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Sunday 29 November 2009

"Latin Mass Appeal "

Apparently it was 40 years ago today that all hell broke loose, and its forces, Hell's that is, have been been singing, designing, and filling spot on liturgy committees ever since (actually, I'm not certain the First Sunday of Advent fell on the same date that year, but let it go...)

I kid. (As one of those singers, designers and spot-fillers, I hasten to assure you, I don't really think we're in the employ of the prince of darkness.)

The New York Time has an op-ed piece about the liturgical revolution of four decades ago!
The to-be-expected, (though not in the pages of the Times,) digs at the late Abp. Bugnini.

Many of Bugnini’s reforms were aimed at appeasing non-Catholics, and changes emulating Protestant services were made, including placing altars to face the people instead of a sacrifice toward the liturgical east. As he put it, “We must strip from our ... Catholic liturgy everything which can be the shadow of a stumbling block for our separated brethren, that is, for the Protestants.” (Paradoxically, the Anglicans who will join the Catholic Church as a result of the current pope’s outreach will use a liturgy that often features the priest facing in the same direction as the congregation.)

How was Bugnini able to make such sweeping changes? In part because none of the popes he served were liturgists. Bugnini changed so many things that John’s successor, Paul VI, sometimes did not know the latest directives. The pope once questioned the vestments set out for him by his staff, saying they were the wrong color, only to be told he had eliminated the week-long celebration of Pentecost and could not wear the corresponding red garments for Mass. The pope’s master of ceremonies then witnessed Paul VI break down in tears.

I am curious about this -- I have read this story many times, but never from a primary source, never with attribution.

Is it like the beehive-coiffed woman whose brain was eaten by spiders?

Or the choking doberman?

I don't recognize the name, Kenneth Wolfe.
Should I?

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