http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2008/04/one-of-great-disappointments-which.html
I am particularly happy that we have gathered in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Perhaps more than any other church in the United States, this place is known and loved as “a house of prayer for all peoples” (cf. Is 56:7; Mk 11:17). Each day thousands of men, women and children enter its doors and find peace within its walls. ... I would like to draw your attention to a few aspects of this beautiful structure which I think can serve as a starting point for a reflection on our particular vocations within the unity of the Mystical Body.The first has to do with the stained glass windows, which flood the interior with mystic light. From the outside, those windows are dark, heavy, even dreary. But once one enters the church, they suddenly come alive; reflecting the light passing through them, they reveal all their splendor. Many writers – here in America we can think of Nathaniel Hawthorne – have used the image of stained glass to illustrate the mystery of the Church herself. It is only from the inside, from the experience of faith and ecclesial life, that we see the Church as she truly is: flooded with grace, resplendent in beauty, adorned by the manifold gifts of the Spirit. It follows that we, who live the life of grace within the Church’s communion, are called to draw all people into this mystery of light....Like all Gothic cathedrals, it is a highly complex structure, whose exact and harmonious proportions symbolize the unity of God’s creation. Medieval artists often portrayed Christ, the creative Word of God, as a heavenly “geometer”, compass in hand, who orders the cosmos with infinite wisdom and purpose. Does this not bring to mind our need to see all things with the eyes of faith, and thus to grasp them in their truest perspective, in the unity of God’s eternal plan? This requires, as we know, constant conversion, and a commitment to acquiring “a fresh, spiritual way of thinking” (cf. Eph 4:23). It also calls for the cultivation of those virtues which enable each of us to grow in holiness and to bear spiritual fruit within our particular state of life. Is not this ongoing “intellectual” conversion as necessary as “moral” conversion for our own growth in faith, our discernment of the signs of the times, and our personal contribution to the Church’s life and mission?
For all of us, I think, one of the great disappointments which followed the Second Vatican Council, with its call for a greater engagement in the Church’s mission to the world, has been the experience of division between different groups, different generations, different members of the same religious family. We can only move forward if we turn our gaze together to Christ! In the light of faith, we will then discover the wisdom and strength needed to open ourselves to points of view which may not necessarily conform to our own ideas or assumptions. Thus we can value the perspectives of others, be they younger or older than ourselves, and ultimately hear “what the Spirit is saying” to us and to the Church (cf. Rev 2:7). In this way, we will move together towards that true spiritual renewal desired by the Council, a renewal which can only strengthen the Church in that holiness and unity indispensable for the effective proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world. ...The unity of a Gothic cathedral, we know, is not the static unity of a classical temple, but a unity born of the dynamic tension of diverse forces which impel the architecture upward, pointing it to heaven. Here too, we can see a symbol of the Church’s unity, which is the unity – as Saint Paul has told us – of a living body composed of many different members, each with its own role and purpose....So let us lift our gaze upward! And with great humility and confidence, let us ask the Spirit to enable us each day to grow in the holiness that will make us living stones in the temple which he is even now raising up in the midst of our world. If we are to be true forces of unity, let us be the first to seek inner reconciliation through penance. Let us forgive the wrongs we have suffered and put aside all anger and contention. Let us be the first to demonstrate the humility and purity of heart which are required to approach the splendor of God’s truth. In fidelity to the deposit of faith entrusted to the Apostles (cf. 1 Tim 6:20), let us be joyful witnesses of the transforming power of the Gospel!
Benedict XVI
Homily - Saint Patrick's Cathedral
April 19, 2
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Summorum Pontificum bringing back many separated bretheren, says Vatican cardinal
Vatican City, Mar 31, 2008 / 09:50 am (CNA).- In an interview with L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, president of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, explained that Pope Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio “Summorum Pontificum,” which liberalized the use of the Tridentine Mass, is not a return to the past and has brought many separated brethren back into full communion with the Church.
During the interview, Cardinal Castrillon explained that the Pope’s letter, which renewed the possibility of celebrating the Mass according to the ancient rite, has led many Catholics to request to be received back into communion with the Church.
“In Spain,” he said, “the Oasis of Jesus the Priest, an entire cloistered monastery of 30 nuns led by their founder, has been recognized and regularized by the Pontifical Commission.”
“On the other hand there are American, German and French groups, and other members of the laity, who contact us, write us and call in search of reconciliation. And there are many faithful who express their gratitude to the Pope for issuing the Motu Proprio,” the cardinal said.
“There is one thing that needs to be stressed,” he continued. “This is not a return to the past, but rather progress, because now there are two treasures instead of just one. And this way the other treasure is available, thus respecting the right of those who are particularly attached to the ancient liturgy.”
The Colombian cardinal noted that there have been some practical problems in implementing the directive, but the Ecclesia Dei Commission is planning to provide more help to “seminaries, dioceses and bishops’ conferences” to eliminate the difficulties.
“In addition,” he went on, “it is important that there are already priests who use the extraordinary form and make themselves available to celebrate or explain the Mass according to the 1962 missal.”
Cardinal Castrillon stressed that “the Pope has been clear” that it is “an error” to assert that the use of the Latin language is only for the ancient rite, as it is foreseen in the Missal of Paul VI.” He also reiterated that the Motu Proprio grants any priest the rite to celebrate the extraordinary form of the Mass and that the faithful have the right to this form “when the conditions specified in the Motu Proprio exist.”
“The Pope is offering the Church a treasure that is spiritual, cultural, religious and catholic,” he continued, noting that the Commission has received letters of support from Orthodox, Anglican and even Protestant ministers. Cardinal Castrillon also said priests and faithful of the Society of St. Pius X have sought to regularize their status with the Church in the wake of the Motu Proprio. He pointed out that the members of the SSPX are not separated from the Church. “The excommunication applied only to the four bishops” who were ordained by Archbishop Lefebrve. Mass celebrated by priests of the Society is “undoubtedly valid, but not licit. Therefore, attendance at these Mass is not advised, unless there is no other possibility on Sundays,” he said.
Cardinal Castrillon offered his own personal reflection on the new directive. “I very much like the novus ordo which I celebrate daily. I have never celebrated the Mass according to the 1962 Missal after the liturgical reform. Now, in joining in the extraordinary rite on a few occasions, I have rediscovered the richness of the ancient liturgy which the Pope wants to keep alive,” he said.
“We should never forget that the supreme point of reference in the liturgy, as in life, is always Christ,” Cardinal Castrillon added. “We are not afraid, therefore, in the liturgical rite as well, of turning to Him, towards the Crucified one, together with the faithful, in order to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice, in an unbloody way, as the Council of Trent defined the Mass,” he said.
During the interview, Cardinal Castrillon explained that the Pope’s letter, which renewed the possibility of celebrating the Mass according to the ancient rite, has led many Catholics to request to be received back into communion with the Church.
“In Spain,” he said, “the Oasis of Jesus the Priest, an entire cloistered monastery of 30 nuns led by their founder, has been recognized and regularized by the Pontifical Commission.”
“On the other hand there are American, German and French groups, and other members of the laity, who contact us, write us and call in search of reconciliation. And there are many faithful who express their gratitude to the Pope for issuing the Motu Proprio,” the cardinal said.
“There is one thing that needs to be stressed,” he continued. “This is not a return to the past, but rather progress, because now there are two treasures instead of just one. And this way the other treasure is available, thus respecting the right of those who are particularly attached to the ancient liturgy.”
The Colombian cardinal noted that there have been some practical problems in implementing the directive, but the Ecclesia Dei Commission is planning to provide more help to “seminaries, dioceses and bishops’ conferences” to eliminate the difficulties.
“In addition,” he went on, “it is important that there are already priests who use the extraordinary form and make themselves available to celebrate or explain the Mass according to the 1962 missal.”
Cardinal Castrillon stressed that “the Pope has been clear” that it is “an error” to assert that the use of the Latin language is only for the ancient rite, as it is foreseen in the Missal of Paul VI.” He also reiterated that the Motu Proprio grants any priest the rite to celebrate the extraordinary form of the Mass and that the faithful have the right to this form “when the conditions specified in the Motu Proprio exist.”
“The Pope is offering the Church a treasure that is spiritual, cultural, religious and catholic,” he continued, noting that the Commission has received letters of support from Orthodox, Anglican and even Protestant ministers. Cardinal Castrillon also said priests and faithful of the Society of St. Pius X have sought to regularize their status with the Church in the wake of the Motu Proprio. He pointed out that the members of the SSPX are not separated from the Church. “The excommunication applied only to the four bishops” who were ordained by Archbishop Lefebrve. Mass celebrated by priests of the Society is “undoubtedly valid, but not licit. Therefore, attendance at these Mass is not advised, unless there is no other possibility on Sundays,” he said.
Cardinal Castrillon offered his own personal reflection on the new directive. “I very much like the novus ordo which I celebrate daily. I have never celebrated the Mass according to the 1962 Missal after the liturgical reform. Now, in joining in the extraordinary rite on a few occasions, I have rediscovered the richness of the ancient liturgy which the Pope wants to keep alive,” he said.
“We should never forget that the supreme point of reference in the liturgy, as in life, is always Christ,” Cardinal Castrillon added. “We are not afraid, therefore, in the liturgical rite as well, of turning to Him, towards the Crucified one, together with the faithful, in order to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice, in an unbloody way, as the Council of Trent defined the Mass,” he said.
Diocese calls for Boycott of Komen
"Another Catholic diocese has gone on record as urging Catholics and local parishes to boycott the Komen Race for the Cure because of its ties to abortion." http://uvcarmel.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/catholic-diocese-in-indiana-wants-komen-race-boycott-over-abortion-ties/
Speaker Series in Carmel, Indiana
Also, Una Vocel Carmel is hosting a speaker series: http://uvcarmel.wordpress.com/category/speaker-series/. For more information, contact them at: (317) 581-0315 or info@uvcarmel.org.
Tridentine Mass for Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana
A Tridentine (Latin) Mass will be celebrated at 5 p.m. Sunday, April 6, in the Day Chapel at St. Elizabeth Seton Church. Father Gerard Saguto, FSSP will celebrate the Tridentine Low Mass. Latin/English missals will be available. The next Tridentine Mass will be celebrated on Sunday, April 20. For more information, call 317-581-0315 or 317-313-6467 or visit the Web site of Una Voce Carmel at http://uvcarmel.wordpress.com/2008/03/29/tridentine-mass/
Monday, January 21, 2008
Diocese bishop opts for circus Mass over Ave Maria's dedication ceremony
By LIAM DILLON (Contact)Friday, January 18, 2008
Last Sunday, Diocese of Venice Bishop Frank Dewane celebrated Mass at a Sarasota church accompanied by priests wearing colorful Ferris wheels, clowns, giraffes, unicycles, lions and merry-go-rounds on their vestments.
This was the annual circus Mass, Dewane said, honoring the nearly 100-year history of the Ringling family on Florida’s west coast and the importance of itinerant people like circus performers to the Catholic universal church.
Last Sunday, Ave Maria founder Tom Monaghan spoke inside his new 100-foot-tall, $24-million oratory at Ave Maria town accompanied by residents and supporters of the private university in the Catholic tradition.
This was the Picnic at the Prep honoring the first year of Ave Maria’s K-12 Grammar and Preparatory school.
Last Sunday was the day Monaghan and university President Nick Healy had invited Dewane to celebrate dedicatory Mass at the oratory after consecrating it as a sacred place.
Last Sunday came and went.
Without Dewane’s consecration, no one can celebrate Mass inside the oratory.
The diocese and the university confirmed that conversations between the two sides are continuing, but there’s been no resolution. No one directly involved in the discussions will address details other than to say negotiations are confidential.
“I’m here for a different celebration today, my good friend,” Dewane said when asked about the oratory after the circus Mass.
He declined further comment.
“We won’t make any comment about the relationship with the diocese,” Healy said last week. “We’re very hopeful that things will get resolved and it will become clear. There are issues that are not easily understood and hard to explain and we don’t want to comment on it.”
Those issues may relate to intricacies of Catholic church laws relating to the relationship between the official church and individual Catholics. The laws, known as canon laws, govern all interactions in the church regarding authority, ownership and control over spiritual and practical matters alike.
Canon law experts said there’s little precedent to address the situation facing Ave Maria’s oratory, both as the most high-profile symbol of a university founded and administered by Catholic laymen and the center of a new town.
The oratory’s consecration is both a simple and complicated issue in the law, experts said.
“In one sense it’s very complex; in another it’s not complex at all,” said the Rev. Phillip J. Brown, an associate professor at Catholic University’s School of Canon Law. “Nothing can be done without the authority of the bishop.”
By law, the bishop can grant a number of statuses to the oratory after consecration. The broadest would be parish church status. A parish would serve more than the university community, likely town residents as well.
Parishes are individual Catholics’ most direct tie to the official church and all sacred celebrations, like baptisms, weddings and funerals are performed inside parish churches.
The university requested the oratory receive parish church status more than three years ago. A parish’s head priest, known as a pastor, is traditionally appointed by the bishop.
One difference between Ave Maria and some of the older Catholic universities in the country is that Ave Maria’s founders are laymen, not members of Catholic religious orders like Jesuits or Franciscans.
Some parishes are attached to Catholic universities like at Jesuit schools Creighton (Neb.) University, Xavier (Ohio) University and Saint Louis University.
The pastors there, officials at all three schools said, are nominated by the school’s Jesuit community and then confirmed by the bishop — a power in canon law called the “right of presentation.”
But should Ave Maria want to present a pastor for a potential Ave Maria parish church it would have two strikes against it, experts said.
Today, Catholic laymen are rarely, if ever, granted that power and changes in canon law nearly 25 years ago have made doing so nearly impossible.
“A right of presentation would never be granted to a new parish today,” Brown said.
The Rev. Francis Morrisey, an adjunct canon law professor at the University of Saint Paul in Ottawa, Canada, said since the church revised its laws in 1983, he’s not aware of any lay group that has been granted a right of presentation.
Instead, the prerogative for choosing pastors is the bishop’s alone, Morrisey said.
A status less broad than a parish church would be one where the oratory would serve as no more than the university’s chapel. That’s the situation at the majority of Catholic universities, although exactly how it works differs depending on the school.
At the University of Notre Dame, the school’s famed Basilica of the Sacred Heart — next to the “Golden Dome” landmark to which Monaghan has compared the oratory — is not a parish church.
Instead, a parish is located in the crypt below the basilica and Masses are celebrated at both locations. Public worship occurs at both.
“It is unique,” said the Rev. Peter Rocca, the basilica’s rector. “It evolved out of the very nature of the needs of the parish versus the needs of a college-educated community.”
But Ave Maria falls into a different canonical category than Notre Dame.
According to the church, Ave Maria is not a “Catholic university,” but rather “a private university in the Catholic tradition.”
The distinction means more than pure semantics. Catholic universities must agree to follow a number of church norms on education, usually under the administration of the bishop.
Instead, according to Healy, the university community is a “private association of the faithful,” a status granted by Dewane’s predecessor Bishop John Nevins.
Nevins, Healy said, confirmed the Rev. Robert Garrity, a university employee, as the association’s chaplain or more technically a spiritual adviser.
The 1983 changes in canon law, Brown said, helped codify the status of private lay associations in the official church and were in keeping with the landmark Second Vatican Council of the 1960s that encouraged more lay participation in the church.
Private associations are required to submit to the bishop’s authority in different ways than Catholic universities, but it is unclear whether this status would impact the oratory’s consecration.
“It’s not an association that represents the church publicly,” Brown said. “It’s purely private.”
As the center of the new town, presumably both Ave Maria and the diocese would want the oratory open for public worship and not limited to the university community, whether it’s a parish or not.
Masses at Notre Dame’s basilica are televised and its landmark status attracted roughly 100,000 visitors last year, according to statistics provided by Rocca.
At Ave Maria, already the oratory is hosting community and university events, with a lecture and Byzantine choir concert held on Saturday.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/jan/18/diocese-bishop-opts-circus-mass-over-ave-marias-de/
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Selected Quotes of Pope Pius XII
http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=0108-marchione
GUEST COLUMN
By Margherita Marchione
Sr. Margherita Marchione, Ph.D., a Fulbright Scholar and Professor Emerita of Italian Studies at Fairleigh Dickinson University, is a member of the Religious Teachers Filippini. She is the author of several books on Pope Pius XII, most recently, Did Pope Pius XII Help the Jews? (Paulist Press, 2007). Her autobiography, The Fighting Nun, was published by Cornwell Books in 2000.
On his birthday, March 2, 1939, Eugenio Pacelli became the 262nd successor of St. Peter and took the name of Pius XII. In his first address to the cardinals, he spoke about peace. Years later, aware that Hitler was a pathologically obsessed anti-Semite who flew into a rage whenever the word "Jew" was mentioned, the Pope admitted: "Frequently it is with pain and difficulty that a decision is made as to what the situation demands: prudent reserve and silence or, on the contrary, candid speech and vigorous action."
On January 25, 2007, Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone strongly defended Pope Pius XII against critics who charge that the Pontiff failed to protect Jews during the Holocaust: "Research done by independent historians confirms that Pope Pius XII took extraordinary steps to save Jewish lives.... The proofs are in the Vatican archives." Recently, when I sent documentation about the controversy surrounding Pius XII's actions to Camillo Cardinal Ruini, he responded: "Notwithstanding all the opposition, the Cause for Beatification of Pius XII will proceed."
Pius XII spoke out on many issues of moral concern and of public policy. He was not "silent," and his courageous acts during World War II are incontestable. He was a highly respected 20th-century Church leader. For nearly two decades, Pope Pius XII addressed words of wisdom to the faithful. Among his papal statements are the following:
The Aged: "People are inclined to reprove the elderly for what they no longer do, instead of reminding them of what they have done and recognize the wisdom of their judgments."Art: "Art helps men, notwithstanding all the differences of character, education and civilization...to pool their respective resources in order to complement one another."
Conscience: "Christian morality must be taught to youth and inculcated in the youthful consciences by those who, in the family or in the school, have the obligation to attend to their education."
Education: "It is never too early to mold the character and habits of a child. Education begins at the cradle; and the first school, which nothing can replace, is that of the domestic hearth."
Family: "In the order of nature, among social institutions there is none that is dearer to the Church than the family.... Parents must give their children a wealth of faith and the atmosphere of hope and charity."
Harmony: "If three notes are sufficient to fix with their harmony the tonality of a musical composition, the song of spring could be condensed into three notes, the harmony of which brings his soul in tune with God Himself: faith, hope and charity."
Love: "God's masterpiece is man, and to this masterpiece of love, He has given a power to love unknown to irrational creatures: personal, conscious, free; that is to say, subject to the control of his responsible will."
Matrimony: "In the life of a wedded couple an essential nourishment of happiness is their mutual trust in sharing thoughts, aspirations, worries, joys and sorrows."
Peace: "Nothing is lost with peace. Everything may be lost with war. Let men come again to understand one another. Negotiating with good will and with respect for their reciprocal rights, they will perceive that honorable success is never precluded to sincere and constructive negotiations."
Prayer: "One finds God in prayer. He is a kind Father who will open to you His arms and heart."
Reason and Faith: "The homage which reason renders faith does not humiliate reason but honors it and exalts it, for the highest achievement of the progress of human civilization is that it facilitates the path of faith as it evangelizes the world."
The State: "The more conscientiously the competent authorities of the State respect the rights of the minority, the more surely and effectively can it demand of its members that they carry out loyally the civic duties which are shared with other citizens."
War on War: "If ever a generation had to feel deep down in its conscience the cry ‘War on war!' it is certainly the present one. Gone, as it has, through an ocean of blood and tears, such as was perhaps never known in the past, it has lived war's unspeakable atrocities so intensely that the recollection of so many horrors cannot but remain impressed in its memory and in the depths of its soul."
GUEST COLUMN
Selected Quotes of Pope Pius XII
January 2008By Margherita Marchione
Sr. Margherita Marchione, Ph.D., a Fulbright Scholar and Professor Emerita of Italian Studies at Fairleigh Dickinson University, is a member of the Religious Teachers Filippini. She is the author of several books on Pope Pius XII, most recently, Did Pope Pius XII Help the Jews? (Paulist Press, 2007). Her autobiography, The Fighting Nun, was published by Cornwell Books in 2000.
On his birthday, March 2, 1939, Eugenio Pacelli became the 262nd successor of St. Peter and took the name of Pius XII. In his first address to the cardinals, he spoke about peace. Years later, aware that Hitler was a pathologically obsessed anti-Semite who flew into a rage whenever the word "Jew" was mentioned, the Pope admitted: "Frequently it is with pain and difficulty that a decision is made as to what the situation demands: prudent reserve and silence or, on the contrary, candid speech and vigorous action."
On January 25, 2007, Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone strongly defended Pope Pius XII against critics who charge that the Pontiff failed to protect Jews during the Holocaust: "Research done by independent historians confirms that Pope Pius XII took extraordinary steps to save Jewish lives.... The proofs are in the Vatican archives." Recently, when I sent documentation about the controversy surrounding Pius XII's actions to Camillo Cardinal Ruini, he responded: "Notwithstanding all the opposition, the Cause for Beatification of Pius XII will proceed."
Pius XII spoke out on many issues of moral concern and of public policy. He was not "silent," and his courageous acts during World War II are incontestable. He was a highly respected 20th-century Church leader. For nearly two decades, Pope Pius XII addressed words of wisdom to the faithful. Among his papal statements are the following:
The Aged: "People are inclined to reprove the elderly for what they no longer do, instead of reminding them of what they have done and recognize the wisdom of their judgments."Art: "Art helps men, notwithstanding all the differences of character, education and civilization...to pool their respective resources in order to complement one another."
Conscience: "Christian morality must be taught to youth and inculcated in the youthful consciences by those who, in the family or in the school, have the obligation to attend to their education."
Education: "It is never too early to mold the character and habits of a child. Education begins at the cradle; and the first school, which nothing can replace, is that of the domestic hearth."
Family: "In the order of nature, among social institutions there is none that is dearer to the Church than the family.... Parents must give their children a wealth of faith and the atmosphere of hope and charity."
Harmony: "If three notes are sufficient to fix with their harmony the tonality of a musical composition, the song of spring could be condensed into three notes, the harmony of which brings his soul in tune with God Himself: faith, hope and charity."
Love: "God's masterpiece is man, and to this masterpiece of love, He has given a power to love unknown to irrational creatures: personal, conscious, free; that is to say, subject to the control of his responsible will."
Matrimony: "In the life of a wedded couple an essential nourishment of happiness is their mutual trust in sharing thoughts, aspirations, worries, joys and sorrows."
Peace: "Nothing is lost with peace. Everything may be lost with war. Let men come again to understand one another. Negotiating with good will and with respect for their reciprocal rights, they will perceive that honorable success is never precluded to sincere and constructive negotiations."
Prayer: "One finds God in prayer. He is a kind Father who will open to you His arms and heart."
Reason and Faith: "The homage which reason renders faith does not humiliate reason but honors it and exalts it, for the highest achievement of the progress of human civilization is that it facilitates the path of faith as it evangelizes the world."
The State: "The more conscientiously the competent authorities of the State respect the rights of the minority, the more surely and effectively can it demand of its members that they carry out loyally the civic duties which are shared with other citizens."
War on War: "If ever a generation had to feel deep down in its conscience the cry ‘War on war!' it is certainly the present one. Gone, as it has, through an ocean of blood and tears, such as was perhaps never known in the past, it has lived war's unspeakable atrocities so intensely that the recollection of so many horrors cannot but remain impressed in its memory and in the depths of its soul."
Monday, January 14, 2008
Cardinal Arinze speaks about Latin, music and translation
For Fr. Z's emphasis and notes, go to: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/01/cardinal-arinze-speaks-about-latin-music-and-translation/
His Eminence Francis Card. Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, address a liturgical conference in St. Louis in November. His talk has been published on ZENIT in three parts.
Cardinal Arinze on Language in Liturgy, Part 1"Latin Is Concise, Precise and Poetically Measured" [2008-01-11]
Cardinal Arinze on Language in Liturgy, Part 2"Good Music Helps to Promote Prayer" [2008-01-13]
Cardinal Arinze on Language in Liturgy, Part 3"No Individual Has Authority to Change the Approved Wording" [2008-01-14]
Each of these articles has good points. I will present a few of interest.Here is something from the first section. My emphases and comments.
[T]he Latin language has a certain stability which daily spoken languages, where words change often in shades of meaning, cannot have. An example is the translation of the Latin "propagare". The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples when it was founded in 1627 was called "Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide". But at the time of the Second Vatican Council many modern languages use the word "propaganda" in the sense in which we say "political propaganda". Therefore, there is a preference in the Church today to avoid the expression "de propaganda Fide", in favour of "the Evangelization of Peoples".Latin has the characteristic of words and expressions retaining their meaning generation after generation. This is an advantage when it comes to the articulation of our Catholic faith and the preparation of Papal and other Church Documents. Even the modern universities appreciate this point and have some of their solemn titles in Latin.Blessed Pope John XXIII in his Apostolic Constitution, Veterum Sapientia, [NB: This was an Apostolic Constitution, the highest form of a church document.] issued on 22 February 1962, gives these two reasons and adds a third. The Latin language has a nobility and dignity which are not negligible (cf. Veterum Sapientia, nn. 5, 6, 7). We can add that Latin is concise, precise and poetically measured.Is it not admirable that people, especially well-trained clerics, can meet in international gatherings and be able to communicate at least in Latin? More importantly, is it a small matter that 1 million young people could meet in the World Youth Day Convention in Rome in 2000, in Toronto in 2002 and in Cologne in 2005, and be able to sing parts of the Mass, and especially the Credo, in Latin? Theologians can study the original writings of the early Latin Fathers and of the Scholastics without tears because these were written in Latin. [A corollary to this is: It is NOT admirable that clerics, etc., cannot use any Latin.]It is true that there is a tendency, both in the Church and in the world at large, to give more attention today to modern languages, like English, French and Spanish, which can help one secure a job quicker in the modern employment market or in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their country. [Use of the vernacular can be expedient, but is it really good in the long run?]
The documentary basis for the use of Latin is strong and its usefulness is obvious. We therefore have lots of questions to ask of those who resist or, it must be said, hate Latin. There is another issue here. His Eminence brings in the element of what is admirable. There are many clerics in positions of power in the Church who look down on Latin. The think that somehow Latin (or anything that is too precise, or accurate, or which requires intellectual distinctions – calling for consequences) is contrary to "pastoral". Effectively, an anti-intellectualism militates against Latin, but maybe we can boil it down to this: "Since the main job of a cleric is to be a nice guy, you don’t want to be too discerning."
In the second section, we find some other helpful points. Here are some excerpts:
5. Did Vatican II discourage Latin?Some people think, or have the perception, that the Second Vatican Council discouraged the use of Latin in the liturgy. This is not the case.Just before he opened the Council, Bl. Pope John XXIII in 1962 issued an Apostolic Constitution to insist on the use of Latin in the Church. [Again, Card. Arinze has brought us back to this important and purposely ignored document.] The Second Vatican Council, although it admitted some introduction of the vernacular, insisted on the place of Latin: "Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites" (SC, n. 36).The Council also required that seminarians "should acquire a command of Latin which will enable them to understand and use the source material of so many sciences and the documents of the Church as well" (Optatam Totius, n. 13). The Code of Canon Law published in 1983 enacts that "the Eucharistic celebration is to be carried out either in the Latin language or in another language, provided the liturgical texts have been lawfully approved" (can. 928). [Okay: 1) Apostolic Constitution of John XXIII; 2) a document of Vatican II; 3) 1983 Code of Canon Law. How hard is this?]Those, therefore, who want to give the impression that the Church has put Latin away from her liturgy are mistaken. A manifestation of people’s acceptance of Latin liturgy well celebrated was had at the world level in April 2005, when millions followed the burial rites of Pope John Paul II and then, two weeks later, the inauguration Mass of Pope Benedict XVI over the television. It is remarkable that young people welcome the Mass celebrated sometimes in Latin. Problems are not lacking. So, too, there are misunderstandings and wrong approaches on the part of some priests on the use of Latin. But to get the matter in better focus, it is necessary first to examine the use of the vernacular in the liturgy of the Roman Rite today. [We need to get Latin into parishes, Your Eminence. International gatherings are not enough. But he knows this and speaks of this elsewhere.]6. The Vernacular: Introduction, Extension, ConditionsThe introduction of local languages into the sacred liturgy of the Latin Rite is a development that did not occur all of a sudden. After the partial experience gained over the preceding years in certain countries, already on 5 and 6 December 1962, after long and sometimes impassioned debates, the Second Vatican Fathers adopted the principle that the use of the mother tongue, whether in the Mass or other parts of the liturgy, frequently may be of advantage to the people. In the following year the Council voted to apply this principle to the Mass, the ritual and the Liturgy of the Hours (cf. SC, nn. 36, 54, 63a, 76, 78, 101). [Did the Council not actually say "occasionally"?]Extensions of the use of the vernacular followed. But, as if the Council Fathers foresaw the likelihood that Latin might lose more and more ground, they insisted again and again that Latin be maintained.As already quoted, article 36 of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy began by enacting that "particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rite". Article 54 required that steps be taken, "enabling the faithful to say or sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass belonging to them". In the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, "in accordance with the centuries-old tradition of the Latin rite, clerics are to retain the Latin language" (SC, n. 101).But even while establishing limits, the Council Fathers anticipated the possibility of a wider use of the vernacular. Article 54 indeed adds: "Wherever a more extended use of the mother tongue within the Mass appears desirable, the regulation laid down in Article 40 of this Constitution is to be observed". Article 40 goes into directives on the role of Bishops’ Conferences and of the Apostolic See in such a delicate matter.The vernacular had been introduced. The rest is history. The developments were so fast that many clerics, Religious and lay faithful today are not aware that the Second Vatican Council did not simply introduce the vernacular for all parts of the liturgy. [And I think the supression of Latin was purposeful, not just a consequence of circumstances.][Some good history follows here. This is very useful.] Requests and widenings of the use of the vernacular were not long in coming. At the urgent request of some Bishops’ Conferences, Pope Paul VI first allowed the Preface of the Mass to be said in the vernacular (cf. Letter of the Cardinal Secretary of State, 27 April 1965), then the entire Canon and the prayers of ordination in 1967.Finally, on 14 June 1971, the Congregation for Divine Worship sent notice that Episcopal Conferences could allow the use of the vernacular in all the texts of the Mass, and each Ordinary could give the same permission for the choral or private celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours (on the whole development, see A.G. Martimort: The Dialogue between God and his People, in A.G. Martimort: The Church at Prayer, I, p. 166).The reasons for the introduction of the mother tongue are not far to seek. It promotes better understanding of what the Church is praying, since "Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful be led to that full, conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy… (and which) is their right by reason of their Baptism" (SC, n. 14).At the same time, it is not difficult to envisage how demanding and delicate the work of translation must be. Even more difficult is the question of adaptation and inculturation especially when we think of the sacredness of the sacramental rites, the centuries-old tradition of the Latin Rite, and the close link between faith and worship encapsuled in the old formula: lex orandi, lex credendi. [There is a reciprocal relationship between the way we pray and what we believe. Change the prayer, we change belief. Consider that in the light of "inculturation". Inculturation is always taking place. It is unavoidable and it is desirable. However, in this ongoing process, what the Church has to give to the world must always have logical priority. When that gets reversed, and the Church takes a back-seat to the world, unaccepaptable and damaging distortions result. Back to translation and inculturation. With the translation of a Latin prayer be sculpted for this or that culture? I think that is a bad idea. The style of language used should cut across cultural lines. Thus, the model (as suggested by Liturgiam authenticam) should be from the canon of English literature, not from ephemeral and colloquial language.]
The translations of the Missale Romanum must reflect the content.During my trip to New York I met with a priest friend of mine who said a very intelligent and useful thing. It is simple and it cuts the Gordian knot we often tie around the preparation of translations.It is okay for a text we know to be a translation to sound like a translation.
All this time in my columns in The Wanderer I have presented slavishly literal translations of the Latin prayers without any pretext of making smooth, liturgically appropriate prayers. My idea, and that of others, has always been that liturgical prayer has to be somehow smooth and elegant, and that elegance might somehow override accuracy. Liturgiam authenticam calls for both, but the emphasis is on the content. I am starting to rethink my position on whether or not slavishly accurate translations are appropriate for use in the liturgy. If you don’t, or won’t or can’t use Latin (and let people pick what book they want to follow), at least let the translation not try to hide that is a translation.I still have to think through this.
Let’s more to the third part of Cardinal Arinze’s talk:
7. On Translations into the VernacularThe translation of liturgical texts from the Latin original to the various vernaculars is a very important consideration in the prayer life of the Church. It is a question, not of private prayer, but of the public prayer offered by holy Mother Church, with Christ as the Head. The Latin texts have been prepared with great care as to sound doctrine, exact wording "free from all ideological influence and otherwise endowed with those qualities by which the sacred mysteries of salvation and the indefectible faith of the Church are efficaciously transmitted by means of human language to prayer, and worthy worship is offered to God the Most High" (Liturgiam Authenticam, n. 3). [I cannot admit that the translations presently in use were "prepared with great care" and are "free from ideological influence". That is clearly not the case.]The words used in the sacred liturgy manifest the faith of the Church and are guided by it. The Church, therefore, needs great care in directing, preparing and approving translations, so that not even one unsuitable word will be smuggled into the liturgy by an individual who may have a personal agenda, or who may simply not be aware of the seriousness of the rites. [Another point is that the Church must take great care that no word be smuggled out of the texts. The present lame-duck translation is a case in point. However, this also the problem in the Latin text of the Novus Ordo, isn’t it. The older prayers, from previous editions of the Roman Missal and from the ancient sacramentaries were edited for content.]Translations should, therefore, be faithful to the original Latin text. They should not be free compositions. As Liturgiam Authenticam, the major Holy See Document that gives directives on translations, insists: "The translation of the liturgical texts of the Roman Liturgy is not so much a work of creative innovation as it is of rendering the original texts faithfully and accurately into the vernacular language" (n. 20).The genius of the Latin Rite should be respected. [Let us not forget that the older form of the Latin Rite conveys that genius, and has done so for a very much longer time than the Novus Ordo. Card. Arinze has left a lacuna in the talk which we must do our best to fill.] The triple repetition is one of its characteristics. Examples are "mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa"; "Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison"; "Agnus Dei qui tollis…", three times. A close study of the "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" also shows "triplets". Translations should neither kill nor flatten out such a characteristic. [Again, I am back to my earlier point: perhaps it is best to leave a translation sounding like a translation.]The Latin liturgy expresses not only facts but also our feelings, our sentiments, for example, in front of God’s transcendence, majesty, mercy and boundless love (cf. Liturgiam Authenticam, n. 25). Expressions like "Te igitur, clementissime Pater", "Supplices te rogamus", "Propitius esto", "veneremur cernui", "Omnipotens et misericors Dominus", "nos servi tui", should not be deflated and democratized by some translating iconoclast.Some of these Latin expressions are difficult to translate. [Yes… but not that hard.] The best experts in liturgy, classics, patrology, theology, spirituality, music and literature are needed so that translations beautiful on the lips of holy Mother Church can be worked out. Translations should reflect that reverence, gratitude and adoration before God’s transcendent majesty and man’s hunger for God which are very clear in the Latin texts.Pope Benedict XVI, in his Message to the meeting of the "Vox Clara" English Committee on 9 November 2005, speaks of translations which "will succeed in transmitting the treasures of the faith and the liturgical tradition in the specific context of a devout and reverent Eucharistic celebration" (in Notitiae, 471-472, Nov.-Dec. 2005, p. 557).Many liturgical texts are steeped in biblical expressions, signs and symbols. They resonate with prayer patterns that date back to the Psalms. The translator cannot afford to ignore this.A language spoken by millions of people today will undoubtedly have many shades and variations. There is a difference between English used in the Constitution of a country, that spoken by the President of a Republic, [With all due respect and with consideration of his good speech writers, perhaps we might make an exception for President Bush’s extemporaneous style.] the conversational language of dock workers or students and the conversation between parents and children. The manner of expression cannot be expected to be the same in all these situations, although all are using English.What form should liturgical translations adopt? [My question from above. This is the huge question.] No doubt liturgical vernacular [This calls for a special and identifiable style which we call "liturgical vernacular"? Each field has its argot. Why not liturgy?] should be intelligible and easy to proclaim and to understand. At the same time, it should be dignified, sober, stable and not subject to frequent change. It should not hesitate to use some words not generally in use in everyday conversation, or words that are associated with Catholic faith and worship. Therefore, it should say chalice and not just cup, paten and not plate, ciborium and not vessel, priest and not presider, sacred host and not consecrated bread, vestments and not dress. Therefore, Liturgiam Authenticam says: "While the translation must transmit the perennial treasury of orations by means of language understandable in the cultural context for which it is intended,... it should cause no surprise that such language differs somewhat from ordinary speech" (n. 47). [I think this is a very very tricky issue.]Intelligibility should not be pushed to mean that every word must be understood by everybody at once. Just look carefully at the Credo. It is a "symbol", a solemn summary statement, on our faith. The Church has had to call some General Councils for an exact articulation of some articles of our faith.Not every Catholic at Mass will immediately understand in full such normal Catholic liturgical formulae as Incarnation, Creation, Passion, Resurrection, Consubstantial with the Father, Proceeding from the Father and the Son, Transubstantiation, Real Presence, Transcendent and omnipotent God. This is not a question of English, or French, or Italian, or Hindi or Kiswahili. Translators should not become iconoclasts who destroy and damage as they go along. Everything cannot be explained during the liturgy. [Liturgy is not a didactic moment.]The liturgy does not exhaust the entire life activity of the Church (cf. SC, n. 9). There is also need for theology, catechetics and preaching. And even when a good catechesis has been delivered, a mystery of our faith remains a mystery.Indeed, we can say that the most important thing in divine worship is not that we understand every word or concept. No. The most important consideration is that we stand in reverence and awe before God, that we adore, praise and thank him. The sacred, the things of God, are best approached with sandals off. [The image is of Moses before the burning bush.]In prayer, language is primarily for contact with God. No doubt, language is also for intelligible communication between us humans. But contact with God has priority. In the mystic, such contact with God approaches and sometimes reaches the ineffable, the mystical silence where language ceases. [More needs to be done with this.]There is therefore no surprise if liturgical language differs somewhat from our everyday language. Liturgical language strives to express Christian prayer where the mysteries of Christ are celebrated. [A "liturgical vernacular" must convey "mystery".]As if putting together these various elements needed in order to produce good liturgical translations, let us quote from the Address of Pope John Paul II to American Bishops from California, Nevada and Hawaii during their 1993 ad limina visit to Rome. He was asking them in translations to guard the full doctrinal integrity and beauty of the original texts: [Consider this: Cardinal Arinze is reminding Americans that the Pope himself said this to American bishops. Did the those American bishops do anything substantive after that? What follows is from 1993.]"One of your responsibilities in this regard is to make available exact and appropriate translations of the official liturgical books so that, following the required review and confirmation by the Holy See, they may be an instrument and guarantee of a genuine sharing in the mystery of Christ and the Church: lex orandi, lex credendi. The arduous task of translation must guard the full doctrinal integrity and, according to the genius of each language, the beauty of the original texts. When so many people are thirsting for the Living God – whose majesty and mercy are at the heart of liturgical prayer -, the Church must respond with a language of praise and worship which fosters respect and gratitude for God’s greatness, compassion and power. When the faithful gather to celebrate the work of our Redemption, the language of their prayer – free from doctrinal ambiguity and ideological influence – should foster the dignity and beauty of the celebration itself, while faithfully expressing the Church’s faith and unity" (in Insegnamenti of John Paul II, XVI, 2, 1993 [!], p. 1399-1400).From the above considerations, it follows that the Church needs to exercise careful authority over liturgical translations. The responsibility for the translation of texts rests on the Bishops’ Conference, which submits them to the Holy See for the necessary recognitio (cf, SC, n. 36; C.I.C., can. 838; Lit. Authenticam, n. 80).It follows that no individual, even a priest or deacon, has authority to change the approved wording in the sacred liturgy. This is also common sense. But sometimes we notice that common sense is not very common. [The question is begged: What do we do when present translations are simply dreadful? Still use them?]So, Redemptionis Sacramentum had to say expressly: "The reprobated practice by which priests, deacons or the faithful here and there alter or vary at will the texts of the Sacred Liturgy that they are charged to pronounce, must cease. For in doing thus, they render the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy unstable, and not infrequently distort the authentic meaning of the Liturgy" (n. 59; cf. also General Instruction on Roman Missal, n. 24). [And when the translation itself manifestly distorts the texts? That is the case with the lame duck translation we are using.]8. What is expected of us?As we seek to conclude these reflections, we can ask ourselves what is expected of us.We should do our best to appreciate the language which the Church uses in her liturgy and to join our hearts and voices to them, according as each liturgical rite may indicate. All of us cannot be Latin speakers, but the lay faithful can at least learn the simpler responses in Latin. Priests should give more attention to Latin so that they celebrate Mass in Latin occasionally.In big churches where there are many Masses celebrated on a Sunday or Feast day, why can one of those Masses not be in Latin? In rural parishes a Latin Mass should be possible, say once a month. In international assemblies, Latin becomes even more urgent. It follows that seminaries should discharge carefully their role of preparing and forming priests also in the use of Latin (cf. October 2005 Synod of Bishops, Prop. 36). [If people don’t hear Latin in their parishes, how can they be expected to use Latin when they are in larger or international celebrations?]All those responsible for vernacular translations should strive to provide the very best, following the guidance of relevant Church Documents, especially Liturgiam Authenticam. Experience shows that it is not superfluous to remark that priests, deacons and all others who proclaim liturgical texts, should read them out with clarity and due reverence.Language is not everything. But it is one of most important elements that need attention for good and faith-filled liturgical celebrations.It is an honour for us to be allowed to become part of the voice of the Church in her public prayer. May the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word made flesh whose mysteries we celebrate in the sacred liturgy, obtain for all of us the grace to do our part to join in singing the praises of the Lord both in Latin and in the vernacular.
His Eminence Francis Card. Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, address a liturgical conference in St. Louis in November. His talk has been published on ZENIT in three parts.
Cardinal Arinze on Language in Liturgy, Part 1"Latin Is Concise, Precise and Poetically Measured" [2008-01-11]
Cardinal Arinze on Language in Liturgy, Part 2"Good Music Helps to Promote Prayer" [2008-01-13]
Cardinal Arinze on Language in Liturgy, Part 3"No Individual Has Authority to Change the Approved Wording" [2008-01-14]
Each of these articles has good points. I will present a few of interest.Here is something from the first section. My emphases and comments.
[T]he Latin language has a certain stability which daily spoken languages, where words change often in shades of meaning, cannot have. An example is the translation of the Latin "propagare". The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples when it was founded in 1627 was called "Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide". But at the time of the Second Vatican Council many modern languages use the word "propaganda" in the sense in which we say "political propaganda". Therefore, there is a preference in the Church today to avoid the expression "de propaganda Fide", in favour of "the Evangelization of Peoples".Latin has the characteristic of words and expressions retaining their meaning generation after generation. This is an advantage when it comes to the articulation of our Catholic faith and the preparation of Papal and other Church Documents. Even the modern universities appreciate this point and have some of their solemn titles in Latin.Blessed Pope John XXIII in his Apostolic Constitution, Veterum Sapientia, [NB: This was an Apostolic Constitution, the highest form of a church document.] issued on 22 February 1962, gives these two reasons and adds a third. The Latin language has a nobility and dignity which are not negligible (cf. Veterum Sapientia, nn. 5, 6, 7). We can add that Latin is concise, precise and poetically measured.Is it not admirable that people, especially well-trained clerics, can meet in international gatherings and be able to communicate at least in Latin? More importantly, is it a small matter that 1 million young people could meet in the World Youth Day Convention in Rome in 2000, in Toronto in 2002 and in Cologne in 2005, and be able to sing parts of the Mass, and especially the Credo, in Latin? Theologians can study the original writings of the early Latin Fathers and of the Scholastics without tears because these were written in Latin. [A corollary to this is: It is NOT admirable that clerics, etc., cannot use any Latin.]It is true that there is a tendency, both in the Church and in the world at large, to give more attention today to modern languages, like English, French and Spanish, which can help one secure a job quicker in the modern employment market or in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their country. [Use of the vernacular can be expedient, but is it really good in the long run?]
The documentary basis for the use of Latin is strong and its usefulness is obvious. We therefore have lots of questions to ask of those who resist or, it must be said, hate Latin. There is another issue here. His Eminence brings in the element of what is admirable. There are many clerics in positions of power in the Church who look down on Latin. The think that somehow Latin (or anything that is too precise, or accurate, or which requires intellectual distinctions – calling for consequences) is contrary to "pastoral". Effectively, an anti-intellectualism militates against Latin, but maybe we can boil it down to this: "Since the main job of a cleric is to be a nice guy, you don’t want to be too discerning."
In the second section, we find some other helpful points. Here are some excerpts:
5. Did Vatican II discourage Latin?Some people think, or have the perception, that the Second Vatican Council discouraged the use of Latin in the liturgy. This is not the case.Just before he opened the Council, Bl. Pope John XXIII in 1962 issued an Apostolic Constitution to insist on the use of Latin in the Church. [Again, Card. Arinze has brought us back to this important and purposely ignored document.] The Second Vatican Council, although it admitted some introduction of the vernacular, insisted on the place of Latin: "Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites" (SC, n. 36).The Council also required that seminarians "should acquire a command of Latin which will enable them to understand and use the source material of so many sciences and the documents of the Church as well" (Optatam Totius, n. 13). The Code of Canon Law published in 1983 enacts that "the Eucharistic celebration is to be carried out either in the Latin language or in another language, provided the liturgical texts have been lawfully approved" (can. 928). [Okay: 1) Apostolic Constitution of John XXIII; 2) a document of Vatican II; 3) 1983 Code of Canon Law. How hard is this?]Those, therefore, who want to give the impression that the Church has put Latin away from her liturgy are mistaken. A manifestation of people’s acceptance of Latin liturgy well celebrated was had at the world level in April 2005, when millions followed the burial rites of Pope John Paul II and then, two weeks later, the inauguration Mass of Pope Benedict XVI over the television. It is remarkable that young people welcome the Mass celebrated sometimes in Latin. Problems are not lacking. So, too, there are misunderstandings and wrong approaches on the part of some priests on the use of Latin. But to get the matter in better focus, it is necessary first to examine the use of the vernacular in the liturgy of the Roman Rite today. [We need to get Latin into parishes, Your Eminence. International gatherings are not enough. But he knows this and speaks of this elsewhere.]6. The Vernacular: Introduction, Extension, ConditionsThe introduction of local languages into the sacred liturgy of the Latin Rite is a development that did not occur all of a sudden. After the partial experience gained over the preceding years in certain countries, already on 5 and 6 December 1962, after long and sometimes impassioned debates, the Second Vatican Fathers adopted the principle that the use of the mother tongue, whether in the Mass or other parts of the liturgy, frequently may be of advantage to the people. In the following year the Council voted to apply this principle to the Mass, the ritual and the Liturgy of the Hours (cf. SC, nn. 36, 54, 63a, 76, 78, 101). [Did the Council not actually say "occasionally"?]Extensions of the use of the vernacular followed. But, as if the Council Fathers foresaw the likelihood that Latin might lose more and more ground, they insisted again and again that Latin be maintained.As already quoted, article 36 of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy began by enacting that "particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rite". Article 54 required that steps be taken, "enabling the faithful to say or sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass belonging to them". In the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, "in accordance with the centuries-old tradition of the Latin rite, clerics are to retain the Latin language" (SC, n. 101).But even while establishing limits, the Council Fathers anticipated the possibility of a wider use of the vernacular. Article 54 indeed adds: "Wherever a more extended use of the mother tongue within the Mass appears desirable, the regulation laid down in Article 40 of this Constitution is to be observed". Article 40 goes into directives on the role of Bishops’ Conferences and of the Apostolic See in such a delicate matter.The vernacular had been introduced. The rest is history. The developments were so fast that many clerics, Religious and lay faithful today are not aware that the Second Vatican Council did not simply introduce the vernacular for all parts of the liturgy. [And I think the supression of Latin was purposeful, not just a consequence of circumstances.][Some good history follows here. This is very useful.] Requests and widenings of the use of the vernacular were not long in coming. At the urgent request of some Bishops’ Conferences, Pope Paul VI first allowed the Preface of the Mass to be said in the vernacular (cf. Letter of the Cardinal Secretary of State, 27 April 1965), then the entire Canon and the prayers of ordination in 1967.Finally, on 14 June 1971, the Congregation for Divine Worship sent notice that Episcopal Conferences could allow the use of the vernacular in all the texts of the Mass, and each Ordinary could give the same permission for the choral or private celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours (on the whole development, see A.G. Martimort: The Dialogue between God and his People, in A.G. Martimort: The Church at Prayer, I, p. 166).The reasons for the introduction of the mother tongue are not far to seek. It promotes better understanding of what the Church is praying, since "Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful be led to that full, conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy… (and which) is their right by reason of their Baptism" (SC, n. 14).At the same time, it is not difficult to envisage how demanding and delicate the work of translation must be. Even more difficult is the question of adaptation and inculturation especially when we think of the sacredness of the sacramental rites, the centuries-old tradition of the Latin Rite, and the close link between faith and worship encapsuled in the old formula: lex orandi, lex credendi. [There is a reciprocal relationship between the way we pray and what we believe. Change the prayer, we change belief. Consider that in the light of "inculturation". Inculturation is always taking place. It is unavoidable and it is desirable. However, in this ongoing process, what the Church has to give to the world must always have logical priority. When that gets reversed, and the Church takes a back-seat to the world, unaccepaptable and damaging distortions result. Back to translation and inculturation. With the translation of a Latin prayer be sculpted for this or that culture? I think that is a bad idea. The style of language used should cut across cultural lines. Thus, the model (as suggested by Liturgiam authenticam) should be from the canon of English literature, not from ephemeral and colloquial language.]
The translations of the Missale Romanum must reflect the content.During my trip to New York I met with a priest friend of mine who said a very intelligent and useful thing. It is simple and it cuts the Gordian knot we often tie around the preparation of translations.It is okay for a text we know to be a translation to sound like a translation.
All this time in my columns in The Wanderer I have presented slavishly literal translations of the Latin prayers without any pretext of making smooth, liturgically appropriate prayers. My idea, and that of others, has always been that liturgical prayer has to be somehow smooth and elegant, and that elegance might somehow override accuracy. Liturgiam authenticam calls for both, but the emphasis is on the content. I am starting to rethink my position on whether or not slavishly accurate translations are appropriate for use in the liturgy. If you don’t, or won’t or can’t use Latin (and let people pick what book they want to follow), at least let the translation not try to hide that is a translation.I still have to think through this.
Let’s more to the third part of Cardinal Arinze’s talk:
7. On Translations into the VernacularThe translation of liturgical texts from the Latin original to the various vernaculars is a very important consideration in the prayer life of the Church. It is a question, not of private prayer, but of the public prayer offered by holy Mother Church, with Christ as the Head. The Latin texts have been prepared with great care as to sound doctrine, exact wording "free from all ideological influence and otherwise endowed with those qualities by which the sacred mysteries of salvation and the indefectible faith of the Church are efficaciously transmitted by means of human language to prayer, and worthy worship is offered to God the Most High" (Liturgiam Authenticam, n. 3). [I cannot admit that the translations presently in use were "prepared with great care" and are "free from ideological influence". That is clearly not the case.]The words used in the sacred liturgy manifest the faith of the Church and are guided by it. The Church, therefore, needs great care in directing, preparing and approving translations, so that not even one unsuitable word will be smuggled into the liturgy by an individual who may have a personal agenda, or who may simply not be aware of the seriousness of the rites. [Another point is that the Church must take great care that no word be smuggled out of the texts. The present lame-duck translation is a case in point. However, this also the problem in the Latin text of the Novus Ordo, isn’t it. The older prayers, from previous editions of the Roman Missal and from the ancient sacramentaries were edited for content.]Translations should, therefore, be faithful to the original Latin text. They should not be free compositions. As Liturgiam Authenticam, the major Holy See Document that gives directives on translations, insists: "The translation of the liturgical texts of the Roman Liturgy is not so much a work of creative innovation as it is of rendering the original texts faithfully and accurately into the vernacular language" (n. 20).The genius of the Latin Rite should be respected. [Let us not forget that the older form of the Latin Rite conveys that genius, and has done so for a very much longer time than the Novus Ordo. Card. Arinze has left a lacuna in the talk which we must do our best to fill.] The triple repetition is one of its characteristics. Examples are "mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa"; "Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison"; "Agnus Dei qui tollis…", three times. A close study of the "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" also shows "triplets". Translations should neither kill nor flatten out such a characteristic. [Again, I am back to my earlier point: perhaps it is best to leave a translation sounding like a translation.]The Latin liturgy expresses not only facts but also our feelings, our sentiments, for example, in front of God’s transcendence, majesty, mercy and boundless love (cf. Liturgiam Authenticam, n. 25). Expressions like "Te igitur, clementissime Pater", "Supplices te rogamus", "Propitius esto", "veneremur cernui", "Omnipotens et misericors Dominus", "nos servi tui", should not be deflated and democratized by some translating iconoclast.Some of these Latin expressions are difficult to translate. [Yes… but not that hard.] The best experts in liturgy, classics, patrology, theology, spirituality, music and literature are needed so that translations beautiful on the lips of holy Mother Church can be worked out. Translations should reflect that reverence, gratitude and adoration before God’s transcendent majesty and man’s hunger for God which are very clear in the Latin texts.Pope Benedict XVI, in his Message to the meeting of the "Vox Clara" English Committee on 9 November 2005, speaks of translations which "will succeed in transmitting the treasures of the faith and the liturgical tradition in the specific context of a devout and reverent Eucharistic celebration" (in Notitiae, 471-472, Nov.-Dec. 2005, p. 557).Many liturgical texts are steeped in biblical expressions, signs and symbols. They resonate with prayer patterns that date back to the Psalms. The translator cannot afford to ignore this.A language spoken by millions of people today will undoubtedly have many shades and variations. There is a difference between English used in the Constitution of a country, that spoken by the President of a Republic, [With all due respect and with consideration of his good speech writers, perhaps we might make an exception for President Bush’s extemporaneous style.] the conversational language of dock workers or students and the conversation between parents and children. The manner of expression cannot be expected to be the same in all these situations, although all are using English.What form should liturgical translations adopt? [My question from above. This is the huge question.] No doubt liturgical vernacular [This calls for a special and identifiable style which we call "liturgical vernacular"? Each field has its argot. Why not liturgy?] should be intelligible and easy to proclaim and to understand. At the same time, it should be dignified, sober, stable and not subject to frequent change. It should not hesitate to use some words not generally in use in everyday conversation, or words that are associated with Catholic faith and worship. Therefore, it should say chalice and not just cup, paten and not plate, ciborium and not vessel, priest and not presider, sacred host and not consecrated bread, vestments and not dress. Therefore, Liturgiam Authenticam says: "While the translation must transmit the perennial treasury of orations by means of language understandable in the cultural context for which it is intended,... it should cause no surprise that such language differs somewhat from ordinary speech" (n. 47). [I think this is a very very tricky issue.]Intelligibility should not be pushed to mean that every word must be understood by everybody at once. Just look carefully at the Credo. It is a "symbol", a solemn summary statement, on our faith. The Church has had to call some General Councils for an exact articulation of some articles of our faith.Not every Catholic at Mass will immediately understand in full such normal Catholic liturgical formulae as Incarnation, Creation, Passion, Resurrection, Consubstantial with the Father, Proceeding from the Father and the Son, Transubstantiation, Real Presence, Transcendent and omnipotent God. This is not a question of English, or French, or Italian, or Hindi or Kiswahili. Translators should not become iconoclasts who destroy and damage as they go along. Everything cannot be explained during the liturgy. [Liturgy is not a didactic moment.]The liturgy does not exhaust the entire life activity of the Church (cf. SC, n. 9). There is also need for theology, catechetics and preaching. And even when a good catechesis has been delivered, a mystery of our faith remains a mystery.Indeed, we can say that the most important thing in divine worship is not that we understand every word or concept. No. The most important consideration is that we stand in reverence and awe before God, that we adore, praise and thank him. The sacred, the things of God, are best approached with sandals off. [The image is of Moses before the burning bush.]In prayer, language is primarily for contact with God. No doubt, language is also for intelligible communication between us humans. But contact with God has priority. In the mystic, such contact with God approaches and sometimes reaches the ineffable, the mystical silence where language ceases. [More needs to be done with this.]There is therefore no surprise if liturgical language differs somewhat from our everyday language. Liturgical language strives to express Christian prayer where the mysteries of Christ are celebrated. [A "liturgical vernacular" must convey "mystery".]As if putting together these various elements needed in order to produce good liturgical translations, let us quote from the Address of Pope John Paul II to American Bishops from California, Nevada and Hawaii during their 1993 ad limina visit to Rome. He was asking them in translations to guard the full doctrinal integrity and beauty of the original texts: [Consider this: Cardinal Arinze is reminding Americans that the Pope himself said this to American bishops. Did the those American bishops do anything substantive after that? What follows is from 1993.]"One of your responsibilities in this regard is to make available exact and appropriate translations of the official liturgical books so that, following the required review and confirmation by the Holy See, they may be an instrument and guarantee of a genuine sharing in the mystery of Christ and the Church: lex orandi, lex credendi. The arduous task of translation must guard the full doctrinal integrity and, according to the genius of each language, the beauty of the original texts. When so many people are thirsting for the Living God – whose majesty and mercy are at the heart of liturgical prayer -, the Church must respond with a language of praise and worship which fosters respect and gratitude for God’s greatness, compassion and power. When the faithful gather to celebrate the work of our Redemption, the language of their prayer – free from doctrinal ambiguity and ideological influence – should foster the dignity and beauty of the celebration itself, while faithfully expressing the Church’s faith and unity" (in Insegnamenti of John Paul II, XVI, 2, 1993 [!], p. 1399-1400).From the above considerations, it follows that the Church needs to exercise careful authority over liturgical translations. The responsibility for the translation of texts rests on the Bishops’ Conference, which submits them to the Holy See for the necessary recognitio (cf, SC, n. 36; C.I.C., can. 838; Lit. Authenticam, n. 80).It follows that no individual, even a priest or deacon, has authority to change the approved wording in the sacred liturgy. This is also common sense. But sometimes we notice that common sense is not very common. [The question is begged: What do we do when present translations are simply dreadful? Still use them?]So, Redemptionis Sacramentum had to say expressly: "The reprobated practice by which priests, deacons or the faithful here and there alter or vary at will the texts of the Sacred Liturgy that they are charged to pronounce, must cease. For in doing thus, they render the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy unstable, and not infrequently distort the authentic meaning of the Liturgy" (n. 59; cf. also General Instruction on Roman Missal, n. 24). [And when the translation itself manifestly distorts the texts? That is the case with the lame duck translation we are using.]8. What is expected of us?As we seek to conclude these reflections, we can ask ourselves what is expected of us.We should do our best to appreciate the language which the Church uses in her liturgy and to join our hearts and voices to them, according as each liturgical rite may indicate. All of us cannot be Latin speakers, but the lay faithful can at least learn the simpler responses in Latin. Priests should give more attention to Latin so that they celebrate Mass in Latin occasionally.In big churches where there are many Masses celebrated on a Sunday or Feast day, why can one of those Masses not be in Latin? In rural parishes a Latin Mass should be possible, say once a month. In international assemblies, Latin becomes even more urgent. It follows that seminaries should discharge carefully their role of preparing and forming priests also in the use of Latin (cf. October 2005 Synod of Bishops, Prop. 36). [If people don’t hear Latin in their parishes, how can they be expected to use Latin when they are in larger or international celebrations?]All those responsible for vernacular translations should strive to provide the very best, following the guidance of relevant Church Documents, especially Liturgiam Authenticam. Experience shows that it is not superfluous to remark that priests, deacons and all others who proclaim liturgical texts, should read them out with clarity and due reverence.Language is not everything. But it is one of most important elements that need attention for good and faith-filled liturgical celebrations.It is an honour for us to be allowed to become part of the voice of the Church in her public prayer. May the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word made flesh whose mysteries we celebrate in the sacred liturgy, obtain for all of us the grace to do our part to join in singing the praises of the Lord both in Latin and in the vernacular.
"Pope turns back on congregation in old mass ritual"
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict celebrated parts of Sunday's Mass with his back turned on the congregation, re-introducing an old ritual that had not been used in decades.
The Pope used the Sistine Chapel's ancient altar set right against the wall under Michelangelo's dramatic depiction of the Last Judgment, instead of the altar placed on a mobile platform that allowed his predecessor John Paul II to face the faithful.
A statement by the Vatican's office for liturgical celebrations said it had been decided to use the old altar, where ballots are placed during papal elections, to respect "the beauty and the harmony of this architectonic jewel."
That meant that for the first time in this kind of celebration since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the pope occasionally turned his back on the faithful and faced the Cross. He also read his homily from an old wooden throne on the left of the altar used by Pius IX in the 19th century.
The conservative German-born pontiff is slowly reintroducing some of the old rituals phased out after Vatican II, which substituted Latin for local languages, modernized the Church and encouraged inter-religious dialogue.
In July, the Pope issued a decree allowing wider use of the old Latin mass, in what was regarded as a nod to Church traditionalists. He has also said he would like the centuries-old Gregorian chant to make a comeback.
During Sunday's mass commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ, which was celebrated in Italian, the Pope baptized 13 babies, carefully pouring water on their heads from a golden shell.
He spoke about the significance of baptism, which marks the admission of a person in the community of Christians.
Later at his weekly Angelus blessing, the Pope paid tribute to the World Day of Migrants and Refugees celebrated on Sunday, saying children who are born and brought up in refugee camps should be offered a different future. But he also had a message for migrants around the world, telling them to respect the law and never give in to violence.
(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)
Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:00pm IST
http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINL1345368220080113
The Pope used the Sistine Chapel's ancient altar set right against the wall under Michelangelo's dramatic depiction of the Last Judgment, instead of the altar placed on a mobile platform that allowed his predecessor John Paul II to face the faithful.
A statement by the Vatican's office for liturgical celebrations said it had been decided to use the old altar, where ballots are placed during papal elections, to respect "the beauty and the harmony of this architectonic jewel."
That meant that for the first time in this kind of celebration since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the pope occasionally turned his back on the faithful and faced the Cross. He also read his homily from an old wooden throne on the left of the altar used by Pius IX in the 19th century.
The conservative German-born pontiff is slowly reintroducing some of the old rituals phased out after Vatican II, which substituted Latin for local languages, modernized the Church and encouraged inter-religious dialogue.
In July, the Pope issued a decree allowing wider use of the old Latin mass, in what was regarded as a nod to Church traditionalists. He has also said he would like the centuries-old Gregorian chant to make a comeback.
During Sunday's mass commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ, which was celebrated in Italian, the Pope baptized 13 babies, carefully pouring water on their heads from a golden shell.
He spoke about the significance of baptism, which marks the admission of a person in the community of Christians.
Later at his weekly Angelus blessing, the Pope paid tribute to the World Day of Migrants and Refugees celebrated on Sunday, saying children who are born and brought up in refugee camps should be offered a different future. But he also had a message for migrants around the world, telling them to respect the law and never give in to violence.
(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)
Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:00pm IST
http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINL1345368220080113
Vatican changes rules on scattering of ashes
By Richard Owen in Rome
Friday January 11 2008
Believers who choose to have their ashes scattered after being cremated are entitled to a Christian funeral, the Vatican said yesterday.
The ruling follows the refusal of a parish priest in the Italian Alps to hold a funeral for a local man who had asked to have his remains spread in the mountains.
Father Carmelo Pellicone, of the parish of St Etienne in Aosta, told the man's widow that a religious funeral was impossible because it was against the dogma of the resurrection of the body.
He said that scattering ashes in the countryside or at sea was a "pantheistic communion with nature in death, which is not part of our religion" -- a belief held by many priests.
Bishop Luciano Pacomio, head of doctrine at the Italian Bishops Conference, said, however, that this reflected an out-of-date mentality.
Father Silvano Sirboni, a noted liturgist, said although the Church preferred burial, cremation was acceptable in certain circumstances.
Writing in the Italian Catholic daily 'Avvenire', he pointed out that the Italian bishops had issued new funeral rites in November which, for the first time, included specific prayers in the presence of ashes rather than a body, and even prayers to be read at a crematorium.
Avvenire said this innovation had passed unnoticed until the Val d'Aosta incident, which was given national coverage. The Diocese of Aosta said in a statement that although Father Pellicone had "hesitated", he had in the end given the man who wanted his ashes scattered a Catholic funeral.
Faith
"Church funerals will be celebrated for all the faithful, including those who have chosen the scattering of their ashes, as long as the choice was not made for reasons contrary to the Christian faith," the statement said. Catholic funerals should still be denied to those motivated by "a pantheistic or naturalistic mentality".
Cremation was forbidden in the Church for centuries because of the belief that the body is "the temple of the Holy Spirit" and that Christians will be resurrected bodily at the Last Judgment. The Second Vatican Council in the 1960s lifted the ban, provided the body was present during the funeral and cremated afterwards.
Church rules were relaxed further in 1997 when the Vatican agreed that cremated remains could be brought into church for the liturgical rites of burial.
In Italy, though, many priests still prefer to conduct funeral rites with the body present and some -- as in the Val d'Aosta case -- remain opposed to cremation altogether on the grounds that it is pagan. (© The Times, London)
- Richard Owen in Rome
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/vatican-changes-rules-on-scattering-of-ashes-1262772.html
Friday January 11 2008
Believers who choose to have their ashes scattered after being cremated are entitled to a Christian funeral, the Vatican said yesterday.
The ruling follows the refusal of a parish priest in the Italian Alps to hold a funeral for a local man who had asked to have his remains spread in the mountains.
Father Carmelo Pellicone, of the parish of St Etienne in Aosta, told the man's widow that a religious funeral was impossible because it was against the dogma of the resurrection of the body.
He said that scattering ashes in the countryside or at sea was a "pantheistic communion with nature in death, which is not part of our religion" -- a belief held by many priests.
Bishop Luciano Pacomio, head of doctrine at the Italian Bishops Conference, said, however, that this reflected an out-of-date mentality.
Father Silvano Sirboni, a noted liturgist, said although the Church preferred burial, cremation was acceptable in certain circumstances.
Writing in the Italian Catholic daily 'Avvenire', he pointed out that the Italian bishops had issued new funeral rites in November which, for the first time, included specific prayers in the presence of ashes rather than a body, and even prayers to be read at a crematorium.
Avvenire said this innovation had passed unnoticed until the Val d'Aosta incident, which was given national coverage. The Diocese of Aosta said in a statement that although Father Pellicone had "hesitated", he had in the end given the man who wanted his ashes scattered a Catholic funeral.
Faith
"Church funerals will be celebrated for all the faithful, including those who have chosen the scattering of their ashes, as long as the choice was not made for reasons contrary to the Christian faith," the statement said. Catholic funerals should still be denied to those motivated by "a pantheistic or naturalistic mentality".
Cremation was forbidden in the Church for centuries because of the belief that the body is "the temple of the Holy Spirit" and that Christians will be resurrected bodily at the Last Judgment. The Second Vatican Council in the 1960s lifted the ban, provided the body was present during the funeral and cremated afterwards.
Church rules were relaxed further in 1997 when the Vatican agreed that cremated remains could be brought into church for the liturgical rites of burial.
In Italy, though, many priests still prefer to conduct funeral rites with the body present and some -- as in the Val d'Aosta case -- remain opposed to cremation altogether on the grounds that it is pagan. (© The Times, London)
- Richard Owen in Rome
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/vatican-changes-rules-on-scattering-of-ashes-1262772.html
Sunday, January 13, 2008
A Papal Liturgy celebrated Ad Orientem?
The following was posted by Shawn Tribe on "The New Liturgical Movement" January 12, 2008 http://thenewliturgicalmovement.blogspot.com/2008/01/papal-liturgy-celebrated-ad-orientem.html
For those of us who argue that the restoration of ad orientem is one of the most particularly important elements of the liturgy, and given the influence papal liturgical practices can have with regard to parish liturgical life, it is both encouraging and exciting to note that the rumour has been this week that Pope Benedict will celebrate Mass ad orientem at the fixed altar of the Sistine Chapel tomorrow morning at 10:00am (Roman time) for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.The NLM will be on top of this story for you. If the rumour comes to fruition -- and I have no reason to think it won't -- pictures will be provided of course.
For those of us who argue that the restoration of ad orientem is one of the most particularly important elements of the liturgy, and given the influence papal liturgical practices can have with regard to parish liturgical life, it is both encouraging and exciting to note that the rumour has been this week that Pope Benedict will celebrate Mass ad orientem at the fixed altar of the Sistine Chapel tomorrow morning at 10:00am (Roman time) for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.The NLM will be on top of this story for you. If the rumour comes to fruition -- and I have no reason to think it won't -- pictures will be provided of course.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
An excerpt from Father Eugene Dougherty's article on Joseph Pearce's Literary Converts:
In the following précis of Literary Converts, we limit ourselves to those who lived long enough to witness the Council, and allow them to speak in their own words.
On behalf of these converts to the Catholic faith from Protestantism, Evelyn Waugh asked Cardinal Heenan: Why were we led out of the church of our childhood to find the Church of our own adoption assuming the very forms we disliked?
Christopher Dawson: [There is] ... a philistine and patronizing attitude to Baroque Catholicism expressed by certain 'modern 'Catholics.
Hugh Ross Williamson: The changes [are] echoing everything that was done at the Reformation... the Martyrs have died for nothing.
David Jones:One year they abolish the biretta, the next year they abolish the Mass.... I can't understand it all; they'll be pulling down Chartres Cathedral next.
Cecil Gill: The vulgarization of the Mass.... One sighs for a Low Mass instead of this brash version of the sacred liturgy.
George Mackey Brown: The vernacular has robbed the Mass of its majesty and mystery... so much of its glory has been sort of shed.... There was something very mysterious about the same language being used all over the world.
Robert Speaight: The vernacular liturgy, popular and pedestrian, intelligible and distressing, has robbed us of much that was numinous in public worship; there is less emphasis on prayer and penitence, and the personal relationship between God and man... is neglected in favor of a diffused social concern.
Sir Alec Guinness: Much water has flown under the Tiber's bridges, carrying away splendor and mystery from Rome since the pontificate of Pius XII... [T]he banalities and translations which have ousted the sonorous Latin and Greek are of a supermarket quality which is quite unacceptable. Hand shaking and embarrassed smiles or smirks have replaced the older courtesies; kneeling is out, queuing is in, and the general tone is like BBC radio broadcast for tiny tots....
Cardinal Heenan: If the Church is to remain truly the Catholic Church it is essential to keep a universal language.
Christopher Dawson: The existence of a common liturgical language of some kind is a sign of the Church's mission to reverse the curse of Babel and to create a body of unity between the peoples.
On behalf of these converts to the Catholic faith from Protestantism, Evelyn Waugh asked Cardinal Heenan: Why were we led out of the church of our childhood to find the Church of our own adoption assuming the very forms we disliked?
Christopher Dawson: [There is] ... a philistine and patronizing attitude to Baroque Catholicism expressed by certain 'modern 'Catholics.
Hugh Ross Williamson: The changes [are] echoing everything that was done at the Reformation... the Martyrs have died for nothing.
David Jones:One year they abolish the biretta, the next year they abolish the Mass.... I can't understand it all; they'll be pulling down Chartres Cathedral next.
Cecil Gill: The vulgarization of the Mass.... One sighs for a Low Mass instead of this brash version of the sacred liturgy.
George Mackey Brown: The vernacular has robbed the Mass of its majesty and mystery... so much of its glory has been sort of shed.... There was something very mysterious about the same language being used all over the world.
Robert Speaight: The vernacular liturgy, popular and pedestrian, intelligible and distressing, has robbed us of much that was numinous in public worship; there is less emphasis on prayer and penitence, and the personal relationship between God and man... is neglected in favor of a diffused social concern.
Sir Alec Guinness: Much water has flown under the Tiber's bridges, carrying away splendor and mystery from Rome since the pontificate of Pius XII... [T]he banalities and translations which have ousted the sonorous Latin and Greek are of a supermarket quality which is quite unacceptable. Hand shaking and embarrassed smiles or smirks have replaced the older courtesies; kneeling is out, queuing is in, and the general tone is like BBC radio broadcast for tiny tots....
Cardinal Heenan: If the Church is to remain truly the Catholic Church it is essential to keep a universal language.
Christopher Dawson: The existence of a common liturgical language of some kind is a sign of the Church's mission to reverse the curse of Babel and to create a body of unity between the peoples.
Sisters of Life or Death? By Jennifer Fionnait Orchard
At age 19, I am a young Catholic woman who is interested in religious life. I was so inspired by the life and work of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini that I wanted to join her order, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.As I considered it, I went to the sisters' American Stella Maris Province web site, but inspiration turned to shock.
First, I was disappointed to find that the sisters no longer wear the beautiful, trademark Mother Cabrini-style black habits that signify they are the brides of Christ. Like many other young people, I strongly believe that a religious habit is a great aid to the preservation of our Catholic identity.
No straight answers
However, what really troubled me in visiting the Missionary Sisters' website was the mention that they work with the United Nations. Therefore, I wrote to them voicing my concern and asking if they condemned the coercive UN population control programs. I further cited examples of the UN refusing to give food or medical help to impoverished women or their children, unless the women agreed to be sterilized. Sister Dianne Olmstead, MSC wrote back, but wouldn't give me a straight answer. She said the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart order was a member of a nongovernmental organization (NGO) called UNANIMA, which worked for the "promotion of women," but she wouldn't say whether UNANIMA condemns UN population control programs. According to the Brigidine Sisters of New Zealand, another member order, UNANIMA stands for United Nations and anima, which they describe as meaning "a feminine life principle." However, the word "anima" means "life" or"soul," whether female or male. After Sister Diane's reply, I wrote to her again, asking if the nuns denounce the UN's involvement in abortion, contraception and sterilization. She sent a vague statement of "being against all these forms of injustice," but she would never say if the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart ,Stella Maris Province, denounce the UN programs or the trade inhuman fetal body parts which are used for research and cosmetic treatments in the Ukraine and Barbados. Although her order belongs to UNANIMA, she said she didn't know what the NGO actually does and that I should check the UNANIMA web site.
Alarming links
There UNANIMA International describes itself as an NGO "committed to work for justice at the international level in harmony with the charter of the United Nations for the social and economic advancement of all peoples." It was founded in 2002 by "representatives of seven congregations of women religious. "UNANIMA" aligns its work with current United Nations efforts for the peoples of the world." According to a UN document about NGOs, such groups give reports to a UN committee on how the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW) is being implemented around the world. It says: "The Committee welcomes country-specific information from nongovernmental organizations, in the form of alternative or shadow reports. "The UNANIMA web site also links to the UN, UNICEF, UNAIDS and CEDAW. CEDAW reports are advertised right on UNANIMA's web site, without any sort of disclaimer. There is nothing on the UNANIMA site condemning or even cautioning against CEDAW, which the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute calls "one of the most dangerous, anti-family, anti-life schemes ever conceived by the radicals who dominate UN policy." Nor, for that matter, do the sisters offer a word of caution about UNICEF, which is actively involved in funding abortion and contraception.
Nixing culture and tradition
I followed the UNANIMA link to the CEDAW web site, where, right on the first page, the CEDAW Convention is described as "the only human rights treaty which affirms the reproductive rights of women" and "targets culture and tradition as influential forces shaping gender roles and family relations." In fact, the CEDAW treaty mandates the legalization of abortion. It says, "Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also to submit national reports at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations." To assure that CEDAW policies are implemented, countries are instructed to "establish tribunals to ensure elimination of all acts of discrimination against women by persons, organizations or enterprises." Because CEDAW forbids any distinctions or exclusions based on gender, it could be used to persecute the Catholic Church because of its "exclusion" of women from the sacred priesthood. Furthermore, CEDAW's proclamation of women's "right to free choice of profession and employment"turns out to be a command for the worldwide legalization of prostitution. And CEDAW's ban on "any distinction, exclusion or restriction based on sex" is an order for the legalization of same-sex "marriage." According to the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, the CEDAW ban on "orientation bias" would likely legalize pedophilia and child molestation, as if some people are "oriented"towards molesting children. CEDAW also promotes the outlawing of Mother's Day under the pretense that it "perpetuates traditional stereotypes."
Educating sisters
Consequently, I wrote to all the religious orders on the UNANIMA web site, asking each of them how they, as Catholic nuns, can support CEDAW. So far, I have received no reply. I find it hard to believe that the sisters are ignorant of CEDAW's abortion agenda, since it is clearly stated as "women's reproductive rights" and they link to the treaty. Besides this, the UNANIMA site states that its board of directors, made up of nuns from the various orders, "educates our members about the programs and activities of the United Nations." UNANIMA's board of directors consists of nuns from the member congregations, plus a "coalition coordinator." They determine the policies and activities of the coalition. Officers on the board of directors are President Jean M. O' Meara, SHCJ; Vice President Mary Lou Simcoe, SUSC; and Secretary Stella Storch, OP for CSA. In addition, at least one of the UNANIMA member orders, the Holy Union Sisters, is also linked to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), which promotes radical feminist agendas in American religious orders. For example, Sister Joan Chittister, a keynote speaker for the LCWR, was a supporter of the 23 nuns disciplined by the Vatican for signing the infamous New York Times 1983 statement supporting abortion and she's a strong supporter of CEDAW. Reaping what they've sown I wanted to join the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, but I was grieved to find that they now have little in common with their holy foundress, Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini. In fact, Mother Cabrini would have been horrified at being connected to the murder of babies through abortifacient contraception and abortion itself. A third of my generation has been snuffed out by the culture of death and I will take no part in any order that helps to perpetuate the continued slaughter of my brothers and sisters. With groups like UNANIMA, it's no wonder that these orders fail to attract vocations. Thus, the "Sisters of Death" ultimately reap what they've sown.
Jennifer Fionnait Orchard writes from Republic, Washington. She is a member of the Legion of Mary and is still considering a religious vocation. She can be contacted at FionnaitSradag@yahoo.com
The UNANIMA is made up of the following Catholic congregations:
- The Brigidine Sisters
- The Carmelite Sisters of Charity Vedruna
- The Congregation of the Sistersof Saint Agnes
- The Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal
- Filles de Jesus
- The Holy Union Sisters
- The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Stella Maris Province
- The Religious of Jesus and Mary
- The Sisters of Bon Secours of Paris
- The Sisters of Providence
- The Sisters of Saint Anne
- The Sisters of Sion
- The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
- The Society of the Holy Child Jesus
- The Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph
Friday, January 11, 2008
For the sake of the young people, let the traditional Mass flourish!
The following is a letter to the editor from the St. Louis Review as well as a commentary or response from "thetimman" at http://stlouiscatholic.blogspot.com posted December 23, 2007. The letter is published in its entirety first. The commentator then addresses the argument point by point. Letter extracts are black and in quotation marks, followed by the "thetimman's" responses which are in red.
Letter to the Editor: A Case Study
The following letter to the editor appeared in the St. Louis Review:
I wonder if the few people who are so insistent in bringing back the Latin Mass can speak and understand the language. If so, fine, but if not it's like when I attend Mass in another country where the liturgy is in the local dialect. I would have no idea what's going on if I didn't know the Mass, and even then I feel isolated. As a youngster, I served at Mass when it was in the Latin Rite. I knew the Latin responses but had no idea what they meant. For the last 40-plus years people in this country have been able to participate at Mass in the language they know. So, for the sake of the young people, keep the Mass as it is.
_________________________________________________________
This is really a very unremarkable and typical anti-"Latin Mass" letter to the editor. Anyone who cares to write one will almost certainly be rewarded by the editor of the Review with the necessary space, paper and ink to have it published. This letter is not particularly resentful, nor is it one of the least intelligible I have seen. All the more reason to analyze it. I wanted to post it in its entirety first, to give you the sense of it, before undertaking a critique. The essential points of the letter are ones that those who support the traditional Mass have to be ready to refute, in charity, time and time again. Below is the letter once more with my comments interspersed in green. [Ed. note: His comments were in green in the original. In this format they are in regular typeface and black.]
Letter to the Editor: A Case Study
The following letter to the editor appeared in the St. Louis Review:
I wonder if the few people who are so insistent in bringing back the Latin Mass can speak and understand the language. If so, fine, but if not it's like when I attend Mass in another country where the liturgy is in the local dialect. I would have no idea what's going on if I didn't know the Mass, and even then I feel isolated. As a youngster, I served at Mass when it was in the Latin Rite. I knew the Latin responses but had no idea what they meant. For the last 40-plus years people in this country have been able to participate at Mass in the language they know. So, for the sake of the young people, keep the Mass as it is.
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This is really a very unremarkable and typical anti-"Latin Mass" letter to the editor. Anyone who cares to write one will almost certainly be rewarded by the editor of the Review with the necessary space, paper and ink to have it published. This letter is not particularly resentful, nor is it one of the least intelligible I have seen. All the more reason to analyze it. I wanted to post it in its entirety first, to give you the sense of it, before undertaking a critique. The essential points of the letter are ones that those who support the traditional Mass have to be ready to refute, in charity, time and time again. Below is the letter once more with my comments interspersed in green. [Ed. note: His comments were in green in the original. In this format they are in regular typeface and black.]
“I wonder if the few people who are so insistent in bringing back the Latin Mass can speak and understand the language.”
1. Right away, the ad hominem attack. Those who support the traditional Mass are "few". Thus, in the democratic spirit of many in the Church, the cause cannot be good. I wonder if it matters that even if it were a matter of "few" wanting this Mass, that their number includes his Archbishop and, more importantly, the Holy Father himself? And of course every place that celebrates the traditional Mass has seen sustained growth. The seminaries of traditional orders are bursting. Those dioceses that are more orthodox have greater numbers of vocations--e.g., Lincoln and St. Louis. On the contrary, liturgical foolishness, dissent and heterodoxy produce a dearth of vocations. The statistical evidence is all on the side of tradition. Anyone who doubts the effect of the departure from tradition in the last forty years should read Ken Jones' fine book, "Index of Leading Catholic Indicators."
2. The "Latin Mass" is any Mass said in Latin. The ordinary as well as the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite can be celebrated in Latin. And should be, if one wishes to follow the intention of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council in Sacrosanctum Concilium. Every traditional Catholic knows this, but due to the success of the disinformation campaign and lack of adequate catechesis in the last forty years, it needs to be repeated often.
3. God understands the Latin language just fine. Perfectly well, actually. Isn't that the relevant audience for our prayers? But even focusing on the congregation, as befits the immanentist mindset of the day, the insinuation that most people "don't understand what's going on" because of the language is simply false. It assumes that the Mass attendee will attend Mass once and never again. How can the charge of lack of understanding be maintained with a straight face when one considers that the minimally-attending Catholic will likely assist at many hundreds of Masses in the course of his life? I mean, really, after 10, or 20, or one year's worth, can one fail to grasp that the English on one side of the his Missal corresponds with the Latin on the other side? That hearing and reading these prayers over and over will give a working knowledge of the Latin of the Mass?
“If so, fine, but if not it's like when I attend Mass in another country where the liturgy is in the local dialect. I would have no idea what's going on if I didn't know the Mass, and even then I feel isolated.”
1. Actually, not really. Latin serves as a language of worship-- a language set apart for the things of God. It is not merely a less common other-vernacular, like Spanish, Catalan, German, Italian, French or any other language in which I have heard Mass. Other world religions have their dedicated liturgical language. Other rites of the Catholic Church have their particular language. The language of the Latin Rite is Latin. And one would know what was going on precisely because a.) the language is the same the world over, and b.) the situation of Latin, in that it is not commonly spoken today, prevents the kind of ad lib liturgy that could cause confusion to the out-of-town attendee. If the traditional Mass were the only form of the Roman Rite, every Mass a Catholic attends, no matter the country or region, would be exactly the same, and thus he would know exactly what was going on.
2. Furthermore, the language should not isolate him, if by isolate he means to be cut off from the Church Militant, the Church Suffering and the Church Triumphant, with whom he unites his intentions at Mass. Jesus is present on the altar, and we receive Him in Holy Communion. However, the traditional Mass, unlike the typical Mass at many parishes, does allow the worshiper to have a certain "space" of interior silence so that he can be alone with his God. He does not constantly have to say something out loud. He does not have to try to focus his prayers and intentions in competition with the music of Marty Haugen. The din is absent-- but that is a good thing.
“As a youngster, I served at Mass when it was in the Latin Rite. I knew the Latin responses but had no idea what they meant.”
With all due respect, if he served the Mass often then failure to know what the responses meant is his fault alone. The Latin-English Missal was not invented in 1988.
“For the last 40-plus years people in this country have been able to participate at Mass in the language they know. So, for the sake of the young people, keep the Mass as it is.”
1. The writer repeats the common misunderstanding of what "participation" at Mass really means. It is not mere talking. Real participation is an interior disposition. There are so many ways to demonstrate this that I cannot do the effort justice here, but one approach that I have found successful with friends and family who only attend the novus ordo is to ask them this: "At what point in your parish's typical Mass do you feel you are most actively participating?" Almost always, the answer I get is either "at the Consecration" or "when receiving Communion". At which point I ask, "What are you saying at this point?" The answer is "nothing", or at most, a solitary and receptive "amen" to the action of the priest.
2. The fact that the writer served the traditional Mass in his youth belies his final point that the young people will be harmed by the restoration of the Mass of his youth. As he said, he served more than 40 years ago. For 40 years, people (not just) in this country have been able to participate at Mass in the language they know. With what result? Is the Mass more well-attended than it was in his youth? Are Churches closing because they cannot hold the numbers of the faithful, or is it because the people have abandoned the Church that offers them the Mass in the language they understand? Perhaps the writer has not assisted at a traditional Mass in the last few years. If he did, he would see the pews crowded with people of all ages, and especially the young. Lots of young families with many children. The traditional Mass is the future of the Church. The Mass that nourished countless Saints, the Mass that was confirmed in the wake of the Council of Trent but which existed in its essential form for over a thousand years before Trent, this Mass is a faithful and transcendent expression of the faith we believe. For the sake of the young people, let the traditional Mass flourish!
Sermon Preached by Fr. Calvin Goodwin of the Fraternity of St. Peter on EWTN
The following is the sermon preached by Fr. Calvin Goodwin of the Fraternity of St. Peter on EWTN. On September 14 (the effective date of Summorum Pontificum) the EWTN broadcast a Solemn High Mass said by Fr. Goodwin at Mother Angelica's Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament.
Priestly Society of St. Peter, whom you see in the sanctuary today, would like to thank Mother Angelica, Mother Vicar and the Poor Clare community for their gracious invitation to celebrate this Mass here today in this magnificent church. We are particularly grateful to Bishop Foley of the Diocese of Birmingham for supporting our presence here today and to the members of the EWTN staff and board of directors of this tremendous enterprise, born of Mother Angelica’s faith and wisdom and which has been so fruitful for the needs of the Church all around the world now, for a quarter of a century. There are so many things that could be said on this momentous occasion of the coming into full legal power in the Church of the Holy Father’s motu proprio on the traditional Mass. I will do no more than offer a few reflections, as the least of the members of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. There are many who would be able to offer more eloquent and apposite thoughts. My comments reflect only my own poor grasp of the gift that the successor of Peter offers to the Church in his teaching and his decrees in the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. I could never claim to represent the priestly fraternity as a whole -- or any other ecclesial body -- just me. Fr. Trigilio said to me this morning before Mass -- he was looking at the preaching stole, and he said, “Wow! That’s really beautiful! And I said, yes our theory is if the preaching can’t be good, at least it can look good. Today marks a moment -- a great moment in the Church in modern times. This Mass offered today for the need s and intentions of our Holy Father, Benedict XVI, is a concrete and visible token of that interior reconciliation within the church, which the Holy Father has both called for and made possible through his recent motu proprio, which restores the traditional liturgical rites of the Church to a central place at the heart of the Church’s life. Certainly no one now is unaware of the painful confusions and divisions which afflicted the Church’s interior life in recent years. The Supreme Pontiff bears poignant witness to these afflictions, when in the letter to the universal episcopate, which accompanied the motu proprio, he writers, “I am speaking from experience, since I too lived through that period with all its hopes and its confusion. And I have seen how arbitrary deformations of the liturgy caused deep pain to individuals totally rooted in the faith of the Church.” And so the Vicar of Christ, making use of that personal authority which binds the universal church and which is his alone, has determined that healing of those painful wounds must begin, and it must begin at the heart of the Church, in the sanctuary, in the Holy Sacrifice which makes present on the altar that very exaltation of the saving Passion of Christ which is commemorated in the Feast which we celebrate here today. So, therefore, let any spirit of suspicion which has led to division among Catholics be banished once and for all by this proclamation of the Vicar of Christ, where he says, “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.” And we cannot fail to note that the ancient feast which we celebrate today here bears witness to the fact that out of the most abject suffering the world has ever witnessed -- the ignominious Passion and death on the Cross of the Son of God -- there emanated reason for joy and exultation, a joy and exultation that will endure as long as this world endures and indeed is crowned for all eternity in heaven. So too, though the church has witnessed contradictions and conflicts throughout her history, she, the unspotted Bride of Christ, always emerges intact, to continue her mission, for the honor of God and the needs of souls. Out of this conviction, the Vicar of Christ offers to the whole church an invitation to what he calls an interior reconciliation much needed and long awaited and so deeply appreciated by faithful Catholics everywhere. Still, it is not sufficient to take advantage only of the joy of this great moment. We must apply ourselves to the task of appreciating more fully the substance of the mind of the Church as articulated by the Successor of Peter. What then does the Holy Father have in mind as he restores the immemorial rite of the Mass, with all the liturgical rites and uses of the Latin Rite? What does he expect it to achieve in the life of the church? Well, without attempting to speak for him, let us briefly look at the rite itself, so as to glean from its nature and character what it is that the Supreme Pontiff wishes to offer through its restoration to the attention of the whole Church. Certainly, we will find there in the rite itself, elements revelatory of the essence of authentic Catholic liturgy. For as Pope John Paul II of blessed memory reminded us just a very few years ago, “In the Roman Missal so-called of St. Pius V, one finds the most beautiful prayers, with which the priest expresses the deepest sense of humility and reverence before the Sacred Mysteries. These reveal the very substance of what liturgy is.” No doubt much of the ceremony of today’s Mass will be unfamiliar to many. Two things is particular will probably stand out. One is that the Mass is celebrated entirely in Latin. The other is that for much the greatest time of the time of the ceremony, the priest-celebrant prays facing the altar. These phenomena are by no means the only significant ones, but they are both immediately different to what many have become accustomed to in the liturgy as most often celebrated in recent times. Yet these phenomena, however much they may bring with them the shock of the unfamiliar, are nonetheless integral to the most central principles of liturgical prayer in the Catholic Church. And they are hallowed by an unbroken tradition, which as the Council of Trent solemnly defined, is rooted in the liturgy of Apostolic times. Still, given the more common liturgical practice of recent times, it should cause no surprise if good and sincere people simply ask, “Why is the Mass in a language that I don’t understand? And the rites in a configuration which makes it impossible for me to see what’s going on?” It should be made clear then, this venerable rite of Holy Mass in no way has as its goal the obscuring of the elements of the Mass. Just the opposite. It is so constructed as to be eminently revelatory, as Pope John Paul said, of the very substance of what liturgy is. There is no need, nor would it be germane to the context of a sermon, to analyze elements which may have contributed to certain confusions and anomalies during a time of tumultuous changes in the Church’s life. For his part, and this is surely sufficient for us, the Holy Father clearly comprehends the historical context and does not forbear to draw certain difficult but unavoidable conclusions when he says, “in many places celebrations were not faithful to the prescriptions of the new Missal, but the latter actually was understood as authorizing or even requiring creativity, which frequently led to deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear.” Beyond that, it is surely our priority to note first the profound compassion with which the Vicar of Christ seeks to bind up the wounds of those who have suffered and then the sober and insistent fashion in which he summons the whole church, bishops, priests and faithful, to that interior reconciliation without which our service of God, liturgically and otherwise, would be gravely impaired. All the varied rites of the Church stand together in offering to God the same worship which His human creatures owe to Him, and all these rites, singly and together, are equally bound constantly to reflect upon the fidelity and constancy with which they do so. The texts of today’s Mass -- today’s Feast -- reveal to us a great deal about the essence of liturgical prayer. In the Introit we read, “May God have mercy on us and bless us. May He cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us.” What do we perceive here, if not the reality that in this world we are threatened by a darkness, a darkness founded in elements of sin and error. And further the acknowledgement that it is God’s merciful action that we must await to effect the dispelling of that darkness. In the Gospel, we read just how that darkness is dispelled -- it is through Christ alone, Christ our Light, and it is Christ Himself Who guides u by the light of truth, that light which saves, “Whilst you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be Children of Light.” What is our response to the action of God Who saves us in Christ the Eternal Light? It must be to believe in that Light. Thus in Holy Mass, everything builds on that belief in the Light. But -- and this should lead us to a profound reflection -- the initiative is God’s. And Christ alone is, in the Incarnation, the means of that initiative. Just a few days ago, at the beginning of this week, the Holy Father gave an elocution in Germany in which he reflected upon the essential elements of Catholic liturgical prayer. These are his words “In all our efforts on behalf of the liturgy, the determining factor must always be our looking to God. We stand before God. He speaks to us first, and then we speak to Him. I ask you to celebrate the sacred liturgy with your gaze fixed upon God within the communion of saints, the living Church of every place and time.” The liturgical prayer of the Church is therefore, first of all, something given to us by God, something which we receive, something to which we are obliged faithfully and humbly to conform ourselves -- our hearts, our minds. What is obscure in a world so convinced of its self-sufficiency is made plain to the eyes of faith, turned and lifted toward Him. It is given and revealed to us in fact by God, through an unbroken tradition of rites, which embody that tradition that stretches back directly to the Apostles themselves. The world’s cultural inclinations and fashions pass and fade away, but the Light remains constant. The ancient character of the Church’s liturgical actions -- its words, gestures and ceremonies -- reflect this enduring Light in a concrete and sensible way. The words pronounced at the altar today are, to a very significant degree, the same words, the gestures and motions are the same, as those used by Blessed John XXIII and by St. Pius V, by St. John Vianney and St. Dominic, by St. Miguel Pro and St. Edmund Campion, by the martyrs of North America and the martyrs of the Crusades, by St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Augustine of Hippo -- hallowed words, hallowed gestures, hallowed action, hallowed not only by use but by where they come from, that precious and holy Tradition, that has sanctified individuals, made devout families, given abundant vocations and martyrs to the Church and to the honor of God for almost two millennia. As the Holy Father states in Summorum Pontificum, “It is evident that the Latin liturgy has stimulated in the spiritual life of very many saints in every century of the Christian age and strengthened in the virtue of religion so many peoples and made fertile their piety.” You know that in the Eastern rites, when people come into the church, there is a wall, called the iconostasis, beautifully decorated, which separates their gaze from what is transpiring in the sanctuary. In the ancient times of the Church, when it was time for the most central part of the Mass to begin, a curtain used to be drawn across the sanctuary, in order to withhold from profane gaze the sacred Mysteries. No longer is such a curtain drawn -- it’s not needed because God in the Holy Ghost has guided the Church to that same reality -- the reality represented in the Eastern Church by the iconostasis -- with a sacred language, a non-everyday special language devoted only to the Church’s most holy endeavors. It serves as a verbal curtain drawn over the Mysteries being carried out at the altar to remind us that, yes, there is a wide and fathomless gap between the incomprehensible majesty and holiness of God, on the one hand, and our human sinfulness and smallness on the other. It is a gap which cannot be breached by human presumption or initiative or comprehension. It is a gap unbridgeable by anything we do and is overcome only by what God does in our Lord Jesus Christ and which we receive from Him. The Holy Father Benedict XVI has repeatedly warned against the tendency in modern times for prayer -- liturgical prayer for the community to drift toward a celebration much of itself, and John Paul II insisted in a pointed analysis of elements undignified and inappropriate to liturgical prayer that “It is necessary to purify worship of deformations, of careless forms of expression, of ill-prepared music and texts which are not very suited to the grandeur of the Act being celebrated.” In all the several liturgical rites and uses of the Church, then -- all of them, we are in common urged to seek only those elements which authentically and worthily reflect the august sacrifice they embody. Thus today in the ancient Roman Rite, we bow as did our fathers in the Faith, we kneel as those before us did many centuries ago, we prostrate ourselves before the awesome re-presentation on the altar of the Sacrifice of the Cross. The Epistle of today’s feast reminds us that even at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those that are in heaven, on earth and under the earth -- the Church Militant, the Church Triumphant, and the Church Suffering. If this is the appropriate action to the mention of the Holy Name, how much more reverence and devotion should inform our acknowledgement of His actual Presence on the altar? Nothing casual, but instead a communal turning toward the Lord. Once again, the words of our Holy Father, “A turning to the Lord in gratitude, love and awe, for what is donated to us by a merciful God and which we could never achieve on our own or make happen for ourselves.” And by this humble submission, we are united, as St. Paul reminds us, to the Church Triumphant in heaven and the Church Suffering in purgatory and offering to God our common homage. The first thing, then, that we have to understand, is that this Mystery takes us beyond the limits available to unaided human understanding. It cannot be grasped or encompassed by puny human intellect alone, darkened as it is by the inroads of sin. We can find our way to it only through a humble and reverent and faith-founded attentiveness. Not a passivity, mind you, but an attention which is in fact the activity most essential to our participation in Holy Mass. As Pope John Paul II put it, making his own the words of St. Augustine from so long ago, but still wholly normative for all authentic Catholic worship. “The highest music is one that arises from our hearts.” It is precisely this harmony that God wants to hear in our liturgies. The most perfect participation in that Sacrifice is in fact exemplified by Our Blessed Lady at the foot of the Cross. And what is it that Our Lady does there, at the foot of the Cross? Nothing in fact that mortal eyes can perceive. What does she say there, at the foot of the Cross? Nothing that mortal ears can hear. And yet no human being ever was or ever could be more fully or more intimately involved in that Sacrifice than she was at that moment, because her heart and soul and being were united to her Son and to what He was doing for us all. As always, she shows us the Way. Thus, with Our Lady at the foot of the Cross, we too can only be present and wonder, asking ourselves in union with the prayer of the priest at the altar, Quid retribuam> -- “What return shall I make to the Lord for all that He hath given unto me?” This is both the beginning and the goal of participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Everything that fails to lead to that reverence and interior union, or which impedes it, impedes authentic participation, and all the elements of exterior participation consonant with these principles will inevitably have the character of authenticity. And when that Sacrifice is crowned in the moment of Holy Communion, what is it that we do? We receive. We receive what we could never fashion or make for ourselves, but which is freely and mercifully and lovingly given to us by a loving and merciful God in His Son, our Savior, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Son of God, a moment above all for devout and humble receptivity. This is the moment of Mt. Tabor, when the apostles are rapt in silent wonder, their heads bowed low in awe and holy fear, until, as St. Matthew tells us, Jesus came and touched them and then, looking up, they saw only Jesus. That is a text in which the early Christians -- and Christians of all time -- will certainly have recognized their own rite of Holy Communion. Through this rite of Holy Mass and not infrequently without particular verbal comprehension, saints and martyrs have been raised up in the Church. Simple people and children have entered into heroic holiness, not because they grasped or saw, but because they revered and believed. How we need today -- how young people need that simple and humble faith of a Therese of the Child Jesus, who said at the very end of her life, “I always sought only the Truth.” How we need that simple and humble faith of a Bernadette, who attested, when questioned by the priest, that she did not understand the awesome message -- I use the word “awesome” several times in this sermon in honor of Mother Angelica -- that she did not understand the awesome message that Our Lady had chosen her to convey, but nevertheless her faith in Our Lady was real and wholly unshakable. And thus that faith became richly fruitful for her own relationship with God, as well as for the mission that had been entrusted to her. Yet how many have forgotten that their first responsibility in this world is to know God through the exercise of the virtue of faith? The world’s modalities are insufficient in themselves for Divine Worship. We must surrender to the Christ, our Light who alone guides us beyond the world’s deceptions to the realm of divinely given revelation. And that revealed truth is made present here today and every day that Holy Mass is celebrated in all the approved rites of the Church through the renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross. Finally, let us be clear: No one here has the slightest intention of proposing the immemorial liturgy as some solution to the Church’s trials or troubles. The purpose of liturgical prayer is, in any case, not to fix things in the Church but so to unite us to Christ our Lord that we can navigate the troubled sea of this world, always oriented towards -- and one day finding our repose in -- Him. But the Church will surely benefit so much from the reintegration into her life of this “most beautiful thing this side of heaven,” as Fr. Faber once memorably described the ancient rite of Holy Mass. Priests will benefit in their interior life, and countless souls will benefit from that silence in which alone the voice of God may be discerned. No, this Mass is not a challenge to the Church, nor an act of condemnation, nor an act of politics, but an immeasurable enrichment of the Church’s life. It is a sign of restoration, a sign of renewed vigor and self-awareness for and in the Church. We should familiarize ourselves with the provisions that the Holy Father has made in Summorum Pontificum, ponder them for the wisdom they embody beyond their immediate practical prescriptions. The Sacrifice of the Cross in this ancient and venerable form is to be exalted, as is the Cross itself, in this ancient and venerable feast that we celebrate today.
Priestly Society of St. Peter, whom you see in the sanctuary today, would like to thank Mother Angelica, Mother Vicar and the Poor Clare community for their gracious invitation to celebrate this Mass here today in this magnificent church. We are particularly grateful to Bishop Foley of the Diocese of Birmingham for supporting our presence here today and to the members of the EWTN staff and board of directors of this tremendous enterprise, born of Mother Angelica’s faith and wisdom and which has been so fruitful for the needs of the Church all around the world now, for a quarter of a century. There are so many things that could be said on this momentous occasion of the coming into full legal power in the Church of the Holy Father’s motu proprio on the traditional Mass. I will do no more than offer a few reflections, as the least of the members of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. There are many who would be able to offer more eloquent and apposite thoughts. My comments reflect only my own poor grasp of the gift that the successor of Peter offers to the Church in his teaching and his decrees in the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. I could never claim to represent the priestly fraternity as a whole -- or any other ecclesial body -- just me. Fr. Trigilio said to me this morning before Mass -- he was looking at the preaching stole, and he said, “Wow! That’s really beautiful! And I said, yes our theory is if the preaching can’t be good, at least it can look good. Today marks a moment -- a great moment in the Church in modern times. This Mass offered today for the need s and intentions of our Holy Father, Benedict XVI, is a concrete and visible token of that interior reconciliation within the church, which the Holy Father has both called for and made possible through his recent motu proprio, which restores the traditional liturgical rites of the Church to a central place at the heart of the Church’s life. Certainly no one now is unaware of the painful confusions and divisions which afflicted the Church’s interior life in recent years. The Supreme Pontiff bears poignant witness to these afflictions, when in the letter to the universal episcopate, which accompanied the motu proprio, he writers, “I am speaking from experience, since I too lived through that period with all its hopes and its confusion. And I have seen how arbitrary deformations of the liturgy caused deep pain to individuals totally rooted in the faith of the Church.” And so the Vicar of Christ, making use of that personal authority which binds the universal church and which is his alone, has determined that healing of those painful wounds must begin, and it must begin at the heart of the Church, in the sanctuary, in the Holy Sacrifice which makes present on the altar that very exaltation of the saving Passion of Christ which is commemorated in the Feast which we celebrate here today. So, therefore, let any spirit of suspicion which has led to division among Catholics be banished once and for all by this proclamation of the Vicar of Christ, where he says, “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.” And we cannot fail to note that the ancient feast which we celebrate today here bears witness to the fact that out of the most abject suffering the world has ever witnessed -- the ignominious Passion and death on the Cross of the Son of God -- there emanated reason for joy and exultation, a joy and exultation that will endure as long as this world endures and indeed is crowned for all eternity in heaven. So too, though the church has witnessed contradictions and conflicts throughout her history, she, the unspotted Bride of Christ, always emerges intact, to continue her mission, for the honor of God and the needs of souls. Out of this conviction, the Vicar of Christ offers to the whole church an invitation to what he calls an interior reconciliation much needed and long awaited and so deeply appreciated by faithful Catholics everywhere. Still, it is not sufficient to take advantage only of the joy of this great moment. We must apply ourselves to the task of appreciating more fully the substance of the mind of the Church as articulated by the Successor of Peter. What then does the Holy Father have in mind as he restores the immemorial rite of the Mass, with all the liturgical rites and uses of the Latin Rite? What does he expect it to achieve in the life of the church? Well, without attempting to speak for him, let us briefly look at the rite itself, so as to glean from its nature and character what it is that the Supreme Pontiff wishes to offer through its restoration to the attention of the whole Church. Certainly, we will find there in the rite itself, elements revelatory of the essence of authentic Catholic liturgy. For as Pope John Paul II of blessed memory reminded us just a very few years ago, “In the Roman Missal so-called of St. Pius V, one finds the most beautiful prayers, with which the priest expresses the deepest sense of humility and reverence before the Sacred Mysteries. These reveal the very substance of what liturgy is.” No doubt much of the ceremony of today’s Mass will be unfamiliar to many. Two things is particular will probably stand out. One is that the Mass is celebrated entirely in Latin. The other is that for much the greatest time of the time of the ceremony, the priest-celebrant prays facing the altar. These phenomena are by no means the only significant ones, but they are both immediately different to what many have become accustomed to in the liturgy as most often celebrated in recent times. Yet these phenomena, however much they may bring with them the shock of the unfamiliar, are nonetheless integral to the most central principles of liturgical prayer in the Catholic Church. And they are hallowed by an unbroken tradition, which as the Council of Trent solemnly defined, is rooted in the liturgy of Apostolic times. Still, given the more common liturgical practice of recent times, it should cause no surprise if good and sincere people simply ask, “Why is the Mass in a language that I don’t understand? And the rites in a configuration which makes it impossible for me to see what’s going on?” It should be made clear then, this venerable rite of Holy Mass in no way has as its goal the obscuring of the elements of the Mass. Just the opposite. It is so constructed as to be eminently revelatory, as Pope John Paul said, of the very substance of what liturgy is. There is no need, nor would it be germane to the context of a sermon, to analyze elements which may have contributed to certain confusions and anomalies during a time of tumultuous changes in the Church’s life. For his part, and this is surely sufficient for us, the Holy Father clearly comprehends the historical context and does not forbear to draw certain difficult but unavoidable conclusions when he says, “in many places celebrations were not faithful to the prescriptions of the new Missal, but the latter actually was understood as authorizing or even requiring creativity, which frequently led to deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear.” Beyond that, it is surely our priority to note first the profound compassion with which the Vicar of Christ seeks to bind up the wounds of those who have suffered and then the sober and insistent fashion in which he summons the whole church, bishops, priests and faithful, to that interior reconciliation without which our service of God, liturgically and otherwise, would be gravely impaired. All the varied rites of the Church stand together in offering to God the same worship which His human creatures owe to Him, and all these rites, singly and together, are equally bound constantly to reflect upon the fidelity and constancy with which they do so. The texts of today’s Mass -- today’s Feast -- reveal to us a great deal about the essence of liturgical prayer. In the Introit we read, “May God have mercy on us and bless us. May He cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us.” What do we perceive here, if not the reality that in this world we are threatened by a darkness, a darkness founded in elements of sin and error. And further the acknowledgement that it is God’s merciful action that we must await to effect the dispelling of that darkness. In the Gospel, we read just how that darkness is dispelled -- it is through Christ alone, Christ our Light, and it is Christ Himself Who guides u by the light of truth, that light which saves, “Whilst you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be Children of Light.” What is our response to the action of God Who saves us in Christ the Eternal Light? It must be to believe in that Light. Thus in Holy Mass, everything builds on that belief in the Light. But -- and this should lead us to a profound reflection -- the initiative is God’s. And Christ alone is, in the Incarnation, the means of that initiative. Just a few days ago, at the beginning of this week, the Holy Father gave an elocution in Germany in which he reflected upon the essential elements of Catholic liturgical prayer. These are his words “In all our efforts on behalf of the liturgy, the determining factor must always be our looking to God. We stand before God. He speaks to us first, and then we speak to Him. I ask you to celebrate the sacred liturgy with your gaze fixed upon God within the communion of saints, the living Church of every place and time.” The liturgical prayer of the Church is therefore, first of all, something given to us by God, something which we receive, something to which we are obliged faithfully and humbly to conform ourselves -- our hearts, our minds. What is obscure in a world so convinced of its self-sufficiency is made plain to the eyes of faith, turned and lifted toward Him. It is given and revealed to us in fact by God, through an unbroken tradition of rites, which embody that tradition that stretches back directly to the Apostles themselves. The world’s cultural inclinations and fashions pass and fade away, but the Light remains constant. The ancient character of the Church’s liturgical actions -- its words, gestures and ceremonies -- reflect this enduring Light in a concrete and sensible way. The words pronounced at the altar today are, to a very significant degree, the same words, the gestures and motions are the same, as those used by Blessed John XXIII and by St. Pius V, by St. John Vianney and St. Dominic, by St. Miguel Pro and St. Edmund Campion, by the martyrs of North America and the martyrs of the Crusades, by St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Augustine of Hippo -- hallowed words, hallowed gestures, hallowed action, hallowed not only by use but by where they come from, that precious and holy Tradition, that has sanctified individuals, made devout families, given abundant vocations and martyrs to the Church and to the honor of God for almost two millennia. As the Holy Father states in Summorum Pontificum, “It is evident that the Latin liturgy has stimulated in the spiritual life of very many saints in every century of the Christian age and strengthened in the virtue of religion so many peoples and made fertile their piety.” You know that in the Eastern rites, when people come into the church, there is a wall, called the iconostasis, beautifully decorated, which separates their gaze from what is transpiring in the sanctuary. In the ancient times of the Church, when it was time for the most central part of the Mass to begin, a curtain used to be drawn across the sanctuary, in order to withhold from profane gaze the sacred Mysteries. No longer is such a curtain drawn -- it’s not needed because God in the Holy Ghost has guided the Church to that same reality -- the reality represented in the Eastern Church by the iconostasis -- with a sacred language, a non-everyday special language devoted only to the Church’s most holy endeavors. It serves as a verbal curtain drawn over the Mysteries being carried out at the altar to remind us that, yes, there is a wide and fathomless gap between the incomprehensible majesty and holiness of God, on the one hand, and our human sinfulness and smallness on the other. It is a gap which cannot be breached by human presumption or initiative or comprehension. It is a gap unbridgeable by anything we do and is overcome only by what God does in our Lord Jesus Christ and which we receive from Him. The Holy Father Benedict XVI has repeatedly warned against the tendency in modern times for prayer -- liturgical prayer for the community to drift toward a celebration much of itself, and John Paul II insisted in a pointed analysis of elements undignified and inappropriate to liturgical prayer that “It is necessary to purify worship of deformations, of careless forms of expression, of ill-prepared music and texts which are not very suited to the grandeur of the Act being celebrated.” In all the several liturgical rites and uses of the Church, then -- all of them, we are in common urged to seek only those elements which authentically and worthily reflect the august sacrifice they embody. Thus today in the ancient Roman Rite, we bow as did our fathers in the Faith, we kneel as those before us did many centuries ago, we prostrate ourselves before the awesome re-presentation on the altar of the Sacrifice of the Cross. The Epistle of today’s feast reminds us that even at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those that are in heaven, on earth and under the earth -- the Church Militant, the Church Triumphant, and the Church Suffering. If this is the appropriate action to the mention of the Holy Name, how much more reverence and devotion should inform our acknowledgement of His actual Presence on the altar? Nothing casual, but instead a communal turning toward the Lord. Once again, the words of our Holy Father, “A turning to the Lord in gratitude, love and awe, for what is donated to us by a merciful God and which we could never achieve on our own or make happen for ourselves.” And by this humble submission, we are united, as St. Paul reminds us, to the Church Triumphant in heaven and the Church Suffering in purgatory and offering to God our common homage. The first thing, then, that we have to understand, is that this Mystery takes us beyond the limits available to unaided human understanding. It cannot be grasped or encompassed by puny human intellect alone, darkened as it is by the inroads of sin. We can find our way to it only through a humble and reverent and faith-founded attentiveness. Not a passivity, mind you, but an attention which is in fact the activity most essential to our participation in Holy Mass. As Pope John Paul II put it, making his own the words of St. Augustine from so long ago, but still wholly normative for all authentic Catholic worship. “The highest music is one that arises from our hearts.” It is precisely this harmony that God wants to hear in our liturgies. The most perfect participation in that Sacrifice is in fact exemplified by Our Blessed Lady at the foot of the Cross. And what is it that Our Lady does there, at the foot of the Cross? Nothing in fact that mortal eyes can perceive. What does she say there, at the foot of the Cross? Nothing that mortal ears can hear. And yet no human being ever was or ever could be more fully or more intimately involved in that Sacrifice than she was at that moment, because her heart and soul and being were united to her Son and to what He was doing for us all. As always, she shows us the Way. Thus, with Our Lady at the foot of the Cross, we too can only be present and wonder, asking ourselves in union with the prayer of the priest at the altar, Quid retribuam> -- “What return shall I make to the Lord for all that He hath given unto me?” This is both the beginning and the goal of participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Everything that fails to lead to that reverence and interior union, or which impedes it, impedes authentic participation, and all the elements of exterior participation consonant with these principles will inevitably have the character of authenticity. And when that Sacrifice is crowned in the moment of Holy Communion, what is it that we do? We receive. We receive what we could never fashion or make for ourselves, but which is freely and mercifully and lovingly given to us by a loving and merciful God in His Son, our Savior, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Son of God, a moment above all for devout and humble receptivity. This is the moment of Mt. Tabor, when the apostles are rapt in silent wonder, their heads bowed low in awe and holy fear, until, as St. Matthew tells us, Jesus came and touched them and then, looking up, they saw only Jesus. That is a text in which the early Christians -- and Christians of all time -- will certainly have recognized their own rite of Holy Communion. Through this rite of Holy Mass and not infrequently without particular verbal comprehension, saints and martyrs have been raised up in the Church. Simple people and children have entered into heroic holiness, not because they grasped or saw, but because they revered and believed. How we need today -- how young people need that simple and humble faith of a Therese of the Child Jesus, who said at the very end of her life, “I always sought only the Truth.” How we need that simple and humble faith of a Bernadette, who attested, when questioned by the priest, that she did not understand the awesome message -- I use the word “awesome” several times in this sermon in honor of Mother Angelica -- that she did not understand the awesome message that Our Lady had chosen her to convey, but nevertheless her faith in Our Lady was real and wholly unshakable. And thus that faith became richly fruitful for her own relationship with God, as well as for the mission that had been entrusted to her. Yet how many have forgotten that their first responsibility in this world is to know God through the exercise of the virtue of faith? The world’s modalities are insufficient in themselves for Divine Worship. We must surrender to the Christ, our Light who alone guides us beyond the world’s deceptions to the realm of divinely given revelation. And that revealed truth is made present here today and every day that Holy Mass is celebrated in all the approved rites of the Church through the renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross. Finally, let us be clear: No one here has the slightest intention of proposing the immemorial liturgy as some solution to the Church’s trials or troubles. The purpose of liturgical prayer is, in any case, not to fix things in the Church but so to unite us to Christ our Lord that we can navigate the troubled sea of this world, always oriented towards -- and one day finding our repose in -- Him. But the Church will surely benefit so much from the reintegration into her life of this “most beautiful thing this side of heaven,” as Fr. Faber once memorably described the ancient rite of Holy Mass. Priests will benefit in their interior life, and countless souls will benefit from that silence in which alone the voice of God may be discerned. No, this Mass is not a challenge to the Church, nor an act of condemnation, nor an act of politics, but an immeasurable enrichment of the Church’s life. It is a sign of restoration, a sign of renewed vigor and self-awareness for and in the Church. We should familiarize ourselves with the provisions that the Holy Father has made in Summorum Pontificum, ponder them for the wisdom they embody beyond their immediate practical prescriptions. The Sacrifice of the Cross in this ancient and venerable form is to be exalted, as is the Cross itself, in this ancient and venerable feast that we celebrate today.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Latin Homecoming for Catholic Priest
LAFAYETTE, Ind., Nov. 30, 2007 — On Sunday, Dec. 9, Roberto Cano is coming home to St. Boniface, the church of his youth.The son of Augusto and Rita Cano and graduate of Central Catholic High School in Lafayette, Roberto is returning as Father Cano, FSSP, ordained to the priesthood in November by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska.
But this will be no ordinary homecoming. It will be extraordinary, as in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.
When Father Cano ascends the altar of St. Boniface [map] to celebrate a Solemn High Mass on that second Sunday of Advent, the sanctuary will be filled with sights and sounds not seen there, or in any other Catholic church in Lafayette and most of the diocese, for nearly four decades. Currently, this rite of Mass is only offered once a week on Tuesday evenings at St. Marys in Muncie.
Unlike most young men who discern a call to the priesthood and attend a diocesan seminary, Father Canos vocation led him to Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska. This seminary is run by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right established by Pope John Paul II in 1988, to provide priests for those Catholics wishing to participate in the traditional liturgy of the Catholic church, as well as other forms of prayer and popular piety, that existed for centuries before the innovations of the 1960s and 70s.
Until recently, a special permission, called an indult, had to be granted to a priest by the local bishop before he could celebrate what is commonly referred to as the Latin or Tridentine Mass in a parish church. This restriction was lifted when Pope Benedict XVI issued the apostolic letter, in the form of motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum last July, which designated this older form of the Catholic liturgy, parts of which date back to the time of the Apostles, as the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, while maintaining the Missal of Pope Paul VI, issued in 1970 and generally said in English, as the ordinary form of Mass celebrated in most parishes. This document also guarantees the right of any layperson to request the extraordinary form of Mass from their parish priest or bishop, and of any priest to celebrate it privately or publicly without explicit permission from their bishop, as long as they are trained to do so.
As most priests in the diocese do not yet have the necessary experience with the extraordinary form of Mass, a number of seminarians from Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary and the
Fraternitys North American headquarters in Scranton, Pennsylvania will travel to Lafayette to act as deacon and sub-deacon for Father Canos Mass, as well as to help direct the choir, which will perform Gregorian chant and polyphonic music.For those accustomed to attending Mass in English, missals will be available that will provide the prayers of the Mass in both Latin and English.
Mass will start at 12:30 p.m. at St. Boniface [map] with a free public reception to follow, the highlight of which will be Father Cano providing his first blessing to all in attendance.
"I'm very thankful to Father Timothy Alkire, the pastor of St. Boniface, for his many years of support and inviting me to return to the parish to offer this Solemn Mass." said Father Cano.
Members of Una Voce Carmel, a lay organization advocating greater use of the extraordinary form of Mass and other sacraments within the diocese, also will be available.
© 2007 Una Voce Carmel
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