Fr. Z's Blog | Formerly entitled: "What Does The Prayer Really Say?" – Clear, straight commentary on Catholic issues, liturgy and life by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf o{]:¬)

CQ CQ CQ #HamRadio Saturday: Zuhlsdorf’s Law strikes again… and again.

Posted on 9 July 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

ham radio badass Last week I wrote that I passed my Extra exam, to upgrade my license. Really. I did actually pass.

So, I patiently checked the FCC site every couple days to see if the upgrade was posted. No joy.

Then I was sent this by one of the VEs. It’s a blurb in the ARRL VE Newsletter July 2016.

ARRL VEC Exam and Application Files not being processed by FCC

FCC Investigating Amateur Radio, Commercial Application Processing Glitch [This is a bizarre new manifestation of Zuhlsdorf’s Law.]

07/07/2016

The FCC information technology staff is continuing to look into why the Universal Licensing System (ULS) Electronic Batch Filing (EBF) system has stopped processing at least some — and perhaps all — Amateur Radio exam session files and applications. The stoppage, which began on June 28, initially affected the handling of all Amateur Radio Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) and commercial license applications, said ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, who alerted the FCC IT Department. Somma said that by June 30, it appeared that the FCC had corrected the broader problem, and processing of most Amateur Radio VEC and commercial applications and exam session files had resumed.

“The fix for the ARRL VEC remains elusive, however,” said Somma. “I assumed the issue would be cleared up quickly as the FCC has done in the past.” She added, that the FCC has been unwilling to reveal the extent of the problem, which she believes still could be affecting applications from outside the ARRL VEC. [I’m in the queue, that’s why.]

According to Somma, resolving the problem has been escalated to Priority 1 at the FCC, and resources have been reprioritized to address the issue.

“I have been in contact with the FCC every day inquiring about their progress and will continue to do so until the problem is resolved,” Somma said. “I have also asked them to provide us with an alternate filing option as soon as possible.”

Somma said that as of July 6, the ARRL VEC had more than 900 applications and nearly 275 exam sessions in the queue and awaiting FCC processing.

“As soon as the FCC staff discovers and corrects the EBF system problem, we will immediately file the backlog, which would take only a day or so to release,” Somma estimated. [It’s a government office. What could go wrong?]

She said a lot of candidates and volunteer examiners have begun asking why new call signs or license upgrades have not yet been issued, and she is sympathetic with their concerns. “We usually transmit the exam sessions to FCC as soon as possible, which is 24 to 48 hours from the day they are received in our office,” she said. “Therefore, questions from the field about the delay are understandable.”

This new story can be found on the ARRL Website.

We thank you and your candidates for being patient while we work through this issue with FCC.

So, there it is. I am in Extra Limbo.

But I DO have my ticket! I do!

But wait. There’s more.

I was chuffed about passing the exam, so the next day I loaded up my stuff and went out to my usual operating spot in the parish cemetery. It’s beautiful, I can pray for the dead, and they don’t mind that I’m around.

And, in that appropriate place, my radio died.

I’ll spare you the details, but as I was tuning up there was a whirrrrrr and now I can’t change frequency and the display doesn’t work.

“Caramba!”, quoth I. Or words to that effect.

Zuhlsdorf’s Law again.

Some of you may not remember it.

Murphy was an optimist. Therefore…

Corollary 1: When you need your technology to work, that is when it will fail.

Corollary 2: The extent of the failure is proportioned to the urgency of the need.

Corollary 3: When you want to show someone the great gizmo or program you have, that is when it won’t work.

Corollary 4: When the person to whom you wanted to show off your great gizmo or program departs, unimpressed, that is when it will once again begin to function properly.

Someone should update the Wikipedia list of eponymous laws. Of course that probably bust the website.

I got on the horn to my local Elmer who is always helpful. He had recently done some research on a new radio for his own use and, knowing my (lack of) experience made a recommendation. Frankly, I was ready to get a new rig. I really like the old Kenwood that one of you readers sent, but this is a good time for an upgrade. I’ll get the older transceiver repaired. I have a plan for it.

So, it was off to Milwaukee and the only Ham Radio store in any direction for hundreds of miles.

I now have a new rig.

BUT WAIT!

Zuhlsdorf’s Law wasn’t finished with me. I’m like the kiss of death these days.

I return from Milwaukee and find this in my email the next day.

From the ARRL letter…

“Caramba!”, quoth I anew.

Folks, don’t let me come near anything that you hold dear… at least for a few more days.

Anyway, I have ordered up some monel wire and insulators and, soon, will brew up an antenna with the help of my local Elmer.

But, Caramba!, it has been a tough ham radio week.

You know the one about the pessimist and the optimist, right?

The pessimist says, “Things can’t possibly get any worse!” To which the optimist replies, “Oh, yes they can!”

I created a page for the List of YOUR callsigns. HERE Chime in or drop me a note if your call doesn’t appear in the list.

Posted in Ham Radio | Tagged CQ, Ham radio, Ham Radio Saturday, Zuhlsdorf's Law
14 Comments

They’re baaaack!

Posted on 8 July 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’ve just learned via RNS that the NUNS ON THE BUS are back!

Nuns really get around these days. They are also being summoned to Rome for chats. But I digress.

Nuns on the bus will ride to political conventions

(RNS) Disturbed by the language of exclusion that has characterized much of the 2016 electoral campaign, Sister Simone Campbell and a band of Catholic nuns[So… band of nuns? Is that the collective noun? I’ll bet we could find a better one.] will again board her bus to promote a vision of a more inclusive America. [“Language of exclusion”?]

The activist nun and 18 other sisters will begin their trip on July 11 in Janesville, Wis., hometown of House Speaker and Republican leader Paul Ryan, a fellow Catholic whose conservative policies Campbell has regularly criticized.

The bus tour, the latest in a series of election-year trips organized by Campbell’s Washington-based lobby, Network, will eventually travel to 13 states, making stops at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in mid-July and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia later in the month.

[…]Though she has not specifically billed the upcoming tour as a protest against presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has been lambasted for stereotyping Muslims, Hispanics and other groups, Campbell has in the past called out politicians by name for neglecting the poor and disadvantaged.

I look forward to the reports.

Maybe I’ll make a field trip the Janesville for the event.

Posted in Liberals, Lighter fare, Magisterium of Nuns, Women Religious | Tagged magisterium of nuns, Nuns On The Bus, Sr. Simone Campbell
33 Comments

Card. Sarah’s words to priests and bishops about “turning toward the Lord”

Posted on 8 July 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Card. Sarah’s appeal to priests and bishops on 5 July in London:

[…]

I want to make an appeal to all priests. You may have read my article in L’Osservatore Romano one year ago (12 June 2015) or my interview with the journal Famille Chrétienne in May of this year. On both occasions I said that I believe that it is very important that we return as soon as possible to a common orientation, of priests and the faithful turned together in the same direction—Eastwards or at least towards the apse—to the Lord who comes, in those parts of the liturgical rites when we are addressing God. This practice is permitted by current liturgical legislation. It is perfectly legitimate in the modern rite. Indeed, I think it is a very important step in ensuring that in our celebrations the Lord is truly at the centre.

And so, dear Fathers, I ask you to implement this practice wherever possible, with prudence and with the necessary catechesis, certainly, but also with a pastor’s confidence that this is something good for the Church, something good for our people. Your own pastoral judgement will determine how and when this is possible, but perhaps beginning this on the first Sunday of Advent this year, when we attend ‘the Lord who will come’ and ‘who will not delay’ (see: Introit, Mass of Wednesday of the first week of Advent) may be a very good time to do this. Dear Fathers, we should listen again to the lament of God proclaimed by the prophet Jeremiah: “they have turned their back to me” (2:27). Let us turn again towards the Lord!

I would like to appeal also to my brother bishops: please lead your priests and people towards the Lord in this way, particularly at large celebrations in your dioceses and in your cathedral. Please form your seminarians in the reality that we are not called to the priesthood to be at the centre of liturgical worship ourselves, but to lead Christ’s faithful to him as fellow worshippers. Please facilitate this simple but profound reform in your dioceses, your cathedrals, your parishes and your seminaries.

[…]

He also made an appeal to use more Latin and Gregorian chant. He asked for more silence and kneeling. He pointed to the work of Joseph Ratzinger, Spirit of the Liturgy (UK HERE). Card. Sarah said: “Pope Francis has asked me to continue the liturgical work Pope Benedict began (see: Message to Sacra Liturgia USA2015, New York City).”

Sunday, July 3, 2016 at St. Mary of Pine Bluff – Fr. John Zuhlsdorf (Fr. Z) offers the Novus Ordo Mass facing east (ad orientem) – From Fr. Heilman – HERE

Posted in Benedict XVI, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged ad orientem, Card. Sarah
31 Comments

A Jesuit reacts to Card. Sarah’s request that priests celebrate “ad orientem”

Posted on 7 July 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At Fishwrap (aka National Schismatic Reporter) there is a reaction to the plea made by His Eminence Robert Card. Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship to priests around the world to say Mass ad orientem beginning with Advent.

Here is something that caught my interest:

[Fr. Andrew Menke, associate director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ divine worship office] said that as new editions of the Roman Missal are released, liturgical law is bound to shift, but he doubts anything would happen regarding the direction the priest faces, except perhaps more encouragement of “ad orientem” Masses in future missal editions.

Other experts agreed, saying neither bishops nor Sarah have the right to force priests to celebrate Mass “facing East” until there is an official change to the missal, the official liturgical law. [Who brought up “force”? Not Card. Sarah.]

Nice tie!

Jesuit Fr. Bruce Morrill, professor of Catholic studies at Vanderbilt University, said the cardinal’s office could issue a directive mandating “ad orientem” Masses without changing the whole missal.

A directive, he said, would require approval from the Vatican and would be released in an official statement from the Congregation for Divine Worship.

“This is not official; he was speaking to an annual meeting of an erratic conservative group. [So, by insinuation, what does that make Card. Sarah?] … Those directives don’t happen in speeches and interviews” like those Sarah has given, Morrill said.

I entirely agree. “Directives… don’t happen in speeches and interviews.”

Speaking of “erratic groups, are Morrill and his Jesuit brethren quick to point out to the press that the Pope doesn’t issue directives or change laws or mutate doctrine in off-the-cuff remarks given in interviews or pressers with newsies or in his daily fervorini?

What immediately popped into my head is a certain remark made by Card. Kasper about what African bishops should or shouldn’t be allowed to tell us what to do.

On a higher note, may I suggest to the readership a close reading of Card. Sarah’s book God or Nothing: A Conversation on Faith? UK HERE

Read it and then place in the balance His Eminence’s comments about prayer with the reactions about Sarah from the Fishwrapers and sundry Jesuits.

Here is something from Card. Sarah’s book:

The almost constant underground struggle with the political authorities, from the dictatorship of Sékou Touré to the military regime of Lansana Conté, was undoubtedly trying. But these external difficulties were not what was gnawing away at my courage and determination to serve the Lord. Instead, it was the internal struggles that I had to face, that shattered me by showing me with increasing clarity that I was objectively incapable of leading the Church of Conakry.

In order to address the situation, I established a program of regular spiritual retreats. Every two months, I would leave, alone, for a completely isolated spot. I would subject myself to an absolute fast, with no food or water for three days. I wanted to be with God, to speak with him in private. When I left Conakry, I would take nothing with me except a Bible, a small traveling Mass kit, and a book of spiritual reading. The Eucharist was my only food and my sole companion. This life of solitude and prayer helped me to recharge and to return to battle. I think that a bishop, in order to fulfill his role, must do penance, fast, listen to the Lord, and pray for long periods of time in silence and solitude. Christ withdrew for forty days in the desert; the successors to the apostles must imitate Christ as faithfully as possible.

THIS, my friends, is the man who asks priests to say Mass ad orientem.

Get a copy for your parish priests along with copies of Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer UK HERE

And also Joseph Ratzinger Spirit of the Liturgy UK HERE

Moderation queue is ON.

Posted in Green Inkers, Liberals, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged ad orientem, Card. Sarah
17 Comments

Wherein Pope Francis and Card. Burke agree about ‘Amoris laetitia’

Posted on 7 July 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Card. Schoenborn gave an interview about Amoris laetitia to Antonio Spadaro, SJ an excerpt of which is in Civiltà Cattolica. Almost before the excerpt was released MS Winters at the National Sodomitic Reporter issued a 1500 word fatwah proclaiming Schoenborn’s infallibility, while also taking pot shots at Card. Burke (of course) and Archbp. Chaput.

Most of what Winters wrote (and, darn, he can write fast – its almost as if he wrote it before it was released) – is of little interest.

But there is something that must be addressed immediately.

Pace MS Winters, Fr. Spadaro, SJ and Card. Schönborn, there really is a dispute about the magisterial authority of Amoris laetitia.

Liberals like Card. Schönborn simply assert that “of course it is magisterial!” However, if you read Schönborn closely (and he really should know better than to argue the way he did, which wasn’t really an argument at all) you will not find any explanations to back up his claims.

There is an adage, “Gratis asseritur, gratis negatur“. Something that someone simply asserts without proofs, can simply be denied by others.

Consider this. Francis himself sets aside the concept of magisterial teaching in Amoris laetitia in the THIRD PARAGRAPH. Allow me to quote it for you:

3. Since “time is greater than space”, I would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium. [Did you get that? If not, go back to the beginning and read it again.] Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it.

Nota bene: This is the only reference to “magisterium” in all of Amoris laetitia. Did you get that, too? Because “time is greater than space”, he sets aside the concept of magisterium in the THIRD PARAGRAPH.

This is what has led some to conclude that Francis is not invoking his magisterial authority.

It was Card. Burke who first pointed out this pesky, stubborn FACT, by the way.

“But Father! But Father!”, some of you liberals, lefties and “questioning” will blurt, “If what you say is true, then neither is Familiaris consortio magisterial! Neither is Sacramentum caritatis! But you can’t see that because you hate Vatican II!”

To which I respond, neither John Paul II nor Benedict XVI said anything in their Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortations to distance their documents from their ordinary magisterium.

Benedict XVI wrote books about Our Lord while he was Pope. He said that these books weren’t part of his magisterium, rather like Francis did in Amoris laetitia.

So… please, someone… PROVE that Pope Francis and Card. Burke are wrong when Francis says in Amoris laetitia 3 that this document isn’t magisterial.

Moderation queue is ON.

Posted in Francis, The Drill | Tagged Amoris Laetitia, Antonio Spadaro, Michael Sean Winters, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
15 Comments

Wherein Fr. Z responds to some frustrated readers

Posted on 7 July 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

My mailbox is filling with notes of disgust from readers who ask for my reaction to something posted at the Fishwrap (aka National Sodomitic Reporter) and about some other news items today.

How to put it…?

[No. Nope. I can’t write that.]

You might head over to Crisis to read the amazing Anthony Esolen’s entry today: The Uses of Disgust

It’s not a pleasant thing to ingest, his essay, but neither are most medicines.

Thank you, professor, for encapsulating what many of us feel right now.

UPDATE:

D. DAVENPORT: 9 July – TLM and Presentation: “Thomas More’s Martyrdom and the Rule of Law”

Posted on 6 July 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Recently we have seen the Rule Law trampled upon. It was trampled and then the tramplers tramped back and retrampled it. That’s the way things are going in these USA now, my friends.

Now, more than ever, do we need to shore up our Catholic identity. That is going to require revitalization of our sacred liturgical worship, deep knowledge of our Faith, and banding together in strong, intentional groups, however, small.

I received an email from Una Voce of the Quad Cities in Iowa. They are sponsoring a Traditional Latin Mass – Low, Sung, or Solemn I cannot tell – and a presentation on St. Thomas More.

Votive Mass of St. Thomas More
In the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite
Presentation: “Thomas More’s Martyrdom and the Rule of Law”

St. Mary’s Parish, July 9th, 8:30 am
516 Fillmore St, Davenport, IA

Posted in Events, The Campus Telephone Pole, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged D. Davenport, St. Thomas More
3 Comments

More nuns called to Rome! Sisters of Mercy

Posted on 6 July 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

More hand-wringing at Fishwrap (aka National Sodomitic Reporter) over another summons of US nuns to Rome for a chat. They can join the Loretto Sisters, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the line is getting longer.

Sisters of Mercy also being asked to come to Rome for conversation

The Sisters of Mercy, the largest order of women religious in the United States, are among the communities being asked to come to Rome for further conversation following the apostolic visitation, Global Sisters Report has learned. The community’s communications director, Susan Carroll, confirmed the report by email but said there would be no further comment at this point.

The Vatican’s congregation for religious life is contacting about 15 U.S. orders of Catholic sisters to clarify “some points” following the controversial six-year investigation of American communities of women religious, the head of the congregation said June 14.

[…]In a June 9 statement to GSR, McGivney said she received a letter from Bráz de Aviz on April 15. According to a letter she wrote to members of her order, which GSR obtained, the Loretto president has been asked to come to Rome on Oct. 18 to report on five “areas of concern” following the visitation process. The contents of both her letter and the letter from Bráz de Aviz can be found in this earlier GSR report.

Last month, GSR identified two other communities of U.S. Catholic sisters being asked to provide the Vatican with further clarification in the aftermath of a controversial investigation: the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

“It’s a very friendly letter,” Hadro said. “It’s just that I think they tend to interpret things as dissent that really aren’t dissent.” [Riiiight.]

[…]

Posted in Women Religious | Tagged magisterium of nuns, Sisters of Mercy, women religious
23 Comments

Rosary Crusade before 100th anniversary of apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima

Posted on 5 July 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the SSPX website:

Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X announced another Rosary Crusade as a spiritual preparation for the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. [This is a serious anniversary.]

At the priestly ordinations in Zaitzkofen (Germany) on July 2, 2016, Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X announced another Rosary Crusade as a spiritual preparation for the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima (May to October 1917).

This crusade will be held from August 15, 2016 to August 22, 2017.

It follows the intentions indicated by the Blessed Virgin herself: (I) Jesus wishes to establish in the world the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In order to do so, all the faithful are invited:

to recite the rosary daily, alone or as a family;

to accomplish the devotion of the reparatory communion on five first Saturdays, and to multiply their daily sacrifices in a spirit of reparation for the outrages against Mary;

to wear the miraculous medal themselves and to diffuse it around them;

to consecrate their homes to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. (You may use the prayer found here)

Besides the propagation of this devotion, we will also pray (II) for the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and (III) for the pope and all the bishops of the Catholic world to consecrate Russia to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary.

And as a special intention we will add (IV) the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the Society of St. Pius X and all its members in addtition to all the religious communities of Tradition.

The goal set by Bishop Bernard Fellay is a bouquet of 12 million rosaries and 50 million sacrifices for Our Lady of Fatima.

Here is the prayer to which Fellay referred:

Consecration To Immaculate Heart

O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of the Heart of Jesus, Mother and Queen of our household, in order to fulfill Thy ardent desire, we consecrate ourselves to Thee, and we beseech Thee to reign over our family. Reign over each one of us, and teach us how to make the Sacred Heart of Thy Divine Son reign and triumph in us and around us, as He has reigned and triumphed in Thee.

Reign over us, O Beloved Mother, so that we may be Thine both in prosperity and in adversity, in joy and in sorrow, in health and in sickness, in life and in death. O most compassionate Heart of Mary, Queen of Virgins, watch over our souls and our hearts and preserve them from the flood of pride, impurity, and paganism of which Thou hast complained so bitterly. We desire to do reparation for the numerous crimes committed against Jesus and Thee. We call down upon our home, upon the homes of this country and upon those of the entire world, the peace of Christ in justice and charity.

Wherefore we promise to imitate Thy virtues, by the practice of a Christian life, and by frequent and fervent Holy Communion, regardless of human respect. We come with confidence to Thee, O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love; inflame us with the same divine fire that has inflamed Thine own Immaculate Heart. Kindle in our hearts and homes, the love of purity, an ardent zeal for souls, and desire for the holiness of family life. We accept now, all the sacrifices that the Christian life will impose on us and we offer them to the Heart of Jesus, through Thy Immaculate Heart, in a spirit of reparation and of penance. To the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary be love, honor, and glory forever and ever!

Amen.

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, "How To..." - Practical Notes, ACTION ITEM!, Our Catholic Identity, Our Solitary Boast, SSPX | Tagged Our Lady of Fatima, Rosary Crusade, SSPX
29 Comments

Card. Sarah: Priests should start saying Mass ‘ad orientem’ at Advent

Posted on 5 July 2016 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

If as a Church we want to effect something good and lasting, it has to be rooted in our sacred liturgical worship of God. That’s our source. That’s our summit. This is where our identity is most deeply shaped. We need a revitalization of our worship.

From the UK’s best Catholic weekly, The Catholic Herald, we have some news from the Sacra Liturgia conference underway. I soooo wanted to go to that. My emphases and comments.

Cardinal Sarah asks priests to start celebrating Mass facing east this Advent

The Vatican’s liturgy chief said priests should view the proposed change as ‘something good for the Church, something good for our people’ [Like I said.]

Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Vatican’s liturgy chief, has asked priests to begin celebrating Mass ad orientem, that is, facing east rather than towards the congregation.

The proposed reform is arguably the biggest liturgical announcement since Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum gave greater freedom for priests to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass. [The great liturgical scholar Klaus Gamber said that the reversal of our altars was the most damaging (uncalled for) innovation after Vatican II.]

Speaking at the Sacra Liturgia conference in London on Wednesday, the Guinean cardinal, who is Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, addressed priests who were present, saying: “It is very important that we return as soon as possible to a common orientation, of priests and the faithful turned together in the same direction – eastwards or at least towards the apse – to the Lord who comes”.

The cardinal continued: “I ask you to implement this practice wherever possible.” [It is possible in very many places.]

He said that “prudence” and catechesis would be necessary, but told pastors to have “confidence that this is something good for the Church, something good for our people”.

“Your own pastoral judgement will determine how and when this is possible, but perhaps beginning this on the first Sunday of Advent this year, when we attend ‘the Lord who will come’ and ‘who will not delay’.”

These words were met with prolonged applause in the conference hall.

Cardinal Sarah had spoken on previous occasions about the merits of ad orientem worship, saying that from the Offertory onwards it was “essential that the priest and faithful look together towards the east”.

But his specifying of the first Sunday of Advent – which falls this year on November 27 – gives a new urgency to his calls for this form of worship.

Speaking after Cardinal Sarah, Bishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon said that, although he was “only one bishop of one diocese”, he would celebrate Mass ad orientem at his cathedral, and would address a letter to his diocese encouraging his priests to do the same.

In his talk, Cardinal Sarah also said that Pope Francis had asked him to begin a study of “the reform of the reform”, that is of adapting the liturgical reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council. The cardinal said the study would seek “to enrich the two forms of the Roman rite”. [Hmmmm.]

Cardinal Sarah said that much liturgical study had suggested that some post-conciliar reforms “may have been put together according to the spirit of the times” and “gone beyond” of the Fathers of Vatican II, in Sacrosanctum Concilium, the constitution on the liturgy. [Buginicare. Not to mention the mistranslation of 299 of the GIRM.]

He said that some “very serious misinterpretations of the liturgy” had crept in, thanks to an attitude to the liturgy which placed man rather than God at the centre. [yep]

“The liturgy is not about you and I,” Cardinal Sarah told the conference. “It is not where we celebrate our own identity or achievements or exalt or promote our own culture and local religious customs. The liturgy is first and foremost about God and what He has done for us.”

The Cardinal quoted Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger: “Forgetting about God is the most imminent danger of our age.”

Cardinal Sarah emphasised a “hermeneutic of continuity”, saying that it was necessary to implement Sacrosanctum Concilium fully: “The Fathers did not intend a revolution, but an evolution.”

He made some specific observations, praising the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham as an example of how the Church could be enriched by other traditions.

In remarks which he did not have time to deliver, but which were later published on Sacra Liturgia’s Facebook page, the cardinal also encouraged kneeling at the consecration and for the reception of Communion. “Where kneeling and genuflection have disappeared from the liturgy, they need to be restored, in particular for our reception of our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion.” [Kneeling for Communion! And let’s all receive on the tongue!]