Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Overdue correction...
I know that I haven't been active on this blog in a while, my apologies, but I just noticed that I made an error (or two) when hyperlinking to GRANT THEM REST, is should have been http://grant-them-rest.blogspot.com/ (...again my apologies.)
Thursday, December 27, 2007
(Late) Feast of the Immaculate Conception at San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, AZ
I should have posted this earlier (seeing as how I was there and all), but I just stumbled across this article today.
In The Catholic Sun, the article titled "Spreading the Good News in an old way" comments on the first Latin Mass in a generation to be celebrated at Arizona's oldest church.
In The Catholic Sun, the article titled "Spreading the Good News in an old way" comments on the first Latin Mass in a generation to be celebrated at Arizona's oldest church.
Latin Mass draws faithful to beauty, mystery
By J.D. Long-García, The Catholic Sun
December 20, 2007
TUCSON — For the first time in nearly 40 years, Catholics celebrated the Latin-language Tridentine Mass at the historic San Xavier del Bac Mission.
Members of Mater Misericordiae Mission, which offers the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, traveled to the Franciscan mission Dec. 8 to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
“The Blessed Mother, conceived without sin, that’s the feast day we celebrate today,” said Fr. Kenneth Fryar, FSSP, the mission’s pastor, during his brief homily. It’s one of the few parts of the Mass that isn’t in Latin.
He said Pius IX declared the Immaculate Conception an article of faith, which “is to be firmly and constantly believed.” The pope made the declaration in 1854 in the constitution Ineffabilis Deus.
Mater Misericordiae (“Mother of Mercy”) offers every sacrament according to the Roman Missal of 1962. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted established the mission in 2005.
“Some people think that the Latin Mass is a step backwards. But it really isn’t,” said Monica Smith, a member of the mission. “It’s a celebration of our faith.”
She said Mater Misericordiae seeks to expose Catholics to the Latin-language Mass, which had not been celebrated in the Phoenix Diocese before the mission began.
In addition to the Latin language, another major difference between the old and new Masses is the direction the priest faces. In the older form, the priest mostly faces the tabernacle, looking away from the congregation.
While some believe seeing the priest’s back disconnects him from the congregation, Latin Mass regulars recognize that this gesture calls attention to the Blessed Sacrament.
Throughout the Dec. 8 Mass, Fr. Fryar bowed in the direction of the tabernacle, the focal point in the Tridentine Mass.
“My face is not important,” he said after the Mass, calling to mind the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
At Tridentine Masses, the priest administers the Blessed Sacrament on the tongue while the faithful kneel. Many women in the congregation wear veils.
Reclaiming Latin
Smith, who has fond memories of attending the Mass as a child, began attending the Tridentine Mass because she felt it would help her connect to the mystery of the Eucharist.
“It’s so beautiful because it’s taken right from Scripture,” she said. Pope Pius V promulgated the Latin Tridentine Mass in 1570 after the Council of Trent.
Joe Bright, who sits on the mission’s pastoral council, began attending the Tridentine Mass out of state before it was celebrated in Phoenix.
“The prayers are just so beautiful — the gestures, the rubrics,” he said. Bright said the 1962 Missal, which provides an English translation adjacent to the Latin, is easy to follow.
“It helps you expand as a person,” he said.
Bright’s family is one of 150 that attend the mission’s Masses, which are celebrated daily at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish.
Fr. Fryar also offers a Sunday Mass at St. Thomas, as well as at St. Cecilia Mission in Clarkdale and the first Sunday of the month at All Saints Parish in Mesa.
Fr. Fryar is a priest with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, a society that forms priests to celebrate the extraordinary form of the Roman rite.
At Mater Misericordiae Masses, young children attend the Tridentine Mass with their parents and young adults attend with their peers.
While the mission’s numbers are steady, the Latin language is becoming more widespread in the Church. Many parishes are incorporating Latin into the liturgy and this summer Pope Benedict liberalized the celebration of the Tridentine Mass.
“In some regions not a small number of the faithful have been and remain attached with such great love and affection to the previous liturgical forms,” the pope explained in Summorum Pontificum. “The Latin liturgy in its various forms has stimulated the spiritual life of very many saints.”
Many members of Mater Misericordiae welcomed this apostolic letter, issued “motu proprio” (on his own initiative), and see it as reaffirming their mission.
“It’s really good news,” Smith said. “I think it helps people to realize that we’re just reclaiming something that’s always been ours, has always been the Church’s."
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Citing beliefs, pharmacist drops birth control...
Billings Gazette
This is truly a way of putting one's money where their faith is. Please pray for John and his witness of faith.
You can also see John's letter to the people of Broadus on page 10 of the December issue of the Harvest, the newspaper of the Diocese of Great Falls Billings.
BROADUS - Pharmacist John Lane believes he has a responsibility to serve humankind through his profession.
Lane, who converted to Catholicism 10 years ago, also believes the "humankind" he pledged to protect includes fertilized eggs that, because of oral contraceptives, are not able to implant in a woman's uterus and grow into a baby.
Beginning Jan. 1, Lane will no longer dispense birth control pills to his customers in Powder River County.
In a town of 450 people, Lane's decision will force customers to either get oral contraceptives by mail or drive 80 miles to the nearest pharmacy. Women who meet income requirements will still be able to get birth control pills through the public health nurse.
This is truly a way of putting one's money where their faith is. Please pray for John and his witness of faith.
You can also see John's letter to the people of Broadus on page 10 of the December issue of the Harvest, the newspaper of the Diocese of Great Falls Billings.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Pope to Purge the Vatican of Modern Music
Read article here.
The Pope is considering a dramatic overhaul of the Vatican in order to force a return to traditional sacred music.
After reintroducing the Latin Tridentine Mass, the Pope wants to widen the use of Gregorian chant and baroque sacred music.
In an address to the bishops and priests of St Peter's Basilica, he said that there needed to be "continuity with tradition" in their prayers and music.
He referred pointedly to "the time of St Gregory the Great", the pope who gave his name to Gregorian chant.
Gregorian chant has been reinstituted as the primary form of singing by the new choir director of St Peter's, Father Pierre Paul.
He has also broken with the tradition set up by John Paul II of having a rotating choir, drawn from churches all over the world, to sing Mass in St Peter's.
The Pope has recently replaced the director of pontifical liturgical celebrations, Archbishop Piero Marini, with a man closer to his heart, Mgr Guido Marini. It is now thought he may replace the head of the Sistine Chapel choir, Giuseppe Liberto.
The International Church Music Review recently criticised the choir, saying: "The singers wanted to overshout each other, they were frequently out of tune, the sound uneven, the conducting without any artistic power, the organ and organ playing like in a second-rank country parish church."
Mgr Valentin Miserachs Grau, the director of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, which trains church musicians, said that there had been serious "deviations" in the performance of sacred music.
"How far we are from the true spirit of sacred music. How can we stand it that such a wave of inconsistent, arrogant and ridiculous profanities have so easily gained a stamp of approval in our celebrations?" he said.
He added that a pontifical office could correct the abuses, and would be "opportune". He said: "Due to general ignorance, especially in sectors of the clergy, there exists music which is devoid of sanctity, true art and universality."
Mgr Grau said that Gregorian chant was the "cardinal point" of liturgical music and that traditional music "should become again the living soul of the assembly".
The Pope favoured the idea of a watchdog for church music when he was the cardinal in charge of safeguarding Catholic doctrine.
He is known to be a strong supporter of Mgr Grau, who is also in charge of the Cappella Liberiana of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
Card. Ottaviani and the Ottaviani Intervention
Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani, PhD, STD, JCD (October 29, 1890—August 3, 1979) was an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Secretary of the Holy Office in the Roman Curia from 1959 to 1966 when that dicastery was reorganized as the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, of which he was Pro-Prefect until 1968.
Ottaviani was a prominent figure in the Church during his time, and was the leading conservative voice at the Second Vatican Council.
Biography
Ottaviani was born in Rome; his father was a baker. He studied with the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Trastevere, at the Pontifical Roman Seminary and the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare, from where he received his doctorates in philosophy, theology, and canon law. He was ordained to the priesthood on March 18, 1916. On January 12, 1953, he was both appointed Pro-Secretary of the Holy Office and created Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria in Domnica by Pope Pius XII.
On November 7, 1959, he was named the Vatican's chief doctrinal guardian as Secretary of the Holy Office. Ottaviani was appointed Titular Archbishop of Berrhoea on April 5, 1962, receiving his episcopal consecration on the following April 19 from Pope John XXIII himself, with Giuseppe Cardinal Pizzardo and Benedetto Cardinal Aloisi Masella serving as co-consecrators. He later resigned his titular see in 1963.
He was the leader of the Curial conservatives during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and worked with, amongst others, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, CSSp. During the last of the Council's preparatory sessions, Ottaviani engaged in a heated debated with Augustin Cardinal Bea over the subject of religious liberty.[1] Ottaviani, while opposed to the separation of Church and State and granting equal rights to all religions, supported religious tolerance—suppressing public manifestations of non-Catholic religions when possible. Their confrontation became so intense that Ernesto Cardinal Ruffini had to intervene, noting his disappointment at such a "serious discussion". Ottaviani also argued during the debates on the liturgy[2][3] and on the sources of Divine Revelation,[4] which are understood as Scripture and Tradition in Catholic theology.
He was opposed in his movements for a rapid Council, by the intercession of the Austrian Franz Cardinal König. Interestingly, König was advised by then Fr. Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and then Pope Benedict XVI.
Ottaviani was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1963 papal conclave, which selected Giovanni Battista Cardinal Montini as Pope Paul VI. He was also the Protodeacon (senior Cardinal Deacon) during the conclave, and as such, he had the honor of announcing Montini's election and crowning him on June 30 with the triregnum.
Upon the changing of the name of the Holy Office to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1965, Ottaviani was named Pro-Prefect of the congregation; the pope held the title of "Prefect" until 1968. He was raised to the rank of Cardinal Priest (with the same title) on June 26, 1967, and he resigned as Pro-Prefect on January 6, 1968.
In September 1969, together with Antonio Cardinal Bacci, he wrote a letter to Paul VI, supporting a study by a group of theologians under the direction of Archbishop Lefebvre criticizing the proposed Novus Ordo Mass, on which revision was being completed. This letter became widely known as the Ottaviani Intervention, and is often used by Traditionalist Catholics as support for their opposition to the Novus Ordo Mass.[5]
Trivia
Ottaviani was nearly blind throughout the entire course of the Second Vatican Council and afterwards.
His episcopal motto was: Semper idem ("Always the same"), which reflected his conservative theology.
--------------------
"The Ottaviani Intervention"
Letter from Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci to His Holiness Pope Paul VI
September 25th, 1969
Most Holy Father, Having carefully examined, and presented for the scrutiny of others, the Novus Ordo Missae prepared by the experts of the Consilium ad exequendam Constitutionem de Sacra Liturgia, and after lengthy prayer and reflection, we feel it to be our bounden duty in the sight of God and towards Your Holiness, to put before you the following considerations:
1. The accompanying critical study of the Novus Ordo Missae, the work of a group of theologians, liturgists and pastors of souls, shows quite clearly in spite of its brevity that if we consider the innovations implied or taken for granted which may of course be evaluated in different ways, the Novus Ordo represents, both as a whole and in its details, a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Mass as it was formulated in Session XXII of the Council of Trent. The "canons" of the rite definitively fixed at that time provided an insurmountable barrier to any heresy directed against the integrity of the Mystery.
2. The pastoral reasons adduced to support such a grave break with tradition, even if such reasons could be regarded as holding good in the face of doctrinal considerations, do not seem to us sufficient. The innovations in the Novus Ordo and the fact that all that is of perennial value finds only a minor place, if it subsists at all, could well turn into a certainty the suspicions already prevalent, alas, in many circles, that truths which have always been believed by the Christian people, can be changed or ignored without infidelity to that sacred deposit of doctrine to which the Catholic faith is bound for ever. Recent reforms have amply demonstrated that fresh changes in the liturgy could lead to nothing but complete bewilderment on the part of the faithful who are already showing signs of restiveness and of an indubitable lessening of faith.
Amongst the best of the clergy the practical result is an agonising crisis of conscience of which innumerable instances come tour notice daily.
3. We are certain that these considerations, which can only reach Your Holiness by the living voice of both shepherds and flock, cannot but find an echo in Your paternal heart, always so profoundly solicitous for the spiritual needs of the children of the Church. It has always been the case that when a law meant for the good of subjects proves to be on the contrary harmful, those subjects have the right, nay the duty of asking with filial trust for the abrogation of that law.
Therefore we most earnestly beseech Your Holiness, at a time of such painful divisions and ever-increasing perils for the purity of the Faith and the unity of the church, lamented by You our common Father, not to deprive us of the possibility of continuing to have recourse to the fruitful integrity of that Missale Romanum of St. Pius V, so highly praised by Your Holiness and so deeply loved and venerated by the whole Catholic world.
A. Card. Ottaviani
A. Card. Bacci
Brief Summary
I History of the Change
The new form of Mass was substantially rejected by the Episcopal Synod, was never submitted to the collegial judgement of the Episcopal Conferences and was never asked for by the people. It has every possibility of satisfying the most modernist of Protestants.
II Definition of the Mass
By a series of equivocations the emphasis is obsessively placed upon the 'supper' and the 'memorial' instead of on the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary.
III Presentation of the Ends
The three ends of the Mass are altered:- no distinction is allowed to remain between Divine and human sacrifice; bread and wine are only "spiritually" (not substantially) changed.
IV The Essence
The Real Presence of Christ is never alluded to and belief in it is implicitly repudiated.
V The Elements of the Sacrifice
The position of both priest and people is falsified and the Celebrant appears as nothing more than a Protestant minister, while the true nature of the Church is intolerably misrepresented.
VI The Destruction of Unity
The abandonment of Latin sweeps away for good and all unity of worship. This may have its effect on unity of belief and the New Order has no intention of standing for the Faith as taught by the Council of Trent to which the Catholic conscience is bound.
VII: The Alienation of the Orthodox
While pleasing various dissenting groups, the New Order will alienate the East.
VIII The Abandonment of Defences
The New Order teems with insinuations or manifest errors against the purity of the Catholic religion and dismantles all defences of the deposit of Faith.
I
History of the Change
In October 1967, the Episcopal Synod called in Rome was required to pass judgement on the experimental celebration of a so-called "normative Mass" (New Mass), devised by the Consilium ad exsequendam Constitutionem de Sacra Liturgia. This Mass aroused the most serious misgivings. The voting showed considerable opposition (43 non placet), very many substantial reservations (62 juxta modum), and 4 abstentions out of 187 voters. The international press spoke of a "refusal" of the proposed "normative Mass" (New Mass) on the part of the Synod. Progressively-inclined papers made no mention of it. In the Novus Ordo Missae lately promulgated by the Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum, we once again find this "normative Mass" (New Mass), identical in substance, nor does it appear that in the intervening period the Episcopal Conference, at least as such, were ever asked to give their views about it.
In the Apostolic Constitution, it is stated that the ancient Missal promulgated by St. Pius V, 13th July 1570, but going back in great part to St. Gregory the Great and still remoter antiquity, was for four centuries the norm for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice for priests of the Latin rite, and that, taken to every part of the world, "it has moreover been an abundant source of spiritual nourishment to many holy people in their devotion to God". Yet, the present reform, putting it definitely out of use, was claimed to be necessary since "from that time the study of the Sacred Liturgy has become more widespread and intensive among Christians".
This assertion seems to us to embody a serious equivocation. For the desire of the people was expressed, if at all, when - thanks to Pius X - they began to discover the true and everlasting treasures of the liturgy. The people never on any account asked for the liturgy to be changed, or mutilated so as to understand it better. They asked for a better understanding of the changeless liturgy, and one which they would never have wanted changed.
The Roman Missal of St. Pius V was religiously venerated and most dear to Catholics, both priests and laity. One fails to see how its use, together with suitable catechesis, could have hindered a fuller participation in, and great knowledge of the Sacred Liturgy, nor why, when its many outstanding virtues are recognised, this should not have been considered worthy to continue to foster the liturgical piety of Christians.
Rejected by Synod
Since the "normative" Mass (New Mass), now reintroduced and imposed as the Novus Ordo Missae (New Order of the Mass), was in substance rejected by the Synod of Bishops, was never submitted to the collegial judgement of the Episcopal Conferences, nor have the people - least of all in mission lands - ever asked for any reform of Holy Mass whatsoever, one fails to comprehend the motives behind the new legislation which overthrows a tradition unchanged in the Church since the 4th and 5th centuries, as the Apostolic Constitution itself acknowledges. As no popular demand exists to support this reform, it appears devoid of any logical grounds to justify it and makes it acceptable to the Catholic people.
The Vatican Council did indeed express a desire (para. 50 Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium) for the various parts of the Mass to be reordered "ut singularum partium propria ratio nec non mutua connexio clarius pateant." We shall see how the Ordo recently promulgated corresponds with this original intention.
An attentive examination of the Novus Ordo reveals changes of such magnitude as to justify in themselves the judgement already made with regard to the "normative" Mass. Both have in many points every possibility of satisfying the most Modernists of Protestants.
II
Definition of the Mass
Let us begin with the definition of the Mass given in No. 7 of the "Institutio Generalis" at the beginning of the second chapter on the Novus Ordo: "De structura Missae":
"The Lord's Supper or Mass is a sacred meeting or assembly of the People of God, met together under the presidency of the priest, to celebrate the memorial of the Lord. Thus the promise of Christ, "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them", is eminently true of the local community in the Church (Mt. XVIII, 20)".
The definition of the Mass is thus limited to that of the "supper", and this term is found constantly repeated (nos. 8, 48, 55d, 56). This supper is further characterised as an assembly presided over by the priest and held as a memorial of the Lord, recalling what He did on the first Maundy Thursday. None of this in the very least implies either the Real Presence, or the reality of sacrifice, or the Sacramental function of the consecrating priest, or the intrinsic value of the Eucharistic Sacrifice independently of the people's presence. It does not, in a word, imply any of the essential dogmatic values of the Mass which together provide its true definition. Here, the deliberate omission of these dogmatic values amounts to their having been superseded and therefore, at least in practice, to their denial.
In the second part of this paragraph 7 it is asserted, aggravating the already serious equivocation, that there holds good, "eminently", for this assembly Christ's promise that "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. XVIII, 20). This promise which refers only to the spiritual presence of Christ with His grace, is thus put on the same qualitative plane, save for the greater intensity, as the substantial and physical reality of the Sacramental Eucharistic Presence.
In no. 8 a subdivision of the Mass into "liturgy of the word" and Eucharistic liturgy immediately follows, with the affirmation that in the Mass is made ready "the table of the God's word" as of "the Body of Christ", so that the faithful "may be built up and refreshed"; an altogether improper assimilation of the two parts of the liturgy, as though between two points of equal symbol value. More will be said about this point later.
This Mass is designed by a great many different expressions, all acceptable relatively, all unacceptable if employed, as they are, separately in an absolute sense.
We cite a few: The Action of the People of God; The Lord's Supper or Mass, the Pascal Banquet; The Common Participation of the Lord's Table; The Eucharistic Prayer; The Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharistic Liturgy.
As is only too evident, the emphasis is obsessively placed upon the supper and the memorial instead of upon the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary. The formula "The Memorial of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord", besides, is inexact, the Mass being the memorial of the Sacrifice alone, in itself redemptive, while the Resurrection is the consequent fruit of it.
We shall later see how, in the very consecratory formula, and throughout the Novus Ordo, such equivocations are renewed and reiterated.
III
Presentation of the Ends
We now come to the ends of the Mass.
1. Ultimate End. This is that of the Sacrifice of praise to the Most Holy Trinity according to the explicit declaration of Christ in the primary purpose of His very Incarnation: "Coming into the world he saith: 'sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst not but a body thou hast fitted me' ". (Ps. XXXIX, 7-9 in Heb. X, 5).
This end has disappeared: from the Offertory, with the disappearance of the prayer "Suscipe, Sancta Trinitas", from the end of the Mass with the omission of the "Placet tibi Sancta Trinitas", and from the Preface, which on Sunday will no longer be that of the Most Holy Trinity, as this Preface will be reserved only to the Feast of the Trinity, and so in future will be heard but once a year.
2. Ordinary End. This is the propitiatory Sacrifice. It too has been deviated from; for instead of putting the stress on the remission of sins of the living and the dead, it lays emphasis on the nourishment and sanctification of those present (No. 54). Christ certainly instituted the Sacrament of the Last Supper putting Himself in the state of Victim in order that we might be united to Him in this state but his self- immolation precedes the eating of the Victim, and has an antecedent and full redemptive value (the application of the bloody immolation). This is borne out by the fact that the faithful present are not bound to communicate, sacramentally.
3. Immanent End. Whatever the nature of the Sacrifice, it is absolutely necessary that it be pleasing and acceptable to God. After the Fall no sacrifice can claim to be acceptable in its own right other than the Sacrifice of Christ. The Novus Ordo changes the nature of the offering turning it into a sort of exchange of gifts between man and God: man brings the bread, and God turns it into the "bread of life"; man brings the wine, and God turns it into a "spiritual drink".
"Thou are blessed Lord God of the Universe because from thy generosity we have received the bread (or wine) which we offer thee, the fruit of the earth (or vine) and of man's labour. May it become for us the bread of life (or spiritual drink)".
There is no need to comment on the utter indeterminateness of the formulae "bread of life" and "spiritual drink", which might mean anything. The same capital equivocation is repeated here, as in the definition of the Mass: there, Christ is present only spiritually among His own: here, bread and wine are only "spiritually" (not substantially) changed.
Suppression of Great Prayers
In the preparation of the offering, a similar equivocation results from the suppression of two great prayers. The "Deus qui humanae substantiae dignitatem mirabiliter condidisti et mirabilius reformasti" was a reference to man's former condition of innocence and to his present one of being ransomed by the Blood of Christ: a recapitulation of the whole economy of the Sacrifice, from Adam to the present moment. The final propitiatory offering of the chalice, that it might ascend "cum adore suavitatis", into the presence of the divine majesty, whose clemency was implored, admirably reaffirmed this plan. By suppressing the continual reference of the Eucharistic prayers to God, there is no longer any clear distinction between divine and human sacrifice.
Having removed the keystone, the reformers have had to put up scaffolding; suppressing real ends, they had to substitute fictitious ends of their own; leading to gestures intended to stress to union of priest and faithful, and of the faithful among themselves; offerings for the poor and for the church superimposed upon the Offering of the Host to be immolated. There is a danger that the uniqueness of this offer will become blurred, so that participation in the immolation of the Victim comes to resemble a philanthropical meeting, or a charity banquet.
IV
The Essence
We now pass on to the essence of the Sacrifice.
The mystery of the Cross is no longer explicitly expressed. It is only there obscurely, veiled, imperceptible for the people. And for these reasons:
1. The sense given in the Novus Ordo to the so-called "prex Eucharistica" is: "that the whole congregation of the faithful may be united to Christ in proclaiming the great wonders of God and in offering sacrifice" (No. 54. the end)
Which sacrifice is referred to? Who is the offerer? No answer is given to either of these questions. The initial definition of the "prex Eucharistica" is as follows: "The centre and culminating point of the whole celebration now has a beginning, namely the Eucharistic Prayer, a prayer of thanksgiving and of sanctification" (No. 54, pr.). The effects thus replace the causes, of which not one single word is said. The explicit mention of the object of the offering, which was found in the "Suscipe", has not been replaced by anything. The change in formulation reveals the change in doctrine.
2. The reason for this non-explicitness concerning the Sacrifice is quite simply that the Real Presence has been removed from the central position which it occupied so resplendently in the former Eucharistic liturgy. There is but a single reference to the Real Presence, (a quotation - a footnote - from the Council of Trent) and again the context is that of "nourishment" (no. 241, note 63)
The Real and permanent Presence of Christ, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the transubstantiated Species is never alluded to. The very word transubstantiation is totally ignored.
The suppression of the invocation to the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity ("Veni Sanctificator") that He may descend upon the oblations, as once before into the womb of the Most Blessed Virgin to accomplish the miracle of the divine Presence, is yet one more instance of the systematic and tacit negation of the Real Presence.
Note, too, the suppressions:
of the genuflections (no more than three remain to the priest, and one, with certain exceptions, to the people, at the Consecration;
of the purification of the priest's fingers in the chalice;
of the preservation from all profane contact of the priest's fingers after the Consecration; of the purification of the vessels, which need not be immediate, nor made on the corporal;
of the pall protecting the chalice;
of the internal gilding of sacred vessels;
of the consecration of movable altars;
of the sacred stone and relics in the movable altar or upon the "table" - "when celebration does not occur in sacred precincts" (this distinction leads straight to "Eucharistic suppers" in private houses);
of the three altar-cloths, reduced to one only;
of thanksgiving kneeling (replaced by a thanksgiving, seated, on the part of the priest and people, a logical enough complement to Communion standing);
of all the former prescriptions in the case of the consecrated Host falling, which are now reduced to a single, casual direction: "reventur accipiatur" (no. 239)
All these things only serve to emphasise how outrageously faith in the dogma of the Real Presence is implicitly repudiated.
3. The function assigned to the altar (no. 262). The altar is almost always called 'table', "The altar or table of the Lord, which is the centre of the whole Eucharistic liturgy" (no. 49, cf. 262). It is laid down that the altar must be detached from the walls so that it is possible to walk round it and celebration may be facing the people (no. 262); also that the altar must be the centre of the assembly of the faithful so that their attention is drawn spontaneously towards it (ibid). But a comparison of no. 262 and 276 would seem to suggest that the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament on this altar is excluded. This will mark an irreparable dichotomy between the presence, in the celebrant, of the eternal High Priest and that same presence brought about sacramentally. Before, they were 'one and the same presence'.
Separation of Altar and Tabernacle
Now it is recommended that the Blessed Sacrament be kept in a place apart for the private devotion of the people (almost as though it were a question of devotion to a relic of some kind) so that, on going into a church, attention will no longer be focused upon the Tabernacle but upon a stripped, bare table. Once again the contrast is made between 'private' piety and 'liturgical' piety: altar is set up against altar.
In the insistent recommendation to distribute in Communion the Species consecrated during the same Mass, indeed to consecrate a loaf for the priest to distribute to at least some of the faithful, we find reasserted disparaging attitude towards the Tabernacle, as towards every form of Eucharistic piety outside of the Mass. This constitutes yet another violent blow to faith in the Real Presence as long as the consecrated Species remain.
The formula of Consecration. The ancient formula of consecration was properly a sacramental not a narrative one. This was shown above all by three things:
a) The Scriptural text not taken up word for word: the Pauline insertion "mysterium fidei" was an immediate confession of the priest's faith in the mystery realised by the Church through the hierarchical priesthood.
b) The punctuation and typographical lay-out: the full stop and new paragraph marking the passage from the narrative mode to the sacramental and affirmative one, the sacramental words in larger characters at the centre of the page and often in a different colour, clearly detached from the historical context. All combined to give the formula a proper and autonomous value.
"To separate the Tabernacle from the Altar is tantamount to separating two things which, of their very nature, must remain together". (PIUS XII, Allocution to the International Liturgy Congress, Assisi-Rome, Sept. 18-23, 1956). cf. also Mediator Dei, 1.5, note 28.
c) The anamnesis ("Haec quotiescompque feceritis in mei memoriam facietis"), which in Greek is "eis emou anamnesin" (directed to my memory.) This referred to Christ operating and not to mere memory of Him, or of the event: an invitation to recall what He did ("Haec . . . in mei memoriam facietis") in the way He did it, not only His Person, or the Supper. The Pauline formula ("Hoc facite in meam commemorationem") which will now take the place of the old - proclaimed as it will be daily in vernacular languages will irremediably cause the hearers to concentrate on the memory of Christ as the 'end' of the Eucharistic action, whilst it is really the 'beginning'. The concluding idea of 'commemoration' will certainly once again take the place of the idea of sacramental action.
The narrative mode is now emphasised by the formula "narratio institutionis" (no. 55d) and repeated by the definition of the anamnesis, in which it is said that "The Church recalls the memory of Himself" (no. 556).
In short: the theory put forward by the epiclesis, the modification of the words of Consecration and of the anamnesis, have the effect of modifying the modus significandi of the words of Consecration. The consecratory formulae are here pronounced by the priest as the constituents of a historical narrative and no longer enunciated as expressing the categorical affirmation uttered by Him in whole Person the priest acts: "Hoc est Corpus meum" (not, "Hoc est Corpus Christi").
Furthermore the acclamation assigned to the people immediately after the Consecration: ("We announce thy death, O Lord, until Thou comest") introduces yet again, under cover of eschatology, the same ambiguity concerning the Real Presence. Without interval or distinction, the expectation of Christ's Second Coming at the end of time is proclaimed just at the moment when He is substantially present on the altar, almost as though the former, and not the latter, were the true Coming.
This is brought out even more strongly in the formula of optional acclamation no. 2 (Appendix): "As often as we eat of this bread and drink of this chalice we announce thy death, O Lord, until thou comest", where the juxtaposition of the different realities of immolation and eating, of the Real Presence and of Christ's Second Coming, reaches the height of ambiguity.
V
The Elements of Sacrifice
We come now to the realisation of the Sacrifice, the four elements of which were: 1) Christ, 2) the priest, 3) the Church, 4) the faithful present.
In the Novus Ordo, the position attributed to the faithful is autonomous (absoluta), hence totally false - from the opening definition: "Missa est sacra synaxis seu congregatio populi" to the priest's salutation to the people which is meant to convey to the assembled community the "presence" of the Lord (no. 48). "Qua salutatione et populi responsione manifestatur ecclesiae congregatae mysterium".
A true presence, certainly of Christ but only a spiritual one, and a mystery of the Church, but solely as an assembly manifesting and soliciting such a presence.
This interpretation is constantly underlined: by the obsessive references to the communal character of the Mass (nos. 74-152); by the unheard of distinction between "Mass with congregation" and "Mass without congregation" (nos. 203-231); by the definition of the "oratio universalis seu fidelium" (no. 45) where once more we find stressed the "sacerdotal office" of the people (populus sui sacerdotii munus excercens") presented in an equivocal way because its subordination to that of the priest is not mentioned, and all the more since the priest, as consecrated mediator, makes himself the interpreter of all the intentions of the people in the Te igitur and the two Memento.
In "Eucharistic Prayer III" ("Vere sanctus", p. 123) the following words are addressed to the Lord: "from age to age you gather a people to yourself, in order that from east to west a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name", the 'in order that' making it appear that the people rather than the priest are the indispensable element in the celebration; and since not even here is it made clear who the offerer is, the people themselves appear to be invested with autonomous priestly powers. From this step it would not be surprising if, before long, the people were authorised to join the priest in pronouncing the consecrating formulae (which actually seems here and there to have already occurred).
Priest as Mere President
2) The priest's position is minimised, changed and falsified. Firstly in relation to the people for whom he is, for the most part, a mere president, or brother, instead of the consecrated minister celebrating in persona Christi. Secondly in relation to the Church, as a "quidam de populo". In the definition of the epiclesis (no. 55), the invocations are attributed anonymously to the Church: the part of the priest has vanished.
In the Confiteor which has now become collective, he is no longer judge, witness and intercessor with God; so it is logical that his is no longer empowered to give the absolution, which has been suppressed. He is integrated with the fratres. Even the server address him as such in the Confiteor of the "Missa sine populo".
Already, prior to this latest reform, the significant distinction between the Communion of the priest - the moment in which the Eternal High Priest and the one acting in His Person were brought together in the closest union - and the Communion of the faithful has been suppressed.
Not a word do we now find as to the priest's power to sacrifice, or about his act of consecration, the bringing about through him of the Eucharistic Presence. He now appears as nothing more than a Protestant minister.
The disappearance, or optional use, of many sacred vestments (in certain cases the alb and stole are sufficient - no. 298) obliterate even more the original conformity with Christ: the priest is no more clothed with all His virtues, become merely a "non-commissioned officer" whom one or two signs may distinguish from the mass of the people: "a little more a man than the rest", to quite the involuntarily humorous definition of a modern preacher. Again, as with the "table" and the Altar, there is separated what God has united: the sole Priesthood and the Word of God.
3) Finally, there is the Church's position in relation to Christ. In one case only, namely the "Mass without congregation", is the Mass acknowledged to be "Actio Christi et Ecclesiae" (no. 4, cf. Presb. Ord. no. 13), whereas in the case of the "Mass with congregation" this is not referred to except for the purpose of "remembering Christ" and sanctifying those present. The words used are: "In offering the sacrifice through Christ in the Holy Ghost to God the Father, the priest associates the people with himself" (no. 60), instead one ones which would associate the people with Christ Who offers Himself "per Spiritum Sanctum Deo Patri".
In this context the follows are to be noted:
1) the very serious omission of the phrase "Through Christ Our Lord", the guarantee of being heard given to the Church in every age (John, XIV, 13-14; 15; 16; 23; 24);
2) the all pervading "paschalism", almost as though there were no other, quite different and equally important, aspects of the communication of grace;
3) the very strange and dubious eschatologism whereby the communication of supernatural grace, a reality which is permanent and eternal, is brought down to the dimensions of time: we hear of a people on the march, a pilgrim Church - no longer militant - against the Powers of Darkness - looking towards a future which having lost its line with eternity is conceived in purely temporal terms.
The Church - One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic - is diminished as such in the formula that, in the "Eucharistic Prayer No. 4", has taken the place of the prayer of the Roman Cannon "on behalf of all orthodox believers of the Catholic and apostolic faith". Now we have merely: "all who seek you with a sincere heart".
Again, in the Memento for the dead, these have no longer passed on "with the sign of faith and sleep the sleep of peace" but only "who have died in the peace of thy Christ", and to them are added, with further obvious detriment to the concept of visible unity, the host "of all the dead whose faith is known to you alone".
Furthermore, in none of three new Eucharistic prayers, is there any reference, as has already been said, to that state of suffering of those who have died, in none the possibility of a particular Memento: all of this again, must undermine faith in the propitiatory and redemptive nature of the Sacrifice.
Desacralizing the Church
Desacralising omissions everywhere debase the mystery of the Church. Above all she is not presented as a sacred hierarchy: Angels and Saints are reduced to anonymity in the second part of the collective Confiteor: they have disappeared, as witnesses and judges, in the person of St. Michael, for the first.
The various hierarchies of angels have also disappeared (and this is without precedent) from the new Preface of "Prayer II". In the Communicantes, reminder of the Pontiffs and holy martyrs on whom the Church of Rome is founded and who were, without doubt, the transmitters of the apostolic traditions, destined to be completed in what became, with St. Gregory, the Roman Mass, has been suppressed. In the Libera nos the Blessed Virgin, the Apostles and all the Saints are no longer mentioned: her and their intercession is thus no longer asked, even in time of peril.
The unity of the Church is gravely compromised by the wholly intolerable omission from the entire Ordo, including the three new Prayers, of the names of the Apostles Peter and Paul, Founders of the Church of Rome, and the names of the other Apostles, foundation and mark of the one and universal Church, the only remaining mention being in the Communicantes of the Roman Canon.
A clear attack upon the dogma of the Communion of Saints is the omission, when the priest is celebrating without a server, of all the salutations, and the final Blessing, not to speak of the 'Ite, missa est' now not even said in Masses celebrated with a server.
The double Confiteor showed how the priest, in his capacity of Christ's Minister, bowing down deeply and acknowledging himself unworthy of his sublime mission, of the "tremendum mysterium", about to be accomplished by him and even (in the Aufer a nobis) entering into the Holy of Holies, invoked the intercession (in the Oramus te, Domine) of the merits of the martyrs whose relics were sealed in the altar. Both these prayers have been suppressed; what has been said previously in respect of the double Confiteor and the double Communion is equally relevant here.
The outward setting of the Sacrifice, evidence of its sacred character, has been profaned. See, for example, what is laid down for celebration outside sacred precincts, in which the altar may be replaced by a simple "table" without consecrated stone or relics, and with a single cloth (nos. 260, 265). Here too all that has been previously said with regard to the Real Presence applies, the disassociation of the "convivium" and of the sacrifice of the supper from the Real Presence Itself.
The process of desacralisation is completed thanks to the new procedures for the offering: the reference to ordinary not unleavened bread; altar-servers (and lay people at Communion sub utraque specie) being allowed to handle sacred vessels (no. 244d); the distracting atmosphere created by the ceaseless coming and going of the priest, deacon, subdeacon, psalmist, commentator (the priest becomes commentator himself from his constantly being required to 'explain' what he is about to accomplish) - of readings (men and women), of servers or laymen welcoming people at the door and escorting them to their places whilst others carry and sort offerings. And in the midst of all this prescribed activity, the 'mulier idonea' (anti-Scriptural and anti-Pauline) who for the first time in the tradition of the Church will be authorised to read the lessons and also perform other "ministeria quae extra presbyterium peraguntur" (no. 70).
Finally, there is the concelebration mania, which will end by destroying Eucharistic piety in the priest, by overshadowing the central figure of Christ, sole Priest and Victim, in a collective presence of concelebrants.
VI
The Destruction of Unity
We have limited ourselves to a summary evaluation of the new Ordo where it deviates most seriously from the theology of the Catholic Mass and our observations touch only those deviations that are typical. A complete evaluation of all the pitfalls, the dangers, and spiritually and psychologically destructive elements contained in the document - whether in text, rubrics or instructions - would be a vast undertaking.
By Priest or Parson
No more than a passing glance has been taken at the three new Canons, since these have already come in for repeated and authoritative criticism, both as to form and substance. The second of them gave immediate scandal to the faithful on account of its brevity. Of Canon II it has been well said, among other things, that it could be recited with perfect tranquillity of conscience by a priest who no longer believes either in Transubstantiation or in the sacrificial character of the Mass - hence even by a Protestant minister.
The new Missal was introduced in Rome as "a text of ample pastoral matter", and "more pastoral than juridical", which the Episcopal Conferences would be able to utilise according to the varying circumstances and genius of different peoples. In the same Apostolic Constitution we read: "we have introduced into the New Missal legitimate variations and adaptations". Besides, Section I of the new Congregation for Divine Worship will be responsible "for the publication and 'constant revision' of the liturgical books". The last official bulletin of the Liturgical Institutes of Germany, Switzerland and Austria says: "The Latin texts will now have to be translated into the languages of the various peoples; the 'Roman' style will have to be adapted to the individuality of the local Churches: that which was conceived beyond time must be transposed into the changing context of concrete situations in the constant flux of the Universal Church and of its myriad congregations."
The Apostolic Constitution itself gives the coup de grace to the Church's universal language (contrary to the express will of Vatican Council II) with the bland affirmation that "in such a variety of tongues one (?) and the same prayer of all . . . may ascend more fragrant than any incense".
Council of Trent Rejected
The demise of Latin may therefore be taken for granted; that of Gregorian Chant, which even the Council recognised as "liturgiae romanae proprium" (Sacros Conc. no 116), ordering that "principem locum obtineat" (ibid.) will logically follow, with the freedom of choice, amongst other things, of the texts of the Introit and Gradual.
From the outset therefore the New Rite is launched as pluralistic and experimental, bound to time and place. Unity of worship, thus swept away for good and all, what will become of that unity of faith that went with it, and which, we were always told, was to be defended without compromise?
It is evident that the Novus Ordo has no intention of presenting the Faith as taught by the Council of Trent, to which, nonetheless, the Catholic conscience is bound forever. With the promulgation of the Novus Ordo, the loyal Catholic is thus faced with a most tragic alternative.
VII
The Alienation of the Orthodox
The Apostolic Constitution makes explicit reference to a wealth of piety and teaching in the Novus Ordo borrowed from Eastern Churches. The result - utterly remote from and even opposed to the inspiration of the oriental Liturgies - can only repel the faithful of the Eastern Rites. What, in truth, do these ecumenical options amount to? Basically to the multiplicity of anaphora (but nothing approaching their beauty and complexity), to the presence of deacons, to Communion sub utraque specie.
Against this, the Novus Ordo would appear to have been deliberately shorn of everything which in the Liturgy of Rome came close to those of the East.
Moreover in abandoning its unmistakable and immemorial Roman character, the Novus Ordo lost what was spiritually precious of its own. Its place has been taken by elements which bring it closer only to certain other reformed liturgies (not even those closest to Catholicism) and which debase it at the same time. The East will be ever more alienated, as it already has been by the preceding liturgical reforms.
By the way of compensation the new Liturgy will be the delight of the various groups who, hovering on the verge of apostasy, are wreaking havoc in the Church of God, poisoning her organism and undermining her unity of doctrine, worship, morals and discipline in a spiritual crisis without precedent.
VIII
The Abandonment of Defences
St. Pius V had the Roman Missal drawn up (as the present Apostolic Constitution itself recalls) so that it might be an instrument of unity among Catholics. In conformity with the injunctions of the Council of Trent it was to exclude all danger, in liturgical worship, of errors against the Faith, then threatened by the Protestant Reformation. The gravity of the situation fully justified, and even rendered prophetic, the saintly Pontiff's solemn warning given at the end of the Bull promulgating his Missal "should anyone presume to tamper with this, let him know that he shall incur the wrath of God Almighty and his blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul. (Quo Primum, July 13, 1570)
When the Novus Ordo was presented at the Vatican Press Office, it was asserted with great audacity that the reasons which prompted the Tridentine decrees are no longer valid. Not only do they still apply, but there also exist, as we do not hesitate to affirm, very much more serious ones today.
It was precisely in order to ward off the dangers which in every century threaten the purity of the deposit of faith (depositum custodi, devitans profanas vocum novitates" Tim. VI, 20) the Church has had to erect under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost the defences of her dogmatic definitions and doctrinal pronouncements.
These were immediately reflected in her worship, which became the most complete monument of her faith. To try to bring the Church's worship back at all cost to ancient practices by refashioning, artificially and with that "unhealthy archeologism" so roundly condemned by Pius XII, what in earlier times had the grace of original spontaneity means as we see today only too clearly - to dismantle all the theological ramparts erected for the protection of the Rite and to take away all the beauty by which it was enriched over the centuries.
And all this at one of the most critical moments - if not the most critical moment - of the Church's history!
Today, division and schism are officially acknowledged to exist not only outside of but within the Church. Her unity is not only threatened but already tragically compromised. Errors against the Faith are not so much insinuated but rather an inevitable consequence of liturgical abuses and aberrations which have been given equal recognition.
To abandon a liturgical tradition which for four centuries was both the sign and pledge of unity of worship (and to replace it with another which cannot but be a sign of division by virtue of the countless liberties implicitly authorised, and which teems with insinuations or manifest errors against the integrity of the Catholic religion) is, we feel in conscience bound to proclaim, an incalculable error.
Editor's note about the above document:
When studying the issues involved in the new liturgy, you may come across the assertion that Cardinal Ottaviani signed a document retracting his words above. But here is what happened, as recounted at www.traditio.com:
A purported letter of February 17, 1970, supposedly with the Cardinal's signature, was adduced to prove the story. However, by that date it is known that the Cardinal, then 80, was totally blind and would not have known what he was signing when presented with the purposed letter by his secretary, Msgr. Gilberto Agustoni. [Ed. Agustoni was later made Bishop, then Cardinal, by John Paul II]
Now it has come to light that this Agustoni [Ed. along with his brother, Fr. Luigi Agustoni] was a member of the Consilium which that fabricated the "New Mass" and which the Arch-Architect of the New Order service, Hannibal Bugnini, led. At the time, Jean Madiran, the editor of the respected French journal Itineraires, publicly accused Agustoni of obtaining the Cardinal's signature by fraud. As a result, Agustoni was fired as the Cardinal's secretary.
So, it seems that Agustoni insinuated his way into becoming the Cardinal's secretary and in that position created a fraud in an attempt to undermine the Cardinal's public document, which questioned the validity of the New Order service, by a phony "retraction," which Agustoni had himself written with others. In any case, co-author Antonio Cardinal Bacci and the Roman theologians never "retracted," in any manner, shape, or form the devastating document, which they courageously published.
Ottaviani was a prominent figure in the Church during his time, and was the leading conservative voice at the Second Vatican Council.
Biography
Ottaviani was born in Rome; his father was a baker. He studied with the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Trastevere, at the Pontifical Roman Seminary and the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare, from where he received his doctorates in philosophy, theology, and canon law. He was ordained to the priesthood on March 18, 1916. On January 12, 1953, he was both appointed Pro-Secretary of the Holy Office and created Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria in Domnica by Pope Pius XII.
On November 7, 1959, he was named the Vatican's chief doctrinal guardian as Secretary of the Holy Office. Ottaviani was appointed Titular Archbishop of Berrhoea on April 5, 1962, receiving his episcopal consecration on the following April 19 from Pope John XXIII himself, with Giuseppe Cardinal Pizzardo and Benedetto Cardinal Aloisi Masella serving as co-consecrators. He later resigned his titular see in 1963.
He was the leader of the Curial conservatives during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and worked with, amongst others, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, CSSp. During the last of the Council's preparatory sessions, Ottaviani engaged in a heated debated with Augustin Cardinal Bea over the subject of religious liberty.[1] Ottaviani, while opposed to the separation of Church and State and granting equal rights to all religions, supported religious tolerance—suppressing public manifestations of non-Catholic religions when possible. Their confrontation became so intense that Ernesto Cardinal Ruffini had to intervene, noting his disappointment at such a "serious discussion". Ottaviani also argued during the debates on the liturgy[2][3] and on the sources of Divine Revelation,[4] which are understood as Scripture and Tradition in Catholic theology.
He was opposed in his movements for a rapid Council, by the intercession of the Austrian Franz Cardinal König. Interestingly, König was advised by then Fr. Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and then Pope Benedict XVI.
Ottaviani was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1963 papal conclave, which selected Giovanni Battista Cardinal Montini as Pope Paul VI. He was also the Protodeacon (senior Cardinal Deacon) during the conclave, and as such, he had the honor of announcing Montini's election and crowning him on June 30 with the triregnum.
Upon the changing of the name of the Holy Office to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1965, Ottaviani was named Pro-Prefect of the congregation; the pope held the title of "Prefect" until 1968. He was raised to the rank of Cardinal Priest (with the same title) on June 26, 1967, and he resigned as Pro-Prefect on January 6, 1968.
In September 1969, together with Antonio Cardinal Bacci, he wrote a letter to Paul VI, supporting a study by a group of theologians under the direction of Archbishop Lefebvre criticizing the proposed Novus Ordo Mass, on which revision was being completed. This letter became widely known as the Ottaviani Intervention, and is often used by Traditionalist Catholics as support for their opposition to the Novus Ordo Mass.[5]
Trivia
Ottaviani was nearly blind throughout the entire course of the Second Vatican Council and afterwards.
His episcopal motto was: Semper idem ("Always the same"), which reflected his conservative theology.
--------------------
"The Ottaviani Intervention"
Letter from Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci to His Holiness Pope Paul VI
September 25th, 1969
Most Holy Father, Having carefully examined, and presented for the scrutiny of others, the Novus Ordo Missae prepared by the experts of the Consilium ad exequendam Constitutionem de Sacra Liturgia, and after lengthy prayer and reflection, we feel it to be our bounden duty in the sight of God and towards Your Holiness, to put before you the following considerations:
1. The accompanying critical study of the Novus Ordo Missae, the work of a group of theologians, liturgists and pastors of souls, shows quite clearly in spite of its brevity that if we consider the innovations implied or taken for granted which may of course be evaluated in different ways, the Novus Ordo represents, both as a whole and in its details, a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Mass as it was formulated in Session XXII of the Council of Trent. The "canons" of the rite definitively fixed at that time provided an insurmountable barrier to any heresy directed against the integrity of the Mystery.
2. The pastoral reasons adduced to support such a grave break with tradition, even if such reasons could be regarded as holding good in the face of doctrinal considerations, do not seem to us sufficient. The innovations in the Novus Ordo and the fact that all that is of perennial value finds only a minor place, if it subsists at all, could well turn into a certainty the suspicions already prevalent, alas, in many circles, that truths which have always been believed by the Christian people, can be changed or ignored without infidelity to that sacred deposit of doctrine to which the Catholic faith is bound for ever. Recent reforms have amply demonstrated that fresh changes in the liturgy could lead to nothing but complete bewilderment on the part of the faithful who are already showing signs of restiveness and of an indubitable lessening of faith.
Amongst the best of the clergy the practical result is an agonising crisis of conscience of which innumerable instances come tour notice daily.
3. We are certain that these considerations, which can only reach Your Holiness by the living voice of both shepherds and flock, cannot but find an echo in Your paternal heart, always so profoundly solicitous for the spiritual needs of the children of the Church. It has always been the case that when a law meant for the good of subjects proves to be on the contrary harmful, those subjects have the right, nay the duty of asking with filial trust for the abrogation of that law.
Therefore we most earnestly beseech Your Holiness, at a time of such painful divisions and ever-increasing perils for the purity of the Faith and the unity of the church, lamented by You our common Father, not to deprive us of the possibility of continuing to have recourse to the fruitful integrity of that Missale Romanum of St. Pius V, so highly praised by Your Holiness and so deeply loved and venerated by the whole Catholic world.
A. Card. Ottaviani
A. Card. Bacci
Brief Summary
I History of the Change
The new form of Mass was substantially rejected by the Episcopal Synod, was never submitted to the collegial judgement of the Episcopal Conferences and was never asked for by the people. It has every possibility of satisfying the most modernist of Protestants.
II Definition of the Mass
By a series of equivocations the emphasis is obsessively placed upon the 'supper' and the 'memorial' instead of on the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary.
III Presentation of the Ends
The three ends of the Mass are altered:- no distinction is allowed to remain between Divine and human sacrifice; bread and wine are only "spiritually" (not substantially) changed.
IV The Essence
The Real Presence of Christ is never alluded to and belief in it is implicitly repudiated.
V The Elements of the Sacrifice
The position of both priest and people is falsified and the Celebrant appears as nothing more than a Protestant minister, while the true nature of the Church is intolerably misrepresented.
VI The Destruction of Unity
The abandonment of Latin sweeps away for good and all unity of worship. This may have its effect on unity of belief and the New Order has no intention of standing for the Faith as taught by the Council of Trent to which the Catholic conscience is bound.
VII: The Alienation of the Orthodox
While pleasing various dissenting groups, the New Order will alienate the East.
VIII The Abandonment of Defences
The New Order teems with insinuations or manifest errors against the purity of the Catholic religion and dismantles all defences of the deposit of Faith.
I
History of the Change
In October 1967, the Episcopal Synod called in Rome was required to pass judgement on the experimental celebration of a so-called "normative Mass" (New Mass), devised by the Consilium ad exsequendam Constitutionem de Sacra Liturgia. This Mass aroused the most serious misgivings. The voting showed considerable opposition (43 non placet), very many substantial reservations (62 juxta modum), and 4 abstentions out of 187 voters. The international press spoke of a "refusal" of the proposed "normative Mass" (New Mass) on the part of the Synod. Progressively-inclined papers made no mention of it. In the Novus Ordo Missae lately promulgated by the Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum, we once again find this "normative Mass" (New Mass), identical in substance, nor does it appear that in the intervening period the Episcopal Conference, at least as such, were ever asked to give their views about it.
In the Apostolic Constitution, it is stated that the ancient Missal promulgated by St. Pius V, 13th July 1570, but going back in great part to St. Gregory the Great and still remoter antiquity, was for four centuries the norm for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice for priests of the Latin rite, and that, taken to every part of the world, "it has moreover been an abundant source of spiritual nourishment to many holy people in their devotion to God". Yet, the present reform, putting it definitely out of use, was claimed to be necessary since "from that time the study of the Sacred Liturgy has become more widespread and intensive among Christians".
This assertion seems to us to embody a serious equivocation. For the desire of the people was expressed, if at all, when - thanks to Pius X - they began to discover the true and everlasting treasures of the liturgy. The people never on any account asked for the liturgy to be changed, or mutilated so as to understand it better. They asked for a better understanding of the changeless liturgy, and one which they would never have wanted changed.
The Roman Missal of St. Pius V was religiously venerated and most dear to Catholics, both priests and laity. One fails to see how its use, together with suitable catechesis, could have hindered a fuller participation in, and great knowledge of the Sacred Liturgy, nor why, when its many outstanding virtues are recognised, this should not have been considered worthy to continue to foster the liturgical piety of Christians.
Rejected by Synod
Since the "normative" Mass (New Mass), now reintroduced and imposed as the Novus Ordo Missae (New Order of the Mass), was in substance rejected by the Synod of Bishops, was never submitted to the collegial judgement of the Episcopal Conferences, nor have the people - least of all in mission lands - ever asked for any reform of Holy Mass whatsoever, one fails to comprehend the motives behind the new legislation which overthrows a tradition unchanged in the Church since the 4th and 5th centuries, as the Apostolic Constitution itself acknowledges. As no popular demand exists to support this reform, it appears devoid of any logical grounds to justify it and makes it acceptable to the Catholic people.
The Vatican Council did indeed express a desire (para. 50 Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium) for the various parts of the Mass to be reordered "ut singularum partium propria ratio nec non mutua connexio clarius pateant." We shall see how the Ordo recently promulgated corresponds with this original intention.
An attentive examination of the Novus Ordo reveals changes of such magnitude as to justify in themselves the judgement already made with regard to the "normative" Mass. Both have in many points every possibility of satisfying the most Modernists of Protestants.
II
Definition of the Mass
Let us begin with the definition of the Mass given in No. 7 of the "Institutio Generalis" at the beginning of the second chapter on the Novus Ordo: "De structura Missae":
"The Lord's Supper or Mass is a sacred meeting or assembly of the People of God, met together under the presidency of the priest, to celebrate the memorial of the Lord. Thus the promise of Christ, "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them", is eminently true of the local community in the Church (Mt. XVIII, 20)".
The definition of the Mass is thus limited to that of the "supper", and this term is found constantly repeated (nos. 8, 48, 55d, 56). This supper is further characterised as an assembly presided over by the priest and held as a memorial of the Lord, recalling what He did on the first Maundy Thursday. None of this in the very least implies either the Real Presence, or the reality of sacrifice, or the Sacramental function of the consecrating priest, or the intrinsic value of the Eucharistic Sacrifice independently of the people's presence. It does not, in a word, imply any of the essential dogmatic values of the Mass which together provide its true definition. Here, the deliberate omission of these dogmatic values amounts to their having been superseded and therefore, at least in practice, to their denial.
In the second part of this paragraph 7 it is asserted, aggravating the already serious equivocation, that there holds good, "eminently", for this assembly Christ's promise that "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. XVIII, 20). This promise which refers only to the spiritual presence of Christ with His grace, is thus put on the same qualitative plane, save for the greater intensity, as the substantial and physical reality of the Sacramental Eucharistic Presence.
In no. 8 a subdivision of the Mass into "liturgy of the word" and Eucharistic liturgy immediately follows, with the affirmation that in the Mass is made ready "the table of the God's word" as of "the Body of Christ", so that the faithful "may be built up and refreshed"; an altogether improper assimilation of the two parts of the liturgy, as though between two points of equal symbol value. More will be said about this point later.
This Mass is designed by a great many different expressions, all acceptable relatively, all unacceptable if employed, as they are, separately in an absolute sense.
We cite a few: The Action of the People of God; The Lord's Supper or Mass, the Pascal Banquet; The Common Participation of the Lord's Table; The Eucharistic Prayer; The Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharistic Liturgy.
As is only too evident, the emphasis is obsessively placed upon the supper and the memorial instead of upon the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary. The formula "The Memorial of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord", besides, is inexact, the Mass being the memorial of the Sacrifice alone, in itself redemptive, while the Resurrection is the consequent fruit of it.
We shall later see how, in the very consecratory formula, and throughout the Novus Ordo, such equivocations are renewed and reiterated.
III
Presentation of the Ends
We now come to the ends of the Mass.
1. Ultimate End. This is that of the Sacrifice of praise to the Most Holy Trinity according to the explicit declaration of Christ in the primary purpose of His very Incarnation: "Coming into the world he saith: 'sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst not but a body thou hast fitted me' ". (Ps. XXXIX, 7-9 in Heb. X, 5).
This end has disappeared: from the Offertory, with the disappearance of the prayer "Suscipe, Sancta Trinitas", from the end of the Mass with the omission of the "Placet tibi Sancta Trinitas", and from the Preface, which on Sunday will no longer be that of the Most Holy Trinity, as this Preface will be reserved only to the Feast of the Trinity, and so in future will be heard but once a year.
2. Ordinary End. This is the propitiatory Sacrifice. It too has been deviated from; for instead of putting the stress on the remission of sins of the living and the dead, it lays emphasis on the nourishment and sanctification of those present (No. 54). Christ certainly instituted the Sacrament of the Last Supper putting Himself in the state of Victim in order that we might be united to Him in this state but his self- immolation precedes the eating of the Victim, and has an antecedent and full redemptive value (the application of the bloody immolation). This is borne out by the fact that the faithful present are not bound to communicate, sacramentally.
3. Immanent End. Whatever the nature of the Sacrifice, it is absolutely necessary that it be pleasing and acceptable to God. After the Fall no sacrifice can claim to be acceptable in its own right other than the Sacrifice of Christ. The Novus Ordo changes the nature of the offering turning it into a sort of exchange of gifts between man and God: man brings the bread, and God turns it into the "bread of life"; man brings the wine, and God turns it into a "spiritual drink".
"Thou are blessed Lord God of the Universe because from thy generosity we have received the bread (or wine) which we offer thee, the fruit of the earth (or vine) and of man's labour. May it become for us the bread of life (or spiritual drink)".
There is no need to comment on the utter indeterminateness of the formulae "bread of life" and "spiritual drink", which might mean anything. The same capital equivocation is repeated here, as in the definition of the Mass: there, Christ is present only spiritually among His own: here, bread and wine are only "spiritually" (not substantially) changed.
Suppression of Great Prayers
In the preparation of the offering, a similar equivocation results from the suppression of two great prayers. The "Deus qui humanae substantiae dignitatem mirabiliter condidisti et mirabilius reformasti" was a reference to man's former condition of innocence and to his present one of being ransomed by the Blood of Christ: a recapitulation of the whole economy of the Sacrifice, from Adam to the present moment. The final propitiatory offering of the chalice, that it might ascend "cum adore suavitatis", into the presence of the divine majesty, whose clemency was implored, admirably reaffirmed this plan. By suppressing the continual reference of the Eucharistic prayers to God, there is no longer any clear distinction between divine and human sacrifice.
Having removed the keystone, the reformers have had to put up scaffolding; suppressing real ends, they had to substitute fictitious ends of their own; leading to gestures intended to stress to union of priest and faithful, and of the faithful among themselves; offerings for the poor and for the church superimposed upon the Offering of the Host to be immolated. There is a danger that the uniqueness of this offer will become blurred, so that participation in the immolation of the Victim comes to resemble a philanthropical meeting, or a charity banquet.
IV
The Essence
We now pass on to the essence of the Sacrifice.
The mystery of the Cross is no longer explicitly expressed. It is only there obscurely, veiled, imperceptible for the people. And for these reasons:
1. The sense given in the Novus Ordo to the so-called "prex Eucharistica" is: "that the whole congregation of the faithful may be united to Christ in proclaiming the great wonders of God and in offering sacrifice" (No. 54. the end)
Which sacrifice is referred to? Who is the offerer? No answer is given to either of these questions. The initial definition of the "prex Eucharistica" is as follows: "The centre and culminating point of the whole celebration now has a beginning, namely the Eucharistic Prayer, a prayer of thanksgiving and of sanctification" (No. 54, pr.). The effects thus replace the causes, of which not one single word is said. The explicit mention of the object of the offering, which was found in the "Suscipe", has not been replaced by anything. The change in formulation reveals the change in doctrine.
2. The reason for this non-explicitness concerning the Sacrifice is quite simply that the Real Presence has been removed from the central position which it occupied so resplendently in the former Eucharistic liturgy. There is but a single reference to the Real Presence, (a quotation - a footnote - from the Council of Trent) and again the context is that of "nourishment" (no. 241, note 63)
The Real and permanent Presence of Christ, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the transubstantiated Species is never alluded to. The very word transubstantiation is totally ignored.
The suppression of the invocation to the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity ("Veni Sanctificator") that He may descend upon the oblations, as once before into the womb of the Most Blessed Virgin to accomplish the miracle of the divine Presence, is yet one more instance of the systematic and tacit negation of the Real Presence.
Note, too, the suppressions:
of the genuflections (no more than three remain to the priest, and one, with certain exceptions, to the people, at the Consecration;
of the purification of the priest's fingers in the chalice;
of the preservation from all profane contact of the priest's fingers after the Consecration; of the purification of the vessels, which need not be immediate, nor made on the corporal;
of the pall protecting the chalice;
of the internal gilding of sacred vessels;
of the consecration of movable altars;
of the sacred stone and relics in the movable altar or upon the "table" - "when celebration does not occur in sacred precincts" (this distinction leads straight to "Eucharistic suppers" in private houses);
of the three altar-cloths, reduced to one only;
of thanksgiving kneeling (replaced by a thanksgiving, seated, on the part of the priest and people, a logical enough complement to Communion standing);
of all the former prescriptions in the case of the consecrated Host falling, which are now reduced to a single, casual direction: "reventur accipiatur" (no. 239)
All these things only serve to emphasise how outrageously faith in the dogma of the Real Presence is implicitly repudiated.
3. The function assigned to the altar (no. 262). The altar is almost always called 'table', "The altar or table of the Lord, which is the centre of the whole Eucharistic liturgy" (no. 49, cf. 262). It is laid down that the altar must be detached from the walls so that it is possible to walk round it and celebration may be facing the people (no. 262); also that the altar must be the centre of the assembly of the faithful so that their attention is drawn spontaneously towards it (ibid). But a comparison of no. 262 and 276 would seem to suggest that the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament on this altar is excluded. This will mark an irreparable dichotomy between the presence, in the celebrant, of the eternal High Priest and that same presence brought about sacramentally. Before, they were 'one and the same presence'.
Separation of Altar and Tabernacle
Now it is recommended that the Blessed Sacrament be kept in a place apart for the private devotion of the people (almost as though it were a question of devotion to a relic of some kind) so that, on going into a church, attention will no longer be focused upon the Tabernacle but upon a stripped, bare table. Once again the contrast is made between 'private' piety and 'liturgical' piety: altar is set up against altar.
In the insistent recommendation to distribute in Communion the Species consecrated during the same Mass, indeed to consecrate a loaf for the priest to distribute to at least some of the faithful, we find reasserted disparaging attitude towards the Tabernacle, as towards every form of Eucharistic piety outside of the Mass. This constitutes yet another violent blow to faith in the Real Presence as long as the consecrated Species remain.
The formula of Consecration. The ancient formula of consecration was properly a sacramental not a narrative one. This was shown above all by three things:
a) The Scriptural text not taken up word for word: the Pauline insertion "mysterium fidei" was an immediate confession of the priest's faith in the mystery realised by the Church through the hierarchical priesthood.
b) The punctuation and typographical lay-out: the full stop and new paragraph marking the passage from the narrative mode to the sacramental and affirmative one, the sacramental words in larger characters at the centre of the page and often in a different colour, clearly detached from the historical context. All combined to give the formula a proper and autonomous value.
"To separate the Tabernacle from the Altar is tantamount to separating two things which, of their very nature, must remain together". (PIUS XII, Allocution to the International Liturgy Congress, Assisi-Rome, Sept. 18-23, 1956). cf. also Mediator Dei, 1.5, note 28.
c) The anamnesis ("Haec quotiescompque feceritis in mei memoriam facietis"), which in Greek is "eis emou anamnesin" (directed to my memory.) This referred to Christ operating and not to mere memory of Him, or of the event: an invitation to recall what He did ("Haec . . . in mei memoriam facietis") in the way He did it, not only His Person, or the Supper. The Pauline formula ("Hoc facite in meam commemorationem") which will now take the place of the old - proclaimed as it will be daily in vernacular languages will irremediably cause the hearers to concentrate on the memory of Christ as the 'end' of the Eucharistic action, whilst it is really the 'beginning'. The concluding idea of 'commemoration' will certainly once again take the place of the idea of sacramental action.
The narrative mode is now emphasised by the formula "narratio institutionis" (no. 55d) and repeated by the definition of the anamnesis, in which it is said that "The Church recalls the memory of Himself" (no. 556).
In short: the theory put forward by the epiclesis, the modification of the words of Consecration and of the anamnesis, have the effect of modifying the modus significandi of the words of Consecration. The consecratory formulae are here pronounced by the priest as the constituents of a historical narrative and no longer enunciated as expressing the categorical affirmation uttered by Him in whole Person the priest acts: "Hoc est Corpus meum" (not, "Hoc est Corpus Christi").
Furthermore the acclamation assigned to the people immediately after the Consecration: ("We announce thy death, O Lord, until Thou comest") introduces yet again, under cover of eschatology, the same ambiguity concerning the Real Presence. Without interval or distinction, the expectation of Christ's Second Coming at the end of time is proclaimed just at the moment when He is substantially present on the altar, almost as though the former, and not the latter, were the true Coming.
This is brought out even more strongly in the formula of optional acclamation no. 2 (Appendix): "As often as we eat of this bread and drink of this chalice we announce thy death, O Lord, until thou comest", where the juxtaposition of the different realities of immolation and eating, of the Real Presence and of Christ's Second Coming, reaches the height of ambiguity.
V
The Elements of Sacrifice
We come now to the realisation of the Sacrifice, the four elements of which were: 1) Christ, 2) the priest, 3) the Church, 4) the faithful present.
In the Novus Ordo, the position attributed to the faithful is autonomous (absoluta), hence totally false - from the opening definition: "Missa est sacra synaxis seu congregatio populi" to the priest's salutation to the people which is meant to convey to the assembled community the "presence" of the Lord (no. 48). "Qua salutatione et populi responsione manifestatur ecclesiae congregatae mysterium".
A true presence, certainly of Christ but only a spiritual one, and a mystery of the Church, but solely as an assembly manifesting and soliciting such a presence.
This interpretation is constantly underlined: by the obsessive references to the communal character of the Mass (nos. 74-152); by the unheard of distinction between "Mass with congregation" and "Mass without congregation" (nos. 203-231); by the definition of the "oratio universalis seu fidelium" (no. 45) where once more we find stressed the "sacerdotal office" of the people (populus sui sacerdotii munus excercens") presented in an equivocal way because its subordination to that of the priest is not mentioned, and all the more since the priest, as consecrated mediator, makes himself the interpreter of all the intentions of the people in the Te igitur and the two Memento.
In "Eucharistic Prayer III" ("Vere sanctus", p. 123) the following words are addressed to the Lord: "from age to age you gather a people to yourself, in order that from east to west a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name", the 'in order that' making it appear that the people rather than the priest are the indispensable element in the celebration; and since not even here is it made clear who the offerer is, the people themselves appear to be invested with autonomous priestly powers. From this step it would not be surprising if, before long, the people were authorised to join the priest in pronouncing the consecrating formulae (which actually seems here and there to have already occurred).
Priest as Mere President
2) The priest's position is minimised, changed and falsified. Firstly in relation to the people for whom he is, for the most part, a mere president, or brother, instead of the consecrated minister celebrating in persona Christi. Secondly in relation to the Church, as a "quidam de populo". In the definition of the epiclesis (no. 55), the invocations are attributed anonymously to the Church: the part of the priest has vanished.
In the Confiteor which has now become collective, he is no longer judge, witness and intercessor with God; so it is logical that his is no longer empowered to give the absolution, which has been suppressed. He is integrated with the fratres. Even the server address him as such in the Confiteor of the "Missa sine populo".
Already, prior to this latest reform, the significant distinction between the Communion of the priest - the moment in which the Eternal High Priest and the one acting in His Person were brought together in the closest union - and the Communion of the faithful has been suppressed.
Not a word do we now find as to the priest's power to sacrifice, or about his act of consecration, the bringing about through him of the Eucharistic Presence. He now appears as nothing more than a Protestant minister.
The disappearance, or optional use, of many sacred vestments (in certain cases the alb and stole are sufficient - no. 298) obliterate even more the original conformity with Christ: the priest is no more clothed with all His virtues, become merely a "non-commissioned officer" whom one or two signs may distinguish from the mass of the people: "a little more a man than the rest", to quite the involuntarily humorous definition of a modern preacher. Again, as with the "table" and the Altar, there is separated what God has united: the sole Priesthood and the Word of God.
3) Finally, there is the Church's position in relation to Christ. In one case only, namely the "Mass without congregation", is the Mass acknowledged to be "Actio Christi et Ecclesiae" (no. 4, cf. Presb. Ord. no. 13), whereas in the case of the "Mass with congregation" this is not referred to except for the purpose of "remembering Christ" and sanctifying those present. The words used are: "In offering the sacrifice through Christ in the Holy Ghost to God the Father, the priest associates the people with himself" (no. 60), instead one ones which would associate the people with Christ Who offers Himself "per Spiritum Sanctum Deo Patri".
In this context the follows are to be noted:
1) the very serious omission of the phrase "Through Christ Our Lord", the guarantee of being heard given to the Church in every age (John, XIV, 13-14; 15; 16; 23; 24);
2) the all pervading "paschalism", almost as though there were no other, quite different and equally important, aspects of the communication of grace;
3) the very strange and dubious eschatologism whereby the communication of supernatural grace, a reality which is permanent and eternal, is brought down to the dimensions of time: we hear of a people on the march, a pilgrim Church - no longer militant - against the Powers of Darkness - looking towards a future which having lost its line with eternity is conceived in purely temporal terms.
The Church - One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic - is diminished as such in the formula that, in the "Eucharistic Prayer No. 4", has taken the place of the prayer of the Roman Cannon "on behalf of all orthodox believers of the Catholic and apostolic faith". Now we have merely: "all who seek you with a sincere heart".
Again, in the Memento for the dead, these have no longer passed on "with the sign of faith and sleep the sleep of peace" but only "who have died in the peace of thy Christ", and to them are added, with further obvious detriment to the concept of visible unity, the host "of all the dead whose faith is known to you alone".
Furthermore, in none of three new Eucharistic prayers, is there any reference, as has already been said, to that state of suffering of those who have died, in none the possibility of a particular Memento: all of this again, must undermine faith in the propitiatory and redemptive nature of the Sacrifice.
Desacralizing the Church
Desacralising omissions everywhere debase the mystery of the Church. Above all she is not presented as a sacred hierarchy: Angels and Saints are reduced to anonymity in the second part of the collective Confiteor: they have disappeared, as witnesses and judges, in the person of St. Michael, for the first.
The various hierarchies of angels have also disappeared (and this is without precedent) from the new Preface of "Prayer II". In the Communicantes, reminder of the Pontiffs and holy martyrs on whom the Church of Rome is founded and who were, without doubt, the transmitters of the apostolic traditions, destined to be completed in what became, with St. Gregory, the Roman Mass, has been suppressed. In the Libera nos the Blessed Virgin, the Apostles and all the Saints are no longer mentioned: her and their intercession is thus no longer asked, even in time of peril.
The unity of the Church is gravely compromised by the wholly intolerable omission from the entire Ordo, including the three new Prayers, of the names of the Apostles Peter and Paul, Founders of the Church of Rome, and the names of the other Apostles, foundation and mark of the one and universal Church, the only remaining mention being in the Communicantes of the Roman Canon.
A clear attack upon the dogma of the Communion of Saints is the omission, when the priest is celebrating without a server, of all the salutations, and the final Blessing, not to speak of the 'Ite, missa est' now not even said in Masses celebrated with a server.
The double Confiteor showed how the priest, in his capacity of Christ's Minister, bowing down deeply and acknowledging himself unworthy of his sublime mission, of the "tremendum mysterium", about to be accomplished by him and even (in the Aufer a nobis) entering into the Holy of Holies, invoked the intercession (in the Oramus te, Domine) of the merits of the martyrs whose relics were sealed in the altar. Both these prayers have been suppressed; what has been said previously in respect of the double Confiteor and the double Communion is equally relevant here.
The outward setting of the Sacrifice, evidence of its sacred character, has been profaned. See, for example, what is laid down for celebration outside sacred precincts, in which the altar may be replaced by a simple "table" without consecrated stone or relics, and with a single cloth (nos. 260, 265). Here too all that has been previously said with regard to the Real Presence applies, the disassociation of the "convivium" and of the sacrifice of the supper from the Real Presence Itself.
The process of desacralisation is completed thanks to the new procedures for the offering: the reference to ordinary not unleavened bread; altar-servers (and lay people at Communion sub utraque specie) being allowed to handle sacred vessels (no. 244d); the distracting atmosphere created by the ceaseless coming and going of the priest, deacon, subdeacon, psalmist, commentator (the priest becomes commentator himself from his constantly being required to 'explain' what he is about to accomplish) - of readings (men and women), of servers or laymen welcoming people at the door and escorting them to their places whilst others carry and sort offerings. And in the midst of all this prescribed activity, the 'mulier idonea' (anti-Scriptural and anti-Pauline) who for the first time in the tradition of the Church will be authorised to read the lessons and also perform other "ministeria quae extra presbyterium peraguntur" (no. 70).
Finally, there is the concelebration mania, which will end by destroying Eucharistic piety in the priest, by overshadowing the central figure of Christ, sole Priest and Victim, in a collective presence of concelebrants.
VI
The Destruction of Unity
We have limited ourselves to a summary evaluation of the new Ordo where it deviates most seriously from the theology of the Catholic Mass and our observations touch only those deviations that are typical. A complete evaluation of all the pitfalls, the dangers, and spiritually and psychologically destructive elements contained in the document - whether in text, rubrics or instructions - would be a vast undertaking.
By Priest or Parson
No more than a passing glance has been taken at the three new Canons, since these have already come in for repeated and authoritative criticism, both as to form and substance. The second of them gave immediate scandal to the faithful on account of its brevity. Of Canon II it has been well said, among other things, that it could be recited with perfect tranquillity of conscience by a priest who no longer believes either in Transubstantiation or in the sacrificial character of the Mass - hence even by a Protestant minister.
The new Missal was introduced in Rome as "a text of ample pastoral matter", and "more pastoral than juridical", which the Episcopal Conferences would be able to utilise according to the varying circumstances and genius of different peoples. In the same Apostolic Constitution we read: "we have introduced into the New Missal legitimate variations and adaptations". Besides, Section I of the new Congregation for Divine Worship will be responsible "for the publication and 'constant revision' of the liturgical books". The last official bulletin of the Liturgical Institutes of Germany, Switzerland and Austria says: "The Latin texts will now have to be translated into the languages of the various peoples; the 'Roman' style will have to be adapted to the individuality of the local Churches: that which was conceived beyond time must be transposed into the changing context of concrete situations in the constant flux of the Universal Church and of its myriad congregations."
The Apostolic Constitution itself gives the coup de grace to the Church's universal language (contrary to the express will of Vatican Council II) with the bland affirmation that "in such a variety of tongues one (?) and the same prayer of all . . . may ascend more fragrant than any incense".
Council of Trent Rejected
The demise of Latin may therefore be taken for granted; that of Gregorian Chant, which even the Council recognised as "liturgiae romanae proprium" (Sacros Conc. no 116), ordering that "principem locum obtineat" (ibid.) will logically follow, with the freedom of choice, amongst other things, of the texts of the Introit and Gradual.
From the outset therefore the New Rite is launched as pluralistic and experimental, bound to time and place. Unity of worship, thus swept away for good and all, what will become of that unity of faith that went with it, and which, we were always told, was to be defended without compromise?
It is evident that the Novus Ordo has no intention of presenting the Faith as taught by the Council of Trent, to which, nonetheless, the Catholic conscience is bound forever. With the promulgation of the Novus Ordo, the loyal Catholic is thus faced with a most tragic alternative.
VII
The Alienation of the Orthodox
The Apostolic Constitution makes explicit reference to a wealth of piety and teaching in the Novus Ordo borrowed from Eastern Churches. The result - utterly remote from and even opposed to the inspiration of the oriental Liturgies - can only repel the faithful of the Eastern Rites. What, in truth, do these ecumenical options amount to? Basically to the multiplicity of anaphora (but nothing approaching their beauty and complexity), to the presence of deacons, to Communion sub utraque specie.
Against this, the Novus Ordo would appear to have been deliberately shorn of everything which in the Liturgy of Rome came close to those of the East.
Moreover in abandoning its unmistakable and immemorial Roman character, the Novus Ordo lost what was spiritually precious of its own. Its place has been taken by elements which bring it closer only to certain other reformed liturgies (not even those closest to Catholicism) and which debase it at the same time. The East will be ever more alienated, as it already has been by the preceding liturgical reforms.
By the way of compensation the new Liturgy will be the delight of the various groups who, hovering on the verge of apostasy, are wreaking havoc in the Church of God, poisoning her organism and undermining her unity of doctrine, worship, morals and discipline in a spiritual crisis without precedent.
VIII
The Abandonment of Defences
St. Pius V had the Roman Missal drawn up (as the present Apostolic Constitution itself recalls) so that it might be an instrument of unity among Catholics. In conformity with the injunctions of the Council of Trent it was to exclude all danger, in liturgical worship, of errors against the Faith, then threatened by the Protestant Reformation. The gravity of the situation fully justified, and even rendered prophetic, the saintly Pontiff's solemn warning given at the end of the Bull promulgating his Missal "should anyone presume to tamper with this, let him know that he shall incur the wrath of God Almighty and his blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul. (Quo Primum, July 13, 1570)
When the Novus Ordo was presented at the Vatican Press Office, it was asserted with great audacity that the reasons which prompted the Tridentine decrees are no longer valid. Not only do they still apply, but there also exist, as we do not hesitate to affirm, very much more serious ones today.
It was precisely in order to ward off the dangers which in every century threaten the purity of the deposit of faith (depositum custodi, devitans profanas vocum novitates" Tim. VI, 20) the Church has had to erect under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost the defences of her dogmatic definitions and doctrinal pronouncements.
These were immediately reflected in her worship, which became the most complete monument of her faith. To try to bring the Church's worship back at all cost to ancient practices by refashioning, artificially and with that "unhealthy archeologism" so roundly condemned by Pius XII, what in earlier times had the grace of original spontaneity means as we see today only too clearly - to dismantle all the theological ramparts erected for the protection of the Rite and to take away all the beauty by which it was enriched over the centuries.
And all this at one of the most critical moments - if not the most critical moment - of the Church's history!
Today, division and schism are officially acknowledged to exist not only outside of but within the Church. Her unity is not only threatened but already tragically compromised. Errors against the Faith are not so much insinuated but rather an inevitable consequence of liturgical abuses and aberrations which have been given equal recognition.
To abandon a liturgical tradition which for four centuries was both the sign and pledge of unity of worship (and to replace it with another which cannot but be a sign of division by virtue of the countless liberties implicitly authorised, and which teems with insinuations or manifest errors against the integrity of the Catholic religion) is, we feel in conscience bound to proclaim, an incalculable error.
Editor's note about the above document:
When studying the issues involved in the new liturgy, you may come across the assertion that Cardinal Ottaviani signed a document retracting his words above. But here is what happened, as recounted at www.traditio.com:
A purported letter of February 17, 1970, supposedly with the Cardinal's signature, was adduced to prove the story. However, by that date it is known that the Cardinal, then 80, was totally blind and would not have known what he was signing when presented with the purposed letter by his secretary, Msgr. Gilberto Agustoni. [Ed. Agustoni was later made Bishop, then Cardinal, by John Paul II]
Now it has come to light that this Agustoni [Ed. along with his brother, Fr. Luigi Agustoni] was a member of the Consilium which that fabricated the "New Mass" and which the Arch-Architect of the New Order service, Hannibal Bugnini, led. At the time, Jean Madiran, the editor of the respected French journal Itineraires, publicly accused Agustoni of obtaining the Cardinal's signature by fraud. As a result, Agustoni was fired as the Cardinal's secretary.
So, it seems that Agustoni insinuated his way into becoming the Cardinal's secretary and in that position created a fraud in an attempt to undermine the Cardinal's public document, which questioned the validity of the New Order service, by a phony "retraction," which Agustoni had himself written with others. In any case, co-author Antonio Cardinal Bacci and the Roman theologians never "retracted," in any manner, shape, or form the devastating document, which they courageously published.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Grant Them Rest - Update!
GRANT THEM REST has been updated!
Fr. Rego, Chaplain of the Saint Gianna Latin Mass Community in Tucson, AZ, has suddenly passed away at the age of 72. Fr. Rego was a frequent guest on Catholic Answers and ran a blog that was posted to occasionally. However, on July 25th he posted three articles (his first posts since May). Please pray for the repose of his soul. Click here to read his final messages.
The following is taken from the St. Gianna Latin Mass Community website:
Audio recordings by Fr. Rego
Here is a youtube video of the homily Fr. Rego gave when we were in Tuscon.
Fr. Richard J. Rego, Requiescat in Pace
Fr. Rego, Chaplain of the Saint Gianna Latin Mass Community in Tucson, AZ, has suddenly passed away at the age of 72. Fr. Rego was a frequent guest on Catholic Answers and ran a blog that was posted to occasionally. However, on July 25th he posted three articles (his first posts since May). Please pray for the repose of his soul. Click here to read his final messages.
The following is taken from the St. Gianna Latin Mass Community website:
It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our beloved father, teacher, confessor, and friend. Father Rego died on Monday, July 30, in the year of Our Lord 2007 at St. Mary’s hospital in Tucson, AZ. Though God the Father, in His wisdom, called His faithful priest to judgment, Father Rego will live forever in the hearts of those he touched on earth. Father never wavered from preaching the truth. He taught us about Catholic faith and would have made St. Paul proud, for he did it both “in season and out of season.” He reiterated time and time again the importance of the obedience of faith, frequent confession, frequent communion, praying the rosary, and a deep devotion for Our Blessed Mother. Most especially he modeled for us, a reverence and awe for “the gift beyond compare,” Our Lord Jesus, really present, truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Father Rego had a deep devotion for the Traditional Latin Mass. Such devotion was proven on a weekly basis when he traveled 300 miles round trip from Ajo, AZ for almost 10 years to offer the Traditional Latin Mass. In the end, Father succeeded in establishing St. Gianna’s, a place for those of us who equally share in the reverence and solemnity of the Latin Mass. His message of truth reached thousands via the internet and his many appearances on Catholic radio.
We commend to Thee, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant Fr. Richard Joseph Rego, and we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, that as in mercy to him, Thou becamest man, so now Thou wouldst vouchsafe to admit him to the bosom of Thy Patriarchs. Remember, O Lord, he is Thy creature, not made by strange gods, but by Thee, the only living and true God, for there is no other but Thee, and none that can equal Thy work. Let his soul rejoice in Thy presence, and remember not his former iniquities and excesses, which he has fallen into, through the violence of passion and the corruption of his nature. For although he has sinned, yet he has always firmly believed in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; he has had a zeal for Thy honor, and faithfully adored Thee as his God, and the Creator of all things.
May Mary the most merciful Virgin Mother of God, kindest comforter of them that mourn, commend to her Son the soul of this His faithful priest, that through her maternal intercession, he may overcome the dread of death and, with her as guide, joyfully reach his longed for home in the heavenly fatherland. Amen.
There will be a viewing and Rosary on Friday, August 3, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. at St. Augustine Cathedral, 192 S. Stone St., Tucson, AZ. There will be a Solemn High Requiem Mass on Saturday, August 4, at 1:30 p.m., also at St. Augustine Cathedral. In lieu of flowers, Father requested donations be made to St. Gianna Latin Mass Community.
Audio recordings by Fr. Rego
Here is a youtube video of the homily Fr. Rego gave when we were in Tuscon.
Fr. Richard J. Rego, Requiescat in Pace
Friday, June 1, 2007
Institute of Christ the King Press Release
posted by Shawn Tribe @ NLM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(St. Louis, May 2007) - On Friday, June 15th, starting at 1:00 pm, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis will be the site of a church event not seen in St. Louis in decades -- ordinations to the priesthood in the Traditional Latin Rite. The Most Reverend Archbishop Raymond L. Burke will be presiding at this ceremony, in which two deacons of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest will be ordained Roman Catholic priests.
The Institute of Christ the King is a society of priests dedicated to Catholic tradition, founded in Italy in 1990. Priests of the Institute were assigned the historic St. Francis de Sales Oratory in July 2005 by Archbishop Burke. Once known as the Cathedral of South St. Louis for its size and magnificence, this church is now home of the Latin Mass Community of St. Louis. A vibrant community has grown at St. Francis de Sales since the Institute arrived almost two years ago, attendance increasing from 300 to nearly 800 each Sunday. Here the Classical Latin Mass is offered every day, and twice on Sundays, along with several traditional Catholic devotions throughout the week.
The “Latin Mass” has been the focus of much media attention in the past months, since rumors surfaced that Pope Benedict XVI plans to issue a document granting a wider use of the Classical or “Traditional” Latin Rite. This millennial liturgy was substituted in 1969 by the “New Order of Mass,” now celebrated in most Catholic churches. However, Pope Benedict and other high ranking officials of the Catholic Church see an important role for the Classical Latin Rite, and recognize the ever waxing interest and desire for the traditional Mass in Latin.
Unlike what many would think, the Traditional Latin Rite is not a subject of nostalgia. Anyone attending one of the now hundreds of churches in the United States where the Latin Mass is celebrated, will immediately note the youthfulness of the congregation, and the vibrancy of the community. Young adults and young large families with many children skew the average age to the mid 40s if not lower. The reverence, beauty, timelessness and transcendence of the venerable Rite are often cited as the points of attraction. And it is the general experience of the clergy who celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass that their congregations are growing very steadily. All the churches staffed by the Institute of Christ the King demonstrate this phenomenon, St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis being a particularly striking example, were the congregation has nearly tripled in size in two years.
The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest itself is evidence of this growth factor. It was founded in 1990 by two French priests, Msgr. Gilles Wach and Fr. Philippe Mora, who sought to establish a seminary that would train young men for the priesthood desiring to be formed and educated in the tradition of the Catholic Church -- theological as well as liturgical. While at first established as a mission seminary in Gabon, Africa, in a matter of months the Institute was invited by the Archbishop of Florence, Italy, to relocate to the village of Gricigliano in his archdiocese. Two heiresses had left property to the Archdiocese of Florence to be used by any Catholic order or community dedicated to the Traditional Latin Mass. It was to in this property, the Villa Martelli in Gricigliano, that the Institute established its motherhouse and seminary.
After only sixteen years the Institute of Christ the King now has more than 50 priests stationed in over 40 locations in Europe, Africa, and the United States, where all the sacraments of the church are offered in the Traditional Latin Rite. In the United States the Institute is present in Chicago, Rockford, St. Louis, Kansas City, Green Bay, Wausau, Oakland, and Santa Clara. It receives several inquiries on a weekly basis from young men who wish to become priests in the Institute. As its seminary formation program is nearly filled to capacity with 70 men at the different stages of preparation for the priesthood, the superiors of the Institute of Christ the King have the rare problem of having too many aspirants to their seminary.
The ceremony on June 15th, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis will mark the first time that priests of the Institute of Christ the King are ordained in the United States. Usually, the ordinations take place at their seminary in Florence. Members of the Institute will be providing the Gregorian Chant and filling the several liturgical roles of the intricate and strikingly beautiful Ordination ceremony and Pontifical Solemn High Mass, which will be presided by the Most Reverend Raymond L. Burke, Archbishop of St. Louis.
Father Karl Lenhardt, Rector of St. Francis de Sales Oratory operated by the Institute of Christ the King, commented: “All the members of the Institute and faithful who attend our several churches around the country are very much looking forward to this special event. We are especially grateful to His Grace, Archbishop Raymond Burke, for having the ceremony at his own Cathedral Basilica, and above all for his kindness to the Institute throughout so many years.”
For more information call 314-771-3100.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The Mundelein Psalter
The Church’s prayer must be allowed to speak for itself, to express the joy and grief, the anguish and elation of God’s children across the ages and around the globe. This volume hopes to offer an opening to the radical beauty of the Judeo-Christian prayer, in an accessible, comprehensible way.
–from the Introduction
This book offers a clear guide to making the Office a normal part of Christian life again, just as it was in the first thousand plus years of Christianity. The opening section reprints the General Instruction for saying the office, which I had never read (and didn't even know existed!), and that alone provides an excellent education into why our liturgical life should go beyond the Mass.
The editors must have spent thousands and thousands of hours on this. The patience and hard work that must have been involved is beyond belief actually. The book is $50, which sounds like a lot but once it arrives, you immediately realize what a bargain this is for a top-quality book of 1350 pages that opens up the whole of Christian daily prayer for all of us. (The last 40 pages are of real, authentic, Catholic hymns!)You can order it here.
Certainly every Catholic musician and singer should own a copy. It is really a book for everyone. May it initiate a revival of the Office for the whole Christian community.
If you would like to learn more about The Mundelein Psalter and listen to audio files, please go to www.mundeleinpsalter.com.
FSSP ordination 2007
Here are a few pictures of the recent FSSP ordination (Fr. Masutti was with us here at Mater Misericordiae Mission as a Deacon - the third picture is of Fr. Masutti blessing the Bishop)
To see all of the pictures, CLICK HERE.
To see all of the pictures, CLICK HERE.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Viri Galilaei
This was posted by Jeffrey Tucker at NLM, but since I will be chanting this later today at the Ascension Mass with the rest of the Schola Cantorum Sanctae Crucis I thought it seemed appropriate to bring over to this blog.
Ah how every Catholic singer for many hundreds of years has looked forward to Ascension, that he might sing the impossibly beautiful introit Viri Galilaei. If you do not hear this today or Sunday, you are missing out a glorious example of how it is that Gregorian chant created and sustained so much beauty and majesty in the world.
"Ye people of Galilee, why are you gazing in astonishment at the sky? Alleluia. Just as you have seen him ascend into heaven, so, in like manner, shall he return, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. All nations, clap your hands; shout unto God with a voice of joy."
I won't attempt to offer my own commentary, except to note how the very act of ascending to written into the dramatic opening line, and to observe the drama of the final three alleluias, the second of which reaches to the heavens. Instead I'll quote the incomparable Johner:
Ah how every Catholic singer for many hundreds of years has looked forward to Ascension, that he might sing the impossibly beautiful introit Viri Galilaei. If you do not hear this today or Sunday, you are missing out a glorious example of how it is that Gregorian chant created and sustained so much beauty and majesty in the world.
"Ye people of Galilee, why are you gazing in astonishment at the sky? Alleluia. Just as you have seen him ascend into heaven, so, in like manner, shall he return, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. All nations, clap your hands; shout unto God with a voice of joy."
I won't attempt to offer my own commentary, except to note how the very act of ascending to written into the dramatic opening line, and to observe the drama of the final three alleluias, the second of which reaches to the heavens. Instead I'll quote the incomparable Johner:
When we met the Saviour at Christmas, we greeted Him with the seventh mode. The motive dc ed dd over the accented syllable of Galilaei reminds us also of nobis in the Introit for the third Christmas Mass. Now the seventh mode leads the Lord back to the Father, who today will speak that long-promised word: "Now sit Thou at My right hand."
On Bethlehem's fields once the angels sang; today we again hear angels. They seem to have a special preference for the seventh mode in plainsong. Their words are addressed to the Apostles, who find it impossible to turn their eyes away from heaven, whither their dearest Lord and Master has ascended. And here the angels do not say, as the Acts of the Apostles report: "Why stand you looking up to heaven?" but: Quid admiramini aspicientes-—"Why wonder you, looking up to heaven?"
This word also supplies the key to the understanding of this Introit. The Apostles may not stand still and rest. Now is the time of labor, of strife, of suffering. Now they must fulfill the commission with which the Lord charged them. Now they must sow the seed in tears, in sweat, and in sorrow. Not till later will the time come for repose, for blissful contemplation of God. Perhaps the angel wished to stress another thought: "It is difficult for you to realize that your dearest Lord has departed from you. You cannot but wonder, and it is wonder that tends to make you sad. But be comforted! He will come again; you will see Him; and never again lose sight of Him. Just as true and real as His ascension is today, will His return be with power and majesty." This consoling thought, finds expression in the jubilant cries of alleluia. And St. Luke tells us (24: 52) that the disciples returned to Jerusalem "with great joy."
Today we also exult and rejoice, because the work which the Father gave His Son to do is now perfected. His glorification is ours also. He has, in the words of today's Communicantes, set at the right hand of the Father's glory the substance of our frail human nature which He had taken to Himself, and He says to the Father: "Father, I will that where I am, they also may be whom Thou hast given me."
The melody calls for an easy and joyous rendition... In the rendition, this climacus, and all the alleluia in fact, demand a most hearty rendition. Our joy should be voiced wholeheartedly. The rhythmic motive over admirdmini, dedc c (4 plus 1), runs through the entire piece, recurring over aspici-(entes), vidistis e-(um), (ascenden)- tern in cae—and over the second caelum. After the accented syllable of aspicientes the melody sinks a fifth. This makes the following line, expressing the heavenward gaze of the disciples, more effective.
In the second phrase, the melody moves lightly about c. Nevertheless quemddmodum and ita veniet are brought well to the fore. Special gravity and majesty are produced by the pause on c. The quiet second alleluia forms a contrast to the enthusiastic first.alleluia, while the third strikes a mean between the other two.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Mater Misericordiae Mission Easter snapshot
Here is a pic (that I should have put up some time ago now) taken Easter at my parish:
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Betrothed
This last Sunday (May 6th) after Mass my fiance and I were betrothed in a traditional ceremony. (I would have done this earlier, but I only heard of it recently from a friend and fellow "chantor" in the Schola Cantorum Sanctae Crucis.)
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Pius XII
Sainthood congregation recommends Pope Pius XII be named venerable by Cindy Wooden | Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Members of the Congregation for Saints' Causes met May 8 to consider the cause of Pope Pius XII and apparently voted to recommend that Pope Benedict XVI formally declare him venerable.
Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, vice director of the Vatican press office, confirmed the congregation had met, but since the result of the vote still had to be presented to the pope he would not say May 9 what the result was.
Italian newspapers, citing unnamed sources, said the congregation's cardinals and archbishops recommended that Pope Benedict formally recognize that Pope Pius lived the Christian virtues in a heroic manner.
Once the pope issues a decree recognizing heroic virtues, the candidate is referred to as venerable. Before a candidate can be beatified, the pope also must issue a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession. A second miracle is needed for canonization.
The newspaper Corriere della Sera reported May 9 that a minority of the congregation members had voted "no," urging Pope Benedict to delay issuing a decree until there is "a more favorable climate," particularly regarding the ongoing controversy over Pope Pius' actions during World War II.
However, a Vatican source told Catholic News Service in Rome May 9 that the congregation's vote was unanimously in favor of issuing the decree.
Jesuit Father Peter Gumpel, the promoter of Pope Pius' cause, was out of town May 9 and unavailable for comment.
Pope Pius led the Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958; immediately before his election, the then-Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was the Vatican secretary of state.
For years, controversy has raged over whether Pope Pius did and said enough in defense of the Jews and other victims of the Nazis.
The May 8 vote of the congregation members was based on a review of a six-volume, 3,000-page "positio" or position paper prepared by the promoters of Pope Pius' sainthood cause. The report, given to the Vatican in 2004, included sworn testimony from witnesses, historical documents and a review of literature -- both neutral and negative -- pertaining to the Vatican's actions during World War II.
(Hat Tip to Overheard in the Sacristy.)
Monday, April 16, 2007
Pope Holds Surprise Meeting With Roman Curia
Catholic News Agency has more about this surprise meeting with Roman Curia.
Some have discussed, including some news agencies, whether this was about Latin America. However, there is the open question out there as to whether that was indeed what it was about, since we have no official report, or at least what it was solely about.
Catholic news agency spoke of the meeting this way:
The interesting point here is the addition of information, to my knowledge the first time discussed in the news or even generally, that the Motu Proprio "could be accompanied by a study in the subject by experts".
This might also explain the delays in formally promulgating this document. If there is such a study, is it ready or is it undergoing cross-examination before being finally released?
All interesting questions.
(H/T to The New Liturgical Movement)
Some have discussed, including some news agencies, whether this was about Latin America. However, there is the open question out there as to whether that was indeed what it was about, since we have no official report, or at least what it was solely about.
Catholic news agency spoke of the meeting this way:
"In what could be a sign of an important upcoming announcement, Pope Benedict XVI convened a surprise meeting on Saturday with the leaders of the Roman curia.
"The Holy See’s Press Office simply reported that the meeting took place on Saturday morning at the Apostolic Palace, where the Pontiff resides.
"Although the Holy See has not revealed the nature of the meeting, several Vatican analysts said the Holy Father has prepared two important documents that merit the opinion of curial officials.
"The first is a the possible Motu Propio—which could be accompanied by a study on the subject by experts—that would allow the universal celebration of the Mass of St. Pius V, the Latin Rite that was universally celebrated prior to the liturgical reform of Vatican II."
The interesting point here is the addition of information, to my knowledge the first time discussed in the news or even generally, that the Motu Proprio "could be accompanied by a study in the subject by experts".
This might also explain the delays in formally promulgating this document. If there is such a study, is it ready or is it undergoing cross-examination before being finally released?
All interesting questions.
(H/T to The New Liturgical Movement)
Friday, April 13, 2007
The New Translation
Here it is, folks, brought to you by Valle Adurni:
The canons are at the end.
[pro multis has yet to be added: apparently it hasn't yet been decided whether to render it 'for many' or 'for the many']
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.
or —
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
or —
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins,
that we may be ready to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have sinned greatly
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault.
Therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels ad Saints,
and you my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
May almighty God have mercy on us
and lead us, with our sins forgiven,
into eternal life.
Amen.
or —
Have mercy on us, O Lord
For we have sinned against you.
Show us, O Lord, your mercy.
And grant us your salvation.
May almighty God have mercy on us
and lead us, with our sins forgiven,
into eternal life.
Amen.
or —
You were sent to heal the contrite of heart:
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
You came to call sinners,
Christ have mercy or — Christe eleison
Christ have mercy or — Christe eleison
You are seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us:
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
May almighty God have mercy on us
and lead us, with our sins forgiven,
into eternal life.
Amen.
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Christ have mercy or — Christe eleison
Christ have mercy or — Christe eleison
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only-begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer.
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
Let us pray…
Amen.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Pray, Father, your blessing.
May the Lord be in your heart and on your lips
that you may proclaim his Gospel worthily and well,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
or —
Cleanse my heart and my lips, almighty God,
that I may worthily proclaim your holy Gospel.
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to N.
Glory to you, O Lord.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Through the words of the Gospel may our sins be wiped away.
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only-begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial wit the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate
of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated a the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and he Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
And one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
for we have received from your abundance
the bread we offer you,
fruit of the earth and work of human hands:
it will become for us the bread of life.
Blessed be God for ever.
By the mystery of this water and wine
may we come to share in the divinity of Christ
who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
for we have received from your abundance
the wine we offer you,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands:
it will become for us the spiritual drink.
Blessed be God for ever.
With humble spirit and contrite heart
may we be accepted by you, O Lord,
and may our sacrifice to you this day
be pleasing in your sight, Lord God.
Wash me, O Lord, from my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
Pray, brothers and sisters,
that the sacrifice which is mine and yours
may be acceptable to God
the almighty Father.
May the Lord accept the sacrifice from your hands
for the praise and glory of his name,
for our good
and the good of all his holy Church.
Amen.
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right and just.
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
The mystery of faith.
We proclaim your death, O Lord,
and profess your resurrection
until you come in glory.
or —
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your death, O Lord,
until you come again.
or —
Saviour of the world, save us,
for by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
Through him, and with him, and in him,
to you, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
is all honour and glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Taught by the Saviour’s command
and formed by the word of God,
we have the courage to say:
Our Father …
Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil,
graciously grant peace in our days,
that, sustained by the help of your mercy,
we may be always free from sin
and safe from all distress,
as we await the blessed hope,
the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Lord Jesus Christ,
who said to your Apostles,
Peace I leave you, my peace I give you,
look not on our sins,
but on the faith of your Church,
and be pleased to grant her peace and unity
in accordance with your will.
Amen.
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
And with your spirit.
Let us offer each other the sign of peace.
May this mingling of the Body and Blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ
bring eternal life to us who receive it.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
grant us peace.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God,
by the will of the Father
and the work of the Holy Spirit,
you gave life to the world through your death.
By this your most holy Body and Blood
free me from all my sins and from every evil;
keep me always faithful to your commandments,
and never let me be parted from you.
or —
Lord Jesus Christ,
may the receiving of your Body and Blood
not bring me to judgment and condemnation,
but through your loving mercy
let it be my protection in mind and body,
and healing remedy.
Behold the Lamb of God,
behold him who takes away the sins of the world.
Blessed are those called to the banquet of the Lamb.
Lord, I am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof,
but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.
May the Body of Christ
keep me safe unto eternal life.
May the Blood of Christ
keep me safe unto eternal life.
The Body of Christ.
Amen.
What has passed our lips as food, O Lord,
ma we possess in purity of heart,
that what has been given us in time
may be our healing for eternity.
Let us pray …
Amen.
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
May almighty God bless you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Go forth, the Mass is ended.
Thanks be to God.
EPI
To you, most merciful Father,
we therefore humbly pray
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
We ask you to accept and bless these gifts,
these offerings,
these holy and undefiled sacrifices,
which we offer you first of all
for your holy Catholic Church.
Be pleased to grant her peace,
to guard, unite and govern her
throughout the whole world,
together with your servant N. our Pope
and N. our Bishop,
and all Bishops who, holding to the truth,
hand on the catholic and apostolic faith.
Remember, Lord, your servants N. and N.
and all gathered here,
whose faith and devotion are known to you.
For them we offer you this sacrifice of praise
and they offer it to you for themselves
and all who are theirs,
for the redemption of their souls,
in hope of health and security,
and fulfilling their vows to you,
the eternal God, living and true.
In communion with the whole Church,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ,
† then of blessed Joseph, husband of the Virgin,
your blessed Apostles and Martyrs,
Peter and Paul, Andrew,
James, John,
Thomas, James, Philip,
Bartholomew, Matthew,
Simon and Jude:
Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus,
Cornelius, Cyprian,
Laurence, Chrysogonus,
John and Paul,
Cosmas and Damian
and all your Saints:
grant through their merits and prayers
that in all things we may be defended
by the help of your protection.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In communion with the whole Church,
and celebrating the most sacred night/day
on which blessed Mary the immaculate virgin
brought forth a Saviour for this world,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the same glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, †
In communion with the whole Church,
and celebrating the most sacred day
on which your Only-begotten Son,
eternal with you in your glory,
appeared in a human body, truly sharing our flesh,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, †
In communion with the whole Church,
and celebrating the most sacred night/day
of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, †
In communion with the whole Church,
and celebrating the most sacred day
on which your Only-begotten Son, our Lord,
set at the right hand of your glory,
our weak human nature,
which he had united to himself,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, †
In communion with the whole Church,
and celebrating the most sacred day of Pentecost,
on which the Holy Spirit
appeared to the Apostles in tongues of fire,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, †
Therefore, Lord, we pray:
graciously accept this offering from us, your servants,
and from your whole family:
order our days in your peace,
and command that we be delivered from eternal damnation
and counted among the flock of those you have chosen.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Therefore, Lord, we pray:
graciously accept from us, your servants,
and from your whole family,
this offering which we make to you
also for those to whom you have been pleased to give
the new birth of water and the Holy Spirit,
granting them forgiveness of all their sins:
order our days in your peace,
and command that we be delivered from eternal damnation
and counted among the flock of those you have chosen.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
We pray, O God:
be pleased to bless, recognize,
and approve this offering in every way:
make it spiritual and acceptable,
that it become for us
the Body and Blood of your most beloved Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who, on the day before he was to suffer
took bread into his holy and venerable hands:
with eyes raised to heaven
to you, O God, his almighty Father,
giving you thanks he said the blessing,
broke the bread
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and eat of it,
for this is my Body,
which will be given up for you.
In the same way, when supper was ended,
he took this precious chalice
into his holy and venerable hands,
and once more giving you thanks, he said the blessing
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the Cup of my Blood,
the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant;
it will be poured out for you and for all
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me.
The mystery of faith.
We proclaim your death, O Lord,
and profess your resurrection
until you come in glory.
or —
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your death, O Lord,
until you come again.
or —
Saviour of the world, save us,
for by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
Therefore, O Lord,
as we celebrate the memorial of the blessed passion,
the resurrection from the dead,
and the glorious ascension into heaven
of Christ, your Son, our Lord,
we, your servants and your holy people,
offer to your glorious majesty
from your own generous gifts,
the pure victim,
the holy victim,
the spotless victim,
the holy Bread of eternal life
and the Chalice of everlasting salvation.
Be pleased to look upon them,
with a serene and kindly gaze,
and to accept them
as you were pleased to accept
the gifts of your just servant Abel,
the sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith,
and the offering of your high priest Melchizedek,
a holy sacrifice, a spotless victim.
In humble prayer we ask you, almighty God,
bid that these gifts be borne
by the hands of your holy Angel
to your altar on high
in the sight of your divine majesty,
that all of us who receive
the most holy Body and Blood of your Son
through this sharing at the altar
may be filled with every grace and blessing from above.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Remember also, Lord, your servants N. and N.
who have gone before us with the sign of faith
and rest in the sleep of peace.
Grant them, O Lord, we pray,
and all who sleep in Christ,
a place of refreshment, light and peace.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
To us sinners also,
your servants who hope in your abundant mercies,
graciously grant some share
in the communion of your holy Apostles and Martyrs:
with John the Baptist, Stephen,
Matthias, Barnabas,
Ignatius, Alexander,
Marcellinus, Peter,
Felicity, Perpetua,
Agatha, Lucy,
Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia,
and all your saints,
into whose company we beg you admit us,
not weighing our merits but granting us pardon,
through Christ our Lord.
Through whom
you constantly create all these good things, O Lord,
you make them holy and fill them with life,
you bless them and bestow them on us.
Through him, and with him, and in him,
to you, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
is all honour and glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
EP II
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right and just.
It is truly right and just, our duty and salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks, Father most holy,
through your beloved Son, Jesus Christ,
your Word through whom you made all things,
whom you sent to us as Saviour and Redeemer,
incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin.
Fulfilling your will and gaining for you a holy people,
he stretched out his hands as he suffered,
to break the bonds of death and show forth the resurrection.
Therefore, with the Angels and all the Saints
we proclaim your glory,
as with one voice we say:
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
You are indeed the Holy One, O Lord,
you are the wellspring of all holiness.
Therefore, make holy these gifts, we pray,
by the dew of your Spirit,
that they may become for us
the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Who, as he was handed over
and entered willingly into his Passion,
took bread and, giving thanks, broke it,
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and eat of it,
for this is my Body,
which will be given up for you.
In the same way, when supper was ended,
he took the chalice
and, once more giving you thanks,
he gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the Cup of my Blood,
the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant;
it will be poured out for you and for all
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me.
The mystery of faith.
We proclaim your death, O Lord,
and profess your resurrection
until you come in glory.
or —
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your death, O Lord,
until you come again.
or —
Saviour of the world, save us,
for by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
Therefore, as we celebrate the memorial of his death and resurrection,
we offer you, Lord,
the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation,
giving thanks that you have deemed us worthy
to stand in your presence and serve you.
Humbly we pray
that, sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ,
we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit.
Remember, Lord, your Church
spread throughout the world,
and bring her to the fullness of charity,
together with N. our Pope and N. our Bishop
and all the clergy.
[Remember your servant N.
whom you have called {today}
from this world to yourself.
Grant that he/she who was united with your Son in a death like his,
may also be one with him in his resurrection.]
Remember also our brothers and sisters
who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection,
and all who have died in your mercy:
welcome them into the light of your countenance.
Have mercy on us all, we pray,
that with the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
the blessed Apostles,
and all the Saints from every age who have pleased you,
we may be worthy to share eternal life,
and may praise and glorify you
through your Son, Jesus Christ.
Through him, and with him, and in him,
to you, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
is all honour and glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
EP III
You are indeed the Holy One, O Lord,
and all you have created
rightly gives you praise,
for through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ,
by the power and work of the Holy Spirit,
you give life to all things and make them holy.
You never cease to gather a people to yourself,
so that from the rising of the sun to its setting
a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name.
Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you,
graciously make holy by the same Spirit,
these gifts we have brought to you for consecration,
that they may become the Body and Blood
of your Son our Lord, Jesus Christ
at whose command we celebrate these mysteries.
For he himself
on the night he was handed over
took bread
and, giving you thanks, he said the blessing,
broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and eat of it,
for this is my Body,
which will be given up for you.
In the same way, when supper was ended,
he took the chalice
and giving you thanks he said the blessing,
he gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the Cup of my Blood,
the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant;
it will be poured out for you and for all
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me.
The mystery of faith.
We proclaim your death, O Lord,
and profess your resurrection
until you come in glory.
or —
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your death, O Lord,
until you come again.
or —
Saviour of the world, save us,
for by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial
of the saving passion of your Son,
his wondrous resurrection
and ascension into heaven,
and also look forward to his second coming,
we offer you in thanksgiving
this holy and living sacrifice.
Look, we pray, upon your Church’s offering
and, recognizing the Victim by whose sacrificial death
you willed to be reconciled,
grant that we, who are strengthened
by the Body and Blood of your Son
and filled with his Holy Spirit,
may be found to be one body and one spirit in Christ.
May he bring us to perfection
as an eternal gift to you,
that we may gain an inheritance with your elect,
above all with the most blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
with your blessed Apostles and glorious Martyrs,
[with Saint N.]
and with all the Saints,
whose intercession in your presence
is our unfailing pledge of help.
We pray, O Lord,
may this Victim who is our reconciliation,
advance the peace and salvation of all the world.
Be pleased to strengthen in faith and love
your pilgrim Church on earth,
with your servant N. our Pope and N. our Bishop,
the Order of Bishops, all the clergy,
and the entire people you make your own.
Listen graciously to the prayers of this family,
whom you have called into your presence.
Merciful Father, in your compassion
gather to yourself all your children
scattered throughout the earth.
†Lovingly receive into your kingdom
our departed brothers and sisters
and all who were pleasing to you
at their passing from this life.
In that kingdom we hope to be filled with your glory for ever
through Christ our Lord
through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.
[† Remember your servant N.
whom you have called {today}
from this world to yourself.
Grant that he/she who was united with your Son in a death like his,
may also be one with him in his resurrection,
when from the earth
he will raise in the flesh those who have died,
and transform our lowly body
to be like his own glorious body.
Lovingly receive into your kingdom
our departed brothers and sisters
and all who were pleasing to you
at their passing from this life.
In that kingdom we hope to be filled with your glory for ever
when you will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
For seeing you, God, as you are,
we shall be like you for all ages
and praise you without end,
through Christ our Lord
through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.
Through him, and with him, and in him,
to you, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
is all honour and glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
EP IV
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right and just.
It is truly right to give you thanks,
it is truly just to give you glory, Father most holy,
for you are the one God living and true,
who are before all ages and abide for all eternity,
dwelling in unapproachable light;
yet you, the one good and the source of life,
have made all that is,
to bless your creatures beyond measure
and bring joy to many by the radiance of your light.
Therefore in your presence stand countless hosts of angels,
who serve you day and night,
and, gazing on the glory of your face,
glorify you without end.
With them we too confess your name in exultation
giving voice to every creature under heaven
as we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
We give you praise, Father most holy,
for you are great, and you have fashioned all your works
in wisdom and in love.
You formed man in your own image,
male and female you created them,
and entrusted the whole world to their care,
so that in serving you alone, the Creator,
they might have dominion over all creatures.
And when through disobedience they had lost your friendship,
you did not abandon them in the domain of death.
For you came in mercy to the aid of all,
that those who seek might find you.
Time and again you offered covenants to them,
and through the prophets taught them to look forward to salvation.
And you so loved the world, Father most holy,
that when the fullness of time had come,
you sent your Only-begotten to us as Saviour.
Incarnate by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary,
he shared our human nature
in all things but sin.
To the poor he proclaimed the good news of salvation,
to prisoners, freedom,
and joy to the sorrowful of heart.
But to accomplish your plan,
he gave himself over to death,
and, rising from the dead,
he destroyed death and restored life.
And that we might live no longer for ourselves
but for him who died and rose for us,
he sent the Holy Spirit from you, Father,
as first fruits for those who believe,
so that, continuing his work in the world,
he might sanctify creation to the full.
Therefore, O Lord, we pray,
may the same Holy Spirit
graciously sanctify these gifts,
that they may become
the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
for the celebration of this great mystery,
which he himself left us
as an eternal covenant.
For when the hour had come
for him to be glorified by you, Father most holy,
having loved his own who were in the world,
he loved them to the end:
and while they were at supper,
he took bread, blessed and broke it,
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and eat of it,
for this is my Body,
which will be given up for you.
In the same way,
taking the chalice filled with the fruit of the vine,
he gave thanks,
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the Cup of my Blood,
the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant;
it will be poured out for you and for all
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me.
The mystery of faith.
We proclaim your death, O Lord,
and profess your resurrection
until you come in glory.
or —
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your death, O Lord,
until you come again.
or —
Saviour of the world, save us,
for by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
Therefore, O Lord,
as we now celebrate the memorial of our redemption,
we remember the death of Christ
and his descent to the realm of the dead,
we proclaim his resurrection
and his ascension to your right hand;
and as we await his coming in glory,
we offer you his Body and Blood,
the sacrifice acceptable to you
and the source of salvation for the whole world.
Look, O Lord, upon the Sacrifice
you yourself have provided for your Church.
Grant in your loving kindness
to all who partake of this one Bread and one Cup
that, gathered into one body by the Holy Spirit,
they may be made perfect as a living sacrifice in Christ
to the praise of your glory.
Therefore, Lord, remember now
all for whom we offer you this sacrifice:
first of all your servant, N. our Pope,
N. our Bishop, and the whole Order of Bishops,
all the clergy,
those who make the offering,
those gathered here before you,
your entire people,
and all who seek you with a sincere heart.
Remember also
those who have died in the peace of your Christ
and all the dead,
whose faith only you have known.
Merciful Father,
grant to all of us, your children,
that we may gain a heavenly inheritance
with the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
and with your Apostles and Saints in your kingdom.
There, with all creation,
set free from the corruption of sin and death,
may we glorify you through Christ our Lord,
through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.
Through him, and with him, and in him,
to you, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
is all honour and glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
The canons are at the end.
[pro multis has yet to be added: apparently it hasn't yet been decided whether to render it 'for many' or 'for the many']
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.
or —
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
or —
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins,
that we may be ready to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have sinned greatly
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault.
Therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels ad Saints,
and you my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
May almighty God have mercy on us
and lead us, with our sins forgiven,
into eternal life.
Amen.
or —
Have mercy on us, O Lord
For we have sinned against you.
Show us, O Lord, your mercy.
And grant us your salvation.
May almighty God have mercy on us
and lead us, with our sins forgiven,
into eternal life.
Amen.
or —
You were sent to heal the contrite of heart:
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
You came to call sinners,
Christ have mercy or — Christe eleison
Christ have mercy or — Christe eleison
You are seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us:
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
May almighty God have mercy on us
and lead us, with our sins forgiven,
into eternal life.
Amen.
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Christ have mercy or — Christe eleison
Christ have mercy or — Christe eleison
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy or — Kyrie eleison
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only-begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer.
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
Let us pray…
Amen.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Pray, Father, your blessing.
May the Lord be in your heart and on your lips
that you may proclaim his Gospel worthily and well,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
or —
Cleanse my heart and my lips, almighty God,
that I may worthily proclaim your holy Gospel.
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to N.
Glory to you, O Lord.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Through the words of the Gospel may our sins be wiped away.
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only-begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial wit the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate
of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated a the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and he Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
And one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
for we have received from your abundance
the bread we offer you,
fruit of the earth and work of human hands:
it will become for us the bread of life.
Blessed be God for ever.
By the mystery of this water and wine
may we come to share in the divinity of Christ
who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
for we have received from your abundance
the wine we offer you,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands:
it will become for us the spiritual drink.
Blessed be God for ever.
With humble spirit and contrite heart
may we be accepted by you, O Lord,
and may our sacrifice to you this day
be pleasing in your sight, Lord God.
Wash me, O Lord, from my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
Pray, brothers and sisters,
that the sacrifice which is mine and yours
may be acceptable to God
the almighty Father.
May the Lord accept the sacrifice from your hands
for the praise and glory of his name,
for our good
and the good of all his holy Church.
Amen.
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right and just.
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
The mystery of faith.
We proclaim your death, O Lord,
and profess your resurrection
until you come in glory.
or —
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your death, O Lord,
until you come again.
or —
Saviour of the world, save us,
for by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
Through him, and with him, and in him,
to you, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
is all honour and glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Taught by the Saviour’s command
and formed by the word of God,
we have the courage to say:
Our Father …
Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil,
graciously grant peace in our days,
that, sustained by the help of your mercy,
we may be always free from sin
and safe from all distress,
as we await the blessed hope,
the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Lord Jesus Christ,
who said to your Apostles,
Peace I leave you, my peace I give you,
look not on our sins,
but on the faith of your Church,
and be pleased to grant her peace and unity
in accordance with your will.
Amen.
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
And with your spirit.
Let us offer each other the sign of peace.
May this mingling of the Body and Blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ
bring eternal life to us who receive it.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
grant us peace.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God,
by the will of the Father
and the work of the Holy Spirit,
you gave life to the world through your death.
By this your most holy Body and Blood
free me from all my sins and from every evil;
keep me always faithful to your commandments,
and never let me be parted from you.
or —
Lord Jesus Christ,
may the receiving of your Body and Blood
not bring me to judgment and condemnation,
but through your loving mercy
let it be my protection in mind and body,
and healing remedy.
Behold the Lamb of God,
behold him who takes away the sins of the world.
Blessed are those called to the banquet of the Lamb.
Lord, I am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof,
but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.
May the Body of Christ
keep me safe unto eternal life.
May the Blood of Christ
keep me safe unto eternal life.
The Body of Christ.
Amen.
What has passed our lips as food, O Lord,
ma we possess in purity of heart,
that what has been given us in time
may be our healing for eternity.
Let us pray …
Amen.
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
May almighty God bless you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Go forth, the Mass is ended.
Thanks be to God.
EPI
To you, most merciful Father,
we therefore humbly pray
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
We ask you to accept and bless these gifts,
these offerings,
these holy and undefiled sacrifices,
which we offer you first of all
for your holy Catholic Church.
Be pleased to grant her peace,
to guard, unite and govern her
throughout the whole world,
together with your servant N. our Pope
and N. our Bishop,
and all Bishops who, holding to the truth,
hand on the catholic and apostolic faith.
Remember, Lord, your servants N. and N.
and all gathered here,
whose faith and devotion are known to you.
For them we offer you this sacrifice of praise
and they offer it to you for themselves
and all who are theirs,
for the redemption of their souls,
in hope of health and security,
and fulfilling their vows to you,
the eternal God, living and true.
In communion with the whole Church,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ,
† then of blessed Joseph, husband of the Virgin,
your blessed Apostles and Martyrs,
Peter and Paul, Andrew,
James, John,
Thomas, James, Philip,
Bartholomew, Matthew,
Simon and Jude:
Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus,
Cornelius, Cyprian,
Laurence, Chrysogonus,
John and Paul,
Cosmas and Damian
and all your Saints:
grant through their merits and prayers
that in all things we may be defended
by the help of your protection.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In communion with the whole Church,
and celebrating the most sacred night/day
on which blessed Mary the immaculate virgin
brought forth a Saviour for this world,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the same glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, †
In communion with the whole Church,
and celebrating the most sacred day
on which your Only-begotten Son,
eternal with you in your glory,
appeared in a human body, truly sharing our flesh,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, †
In communion with the whole Church,
and celebrating the most sacred night/day
of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, †
In communion with the whole Church,
and celebrating the most sacred day
on which your Only-begotten Son, our Lord,
set at the right hand of your glory,
our weak human nature,
which he had united to himself,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, †
In communion with the whole Church,
and celebrating the most sacred day of Pentecost,
on which the Holy Spirit
appeared to the Apostles in tongues of fire,
they venerate above all others the memory
of the glorious ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, †
Therefore, Lord, we pray:
graciously accept this offering from us, your servants,
and from your whole family:
order our days in your peace,
and command that we be delivered from eternal damnation
and counted among the flock of those you have chosen.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Therefore, Lord, we pray:
graciously accept from us, your servants,
and from your whole family,
this offering which we make to you
also for those to whom you have been pleased to give
the new birth of water and the Holy Spirit,
granting them forgiveness of all their sins:
order our days in your peace,
and command that we be delivered from eternal damnation
and counted among the flock of those you have chosen.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
We pray, O God:
be pleased to bless, recognize,
and approve this offering in every way:
make it spiritual and acceptable,
that it become for us
the Body and Blood of your most beloved Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who, on the day before he was to suffer
took bread into his holy and venerable hands:
with eyes raised to heaven
to you, O God, his almighty Father,
giving you thanks he said the blessing,
broke the bread
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and eat of it,
for this is my Body,
which will be given up for you.
In the same way, when supper was ended,
he took this precious chalice
into his holy and venerable hands,
and once more giving you thanks, he said the blessing
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the Cup of my Blood,
the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant;
it will be poured out for you and for all
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me.
The mystery of faith.
We proclaim your death, O Lord,
and profess your resurrection
until you come in glory.
or —
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your death, O Lord,
until you come again.
or —
Saviour of the world, save us,
for by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
Therefore, O Lord,
as we celebrate the memorial of the blessed passion,
the resurrection from the dead,
and the glorious ascension into heaven
of Christ, your Son, our Lord,
we, your servants and your holy people,
offer to your glorious majesty
from your own generous gifts,
the pure victim,
the holy victim,
the spotless victim,
the holy Bread of eternal life
and the Chalice of everlasting salvation.
Be pleased to look upon them,
with a serene and kindly gaze,
and to accept them
as you were pleased to accept
the gifts of your just servant Abel,
the sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith,
and the offering of your high priest Melchizedek,
a holy sacrifice, a spotless victim.
In humble prayer we ask you, almighty God,
bid that these gifts be borne
by the hands of your holy Angel
to your altar on high
in the sight of your divine majesty,
that all of us who receive
the most holy Body and Blood of your Son
through this sharing at the altar
may be filled with every grace and blessing from above.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Remember also, Lord, your servants N. and N.
who have gone before us with the sign of faith
and rest in the sleep of peace.
Grant them, O Lord, we pray,
and all who sleep in Christ,
a place of refreshment, light and peace.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
To us sinners also,
your servants who hope in your abundant mercies,
graciously grant some share
in the communion of your holy Apostles and Martyrs:
with John the Baptist, Stephen,
Matthias, Barnabas,
Ignatius, Alexander,
Marcellinus, Peter,
Felicity, Perpetua,
Agatha, Lucy,
Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia,
and all your saints,
into whose company we beg you admit us,
not weighing our merits but granting us pardon,
through Christ our Lord.
Through whom
you constantly create all these good things, O Lord,
you make them holy and fill them with life,
you bless them and bestow them on us.
Through him, and with him, and in him,
to you, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
is all honour and glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
EP II
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right and just.
It is truly right and just, our duty and salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks, Father most holy,
through your beloved Son, Jesus Christ,
your Word through whom you made all things,
whom you sent to us as Saviour and Redeemer,
incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin.
Fulfilling your will and gaining for you a holy people,
he stretched out his hands as he suffered,
to break the bonds of death and show forth the resurrection.
Therefore, with the Angels and all the Saints
we proclaim your glory,
as with one voice we say:
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
You are indeed the Holy One, O Lord,
you are the wellspring of all holiness.
Therefore, make holy these gifts, we pray,
by the dew of your Spirit,
that they may become for us
the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Who, as he was handed over
and entered willingly into his Passion,
took bread and, giving thanks, broke it,
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and eat of it,
for this is my Body,
which will be given up for you.
In the same way, when supper was ended,
he took the chalice
and, once more giving you thanks,
he gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the Cup of my Blood,
the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant;
it will be poured out for you and for all
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me.
The mystery of faith.
We proclaim your death, O Lord,
and profess your resurrection
until you come in glory.
or —
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your death, O Lord,
until you come again.
or —
Saviour of the world, save us,
for by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
Therefore, as we celebrate the memorial of his death and resurrection,
we offer you, Lord,
the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation,
giving thanks that you have deemed us worthy
to stand in your presence and serve you.
Humbly we pray
that, sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ,
we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit.
Remember, Lord, your Church
spread throughout the world,
and bring her to the fullness of charity,
together with N. our Pope and N. our Bishop
and all the clergy.
[Remember your servant N.
whom you have called {today}
from this world to yourself.
Grant that he/she who was united with your Son in a death like his,
may also be one with him in his resurrection.]
Remember also our brothers and sisters
who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection,
and all who have died in your mercy:
welcome them into the light of your countenance.
Have mercy on us all, we pray,
that with the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
the blessed Apostles,
and all the Saints from every age who have pleased you,
we may be worthy to share eternal life,
and may praise and glorify you
through your Son, Jesus Christ.
Through him, and with him, and in him,
to you, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
is all honour and glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
EP III
You are indeed the Holy One, O Lord,
and all you have created
rightly gives you praise,
for through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ,
by the power and work of the Holy Spirit,
you give life to all things and make them holy.
You never cease to gather a people to yourself,
so that from the rising of the sun to its setting
a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name.
Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you,
graciously make holy by the same Spirit,
these gifts we have brought to you for consecration,
that they may become the Body and Blood
of your Son our Lord, Jesus Christ
at whose command we celebrate these mysteries.
For he himself
on the night he was handed over
took bread
and, giving you thanks, he said the blessing,
broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and eat of it,
for this is my Body,
which will be given up for you.
In the same way, when supper was ended,
he took the chalice
and giving you thanks he said the blessing,
he gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the Cup of my Blood,
the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant;
it will be poured out for you and for all
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me.
The mystery of faith.
We proclaim your death, O Lord,
and profess your resurrection
until you come in glory.
or —
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your death, O Lord,
until you come again.
or —
Saviour of the world, save us,
for by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial
of the saving passion of your Son,
his wondrous resurrection
and ascension into heaven,
and also look forward to his second coming,
we offer you in thanksgiving
this holy and living sacrifice.
Look, we pray, upon your Church’s offering
and, recognizing the Victim by whose sacrificial death
you willed to be reconciled,
grant that we, who are strengthened
by the Body and Blood of your Son
and filled with his Holy Spirit,
may be found to be one body and one spirit in Christ.
May he bring us to perfection
as an eternal gift to you,
that we may gain an inheritance with your elect,
above all with the most blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
with your blessed Apostles and glorious Martyrs,
[with Saint N.]
and with all the Saints,
whose intercession in your presence
is our unfailing pledge of help.
We pray, O Lord,
may this Victim who is our reconciliation,
advance the peace and salvation of all the world.
Be pleased to strengthen in faith and love
your pilgrim Church on earth,
with your servant N. our Pope and N. our Bishop,
the Order of Bishops, all the clergy,
and the entire people you make your own.
Listen graciously to the prayers of this family,
whom you have called into your presence.
Merciful Father, in your compassion
gather to yourself all your children
scattered throughout the earth.
†Lovingly receive into your kingdom
our departed brothers and sisters
and all who were pleasing to you
at their passing from this life.
In that kingdom we hope to be filled with your glory for ever
through Christ our Lord
through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.
[† Remember your servant N.
whom you have called {today}
from this world to yourself.
Grant that he/she who was united with your Son in a death like his,
may also be one with him in his resurrection,
when from the earth
he will raise in the flesh those who have died,
and transform our lowly body
to be like his own glorious body.
Lovingly receive into your kingdom
our departed brothers and sisters
and all who were pleasing to you
at their passing from this life.
In that kingdom we hope to be filled with your glory for ever
when you will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
For seeing you, God, as you are,
we shall be like you for all ages
and praise you without end,
through Christ our Lord
through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.
Through him, and with him, and in him,
to you, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
is all honour and glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
EP IV
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right and just.
It is truly right to give you thanks,
it is truly just to give you glory, Father most holy,
for you are the one God living and true,
who are before all ages and abide for all eternity,
dwelling in unapproachable light;
yet you, the one good and the source of life,
have made all that is,
to bless your creatures beyond measure
and bring joy to many by the radiance of your light.
Therefore in your presence stand countless hosts of angels,
who serve you day and night,
and, gazing on the glory of your face,
glorify you without end.
With them we too confess your name in exultation
giving voice to every creature under heaven
as we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
We give you praise, Father most holy,
for you are great, and you have fashioned all your works
in wisdom and in love.
You formed man in your own image,
male and female you created them,
and entrusted the whole world to their care,
so that in serving you alone, the Creator,
they might have dominion over all creatures.
And when through disobedience they had lost your friendship,
you did not abandon them in the domain of death.
For you came in mercy to the aid of all,
that those who seek might find you.
Time and again you offered covenants to them,
and through the prophets taught them to look forward to salvation.
And you so loved the world, Father most holy,
that when the fullness of time had come,
you sent your Only-begotten to us as Saviour.
Incarnate by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary,
he shared our human nature
in all things but sin.
To the poor he proclaimed the good news of salvation,
to prisoners, freedom,
and joy to the sorrowful of heart.
But to accomplish your plan,
he gave himself over to death,
and, rising from the dead,
he destroyed death and restored life.
And that we might live no longer for ourselves
but for him who died and rose for us,
he sent the Holy Spirit from you, Father,
as first fruits for those who believe,
so that, continuing his work in the world,
he might sanctify creation to the full.
Therefore, O Lord, we pray,
may the same Holy Spirit
graciously sanctify these gifts,
that they may become
the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
for the celebration of this great mystery,
which he himself left us
as an eternal covenant.
For when the hour had come
for him to be glorified by you, Father most holy,
having loved his own who were in the world,
he loved them to the end:
and while they were at supper,
he took bread, blessed and broke it,
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and eat of it,
for this is my Body,
which will be given up for you.
In the same way,
taking the chalice filled with the fruit of the vine,
he gave thanks,
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the Cup of my Blood,
the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant;
it will be poured out for you and for all
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me.
The mystery of faith.
We proclaim your death, O Lord,
and profess your resurrection
until you come in glory.
or —
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your death, O Lord,
until you come again.
or —
Saviour of the world, save us,
for by your cross and resurrection
you have set us free.
Therefore, O Lord,
as we now celebrate the memorial of our redemption,
we remember the death of Christ
and his descent to the realm of the dead,
we proclaim his resurrection
and his ascension to your right hand;
and as we await his coming in glory,
we offer you his Body and Blood,
the sacrifice acceptable to you
and the source of salvation for the whole world.
Look, O Lord, upon the Sacrifice
you yourself have provided for your Church.
Grant in your loving kindness
to all who partake of this one Bread and one Cup
that, gathered into one body by the Holy Spirit,
they may be made perfect as a living sacrifice in Christ
to the praise of your glory.
Therefore, Lord, remember now
all for whom we offer you this sacrifice:
first of all your servant, N. our Pope,
N. our Bishop, and the whole Order of Bishops,
all the clergy,
those who make the offering,
those gathered here before you,
your entire people,
and all who seek you with a sincere heart.
Remember also
those who have died in the peace of your Christ
and all the dead,
whose faith only you have known.
Merciful Father,
grant to all of us, your children,
that we may gain a heavenly inheritance
with the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
and with your Apostles and Saints in your kingdom.
There, with all creation,
set free from the corruption of sin and death,
may we glorify you through Christ our Lord,
through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.
Through him, and with him, and in him,
to you, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
is all honour and glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
What part of "HOC EST CORPUS MEUM" don't you understand?
I just saw a post on a friend's blog showing a couple of t-shirt designs, and this one imparticular I really liked:
(I also really like the one that says, "It's better in Latin.")
(I also really like the one that says, "It's better in Latin.")
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
"A new look at the Old Mass" - the use of Latin
Fr. Kenneth E. Myers wrote an article in the Homiletic and Pastoral Review entitled "A new look at the old Mass" in it he writes about his experience as a pastor with the Traditional Latin Mass. Here is a quote taken from that article on the use of Latin:
You can read the article in its entirety here.
----------------------------------------
Father Kenneth Myers was born in New Brighton, Pa. He grew up there and attended public schools, although he is grateful to the Sisters of St. Joseph for their influence on his vocation through their catechism classes. Father Myers graduated from Duquesne University with a bachelor's degree in Latin, Greek, and philosophy, and then a master's degree in education. He also holds a master's degree in theology from Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, New York.
Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1980, Father Myers served 15 years as a parish priest and 5 years as a hospital chaplain. He has been offering the traditional Mass since September, 1992, and was named chaplain of the Pittsburgh Latin Mass Community in January of 2001. He believes it is a great privilege to be able to offer the old Mass and to serve the faithful of the Latin Mass Community.
The use of Latin for Mass is so valuable in
our world today, where the English language
has become so profane and vulgar. Latin removes
the Mass from the realm of everyday
life. It sets the Mass apart from the world, so
that when we come to church our minds and
hearts are called upon to leave the world behind
and enter into the realm of the sacred.
Latin helps us to make this transition from the
worldly to the sacred. In this way, Latin becomes
the language by which we speak to
God, separating what is profane from what is
sacred. Indeed, the great Catholic philosopher
Dietrich von Hildebrand said that modern liturgists
have “replaced holy intimacy with
Christ by an unbecoming familiarity.” He
meant that the replacement of Latin with the
vernacular at Mass has actually placed a distance
between the Lord and People, in contradiction
to what is popularly believed. Latin
addresses God at Mass, but our common
speech is directed to man. The use of Latin at
Mass does not create an artificial barrier between
God and man, but rather enables us to
address God with a gracious elegance that befits
the prayer of the creature offered to his
Creator.
You can read the article in its entirety here.
----------------------------------------
Father Kenneth Myers was born in New Brighton, Pa. He grew up there and attended public schools, although he is grateful to the Sisters of St. Joseph for their influence on his vocation through their catechism classes. Father Myers graduated from Duquesne University with a bachelor's degree in Latin, Greek, and philosophy, and then a master's degree in education. He also holds a master's degree in theology from Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, New York.
Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1980, Father Myers served 15 years as a parish priest and 5 years as a hospital chaplain. He has been offering the traditional Mass since September, 1992, and was named chaplain of the Pittsburgh Latin Mass Community in January of 2001. He believes it is a great privilege to be able to offer the old Mass and to serve the faithful of the Latin Mass Community.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Summer Study Opportunity
Classes in chant and the famed Ward method will be offered by the International Centre for Ward Method Studies at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at the Catholic University of America. Classes run from June 25 to July 13, 2007, and can be taken for credit or non-credit. Offered on a rotational basis, this summer’s lineup includes:
WARD METHOD – COURSE I
MTWRF 9:30am – 12:30 p.m.
MUS 543 : 3 credits; Tuition : $2,100
SMUS 543 : Non-credit workshop; Tuition : $500
Instructor : Nancy Fazio, M.F.A.Lower School music teacher, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, Bethesda, MD
Prerequisite: ability to sing on pitch.
WARD METHOD – COURSE II
MTWRF 1:30 – 4:30 p.m.
MUS 544 : 3 credits; Tuition : $ 2,100
SMUS 544 : Non-credit workshop; Tuition : $500
Instructor : Amy Zuberbueler, M.Mus.Ed. Director, Ward Centre, San Antonio, Texas
Prerequisite : successful completion of MUS 543 and consent of instructor/director; experience in teaching Ward I strongly recommended.
WARD METHOD – COURSE IV:
GREGORIAN CHANT PRACTICUM I
MTWRF 9:30am-12:30pm
MUS 547 : 3 credits; Tuition : $2,100
SMUS 547 : Non-credit workshop; Tuition : $500
Instructor : Scott Turkington, organist/choirmaster at St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, Stamford, Conn..
More information available by writing.
WARD METHOD – COURSE I
MTWRF 9:30am – 12:30 p.m.
MUS 543 : 3 credits; Tuition : $2,100
SMUS 543 : Non-credit workshop; Tuition : $500
Instructor : Nancy Fazio, M.F.A.Lower School music teacher, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, Bethesda, MD
Prerequisite: ability to sing on pitch.
WARD METHOD – COURSE II
MTWRF 1:30 – 4:30 p.m.
MUS 544 : 3 credits; Tuition : $ 2,100
SMUS 544 : Non-credit workshop; Tuition : $500
Instructor : Amy Zuberbueler, M.Mus.Ed. Director, Ward Centre, San Antonio, Texas
Prerequisite : successful completion of MUS 543 and consent of instructor/director; experience in teaching Ward I strongly recommended.
WARD METHOD – COURSE IV:
GREGORIAN CHANT PRACTICUM I
MTWRF 9:30am-12:30pm
MUS 547 : 3 credits; Tuition : $2,100
SMUS 547 : Non-credit workshop; Tuition : $500
Instructor : Scott Turkington, organist/choirmaster at St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, Stamford, Conn..
More information available by writing.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Grant Them Rest - Update!
FN Paul Hawkins, from the Bisbee Knights of Columbus Mother Lobe, has been added to Grant Them Rest.
Please pray for the repose of his soul.
+JMJ
Please pray for the repose of his soul.
+JMJ
Friday, March 9, 2007
STOP PLANNED PARENTHOOD TAX FUNDING - MARCH 2007 UPDATE
*******************************************************
This update is was sent to all people who have signed
the petition to end taxpayer funding of Planned
Parenthood at:
http://www.StopPlannedParenthoodTaxpayerFunding.com
-------------------------------------------------------
In this month's issue:
1.) State funding of Planned Parenthood
2.) Complications in the numbers
3.) State funding of Planned Parenthood Table
4.) Action Items
-------------------------------------------------------
1.) STATE FUNDING OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD
During 2006, American Life League contacted every state
in the country and asked how much money they gave to
Planned Parenthood in the latest fiscal year. Most of
the states responded and we have listed them below in
order from highest-to-lowest in terms of funding
Planned Parenthood.
We had trouble getting the numbers from California and
Pennsylvania, so their amounts are estimated in the
list from the best data we have.
2.) COMPLICATIONS IN THE NUMBERS
You should be aware that we are reporting to you what
was told to us by the states. We believe that several
states have given us low numbers and we are trying our
best to get more accurate figures. We are presenting to
you the best numbers we have at this time.
Also, there is major confusion and differences
state-by-state with Title X funds from the federal
government. These monies flow from the federal
government to Planned Parenthood in different ways.
In some states, the money goes directly to Planned
Parenthood and does not go through the state. In other
states, the money goes to the state and then the state
allocates funds to Planned Parenthood and others.
Finally, as you read te table below, please note that
the numbers represent the state controlled funds that
go to Planned Parenthood.
It does not include money going to PP directly from the
federal government. For example, Utah reports giving
zero dollars in state money to PP, but PP in Utah says
it gets $1.7 million in taxpayer funds.
The table shows that Title X money goes directly to PP
in Utah from the federal government and it receives all
the Title X money in the state.
Despite these complications, the table will show you
how your state ranks in PP receiving state-controlled
money. These are numbers you can change through
concerted efforts in your state.
3.) STATE FUNDING OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD TABLE
The table below contains five columns. Here is the
guide to each of those columns:
Column 1 - is the two character state abbreviation
Column 2 - is the amount of money the state reports
giving to Planned Parenthood
Column 3 - is a code to indicate how Title X money
flows in that state. The codes are:
S = Fed to State
P = Fed to PP
B = Fed to both State and PP
O = Fed to other entity
Column 4 - is a code to indicate how much of the Title
X money goes to Planned Parenthood
All = PP gets all Title X
Some = PP gets a portion of Title X
None = PP gets no Title X
Column 5 - is the year reported by the states to us
CA $25,000,000 S Some (Estimated)
NY $23,022,037 S Some (2005)
TX $21,378,451 S Some (2005)
OR $11,963,126 S Some (2006)
WA $ 5,354,259 O Some (2006)
IL $ 5,213,178 S Some (2006)
NJ $ 4,986,741 S Some (2006)
PA $ 4,000,000 S Some (Estimated)
WI $ 3,600,000 P Some (2006)
OH $ 2,787,022 B Some (2005)
CT $ 2,002,911 P Some (2006)
MI $ 1,844,262 S Some (2005)
MD $ 1,764,469 S Some (2006)
ME $ 1,412,774 S Some (2006)
CO $ 1,392,412 S None (2005)
MN $ 1,314,060 B Some (2005)
MA $ 1,304,529 S None (2006)
NH $ 1,161,833 S Some (2005)
IA $ 932,522 S Some (2005)
VT $ 858,888 S All (2006)
IN $ 644,144 S Some (2005)
NE $ 613,762 S Some (2006)
NC $ 455,051 S Some (2005)
TN $ 450,600 S Some (2006)
DE $ 444,639 S Some (2006)
KY $ 367,961 S Some (2006)
RI $ 328,411 S Some (2005)
MO $ 316,600 S Some (2006)
HI $ 300,000 S Some (2005)
KS $ 278,062 S Some (2006)
AK $ 260,000 B Some (2005)
SC $ 159,370 S None (2006)
GA $ 128,800 S Some (2006)
NM $ 120,500 S None (2006)
AR $ 109,946 S None (2005)
NV $ 90,099 S Some (2006)
VA $ 45,236 S None (2006)
FL $ 30,000 B Some (2006)
MS $ 3,450 S None (2006)
WY $ 2,768 S None (2005)
LA $ 1,916 S Some (2005)
ND $ 1,786 S None (2006)
AZ $ 1,354 S Some (2006)
AL $ 900 S None (2006)
ID $ 0 S None (2006)
MT $ 0 S Some (2006)
OK $ 0 P Some (2006)
SD $ 0 S None (2006)
UT $ 0 P All (2006)
WV $ 0 S None (2006)
4.) ACTION ITEMS
As you can see, Planned Parenthood receives millions of
dollars through the states. We are working with people
at the state level to help cutoff these funds. You can
help in this effort by:
a. Encourage everyone you know to sign the petition
at http://www.StopPlannedParenthoodTaxFunding.com
(the more people who sign, the better will be the
chances to end the state funding.)
b. Use the data above to encourage the people of
your state to turn off the flow of funds to
Planned Parenthood.
c. Contact us at stopp@all.org if you have any
questions or if you would like us to help in your
state's fight against Planned Parenthood funding.
American Life League
P.O. Box 1350
Stafford, VA
22555
US
This update is was sent to all people who have signed
the petition to end taxpayer funding of Planned
Parenthood at:
http://www.StopPlannedParenthoodTaxpayerFunding.com
-------------------------------------------------------
In this month's issue:
1.) State funding of Planned Parenthood
2.) Complications in the numbers
3.) State funding of Planned Parenthood Table
4.) Action Items
-------------------------------------------------------
1.) STATE FUNDING OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD
During 2006, American Life League contacted every state
in the country and asked how much money they gave to
Planned Parenthood in the latest fiscal year. Most of
the states responded and we have listed them below in
order from highest-to-lowest in terms of funding
Planned Parenthood.
We had trouble getting the numbers from California and
Pennsylvania, so their amounts are estimated in the
list from the best data we have.
2.) COMPLICATIONS IN THE NUMBERS
You should be aware that we are reporting to you what
was told to us by the states. We believe that several
states have given us low numbers and we are trying our
best to get more accurate figures. We are presenting to
you the best numbers we have at this time.
Also, there is major confusion and differences
state-by-state with Title X funds from the federal
government. These monies flow from the federal
government to Planned Parenthood in different ways.
In some states, the money goes directly to Planned
Parenthood and does not go through the state. In other
states, the money goes to the state and then the state
allocates funds to Planned Parenthood and others.
Finally, as you read te table below, please note that
the numbers represent the state controlled funds that
go to Planned Parenthood.
It does not include money going to PP directly from the
federal government. For example, Utah reports giving
zero dollars in state money to PP, but PP in Utah says
it gets $1.7 million in taxpayer funds.
The table shows that Title X money goes directly to PP
in Utah from the federal government and it receives all
the Title X money in the state.
Despite these complications, the table will show you
how your state ranks in PP receiving state-controlled
money. These are numbers you can change through
concerted efforts in your state.
3.) STATE FUNDING OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD TABLE
The table below contains five columns. Here is the
guide to each of those columns:
Column 1 - is the two character state abbreviation
Column 2 - is the amount of money the state reports
giving to Planned Parenthood
Column 3 - is a code to indicate how Title X money
flows in that state. The codes are:
S = Fed to State
P = Fed to PP
B = Fed to both State and PP
O = Fed to other entity
Column 4 - is a code to indicate how much of the Title
X money goes to Planned Parenthood
All = PP gets all Title X
Some = PP gets a portion of Title X
None = PP gets no Title X
Column 5 - is the year reported by the states to us
CA $25,000,000 S Some (Estimated)
NY $23,022,037 S Some (2005)
TX $21,378,451 S Some (2005)
OR $11,963,126 S Some (2006)
WA $ 5,354,259 O Some (2006)
IL $ 5,213,178 S Some (2006)
NJ $ 4,986,741 S Some (2006)
PA $ 4,000,000 S Some (Estimated)
WI $ 3,600,000 P Some (2006)
OH $ 2,787,022 B Some (2005)
CT $ 2,002,911 P Some (2006)
MI $ 1,844,262 S Some (2005)
MD $ 1,764,469 S Some (2006)
ME $ 1,412,774 S Some (2006)
CO $ 1,392,412 S None (2005)
MN $ 1,314,060 B Some (2005)
MA $ 1,304,529 S None (2006)
NH $ 1,161,833 S Some (2005)
IA $ 932,522 S Some (2005)
VT $ 858,888 S All (2006)
IN $ 644,144 S Some (2005)
NE $ 613,762 S Some (2006)
NC $ 455,051 S Some (2005)
TN $ 450,600 S Some (2006)
DE $ 444,639 S Some (2006)
KY $ 367,961 S Some (2006)
RI $ 328,411 S Some (2005)
MO $ 316,600 S Some (2006)
HI $ 300,000 S Some (2005)
KS $ 278,062 S Some (2006)
AK $ 260,000 B Some (2005)
SC $ 159,370 S None (2006)
GA $ 128,800 S Some (2006)
NM $ 120,500 S None (2006)
AR $ 109,946 S None (2005)
NV $ 90,099 S Some (2006)
VA $ 45,236 S None (2006)
FL $ 30,000 B Some (2006)
MS $ 3,450 S None (2006)
WY $ 2,768 S None (2005)
LA $ 1,916 S Some (2005)
ND $ 1,786 S None (2006)
AZ $ 1,354 S Some (2006)
AL $ 900 S None (2006)
ID $ 0 S None (2006)
MT $ 0 S Some (2006)
OK $ 0 P Some (2006)
SD $ 0 S None (2006)
UT $ 0 P All (2006)
WV $ 0 S None (2006)
4.) ACTION ITEMS
As you can see, Planned Parenthood receives millions of
dollars through the states. We are working with people
at the state level to help cutoff these funds. You can
help in this effort by:
a. Encourage everyone you know to sign the petition
at http://www.StopPlannedParenthoodTaxFunding.com
(the more people who sign, the better will be the
chances to end the state funding.)
b. Use the data above to encourage the people of
your state to turn off the flow of funds to
Planned Parenthood.
c. Contact us at stopp@all.org if you have any
questions or if you would like us to help in your
state's fight against Planned Parenthood funding.
American Life League
P.O. Box 1350
Stafford, VA
22555
US
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