim in a dangerous world, … right? 

So why… why… why would these liturgists and priests REMOVE a tool of spiritual warfare precisely during the season of LENT when we need it the most?? 

Holy water is a sacramental. 

It is for our benefit. 

It is not a toy, or something to be abtained from, like chocolate or television.

From a seminarian:

In the Tridentine Rite of the Holy Mass, the Priest, after touching the Sacred Host, would then henceforth not seperate his fingers from the manner of keeping them together (thumb and index fingers). He would also keep his hands sixteen inches apart.

My question would then be: is this still permissible in the Novus Ordo or has this been suppressed? Any clarification you could give me would be helpful as I will be Ordained in a few years.

I am not so sure about the 16 inches thing.  I believe that the point is to keep your fingers over the corporal in case some particle might drop.  It would drop onto the corporal.

It is certainly okay for the priest to hold his "canonical digits" together in the Novus Ordo after the consecration and to keep them over the corporal.  As a matter of fact, I think he ought to.

From a reader:

Fr. Z: I’m a Junior at ___ in the Television Department. I’ve stumbled upon your blog a few times, and I’ve noticed that you celebrate the Latin Mass. (Tridentine?)

I have a question for you. I’ve witnessed a big debate over how whether or not the Novus Ordo Mass is being followed how it was intended upon it’s release post-Vatican II. If it’s one’s opinion that it is NOT, what could be done to follow it more correctly, and why aren’t parishes with priests who support that viewpoint putting those things into practice, rather than using both the "incorrect" Novus Ordo and the "way better" Tridentine?

Hmmm….

What the Council Fathers wanted for a reform is definitely NOT what we got.  Nevertheless, what we got wasn’t actually followed correctly in most places.

The key to celebration of any of the Church’s liturgies is simply to…

We should stick to the books, that is, the texts and the rubrics.  Just do what Holy Church asks. 

It’s that simple.

Don’t make it up.  Don’t change it around.  Just do what the Church asks.

The sacred action of the liturgy is very powerful, because the true Actor is really Jesus Christ the High Priest, … provided we get out of the way.

Two things which will help.

First, the new translation we are waiting for.  The language of the Novus Ordo as it stands now is appalling.

Second, priests should learn how to celebrate the older form of Mass!  Learn the TLM!  That will help a priest’s ars celebrandi and give him deep insights into who he is at the altar and what Holy Mass really is.  Learn the older form will affect the way he celebrates the Novus Ordo.

I suppose at this point some people will want to jump in an say "make the Novus Ordo better by getting rid of it".   Since we know that is not going to happen anytime soon… keep it to yourself.  I will probably delete your comments and kick you off the blog for a while.  The point here is how to make the Novus Ordo better.