Russian Orthodox react to Coronovirus: “the Bloodless Sacrifice can in no way be canceled”

Posted on 18 March 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Russian Orthodox Church is making changes to how their people receive Communion. HERE

NB: They are not cancelling their Divine Liturgy. They are not cancelling Communion.  My emphases.

Instructions to Rectors and their Parishes, and to Abbots and Abbesses of Monasteries of the Moscow Diocese in Connection with the Threat of the Spread of Coronavirus Infection
This document was approved by His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill.

For the sake of pastoral care of people, as well as in response to a request from health officials, while maintaining a firm faith in the good work of God and in Divine omnipotence, the following rules are adopted, taking into account the canonical and liturgical Tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Until the epidemiological situation changes for the better and relevant instructions are received from the diocesan administration on the complete or partial termination of this instruction in the parishes and in the Patriarchal, bishop’s, and monastery churches, as well as in the monasteries of the Moscow diocese, the following must be performed:
Concerning the Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ

1. We should bear in mind that the Bloodless Sacrifice can in no way be canceled, because where there is no Eucharist, there is no church life, and also because the Holy Body and Blood of Christ are given for the health of both soul and body (see. , for example, the 7th and 9th prayers from the Canon before Holy Communion by St. John Chrysostom). At the same time, we must take into account the historical practice of the Orthodox Church in epidemics – to wipe the spoon used for Holy Communion with a cloth that is periodically soaked in alcohol, and then to dip the cloth in water and subsequently dispose of the water according to the practice provided for washing the cloths.

2. To give out the drink after Communion individually for each communicant in disposable cups.

3. Use disposable hygiene gloves to distribute the antidoron.

4. Cloths for the communion of the laity should be used only to protect the Holy Mysteries from possibly falling on the floor and to wipe the spoon. To wipe the communicants’ lips individually, use paper towels and burn them afterwards. Boil and wash the communion cloths with due reverence after each liturgical use.

5. Communicants should refrain from kissing the Chalice.

[…]

It goes on with instructions about Baptism and Anointing and other aspects, kissing Crosses, icons, etc.

I noted this:

11. Priests are advised to refrain from giving their hands to be kissed.

So…

We should bear in mind that the Bloodless Sacrifice can in no way be canceled, because where there is no Eucharist, there is no church life, and also because the Holy Body and Blood of Christ are given for the health of both soul and body….

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Something to Cheers you up in the COVID-19 pandemic!

Posted on 17 March 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Just watch and laugh.

YouTube thumbnailYouTube icon

And of course there wasn’t a lab in China… nah…

….

!

Posted in Lighter fare |
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MAIL FROM A PRIEST: “We have more time to do PRIESTLY things!” ACTION ITEM!

Posted on 17 March 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

What priests must be!

I want to pass along to my brother priests and bishops this great email.  Dear readers, would you consider printing it out and giving it to your local priests or sending them an email with a link to this post?

From a priest with my emphases and comments:

I”m sure this has crossed your mind, and that you’ll be saying a bit on this anyway, but I wanted to reinforce: Without public Masses, it seems to me that now is the time for priests to ramp up saying their daily Missa solitaria. [Private Mass… alone.]

I live in a monastic community with a daily Conventual Mass; even for priests who celebrate only the Ordinary Form and think  [wrongly] that canon 906 limits their ability to celebrate Mass alone, the requisite conditions of a “just and reasonable cause” is more than satisfied in our present situation. I hope we can encourage our brother priests to do just this.  [Count on me!  I’ll do my part.]

For my part, I think that the prayers of the Extraordinary Form–since they are far more robust and ‘in-your-face’–more than meets the meaning of “approach[ing] with boldness the throne of grace…” (Heb 4:16).

And, while we’re at it, how about the Seven Penitential Psalms? [OORAH!] We would be derelict as priests to not allow the Lord to search our hearts in revealing to us why His permissive Providence has given reign to Wuhan virus. After all, Hebrews 12:5-13, yes? With cancelled meetings and suspended parish functions, we have more time to do PRIESTLY things. I dare to say we ought even to pray the minor exorcisms–at least against those who have hardened their hearts against the Lord on account of the pandemic.

If I may rant just a little, one piece of Modernism is a ‘scepticism about the immanence of the supernatural‘ and many priests who are reluctant to think that frequent celebrations of the Mass are unwittingly falling prey to the Modernist heresy.

Now’s the time for serious spiritual combat and an abundance of GRACE, not squishy Pelagian assuaging.

Father, you are right!

Let’s recap:

  1. Daily Mass, even alone.  YES, WE CAN!
  2. The Extraordinary Form is far more robust.  Believe me, it’s true.
  3. Seven Penitential Psalms.    Since the time of Innocent III these were designated to be prayed during Lent!  They have their own section in traditional Breviaries and hand missals.   So, they were important.   But, today… who knows about this tradition?
  4. Use minor exorcisms.  Also, priests can – privately – privately – use Title XI Ch. 3 of the Rituale Romanum, the longer St. Michael Prayer, as an exorcism of a place.  Fathers, exorcise your rectories, parish buildings, and grounds, and then BLESS them.  Yes, use LATIN.  I have recordings of exorcism prayers.
  5. Don’t be SQUISHY.
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SPIRITUAL WEAPONRY ALERT! PDF of traditional Prayer In Time of Epidemics – UPDATED

Posted on 17 March 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

UPDATE: 17 March 2020

The PDF has been updated, improved, and slightly corrected.

Feel free to download, print, and give it your your priests.

___ Originally Published on: Mar 16, 2020

I saw that the FSSP put out a PDF with some prayers extracted from the traditional Rituale Romanum against pestilence.

It concludes, if possible, with a blessing using a relic of the True Cross.

Here at the Tridentine Mass Society of the Diocese of Madison, we took that PDF and improved it a little, adding red for rubrics.

HERE

I did this yesterday after Holy Mass, with a relic of the Cross.   We will continue to do so.  Also, the pastor at the parish I’m at on Sundays will do so after daily Masses (in English).

Technically, this should be done in Latin, according to the legislation in effect in 1962.

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Self-isolating? Relieved from work? LEARN LATIN!

Posted on 17 March 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Over at First Things there is a piece by Joseph Epstein about his decision, later in life, to learn Latin.  It’s engaging.   Read it there.

However, he mentions some sources for learning Latin, which I will countersign.  For example, when people ask for a book for self-instruction, I usually mention Wheelock.

It is tried and true, available, with good ancillary materials.

Wheelock’s Latin 7th Edition (The Wheelock’s Latin Series)

Gildersleeve’s Latin Grammar

And to go deeper…

Reginald Foster’s Ossa Latinitatis Solas

BTW… the 2nd Volume of Foster’s work is due to come out in August 2020. Ossium Carnes Multae e Marci Tullii Ciceronis epistulis: The Bones’ Meats Abundant from the epistles of Marcus Tullius Cicero

 

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Remember to “pay it backwards”. Remember our seasoned brethren.

Posted on 17 March 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I am not sure where I heard this, in the ongoing scrum of COVID-19 news coverage and discussion.   I often multitask when the news is on.  I don’t even remember if this was the exact phrase that was used, but somehow it stuck in my head.

Pay It Backwards.

Remember the movie “Pay It Forward”?  The idea is simple.  Think of a good thing to for someone else with the hope that they will do the same, and so on and so on.

In this time of the virus, and the vulnerability that older people have, think about paying it backwards.   There are older people out there who worked so that we could have to good things and comforts that we have.  Many of them, due to age, have fewer and fewer people with whom they are engaged.  Most of them, I suspect, are in no way prepared for the sort of isolation that is probably coming down the pike… fast.

I have in mind especially older priests.  They often don’t have a lot of family, near or far.   Some are really alone.

They baptized you, heard your confessions, married you, said Mass for you, anointed you or your loved ones when sick or dying, taught you, encouraged you.

Some of them are not so diligent in their vocations.  They, too, still need attention, which could move their hearts.

I imagine that all of you out there can think of a couple good things to do for others who are older than you.   Pay it backwards, in that sense, as well as paying it forward.

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PODCAzT 181: The Latin of “A Prayer In Times of Epidemics” from the Rituale Romanum – PRAYERCAzT

Posted on 16 March 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

In this PODCAzT I read for you the Latin version of the extract from the traditional Rituale Romanum of A Prayer In Times of Epidemics (RR Tit. IX. Ch. X).

It really should be done in Latin.

These devotions and the use of Latin slipped away.  I can’t help but think that this was systematically and purposely stripped out of the church’s life to weaken our Catholic identity and to make us more susceptible to the winds of the world with its shifting fads and mores.   It won’t be easy to recover ourselves and our sense of ourselves.  That’s why I try to help by reading the Latin of some of these rites, such as traditional baptism or exorcism and blessings of holy water and the like.  If you need help with something, Fathers, let me know.

Meanwhile, let’s beat this damned virus down into the dust with self-discipline and mighty prayers.

We hear some music by Giovanni Gabrieli, Music For San Rocco.  San Rocco is a great patron of the sick and an intercessor in time of plague.   And, for music, there’s a surprise at the end.

US HERE – UK HERE

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ASK FATHER: Can our priest add to Mass prayers the votive collects against epidemics?

Posted on 16 March 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I hope you are doing well today. My pastor is the dean for the archdiocese of ___. He wanted to know if he has the competent authority to allow himself to offer Mass of the Féria of lent with votive collects against plague and epidemic or if he needs to apply to our Archbishop.

When there is a grave and public cause – which there clearly is right now – and there is no time or the Ordinary of the place can’t be reached, the parish priest (pastor, parochus) can determine that a Votive Mass, even a Class IV on a Class III Feria of Lent, can be used.

Although this is in theory an age of rapid communication, it can take a surprisingly long time to get a message through to a bishop or a vicar general (a VG is a “local ordinary” who can permit just about everything a bishop can permit).  Hence, if it is a matter of making a rapid decision, then the pastor can make the decision without contacting the bishop.

However, if this is going to be an ongoing thing, then an ordinary should give permission for a period of time.

Where I am, I asked the local bishop for permission to use appropriate Votive Masses through June.  He willingly granted the permission.

Also, a bishop can establish for Masses in his diocese an oratio imperata, which must be said.   In the traditional Rite, it is said with its own conclusion.  It is prohibited on Class I and II feasts and Votive Mass as “high Masses”.   It is said on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays, only.

Again, if a pastor of a parish for some reason can’t reach the bishop in a timely way to request permission – and bishops are quite busy, aren’t they? – the pastor can make the call about the use of Class IV Votive Masses on Class III Ferias of Lent.

We are both body and soul.  The Church’s mighty prayers of Mass and blessings of sacramentals refer to their effects as being both bodily and spiritual.

Let’s use ALL our spiritual weaponry to aid the well-being of the body!

Si vis pacem para bellum!

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Si vis pacem para bellum!, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged
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ASK FATHER: Diocese cancelled all Masses. Would it be wrong to go to the SSPX?

Posted on 16 March 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

As our diocese has cancelled all Masses until further notice which includes our TLM parish would it be disobedient and/or sinful to attend the local SSPX Mass which goes against both our local ordinary and our city which has forbidden all public gatherings?

Provided you follow local civil laws,… NO.

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ITALY: Police shoo away people outside a church hearing Mass through the open doors

Posted on 16 March 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The shape of things to come?

I was texting with The Great Roman™ today.  He’s fine and so is his family, but he’s frustrated, as you can imagine.  Everyone is in lockdown.  You can’t go anywhere except a nearby church or store without written permission.

He told us of a situation in the nearby Diocese of Porto.  I found a news story about it HERE

Police disperse Catholics at Sunday Mass in Italy

Italian police on Sunday dispersed Catholics attending a Mass being celebrated in a parish outside of Rome. The Italian government has prohibited public gatherings in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Mass was being offered at St Francis of Assisi Parish in the Italian town of Cerveteri, some 27 miles northwest of Rome. Earlier this month, the Italian bishops’ conference confirmed government measures against public gatherings, effectively prohibiting the public celebration of Mass anywhere in the country.

Some 15 people were present at the March 15 Mass, several of them seated outside of the church, whose doors were opened as Mass was offered. The Mass was being live streamed on Facebook.

Police entered the Church after the distribution of Holy Communion, and before the final prayers of the Mass. The priest was permitted to conclude the Mass after parishioners dispersed.

[…]

The priest was at the altar in church and the people were outside the church.

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