Happy Summorum Pontificum Day!

Yes, in case you'd forgotten, it's two years since the Holy Father issued the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum liberating the Extraordinary Form/Tridentine Mass/Old Rite/Traditional Latin Mass/Gregorian Rite of Mass (how have we come up with so many titles for it over 40 years?), and the same Pope has decided to release his third encyclical letter on the same day. On another note, you may have found a rather interesting article about the arrival of Mass in Chinese, which whatever one's views on is still fascinating.

Seen this?

Right now I'm fairly sure that the blogosphere has been buzzing with people looking at reports of yesterday's Pontifical High Mass at Westminster Cathedral, so I thought something a little different might be in order.

At the risk of displaying preferential treatment, Oliver has put up a little piece on allegiance to the Queen. If your latin is as bad as mine, then you may find it a tad difficult, but you shouldn't find the point too hard to understand.

In what I believe may be a first (possibly even a historic moments) Bishop Williamson has given an interview which is unusually free from outrageous and hilarious statements. Fr Z has given his customary reply with points. I can't help but feel that a radio or TV discussion between these two would be very interesting.

Finally, the Ceremoniere has a post many of us may identify with.

Turning up the heat

Our Lenten observances and resolutions should intensify during Holy Week, and if we haven't done much already, then this provides an opportunity to start now.

Bear in mind that as well as 'mortification of the flesh'-which can mean anything from using a good old-fashioned discipline to flog oneself with (as used by Silas in that highly accurate book, The Da Vinci Code) to fasting. Another highly profitable idea which has just sprung up in my mind is to stop reading and nattering on-as I do-about liturgical reform and about other usual 'churchy' issues, in order to concentrate on Holy Week. Hopefully this will provide more time for important things such as prayer and introduce a little more balance into my life.

Of course this means I will have to stop visiting Holy Smoke for a few days (sigh), but I will not be removing it from the links list-that way if any of you would like to use my idea, then you will have the opportunity to resist the temptation and hopefully grow in grace.

God bless.

For the record: I would like to emphasise that what I do not intend to discuss is liturgical reform. I am almost inevitably going to discuss the liturgical practice in the ordinary and/or extraordinary form, but will not be ranting or avoiding it altogether. Otherwise, I wouldn't be sharing these delightful pictures! Thanks Carolina!

New on the blogosphere

My term is now over, so I now have a little more time for blogging-not that I'm trying to allow myself much time for it as I have a lot of work to before before going back to university, and am trying to spend less time over Holy Week on the internet.

Visiting Lacrimarum Valle this morning, I came across this rather good blog by one of our brethren in the West. As you can see, he has something of a soft spot for liturgy, Catholic history, and the Venerable Pius XII-my cup of tea entirely!

Then of course, there are no shortage of lovely pictures at Hallowed Ground (as usual).

Enjoy!

Where has the time gone?

Yes, the first post of 2008, and it has taken me this long to do so! Well, as I may have mentioned before, I am trying to prioritise things and haven't exactly managed to crank out much. To be very honest, I don't really see the point in doing so as a lot of bloggers say the same thing-yes, they say it in different ways I know, and this is useful-but I don't see much point in providing more 'dithering material' as it were for people to waste their time with. Instead, I will try at least to point you in the right direction of some interesting or profitable reading matter on and off the internet.

Case in point: With all the blogs around the world rattling on about the Good Friday Prayer, I indeed understand why it is an issue dear to many hearts (including my own), but see no need to issue a statement on how and why I feel about it-there's time better spent by both of us praying.

Oh, and just to re-assure you, I am going to try to produce less posts about the Liturgy-again, something which there is an awful lot of about online, and therefore not needing any further commentary from yours truly.

Happy Lent! God bless!

Viva il Papa!

I know that it is now a week after the Holy Father released Summorum Pontificum, but we should still be grateful for this wonderful grace. Thank you Holy Father!
Across the blogosphere are a number of posts deriding the bishops and expressing delight that they have been upset by the Motu Proprio. Please pardon this small rant, but that kind of thing really annoys me. The actions, views, and comments of some bishops can be unfortunate, but Catholics (especially those who consider themselves more Traditional) should remember that the bishops are the successors of the Apostles. We may well not get on with the office-holder, but we should still respect the office which they hold.
So as not to end on a sour note, there has been a rather encouraging reaction from the Archbishop of Mumbai, which further demonstrates how the need for genuine liturgical renewal is hardly a 'Eurocentric' issue. Let's thank God for such a wise reaction, and for a Pope who has granted a great boon to the entire Church.

Deo Gratias!

The Sacrament of Love

I have been wondering lately if we take the Mass for granted. I am afraid that I have done so in the past, and in retrospect, that was-and is-a silly and sinful thing to do. I recently came across this marvellous website of Padre Pio devotions, and found a very simple yet profound remark of his:

If only we knew how God regards this Sacrifice, we would risk our lives to be present at a single Mass.

Now that is an uncomplicated dose of the truth. I do not intend to say much further on this matter other than: we should constantly thank God for the adorable Sacrament of the Altar, and always be grateful for being able to hear Mass. If you need some further inspiration, click here.

Coming to a Parish near you?

I expect that most of you have watched the splendid video of order being restored to an altar for a celebration of the Traditional Roman Rite. Speaking of which, I am sure that like me, you are feeling just a little disgruntled with the continued hype over when exactly the speculated Motu Proprio arrives. Well, I was silly enough to be encouraged by the rumours that it would be released before Easter, I should have known better. I am making a firm purpose of amendment not to indulge in any further speculation about when it is going to appear. Instead, I am going to double my efforts in praying for the lifting of restrictions on the celebration of this Rite, and invite all of you (who have not done so already) to join me in doing so.

Mandatum

Lucky old me (Don't worry, I am not being smug, I am being sarcastic). This evening I am going to have my feet washed, and I can't say I'm looking forward to it. It may well be accepted by all religions and cultures that the feet are probably the least attractive parts of the anatomy. Hence, the idea of a priest In Persona Christi washing my feet makes me feel more than a little uncomfortable, and I daresay the apostles weren't exactly keen on the idea when Our Lord performed this task. Let us follow the advice of Gueranger:

"the feet are those earthly attachments, which so often lead us to the brink of sin. Let us watch over our senses, and the affections of our hearts. Let us wash away these stains by a sincere confession, by penance, by sorrow, and by humility; that thus we may worthily receive the adorable Sacrament, and derive from it the fulness of its power and grace."

Gueranger, The Liturgical Year-Passiontide and Holy Week. Translated by Dom Laurence Sheppard OSB, 1929. London, Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd.

Holy Week in the Holy Land

There are some rather interesting photos of the Latin Rite Community's Holy Week celebrations in Jerusalem. I will probably not be posting regularly for a while, so I wish you all a prayerful and blessed Holy Week!

A thought on the rumour

With the blogosphere buzzing for the last few months with the rumour of a Motu Proprio being granted in order to lift restrictions on the Traditional Roman Rite, I had resolved to keep quiet (I was not ignoring the elephant in the room, I was wasn't giving it attention), but have decided to finally share my thoughts with you on this matter.
We have had a number of rumours and suggestions from from credible sources which suggest that the Motu Proprio is imminent. Most of these however, are just unconfirmed rumours and have not been made in writing. The general consensus appears to be that it is a matter of "when, not if". Whilst this may well be the case, we simply cannot be sure. With this in mind, I am convinced that we should stop speculating on when it is going to appear. Instead, we must pray for the Supreme Pontiff and for the Holy Church, and we must also be patient-I know perfectly well that this is not easy, but by supporting the Holy Father through prayer, we will achieve more.
Our Blessed Lady, Seat of Wisdom and St Joseph, patron of the Universal Church, pray for us.

A change of tide

There is a very encouraging article about a parish where it has been decided that girls will no longer be recruited as altar servers. Now, before the egalitarian readers of this blog (if there are any) start to shriek, please allow me to explain the benefits of such a decision. It was once considered a great privilege to serve Holy Mass. It was a means by which many vocations to the sacred priesthood were discovered and nurtured. On this basis alone, it should be clear that a parish priest who only permits boys to serve Mass is not a misogynist, but is trying to encourage young men to consider a vocation as a priest or religious (and goodness knows we need them). Unfortunately, the current trend nowadays is that it must be something which everyone can enjoy. Again, this is a well-meant idea, but poorly considered. Serving the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass should not be something 'to enjoy', it is a responsibility and a privilege, and this should be remembered as such. In case anyone would like to hear a lady's view on the subject, I can do no better than to recommend this article by Joanna Bogle. And please don't hesitate to share your views!

A little light humour

This morning, a random thought came to mind, inspired by Martin Mosebach's The Heresy of formlessness. When Monsignor Annibale Bugnini (for those of you who don't know, he is responsible for the liturgical 'reforms' of Vatican II and trying to extinguish the old rite) dies, he is met by his guardian angel to take him before the Most Just Judge. En route, the angel says to Bugnini "You certainly know how to amuse us", to which he replies "How do you mean?". "Well", says the angel, "we have been celebrating the divine liturgy for a while now. Did you really think you could make your own up?".

Let all mortal flesh keep silence

How sad it is that earlier today, I attended a concert where there was greater concentration given and attention paid by the audience than by some people at a Mass I attended on Saturday. I am pleased that the performer was given the silence which any musician deserves when performing, but it reflects badly on Catholics who talk to one another during Holy Communion. Not long ago, I heard a sermon given by a priest whom had invited an Orthodox lady to Solemn Mass, only to be told "Your people have no respect for the sacred, Father. They were talking to one another, parents were letting their children run around screaming, and a telephone went off". Unfortunately, that last item is something which many of us are all too familiar with these days.
Decidedly, one of the many things about the Traditional Roman Rite which I love dearly is the silent Canon. There is a very fine homily on this, which was given at the launch of CIEL UK.
Before Christmas, I was blessed with a very beautifully celebrated Missa Cantata. Somebody asked me afterwards: "How long was it?", to which I replied "I honestly don't remember, but there is no passage of time in Heaven, and we were given a glimpse of eternity." This is what the sacred liturgy must be rembered as : a foretaste of the Divine liturgy. Not something which is planned or suggested, but something which raises our minds to Heavenly things. And few things are as effective in this respect as silence is.

Conversi ad Dominum

Fr Ray Blake has a rather encouraging post about the celebration of the Novus Ordo Missae ad orientem (facing the East). Catholics often assume (wrongly) that the Novus Ordo (New rite) can only be celebrated versus populum (facing the people). To explain this, I can offer no better answer than to look at a short pamphlet on the subject by Michael Davies. There are extracts from his book The Catholic Sanctuary and Vatican II on the Latin Mass Society website. More recently, an excellent book was written by Fr Uwe Michael Lang, entitled Turning towards the Lord. In this book, Fr Lang explains that the celebration of the Novus Ordo ad orientem is not forbidden, and that the celebration of the Mass in this orientation was in fact the norm for the early Church. In some Catholic churches, the celebration of the Novus Ordo ad orientem (for instance, the Brompton Oratory) is not unknown, but still remains an unusual practice in most Roman rite churches. Yet signs that this practice is growing appeared last year, when Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith (the secretary for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments) gave a very favourable address at the presentation of the Italian translation of the book. What is particularly encouraging however, is that a parish priest has taken the favourable decision to celebrate Mass ad orientem in his own church. Let us pray that more parish priests will be willing to do so.

Address to Institut

The New Liturgical Movement has very generously posted Cardinal Arinze's address to the Institut Superieur de Liturgie. I will shortly be posting a commentary on this address, but in the meantime, let me say how refreshing I found this particular point which he made:

young people will not desire to join a band of clerics who seem uncertain of their mission, who criticize and disobey their Church and who celebrate their own "liturgies" according to their personal choices and theories.

Spot on, Eminence. Many young Catholics whom I know are not impressed by liturgical 'creativity', and are fed up with being patronised by older Catholics whom suggest they want something more 'accessible' or 'friendly'. Stay tuned for further reflections.

News of the old rite

There is a rather concise and readable article in the US Spectator by Thomas J. Craughwell about the Holy Father's reported talks with French Bishops over allowing greater celebration of the traditional Roman rite. He points out (quite correctly) that: "He (Pope Benedict) is not going to abolish the New Mass.". If a Catholic to whom you are talking to begins to panic, then politely point out that the lifting of restrictions on the old rite does not herald a replacement of the Novus Ordo. Not by a longshot. I have met a number of such Catholics whom will avoid even a Novus Ordo Mass in Latin like the plague, and if you are to mention your interest, they often cry "Why go back to all that?" (I am not intentionally being polemical, this has happened to me). It seems that many opponents of the traditional Mass are afraid that it will replace the Novus Ordo Missae. Not in this papacy-the Holy Father may (and hopefully) end the restrictions on the traditional Rite, and pursue a 'reform of the reform', but he is very unlikely to ban the post-conciliar Ordo.
My one complaint with Craughwell's article is when he states "the traditional Mass with its traditional theology". The Catholic Church has altered the liturgy, but it cannot add or subtract from the sacred Deposit of Faith, and so the theology which formed the traditional rite should theoretically be the same as that which forms all rites of the Church. Otherwise, this is an admirably succinct and intelligent presentation of the changes to the liturgy-ideal reading for those whom are new to the situation.