"The Thursday of Mysteries"

Isn't that a beautiful way to describe today?
I've only just learned it.

I appreciate that word "mysteries" used synonymously with "sacraments," very much.
At Eastern Rite liturgies I've always thrilled a bit at the phrase, "I will not reveal Your Mysteries to your enemies," as if we were suddenly plunged by the universality and sacred timeliness/timelessness of the Sacrifice into penal times, or the first century and were willing to die rather than betray the goings-on in the catacombs to the authorities.
One doesn't see it much in the West, although the sheet music from which I first learned the Bruckner Locus Iste translated sacramentum that way, IIRC.
This is, I promise you, not about aesthetic snobbery, but the music that will happen tonight at any of the Roman Catholic churches within reach will be so jarringly bad or inappropriate that I was casting about for an alternative, and my default Byzantine parish seems not to be having any liturgy tonight, can that be possible?
(Here, I can prove, at least to my own satisfaction that it's not snootiness on my part - if it were not a thousand miles away I would attend an Extraordinary Form Mass I used to hear with some regularity, where the propers that are not sung recto tono or to a psalm tone would be unrecognizable they would be rendered so badly, by a choir that included on singer with a voice like an electric cheese grater. The appropriate done badly by worshipers giving their best is more fitting than the inappropriate done well by worshipers giving their favorites.)
Anyway, I found a church, (of a rite that I don't know well at all,) whose bulletin gives a time for Liturgy of  Thursday of Mysteries.
(And between Holy Orders and Eucharist, and washing of the feet - do Easterners do that? dont know -  our evening will be filled with Mystery.)
Was this Father Hardon?

"A mystery is not a truth about which we can know nothing. It is a truth about which we cannot know everything."

Reblog: "I'm not a Trad, but..."

I am in a very different place, (literally and figuratively,) from when I wrote this, and I'm coming to understand, and sympathize with, people on both extremes of this issue, the True Believers in the Liturgy Wars.
An Extraordinary Form Mass, a regular celebration of the Mass of the Ages has just become available to me, not too far away, and on a weekday so it doesn't usually interfere with either my parish duties, (voluntary) or my familial duties, (voluntary and yet on compulsion.)
But at the same time I am experiencing a reprieve from the sadly perfunctory and weird liturgies that are my usual lot with beautiful and careful Masses said by someone who is at about the furthest one can go in the other direction  from the EF while still being obedient and rubrically correct.
And thrown into the mix, a one-off Are-you-kidding-me Eucharistic celebration complete with off-the-leash pets, and a little labyrinth-induced game of Find the EMHC.
(Someone, PLEASE! what is with modern church architecture that encompasses aisles that dead end????!?@??)
But I think most of this, other than that dealing my employment, still holds true:

If I ...were free to participate where and when and how I would, the Extraordinary Form would not be my first choice.But now, praise Benedict and the motu proprio, I am at least entitled to ask for that, whereas I am not entitled to ask for the Ordinary Form with the Ordinary sung in Latin.Or the Ordinary Form with the priest facing ad orientem. Or the Ordinary Form with no jokes. Or the Ordinary Form without being asked to squawk Lord of the Dance. Or the Ordinary Form without a glad-handing rotary convention inserted where the Pax Christi is offered. Or the Ordinary Form where no adolescent in a football jersey will address me from the sanctuary. Or the Ordinary Form with no mention of Jambalaya or sports enthusiasms.So I am asking for the Extraordinary Form.And my aspirations are rightful.

"Catholics, Look East, Look East, Look East..."

"...people, servers, deacons and priest!"
Deacon Greg Kandra had one of those moments so many of us have had regarding the liturgy, when, whether by accident or design we found ourselves engaged in a rarity that used to be routine. "Oh, THAT'S why it was done this way!"

And suddenly it all makes sense.

Save the Liturgy, and We Save the World.

“When people approach the Church, we must offer them beauty"

Let the Church say "Amen!"
Good article in the National Catholic Register about the foundation of Silverstream Priory in Co. Meath, Ireland.
Dom Mark Kirby is one of the most inspiring people I've ever met at a CMAA Colloquium, which is saying a lot because yearly the gathering takes on the aura of a retreat, and if it's possible for an event to be a "spiritual director," it is surely one.

“Dom Benedict [the other monk with whom Dom Mark founded the community at Silverstream] and I were conscious that, in God’s providence, we were called to rekindle the torch that blazed from the Benedictine abbey of Fore in County Westmeath until its suppression under Henry VIII in 1536.”

Oh, and all this makes it seem like the right time to remind my 3.2 regular readers to vote in Church March Madness.
Though I guess that ought, with a nod to liturgical use, to be "Procession Madness."

"Words and Stuff....." and Maybe, Just Maybe... Silence?

Had a disturbing conversation, someone noticed I had traipsed through the nave with a gaggle of children in tow recently, asked me about it -
I told her, yes, it was partially to point out art and items of interest, and explain the liturgical and catechetical purpose of some of the architecture, but mostly to model behavior; cover my head in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, genuflect when necessary, maintain a reverent silence...
They don't know how to behave, do they....? she commiserated.
And I replied, how could they, most adults don't, the noise level before and after Mass, joking and trading recipes, and making golf plans -
But you must remember, it's a social event, too!
When other people are trying to pray?
But some people, that may be the only time they get out all week...
Now, understand,  our climate, weather and architecture are such that there is an embarrassment of riches for places to chat in comfort.
And I'm not an ogre - I am not condemning the wheelchair bound man who it takes two friends to get in to weekday Mass, or the senile and deaf-as-a-post babushka who shouts to ask, whadja say? at every squeak and sound.
And truth be told, the disabled man isn't among the offenders, he's impeccable - it's the Pick-a-little ladies who are heading to a meeting across the parking lot who are going to see each other all day but must start their kaffee klatsch konvo in the pew, and the wealthy retirees who want to make sure everyone hears their travel brag...
No, the simple fact is, many do not behave with reverence before and after the Liturgy, because the so often Liturgy itself transpires with precious little reverence, much less silence.
Fr Douglas Martis had a wonderful piece in Adoremus a few months ago about silence, different kinds, different dimensions. You should read the whole thing, (his words on the word, "mystery" are something I used in class,) but this descriptive phrase is a keeper -

"Invitation not Interdiction"

Again, something about which to talk with my gaggle of kids on Sunday, (in the classroom, not the nave.)
Silence as gift, not punishment. "A feature, not a bug," as the techie types say.
However -
I question his implication that speed and quiet reverence are a zero sum game, and to this end, (that of striking down such a notion,) I'd like to offer the neologism,

Breverence

Frankly, having assisted at more than one Liturgy conducted by Fr Martis, I would say it is a virtue he himself already posesses.
And finally, wihtout getting into the, "Was Shakespeare a Catholic or not?" fracas, a quote from Much Ado always pops into my mind when Silence in the Liturgy is the subject-

Silence is the perfectest herald of joy- I were but little happy if I could say how much.

Mutatis Mutandis

"We should remember why the [changes happened] in the Roman Rite - it was in response to the Council ....which, while not mandating [them] did ask for greater visibility. It’s a judgement call! 

Hmmm... what is being discussed here? The celebrant turning around? the altar moving closer to, or even into the nave? the tossing of the tabernacle veils? The glass kool-aid pitchers?

Strangely, no - not even the correct council! It's the disappearnce of the rood screen curtain in the wake of Trent.

All things are changing, but not as much as we might think.
Patterns, you know.

Because. Human nature.

Monsignor Pope on #AdOrientem

He speaks of the "Gamaliel Rule". I like that.
It's kind of the flip side of my attitude.

But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up…. “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. … In the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” (Acts 5:34-39).

If it is not of God it will not gain adherents? (Though Islam indicates oterhwise.)
Likewise, if it attracts haters - it may be very powerful.

A Hymn and My Happy Place

I think of myself as a fussy, quick-to-compare-and-criticize person, as do most who know me, and I truly am.

That is why it is such a marvelous state of affairs that a tiny and welcome surprise can make me happy all day - please join in a hymn of thanksgiving, number 34 in the missallette.

I think I would willingly and joyfully sing the words of a washing machine owner's manual to PICARDY.
Add to that tune the glorious translation of Gerard Moultrie of the ancient words from the Liturgy of St. James, and I am transported.

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, And with fear and trembling stand; Ponder nothing earthly minded, For with blessing in His hand ,Christ our God to earth descendeth Comes our homage to demand. 

King of kings, yet born of Mary, As of old on earth He stood, Lord of lords, in human vesture, In the body and the blood; He will give to all the faithful His own self for heavenly food. 

Rank on rank the host of heaven Spreads its vanguard on the way, As the Light of light descendeth From the realms of endless day, Comes the powers of hell to vanquishAs the darkness clears away. 

At His feet the six winged seraph, Cherubim with sleepless eye, Veil their faces to the presence, As with ceaseless voice they cry: Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia, Lord Most High!

It is a shame that those who pursue, perhaps favor, a liturgical minimalism are unaware that the most minimal of embellishment, the tiniest extra effort, lengthening the Mass by mere seconds, is often enough to lift it, and the spirits of the congregants into an entirely new realm.

A Pentacostalist makes the Case for Authentic Liturgy

Very worth your while read.

Preach, Brother:

In my experience contemporary church service styles rarely yield the same results as those I've experienced in more formal liturgically-based settings. Why? For three reasons.
1. Most contemporary church gatherings rarely incorporate formal liturgical mechanisms into their order of service
2. Most contemporary church gatherings simply do not create space for reflection
3. Most contemporary church gatherings are more concerned about creating a performance-based program that seeks to keep people entertained, not liturgically engaged.

Need I say, he expounds on these reasons.

Holy Week Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

People seem quite broken up, for reasons noble and otherwise, about the official sanctioning of an illicit act that has been practiced in deliberate and, frankly, insolent disobedience, to whit -
Adding feminae selectae to the mix for the Holy Thursday foot-washing.

No doubt this will contribute to the local economy in some places as the demand for a quick pedi touch-up rises.

I think it can be a bit indelicate, (especially in consideration of the lack of sense, not to say decorum or modesty, too many exhibit in determining their outfits for Church,)  to have a priest kneeling with his face level with... well.

(And I think rewarding the flouting of liturgical law is bone stupid.)

Anyway, let the reminder go out, WEAR TROUSERS, LADIES!

That isn't the change that bothers me, I am alarmed and upset at the prospect of the day of Easter being fixed - oh, not that we and our Orthodox brothers and sisters, (and even the Anglicans, at least what's left of them in 5 to 10 years,) would finally get on the same page, (of the calendar,) but that it should be fixed, without regard to the lunar calendar, on the Xth Sunday of the month of Whosis every year.

 

It is, and should remain the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

The full moon in Holy Week, allowing for pilgrims to travel at night, and for greater visibility in Liturgies and devotions taking place out of doors after sundown is a lovely reminder of the way, even in a post-agrarian society, we are connected to nature, to the earth and the moon and the sun and the stars.

And we should be connected, in a far more profound way than we are connected to the fiscal calendar, or the school year, or when the rates go down for spring break travel.

Don't do it Fathers!
I'm not the only one., by the way, who feels strongly about this.

Reading For Comprehension

An opinion piece in Homiletic and Pastoral Review has occasioned quite a bit of comment in my online ovals, (they are far too off-kilter to call "circles.")
It is called "Questions Regarding the Use of Latin in Celebrating the Mass" and it boils down pretty much to Do you think it should be? and then an answer of No.
The Pharmacist/Philosopher starts off with an example of a verse of a Latin hymn and asks the reader to "pray the text...without performing an internet search or using an online translation."

I'm not typical because I took Latin in middle and high school.
Well, I suppose I should say rather than "took," that I was "given" Latin.
And I gave precious little back.
Oh, I did well enough to get highest marks on the College Board "achievement test", but that tells you all you need to know about the follies of reading too much into test scores.
I've forgotten most of it, but I had no problem with his example, the one word I didn't recognize I could deduce, from the English "irrigation."

Other in my online ovals might think I already knew that verse, but I am a little ashamed to say that while I recognized it as the sequence for Pentecost, I honestly did not know the Latin, I have only ever sung or spoken it in English, (and often done neither as the celebrant didn't have time for all that stuff, optional or otherwise,) but that is neither here nor there.

He goes on to fret about possible lack of understanding of the Eucharistic Prayer/Canon, on the part of the priest, and therefore, a defect in his intention, which would invalidate the Sacrament.
Seriously?
If a celebrant doesn't know, and remember, and understand the EP in his native language well enough to be quite sure of his intentions when reading from a missal in Tagalog, in French, hell, in Klingon, were it licitly translated, HE IS NOT COMPETENT TO SAY MASS PERIOD.

It is odd, is it not? that anti-Latin forces, (among which I count this Pharmacist/Philosopher,) continue to harp on a priest's possible incompetence, lack of comprehension and mispronunciation of Latin, and no one ever seems to campaign against non-Latino priests stumbling through Spanish-language Mass to be pastoral; or worry that the English language Mass celebrated in the United States by your local Ghanaian or Pakistani priest may not be valid.

My, I do go on...
And I haven't even arrived at my actual points.

There are two of them.

One of them is the mistaken message given by too much emphasis on comprehension -- that the miracle of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the confection of the Eucharist, the infusion of Grace by the actions of God the Holy Spirit is somehow open to human understanding.

IT IS NOT.

It is SUPERNATURAL.

It is beyond our comprehension.

And the other is amusement that the type of Catholic, (I do not include the Pharmacist/Philosopher in this, I have no idea of where he stands on this,) who is most likely to say that the people can't PRAY unless the WORDS are simple enough and familiar enough, is also the type of Catholic most likely to love and repeat ad nausum the probably misattributed to St Francis of Assisi, "PREACH the Gospel at all times, if  necessary, use WORDS."

It seems to me that the Person to Whom prayers are directed is more sure to understand them perfectly even if we don't use words than is the person to whom preaching the Gospel is directed, no?

Maybe that's just me.

(Oh, and whilst I think of it, "Some of the differences between the two Masses are the direction the priest faces while celebrating the Mass, the music, the prayers, and the languages used during the celebrations"? Umm.... no. Of  those four exactly ONE is actually a "differences between the two Masses.")

Haunted..., no, VISITED by a Liturgical Memory

Did you ever assist at a Mass that, for what ever reason, continued to occupy your thoughts and your feelings for long afterward?

I have been very fortunate, much superb preaching, much stirring music, much careful and precise prayer, much authentic emotion, much manifest "active love" in my lifetime, far more than liturgies that haunt one for the opposite reasons.

But the one that has all but obsessed me now for a week stands out for... well, for the reason that nothing about it "stands out," utter simplicity*, utter focus, utter simplicity, utter God-ward motion.

It was one single prayer offered to the Father by the Son in the Holy Spirit.

It was seamless.

I like gorgeousness, I like splendor. These are not the same as ostentation, but I have to remind myself at times that Beauty avails Herself of a broad range of aesthetics and styles, so that by the same token minimalism and simplicity are not the same as shabbiness or homeliness.

My tastes are naturally formed somewhat by good experience, nostalgia, fond associations - but I think I can be objective in my judgements, as well, and I think the plain fact is that some styles and aesthetics lend themselves more to liturgical use, are more powerfully able to accomplish the evanglization and catechesis that is required of them.

Any way, my Mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception just hit that sweet spot. I was travelling, for pete's sake, and it was almost pure chance!

Sometimes I think I'm just to lucky to live. (For LONG, Aunt Scelata! I can hear my squeaky voiced little niece reprimanding me for shortchanging an expression she likes, "2 lucky 2 live 4 long" is how it goes!)

I'll have to write a bit more of it when I can.
.........................................................................
*"Noble simplicity" properly understood - This is as good a definition and concise a description as any: noble simplicity, at least as Winckelmann first defined it, properly refers to a unity of physical and spiritual elements in a work of art, and was used by him to refer to classical Greek sculpture, which is a world apart from the misshapen gnomes that populate OCP clip art. You could make the case that good Gothic, Baroque or Romanesque has the quality of noble simplicity.

The Tridentine Low Mass as a "Sane and Solemn Tonic" to Liturgical Shenanigans

Kevin Di Camillo has a lovely piece at NCRegister about his discovery of the Extraordinary Form.

I am, of course, disposed to give a friendly hearing to the ideas of anyone who flat out says,

"I had no 'reaction' to the 'new Mass', no axe to grind, no animosity— only a vague curiosity as to why Pope Benedict (who, if nothing else, was obviously a bona fide genius......) would 'bring back the Latin Mass.'" [emphasis supplied]

And although our experiences were very different, he shared this question with me - what is this strange thing that so many find "so appalling"?

It was the irrational virulence of that ... hatred is not too strong a word... that demanded of me to experience something so apparently frightening and powerful.

It is, of course, easy to throw the new Mass under the bus, and that is (a) wrong, and (b) not my point. My point is simply that in a world where we each have more email, voicemail, texts, meetings, and Skype-chats than we could possibly digest in a lifetime, the Tridentine Mass offers a complete contemplative oasis. You have the right to be silent when you pray. True, on Sunday at the Novus Ordo, we SHOULD sing "loud-and-proud"— but at Low Mass you can be, you MUST be, silent before your God.
This I found (and find) wonderfully fulfilling — and terrifying. “Fulfilling” in the sense of theosis: as the Mass culminates in Holy Communion, one is literally filled with the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is, of course, absolutely true in the Novus Ordo as well— but this is “terrifying” in that the quieter it is the more one is AWARE that this is happening. Christ becomes present again, and we are about to receive him in perfect silence— not even an "Amen" after communicating.

I'll just add, I myself prefer a diffident dialogue Mass, but different strokes...

Am I the only American Catholic disturbed that Mo Rocca...

... is identified in the program for the Mass at the Garden as "lector"?

"Lector" is some instituted in a minor order.

Mo Rocca is not one, (so far as I know. I am nearly certain that the Archdiocese of New York does not institute lectors.)

I am not one.

We are both "lay readers."

I take a valid interest in having Catholic terminology correctly applied.

(I have no valid interest in anyones private life that he or she has kept private.)

The Glories of a Maximalist Approach to Liturgy

I am always surprised at liturgists who get sniffy about "minimalism," only seem to do so at not splashing around enough holy water, or niggardliness in the distribution of ashes, or horrors! the 'incomplete sign" of Communion offered under a single species.
The ones who, rightly decry those always seem to be in the "Bells? we don' need to rin'you no stinkin' bells" camp, and often mock incense and splendorous appointments and vestments.

Because of... I'm really not sure of what, perhaps the availability of a celebrant? because of whatever there have been several Eastern Rite Divine Liturgies I was fortunate enough to be able to attend because they were on weekdays.

The feast for the senses that even the tiniest Byzantine congregation is able to offer worshippers is something more Latin Rite parishes should take pointers from.

None of it depends on bigger amplifiers.

Fr Glen Pothier is a treasure. Such preaching! (He's bi-ritual, I believe I heard.)

And I hope this isn't sacrilegious, someone else at the Liturgy,  apparently not Eastern, murmured afterwards, that the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ was, "so delicious!" and I'd have to concur.

My only cavil, is that the chrism they use, overwhelmingly fragant, and beautiful - maybe anointing isn't the time to be maximalist.

Chrism burns the holy bejebbies out of your eyes if it runs down your face.

Ad Orientem and College-ruled Notebook Paper

I've been hearing of more and more parishes, more and more priests that are tentatively attempting a move toward worship ad orientem. And their are some sound reasons behind it, and advantages to it.

1. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is experienced as having a theocentric direction and focus.
2. The faithful are spared the tiresome clerocentrism that has so overtaken the celebration of Holy Mass in the past forty years.
3. It has once again become evident that the Canon of the Mass (Prex Eucharistica) is addressed to the Father, by the priest, in the name of all.
4. The sacrificial character of the Mass is wonderfully expressed and affirmed.
5. Almost imperceptibly one discovers the rightness of praying silently at certain moments, of reciting certain parts of the Mass softly, and of cantillating others.
6. It affords the priest celebrant the boon of a holy modesty.
7. I find myself more and more identified with Christ, Eternal High Priest and Hostia perpetua, in the liturgy of the heavenly sanctuary, beyond the veil, before the Face of the Father.
8. During the Canon of the Mass I am graced with a profound recollection.
9. The people have become more reverent in their demeanour.
10. The entire celebration of Holy Mass has gained in reverence, attention, and devotion.

 I know there are those who consider it a shibboleth that some Trads, or crypto-Trads make too much of, but here's the way I think of it:
Is it necessary?
No.
It is possible, to take on that list of rationales, for the people to remember that God is the center of the Mass; the priest to subsume his personality, to make it clear the Father is being addressed, to convey the reality of the Sacrifice, and to modulate his volume appropriately and meaningfully; and for all to be reverent and recollected; in a Mass celebrated versus populum.

Yes.

It is possible.

But how frequently none of that occurs! You may say not all that often, (I would argue with you, but you may,) but even once is far too many times!

The ad orientem posture of the priest is a tool that can help all that happen.

If perfection has not been reached, WHY WOULD YOU DEPRIVE YOURSELVES OF THAT TOOL????

 I cannot write a line of text without ruled paper without drifting up or meandering to the lower edge of the sheet.
Why would I want to do away with lined paper?

Do you paint, sew, bake, do carpentry? Some people can eyeball things, but most of us need to measure. What shame is there in that?

Because there are those rare actors who, sans costume, sans make-up, sans sets and lighting can BECOME SOMEONE ELSE, and not just transfix their audience but TRANSPORT them, to another place, another time - shall we do away with all the accoutrements of theatre?
Where does that leave the actors who are not Ralph Richardson, or Magda Olivero, or Anthony Hopkins? (Not to mention their audiences.)

Because my great-aunt Gen could feed a veritable banquet to a family of two dozen with a few cans, a loaf of bread, a wood stove, and a rare sort of genius, shall we sneer at those who need fresh food and a modern kitchen to even achieve "palatable"?

Yes, all the advantages derived from ad orientem can be achieved without.

But I have yet to learn of any advantage to versus populum.

Is there one?

"Take and Eat," "Take" Being the Operative Word?

You learn something new, or rather, old, every day.

Officially,

it is permissible to adopt a simpler procedure, namely, allowing the faithful themselves to take the host from the ciborium or paten. The faithful should consume the host before returning to their place; the minister's part will be brought out by use of the usual formulary, The body of Christ, to which the communicant replies: Amen.

Yes, it may be that -

[Note: Rome later forbid the Communicant to take the Host themselves.]

But still.... 
(I'm aware that neither EWTN nor Colin Donovan have any authority in and of themselves, but I have found EWTN almost unimpeachable in their quoting of authoritative sources, and until I find Notitiae, et al. officially translated, and freely available online....)

The Divine Liturgy

I love the Roman Rite.

But there is a special joy in attending the Eastern Church's Divine Liturgy. I have heard people joke about the need to "sing for your supper," but the fact is, one is so invested in the execution of the liturgy, it is almost impossible not to enter prayerfully into the Other Time, Other Place, Other Reality that rite worship entails.

I think every Roman Catholic should somehow be required to make periodic visits to other rites, of those who belong to the same One Church, Ruthenian Catholic, Anglican Use, Maronite Catholic...

So many of us belong to St Thewaywedoithere's parish, and ignore legitimate diversity while worshipping in the Expedient Rite.

I am far from perfect, and have made many mistakes over the years, but I realized recently that in all the times I was scolded, or asked in a backhanded way by someone after a Mass or LotH, whether choir member, liturgy committee rep, priest, or PIP; whether at my parish or someplace I was subbing, or even volunteering an helping out - I have never been called to account on anything that actually was wrong.

Not only not wrong, but never, as far as I can easily recall, in a matter where there were legitimate options and I had simply chosen an unfamiliar one.
No, people are most eager to complain and attempt correction when they are most certain of something -- and they are never more certain of something than when they are wrong.

Why did you start the communion song before Father had finished his communion? You're supposed to wait, count to five and then announce the hymn!
We're not supposed to do the Creed on Sundays in Ordinary time.
You left out the alleluia on Ash Wednesday!
It's not called the Offertory anymore.
What was that song about David during the palms?
I waited and waited, but you skipped the Lord Have Mercy! 
Why don't you ever do the Memorial Acclamation that starts, "we remember how you loved us..."?
The Church did away with the Reproaches!
We always used that hymn for the psalm before...
It's wrong to sing Marian songs during Mass.

But I've drifted off topic.

The Divine Liturgy.

GO!

 

"Little Ships" Failing In Their Duty To the Fleet

I have never been a true "Traditionalist" in the current Catholic meaning of the term.
For a long time, I was pretty unaware of the sectarianism among those who call themselves Catholic, unaware to the point of obtuseness I now know.
I was a secular musician, and nomadic enough to attend an enormous number of different parishes, chapels, monasteries since I never failed to fulfill my "obligation," (and in fact, was devout enough in a detached way, to attend weekday Masses as well,) -- and I thought the vast differences I observed were mostly due to aesthetics and the taste, or lack thereof, of the priest and music director.

If it was available to me, I was glad to go to a Mass in Latin but this was simply because the music that one heard with Latin lyrics was almost invariably better music than the music one might encounter sung in English or Spanish.
I don't think I was actually aware that there was an "old rite" and a "new rite" and if I was, I would have said that the essential difference was the language in which it was offered.

My impression from childhood was that the Mass changed a whole lot every few months anyway - Oh, new laminated "pew cards" this week, different words for the Creed now.
Oh, Father is coming down and walking around  in the aisles during his sermon now.
Oh, a woman is doing the readings now.
Oh, the other priests don't come over from the rectory now to distribute communion, one of them just stands there and we move past him rather than him moving past us.
Oh, the servers just sit around doing nothing during Mass now.

You know, like that.
So as I heard Mass in a multiplicity of venues, the differences I encountered at first just seemed more of them same. Gradually, I realized that the idiosyncrasies observed were not a result of changes the Church, big "c", had made, but  peculiarities of this church, little "c", this parish, this priest, this part of the country.
So that Latin Mass I had attended? it not just wasn't the same Mass, it wasn't the same Church, there were "Catholics" who were not in communion with Rome, or were in communion with Rome by their own reckoning but wasn't it a shame? there wasn't a real Pope in Rome at the moment.

But wait - this chapel, this other one, did recognize the same Pope as I - but the Church doesn't recognize them?

As I said, as I came to understand exactly what had been occurring in Catholicism, I wasn't really a Trad because - well,  I think A reform was necessary. It just wasn't THE reform that we got.

And I also began to love the old form, but without hating the new one, (I did hate the new theology that many of its supporters incorrectly believed was at its heart and was necessary.)

But Lordie, it was hard to keep track of! who ARE these people? where do THEY stand?
And of course, it wasn't black and white, there were profoundly orthodox people with a laissez faire attitude toward liturgy, there were preservationists who would do anything to support truly Catholic sacred music who were more or less atheists...
I actually made myself a kind of "scorecard", showing the continuum of players in the game, from right-wing crazies with their own Pope Skippy in Arkansas to leftist loonies who thought Gaia and Yahweh were the power couple of the cosmos , so I could remember, as I read, where, judging from their alliances, (yeah, guilt by association,) they were coming from, since even stopped clocks are right twice a day, and even an idiot may teach you something profound and true.

What a scandal, this lack of unity.

I confess I find it somewhat more difficult to suss out the positions of those on the right flank of Catholicism's host, the Ecclesia Militans, (have to use the Latin so no one thinks I'm referring to a particualr media-savvy faction,) because of the heat, even anger I think I see there.

So I am grateful to Bishop Athanasius Schneider, who always seems able to respond to others with both charity and precision, (I love that in our Pope Emeritus as well, and wish, wish, wish, wish that dear Francis, so gifted in the former seems incapable of the latter.)

The current situation of the Church is similar to that of the Arian Crisis in the 4th century: there is a naval battle in the night, where the enemies of the Church attack vehemently the big ship of the Church, whereas in the same time little ships of several true Catholic groups attacks one another, instead of make a common defense against the enemies.

(And that, dear reader, is as good a defense as you are likely to find, for us all to, um... face the same way.)

Cardinal Sarah on the Liturgy

Many thanks to Jeff Ostrowski for this round-up of wisdom and insight from the head of the CDW.
And since Jeff's title evokes a Lettermanesque approach to things, I will asnwer a rhetorical question of Fulton Sheen which appears in the email heralding this article - They say this.  They say that.  WHO ARE «THEY» ? - in viewer mail one night  Dave supplied the answer to this very question. In reply to the query, when they say "you know what they say" who's the "they" they mean? Dave told us. "The Van Pattens."

"You know what I say..."

Incidentally, I think he might be Catholic.
Van Patten, not Letterman.
I digress.

Anway, this was my favorite thing he, (Ostrowski, not Van Pattan,) said that he, (Sarah, not Letterman) said -

"When the Holy Father, Pope Francis, asked me to accept the ministry of Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, I asked: ‘Your Holiness, how do you want me to exercise this ministry? What do you want me to do as Prefect of this Congregation?’ The Holy Father's reply was clear. ‘I want you to continue to implement the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council,’ he said, ‘and I want you to continue the good work in the liturgy begun by Pope Benedict XVI.'”