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{]:¬)

Reader Feedback and Challenge Coin Update

Posted on 6 July 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today I took a bunch of envelopes containing “challenge coins” to the post office. These were tokens of gratitude to some benefactors.

Some coins are intended for benefactors, while others will go to friends, to priests who have their own challenge coins or who are going to make them (a few priests have written me about this already), and to military and LEOs out there who might want to exchange. (CPT G and AC – I have yours).

I am now furnished with proper envelopes, cards, and the correct postage. I’ll have to drop them personally at the PO with the comment “non-machineable”. They are just a touch to wide. But that won’t slow them down, so long as the proper notation is made. You learn something new every day.

One person who will receive a challenge coin as a token of gratitude wrote this recently in response to a thank you note:

You’re working for all of us out here everyday. Your blog is a source of information and inspiration that fills many a gap left by others in the Catholic Church. I sense your trips to Rome recharge your batteries. What you may not realize is that they recharge ours as well. I think it’s because in Rome one can immerse oneself in the Catholic culture that so often is lacking in many of our parishes as well as in our society (next time you’re at the Met, take a moment to look at all the bewildered faces walking through the 600’s). Your blog, btw, has inspired me to familiarize CCD kids with the Greek alphabet and the Greek monograms of Jesus and Christ, and what the heck A & O on those candles stand for. The Latin INRI they get for dessert. These fourth graders eat it up. They even try to write their names in Greek. Kids that age are sponges – how much are our curriculums missing by not teaching our ancient culture to them – it’s all about the environment and other such pap these days. So keep it up, dear Father Z. You have no idea how many lives your blog has touched and changed – not just for us, your readers, but through us the many others who will never know you personally but will nonetheless be graced by the work that you do.

Thanks for that. It helps.

It is true that the trips help me to recharge and keep my mind from melting down (especially as I watch what is going on in the Church today – you should see my email and texts). To use an analogy, sometimes when he gets beaten up rather badly, Superman has to get a dose of light from your planet’s yellow sun in order to recharge his battery and get back to work fighting for truth, justice and the American way.

This isn’t quite me going to Rome, but… hey… you get the drift.

And so, the Man of Steel now has to plunge down into the depths in order to rid the world of the “artificially created” work of fiends that threatens the safety of the planet. That’s sort of like a day around here, right?

And ain’t it the truth about kids and language? When I was very small, I remember the first time I was conscious of hearing something in a different language. I was so intrigued that I went up and down the neighborhood asking people if they knew how to count to 10 in some tongue. That was my first “trip” into other cultures, as it were.

In any event, I remember benefactors in my prayers and celebrate Masses for your intentions. This includes those of you who contribute to TMSM projects and who send items via my wish lists.

¡Hagan lío!

Meanwhile, I had to share this too. When I picked up that Superman video (above) I also found this, which is sort of how I feel when I get good feedback from readers.

May I add that this is also how I feel when one of you tells me that you went to confession after a long time because I keep nagging you.

So…

GO TO CONFESSION!

Posted in ¡Hagan lío! |
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ASK FATHER: Can a priest with little Latin say Mass validly?

Posted on 6 July 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

missale-romanum-altar-missal From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

My Latin is not great will an ordinary form mass I celebrate in Latin be valid?

Sure, Father, it would be valid.

Language is a tricky thing. There are almost always gaps in our comprehension of texts, even in our own, native language. Moreover, with Holy Mass we are dealing with mysteries, which by definition are hard.

One of ways that narrow-minded bishops hostile to tradition attempted to block the implementation of Summorum Pontificum – issued 10 years ago tomorrow! – was to try to impose a Latin language test on priests or they wouldn’t be permitted to use the 1962 Missale Romanum. Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio said that priests have to be idoneus which means “suitable” for celebration of Mass. Tradition-hostile bishops took that to mean “expert in Latin” or such-like. Of course those bishops, who probably couldn’t have passed the test themselves, didn’t impose tests on priests who said Mass in Spanish.

As an aside, let’s start testing to see if priests really understand what they are saying in the Novus Ordo. Let’s see if they really know the few clear rubrics there are, according to the 2000 GIRM. Let’s quiz priests about the content of the prayers and the underlying concepts. Let’s see if every priest from overseas really understands the English or can if he pronounce it clearly before he is allowed to say Mass in public. Let’s ask these bishops if they insist with the rectors of seminaries that their seminarians are properly trained in Latin according to can. 249.

Additionally, as it was clarified, idoneus or “suitable” doesn’t require expertise. Rather, it establishes a minimum rather than a maximum requirement. The late Card. Egan, a canonist who was not particularly friendly to tradition, clarified that idoneus meant that he had faculties, wasn’t impeded for some reason, and was able to pronounce the words properly. As far as the Latin language is concerned, idoneus doesn’t mean that you have to be able to compose odes in the style of Horace.

In short, Father, yes, you can celebrate the Novus Ordo, Ordinary Form Mass in Latin and celebrate validly, even if your Latin isn’t very good.

Your patron saint in working on the Latin will be St. John Vianney, whose Latin was so bad that he almost wasn’t ordained.

Keep working on it! There are good resources available. Do not give up. This is the language of your Rite.

We are our rites.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Latin, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM | Tagged can. 249, idoneus, Latin language
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ASK FATHER: Won’t go to Mass celebrated by a married priest

Posted on 5 July 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

What advice can one give to a person who will not go to Mass celebrated by married priest?

GUEST PRIEST RESPONSE: Fr. Tim Ferguson

There is nothing in canon law or theology that prevents people from being silly.

Presumably this silly man, who is refusing the ministrations of a validly ordained priest is fulfilling his obligations elsewhere.

Some folks might not like a priest who is left-handed, or one who is red-headed, or one who wears sandals, or one who has a beard, or one who – with the appropriate and necessary dispensation – has a wife.

It’s all silly, but it can be very hard to argue with silly people.

All things being equal, people are free to choose among the priests available for the sacraments and rites of our Holy Mother Church. Of course, denying the Church has the right to dispense from purely ecclesiastical law is an entirely different thing. That comes dangerously close to heresy.

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

The war on John Paul II’s Magisterium: Veritatis splendor

Posted on 5 July 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From Sandro Magister.

Müller Out. But the Real Attack Is Against “Veritatis Splendor”

On Sunday, July 2, the very day on which Pope Francis removed Cardinal Gerhard L. Müller as prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, from all the Catholic churches of the Roman rite [not “all”] at the beginning of Mass the following prayer went up to God, called the “collect” in the [Novus Ordo] missal:

“Deus, qui, per adoptionem gratiæ, lucis nos esse filios voluisti, præsta, quæsumus, ut errorum non involvamur tenebris, sed in splendore veritatis semper maneamus conspicui. Per Dominum nostrum….”

In the official English translation:

“O God, who through the grace of adoption chose us to be children of light, grant, we pray, that we may not be wrapped in the darkness of error but always be seen to stand in the bright light [splendor] of truth. Through our Lord…”

Fate – or divine providence? – would therefore have it that the expulsion of Cardinal Müller should be accompanied by the choral liturgical invocation that the “splendor of truth” may continue to illuminate the Church.

“The splendor of truth” is precisely the title of the most important doctrinal encyclical of John Paul II, published in 1993 [HERE]:

It is an encyclical “on some fundamental questions of the Church’s moral teaching”: precisely the questions that have now returned to being an object of conflict, with extensive and influential sectors of the Church maintaining that it is time to leave behind – especially after the publication of “Amoris Laetitia” – some of the main principles of “Veritatis Splendor.”

It should be enough to observe that no fewer than four of the five “dubia” submitted in September of last year to Pope Francis by cardinals Walter Brandmüller, Raymond L. Burke, Carlo Caffarra, and Joachim Meisner [who just died as of the date of this writing – RIP] hinge precisely on the consistency, or lack thereof, between “Amoris Laetitia” and “Veritatis Splendor.” And these “dubia” still remain completely open, in part because of Pope Francis’s refusal to take them into consideration and to meet with the four cardinals.

But what were the genesis and objective of “Veritatis Splendor”? To answer this question there is one exceptional witness: Joseph Ratzinger.

As Müller’s predecessor at the helm of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, he contributed in a substantial way to the writing of that encyclical.

But even after his resignation as pope, he continues to judge “Veritatis Splendor” as being of “unchanged relevance,” to be “studied and assimilated” even today.

In 2014, in a thoughtful chapter for a book in honor of John Paul II, Ratzinger pointed to none other than “Veritatis Splendor” as the most important and relevant of that pope’s fourteen encyclicals.

A chapter that deserves a second reading, with an eye to what is happening in the Church today, under the reign of his successor Francis.

Here is the passage dedicated by the “pope emeritus” to that encyclical.

*

ON “VERITATIS SPLENDOR”

The encyclical on moral problems “Veritatis Splendor” took many years to ripen and remains of unchanged relevance.

The constitution of Vatican II on the Church in the contemporary world, contrary to the tendency of moral theology at the time to focus on the natural law, wanted Catholic moral doctrine on the figure of Jesus and his message to have a biblical foundation.

This was attempted by fits and starts for only a brief period. Then the opinion took hold that the Bible does not have any morality of its own to proclaim, but refers to moral models valid for their time and place. Morality is a question of reason, it was said, not of faith.

So on the one hand morality understood in terms of natural law disappeared, but its Christian conception was not affirmed in its place. And since neither a metaphysical nor a Christological foundation could be recognized for morality, recourse was had to pragmatic solutions: to a morality based on the principle of seeking the greater good, in which there is no longer anything truly evil or truly good, but only that which, from the point of view of efficacy, is better or worse.

The great task that John Paul II took on in this encyclical was that of rediscovering a metaphysical foundation in anthropology, as also a Christian concretization in the new image of man in Sacred Scripture.

[NB] Studying and assimilating this encyclical remains a great and important duty.

*

Seeing what is happening today in the Catholic Church, even at its highest levels, all the reasons that motivated the encyclical “Veritatis Splendor” are present once again, with equal if not greater dramatic force.

And they are also making more relevant than ever the prayer to remain “in the splendor of truth” that went up last Sunday from all the churches.

The other day I posted HERE

Erasing the Magisterium of a Pope. Wherein Fr. Z rants and suggests.

In that post I wrote something that could be applied also to Veritatis splendor:

I have from time to time suggested that you form “base communities” to combat the onslaught from within and without the Church on our Three C’s of Cult, Code and Creed.

Here’s a suggestion. How about starting a reading group, in your parish or down at the local breakfast and coffee shop (where you might be more welcome in some cases). Choose as your first item Pope John Paul II’s Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris corsortio, (The Role of Christian Family in Modern World) which he penned after the 1980 Synod (“walking together”).

You can get it online (for now). Or, for less than the price of the cup of coffee at the shop you choose, you can get a booklet.

US HERE – UK HERE

Read it with others. Read it with a pen in hand.

When you hear something that contradicts Familiaris consortio ask questions.

How else do we learn?

Veritatis splendor!

US HERE – UK HERE

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged Veritatis splendor
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Roman Concrete, the Roman Rite, and YOU

Posted on 5 July 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The ancient Romans really knew how to build.

They built the Roman Rite, after all.

The Roman Rite is a foundation of the West.

The Roman Rite reflects the Roman “Thing”, its genius. The Roman genius is to be concrete, clear, concise.

Latin is a cement that holds the Roman Thing together.

I found a new analogy for the use of traditional Roman Rite and Latin in the Novus Ordo Missae celebrated ad orientem.

From the Beeb:

Researchers have unlocked the chemistry of Roman concrete which has resisted the elements for thousands of years.

Ancient sea walls built by the Romans used a concrete made from lime and volcanic ash to bind with rocks.

Now scientists have discovered that elements within the volcanic material reacted with sea water to strengthen the construction.

They believe the discovery could lead to more environmentally friendly building materials.

Unlike the modern concrete mixture which erodes over time, the Roman substance has long puzzled researchers.

Rather than eroding, particularly in the presence of sea water, the material seems to gain strength from the exposure.

In previous tests with samples from ancient Roman sea walls and harbours, researchers learned that the concrete contained a rare mineral called aluminium tobermorite.

They believe that this strengthening substance crystallised in the lime as the Roman mixture generated heat when exposed to sea water.

Researchers have now carried out a more detailed examination of the harbour samples using an electron microscope to map the distribution of elements. They also used two other techniques, X-ray micro-diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, to gain a deeper understanding of the chemistry at play.

This new study says the scientists found significant amounts of tobermorite growing through the fabric of the concrete, with a related, porous mineral called phillipsite.

The researchers say that the long-term exposure to sea water helped these crystals to keep on growing over time, reinforcing the concrete and preventing cracks from developing.

“Contrary to the principles of modern cement-based concrete,” said lead author Marie Jackson from the University of Utah, US, “the Romans created a rock-like concrete that thrives in open chemical exchange with seawater.”

“It’s a very rare occurrence in the Earth.”

The ancient mixture differs greatly from the current approach. Modern buildings are constructed with concrete based on Portland cement.

This involves heating and crushing a mixture of several ingredients including limestone, sandstone, ash, chalk, iron and clay. The fine material is then mixed with “aggregates”, such as rocks or sand, to build concrete structures.

The process of making cement has a heavy environmental penalty, being responsible for around 5% of global emissions of CO2.

So could the greater understanding of the ancient Roman mixture lead to greener building materials?

[…]

The Roman Rite, when respected and used properly, is a rock-solid, enduring structure within and upon which a firm and lofty Catholic identity can be raised heavenward.

Hard-identity Catholicism.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law, can. 249, requires – it doesn’t suggest or recommend or propose – that seminarians be very well trained in Latin: “lingua latina bene calleant“. NB: Not just calleant, says can. 249, but bene calleant. Calleo is “to be practised, to be wise by experience, to be skillful, versed in” or “to know by experience or practice, to know, have the knowledge of, understand”. We get the word “callused” from this verb. We develop calluses when we do something repeatedly. So, bene calleant is “let them be very well versed”. Review also Sacrosanctum Concilium 36 and Optatam totius 13, just to point to documents of Vatican II.

(HEY LIBS! Vatican II, right? But you reject Latin you HYPOCRITES because YOU HATE VATICAN II!)

C.S. Lewis in 1933 argued that the rejection of Latin and Greek as a basis of education, was part of a plot devised in Hell to subvert the Faith.

What does it mean for our identity as Catholics in the LATIN Church if we never hear our Latin language in our sacred liturgical worship?

The loss of Latin in our sacred worship has been devastating for our identity as Catholics and, therefore, our influence in the world.

It is as if Hell devised a plot to subvert the Faith.

In some places seminaries confer masters degrees or other sort of pontifical degrees. Imagine a department at a major university conferring a higher degree without the candidate demonstrating proficiency in the languages necessary for his field and research. Imagine someone is given a degree in, say, French literature but she doesn’t know any French. Can you imagine that? Try to get a degree in French literature by reading is solely in translation without the ability to read the original.

And another thing. Circling back to can. 249, which requires Latin, at every ordination someone must stand up and attest that the ordinand was properly trained, etc. But if the ordinand wasn’t given any Latin, as per can 249., can that public statement be true?

The loss of Latin in our sacred worship has devastated our identity as Catholics and, therefore, our influence in the world. The loss of Latin among our clergy has been devastating for our Catholic identity, for our clergy promotes knock on effects through the entire people of God.

Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum – 7 July is the 10th anniversary of the release of the text – was more than just an Emancipation Proclamation for priests and lay people who want the traditional Roman Rite. It is a far more expansive gift.Roman

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Hard-Identity Catholicism | Tagged can. 249, Latin language, Roman Rite
8 Comments

Parish starts ‘ad orientem’. Parishioner whines. Pastor responds.

Posted on 5 July 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I had a note from a reader about a parish in the Archdiocese of Detroit which moved towards ad orientem worship last January. It seems that someone got her panties in a twist about it and wrote a nastygram email to the pastor. He responded with a thoughtful “pastoral letter” made available to the whole parish, responding to the points in the nastygram (the usual rubbish) and providing additional catechesis about ad orientem worship. He did a fine job.

The PDF is available on the parish website. HERE

You might send the pastor a kudogram to balance out the nastygram. HERE

Also, how about getting lots of gear to spread in your parish and start a movement in favor of ad orientem worship?

CLICK

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged ad orientem, Archd. Detroit
18 Comments

PRAYER SUGGESTION: Archbp. Carroll’s “Prayer for Government”

Posted on 4 July 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fathers, you might want to have everyone pray this after Mass on major public holidays in these USA. This, and other prayers, are deeply needed.

The following prayer was composed by John Carroll, Archbishop of Baltimore, in 1791. He was the first bishop appointed for the United States in 1789 by Pope Pius VI. He was made the first archbishop when his see of Baltimore was elevated to the status of an archdiocese. John was a cousin of Charles Carroll of Maryland, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

This needs no translation for Catholics who love their country!

PRAYER FOR GOVERNMENT

We pray, Thee O Almighty and Eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name.

We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, Pope N.,the Vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, N., all other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise amongst us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people into the ways of salvation.

We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.

We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state , for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.

Finally, we pray to Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy servants departed who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives, and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance. To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.

I became familiar with this moving prayer at my home parish of St. Agnes in St. Paul (MN) where it was recited after all Masses on civic holidays of the USA, such as 4 July and Thanksgiving.

Americans among the readership might print it and bring it to your parish priests and ask them to use it after Mass on national holidays.

Continental Congress at Prayer

The opening prayer session of the 1st Continental Congress was about 3 hours long.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Archbp. Carroll, Prayer for Government
6 Comments

ASK FATHER: Patriotic songs at Mass

Posted on 4 July 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

CLICK TO BUY

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

Fr. Martin recently wrote an article about how patriotic songs should not be sung during mass. His argument is essentially that most national hymns address the nation rather than God. In all honesty, I think he may be right. It would seem more appropriate to me for songs like America the Beautiful [NOT the magazine] to be sung before or after mass rather than during. However, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Perhaps he needs a safe space, free from these triggers and aggressions.

If Jesuit James Martin is against them, then let’s all be for them.

The other day after ordinations in the Diocese of Madison, the Extraordinary Ordinary lead us all in singing both the Salve Regina (also not directed to God), and God Bless America (not the magazine). Nobody foamed at the mouth or fainted from shock.

Let’s all sing – after Mass – the Battle Hymn of the Republic:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, Glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
“As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal”;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
While God is marching on.

You can see why a song like this might make certain men nervous and uncomfortable.

Notice that the song says “As He did to make men holy…”.

For the LATIN of the Battle Hymn go HERE (good summer reading tip there, too). And there’s this! HERE

It’s okay to have patriotic flags in churches, though they should be placed discreetly at the sides. It is okay to have a patriotic songs on certain national holidays.

Meanwhile…

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Lighter fare, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged Fr. James Martin SJ, patriotic songs
43 Comments

Brick By Brick in Paris

Posted on 4 July 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I received a great note from a brand new French priest, ordained for the mighty city of Paris on the great Feast of St. John the Baptist. He sent links for the video of his ordination in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. Ten men were ordained, some of whom intend also to learn the traditional form of Holy Mass.

One of the priests said one of his first Masses at the well-known Saint Eugène, where the traditional form has been offered to the faithful for decades. Here’s photo from the Feast of the Most Precious Blood.

Kudos to the newly ordained in Paris!

I get there once in a while. It would be great to meet up.

Posted in Just Too Cool, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Mail from priests, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM | Tagged Paris
5 Comments

GUEST POST: 10 years of ‘Summorum Pontificum’ and its effect on seminarians

Posted on 3 July 2017 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A GUEST POST from a reader…

I have been meaning to write this for a little while but the holiday gives me a time to reflect on several observations over the past weeks and several years. This in light of priestly ordinations of late as well as the realization that this coming Friday July 7th is the tenth anniversary of the release of Summorum Pontificum.

As you know I live close to a major metropolitan diocese where times have been challenging and tradition has been suppressed and those attached to it oppressed for many decades. However, times and conditions are changing, and for the better.

While the number of vocations, a perennial measure of the health of the Church, are not quite what we’d call booming, there is a healthy pipeline of seminarians coming in and working through their studies, and the quality of the men finishing seminary preparation is not only impressive but remarkable in many ways.

Having attended 1st Holy Masses of the newly ordained regularly for the past decade, there are some noticeable changes occurring. The newly ordained are taking more serious the rubrics for liturgical dress; I’ve seen them saying the vesting prayers in recent years and using the amice and cincture more and more. Seminarians too come well prepared in pressed, crisp cassock and surplice and in large numbers to support their elder brothers.

Ordinands are also choosing more traditional, sometimes gothic, sometimes Roman vestments. What would have been unthinkable eight to ten years ago, and in some places five years ago when the more traditional priests were pushing the limits and being berated, is being done widely now, without expectation of prior negative consequences.

Once in the parish, many new priests are greeting their new parishioners in the same cassock and surplice they have become accustomed to wearing during seminary years, which, while bringing comments and surprise is mostly welcomed. I have seen a number of new associates who are distributing Holy Communion at masses they are not celebrating and none of them come in simple alb and stole, not one. Ten years ago, this would have been unheard of, now it is commonplace.

Another noticeable trait that has been introduced slowly, which includes at altars in the seminaries, is the central facing cross and candle set. Some of the newly ordained, and a few who have recently become pastors, even after only 5-7 years spent as pastoral associates, have made this change to their parishes main altar of sacrifice. In effect, the boundaries of a more traditional practice are being pressed wherever possible.

I have also been impressed by the newly ordained and their attachment to the ancient rite. It is crystal clear that they both know and have come to learn about it, and several I have spoken too have learned to love it and make it part of their priestly sense of self. I had a young priest friend send me a message last week, for instance, that he had offered his private TLM for me and my family, for which I was so very thankful. Some newly ordained offered their first and second Holy Masses in the Extraordinary Form – where and how this happens still unfortunately is done guardedly. I was present at one this year, and if I didn’t know the young priest had just been ordained, I would have thought he’d been saying the mass for some years.

One of the heartening and beautifully fraternal aspects of these early masses, both in the OF and EF, is the presence of other recently ordained who come to support their brother, especially in the EF where they come and attend in choir or server as deacon and sub-deacon.

Perhaps most significant, there are a number of other moves that the newly ordained are making which betray a deep spiritual affection for their office and the souls of their charges. These young priests are taking very seriously their role as shepherd of souls. Most of the newly ordained do not preach at their own first masses where I am, however, they uniformly do later take a moment to thank those who helped them on their path; and time after time, I have been increasingly hearing messages imploring folks to go to confession, attend weekly mass, pray the rosary and attend Eucharistic devotions especially Adoration and Holy Hours. Many have also provided the great spiritual gift to those in attendance of procuring the necessary permissions from the Apostolic Penitentiary to allow for a Plenary Indulgence, under the normal conditions, for attending their own first Holy Mass.

All of the early masses I have attended include an opportunity afterwards to receive a first blessing from the priests, and half or better I have heard give the blessing in Latin. In talking about this with a some priests who have been ordained for a few years, they all say that the guys in seminary know where the resources are, how to get them, and learn what they are required to know. I was surprised to know that of the priests ordained coming out of a major seminary, a full 60% or better are expected to be saying the older form of the mass, predominantly in private for now, and in expectation for the days when it is even more accepted.

In summary, I am seeing very good progress over the past 10 years. I am filled with much hope in these times and expectations of great holiness from our new priests.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM |
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