Event Notice: Eucharistic Procession on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk This Sunday

October 9, 2014, 4:42 am

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This Sunday, October 12th, Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Virgina Beach, Virginia, will hold a its third annual Eucharistic Procession on the ocean boardwalk, with the particular intention of praying for the clergy, for more vocations to the priesthood, and for the nation. The Procession will move up the Boardwalk to the 24th Street Stage for Adoration and Benediction, and then process back to Star of the Sea. Rosaries, Litanies, hymns and other traditional Catholic prayers will be offered along the way for all special intentions. Further information please call Mike Sottung at (757) 434-2798 or visit the website http://www.eucharistia.us. Here are some photos of the procession from 2012, courtesy of John Cadell Photography.

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Christ on the Flat Screen: The Renovation of the Crystal Cathedral, Orange, California

October 9, 2014, 6:00 am

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Some time ago, as part of the media buzz surrounding the purchase of the Crystal Cathedral, the Catholic Diocese of Orange opened the floor to online suggestions as to what the new church should be named. I offered that it should be titled the Cathedral of the Transfiguration; after all, the feast of the Transfiguration is traditionally the patronal festival for churches dedicated to Our Lord, and its suggestions of illumination, splendor, and above all, a glimpse of Heaven afforded through physical change, seemed perfectly suited to the project, even not without a bit of reverent wit. The name chosen, of course, was the blunter Christ Cathedral, direct but falling rather oddly on the ear--the Anglophile in me senses it is missing a Church in between Christ and Cathedral--and lacking the elusive specificity of the incandescent mystery of Mount Tabor.

One name conjures up Moses and Elijah, and a foolish, sprawling Peter, the painter Raphael, the siege of Belgrade and Calixtus III; an entire stained glass window filled with little colored scenes, all purple and scarlet, ranged round an explosive and nuclear bloom of gold and white. The visual image presented by Christ Cathedral, by comparison, seems rather transparent, and oddly incomplete: not particularly specific, and universal only in its vagueness. I couldn't help returning to this contrast when I began to review the designs for the renovated church by Johnson Fain and Ross Clementi Hale Studios released at the end of last month. One longs for a bit of color, or even a speck of good Christian dirt in the glacial interior.

As I commented in an article written for The Living Church some years ago (which, I understand, the renovation committee read with great interest), the project of Catholicizing the Crystal Cathedral is a daunting and perhaps even quixotic one. For the amount of money going into the project, one could have probably built a cathedral in a more traditional style, without much difficulty. The structure, with its all-glass walls, combines both a postmodern skepticism about man’s ability to describe the Divine, barring vague appeals to colorless light and nature, with TV-studio televangelist glitz and a lingering bit of Calvinist iconophobia. Rocky ground, indeed. While adding the life and vigor of a true Cathedral to this space would have been difficult, it would not have been impossible; indeed, while the building would never be a Chartres or a Beauvais, it could have easily been a brighter, more luminous Coventry, its enormous glass walls shielded by translucent banners and curtains, the entire interior focusing on an immense mosaic (modern in style, but traditional in content) of Christ in majesty--or better yet, a stained-glass window. Room could have been found in the various vestibules and balconies for those dark chapeled crannies where prayer comes so easily, and which might have, in time, become the seats of confraternities and Catholic guilds. Perhaps even the strange lack of boundaries between outside and inside that so characterize the space could have been an asset, transforming the interior into a sort of liturgical Field of the Cloth of Gold. All this could have been accomplished without even necessarily going much against the grain of the modern interior.

However, the result is more of the same, in the end. The design lacks the aggressive ugliness of the churches of the ’60s and ’70s, but this is replaced with the chill, uninviting perfection of an Apple Store. It is curious today that, despite living in an almost aggressively visual age--and one which has taken interconnectivity to new levels via hypertext--that our church buildings seem so afraid of imagery, and instead settle for a crisp lowest common denominator. The chaos of the Internet, with its mixed-bag garden of Earthly Delights, would suggest that only an interior of Baroque physicality or Gothic majesty could counterweight such enticements. Instead, we have only a surpassing coldness in spaces such as the baptistery, with its cruciform immersion font, or the low-ceilinged Eucharistic Chapel. There are a few interesting moments here--the suggestion of a mosaic dome in the baptistery, the translucent stone walls in both spaces--but on balance, the effect is institutional and rather impersonal. The curious tabernacle, in particular, is utterly divorced from any liturgical context--no altar, possibly no steps, and set in the midst of diagonal pews. The effect is a bit like a gallery installation. It is almost as if we question whether matter, the physical, can convey even the most rudimentary spiritual ideas. Christ, the God made man, who used even mud and spittle to work miracles, challenges us to think otherwise.

The principal space of the interior is also not without its idiosyncrasies. The interior is airy and open, but it is also not a little agoraphobic: is there a ‘there’ there, as was famously said of Oakland? Seen from the galleries, the effect is even more disorienting, and the altar and congregation seem sunken in a sort of arena. The one bit of warmth and color, the wood grain of the enormous organ case, has been painted out, lest it distract the faithful from the altar--though the logical solution to that would have been to emphasize the altar with a more elaborate canopy or even a proper altarpiece. And where are the icons? One sees a cross hung over the altar, some timid monochrome reliefs in the nave (if one may call it that), and a decontextualized copy of a Byzantine mosaic of Christ in the narthex, cropped and mounted on the wall in such a way one cannot help think of a flat screen TV; but, like the tabernacle, they seem almost like artifacts rather than objects of devotion. The altar itself, for a church that is more-or-less in the round, is elevated, of a distinguished size, and, while lacking the baldachin that would really set it apart, the large standard candlestands and hanging tester do give it a sense of presence largely lacking in most modern sanctuary layouts. The actual details and form are, once again, a bit too sharp-edged modern for my taste, but the basic layout is, all things considered, fairly sound. However, the altar has been placed on a curious catwalk-like bema that apparently runs the entire length of the interior, with the congregation seated antiphonally on either side, and the large elevated ambo balancing it at the other end. The ambo is itself rather fine in terms of height and proportion, if not location, and I was pleased to see what appears to be an Easter Candle stand to one side of it, as one sees at San Clemente in Rome.

Nonetheless, this is all admittedly a rather outré adaptation of the traditional monastic layout, which, for one thing, never envisioned the Mass lessons being read from anything other than their traditional position. Furthermore, antiphonal seating works best for the Office, and not very well at all for Mass. It is, I suppose, a great improvement on the faddish placement of the ambo behind the altar, as seen at the renovated Milwaukee Cathedral, and perhaps will put to rest in at least one cathedral the contemporary preoccupation with the celebrant being able to make eye contact with everyone all the time. It may be a bit more distracting for the laity looking at each other across the thrust of the sanctuary, and one wonders what complicated and lengthy treks altar boys, deacons and other ministers may need to make during a solemn liturgy if they need to go recover something from the sacristy.

One looks at all the renderings with a certain weariness. As has been pointed out by a number of commentators, quite justly, the design could have been far more objectionable. But surely we can do better than this. Modern man, on those few occasions when he is still confronted by the Divine, seems now perpetually stunned and speechless. Rather than joining him in mute incomprehension, let us give him the words, and the Word-Made-Flesh.

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Lead Kindly Light

October 9, 2014, 7:43 am

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Today, the Feast Day of Blessed John Henry Newman, is a fitting day to announce Lead Kindly Light, a beautiful new DVD produced by St Anthony Communications. Presented by Fr Marcus Holden and Fr Nicholas Schofield, the film traces the passage of Newman’s life right from his original roots in Ealing, to his time as a student at Trinity College, Oxford, his near-death experience in Sicily which inspired him to write the hymn Lead kindly light, and his time as a vicar in the Church of England, as he made his gradual journey towards Catholicism. Fathers Holden and Schofield take us to key places in Newman’s story, including Oxford, Littlemore, Maryvale and of course the Birmingham Oratory, where we are shown the library with its treasures of Newman memorabilia, such as the desk at which he wrote his Apologia Pro Vita Sua, his viola, and a facsimile of The Dream of Gerontius which Sir Edward Elgar presented to the Oratory. We are also shown his study which Pope Benedict visited in 2010, now lined with volumes of some of the 17000 letters Newman is estimated to have written in his lifetime, and the private chapel where he said his last Mass on Christmas Day 1889. It is especially touching to see Fr Nicholas Schofield talk of his sense of inspiration drawn from Newman, and Fr Marcus Holden speaks of Newman’s importance to us today: “He foresaw a time when culture would not support Christianity and each Christian would have to be strong and faithful.”

The film features interviews with Fr Jerome Bertram Cong. Orat. and Fr Daniel Seward Cong. Orat. of the Oxford Oratory, Sister Bianca Feuerstein FSO, Mother Winsome SBVM of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, Fr Richard Duncan Cong. Orat. of the Birmingham Oratory and the Newman Scholar Dr Andrew Nash. This beautifully presented all-region DVD will be available shortly from Saint Anthony Communications. Readers may also recall other beautiful productions from this stable including Faith of Our Fathers, a film about the English Martyrs and A Surge of the Heart, a film about prayer. A trailer for Lead kindly light follows below. A Happy Feast to Oratorians everywhere!

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The Anniversary of the Death of Pope Pius XII

October 9, 2014, 2:00 pm

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From the archives of British Pathé, a remarkable tribute to Pope Pius XII at the time of his death (October 9, 1958), accompanied with some rare and beautiful footage of the Papal Mass.

“Cardinal Pacelli was crowned Pope in 1939. On the last anniversary of that coronation, he had served 19 years as supreme head of the Catholic Church, through the World War, and when that had passed, through threats and rumors of more war to come. But though on all sides enemies assailed the Faith, the Christian citadel held fast. By his courageous guidance, at all times firm and unfaltering, Pius XII steered the Church safely though dangers, where a less able Pope might have failed. By divine blessing, he was spared long enough to leave Catholicism sound in body, unassailable in faith.”

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Lecture on Church Architecture since Vatican II

October 11, 2014, 4:00 am

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The School of Canon Law at The Catholic University of America, Washington DC, has announced that this year's Frederick R. McManus Memorial Lecture will be given by Professor Duncan Stroik on the subject of 'Church Architecture since Vatican II'. The lecture, which is open and free to the general public, will be given at 4pm on Thursday 30 October 2014 in Caldwell Auditorium on the university campus. A reception will follow.

Duncan G. Stroik is a practising architect, author, and Professor of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame. His award-winning work includes the Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel in Santa Paula, California and the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

A frequent lecturer on sacred architecture and the classical tradition, Stroik co-edited Reconquering Sacred Space and has recently authored The Church Building as a Sacred Place: Beauty, Transcendence and the Eternal. Mr. Stroik is an inaugural member of the Society for Catholic Liturgy and founding editor of Sacred Architecture Journal. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the Yale University School of Architecture.

For more information please contact 202-319-5492 or email cua-canonlaw@cua.edu.

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Liturgical Notes on the Maternity of the Virgin Mary

October 11, 2014, 1:20 pm

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The traditional observance of October as the month of the Holy Rosary begins, of course, with the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, and the institution of the feast of the Holy Rosary, also called the feast of Our Lady of Victory. Two years later, at the request of the Dominican Order, Pope Gregory XIII granted the feast to all churches which had an altar of the Rosary. After another important victory against the Ottoman Turks, the Battle of Peterwardein in 1716, Clement XI extended the feast to the entire Roman Rite. In accordance with the common custom of the time, it was originally fixed to the first Sunday of October, regardless of the date; partly because the victory at Lepanto was on the first Sunday of October, partly because, with the continual reduction of the number of holy days of obligation, feasts were often fixed to Sunday so that they might be kept with greater solemnity by the people. The custom of permanently fixing feasts to particular Sundays was abolished by Pope St Pius X as part of the breviary reform of 1911, and the feast of the Holy Rosary then assigned to the calendar date of Lepanto, October 7.

The Battle of Lepanto, by an unknown artist, late 16th century, now in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England.

Once October had been well established as a Marian month, two other feasts were then created for the second and third Sundays of October, called the feasts of the Maternity and of the Purity of the Virgin Mary. Of these two, the former gradually grew in popularity, to the point where the 1911 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia says, “At present the feast is not found in the universal calendar of the Church, but nearly all diocesan calendars have adopted it.” The latter was at least popular enough to be routinely found in the appendix “for certain places” of most editions of the Roman Missal and Breviary printed in the later 19th and early 20th centuries.

In 1931, Pope Pius XI extended the feast of the Virgin’s Maternity to the universal calendar, assigning it to October 11th, which was then the first free day of the month. A Breviary lesson was added to the feast, which explains that the Pope intended it to serve as a liturgical commemoration of the 15th centenary of the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus. The third Ecumenical council was held in that city in 431 to refute the heresy of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, by which he rejected the title “Mother of God”. Shortly thereafter, Pope Sixtus III built the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, the oldest church in the world dedicated to the Mother of God, which still preserves a famous mosaic with episodes of Her life on the arch over the altar. Pope Pius XI also notes in this lesson that had arranged for extensive restorations of the Basilica, “a noble monument of the proclamation of Ephesus,” and particularly the mosaic.

The upper left section of the mosaic on the triumph arch of Saint Mary Major, with the Annunciation above and the Adoration of the Magi below. To the right of the Annunciation, the angel comes to reassure St Joseph. In the Adoration of the Magi, Christ is shown as a young child, but not as an infant, since the Gospel of St Matthew does not say how long after the Birth of Christ the Magi came to Him.

October 11 was then set by Pope St John XXIII as the opening day of the Second Vatican Council in 1962. Pope John had a great devotion to Pope Pius IX, who was not yet a Blessed in his time, and whom he very much wished to canonize. Pius IX had proclaimed the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, and fifteen years later, set the feast of the Immaculate Conception as the day for the opening of Vatican I. As Bl. Pius had placed his council under the protection of the Mother of God by opening it on one of her feast days, so did St John, the feast in question being also a commemoration of yet another ecumenical Council, and one especially associated with the Church’s devotion to the Virgin.

The crest of Pope St John XXIII, in the atrium of St Peter’s Basilica; underneath this is written the date “Die XI Octobris Anno MCMLXII”

In the post-Conciliar liturgical reform, the feast of the Maternity of the Virgin Mary was suppressed, on the grounds that the newly-created Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on January 1st made it superfluous; another fine example of the law of unintended consequences. This new feast is sometimes referred to as a Roman version of the “Synaxis of the Mother of God” which the Byzantine Rite keeps on December 26th.

But in point of the fact, the latter observance arises from a particular Byzantine custom, by which several major feasts are followed by the commemoration of a sacred person who figures prominently in the feast, but who is, so to speak, overshadowed by another. These are usually, but not invariably, called “σύναξις (synaxis)” in Greek, “собóръ (sobor)” in Old Church Slavonic; that of St John the Baptist is kept on January 7th, the day after the Baptism of the Lord, that of St Gabriel the day after the Annunciation, that of the Twelve Apostles after Ss Peter and Paul, and that of Ss Joachim and Anne, the Virgin’s parents, on the day after Her Nativity. These are not the principal feasts of the persons honored by these “synaxes”, and one also finds in the Byzantine Calendar the feasts of St John on June 24 and August 29, of St Gabriel on June 11, the Apostles each on their own day (rarely the same as in the Roman Rite), and St Anne on July 26.

September 9th is also kept by the Byzantines as the commemoration of the “Fathers of the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus”; a most appropriate choice, since the liturgical New Year of the Byzantine Rite is on September 1st, and the Nativity of the Virgin is therefore the first Marian feast of the year. And indeed, the Maternity of the Virgin Mary would be better described, despite its title, as a Roman version of this Byzantine feast of the Fathers at Ephesus. The Byzantine Rite also has similar commemorations of the Fathers of the other ecumenical councils, as well as a joint commemoration of those of the first six, and another of Second Nicea.

An icon of the “Synod of the Holy Fathers”, in which the Emperor Constantine holds a scroll with the opening words of the Nicene Creed in Greek.

Pope St John XXIII died on June 3, 1963, a day which at the time had no feast on the General Calendar, but was made in the Novus Ordo the feast of the Ugandan Martyrs canonized in 1964. Despite the oft-stated modern preference for keeping Saints’ feasts on the anniversary of their death, or as near to it as possible, his feast day was assigned at the time of his beatification, for those places which kept it, to the anniversary of the opening of Vatican II. His feast and that of St John Paul II were recently extended to the general calendar as optional memorials; the latter is assigned to October 22, the day of his inauguration as Pope in 1978, since the day of his death, April 2, is very often impeded by Holy Week or Easter week.

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Fortune Favors the Brave

October 13, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: Photos of a Italian Sculpture of the Mother of God and Our Lord as a Child by Cody Swanson

≪ Previous: Liturgical Notes on the Maternity of the Virgin Mary

The reader of Annibale Bugnini’s Memoirs comes upon a passage early on concerning a questionnaire sent around in 1948 to “almost a hundred liturgical experts in all parts of the world” by the editors of the Roman periodical Ephemerides Liturgicae, concerning “reform of the Missal, Breviary, calendar, Martyrology, and other liturgical books.” Bugnini writes:

This questionnaire, sent as it was by the editorial staff of a periodical regarded as the semi-official voice of Roman liturgical circles, was the first alarm signal that something was stirring. In those days it was unheard of for anyone to challenge even a rubric or to use the word “reform.” The questionnaire was therefore a bold move. In this case the proverb was proved true: “Fortune favors the brave.” (p. 11)

Although this motto is not repeated again in the almost 1,000-page book, nevertheless the spirit of the motto, if one may call it so, hovers everywhere. Bugnini presents himself countless times as the intrepid visionary who dares to take action whenever and wherever he can to push forward the “renewal” of the liturgy. The moment there is an opening, he takes it.

Today we look back sorrowfully (at times, wrathfully) over the utter devastation caused by Bugnini and his companions, but we cannot dispute their mastery of the psychology of attack, alliance, subterfuge, feint, calculated compromise, redoubled attack. They were men who seized their opportunities and did not sit on their hands wondering when other people would do the job for them, or worse, waste their time on endless bickering and hairsplitting. Like our political liberals, they could lay aside small differences for the sake of gaining major objectives.

In his splendid commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict (featured in last week's article), Canon Simon quotes the same saying, but sees in it a larger spiritual lesson—one that all of us who are striving to recover and promote all things traditional, particularly the widespread celebration of the usus antiquior, would do well to heed and put into practice:

Probably a miracle will not be necessary to relieve our trouble. For, as we may repeat, the incapacity of men often arises from sloth or pusillanimity. They too often forget the simple truth that if a thing is to get done we must do it. And when we have spent long hours in contemplating, in a spirit of false and foolish self-pity, the real or pretended difficulties of our duty, we have not changed the reality of things one whit: our duty is always our duty, and the will of God abides: we have only succeeded in weakening ourselves. “Fortune favors the brave”: in this case fortune is the grace of God. (p. 475)

It is ever so. One must do all that one can to accomplish the good. The battle is never over, one can never rest on one’s laurels. In recent years the tables have begun to turn, the tide is shifting, even in spite of more recent setbacks. Now is the acceptable time for the true liturgical renewal that failed after Vatican II—a renewal that begins with the age-old tradition of the Church as contained in the Missale Romanum, Rituale Romanum, and Divine Office that predate the Council, and ends with the full, solemn, conscientious and devout celebration of these same rites, enriched with noble sacred art and music, and made fruitful by a deep formation of clergy and laity in the spirit of the liturgy.

Let us, then, do our part in this great work of liturgical renewal, which is to say, liturgical restoration and optimal celebration. Let us not grow weary, in spite of all obstacles, setbacks, and delays, or succumb to a kind of fatalistic resignation or quietism. Let us not indulge in foolish self-pity as we contemplate the real or imaginary difficulties of our duty. Duty will always be difficult, and the world within the Church will always be opposed to true reform. Rather, taking hold of every opportunity divine Providence gives us, using all our energy and every talent we have, let us take the steps and make the moves that will advance our side towards victory. Time is short, the stakes are high, and fortune favors the brave.

* * *

Some resources that can help us:

For priests:
Extraordinary Form Workshops with the FSSP
Extraordinary Form Workshops with St. John Cantius
Sancta Missa Resources

For laity:
Fr. Z’s 5 Rules of Engagement and Tips for Writing to Bishops
Una Voce America's Suggestions and Sample Letters
How to Establish the Traditional Latin Mass at Your Parish

For everyone:
Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei

If readers out there would like to recommend other resources, please do so in the comments!

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Photos of a Italian Sculpture of the Mother of God and Our Lord as a Child by Cody Swanson

October 14, 2014, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Mass in Honor of Blessed Karl of Austria, Washington DC, October 21

≪ Previous: Fortune Favors the Brave

Thanks to reader Ciro Lamonte in Italy for bringing to our notice the sculpture of Cody Swanson. I know little of him, but it seems from his commissions he is well known to others and I am guessing many NLM readers will already know more of his work than I do! Reading through his website, here, he is based in Florence and teaches at the Florence Academy.

I like this very much. Clearly Cody has great skill as a sculptor. Beyond this I offer just a couple of personal thoughts on what I like so much about it: first, I see first an idealised face of Our Lady that seems to me to draw on the classical ideal. I would rather see this than something that is so individualized that it looks like a portrait of the girl nextdoor dressed up in old-fashioned costume. I always feel that even in the naturalistic styles sacred art must have some idealization so that it emphasizes the common humanity - those aspects of Our Lady to which we can hope to emulate. Second, I see strong angular folds in the drapery as one might have seen in 17th century sculpture and which gives the form vigour and acts against sentimentality.

I took the following photos from Cody’s Facebook page. We see drawings, the development of the model in clay in which, as I understand the process the creative work of the artist takes place. And then finally the translation of the clay model into the final medium, which is more of a mechanical process.

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Mass in Honor of Blessed Karl of Austria, Washington DC, October 21

October 14, 2014, 2:23 pm

≫ Next: The Order for a Synod, from the 1595 Pontifical of Clement VIII (First Day)

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The Order for a Synod, from the 1595 Pontifical of Clement VIII (First Day)

October 15, 2014, 3:11 am

≫ Next: Pontifical Requiem Mass in Madison - November 3

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It occurred to me that, with the Extraordinary Synod currently going on, and making headlines almost on an hourly basis, our readers might find interesting the traditional order for holding a synod, according to the 1595 Pontifical of Clement VIII. It is divided into three days, and seems to presume that a lot of the business of the Synod will be determined by the bishop and his assistants beforehand. The rubrics are given here in summary, omitting several of the less pertinent details such as the places where the bishop removes his miter etc.

On the first day, the bishop who has called the synod processes to the church, accompanied by the clergy who are called to the synod “by right or custom”, all in choir dress, and celebrates a Mass of the Holy Spirit. When this is over, a faldstool is placed before the altar in the middle, and the bishop, in red cope and precious miter, accompanied by deacon and subdeacon also in red, kneels before the altar, and intones the following antiphon. “Exáudi nos, * Dómine, quoniam benigna est misericordia tua: secundum multitúdinem miseratiónum tuárum réspice nos, Dómine. – Hear us, o Lord, for kindly is Thy mercy; according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies look upon us, o Lord.” The choir continues the antiphon, followed by the whole of Psalm 68, “Save me o God, for the waters have entered unto my soul”, during which the bishop sits until the psalm is finished and the antiphon repeated.

The bishop then turns to the altar and says:

We are here, o Lord, Holy Spirit, we are here, hindered by the enormity of sin, but gathered especially in Thy name; come to us, be here with us, deign to come down upon our hearts. Teach us what we ought to do; show us, where we ought to go; work Thou what we ought to accomplish. Be thou alone the one who prompts and effect our judgments, who alone with God the Father and His Son possess the name of glory. Permit us not to be disturbers of justice, Thou who love righteousness most mightily; that the evil of ignorance may not lead us, that favor may not sway us, that the receiving of gift or person may not corrupt us. But unite us to Thee effectually by the gift of Thy grace alone, that we may be one in Thee, and in no way depart from the truth. And thus, gathered in Thy name, in all things we may hold to justice, ruled by piety, in such wise that in this life our decree agree with Thee entirely, and in the future life, we may obtain eternal rewards, for the sake of what we have done well.

All answer “Amen”, and the bishop adds a second prayer.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, who by Thy mercy hast safely gathered us especially in this place, may the Comforter, who procedeth from Thee, enlighten our minds, we beseech Thee; and bring us unto all truth, as Thy Son did promise; and strengthen all in Thy faith and charity; so that, stirred up by this temporal synod, we may profit thereby to the increase of eternal happiness. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ etc.

The bishop then kneels at the faldstool, and all others present also kneel, as the cantors sing the Litany of the Saints. After the invocation, “That Thou may deign to grant eternal rest to all the faithful departed”, the bishop rises, takes his crook in hand, and sings the following invocation; at the place marked, he makes the sign of the Cross over those gathered for the synod . “That Thou may deign to visit, order and + bless this present synod. R. We ask Thee, hear us.” The cantors finish the Litany.

All rise, and the bishop sings, “Oremus”, the deacon “Flectamus genua”, and the subdeacon, after a pause, “Levate”, after which the bishop sings this prayer.

Grant to Thy Church, we beseech Thee, o merciful God, that gathered in the Holy Spirit, She may merit to serve Thee in sure devotion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ etc.

A session of the Council of Trent in the Cathedral of St Vigilius. (Image from Italian wikipedia)

The deacon then sings the following Gospel, (that of the Thursday within the Octave of Pentecost, Luke 9, 1-6,) with the normal ceremonies of a Pontifical Mass.

At that time: Calling together the twelve Apostles, Jesus gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And He sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And He said to them: Take nothing for your journey; neither staff, nor scrip, nor bread, nor money; neither have two coats. And whatsoever house you shall enter into, abide there, and depart not from thence. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off even the dust of your feet, for a testimony against them. And going out, they went about through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere.

The bishop kneels to intone the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, which is continued by the choir. He then sits at a chair which is set up facing the assembly, and addresses it. A brief model for his address is given, but the rubric specifies that he speaks “in hanc sententiam - along these lines.” (In many rites, such as ordinations, sermons of this kind are part of the rite, and must be read exactly as they given in the Pontifical.)

My venerable fellow priests and dearest brethren, having first prayed to God, it is necessary that each one of you take up the matters upon which we must confer, whether they concern the divine offices, or sacred orders, or even our own mores and the needs of the Church, with charity and kindliness, and accept them, by the help of God, with supreme reverence, and all his might; and that each one may faithfully strive with all devotion to amend the things that need amendment. And if perchance what is said or done displease anyone, without any scruple of contentiousness, let him bring it forth before all; that by the Lord’s mediation, such matter may also come to the best result. And in this way, let strife or discord find no place to undermine justice, nor again the strength and solicitude of our order (i.e. the clerical order) grow lukewarm in seeking the truth.

Before or after this address, a “learned and suitable man” delivers a sermon “on ecclesiastical discipline, on the divine mysteries, on the correction of morals among the clergy”, as determined by the bishop. Complaints may then be heard (“querelae, si quae sunt, audiuntur”), presumably in accord with the matters the synod has been called to address.

The archdeacon then reads several decrees of the Council of Trent on disciplinary matters pertaining to synods, and the Profession of Faith known as the Creed of Pope Pius IV. Finally, all are “charitably admonished that during the synod, they conduct themselves honestly in all regards, even outside the synod itself, so that their behavior may worthy serve to others as an example. The bishop gives the Pontifical blessing, and all depart.

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Pontifical Requiem Mass in Madison - November 3

October 15, 2014, 6:10 am

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On November 3rd, Bishop Robert Morlino will be celebrating a Pontifical Requiem for All Souls Day at 7pm at the Bishop O'Connor Center in Madison, WI. Victoria's Requiem a4 will be sung. I hope those in the area will be able to attend this rare treat!

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Monks of Norcia 2015 Calendar

October 15, 2014, 10:43 am

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I recently received in the mail a copy of the new calendar of the Monks of Norcia. This 2015 edition is just as magnificent as last year's. Most readers of NLM probably need no introduction to these wonderful monks, who live a simple life utterly faithful to the Rule of Saint Benedict and the liturgical tradition that has nourished monasticism for 2,000 years (and beyond, if we think of the place of the Psalms in Hebrew worship). Their cause is absolutely worth supporting, especially as their number of postulants and novices continues to grow, and as the Church needs more than ever islands of sanctity where the noble vision of St. Benedict and Pope Benedict XVI can flourish.

But those who are shopping for a calendar are, quite naturally, wondering not only if the cause is worth supporting, but if the calendar is beautiful and usefully laid out. In this regard, pictures do speak a thousand words, so I will simply attach a bunch below. The layout of the days, with feasts of the old, new, and Benedictine calendars, and the size and readability make this calendar my favorite for the calendar I keep at home in my kitchen and the calendar we put up on our refectory bulletin board at Wyoming Catholic College.

To find out more and purchase copies of the calendar—they make great gifts, too!—go to this website.

(Some of the photos make the page color look more yellow than its natural white color.)

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The Order for a Synod, from the 1595 Pontifical of Clement VIII (Second Day)

October 16, 2014, 4:22 am

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The second day of the synod begins with the same ceremony as the first, although it is not specifically stated in the rubrics that the Mass of the day is to be the Mass of the Holy Spirit. When this is over, a faldstool is placed before the altar, and the bishop, in red cope and precious miter, accompanied by deacon and subdeacon also in red, kneels before the altar, and intones the following antiphon. “Propitius esto * peccátis nostris, Dómine, propter nomen tuum: nequando dicant gentes: Ubi est Deus eórum? – Forgive us our sins, o Lord, for Thy name’s sake: lest ever the gentiles should say: Where is their God?” The choir continues the antiphon, followed by the whole of Psalm 78, “O God, the heathen are come into Thy inheritance”, during which the bishop sits until the psalm is finished and the antiphon repeated. (These are different from the psalm and antiphon said the day before.)

The bishop then turns to the altar and says:

Bending the knee of our hearts before Thee, o Lord, we ask that we may accomplish the good which Thou seekest of us; namely, that we may walk with Thee, ready in solicitude, and do judgment with most careful discretion; and with love of mercy, shine forth in our zeal for all that pleaseth Thee. Through Christ our Lord.

All answer “Amen”, and the bishop adds a second prayer.

Let us pray. Kindly pour forth upon our minds, we beseech Thee, o Lord, the Holy Spirit; so that we, gathered in Thy name, may in all things hold to justice, ruled by piety, in such wise that here our will agree with Thee entirely; and ever pondering on reasonable things, we may accomplish what is pleasing to Thee in word and deed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ etc.

This prayer is a cento of the first collect of the Ember Saturday of Pentecost, the first prayer of the preceding day of the synod, and the collect of the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany.

The previous day the Litany of the Saints was said at this point; it is not repeated today. The bishop now sings, “Oremus”, the deacon “Flectamus genua”, and the subdeacon, after a pause, “Levate”, after which the bishop sings this prayer.

O God, who command that we speak justice, and judge what it right; grant that no iniquity be found in our mouth, no wickedness in our mind; so that purer speech may agree with pure heart, justice be shown in our work, no guile appear in our speech, and truth come forth from our heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ etc.

The deacon then sings the following Gospel, Luke 10, 1-9, the common Gospel of Evangelists (and some Confessors), with the normal ceremonies of a Pontifical Mass.

At that time: The Lord appointed also other seventy-two: and He sent them two and two before His face into every city and place whither He himself was to come. And He said to them: The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send laborers into his harvest. Go: Behold I send you as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes; and salute no man by the way. Into whatsoever house you enter, first say: Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you. And in the same house, remain, eating and drinking such things as they have: for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Remove not from house to house. And into what city soever you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick that are therein, and say to them: The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

As on the previous day, the bishop kneels to intone the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, which is continued by the choir, after which he sits at a chair which is set up facing the assembly, and addresses it. At the corresponding point the previous day, a brief model for his address is given; the rubric of this days specifies that he speaks “his verbis – with these words,” but also says that he may omit them.

My venerable and most beloved brethren, just as we reminded your kindness and gentility yesterday, concerning the divine offices, and the sacred grades of (service at) the altar, or even (our own) mores and the needs of the Church, it is necessary that the charity of all of you, whensoever it knoweth of any matter in need of correction, hesitate not to bring forth in our midst such matters for emendation or renewal; that by the zeal of your charity, and the gift of the Lord, all such matters may come to the best, to the praise and glory of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A sermon at a synod; illustration from a 1595 edition of the Roman Pontifical. (Permission to use this image has been very kindly granted by the Pitts Theological Library, Candler School of Theology at Emory University.)

As on the previous day, before or after the bishop’s address, a “learned and suitable man” delivers a sermon “on ecclesiastical discipline” and other matters “as the bishop may determine”. The archdeacon then reads any Apostolic Constitutions which may not have been promulgated hitherto in that place, and other such documents, as the bishop may decide. There are then read out the constitutions put forth for the approval of the synod, which are then voted upon. (One must assume that in accordance with local traditions, various other matters may also be dealt with.) The bishop then gives the Pontifical blessing, and all depart.

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RIP Jacques and Simone Wach, Parents of the Prior General of the ICK

October 16, 2014, 12:31 pm

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Via the blogs Notions Romaines and Sancta Trinitas Unus Deus, I learned today that the parents of Msgr. Gilles Wach, Prior General of the Institute of Christ the King, both passed away very recently, Mrs Simone Wach on September 7th, and Mr Jacques Wach on Monday. Please be so good as to pray for the repose of their souls, and for the peace and consolation of their family members and friends.

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Program of Events for "Populus Summorum Pontificum" Next Weekend in Rome and Norcia

October 17, 2014, 4:49 am

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The Populus Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage will take place next weekend in Rome and Norcia, with a large number of liturgical events scheduled from October 23-26. A flyer with all the information in English can be downloaded here, and a map with the locations of the various events can be consulted here.

Thursday, October 23, 7:15 pm
At the F.S.S.P. parish of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, Solemn Pontifical Vespers, presided over by His Grace Archbishop Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Commission. The musical service will be provided by a choir of seminarians of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, directed by Fr. Matthieu Raffray.

Friday, October 24, 9:00 a.m.
At the Basilica of Saint Augustine (Sant’Agostino in Campo Marzio), recitation of the Holy Rosary for children to be born, before the statue of the Madonna del Parto. (This statue of the Virgin Mary is still to this day a popular place for women to pray for a safe childbirth, and is constantly covered with colored ribbons and other ex votos left by grateful mothers.)

3:00 p.m.
On the Palatine Hill, the Stations of the Cross of Saint Leonardo of Port-Maurice. Meeting at the beginning of the via di San Bonaventura, near the Arch of Titus. (St Leonard was the great Italian promoter of the Stations of the Cross, and persuaded Pope Benedict XIV to allow him to set the Stations up in the Colosseum. The large cross which he placed in the middle of the ancient arena was later removed to the tiny church of San Gregorio de’ Muratori, the F.S.S.P.’s former Roman church.)

6:30 p.m.
At Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, Pontifical Mass celebrated by His Eminence George Card. Pell, Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the foundation of the Internation Federation Juventutem. The musical service will be provided by the choir of the Basilique de Notre-Dame, the F.S.S.P. church in Fribourg, Switzerland, directed by Mrs. Christiane Haymoz.

Saturday, October 25, 9:30 a.m.
At the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso, Eucharistic Adoration, lead by Fr. Marino Neri, secretary of Amicizia Sacerdotale Summorum Pontificum, with organ accompaniment by Mr Jean-Yves Haymoz, followed by a procession to St Peter’s Basilica.

12:00 p.m.

At the Basilica of Saint Peter, Pontifical Mass celebrated by His Eminence Raymond Card. Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Segnatura. The musical service will be provided by seminarians of the North American College, directed by Mr. Leon Griesbach, and accompanied by Mr. Garrett Ahlers on organ.

5:00 p.m.
At Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, a spiritual concert of Gregorian chant and polyphony, by seminarians of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, directed by Fr. Matthieu Raffray.

Sunday, October 26, 11:00 a.m.
At the Basilica of St Benedict in Norcia, Solemn Mass for the feast of Christ the King, celebrated by Fr. Cassian Folsom, prior of the Abbey. The homily will be given by His Eminence Walter Card. Brandmüller, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Historical Commission. (Pilgrims will depart by bus for Norcia from Termini Station in Rome at 8 a.m., reservation information at nitorin@tin.it, or by calling (+39) 05 23716510. A buffet lunch will be served for the pilgrims; reservation required by writing lazio.cnsp@gmail.com)

In Rome, 11:00 a.m.
For those pilgrims who are not traveling to Norcia, at Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, His Grace Archbishop François Bacqué, Nuncio Emeritus to the Netherlands, will celebrate a Pontifical Mass.

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“Fearless Heralds of the Truth” - The Third Day of a Synod, from the 1595 Pontifical of Clement VIII

October 17, 2014, 12:18 pm

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The third day of the synod begins as the first two. After Mass, a faldstool is placed before the altar, and the bishop, in cope and precious miter, accompanied by deacon and subdeacon, kneels before the altar, and intones the same antiphon as on the first day: “Exáudi nos, Dómine, quoniam benigna est misericordia tua: secundum multitúdinem miseratiónum tuárum réspice nos, Domine. – Hear us, o Lord, for kindly is Thy mercy; according to the multitude of Thy mercies look upon us, o Lord.” The choir continues the antiphon, followed by the whole of Psalm 68, “Save me o God, for the waters have entered unto my soul”, during which the bishop sits until the psalm is finished and the antiphon repeated.

The bishop then turns to the altar and says:

Let us pray. Crying out to Thee, o Lord, with the cry of our heart, we ask as one, that, strengthened by the regard of Thy grace, we may become fearless heralds of the truth, and be able to speak Thy word with all confidence. Through our Lord Jesus Christ etc.

All answer “Amen”, and the bishop adds a second prayer.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, who in the sacred prophecy of Thy word, did promise that where two or three would gather in Thy name, Thou wouldst be in their midst, in Thy mercy be present in our assembly, and enlighten our hearts, that we may in no way wander from the good of Thy mercy, but rather hold to the righteous path of Thy justice in all matters. Through our Lord Jesus Christ etc.

The bishop now sings, “Oremus”, the deacon “Flectamus genua”, and the subdeacon, after a pause, “Levate”, after which the bishop sings this prayer.

O God, who take heed to Thy people with forgiveness, and rule over them with love, grant the spirit of wisdom to those to whom Thou hast given to rule over discipline; that the shepherds may take eternal joy from the good progress of holy sheep. Through our Lord Jesus Christ etc.

The deacon then sings the following Gospel, Matthew 18, 15-22, with the normal ceremonies of a Pontifical Mass.

At that time: Jesus said to His disciples: If thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican. Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning anything whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by My Father who is in heaven. For where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. Then came Peter unto Him and said: Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith to him: I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times.

The First Vatican Council

As on the previous two days, the bishop now kneels to intone the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, which is continued by the choir, after which he sits at a chair which is set up facing the assembly, and addresses it. A brief model for his address is given, accompanied by a rubric that he himself, or a “learned and suitable man” appointed by him to this task, may address the synod with words more appropriate to the circumstances for which it was called.

Venerable and most beloved brethren, it is fitting that all things which have not been done properly, or as fully as they ought, in regard to the duties of ecclesiastics, and the priestly ministries, and canonical sanctions, because of various distractions, or (which we cannot deny) our own and others’ idleness, should be sought out by the unanimous consent and will of us all, and humbly recited before your charity; and thus, whatever is in need of correction may be brought to a better estate by the help of the Lord. And if anyone be displeased by what is said, let him not hesitate to bring the matter before your charity with kindliness and gentility, so that all which is established or renewed by this our assembly, may be kept and held in the harmony of holy peace by all together, without contradiction, to the increase of all our eternal blessedness.

There are then read out the constitutions put forth for the approval of the synod (presumably those which were voted upon the previous day), which are confirmed by those assembled. The bishop sits, and commends himself to the prayers of all present; the names of all those who are supposed to be present are read out, and each answers “Adsum – Present.” Notice is taken of those who are not present, so that they may be fined by the bishop.

In the Pontifical, there follows an immensely long model sermon, over 1000 words in Latin, in which the bishop reminds the priests of their many duties, both spiritual (“Receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ with all reverence and fear.”) and temporal (“Let your churches be well decorated and clean.”) The bishop then says another prayer.

O Lord, the human conscience hath not such strength that it can endure the judgments of Thy will without offense; and therefore, because Thy eyes see our imperfection, deem as perfect that which we desire to conclude, merciful God, with the end of perfect justice. We have asked for Thee to come to us in the beginning, we hope in this end to have Thee forgive what we have judged wrongly; to wit, that Thou spare our ignorance, forgive our error, and grant, though the prayers now completed, perfect efficacy to the work. And since we grow faint from the sting of conscience, lest ignorance draw us into error, or hasty willfulness steer justice wrong, we ask this, we beseech Thee, that if we have brought upon ourselves any offense in the celebration of this synod, that we may know we are forgiven by Thy mercy. And since we are about to dismiss this synod, let us be first released from every bond of our sins, as forgiveness followeth transgressors, and eternal rewards follow those that confess Thee. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

The bishop gives the Pontifical blessing and proclaims an indulgence. The archdeacon then sings “Let us depart in peace”, and all answer “In the name of Christ.” All rise and accompany the bishop back to his residence.

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The Feast of St Luke the Evangelist

October 18, 2014, 1:21 am

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Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a narration of the things that have been accomplished among us, according as they have delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having diligently attained to all things from the beginning, to write to thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou may know the verity of those words in which thou hast been instructed. (The Gospel of St Luke 1, 1-4)

A blessed feast day to all artists and doctors. Sancte Luca, ora pro nobis!

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Photopost: Reader Photographs of Recent Events

October 18, 2014, 7:47 am

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We are always very glad to receive photographs of your liturgical events, apart from those which we specifically request for major feasts, be they OF, EF, or Eastern Rite. Here are some from three different recent submissions.

Solemn Mass on the feast of the Maternity of the Virgin Mary

Holy Name, Brooklyn, New York

Courtesy of our friend Arrys Ortanez; click here to see the rest of the photostream. Holy Name recently underwent a complete and magnificent de-wreckovation.

3rd Annual Eucharistic Procession, Star of the Sea, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Courtesy of John Cadell photography; click here to see the rest of the photostream.

Confirmation and Pontifical Mass, Cathedral of St Paul, St Paul-Minneapolis

Courtesy of Tracy Dunne and Elizabeth Miller. Click here to see the rest of the photostream, which contains a large number of very nice images of the Cathedral of St Paul. Celebrated by His Excellency Andrew Cozzens, Auxiliary Bishop of St Paul and Minneapolis, assisted by priests and seminarians of the Fraternity of St Peter.

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A Marian Pilgrimage in Hungary

October 19, 2014, 4:36 am

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On October 11th, His Excellency Lajos Varga, auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Vác in Hungary, celebrated a Pontifical High Mass for the 5th time at Hungary’s Franciscan-run national Marian shrine, Mátraverebély – Szentkút, for the conclusion of the annual traditional pilgrimage “Peregrinatio Fidei”. Each year the faithful in Hungary who are attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite come from all over the country, to pray at this beautiful shrine of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Hungary. The assistant priest was Fr. Ervin Gellért Kovács O. Praem, the deacon was Fr. Dénes Takács, pastor of Jánok Slovakia, and the subdeacon was brother Csaba Frigyes Orbán O. Pream. Both Norbertines come from the Priory of Gödöllő. The Budapest EF community’s altar boys served the mass, with music provided by the schola of the Capitulum Laicorum Sancti Michaelis Archangeli. A group of knights from the Militia Templi also attended as well. In the afternoon, Vespers was sung, followed by the Litany of Loreto, and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. (Photos courtesy of Mr Bertalan Kiss and the Capitulum Laicorum Sancti Michaelis Archangeli; click link for more photos)

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Classics of the Liturgical Movement: The Soul of the Apostolate

October 20, 2014, 8:00 am

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One of my all-time favorite spiritual books is The Soul of the Apostolate by Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard, O.C.S.O. It was St. Pius X’s bedside reading, which already tells you a lot about the quality of Chautard (and, frankly, about the quality of Pius X, who, were he alive today, would not touch a book by Kasper, Martini, or other neo-modernists except to condemn their propositions—but I digress). Of the many pages where Dom Chautard touches on ways of living the Church’s liturgical life more profoundly, here is an exquisite taste of his wisdom, at once utterly practical and motivated by the highest and purest ideals, the ideals of the original liturgical movement that we would do well to recover for ourselves today. While it is clear that Dom Chautard in this passage has the clergy foremost in mind, his counsel applies analogously to any Catholic involved in a liturgical apostolate, such as serving or singing the chant, or any member of the faithful who simply wants to participate more actively (in the right sense) in the mysteries of Christ.

Without further ado, let us hear what the gracious Abbot has to say:

To do well my liturgical work is a gift of Your bounty, O my God! Omnipotens et misericors Deus, de cujus munere venit ut tibi a fidelibus tuis digne et laudabiliter serviatur. [Almighty and merciful God, whose gift it is that the faithful serve Thee worthily and laudably.] O Lord, please grant me this gift. I want to remain in adoration all during my liturgical function. That sums up all the methods in one word.
My will casts down my heart at the feet of the Majesty of God and keeps it there. All its work is now contained in the three words, digne, attente, devote [worthily, attentively, devoutly] from the prayer Aperi, and they most aptly express what must be the attitude of my body, of my mind, and of my heart.

DIGNE. A respectful position and bearing, the precise pronunciation of the words, slowing down over the more important parts. Careful observance of the rubrics. My tone of voice, the way in which I make signs of the Cross, genuflections, etc.; my body itself: all will go to show not only that I know Whom I am addressing, and what I am saying, but also that my heart is in what I am doing. What an apostolate I can sometimes exercise [this way]!

Then, Dom Chautard adds a substantial footnote to this point:

Apostolate or Scandal. There are many souls who look at religion through a hazy intellectualism or ritualism, and to such persons, a whole sermon by a second-rate priest has far less meaning than the apostolate of a genuine priest whose great faith, piety, and compunction shine forth in his ministrations at a baptism, funeral, or, above all, at Mass. Words and rites are arrows that strike deep into such hearts. When the liturgy is thus lived, they see in it the certitude of the mystery expressed. The invisible begins to exist for them, and they are prompted to invoke Jesus, whom they hardly know at all, but with whom they sense that the priest is in close communication. But only weakening or total loss of their faith follows when the spectacle before them merely turns their stomach, and moves them to cry out: "Why, you can't tell me that priest believes in a God or fears Him! Look at the way he says Mass, administers baptism, recites his prayers, and performs his ceremonies!" What responsibilities! Who would dare to maintain that such scandals will not be visited with the strictest of judgment?
How the faithful are influenced by the way a priest acts: whether it be that he displays deeply reverential fear, or an insolent nonchalance in his sacred functions!
Once, when studying in a university graduate school, into which no clerical influence entered at all, I chanced to observe a priest reciting his breviary, he being unaware that he was the object of my attention. His bearing, full of respect and religion, was a revelation to me, and produced in me an urgent need to pray from then on, and to pray in the way this priest was praying. The Church appeared to me, concretized, so to speak, in this worthy minister, in communion with his God.

Dom Chautard’s meditation on the three words digne, attente, devote continues:

In the courts of earthly kings, a simple servant considers the least function to be something great, and unconsciously takes on a majestic and solemn air in performing it. Cannot I acquire some of that distinctive bearing which will show itself by my state of mind and by the dignity of my bearing when I carry out my duties as member of the guard of honor of the King of Kings and of the God of all Majesty?

  ATTENTE. My mind will be eager to go foraging through the sacred words and rites in order to get everything that will nourish my heart. Sometimes my attention will consider the literal sense of the texts, whether I follow every phase or whether, while going on with my recitation of the prayers, I take time to meditate on some word that has struck my attention, until such time as I feel the need to seek the honey of devotion in some other flower: in either case, I am fulfilling the precept mens concordet voci [let mind and voice agree—from the Rule of Saint Benedict].
  At other times, my intellect may occupy itself with the mystery of the day or the principal idea of the liturgical season. But the part played by the mind will remain in the background compared to the role of the will. The mind will serve only as the will’s source of supply, helping it to remain in adoration or to return to that state.
  As soon as distractions arise it shall be my will to return to the act of adoration; but I shall make this movement of the will without irritation or harshness, without a sudden violent jerk, but peacefully (since everything that is done with Your aid, Lord Jesus, is peaceful and quiet), yet powerfully (since every genuine desire to cooperate with Your aid, Lord, is powerful and strong).

DEVOTE. This is the most important point. Everything comes back to the need of making our Office and all our liturgical functions acts of piety, and, consequently, acts that come from the heart. “Haste kills all devotion.” Such is the principle laid down by St. Francis de Sales in talking of the Breviary, and it applies a fortiori to the Mass, Hence. I shall make it a hard and fast rule to devote around half an hour to my Mass in order to ensure a devout recitation not only of the Canon but of all the other parts as well. I shall reject without pity all pretexts for getting through this, the principal act of my day, in a hurry. If I have the habit of mutilating certain words or ceremonies, I shall apply myself, and go over these faulty places very slowly and carefully, even exaggerating my exactitude for a while.
With all due proportion, I shall also apply this resolution to all my other liturgical functions: administrations of the Sacraments, Benediction, Burials, and so on. As far as the Breviary is concerned, I shall carefully decide in advance when I am to say my Office. When that time comes, I shall compel myself, cost what it may, to drop everything else. At any price, I want my recitation of the Office to be a real prayer from the heart. O my Divine Mediator! Fill my heart with detestation for all haste in those things where I stand in Your place, or act in the name of the Church! Fill me with the conviction that haste paralyzes that great Sacramental, the Liturgy, and makes impossible that spirit of prayer without which, no matter how zealous a priest I may appear to be on the outside, I would be lukewarm, or perhaps worse, in Your estimation. Burn into my inmost heart those words so full of terror: “Cursed be he that doth the work of God deceitfully” (Jer 48:10).
Sometimes I will let my heart soar, and take in by a panoramic synthesis of Faith, the general meaning of the mystery which the liturgical Cycle calls to mind; and I will feed my soul with this broad view. At other times, I will make my Office a long, lingering act of Faith or Hope, Desire or Regret, Oblation or Love. Then again, just to remain, in simplicity, LOOKING at God will be enough. By this I mean a loving and continuous contemplation of a mystery, of a perfection of God, of one of Your titles, my Jesus, of Your Church, my own nothingness, my faults, my needs, or else my dignity as a Christian, as a priest, as a religious. Vastly different is this simple “looking” from an act of the intellect in the course of theological studies. This “look” will increase Faith, but will give even greater and more rapid growth to Love. It is a reflection, no doubt a pale one, but still a reflection of the beatific vision, this “looking” and it is the fulfillment of what You promised even here below to pure and fervent souls: “Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God.”

And thus every ceremony will become a restful change because it will bring my soul a real breathing spell and relieve it from the stifling press of occupations. Holy Liturgy, what sweet fragrance you will bring into my soul by your various “functions.” Far from being a slavish burden, these functions will become one of the greatest consolations of my life. How could it be otherwise when thanks to your constant reminders I am ever coming back to the fact of my dignity as a child and ambassador of the Church, as member and minister of Jesus Christ, and am ever being more and more closely united to Him Who is the “Joy of the elect.”
By my union with Him I shall learn to get profit out of the crosses of this mortal life, and to sow the seeds of my eternal happiness and by my liturgical life, which is far more effective than any apostolate, I will see that other souls have been drawn to follow after me in the ways of salvation and sanctity.

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