From the May-June issue of St. Austin Review, here is an article that places the issue of the Old Mass/New Mass in clear context. The issue is devoted to the theme of liturgy, but only this article and asecond one on music are available online.

Father Thomas Kocik was ordained in 1997 for the Diocese of Fall River, Mass., and is a member of the Society for Catholic Liturgy. He is is the author of The Reform of the Reform? A Liturgical Debate (Ignatius Press, 2003).




Benedict XVI and the 'Tridentine' Question
By Rev. Thomas M. Kocik

For more than a year now, it has been rumored that Pope Benedict XVI intends to give carte blanche permission for the celebration of the pre-Vatican II form of Mass (referred to by many as the 'Tridentine' or 'classical' Roman liturgy), alongside the present-day rite.

Such an initiative, whatever form it may take, would have immediate and long-term benefits to the Church, though it would also have its difficulties. My purpose in this essay is to consider those potential be benefits while taking into account the relevant theoretical and pastoral issues that are undoubtedly on the pontiff's mind.

To begin with, a papal decree granting wider use of the Tridentine Mass would be aimed at reconciling the Society of St. Pius X and other schismatic traditionalist groups who have long opposed the reforms enacted in the wake of the Second Vatican Council.

Not that reconciliation would occur overnight, as Pope Benedict well knows. Before that can happen, deep disagreements over the meaning and authority of Vatican II must first be resolved.

Traditionalists can take comfort from Benedict's repeated assertion that the Council needs to be understood in continuity with the Church's entire Tradition, but they must also accept the Magisterium up to and including the pontificate of Benedict XVI as the authoritative guardian of Tradition.

A wholesale restoration of the old rite would surely be an incentive, but much more than the liturgy is at issue. That being duly noted, I believe a papal initiative broadening the availability of the pre-conciliar liturgy would have at least one immediate benefit, namely, the resurgence of the Roman Rite itself.

As provocative as that may seem, I become more convinced of it the more I analyze the current rite as a whole, not with an eye to its alleged deficiencies compared to its predecessor, but precisely as a liturgy, that is, as an organically developed and continually developing pattern of worship.

The Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, enunciated principles by which a general restoration (instauratio) of the existing Roman Rite was to be carried out, chief among which was the promotion of the 'full, conscious, and active participation' by the faithful in liturgical celebrations (art. 14).

The commission charged by Pope Paul VI with implementing the reform, the Consilium, by its own admission, went beyond what the Council fathers envisioned, securing papal authorization for liturgical books that substantially added to, subtracted from, and re-structured the traditional rite.(1)

The prime example was the new Order of Mass (Novus Ordo Missæ), featuring three newly composed Eucharistic Prayers, promulgated by Paul VI in 1969 and published the following year in a new official (or 'typical') edition of the Roman Missal. Then there was the drastic reordering of the Church's liturgical calendar.

Accordingly, the question arises as to whether the 'new Mass' of Paul VI is an organic development of what preceded it (as Vatican II wanted) or is, rather, a new rite.

The German liturgical scholar Monsignor Klaus Gamber contended that the Consilium concocted a new rite with elements harvested from the traditional rite.(2)

"We must now contemplate at our feet," he lamented, "the ruins, not of the Tridentine Mass, but of the ancient Roman Rite." It follows that if the historic Roman Mass is to flourish within the Church's visible communion, every priest must be free to use the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal (the last of the pre-conciliar editions).

To allow that, said Gamber, would be 'a simple gesture of pluralism and inclusiveness.'

What is the position of Benedict XVI on the continuity/discontinuity debate? Either conflicted or evolved, it would seem. In The Feast of Faith (Ignatius Press, 1986), the former Cardinal Ratzinger defended the Missal of Paul VI as "nothing other than a renewed form of the same Missal to which Pius X, Urban VIII, Pius V and their predecessors have contributed, right from the Church's earliest history." [I was not aware of this - but it is a view that Ratzinger does not appear to have stated elsewhere. What was the exact context in which he made this statement, though? It could have been simply in the context of defending a Pope's right to make changes to the Missal. Even Fr. Kocik does not cite another such statement from Ratzinger.]

Yet in his preface to the French edition of Gamber's book, he said what can only be construed as an endorsement of the traditionalist rupture thesis: "We abandoned the organic, living process of growth and development over the centuries, and replaced it - as in a manufacturing process - with a fabrication, a banal on-the-spot product."

In the first instance, he contended (as did Paul VI) that the rite imposed after Vatican II is simply a renewal of the Roman Rite, on a par with all previous revisions. In the second instance, he all but said that the Roman Rite was displaced in 1969.

The contradiction owes largely to the lack of precise criteria by which one can judge which elements of our liturgical heritage must be kept in order to maintain continuity with Tradition. Absent those criteria, the notion of continuity remains vague and subjective.

Likewise noteworthy was the address given by the future Benedict XVI to the participants of a July 2001 conference at the French abbey of Fontgombault (3), in which he opined that the 1962 Missal "is one of the treasures of the Church, and ought therefore to be preserved in the Church."

Considering that none of the popes who amended the Tridentine Missal (from Clement VIII in 1604 to Blessed John XXIII in 1962) advised retaining the previous versions, it seems odd that Ratzinger should call for the preservation of the 1962 Missal - unless, of course, it represents for him a venerable tradition that has been lost and deserves to be recovered.

On the same occasion, he mused: "If there used to be the Dominican rite, if there used to be - and, in fact, there still is - the Milanese rite, then why not likewise the rite, shall we say, 'of Saint Pius V'?"

The Pian appellation is significant. Because the 1962 Missal is not identical with the Missal promulgated by Pope St. Pius V in 1570 at the behest of the Council of Trent, it cannot be regarded as the Missal 'of Pius V' or the 'Tridentine' Missal without the necessary clarifications.

By evoking Pius V, Ratzinger affirmed the substantial continuity between the Missal of 1962 and that of 1570, thereby inviting the inference that the Novus Ordo is, quite literally, of a different order.

In fairness, however, I must note that Ratzinger in this instance justified the use of the old Missal as a means of countering the notion (held by extremists on both the left and the right) that Vatican II was a decisive break with the past. He did not speak of preserving the Roman Rite per se, and in fact insisted that both the 1962 and 1970 Missals are "Missals of the Church, and belong to the Church which remains the same as ever."

Then again, that is not the same as saying that both Missals are Missals of the Church's ancient and long-lived Roman Rite.

In view of all this ambiguity, I expect the Pope will not explicitly engage the controversy over renewal versus rupture but will instead frame his permission in terms of a healthy liturgical plurality.

The 1962 Missal is the last representative of a particular stream of tradition within the family of the Roman liturgy, a tradition going back in its essential features to the fourth century and now commonly (albeit misleadingly) termed 'Tridentine'.

The modern rite contains elements from that tradition, but departs from it enough to represent another type of liturgy. By expanding the use of the 1962 Missal and the other liturgical books in force on the eve of the Council, Benedict would in effect be restoring the classical Roman Rite.

A third benefit I envision is the facilitation of a 'reform of the reform'. The postconciliar liturgical reform did indeed yield good fruits for the Church, especially a stronger sense of corporate worship and the adoption of vernacular Scripture readings.

Driven by the recovered ideal of the whole Church as the body of Christ, the Consilium restored to the people their proper place in the liturgical books, saying or singing the responses and prayers of various kinds that belong to them.

Additionally, the reformers introduced a rich fare of biblical readings, clarified the structure of the various sacramental rites, simplif the classification of feasts, and recovered the ideal of Baptism-Confirmation-Eucharist (in that order) as the threefold process of Christian initiation.

All of these changes reflect the Council's fundamental liturgical commitments. At the same time, and whatever one's theological perspective or personal tastes, there is no denying that many of the liturgical changes of recent decades have been more in the nature of a revolution than a reform.

Starting with the obvious: no sooner had Vatican II ended than, in Latin-rite churches the world over, altars were positioned in front of existing altars (where the original altars were not demolished, that is) so that the celebrant could face the people at Mass, despite the fact that the Council fathers said nothing about this practice.

The Consilium allowed but did not prescribe 'Mass facing the people', and the rubrics of the Pauline Missal (the third typical editi of which was published in 2002) assume that the celebrant and people are facing the same direction, towards the altar.(4)

Additionally, the Council opened the door for the use of vernacular languages while decreeing that the faithful should be able to sing certain parts of the Mass in Latin. Yet by 1970, just a short time after the Council ended, there were very few parishes offering Mass in Latin.

Much has changed since then: the minor orders and subdiaconate were abolished, Communion in the hand was restored (after a millennium of desuetude), laypersons now routinely administer Communion (despite their status as extraordinary ministers), and females may now be altar servers.

Many of these changes are the result of papal concessions to the liturgical 'progressives' (often working in seminaries or on the liturgical commissions of various episcopal conferences) who actively undermined the official restriction or prohibition of these practices.

These concessions, let it be said frankly, betrayed those who had obeyed the norms, shattering any confidence on their part that the Church knows her own mind where liturgical discipline is concerned.

Much of what has been done to the liturgy in the name of 'reform' has undermined a good deal of Catholic doctrine concerning the Real Presence, the sacrificial nature of the Mass, the ministerial priesthood, and the role of the laity.

No Catholic who appreciates the bond between what the Church believes (lex credendi) and how the Church worships (lex orandi) can be insensitive to the current state of affairs.

What, then, would a reform of the reform entail? And how does the classical Roman liturgy figure into it?

Judging from the many books and articles written on the subject, a new liturgical reform would involve, among other measures, a judicious retrieval of elements of the tradition that were unwisely and unwarrantedly abandoned after Vatican II, coupled with the elimination of those aspects of the postconciliar rite which sober reappraisal and the wisdom of hindsight judge to have corroded a correct notion of the liturgy.

The ultimate aim, as Ratzinger put it, is a liturgical 'reconciliation'. Both the pre-conciliar and modern liturgical books enshrine, in different ways and with different emphases, theological and liturgical principles necessary for a Catholic (and catholic) understanding of worship.

That is why I believe their coexistence can goad a true renewal, particularly when conditions are favorable to cross-fertilization. In this age of casualness, improvisation, and excessive 'horizontalism' in worship, the classical rite can remind us what it means to worship the triune God in 'spirit and truth' (John 4:23).

Most people who frequent the Tridentine Mass do so not in protest against Vatican II, but because it conveys and fosters a pronounced sense of the sacred and transcendent. Granted, the modern Roman litur can be celebrated in a dignified and prayerful fashion, with artistic splendor and traditional ceremonial, but often it is not.

Consequently, many Catholics flee to the old rite in order to escape the innovative banalities of too many Novus Ordo Masses. This is not to suggest that the pre-conciliar liturgy cannot be badly celebrated, or that it is the apex of liturgical history.

The liturgy is not a museum piece but is, rather, the prime expression of the Church's living Tradition of believing, teaching, and praying; for this reason, Ratzinger has no qualms in suggesting, for example, that the Prefaces of the Pauline Missal be added to the 1962 Missal.

By the same token, he has stated that a reform of the reform refers not to the 1962 Missal but to the current one. So where does that leave the old Missal?

Even if it is not the point of departure for a new liturgical movement, it remains a lighthouse to guide the modern rite in a more traditional direction.

To sum up, allowing a wider and freer use of the classical liturgy could help the Church in three ways.

First, it would open a door to reconciliation with breakaway traditionalists.

Second, it would reclaim for the Church at large certain Catholic perspectives and values that are often lacking in modern worship.

Third, it would greatly expand the opportunity for Catholics to
experience a rite with which they must be familiar in order to understand the liturgical aims of Vatican II and to have a standard
of worship for 'reforming the reform'.

Now let us consider the mechanisms by which the Holy Father might do this.

One possibility is the creation of a personal prelature, which is a kind of diocese without boundaries. By 'personal' is meant that the jurisdiction of its bishop is not limited to a region but includes everyone who belongs to it.

The first (and, to this day, only) personal prelature, Opus Dei, was created by Pope John Paul II in 1982. Its prelate reports directly to the pope and its clergy are incardinated for the service of the prelature.

Another possibility is a universal apostolic administration. Essentially a parallel diocese, an apostolic administration operates indepe of the local bishop. It differs in this regard from a personal prelature, whose members are, like all Catholics, also responsible to the bishop of the local Church where they live and work.

John Paul II erected the Personal Apostolic Administration of St. John Mary Vianney in 2002 to serve as an ecclesial home for reconciled schismatic traditionalists in the Brazilian diocese of Campos.

Bishop Fernando Rifan, its current head, is entitled to ordain and incardinate priests and to establish seminaries. By permission of the Holy See, any Catholic may be inscribed into the Association, even if he or she resides outside the Campos diocese.

What is more, any priest may offer the Tridentine Mass in the Administration's churches, so long as he obtains the prelate's permission.

Naturally, the question to ask is whether the Campos model can be applied to the whole Church.

Either a personal prelature or a worldwide apostolic administration would be a spiritual haven for traditionalists, freeing them from the authority of unsympathetic, if not hostile, bishops and placing them under the care of more-solicitous shepherds.

All too often, Catholics who prefer the classical rite are treated like lepers by ecclesiastical officials, despite John Paul II's acknowledgment, in his 1988 apostolic letter Ecclesia Dei, of their 'rightful aspirations'.

Indult Masses are routinely scheduled at times and places intended to discourage their attendance. More painfully, it is not uncommon for bishops to appoint unsympathetic priests to offer the traditional Mass, bringing their disdain for liturgical formality and strict rubric with them, and berating the congregation for their unwillingness to 'get with it'. Some bishops, insistent on pouring new wine into old wineskins, make their permission for the classical rite contingent upon the use of girl altar servers or extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion.(5)

The sad fact that a normal parish life is virtually impossible for many traditionalists who wish to stay within the Church makes laughable the oft-heard caveat that erecting an ecclesial structure for traditionalists would effectively ghettoize them.

Alternatively, Benedict could grant a general indult enabling all priests to celebrate Mass publicly according to the 1962 Missal without having to obtain permission of their bishops or superiors, thereby leaving priests and parishes to decide which rite to use.

This approach has the advantage of introducing (or reintroducing) the classical rite into the mainstream of Church life, thereby multiplying the opportunities for younger Catholics to experience both forms of worship and see for themselves what was lost and what was gained in the reform initiated by Vatican II.

On the downside, a universal indult would open a Pandora's Box of practical difficulties. What happens, for example, when a bishop forbids his priests, or a pastor his assistants, to celebrate the Eucharist according to the 1962 Missal?

Assuming Benedict grants no veto power over the indult (which is unlikely to happen, since an indult is, by definition, an exception to a general rule), should these priests stand their legal ground and offer the classical Roman Mass regardless? I shudder to imagine the ensuing ugliness.

Even if we leave aside the problems of a house divided, there would be more to consider than simply which Missal to use. In older churches whose architectural integrity has been preserved, there is the question of which altar to choose: the original 'high' altar (with or without a tabernacle on it), or the forwardly placed altar-table?

Opting for the high altar would mean ignoring the altar-table or temporarily removing it, neither of which seems desirable. If, on the other hand, preference is given to the altar-table, and assuming the celebration would be facing 'east' (the typical orientation for the traditional Mass), there would have to be adequate floor space in front of the altar (that is, on the 'people's' side) to enable the celebrant and ministers to move about freely, which often is not the case. Granted, the problem is artificial and thus avoidable, since there should be only one altar in the sanctuary to begin with.(6)

Likewise the question of orientation, since the modern rite of Mass can be celebrated ad orientem. Ideally, the same altar would be used for both rites, with the priest and congregation on the same side of it, but that is not the reality we all know. And let us not forget the inevitable challenge of maintaining two liturgical calendars side by side.

Quite possibly, Benedict XVI has something in mind other than the mechanisms we have considered. Whatever the case, it will have its pros and cons, and we can be sure he is weighing them carefully. As if that were not enough of a challenge, he will have to explain how the Church is well served by reinstating the classical liturgy while avoiding the impression of disavowing the work of Vatican II or Paul VI.

In other words, the Pope is juggling his options while walking a political tightrope. This, I am convinced, explains the long wait for the much-discussed motu proprio. Every term, every phrase, every jot and tittle in Benedict's emancipation proclamation - if and when it comes - will matter.

For now, however, one thing is sure: His Holiness views the "Tridentine question' against a broader horizon, namely, a more satisfactory and stable liturgical life for all the faithful. And that is something only a catholic Church, and none of her partisans alone, can achieve.


References
1 See Annibale Bugnini, The Reform of the Liturgy, 1948-1975, trans. Matthew J. OConnell (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1990).
Father (later Archbishop) Bugnini was general secretary of the
Consilium from 1964 until its abolition in 1969, whereupon he was appointed secretary of the new Congregation for Divine Worship (1969-75).

2 Klaus Gamber, The Reform of the Roman Liturgy: Its Problems and Background,trans. Klaus D. Grimm (San Juan Capistrano, CA: Una Voce Press, 1993).
More recently, see László Dobszay, The Bugnini-Liturgy and the Reform of the Reform (Front Royal, VA: Catholic Church Music
Associates, 2003).

3 Alcuin Reid, O.S.B., ed., Looking Again at the Question of the Liturgy with Cardinal Ratzinger (Farnborough, Eng.: St. Michael's Abbey Press, 2003), 14553.

4 This position is also termed ad orientem, 'towards the east', towards the rising sun, towards the risen and returning Christ.
For an exhaustive treatment, see U. M. Lang, Turning towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004).

5 I know of one occasion - a Tridentine Low Mass - when a permanent deacon assisted the celebrant in distributing communion, using the formula from the Novus Ordo (in English, no less). Not surprisingly, this provoked upset. Immediately after communion, the pastor (who was not the celebrant), obviously having anticipated protest, emerged from the sacristy to announce that deacons are in Holy Orders and, as such, are ordinary ministers of Holy Communion. Whoever has a problem with that, he added, was not welcome back. Never mind that there were fewer than fifty communicants, thus obviating the need for help. More to the point, deacons were extraordinary ministers of Communion until the reforms of Paul VI. So, the use of a deacon in this instance, while licit, was somewhat anomalous - and, I suspect, calculated to ruffle feathers; otherwise, why did the pastor not assist?

6 "The principle of there being only one altar [unicità dell' altare] is theologically more important than the practice of celebrating facing the people" (Lang, 124, translating Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Editoriale: Pregare 'ad orientem versus', Notitiae 29 [1993]: 249).

Before the tidal wave of commentary that's bound to crash down on us the moment the Mass MP is released, I wanted to write down a few questions I am hoping some of the commentary - or any of our members - will answer. I will henceforth refer to the Old Mass as the Traditional Mass because once it is restored to 'full citizenship', it won't be the Old Mass anymore.

1. Why are the bishops who are 'against' the Traditional Mass behaving and speaking about it as if it were a crime, something inherently, intrinsically bad? As if it were the devil's spawn that would bring on the end of the world? I'm sure many of them were born before 1967. Did they think then they were participating in something BAAAAD? How can a liturgical rite that dates back at least 500 years be bad?

They don't like all the ritual and all the solemnity? If they were Orthodox, they'd all have converted to Protestantism en masse to escape the ritual and the solemnity (not to mention the length) of Orthodox services.

2. Can anybody please come up with some articles around the time of the transition to the Bugnini Mass just to give us a sense of how people reacted at the time? I'm calling it the Bugnini Mass because I have read enough to conclude that the chief architect of the 'Protestantizing deconstruction of the Catholic Mass' was that man with the appropriately onomatopoeic name.

3. I would particularly like to see anything that explains why the normally super-intelligent Paul VI got caught in Bugnini's web at all...And didn't anyone tell him later all the abuses that were being committed in the name of the 'Paul VI Mass'?

Two comments:

1. Before 1969, all the Missals I saw were bilingual. Each page had two columns, with the Latin words in one column, and the English or Spanish on the other column. No one protested they couldn't understand the Latin - because the translations were right there!

2. I am rather enjoying the paradox that, because the Novus Ordo will continue to be the predominant rite used everywhere, at least in the foreseeable future, it will be considered and called the 'ordinary' rite, whereas the Traditional Mass will be the 'extraordinary' rite. In both cases, the words are literally applicable!

Finally, my pet speculation in private:

When, and on what occasion, are we likely to see Pope Benedict XVI celebrate the Traditional Mass in public for the first time?

Months ago, when it seemed as though the MP was coming out around March, I entertained the fantasy that he would celebrate his 80th birthday Mass using the traditional rite. What could have been a better occasion than a day that is special to him personally - to avoid any semblance of his 'foisting it' on to a pontifical liturgy held for a general religious feast?

Surprisingly, when I mentioned this in the main forum, I was shot down in flames by the two or three people who answered, for no other reason, it seems, than that they thought it was 'too soon', that there should be time for people to 'get used' to it. How can they get used to it if they don't see it? That's partly the point for the Pope celebrating it - so he can show the world how it's done. And what's to wait for - once it's OK, it's OK, no matter how soon you do it.

In any case, he is the Bishop of Rome, so he would be the decisive local authority, and surely, Rome must have much more than the 30 signatories required for the Bishop to allow the rite! He'd probably get all those from the papal household and his security men alone.

If I were a traditionalist who lives anywhere near Lorenzago, I'd start gathering the signatures now so when the Pope is there for three weeks, maybe he will not refuse to say a traditional Mass at a local church - and the local bishop can't possibly say No to the signatories! Giorgio can serve Mass for the Pope - he must have learned to serve it by the time he was 13 when the new Mass came into force.

The only problem is we won't get to see it. That's why the birthday Mass seemed the perfect occasion, because it was definitely going to be on Mondovisione, as the Italians call the worldwide telecasts.

Meanwhile, traditionalists who live in Rome should now start bombarding Archbishop Comastri (as Arch-Priest of St. Peter's) with requests to have a Papal Mass celebrated in Latin. Even if the Pope delegates the decision for this to Cardinal Ruini, can anyone see Ruini saying NO?

And surely, if Mondovisione is going to show a traditional rite at all, as it must eventually, it cannot be by other than the one person on earth who can do it best - and show the world "this is what you have been deprived of unnecessarily for 47 years (or whatever)." If it's going to be at the Vatican, it should be the full works - SOLEMN HIGH MASS with all the singing that goes with it. Maybe use the Mozart Mass in its proper setting finally....

If it is done outdoors, the storerooms of the Vatican Museums have dozens of historical high-altars with appropriate reredo and statuary of the kind that can easily be set up on the sagrato, so one does not miss the majestic centerpiece that high-altars have always been - much more appropriate than the tapestry-with-holy- image hung from the loggia that we get now, with an isolated Crucifix or icon that's not always very visible to a huge crowd.

[The Vatican will have to order chairs with kneelers for VIPs, and the faithful better bring their own kneelers - little pillows about a foot long by 6 inches deep that one usually encased in a lace-trimmed velvet slip, probably none of you remember! A lot of kneeling in the traditional Mass - very good for the soul, in more ways than one. If it bothers you so much, you offer it as penance!]

Other possible occasions in the foreseeable future: Castel Gandolfo in August (but again, as it's a local church, we won't get to see it. The Austrian visit in September, or Naples in October - those would certainly get coverage. The traditional rite in Mariazell or Napoli seems very right....

So back to my original question:

When, and on what occasion, are we likely to see Pope Benedict XVI celebrate the Traditional Mass in public for the first time?
ANY THOUGHTS, ANYONE????

Fr. Z's 5 Rules of Engagement
for When [ and If ] the Motu Proprio Comes:


1) Rejoice because our liturgical life has been enriched, not because "we win". Everyone wins when the Church's life is enriched. This is not a "zero sum game".

2) Do not strut. Let us be gracious to those who have in the past not been gracious in regard to our "legitimate aspirations".

3) Show genuine Christian joy. If you want to attract people to what gives you so much consolation and happiness, be inviting and be joyful. Avoid the sourness some of the more traditional stamp have sadly worn for so long.

4) Be engaged in the whole life of your parishes, especially in works of mercy organized by the same. If you want the whole Church to benefit from the use of the older liturgy, then you who are shaped by the older form of Mass should be of benefit to the whole Church in concrete terms.

5) If the document doesn't say everything we might hope for, don't bitch about it like a whiner. Speak less of our rights and what we deserve, or what it ought to have been, as if we were our own little popes, and more about our gratitude, gratitude, gratitude for what God gives us.

===================================================================

I've been keeping a magnum of Moet et Chandon lying in a bottom shelf of my fridge for months now, waiting for the moment. So today, in anticipation, I uncorked a nice pink California zinfandel, and I've been sipping it, with some crackers and caviar from Zabar's....Oh, life is gooooooood, God's in his heaven, Benedict's in the Vatican and on my mind, and all's right with my world just now....I intend to start signature lists, if there aren't already, at St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Gregory the Great and St. Monica's around where I live...



This is Father Z's spread - and he too has Moet et Chandon!

Dear Teresa and Catholic friends, when the Moto Proprio becomes public on the 7th, or whatever day, I'll also raise a glass on this Pope, on the great gift of the beauty of this Mass, on all of you. I can only pray that I will be able to once again experience it, also with the appropriate music. Thank you Papa Benedetto!!!!

===================================================================

YEAH!!!! BREAK OUT THE BUBBLY!!!

GAUDEAMUS!!!!

Teresa

Now is the time to review what there is to know about the Roman rite Mass - the traditional (in general use from 1570-1969) as well as the 'new' one (from 11/30/69 to the present).

The most helpful one-stop resource for this is the MOTU PROPRIO TIP SHEET which Amy Welborn launched in March this year
amywelborn.typepad.com/motuproprio/
It will also link you to the main sites which have kept the traditional Mass 'alive' and disseminated information about it.

I am taking the liberty to post what is, in effect, the basic document in the tip sheet:


Deep Background
by Amy Welborn

In reporting this story, it is important to have a grasp of some basics and the history of the Mass, especially its recent history.

The liturgical history of the Roman Catholic Church is more complicated than many realize. It is simply not the case that "up until Vatican II, the Mass was the same, everywhere, and it was in Latin."

First, please remember that there are 22 "rites" within the Roman Catholic Church. A "rite" is a specific type of worship and theological sensibility rooted in geographical or ethnic identity. Here is a list of rites within the Roman Catholic Church. These diverse rites all exist under the authority of the Pope.

---

" Roman - The overwhelming majority of Latin Catholics and of Catholics in general. Head of this and the other Roman Rites is the Bishop of Rome. The current Roman Rite is that of the 1969 Missale Romanum, published in a third edition in 2002. The vernacular editions of the Missal used for Holy Mass are translated from this Latin "editio typica tertia" or "third typical edition."
- Missal of 1962 (Tridentine Mass) - Some institutes within the Roman Rite, such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, have the faculty to celebrate the sacramental rites according to the forms in use prior to the Second Vatican Council. This faculty can also be obtained by individual priests from their bishop or from the Pontifical Council Ecclesia Dei.
- Anglican Use - Since the 1980s the Holy See has granted some former Anglican and Episcopal clergy converting with their parishes the faculty of celebrating the sacramental rites according to Anglican forms, doctrinally corrected.
- Mozarabic - The Rite of the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal) known from at least the 6th century, but probably with roots to the original evangelization. Beginning in the 11th century it was generally replaced by the Roman Rite, although it has remained the Rite of the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Toledo, Spain, and six parishes which sought permission to adhere to it. Its celebration today is generally semi-private.
- Ambrosian - The Rite of the Archdiocese of Milan, Italy, thought to be of early origin and probably consolidated, but not originated, by St. Ambrose. Pope Paul VI was from this Roman Rite. It continues to be celebrated in Milan, though not by all parishes.
- Bragan - Rite of the Archdiocese of Braga, the Primatial See of Portugal, it derives from the 12th century or earlier. It continues to be of occasional use.
- Dominican - Rite of the Order of Friars-Preacher (OP), founded by St. Dominic in 1215.
- Carmelite - Rite of the Order of Carmel, whose modern foundation was by St. Berthold c.1154.
- Carthusian - Rite of the Carthusian Order founded by St. Bruno in 1084.

Eastern Rites and Churches
They have their own hierarchy distinct from the Latin Rite, system of governance (synods) and general law, the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches. The Supreme Pontiff exercises his primacy over them through the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

- Antiochian - The Church of Antioch in Syria (the ancient Roman Province of Syria) is considered an apostolic See by virtue of having been founded by St. Peter. It was one of the ancient centers of the Church, as the New Testament attests, and is the source of a family of similar Rites using the ancient Syriac language (the Semitic dialect used in Jesus' time and better known as Aramaic). Its Liturgy is attributed to St. James and the Church of Jerusalem.

West Syriac:
- Maronite - Never separated from Rome. Maronite Patriarch of Antioch. The liturgical language is Aramaic. The 3 million Maronites are found in Lebanon (origin), Cyprus, Egypt, Syria, Israel, Canada, US, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Australia.
- Syriac - Syriac Catholics who returned to Rome in 1781 from the monophysite heresy. Syriac Patriarch of Antioch. The 110,000 Syriac Catholics are found in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Canada and the US.
- Malankarese - Catholics from the South of India evangelized by St. Thomas, uses the West Syriac liturgy. Reunited with Rome in 1930. Liturgical languages today are West Syriac and Malayalam. The 350,000 Malankarese Catholics are found in India and North America.

East Syriac
- Chaldean - Babylonian Catholics returned to Rome in 1692 from the Nestorian heresy. Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans. Liturgical languages are Syriac and Arabic. The 310,000 Chaldean Catholics are found in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and the US.
- Syro-Malabarese - Catholics from Southern India using the East Syriac liturgy. Returned to Rome in the 16th century from the Nestorian heresy. Liturgical languages are Syriac and Malayalam. Over 3 million Syro-Malabarese Catholics can be found in the state of Kerela, in SW India.

---

The particular issue here is with the "Latin Rite" - the largest rite, of course, with its root in Rome, Western Europe and the Latin language.

The Mass in the Latin Rite developed over the centuries, always retaining the same essential structure, a core of prayers dating from the 6th-10th centuries, the Latin language and the celebrant facing east.

There were always variations and, as noted, developments. For two examples among many, the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) and the Creed found their ways into the Mass between the 6th and 11th centuries.

In the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation rocked Europe and challenged the Roman Catholic Church. In response, the Church embarked upon an ambitious and serious program of reform (called the "Counter-Reformation" or "Catholic Reformation."). The training of priests was enhanced, religious orders reformed, education was improved and the celebration of the sacraments was reformed.

Central to this was the reform of the Mass. This reform was needed, it was felt, in order to clarify what authentic Catholic worship was, the truth of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, to eliminate abuses and more dramatic discrepancies, and all of this in response to the Protestant Reformers.
[Teresa's note: So how paradoxical that the effect of the post-Vatican-II reforms - and their unregulated abuse was to 'protestantize' the Mass!]

The result was the Missal of Pius V, promulgated in 1570. It is what is most commonly referred to today as the "Tridentine Mass," "Traditional Mass" or "Classical Roman Rite."

This Mass was not a new rite at all. It was a regularization and standardization of the rite that had been most commonly used for centuries. Many of the prayers, for example, in the Missal of Pius V were already almost a thousand years old by 1570.

There were other rites used in the Latin rite - local rites (such as the Ambrosian, used in Milan, Italy) and those used by religious orders (the Domincans, for example). The Council of Trent permitted the retention of rites that were more than two hundred years old. [Under this rule, the Paul VI Mass would hardly qualify at this point in time!]

The Missal of Pius V was, then, for the most part, the Missal that was used in the Latin Rite through 1965 in most places, although it is essential to note that changes and reforms were made to this missal through the centuries, even in the years directly after its original promulgation (1604, 1634) and then, skipping forward, preceding the Second Vatican Council.

For example, in 1951, Pope Pius XII reformed the celebrations of Easter, and in 1955 issued reforms for the celebration of Holy Week. In 1962, Pope John XXIII issued a slightly revised "typical" edition of the Missal, the last one before the revised rite, issued in 1970.

It is this 1962 Missal which is the subject of the Motu Proprio.

But by the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) , there was a general sense that the liturgy needed to be reformed, but, as Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Vatican II document stated, there was a clear purpose and limit:

---

21. In order that the Christian people may more certainly derive an abundance of graces from the sacred liturgy, holy Mother Church desires to undertake with great care a general restoration of the liturgy itself. For the liturgy is made up of immutable elements divinely instituted, and of elements subject to change. These not only may but ought to be changed with the passage of time if they have suffered from the intrusion of anything out of harmony with the inner nature of the liturgy or have become unsuited to it.

In this restoration, both texts and rites should be drawn up so that they express more clearly the holy things which they signify; the Christian people, so far as possible, should be enabled to understand them with ease and to take part in them fully, actively, and as befits a community.

---

This document called for what it called a "restoration" of the liturgy - a process in which elements of the rituals that had become obstacles, instead of guides to understanding, would be re-examined, with the hope that the restored liturgy would be one in which all Catholics could more deeply experience the Reality and Graces present. There was great concern among many theologicans and pastors in the decades preceding the Second Vatican Council that the laity's understanding of what was happening at Mass be deepened.

The subsequent process went very quickly. It is important to note that every liturgical rite of the Church ended up being reformed. Every sacrament, plus the Liturgy of the Hours (the prayers, centered on the psalms, that priests and religion pray throughout the day, every day). All within a span of about 15 years.

The Mass of Paul VI, which is the Mass most commonly used in Catholic parishes today, usually in a vernacular translation, was published in 1970.

It is not as if the reform "started" in 1962. The Liturgical Movement - scholars who studied liturgy and advocated for various reforms - had been around since the 19th century.

Serious efforts to revive and encourage the use of Gregorian Chant began in the Benedictine monastery of Solesmes in the 19th century and spread throughout the world in subsequent decades.

Throughout the 20th century, various experiments - Mass in the vernacular, for example - were carried out in many places. A commission advising the Pope on liturgical reform was active from 1948-1960. No one was starting from scratch.

But in three respects, this was a quick process:

1) From the standpoint of reforming the entire 2,000 year liturgical life of the Church in a couple of decades.

2) From the pastoral standpoint - Could adequate preparation and education for the people in the pew really take place this fast?

3) Finally - and this is important - never before had the liturgies and rites of the Church been so deeply reformed from the top down before. This was unprecedented, and those who operate with the misconception that Roman Catholic practice is all about leadership imposing practices on the laity need to understand this.

The rosary, for example, was not invented by bishops and then systematically taught to the laity. It was a devotion that developed over hundreds of years, took many forms and was ultimately formalized, in a way that seemed to encapsulate the most powerful and popular aspects of the devotion, in the 16th century.

The sacraments and rites of Roman Catholicism had certainly developed and, in their externals, changed over the centuries, but this change was almost always "organic,' bubbling up from the level of ordinary useage, up to official acceptance (or rejection) in Rome or by bishops' councils and synods.

Many, in retrospect, have viewed the rapid, top-down reform of the liturgy after Vatican II as a serious deviation from the normal process of liturgical development in the Church. Joseph Ratzinger has been one of these.

The responses to these changes varied, as did their implementation and the understanding of what exactly these changes required.

Some resisted the changes in dramatic ways. There is a contigent within Roman Catholicism that views the liturgical (and other) changes brought on by the Second Vatican Council as destructive to faith and a clear break with the broader tradition of Catholicism.

Members of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) fall into this category. They are a group that uses the 1962 Missal for all sacraments. The founder of this group, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, was excommunicated in 1988 for consecrating four bishops. The present canonical status of the SSPX as a group and of those individuals who attend Mass at its chapels is unclear. Whatever that precise definition is, it is not really accurate to say that all members of this group or the group in general is "in schism."

There are other breakaway groups, as well - for example, the Society of Pius V, which broke away from the SSPX because they believed the 1962 MIssal, with Pius XII's reforms of Holy Week, should not be used.

So, in short:

---

1570: Pope Pius V reform and regularization of the Roman Missal: the "Tridentine Mass."

1962: Pope John XXIII issues last typical edition of the Pius V Missal

1965-8: Portions of the Pius V Missal are translated into the vernacular and used around the world in a patchwork manner.

1970: A totally reformed Missal is promulgated by Pope Paul VI. This (with some subsequent revisions) is the root liturgical book used today in the Roman Catholic Church. It is the "ordinary rite" of the Mass in the Latin Rite. The text is in Latin, but most Catholics experience a vernacular translation.

---

Teresa's Note: Here is a more detailed timeline to show how the post-Conciliar 'reformers' took just a few years to 'invalidate' much of the accreted tradition of centuries with their radical reforms that were fabricated by committee work. The timeline was prepared by Amy:

---

1546-1563
Council of Trent (Sessions 13, 21 & 22 deal with the Holy Eucharist)

1570
Missal of Pius V (Tridentine Mass)

1948-1960
Commission on Liturgical Reform scholars report to Pope Pius XII

1951
Easter Vigil restored to Saturday Evening (Decree Dominicae Resurrectionis)

1955
Holy Week reforms (Decree Maxima redemptionis nostrae mysteria)

1960
Cardinal Amleto Gaetano Cicognani (Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, former prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites) and Rev. Annibale Bugnini, C.M. (Professor of Sacred Liturgy at the Lateran University and a Consultor to the Sacred Congregation of Rites), head preparatory Committee on the Liturgy as President and Secretary respectively.

October 1963
Meeting of bishops representing 10 English-speaking bishops' conferences, under the chairmanship of Archbishop Francis Grimshaw of England, form the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL)

12-4-63
Sacrosanctum Concilium, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (CSL) approved, Second Vatican Council, issued by Pope Paul VI

1964
Consilium (Council) established by Pope Paul VI for the implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy - Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro, president; Rev. Annibale Bugnini, C.M., secretary.

9-26-64
Inter Oecumenici, Instruction on the orderly carrying out of the Constitution on the Liturgy, issued by the Concilium by mandate of Pope Paul VI

1-25-69
'Comme le Prévoit: On the Translation of Liturgical Texts for Celebrations with a Congregation' promulgated by the Consilium and the Congregation for Divine Worship

4-3-69
Apostolic Constitution, Missale Romanum, promulgating the reform Order of Mass and its general norms. Implementation, First Sunday of Advent 11-30-69.

3-26-70
(Holy Thursday) First typical edition (i.e., the text to be used for translation) of the Missale Romanum/Roman Missal (RM) and Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani (IGMR)/ General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), published

1975
Second typical edition of the RM and GIRM promulgated

3-1-85
Revisions to the RM and GIRM to reflect revised Code of Canon Law

12-4-88
Vicesimus Quintus Annus, Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II (on the 25th anniversary of the CSL) urges Bishops' Conferences to evaluate the translations of liturgical books and the commissions established to facilitate the translations of the texts.

1993 - 1996
ICEL submits to Bishops' Conferences the translation of the second typical edition of the RM in eight segments for consultation and vote

1997
USA Catholic Bishops approve final segment of RM translation at its June Conference meeting. The entire approved text is sent to the Holy See for confirmation.

4-20-00
Pope John Paul promulgates a revised GIRM, becomes effective with publication of new Missal

3-28-01
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS, formerly CDW) publishes 'Liturgiam Authenticam: On the Use of Vernacular Languages in the Publication of the Books of the Roman Liturgy.'

11-14-01
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approves adaptations to the GIRM for the dioceses of USA (CDWDS confirms 4-17-02)

3-16-02
CDWDS letter to United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) formally rejecting the English translation of the 1995 RM (submitted to the Holy See for confirmation in 1997)

3-18-02
Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia published in Rome, contains slightly revised IGMR

4-25-02
USA Adaptations to GIRM become particular law for USA

11-13-02
Latin Rite members of USCCB approve English translation of GIRM

3-17-03
USA translation of GIRM confirmed by CDWDS

11-05
Panel discussion on proposed ICEL translation (Green Book)

5-31-06
Amendments to the ICEL translation submitted by bishops of the USA through the USCCB Committee on the Liturgy (BCL)

6-15-06
Latin Rite bishops of USCCB amend/approve ICEL translation of the Order of Mass and adaptations to the Order of Mass. Both await confirmation by the Holy See.

---

The following article is really not so much about Tony Blair and the Catholic faith as it is about the faith itself and it also discusses B16's orientation toward it.


A hard but inspiring road ahead


The Catholic Church demands much of those who turn to it, but that is where its worth lies. Just ask Tony Blair

Martin Newland
Sunday July 1, 2007
The Observer

Many years ago, as a young reporter for the Catholic Herald, I travelled to Oxford to meet Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, now Pope Benedict XVI.

The SCDF maintains the church's doctrinal integrity and upholds its teaching authority. At the time of our meeting, Cardinal Ratzinger, a brilliant theologian, was locked in battle with supporters of liberation theology, which had its roots in the theological primacy of the poor and oppressed (good), but which had given way in its pastoral application to a quasi-Marxist theory of struggle and, in some cases, to the politicisation of the clergy (bad).

I has just finished university when I met him and a bit of a lefty. I thought I might be able to draw him out on the authoritarian nature of the SCDF, to question his use of its regulatory powers to censure 'progressive' theologians such as Hans Kung and Leonardo Boff.

At one point in our chat, the cardinal fixed his steely blue eyes on mine and reminded me, via an interpreter, that the church belongs to God before it belongs to any individual member. This theme underpinned his ministry at the SCDF and continues to reveal itself in his actions as pope. The church is not a democracy. It reflects and nurtures the changing aspirations of mankind, but it also upholds what it believes to be immutable. Pope Benedict, like his predecessor, John Paul II, sees the march of post-Christian relativism as the gravest threat to human society. Objective wrongs can never be rendered otherwise, no matter how many times they are bathed in the shifting waters of subjectivism.

The meetings between Tony Blair and Benedict XVI, conducted against a backdrop of rumours that the former, safely out of office, intends to convert to Catholicism, thrust into the spotlight two, many would think conflicting, models of 'big tent' thinking. Mr Blair's big tent is built on the primacy of consensus-above-all secularism, on a levelling up (or down) of human aspirational norms so that all can feel they belong, that they have the same worth and the same chances. Traditional values are great, but secondary to the ideal of achieving this consensus.

The Pope's big tent is made up of a community anchored by unchanging values, most of them drawn from the absolute dignity and sovereignty of the human being at all stages from conception in the womb to the last gasp on the deathbed. This is the principle that stands behind the church's many pronouncements on workplace conditions, on social justice and fair pay as well as its prohibition of abortion. The greatest evil facing us, the church believes, is the commodification of humanity - at work, at home, in the media, in the womb, in the test tube. The laws defending human dignity stand firm throughout human history. They are the guy ropes without which the big tent would collapse.

Britain can still prove uncongenial for Catholics. The recent row over gay adoptions, and the unrelenting media obsession with Ruth Kelly's spiritual life, remind me that we Catholics are still seen as slightly exotic fifth columnists, upholders of arcane and divisive values dictated by a 'foreign prince' in Rome. It was instructive to hear politicians and lobby groups attaching to the adoption row the question asked of recusant Catholics by their inquisitors in the years after the Elizabethan settlement: 'Rome or home?'

Can you imagine the fuss if Blair had converted while in office? A Catholic nominating bishops in the church of England? A Catholic administering a health service that carries out 200,000 abortions every year? A Catholic overseeing the implementation of equality laws, when his church believes that homosexual acts are 'disordered', that the divorced may not remarry, that only men may become priests? These are questions that used to be left to individual conscience and personal faith. They are now dragged into the open by Britain's 21st-century modern secularist crusade.

The church has been forced in some cases to abandon the nuanced pastoral application of its laws in favour of strident articulation of those principles themselves. Hence Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor's decision to threaten to withdraw Catholic adoption services altogether rather than renounce what he has no power to renounce, that is, to say, church teaching on homosexuality within God's plan for married love.

Consensus between church and state (I exclude here the Church of England, which is an amalgam of both) lies in understanding the true nature of Catholicism. The writings of the tortured convert Graham Greene reveal something almost bizarre about the religion as played out in ordinary life - that the church, despite its rules and proscriptions, is a church where many sinners feel at home. Saint Peter, the founder of the Roman church, was a weak man who denied Christ but who, when the chips were down, was the only one able to articulate the truth about him.

St Paul persecuted Christians before joining them. St Augustine prayed fervently for the gift of chastity before adding 'but not yet'. Uber-Catholics, some of them to be found in the more strident wings of the pro-life or 'church militant' movements, are not representative of the rank and file. Any Catholic who claims to be living according to each and every one of the church's precepts is either superhuman or a liar. For most of us, life is geared towards ideals we must heartily defend, but which we can never hope to fully live up to. The church makes a distinction between the 'external forum' (the rules) and the 'internal forum' - how those rules interplay with personal conscience and messy happenstance at a pastoral level. Put simply, Catholic life is a journey through imperfection towards the principles outlined by the rules. One of the priests I relied on for advice throughout my stormy teenage years likened Catholic conformity to a game of tennis - the balls you hit are going to fly outside the lines all the time. That is OK. You are still in the game. But never say that the lines should not be there in the first place.

Homosexual relationships can be graced relationships because this is the nature of love. But they cannot be manipulated and bludgeoned into the parameters governing the church's ideal of heterosexual married love. God loves the desperate woman who feels she has no choice but to abort, but this does not elevate abortion to the status of a human right or mitigate its horror. The breakdown in relations between secularists and Catholics forces everyone to the barricades and will deter Catholics with much to offer from entering public life.

If it is true that Mr Blair is converting, I am happy for him. It must be a hard thing to live in spiritual exile from members of one's own family. I am just sorry if he feels that leaving public life is a precondition of crossing the floor.

Thanks to Gerald Augustinus for this lead. From the site of the New Liturgical Movement
thenewliturgicalmovement.blogspot.com/2007/06/modern-roman-rite-priest-reports...

Saturday, June 30, 2007
A Modern Roman Rite Priest reports
on Classical Roman Rite Training
posted by Shawn Tribe

One of the Fathers who visit this site recently attended the FSSP "boot camp" for priests wishing training from them as regards the classical Roman rite. The following is his report....]

*******************************************************************

By a Diocesan Priest

I would characterize my experience as frankly stunning, and even life-changing. I must admit that the experience has recast my understanding of the priesthood to some degree.


I. Summary of the Training

This past week I returned from what one priest called the Traditional Mass Boot Camp, hosted and taught by the fine priests, deacons and seminarians of the Fraternity of Saint Peter at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, NE. Being a Novus Ordo priest and having little exposure or opportunity to experience the traditional Rite, this weekend was nothing short of amazing.

Arriving on Monday we jumped right in with an introductory session on the Mass covering various basic principles such as the attitude and composure of the priest, and the centrality of the Mass as a sacrifice.

Wasting no time we began our practicum, our class was broken up into small groups of three, according to experience with the traditional Mass and Latin skills.

Over the course of the five days, we had workshops on the vesting prayers, the Low Mass, the Requiem Mass, Gregorian Chant, the sung Mass, and Exposition and Benediction. These were covered in depth in class and the practicum sessions, which were and hour and a half to two hours long.

The daily schedule began with private Mass from 6:00 to 8:00 AM and ended with Compline at 9:00 PM. The resources and materials that the Fraternity provided were copious and pedagogically geared for a priest to learn the traditional Mass. Any priest who is willing to learn and take the time necessary can confidently know that he will be able to offer the Mass with the proper reverence and confidence that the Rite demands.

On our final day on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, we were privileged to pray the Solemn High Mass in choir with the Nuns the Carmelite Monastery of Mary Jesus and Joseph in Valparaiso, NE, a short drive from the seminary, this was absolutely the crowing event of the week, beautify offered by Fr. James Fryar FSSP, accompanied by the Deacons and seminarians of the seminary and the angelic chants sung by the Carmelite Nuns.

II. Personal Observations

Being a priest of the modern Roman rite, I was admittedly nervous and lacking confidence due to my lack of experience, I felt that I perhaps had got into something that was over my head, but the graciousness and patience of the members of the Fraternity of Saint Peter quickly overcame any misgivings I had.

I must confess that I was worried that there might be some looking down upon a Novus Ordo priest such as myself in a 'traditionalist' environment such as this, but the respect and genuine affection and gratitude that was shown me by the priests, deacons and seminarians of the FSSP was most edifying and humbling. I cannot speak highly enough about these excellent and truly humble men, who most joyfully offer themselves for the life of the Church.

One of the many remarkable things that struck me about my experience this past week was that these men of the FSSP and others like them have preserved for the entire Latin Rite the living memory and tradition of the Church in a unique way.

I would characterize my experience as frankly stunning, and even life-changing. I must admit that the experience has recast my understanding of the priesthood to some degree.

Also, by this intensive introduction to the ancient Roman liturgical tradition, I now more fully understand the paradigm shift and rupture that Ratzinger/Benedict XVI has spoken of.

I can't help but feel that once the adolescent rebellion of liturgical abuse and rejection of our living heritage subsides, they will be there to help all of us reclaim and reinvigorate the Latin Rite in a way that is truly organic and faithful to our roots, strengthening and in some areas reestablishing a vibrant Catholic identity.

I wish to thank my benefactors who enabled me to attend this workshop; it was a profound privilege for me to go. I will remember you in my prayers and my intentions at the Sacrifice of the Mass.

*********************************************************************

This fortunate lady who is sharing a secret with Papa is wearing a veil - a relatively simple one such as those one can still buy at some church shops in Europe.

She is, of course, being formally correct according to the old protocol whereby, if you came to the presence of a Pope, you had to wear a veil, in addition to black clothes (well - she compromised with black-and-white). But anyway, the rules don't hold anymore, unless you want to follow them, as for instance, Laura Bush has done both times she met the Pope.

But back to the veil:
Obviously, if you wear a veil to see the Vicar of Christ, the more so you should wear one when you are visiting Christ himself in Church.

In her beautiful piece about her most recent attendance at a traditional Mass in the previous page, Argent-by-the-Tiber mentioned she wore a veil, which occasioned one of my periodic recourses to 'memories of my Catholic girlhood', as follows:

The veil! Argent says she was wearing a veil. Is anyone around old enough to have used a veil in Church? How I miss seeing every woman in Church with a veil!

Besides the Rosary, the veil was the 'accessory' that Catholic women in my day treasured a lot. One tried to have the 'best' that one could have and afford. Even farming folk tried to have a lace veil if they could, although a simple rectangle of black tulle or any other fabric would do just as well.

Veils can be wonderful creations of the lacemaker's art - and for most of us, it was our closest experience to the luxury of lace, outside the occasional trimming on dresses or nightgowns. To have a beautiful veil was part of trying to be in one's Sunday best for church - another external sign of worship that tries to express in form what one feels about God.

One of the many shocks I had upon becoming aware of the 'new Mass' after I had lapsed from being an obedient Catholic was to realize the veil had been discarded! But in the mid-70s, I bought myself a veil at the Abbey of Montserrat to hear High Mass, and since then, I have travelled with it, using it in those early-morning Masses at countless churches in nameless places I will probably never see again that have been part of the joy of travel for me...

P.S. I will certainly wear one to the first post-MP traditional Mass I am going to, and will continue using the veil again.

Obviously I'm not the only one getting a kick out of the now-fortuitous happenstance that, Paul VI having declared in 1967 that henceforth his Novus Ordo was to be the form of the Mass to be used everywhere - now that Benedict XVI is restoring the traditional Mass as an equally valid rite when requested by enough people:
the proper terminology dictates that the more common form of the Roman rite - the Novus Ordo now - is the 'ordinary' rite, in the etymological sense 'according to order'; and the traditional Mass is 'extra-ordinary' meaning 'outside the established order', in this case.

But no one dwells on etymology when one hears the words ordinary and extraordinary - one just perceives their regular routine connotations. And it is precisely those connotations that give us 'traditionalists' a frisson of thrill - that yes, in both the etymological and the common sense of the word, the traditional Mass is extraordinary, while the Novus Ordo is ordinary!

So here is Rorate caeli 's happy juxtaposition of the ordinary and the extraordinary in pictures.







[/URL

Ouch!

Oh, Teresa, the photo of the guy (or girl) with a guitar was a low blow. How about a photo of a typical "Youth Mass" band performing juxtaposed with a photo of a Gregorian chant choir? Ooops, I forgot. The youth singing group is usually right up front competing with the priest for attention while the chant choir is usually somewhere out of sight in the back praising God.

A Latin Mass film "Tradition" produced by the Latin Mass Community in Kansas City features a Solemn High Mass celebrated by Fr. Bisig of the Fraternity of St. Peter [in 1998]. This is a stunning production with beautiful imagery of the Mass and the church interior, with a wide variety of camera shots from close-ups to views from the balcony.

The film also features cameo appearances of several FSSP priests giving brief commentary on the Latin Mass. This video can be an excellent means of introducing people to the glory of the Tridentine Rite, and it can serve as an educational tool in parishes or among friends. The video captures the pagentry and mystery of a Solemn High Mass, and the chant is beautifully sung by Fr. Berger and his schola. (This film is now available in DVD).

Here was the 1998 promotional blurb for the video:


Video Producers Go All Out
To Capture Glory of the Latin Mass

When Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Jack Cashill did a brief news feature on the Latin Mass for the NBC station in Kansas City, he had no idea it would lead to the most spectacular video of a Latin Mass ever made.

For the initial feature, Cashill took just one camera, stayed safely off to the side, and left before the consecration. Not knowing Cashill's intentions, Fr. Edouard de Mentque of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter did not wish to disturb his own congregants nor stir up controversy within the diocese.

A former altar boy, Cashill had not attended a Latin Mass since college. Like many Catholics, he was unaware that in July of 1988 Pope John Paul II issued his apostolic letter, Ecclesia Dei, in which the Pope acknowledged the "rightful aspirations" of those attached to the Latin liturgical tradition and declared that "respect must everywhere be shown" for their feelings.

Cashill, in fact, did not even know that the Latin Mass was still being celebrated. Nor, apparently, did many of the Catholics in Kansas City. Cashill's two-minute TV feature generated more response than any other feature he had produced for that NBC station.

As Cashill realized, there is still a hunger for the Traditional Mass among the Catholic population, old and young. The TV feature reaffirmed what Fr. de Mentque knew from experience.

With the blessing of the Pope, the Latin Mass has been enjoying an extraordinary revival around the world, and the Fraternity of St. Peter - dedicated as it is to the Latin Mass - is prospering.

Ten years ago, in fact, only 12 churches in the world celebrated the Traditional Latin Mass. Now more than 125 do, and the number continues to grow. Fr. de Mentque was so pleased with the TV feature and the response to it that when Cashill approached him with the idea of doing a video, the good Father was eager to participate.

Providentially, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter was soon to convene in Kansas City. So Fr. de Mentque talked to his superiors, and Cashill talked to his partner, Mike Wunsch, managing director of Video Post Productions, and all parties were keen to proceed. On Jan. 23rd. 1998, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter celebrated the Solemn High Mass with a Gregorian choir in the grand old Church of St. Mary/St. Anthony.

An award-winning director who has shot documentaries on every continent but Antarctica, Wunsch had faced few projects that required such sensitivity.

"What an overwhelming challenge," notes Wunsch. "This Mass was the culmination of nearly 2,000 years of Tradition, and we were responsible for creating the most beautiful representation of it ever made." "This was a real Mass," adds Cashill. "We couldn't just yell 'cut' and ask for another take."

Wunsch and Cashill oversaw a four-camera shoot and a 12 track recording of this splendid Mass. The video crew reshot the choir and the Mass without a congregation for close-ups. They also interviewed a number of the priests and integrated their commentary into the finished product, a complete Mass in real time with close-ups and camera angles never seen before anywhere.

Called "Tradition: The Latin Mass With Gregorian Choir", the $50,000 video overwhelmed its preview audience.

"The footage was awe-inspiring," claimed one viewer. "I felt as though I could have stepped from the altar to the very gate of Heaven."

"The best film of the Latin Mass I've ever seen or heard," said another viewer. "I'm going to invite my friends to see it."

"Whether we prefer the new Mass or the old," says Cashill, "this Mass is the shared heritage of us all."

====================================================================

Tradition: The Latin Mass With Gregorian Choir is available from Una Voce America.
www.unavoce.org/video.htm

Two Weeks in the Eternal City: From the Vatican Secret Archives to the Basilica of St. Charles Borromeo |

Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
Ignatius Insight
June 24, 2007

www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2007/aclark_rome_jun07.asp

I just returned from spending two weeks in Rome. I've visited before, but I never fail to be moved by the Eternal City, the extraordinary place where St. Peter is buried in a tomb beneath the great dome of St. Peter's. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen once wrote, in This Is Rome, "to those whom years and faith has ripened, Peter is walking in Rome, not as a Ghost, but as a man dressed in white."

Those two short weeks, oddly enough, felt like two short years, in part because it seemed that every hour was filled with new and often overwhelming experiences. I worked in the Vatican Secret Archives examining official documents of the martyr saints of China. I spent time in the Pope's Private Library reading and copying Chinese works from the seventeenth century--works that have not been read since men such as Fr. Matteo Ricci, S.J., wrote them during the Qing dynasty. I attended the canonization of four new Catholic saints and sat a few feet away from the Pope Benedict XVI during his Wednesday Audience. My wife and I followed the Holy Father through the streets of Rome in Eucharistic adoration from St. John Lateran to St. Mary Major; we visited the tombs of Borromini and Bernini; prayed in front of the exposed heart of St. Charles Borromeo and the incorruptible body of St. Vincent Pallotti, and the altar where St. Ratisbone saw the Blessed Virgin Mary; visited several monumental churches; strolled through Rome's incredible palazzos; and received the Pope's blessing after Sunday Solemn Latin Mass at the Vatican.

But what impressed me most during those busy fourteen days in the city of martyrs was the profound holiness of the Holy Father. I saw him four times through my visit, and there is something striking about how he stretches out his arms before his flock, like the outstretched arms of our Divine Savior, reaching out in his last hour in an embrace of love.

June 3, 2007, was a very wet Sunday in Rome, but St. Peter's was brimming with people who didn't seem to notice the steady rain. It was the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, and Benedict was canonizing four new saints into the Church as pilgrims cheered, prayed, and waved large banners with depictions of the new saints who haled from their respective countries. The celebration certainly resonated with me since I was in Rome working on a book about the martyr saints of China. I could not help but reflect on how truly difficult it is to ascend to the altars of the Church as a canonized saint, and how truly holy are the souls of those who do.

After reading numerous documents in the Vatican Secret Archives and the Pope's Private Library about the canonized saints of China, I became even more aware of how arduous and extensive is the process of canonization. It would be difficult to overstate how much care is given to discerning who is "certainly in heaven," as the Church believes of saints. The files I spent many hours reviewing were enormous, including several thousand pages of testimonies about miracles and historical records of the personal heroism and holiness of each person to be canonized. The Church does not desultorily proclaim someone a saint. So as I listened to the Holy Father's solemn pronouncement of canonization I was quite moved, having observed first-hand the requisite holiness and sacrifice.

After the Vatican schola intoned Psalm 8 and chanted a litany to the saints, Benedict "exalted to the Catholic faithful" four new saints, St. George Preca (1880-1962), St. Simon of Lipnica (1435-1482), St. Charles of St. Andrew (John Andrew Houben, 1821-1893), and St. Anne Marie Eugenie (1817-1889). The Church understands and presents sainthood as a significant form of witness to God; all saints in a certain way are martyrs, either "wet" by the shedding of their actual blood or "dry" by the suffering they endure in emulation of Christ's agony. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council explained that in the authentic cult ("cult" meaning public veneration) of the saints we seek in them an "example in their way of life, fellowship in their communion, and the help of their intercession" (LG, 51). In other words, the saints offer us an example for our own Christian pilgrimage, hope for a share in their communion with God once we've died, and the expectation of their assistance while we are still alive.

In his final "Testament," Pope John Paul II expressed both his concern for the difficulties of the present world, and his hope in the example of the saints. He wrote that "the Church finds herself in a period of persecution no less evil than the persecutions of the early centuries, indeed worse, because of the degree of ruthlessness and hatred" (Testament of the Holy Father John Paul II, 24 February to 1 March, 1980). And then he simply quoted Tertullian's famous cry: "Sanguis martyrum--semen christianorum [The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians]." John Paul II thus called Christians forth to be saintly martyrs in today's world, "wet" or "dry."

Later, after enjoying a strong Italian cappuccino I passed the Swiss Guards with my letter of invitation and walked through an archway into the courtyard (now a parking lot) facing the bronze doors to the Secret Archives and the Pope's Private Library. Vatican overseers of these two archives speak Italian and French; it was the first time I really appreciated the mandatory French fluency requirement to get my doctorate in Chinese. Once I passed through the obligatory (and quite extensive) interview, I finally consulted books from the seventeenth century rightly treasured by the Vatican. I read through several Chinese books written by Jesuits who lived with emperors and brought the faith to both high officials and simple villagers. One book was especially interesting: it was a Chinese translation of the Roman Missal published in Beijing in 1670 by the famous Ludovico Buglio (1606-1682). It took that Jesuit twenty-four years to translate the Latin Missal into Chinese, and the Pope later allowed the Mass to be offered in the native language of China. There were also Chinese catechisms produced by the Jesuits who lived in late-imperial China. Among the most moving documents were the personal letters of missionaries who were eventually tortured and killed for their faith. Holding the very papers once held, centuries ago, by such holy saints is summoning; their letters are entirely centered on Christ and his message.

During a break from working in the Secret Archives, I walked through Rome's hot and tourist-crowded streets to an out-of-the-way neighborhood beyond Trastevere, where the P.I.M.E. (Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions) House is located. There I met with P.I.M.E. Father Ciro Biondi, the head archivist of the Institute. Fr. Biondi ushered me to a back room where they keep a number of personal belongings of P.I.M.E. missionaries who have been martyred for their faith in Christ. My initial interest was in St. Alberco Crescitelli, P.I.M.E., who was tortured and killed in China during the 1900 Boxer Uprising. But Fr. Biondi shared accounts with me of Catholic missionaries being persecuted to this day throughout the world, some being martyred just as the Christians of the early Church were also killed for their faith in Christ. I saw St. Crescitelli's personal crucifix and his ecclesial hat, worn during Mass and when administering the Sacraments. I also was shown the blood-stained white shirt of a P.I.M.E. priest who had been shot in the head for his faith in Christ. It was a vivid reminder that the Church is still being built on the blood of the martyrs.

One of the last churches I visited before leaving Rome was the Basilica of St. Charles Borromeo, the great Church intellectual who struggled in defense of Catholic belief and contributed to the Roman Catechism. In several ways St. Borromeo reminds me of Pope Benedict XVI--a holy ecclesiastic and brilliant thinker devoted wholly to Christ and the Church he established. Sitting near the Holy Father I had been struck by how tired he seemed, though still entirely present and energetic. St. Borromeo was known to have been sleep deprived from his long hours of prayer and study, and in his final hour he cried, "Behold I come; your will be done."

Imagining St. Borromeo's holiness I knelt in front of the reliquary containing his heart in the basilica named after him, and prayed for our Holy Father, for the Church, for the world, and that John Paul II's hope be fulfilled that Christians today become martyrs for the truth and love of Christ. While I had been working in the Secret Archives I met another American professor, who was working on a book about seventeenth-century Jesuits. He made a point to inform me that he "wasn't religious." This was ironic since the first thing I noticed when I first entered the Vatican Archives--perhaps the most impressive library in the world--was the massive Cross hanging at the front of the reading room. Just raise your eyes slightly from your manuscript and there it is, a reminder that at the heart of the Catholic Church is the Sacred Heart of the Savior, whose death is not only a witness but is The Way for those seeking true life and the eternal city, the New Jerusalem.

From the USCCB Newsletter on the Motu Proprio-

Twenty Questions on the Apostolic Letter
Summorum Pontificum

1. What is the purpose of Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Letter, Summorum Pontificum?
By this Apostolic Letter, promulgated motu proprio, the Holy Father seeks an 'interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church' with those who have demonstrated an attachment to preconciliar liturgical forms, making it "possible for all those who truly desire unity to remain in that unity or to attain it anew". Thus does he exhort the
whole Church to "generously open our hearts and make room for everything that the faith itself allows".

2. How does the Apostolic Letter describe the preconciliar edition of the Missale Romanum?
The Holy Father begins by defining two forms of the rule of prayer (Lex orandi) of the Latin church of Roman Rite: an ordinary form, as contained in the Missale Romanum of Pope Paul VI, and an extraordinary form, as contained in the Missale Romanum of Pope Saint Pius V. He notes that the extraordinary form was never
abrograted and the two forms make up the Liturgy of the one Roman Rite.

3. When may a Priest celebrate the extraordinary form in a Mass without the people?
Any Priest of the Latin Church may, without any further permission from the Holy See or his Ordinary, celebrate the extraordinary form of the Missale Romanum in a Mass without the people at any time except during the Sacred Triduum. If members of the faithful wish to join in these celebrations, they are permitted to do so.

4. May the extraordinary form be used in religious communities?
Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life who wish to do so may celebrate according to the extraordinary form in their own oratories.

5. When may the extraordinary form be used in parishes?
In parishes where a group of the faithful are attached to the extraordinary form of the Mass, they may approach the pastor, who is to support their petition willingly. No permissions are required.

6. May the extraordinary form of the other sacraments also be celebrated?
For the good of souls, a canonical pastor may also grant permission for the celebration of the other Sacraments, Christian Funerals or other occasional celebrations according to the extraordinary form, when requested to do so by priests or a group of the faithful.

7. If a priest fails to demonstrate a minimum rubrical or linguistic ability to celebrate the extraordinary form, may he still celebrate the 1962 Missale Romanum?
No. In order to celebrate the extraordinary form, a Priest must be suitably qualified for and not prohibited by any impediments to the celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Missale Romanum. This means he must have the minimum knowledge and ability required for a legitimate use of the extraordinary form.

8. As a rule, is it possible for a priest to abandon the ordinary form entirely?
No. The Holy Father states unequivocally that "in order to experience full communion, the priests of the communities adhering to the former usage cannot, as a matter of principle, exclude celebrating according to the new books. The total exclusion of the new rite would not in fact be consistent with the recognition of its value and holiness".

9. What happens if a pastor is unable to fulfill the request of the faithful?
"Should some problem arise which the parish priest cannot resolve, the local Ordinary will always be able to intervene, in full harmony, however, with all that has been laid down by the new norms of the Motu Proprio". Should the local ordinary be unable to respond to the request, it may be referred to the Ecclesia Dei
Commission.

10. Is the role of the Diocesan Bishop in supervising the Sacred Liturgy diminished by this Apostolic Letter?
No. The norms "do not in any way lessen the Bishop's own authority and responsibility, either for the liturgy or for the pastoral care of [the] faithful. Each Bishop, in fact, is the moderator of the liturgy in his own Diocese". As such, he is required both to implement the universal norms of the Church as well as to intervene to prevent abuses from arising with regard to liturgical celebrations in his diocese.

11. What other provisions are made for use of the extraordinary form?
The Bishop may celebrate the Rite of of Confirmation according to the extraordinary form as found in the edition of the Roman Pontifical in effect in 1962. Clerics in Holy Orders may use the Roman Breviary of Blessed John XXIII promulgated in 1962.

12. When the extraordinary form is celebrated, what calendar and Lectionary may be used?
Whenever the extraordinary form of the Roman Liturgy is celebrated, the vernacular edition of the Lectionary for Mass may be used, while the calendar of the Missal of Blessed John XXIII is followed. The Ecclesia Dei Commission has been charged with studying the eventual incorporation of new saints and some of the prefaces of the revised Missale into the Missale Romanum of Blessed John XXIII.

13. Who regulates the implementation of this Apostolic Letter?
The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei is charged with assuring proper observance and application of the norms of the Apostolic Letter.

14. Does the wider use of the extraordinary form of the rites of Holy Week reflect a change in the Churchs teaching on anti-Semitism?
No. The 1962 Missale Romanum already reflected Blessed John XXIII's revision of liturgical language often construed as anti-Semitic. In 1965, the watershed statement Nostra Aetate, of the Second Vatican Council then repudiated all forms of anti-Semitism as having no place within Christian life. When Pope Paul VI issued the Missale Romanum of 1969, the only prayer for the Jewish people in the Roman liturgy was completely revised for Good Friday to reflect a renewed understanding of the Jews as God's chosen people, "first to hear the word of God".

Throughout his papacy, John Paul II worked effectively to reconcile the Church with the Jewish people and to strengthen new bonds of friendship. In 1988, Pope John Paul II gave permission for the Mass to be celebrated according the Missale Romanum of 1962 only as a pastoral provision to assist Catholics who remained attached to
the previous rites, thereby hoping to develop closer bonds with the family of the Church.

By this new Apostolic Letter, Pope Benedict XVI is merely extending such permission for wider pastoral application, but remains committed to "the need to overcome past prejudices, misunderstandings, indifference and the language of contempt and hostility [and to continue] the Jewish-Christian dialogue ... to enrich and deepen the bonds of friendship which have developed".

15. Where may Bishops turn for support and assistance with the implementation of the Apostolic Letter and the supervision of the extraordinary form of the Roman Liturgy?
The Committee on the Liturgy and its Secretariat are charged by the USCCB with the supervision of the implementation of the provisions of Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, and will continue to provide support and advice on this important pastoral initiative.

16. Prior to the publication of this Apostolic Letter, what provisions have been in force?
By a the letter of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (Quattuor abhinc annos, 1984), Pope John Paul II granted to diocesan Bishops the use of an indult whereby priests and faithful would be allowed to celebrate the 1962 edition of the Missale Romanum, providing that such priests or faithful: (1) accepted the legitimacy and doctrinal exactitude of the post-conciliar Missale Romanum; (2) celebrated these rites in a church designated by the bishop; (3) and celebrated these rites according to the 1962 Missale Romanum, without intermingling the post-conciliar rites.

Pope John Paul II encouraged Bishops to make 'a wide and generous application' of this indult in the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei Afflicta (1988).

17. How does the new Apostolic Letter differ from these previous provisions?
The Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI differs from the previous provisions in the following ways:
[This was presented as a table, in which the answers refer to 1) pre-1977; and 2) according to the new MP. As I cannot tabulate within a message box, I will present the answers to a question successively here marked (1) or (2)]

What books may be used?
1) The 1962 Missale Romanum
2) The 1962 Missale Romanum and all other Roman liturgical rites in force in 1962

Who may permit the use of these books?
1) The Diocesan Bishop may grant permission to priests or groups of the faithful at his discretion, but should be wide and generous in application of this indult.
2) Any Priest of the Latin Church may celebrate the extraordinary form privately. Pastors are asked to receive willingly the request of groups of the faithful for the Mass and the Sacraments according to the extraordinary form.

Who supervises the celebration of the Liturgy of either form?
1) The Diocesan Bishop supervises the correct celebration of all liturgical rites. The Diocesan Bishop must report to the Holy See on progress of indults he has granted.
2) The Diocesan Bishop maintains vigilance over the correct
celebration of all liturgical rites, both ordinary and extraordinary. If the pastor is unable to respond to the request of a group of the faithful, the Bishop receives the request. If the Bishop is not able to respond, the matter may be referred to the Ecclesia Dei Commission, which enjoys competence over the extraordinary rite on behalf of the Holy See.

Where may celebrations of the extraordinary form take place?
1) The celebrations take place only in a place designated by the Diocesan Bishop, but usually not in a parish Church.
2) There is no restriction on where the extraordinary form may be celebrated.

Must those celebrating the older form acknowledge the current form?
1) A condition of granting the indult is acknowledgement of the legitimacy and doctrinal exactitude of the current.
2) There is no requirement for a determination of acceptance of the current Roman Missal by those seeking to celebrate the extraordinary form, although this appears to be presumed.

May rites from the two forms be mixed?
1) No admixture of the rites of the 1962 and current editions of the Missale Romanum is allowed.
2) The vernacular edition of the Lectionary for Mass may be used in the extraordinary form, while the 1962 calendar is to be followed. The Ecclesia Dei Commission will study the eventual integration of new aints and some prefaces from the odinary form into the extraordinary Missal.

18. Why are the present norms not adequate to meet these needs?
In his cover letter, the Holy Father notes that while the present norms have been applied to good pastoral effect in many circumstances, difficulties remain "because of the lack of precise juridical norms, particularly because Bishops, in such cases, frequently feared that the authority of the Council would be called into question". The new norms are intended "to free Bishops from constantly having to evaluate anew how they are to respond to
various situations".

19. Does this action call into question the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council?
No. The Holy Father makes clear that the current Missale Romanum is the ordinary form (forma ordinaria) of the Eucharistic Liturgy. The extraordinary form is found in the 1962 Missal of Blessed John XXIII.

20. When will the Apostolic Letter take effect?
The Apostolic letter will take effect on September 14, 2007, the feast of the Triumph of the Holy cross.



Ten Questions on the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms
of the Missale Romanum

1. Why was the 1962 Missal of Blessed John XXIII chosen as the extraordinary form?
From the time of the Council of Trent to the Second Vatican Council there were seven official editions of the Missale Romanum. They were promulgated by Popes Saint Pius V (1570), Clement VI (1604), Urban VIII (1634), Leo XII (1994), Saint Pius X (1911), Benedict XV (1920), and Blessed John XXIII (1962). The 1962 edition was chosen as the last edition of the Missale Romanum promulgated before the Second Vatican Council.

2. Are the extraordinary and ordinary forms entirely different?
The Holy Father observes that there is no contradiction between them and that the history of liturgical books is characterized by "growth and progress, but no rupture...What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be allof a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church's faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place".

3. How does participation of the faithful in the Missale Romanum of Blessed John XXIII differ from the Missale Romanum of the Servant of God, John Paul II?
In both the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Missale Romanum, full, conscious, and active participation of the faithful is to be desired above all else. In both forms, this begins with an interior participation in the sacrifice of Christ, to which the gathered assembly is joined by the prayers and rites of the Mass.

The ordinary form of the rite customarily accomplishes this participation through listening and responding to the prayers of the Mass in the vernacular, and by taking part in forms of exterior communal action.

The extraordinary form accomplishes this participation largely through listening to the prayers in Latin and following the words and
actions of the Priest and joining our hearts to "what is said by him in the Name of Christ and [what] Christ says [to] him".

4. How does the role of the Priest differ in the Missale Romanum of Blessed John XXIII differ from the Missale Romanum of the Servant of God, John Paul II?
The major differences concerning the role of the Priest in the ordinary and extraordinary forms pertain to orientation and language. During most moments of the Mass the Priest faces the altar with his back to the people. All prayers are in Latin, with only the readings and the Homily in the vernacular.

5. What other major differences characterize the extraordinary and ordinary forms of the Missale Romanum?

(E) Extraordinary Form (1962)
includes 1% of Old Testament
includes 17% of New Testament
(O) Ordinary Form (2007)
includes 14% of Old Testament
includes 71% of New Testament

E) Begins with prayers at the foot of the altar prayed privately by priest and server
O) Begins with a greeting and communal penitential rite

E) One Eucharistic Prayer: the Roman Canon
O) Nine Eucharistic Prayers, the first of which is the Roman Canon

E) Faithful usually receive Holy Communion only under one kind
O) Allows for wider distribution of Holy Communion under both kinds to the faithful

E) Last Gospel and Prayers to Saint Michael the Archangel included in closing rites
O) Closing rites include Prayer after Communion, Blessing and Dismissal

E) Preserves prayers and rites of 1570 with some changes
O) Simplifies prayers and rites in the light of contemporary research and understanding

E) Only clerics or 'altar boys' perform liturgical ministry
O) Restores lay liturgical ministries and encourages careful differentiation of roles

6. What are the reasons why people remain strongly attached to the preconciliar form?
The Holy Father suggests a number of reasons. In the case of the followers of Archbishop Lefebvre, while the preconciliar Missal became 'an external mark of identity', it is clear that "the reasons for the break, which arose over this, however, were at a deeper level". Some remained strongly attached to rites with which they had become familiar from childhood. A primary cause of this affection in other faithful Catholics was the false sense of creativity unfortunately practiced by some in the celebration of the postconciliar liturgical rites, leading to "deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear."

The Holy Father adds a personal note in his cover letter: "I am speaking from experience, since I too lived through that period with all its hopes and its confusion. And I have seen how arbitrary deformations of the liturgy caused deep pain to individuals totally rooted in the faith of the Church".

Finally, the Holy Father describes those young people who "have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist, particularly suited to them".

With this motu proprio he is responding to all three of these groups.

7. Won't the new norms cause division in parishes and exacerbate the tensions between those attached to the preconciliar and postconciliar forms?
The Holy Father sees such fears as 'quite unfounded', since the kind of rubrical and linguistic skills required for the preconciliar form is not found very often. It is, therefore, "clearly seen that the new Missal will certainly remain the ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, not only on account of the juridical norms, but also because of the actual situation of the communities of the faithful".

8. How will the two forms influence each other?
The Holy Father expresses his hope that the new saints and some of the new prefaces can eventually be integrated into the 1962 Missal by the Ecclesia Dei Commission, while the use of the preconciliar form will enhance an appreciation in the ordinary form for "the sacrality which attracts many people to the former usage".

In this regard he emphasizes: "The most sure guarantee that the Missal of Paul VI can unite parish communities and be loved by them consists in its being celebrated with great reverence in harmony with the liturgical directives".

9. What are the challenges for those attached to the preconciliar form?
The Holy Father notes certain "exaggerations and at times social aspects" linked to "the attitude of the faithful attached to the ancient Latin liturgical tradition". For this reason he asks for 'charity and pastoral prudence'.

10. What mandate did the fathers of the Second Vatican Council give for the renewal of the Sacred Liturgy?
In the Constitution on the Liturgy (Sacrosanctum concilium), number 50, the Council Fathers decreed that: "The Order of Mass is to be revised in a way that will bring out more clearly the intrinsic nature and purpose of its several parts, as also the connection between them, and will more readily achieve the devout, active
participation of the faithful. For this purpose the rites are to be simplified, due care being taken to preserve their substance; elements that, with the passage of time, came to be duplicated or were added with but little advantage are now to be discarded; other elements that have suffered injury through accident of history are now, as may seem useful or necessary, to be restored to the vigor they had in the traditions of the Fathers."

Father Jim Tucker who blogs on Dappled Things
donjim.blogspot.com/
has posted a number of informative pieces about the traditional Mass and many 'things you should know' about it. After the MP, the blogopshere is referring everyone to his blog for those. I can't think of a better crash course.

Her's the first post from as far back as September 2004!


Seven Tips for Participating in the Traditional Mass


Before one goes to the Old Mass - especially if one is only familiar with Protestant services or the New Mass - it will be good to prepare.

First, abandon all preconceptions about what the "Tridentine" Mass is all about. Forget about its being a rejection of the laity ("back to the people" and all that garbage). Forget about its being the most sublime form of liturgy every developed. Forget about its being a mediaeval corruption. Go to it, in other words, with an open mind. Don't expect it to conform to what you've been told that "good liturgy" is all about.

Second, study the Mass beforehand. You wouldn't go to an opera without reading a synopsis of the work, without knowing anything about the composer, without learning which arias to pay particular attention to.

Find a good overview of the traditional Roman Mass, and read the whole thing.
A good step-by-step introduction can be found here.
www.kensmen.com/catholic/TLMinstructions.html

A simpler bilingual missal is here.
www.catholicliturgy.com/index.cfm/FuseAction/Text/Index/4/SubIndex/66/ContentIndex/18/...

And an excellent spiritual guide to the Old Mass is here.
salbert.tripod.com/index-10.html

It's a good idea to follow the Mass with a missal, whether or not you know Latin (and knowledge of Latin is *not* necessary for a fruitful participation in the Old Mass). And if you go to the Mass without having prepared, don't start whining that you didn't "get anything out of it."

Third, everyone knows that the Roman Mass has traditionally been said in Latin. So, nobody's surprised by that. And everyone knows that, for most of the Mass, the priest will be looking east toward God instead of backwards toward the front doors. These are not the only differences.

One of the differences that catches many people off guard the first time is that many parts of the Mass - particularly the most sacred parts - are said silently. In a High Mass (which is sung), you may not notice this so much. In a Low Mass (which is said), it's unavoidable.

Follow the silent prayers in your missal and join your heart to the quiet prayers being whispered at the altar. God has big ears and can hear you and the priest just fine. Just because one doesn't hear anything doesn't mean that nothing is going on.

Fourth, it's good to recognize the different ways that Mass is celebrated in the traditional rite. These are the three you will most often encounter:
- the Low Mass (none of the prayers is sung, although music may accompany the Mass), which may entail only the priest and server saying things, or (much better, in my opinion) a "dialogue Mass" wherein the people are invited to join vocally in the server's prayers;
- the Sung Mass, where the prayers are sung and the priest may use incense;
- the Solemn High Mass, where the prayers are sung, where a deacon and subdeacon assist the priest celebrant, and where incense must be used.

The Solemn High Mass is (forgetting the bishop's Mass) the complete form of the Mass; the others are abbreviations of it. Don't expect incense and Palestrina at a Low Mass; don't expect meditative silence in a Solemn High Mass. Try to become familiar with all three basic forms.

Fifth, while it's useful to compare and contrast the traditional Roman Mass with Paul VI's version and with the various Eastern Liturgies, it is obnoxious to make disparaging comments about any of them. The excellence of one or another of these Liturgies doesn't require anyone to criticize the rest.

Sixth, the old Roman Mass is the product of centuries of organic growth and development. Layer upon layer of history and meaning are there, and often layer upon layer of verbal and ritualistic symbolism. Don't expect an easily-explained, straightforward ceremony, such as a single individual or committee might come up with.

Last of all, don't worry about it if you don't grasp everything all at once. Don't worry if you're a bit overwhelmed or puzzled about certain aspects. Nobody cares if you can't explain the Latin grammar used in the prayers. Do your best to follow along and trust that it will get easier with time and that the puzzling things will yield abundant fruit in the long term.

And, after all this, if you really can't stand it, rejoice anyway, because over 99% of the Masses in this country are in the New Rite, so you have plenty to choose from. But be happy, too, that people who prefer the Old Rite have this option.

===================================================================
In his Saturday blog, after the announcement of the new GAUDIUM MAGNUM, he posted more links:

An explanation of why Latin has a privileged place, even in the new form of the Roman Mass.
donjim.blogspot.com/2005/05/latin-in-mass.html

An explanatory description of the basic differences between the two forms of the Mass: part one, part two, and part three.
donjim.blogspot.com/2005/09/old-and-new-rites-distinguished...

donjim.blogspot.com/2005/09/old-and-new-rites-distinguis...

donjim.blogspot.com/2005/10/old-and-new-rites-distinguis...

An explanation of how a Low Mass differs from a High Mass.
donjim.blogspot.com/2002/08/different-types-of-mass.html

A few comments on participation of the laity and the Old Mass.
donjim.blogspot.com/2004/01/traditional-liturgy-and-lay.html

Also, Fish Eaters has a great bilingual guide to the traditional Mass, with an explanation of what's going on.
www.fisheaters.com/TLMinstructions.html

Now why didn't I have all these info when I still had to teach the "Mass" as a musical composition in History of Music classes.... blast!! Can you imagine how tough it is for a non-Catholic to lecture on this topic? Even if it only formed part of a much wider curriculum I always felt I walked on very thin ice when it came to "the Mass"!!
Thank you, thank you for all these links, all the material.

=====================================================================

Dear Crotchet - I somehow expected you would be one of the very first 'customers' in the new 'MP boom'...It's so exhilarating I haven't come down from the high of Saturday!...In fact, it keeps rising with so many accounts coming out on the Web of how trad-Massgoers celebrated, as well as first-time experiences by people exposed to it for the first time.

You may be interested in getting one of these - a hand missal following the 1962 liturgy:



Here is the blurb:

---

Daily Missal 1962 - Motu Proprio Edition


Following the Holy Father's Motu Proprio on the 7th July 2007, Baronius Press, the only publisher of a Church approved edition of the 1962 Roman Missal, is delighted and honoured to announce a Motu Proprio Edition of the 1962 Daily Missal, to be published on the Feast of the Holy Triumph (September 14th). This edition will include the full text of the Motu Proprio in Latin and English.

Copies can be pre-ordered at our webshop, and will be shipped as soon as printing has been completed (Sept/Oct 2007).
www.baroniuspress.com/

---

In MILESTONES, Joseph Ratzinger describes best what I imagine, from my own experience, can be one of the most profound and long-lasting experiences for children raised in Catholic homes - getting your own Missal. He captures the never-ending wonder and fascination that one gets poring through a Missal.

As Catholic children in my childhood were hardly exposed to the Bible - even if one went to Catholic school (for some reason in the 1950s, we associated Bibles with Protestants) - the Missal was the only 'direct source' of Biblical material. And in the Old Rite, this was mostly from the Gospel and Epistle, plus a generous sprinkling of Psalms all over the place. It didn't make for any 'systematic' exposure to the Bible, which explains my Biblical illiteracy.

Unfortunately, even into old age, I have not developed any facility or taste for Bible reading, for the simple reason that I truly find most of it difficult to understand. When I have to, I simply try to concentrate on what the words say literally - but it's tough. And then, someone like Pope Benedict gives a homily, and he opens up a whole new world by just commenting on a single passage - sometimes on a single word.

So now, I am resigned. I'll take my Bible snippets when I can from the Pope or whoever can 'open it up' the way he does - I've come across one or two literate and highly readable priests on the Net who do this. And go to the Missal for the prayers, and for the many little notes and commentaries tucked in between the prayers.

And what do you know? Father Z blogs on hand missals today!
His point is very well taken about how the missal was one's 'active and full participation' in the Mass, even if the prayers were mostly 'murmured' only by the priest.....And he references the same Baronius MP edition as above....


In his autobiography, Papa Ratzinger described how one of the very earliest Latin-German hand missals was complied by Anselm Schott, the Benedictine abbot of that pulsing center of liturgical renewal, the Monastery of Beuron. A priest had given a "Schott" to Joseph Ratzingers parents for their wedding and it became a point of reference for the whole Ratzinger family. The children also had prayer books for Mass, inspired by the "Schott" for big people. There were graduated volumes for different ages and purposes.

His Holiness describes how passing from stage to stage with these books, which explained the parts of Mass and gave special prayers to aid comprehension and participation, allowed him to enter more fully into Mass. He describes his participation at Mass with these books as an "adventure". It was an adventure into mystery that has stayed with him all his life.

Now that Papa Ratzinger has released Summorum Pontificum, many people who are puzzled over why anyone would want the older form of Mass, will suggest that use of the older forms is against the tenets of the Second Vatican Council. They do not understand that proper "full, conscious and active" developed with and through the older form of Mass long before the Council.

Some may, perhaps, seek to limit the use of the older Mass  despite the regulations of Summorum Pontificum  with the claim that people today dont have adequate comprehension of or formation in what is going on at the older extraordinary use of the Roman Rite.

For this reason I urge people to support good efforts at liturgical catechesis. Very helpful will be the use of a good hand missal. There are many editions available from years gone past. There is also a new reprint by Baronius Press in the UK. I received a press release from them today describing their hand Missale, which looks to be very nice.

Hand missals are treasure chests. They were gifts to young people that enriched them all their lives. I have often seen people come to even the Novus Ordo carrying their old prayer books, worn from decades of use, so thick with memorial and ordination cards that they must be held together with rubber bands.*

It is very important that people who frequent the older form of Mass know their Mass very well. In the spirit of 1 Peter 3:15, always be prepared to give reasons for the hope that is in you with gentleness and reverence. Many people will be curious about the older form. They will come looking for answers. You must be ready to receive them with warmth and welcome, well prepared to explain and point out where they are in the booklets or missals, giving a good example to them of both joy and of devotion.

Using and studying a good hand missal can be of enormous help for you and others.

====================================================================

*Oh yes, that too! My old Missal has an 'estampita' [those beautiful idealized images of Jesus and Mary and all the saints] on almost every page - many of them from friends of my childhood, because that used to be a big thing among us - sending each other these holy cards on every occasion, but particularly on Christmas and Easter! We were actually competing as to who found the 'prettiest' images and cards. When I went to live in Manila to attend University, one of the monthly treats I gave myself was a visit to the big Catholic Book Store (in the 1960s, there was only one) and choose prayer cards to keep and to give....

Oh my goodness, it just occurred to me. Since I got my Barcelona-printed MISAL COMPLETO as a confirmation gift when I was 6, it's 50 years old this year!...No wonder last year I had to reinforce the back cover with masking tape, and last week, one of the ribbon markers broke - not a bad record for a 50-year-old book, especially as the golden-bronze page trim is still bright as ever. It's 1418 pages of fine but very durable onionskin paper, and is about 1-1/4 inches thick, without the cards inside it.

Oh Teresa, you always have me laughing out loud when you confess your Bible illiteracy. And don't believe for a moment all Protestants "know" the Bible inside out. But it does seem to me that you grew up in that era when Bible reading was considered un-Catholic...the same era when Protestants were shy to wear a cross, "too Catholic"! Things have certainly changed since then. Catholics are now encouraged to read the bible and Protestants proudly wear the cross and write books on the Holy Mother!

I'm glad you also don't understand everything in the Bible. I certainly don't either. But it can be very enriching - also for your faith - if you read the Bible together with a good commentary. I have a few, but there are many to choose from, although one can stumble on rubbish sometimes. Best IMO is to start with one Gospel and its seperate commentary. This usually covers all the chapters and its individual verses after sketching and explaining aspects such as context, background etc.

I always found the Epistles tough reading, boring actually. But my attitude changed completely when I bought a commentary to St Paul's Letter to the Romans, which is supposed to be one of the most important NT books with a massive influence on the Church from the very beginning of its history. So, seeing that the Pope declared a "St Paul-year", perhaps you can do yourself a favour and give Romans a go! Quite fascinating, really.

If you like I could post a short list of commentary titles and I would be most interested to hear from Catholic members if you make use of commentaries and which of these you recommend.

PS You can be sure I'll order the Missal advertised above. And I hope the members have spotted the Youtube video linked in one of the blogs whose links you've posted upstairs. The "Old Mass" in all its beauty said/sung in some monastery.

Missals and such

You know, I think we still have one or two old missals stashed in a bookshelf, complete with holy cards. I'll have to go look for them and dust them off. We actually have one church in our town that has had a regular Sunday morning Latin Mass for years. My husband and one son liked to go to it. There is also a Trad church in town which seems to attract a pretty good crowd on Sundays. I wonder if the MP will warm up some of those parishoners.

Regarding the practice of wearing a cross, have you noticed how many rappers with criminal records as long as your arm like to wear large, bejeweled crosses? So do quite a few notorious types in Hollywood. An interesting cultural twist, I think.

I always thought the site of the New Liturgical Movement - Novus Motus Liturgicus - had the most clever banner. And it certainly was the best way one could exult over Pope Benedict's epochal I-still-can't-believe-it-happened motu proprio last weekend.

Now, from NML, here's a generous serving of how one trad-Mass parish and a trad-Mass priest marked MP Sunday:


Reviving a Latin past
By David O'Reilly
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Tuesday, July 10, 2007


With their love of tradition and their formal dress code (no shorts even for children, and covered heads for women), the members of Mater Ecclesiae Church in Berlin Township can seem a tight-laced congregation of Roman Catholics.

But on Sunday they were ringing bells, popping corks and slicing cake, and - mirabile visu! - some were even smoking cigars.

Mirabile visu? Isn't that Latin?

Graceful, dignified, formal and obscure, Latin is the language of choice at Mater Ecclesiae, one of the only Catholic churches in the nation where all the liturgies are conducted according to the centuries-old Tridentine rite.

Its bells were ringing and corks popping after Sunday's Mass because Pope Benedict XVI had on Saturday issued a decree allowing freer use of the traditional Latin liturgy, which had all but withered away in recent decades.

"My good friends, we are living through and a part of a major, fundamental, awesome reaffirmation of the tradition of our faith," the Rev. Robert C. Pasley, rector of Mater Ecclesiae, told his congregation from the pulpit during Sunday's high Mass.

"I never thought I'd see the day."

Just how Benedict's decree, or motu proprio, might affect the availability of Tridentine-style liturgies in area dioceses remain to be seen.

While the "new order" Mass introduced in 1970 continues as the worldwide standard, Benedict's decree instructs pastors to willingly provide Latin liturgies if their parishes contain a "stable" number of parishioners "attached to the previous liturgical tradition."

Bishops are also "earnestly requested" to accommodate requests for the Latin rites, and told they may create special parishes or chapels (like Mater Ecclesiae) dedicated to their use.

Since 1988, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has offered a Tridentine Mass each Sunday in one urban and one suburban parish. The Trenton Diocese offers the old rite once each Sunday in a Monmouth County parish.

Mater Ecclesiae, which is not a parish but a borderless facsimile open to all worshipers seeking to partake of the Tridentine tradition, is the site for Latin Masses of the Camden Diocese. It had 70 families when it began in 2000 and now has 520, according to Pasley, a diocesan priest.

Spokesmen for the Philadelphia, Camden and Trenton Dioceses, all of which allow limited Latin Masses, said their bishops were studying the three-page document.

Sunday's high Mass at Mater Ecclesiae began at 11 a.m. with a procession of three priests, 12 altar boys in black cassocks and white surplices, and 12 white-clad girls of the Blessed Imelda Society, as the choir and congregation sang Gregorian chant. In Latin, of course.

Next, Pasley incensed the altar and shook holy water on the congregants before facing the altar and uttering the once-familiar words "Introibo ad altare Dei" - "I will go to the altar of God" - that for centuries began the Roman Rite Mass.

"What we do in this small chapel is no longer the exception to the norm," he told the 250 congregants in the sermon.

Mass ended after 90 minutes and a half-dozen Dominus vobiscumlater with more incense and an exposition of the consecrated host, or communion wafer, in an ornate monstrance. (The much shorter and simpler Sunday low Masses begin at 8:30 a.m.)

After a special ringing of the church bells and a singing of the ancient hymn Te Deum ("To Thee, Lord"), the congregation relocated to the church hall for sparkling cider and cake. About a dozen of the men - including Pasley - retired to a veranda for a bit of conversation and "Chestertonian incense," or cigars.

"We love coming," said altar server Mark Byrne, 16, of Allentown, N.J.. The oldest of nine children, Byrne said he loved "the beauty and solemnity" of the Tridentine Mass: "The Novus Ordo [English-language Mass] is just not the same."

Marisa Consoli, 17, who said that next year she will join a traditional order of cloistered nuns that prays day and night for priests, said she owed her "vocation to the Latin Mass because it increased my love for the Lord."

Although the word Tridentine comes from the 16th century Council of Trent that standardized the Roman Rite liturgies of the Catholic Church, "the council in no way created the Mass" that bears its name, Msgr. Charles Sangermano, pastor of Holy Saviour parish in Norristown, noted last week. Rather, he said, the council and Pope Pius V pruned regional variations from a rite that was centuries old.

The Tridentine Mass of 1570 served as the worldwide standard for most of the world's Catholics until the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65 instructed that Masses and other liturgies would henceforth spoken in the local, or vernacular, tongue with the priest facing the congregation. [That's false. It said local languages could be used; it never banned Latin, if only because the so-called 'typical form' of the Roman Missal - the one on which all translations are based- continues to be in Latin. Nor did it prescribe for the priest to face the congregation .. and take away the tabernacle from the altar and.....etc ]. It took several years to be implemented.

While a breath of fresh air to many of the world's Catholics, the change shocked millions of others who had assumed that the Mass was divinely ordained, or nearly so, and immutable.

In 1988 Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, granted diocesan bishops special permission to provide an occasional Latin Mass. Many chose not to do so, out of concern that their dioceses, or the whole church, might form into modern and traditionalist camps.

"This fear . . . strikes me as unfounded," Benedict wrote in his Saturday decree, further adding that by allowing greater use of the old rite, he hoped to restore to the mainstream the "not small number" of alienated Catholics who never warmed to the new Mass.

Pasley said the impact of Benedict's decree will be gradual. "Many priests don't know Latin and don't have an interest in it," he said, but "down the line, as they become more exposed to it, that will change."

For a video of high Mass at Mater Ecclesiae Church in Camden County, along with the pope's decree, go to go.philly.com/latinmass


And here's an account by Fr. Pasley himself:


'Great joy in the city'
By Father Robert C. Pasley, KHS
Rector
Mater Ecclesiae, Berlin, NJ
www.materecclesiae.org.




Factum est ergo magnum gaudium in illa civitate. (Acts 8:8)
These words from the Acts of the Apostles came to my mind as I awoke this morning. "There was great joy in that city."

As a matter of fact, I really recalled the now defunct 1970s NAB [New American Bible] translation of this phrase, which albeit more dramatic, is a typical mistranslation, "The rejoicing in that city rose to fever pitch."

What is most important in this one case, however, is not the translation, but that at Mater Ecclesiae, in Berlin, NJ , which is, I'm sure, reflective of all such places that celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the One Roman Rite, the rejoicing and joy was so great that fever pitch doesn't even begin to describe it.

The Church was packed; visiting priests, members, visitors from all over (as far away as Rome and Ithaca, NY), reporters and photographers. As the organ swelled and the trumpet began to sound, we processed down the aisle. I could not hold back the tears. All around me I saw smiles and tears and swollen eyes.

The Mass began and the words of the Mass for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost seemed to be personally selected by heaven to celebrate the events of 07/07/07, the 7th year of Mater Ecclesiae's existence, on the 7th day of the week, the Sabbath, on first Saturday dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The prayers of the Mass are as follows;

The Introit "The Lord is the strength of His people, and the protector of the salvation of His anointed,"
The Collect "O God ... giver of all good things ... increase in us true religion and by Thy mercy keep us in the same."
The Gradual "Lord, Thou hast been our refuge from generation to generation."
The Alleluia "In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in Thy justice."
The Gospel "Jesus said, I have compassion on the multitude."
The Communio "I will go round, and offer up in His tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation; I will sing and recite a psalm to the Lord."

As the incense rose to heaven, and I "went round His Tabernacle to begin the sacrifice of jubilation," the choir and the people sang the Kyrie and Gloria with such gusto that I thought the walls would explode - "The Lord is the Strength of His people."

During the sermon I have never felt such rapt attention. At the offertory, the five men in the Schola sang the Ave Maria by Arcedelt, a reminder of all the Rosaries worn out in prayer over these last 40 years.

The consecration came in the hushed silence of the Ancient Rite, and Our Lord, "the giver of good things had compassion on the multitude."

At communion, wave after wave knelt at the altar rail: doctors, lawyers, engineers, tradesmen, mothers, fathers, teenagers and so many little ones.

Finally, after the Last Gospel, the Te Deum was intoned, the bells began to ring and the chills ran down my spine. It truly was extraordinary or should I say it is Extraordinary, the Form that is.

Off we went to Bishop DiMarzio Hall, a toast to Pope Benedict, the champagne cork popped in perfect rhythm, and the people clapped and cheered. On the cake, in beautiful Roman Script were the words, TE DEUM LAUDAMUS !! and the party began. Ubi Missa, Ibi Mensa.

Finally, at 4:00PM, having extinguished the last Ashton on the porch, the Reverend Fathers having departed, the people having bid adieu, and about to close the door and collapse into the recliner exhausted from joy, a young father with his family returned.

"Father, the boys want to say goodbye." And I asked the oldest boy, why were we so happy today? And with a big smile he said, "Because Pope Benedict did a good thing."

Need more be said?


And a homily by a trad-Mass priest to mark MP Sunday:

Dom Christopher Lazowski
on Summorum Pontificum
posted by Shawn Tribe

[Dom Christopher Lawzoski was scheduled to give the homily on the weekend in which the Motu Proprio was being released. Here is his homily:]

by Dom Christopher Lazowski

In the 1950s and 1960s, a monk of Downside, writing under the nom-de-guerre of Brother Choleric, published a series of books of caricatures entitled Cracks in the Cloister. These delightful works, which could only have been written by someone who had himself experienced religious life, are concluded by a volume called Cracks in the Curia, dealing with some of the more idiotic aspects of the application of the Second Vatican Council.

One page shows two priests languishing in irons in a dungeon. The gaoler explains to a distinguished-looking visitor, "The one on the right for saying Mass in English before the decree, the one on the left for saying Mass in Latin after the decree."

Brother Choleric thus highlights a grave problem, one that has caused untold harm within the Church over the last forty years. This problem is composed of two opposite errors, each of which exacerbates the other. The first consists of thinking that before Vatican II the Church slumbered in obscurantist darkness, but that since the Council she has awakened to the light of the truth of the Gospel, a truth that she had somehow forgotten.

The other consists of thinking that the Church has somehow lost her way since the Council, that Vatican II has introduced errors into her teaching, and that the post-conciliar liturgical reform is worthless. In both cases, the Council is considered to be a rupture, with a clearly differentiated before and after, one good, the other bad. Such an interpretation is not only absurd, it is gravely harmful.

One area in particular has been a particularly visible arena of conflict: the Church's public worship. The opposition to the Council's authentic teaching has tended to crystallize around the liturgy. An attachment to what has been called the 'Mass of St. Pius V' or the 'Tridentine Mass' has unfortunately, but all to often, become a rallying-point for those who reject the Council's teaching on religious liberty and the Church's engagement in ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue.

The late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, in the hope of easing the return to full communion with the Church of those Catholics who had followed Archbishop Lefebvre, had already permitted bishops to allow the celebration of Mass according to the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal.

Yesterday, the Holy See published Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic letter, Summorum Pontificum - a document which goes much further, both in its scope and its intentions. In practice, it recognizes the right of every Roman Catholic priest to use all the liturgical books that were in force before the liturgical reform. The faithful may assist freely at such celebrations, and parish priests may accept requests for the celebration of Mass and the sacraments according to these rites ; if they feel unable to do so, they may then address the request to their bishop.

It is above all in his intentions that the Holy Father goes further. According to his explanatory letter sent to the bishops, he is not merely concerned with extending a hand to integrists, even though this is one of his motivations. He says:

"Looking back over the past, to the divisions which in the course of the centuries have rent the Body of Christ, one continually has the impression that, at critical moments when divisions were coming about, not enough was done by the Church's leaders to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity. One has the impression that omissions on the part of the Church have had their share of blame for the fact that these divisions were able to harden. This glance at the past imposes an obligation on us today: to make every effort to unable for all those who truly desire unity to remain in that unity or to attain it anew."

But the aims of the Apostolic Letter go beyond this concern, important though it is. The Holy Father says that "It is a matter of coming to an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church."

It is a reconciliation not only with the disciples of Archbishop Lefebvre, but also with our own past. For the most certain means of making one's self a prisoner of the past is to deny it. This is as true for individuals as for societies.

It is the height of absurdity to say that a form of the Roman Rite that has borne countless fruits of holiness over so many centuries has suddenly become an object of condemnation. It is just as unacceptable to claim that the reformed rite is incapable of nourishing holiness; the example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta should suffice to dispel such an error.

Near the beginning of his pontificate, the Holy Father spoke of the necessity of reading the conciliar documents according to a hermeneutic of continuity, and not according to a hermeneutic of rupture. The liturgical decisions that he has just announced are simply an application of this rule. The Pope says:

"There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church's faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place."

Two main objections have been made to these measures. One claims to be founded on liturgical principles, the other is of a practical and pastoral nature.

Some have claimed that permitting such a widened use of the 1962 editions of the Roman liturgical books would harm the unity of the Roman Rite. This objection is worthless. The unity of the Roman Rite, understood as a monolithic uniformity, is a mirage born of 19th century polemics against the Neo-Gallican liturgies; those who chase after mirages die of thirst in the desert.

The Roman Rite has always known a certain pluralism, in the different uses of various dioceses and religious orders. Even the local rite of the Roman Church has not always been uniform, as it once comprised two distinct forms, one for the use of the pope, contained in what we call the 'Gregorian Sacramentary'; the other for the use of simple priests, contained in what we call the 'Gelasian Sacramentary.'

What is an innovation is the possibility of choosing between two forms of the Roman Rite according to one's personal preference.

However, the unwonted nature of a liturgical reform that appears to have attempted to cram into the space of a few years what organic development might have accomplished over many centuries, and the sufferings that this situation has caused, surely suffice to justify the deeply merciful and genuinely pastoral nature of the decisions that the Pope has just announced.

Moreover, these measures are founded on a truth that he mentions in his apostolic letter when he refers to the "Roman Missal promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962 and never abrogated."

For if a Catholic liturgical Rite can fall into disuse, it cannot be suppressed by a legislative decision; the sacred liturgy isn't a Highway Code that a legislator can modify or even abolish as he sees fit. The liturgy is an expression of the Church's faith, a living testimony of her Tradition. The Church's authority is its servant, never its master. If it can regulate its use with a view to promoting the common good, it is utterly incapable of deciding that what was once a Catholic Rite no longer is one.

The second objection is more practical. A number of the Church's pastors seem to fear that requests for the use of the classical liturgical books screen opposition to the teaching of the Church's authentic magisterium, in particular that of Vatican II, or an outright refusal to accept the legitimacy of the liturgical reform. Some dread the formation of pressure groups and loud-mouthed lobbies.

These fears are not necessarily unfounded. Even though they do not directly concern us, contemplative monks and lay faithful, we should not be indifferent to these fears. We all have the duty to pray for the Church's pastors, that God may grant them the spiritual wisdom they need to find appropriate solutions to often intractable problems.

But above all, we must realize that Catholics who are attached to what the Holy Father invites us to call the 'extraordinary form' of the one Roman Rite are not to be considered to be second-class citizens, marginal members of the Mystical Body.

These fellow-Catholics have already overflowed the narrow boundaries of the integrist movement, and many, perhaps most of them have had nothing to do with the sometimes politicised confrontations of the past. Many of them are young.

The Pope himself remarks that "young persons too have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist, particularly suited to them." All of us called to live the unity of the Faith within a legitimate liturgical diversity, in communion with one another and with the successor of St. Peter.

Towards the end of his letter, Pope Benedict remarks that "the two forms of the usage of the Roman Rite can be mutually enriching." This is certainly not the sign of a desire to turn back the clock. On the contrary, it is a call to advance.

In his Apostolic Letter, the Holy Father evokes St. Gregory the Great, the pope who sent the monk St. Augustine to evangelize the English. A letter of St. Gregory to St. Augustine, answering liturgical questions that the missionary had asked, may help us understand what Pope Benedict means by 'mutually enriching'.

St. Gregory says that St. Augustine should choose from among the different Rites he has experienced those things that are the most pleasing to God, and that we should not love things because of a place, but places because of the good things that are to be found there.

The rediscovery of the treasures of the past cannot but enrich the present, and the insights of the present can shed new light on the past, and help us to understand and appreciate it better. It can thus become possible to advance beyond sterile dialectics and sacristy quarrels, in order to live a new liturgical movement which, God willing, will herald a new springtime of holiness, making all Christians true workmen in the Lord's harvest.

====================================================================

TE DEUM LAUDAMUS!