Liturgical Notes on the Visitation of the Virgin Mary

July 2, 2015, 11:29 pm

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The Visitation of the Virgin Mary is surely one of the most beautiful stories in the Gospels, the account of a younger woman’s act of charity towards her older kinswoman, at a time when both find themselves unexpectedly pregnant. It is the occasion on which St Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother, speaks to the Virgin the words which form the second part of the Ave Maria, “Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb.” Mary’s reply to her is the canticle which in the Western church is sung at Vespers every day of the year, the Magnificat. Despite the importance of this story, the Roman Rite originally read it only on the Ember Friday of Advent, in a Mass that makes no other reference to it, two days after reading the Gospel of the Annunciation.

For many centuries, the latter was one of the classic group of four Marian feasts, along with her Nativity, Purification and Assumption, which the Latin Church had received from the Byzantine Rite in the first millennium. At the end of the 13th century, the liturgical commentator William Durandus notes that some people celebrate a fifth feast, that of the Virgin’s Conception. This feast was the cause of some notable discussions and controversies, and was not received by the Roman Church until 1476, more than 200 years after it was first kept by the Franciscans. The Visitation, on the other hand, was officially embraced and promulgated almost a century before the Immaculate Conception, and properly ranks as the Latin Church’s first “new” Marian feast, a native creation of the Roman Rite, not a Byzantine important.

The Visitation of the Virgin Mary, by Giotto, in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy, 1303-6.

It is traditionally said that the Franciscans adopted the feast, along with that of the Immaculate Conception, at a general chapter held in 1263, when St Bonaventure was Minister General. It is certainly true that St Francis’ order greatly promoted devotion to the Virgin and new feasts in Her honor, also adopting the feast of Our Lady of the Snows in 1302. Evidence for their celebration of the Visitation in the 13th century, however, is not conclusive, and the authenticity of the relevant sources is debated. The first certain attestation of the feast is found in Prague, where it was celebrated in 1386 at the behest of Archbishop John Jenstein, who composed a Mass and Office for it. Cardinal Jenstein was also present at a consistory held in Rome in April of 1389, as the Great Schism of the West was in its twelfth year, and it was he who suggested to Pope Urban VI that he extend the feast to the whole Church as a way of asking for the Virgin’s intercession to end the Schism.

Pope Urban did in fact agree to do this, but died before he could sign the necessary decrees; the official promulgation of the feast was one of the first acts of his successor, Boniface IX, by the bull Superni benignitas Conditoris, dated November 9, 1389. As is also the case with other liturgical bulls of that era, it is a supremely beautiful and spiritual piece of writing, elegant and learned in its Latinity; it was even read in the Divine Office in some places, despite the fact that its author was a notorious simoniac (and the reason why the name Papal name ‘Boniface’ has not been used since.)

The very Queen of heaven, in whose womb the Son of God enclosed Himself and became a man, from the height of that great honor proclaimed to her by the Angel, took unto herself no spirit of pride, but as a humble servant, though she had become the mother of the Lord, fulfilled the office of her humility, upon which the Lord had looked with favor, and arising went unto the mountains, … O great mystery, o wondrous commerce, and ineffable sacrament, that these mothers should know beforehand and even prophecy about the children which they bore in their wombs; and, as the sacred history of the Gospel reveals, the Queen of Heaven, who was pregnant, and would be consecrated by the birth of God, as an even greater mark of humility, should render service to the pregnant mother of Her Son’s Precursor.

The altarpiece of the Lady Chapel in Prague Cathedral, with the Visitation in the central panel. The events depicted on the wings are the other Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary: the Annunciation (upper left), the Birth of Christ (upper right), the Presentation in the Temple (lower left) and the Finding of Christ in the Temple (lower right.)

When the feast was first kept at Prague, it was celebrated on April 28; other dates are attested in other places, but Pope Boniface’s bull fixes it to July 2nd, the day after the Octave of the Nativity of St John the Baptist. This may seem an odd choice, since the Visitation comes right before the Baptist’s birth in St Luke’s Gospel. Wishing to keep the feast with the fullness of solemnity according to the custom of his era, Pope Boniface originally gave it a vigil and an octave; both of these were removed in the Tridentine liturgical reform, although the octave was retained by many religious orders, and all the dioceses of the kingdom of Bohemia. Vigils were not kept in the Easter season, and if the feast were set in May or June, its octave would continually clash with those of the Ascension, Pentecost and Corpus Christi. (The date of the Visitation in the Novus Ordo, May 31, will fall on the Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday or Corpus Christi 13 times in the current century; adding the vigil of Pentecost, its octave and that of Corpus, it will be impeded a further 42 times). By the end of the 15th century, the July 2nd date had been received throughout the western Church, even at Prague, and this is the date that would carry through to the Tridentine liturgical books.

In the Ambrosian Rite, the Visitation is ranked as a Solemnity of the Lord, and as such, may be celebrated on a Sunday, which is not permitted even for the very greatest solemnities of the Saints, such as the Assumption or the feast of St Charles Borromeo. Nevertheless, the texts of both Mass and Office are essentially about the Virgin Mary. The major exception is the first chant of the Mass, the “Ingressa”, repeated from the Sixth Sunday of Advent, which speaks of the first meeting of the Lord and His Precursor as children in their mothers’ wombs.

Videsne Elisabeth cum Dei Genitrice Maria disputantem: Quid ad me venisti, mater Domini mei? Si enim scirem, in tuum venirem occursum. Tu enim Regnatorem portas, et ego prophetam: tu legem dantem, et ego legem accipientem: tu Verbum, et ego vocem proclamantis adventum Salvatoris.

Dost thou see Elizabeth discussing with Mary, the Mother of God: Why hast Thou come to me, o mother of my Lord? For if I had known, I would have come to meet Thee. For thou bearest Him that reigneth, and I the prophet; Thou the Giver of the Law, and I him that receiveth it; Thou the Word, and I the voice of him that proclaimeth the coming of the Savior.

The Byzantine Rite also keeps July 2nd with a feast of the Virgin, called “The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Holy Mother of God in Blachernae.” Blachernae was the name of a suburb of Constantinople, later enclosed within the city walls, where in the mid-5th century the Empress St Pulcheria built a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary; this church would become the city’s most important Marian shrine, and among all of its churches second in importance only to Hagia Sophia. Shortly thereafter, two citizens of the imperial capital were said to have found the robe of the Virgin Mary while visiting the Holy Land, and to have brought it back to the city, where it was enshrined in the church at Blachernae; an ancient icon of the Virgin was also housed therein, of the type now called from it Blachernitissa.

The Synaxarion of the Byzantine Rite (the equivalent of the Martyrology) tells the story that when Constantinople was besieged by the Avars and Persians in 626, the patriarch Sergius processed various relics around the city walls, including those of the Cross, and the Virgin’s Robe. Shortly thereafter, the besieging armies were completely defeated by the much smaller Byzantine forces, and the enemy fleet wrecked just off the shores of the Blachernae region. The Byzantine tradition states that the famous hymn to the Virgin known as the Akathistos was first sung on this occasion, to honor the Mother of God for protecting and delivering the city. The Virgin of the Blachernae was believed to have delivered the city from at least three other sieges, twice by the Arabs in 677 and 717, and again by the Russians in 860; the icon and robe of the Blachernitissa came to be venerated as the palladia, the protecting talismans of the city.

The Siege of Constantinpole, in a mural of the Moldovita Monastery in Romania, painted in 1537. (Image from wikipedia; click to enlarge.) On the upper part of the city walls are seen the Blachernitissa icon of the Virgin, and the Holy Mandylion, the cloth with the face of Jesus on it.

Later Byzantine writers tell of a miracle which took place in the church so often it came to be known as the “habitual miracle.” This tradition found its way to the West, and is recorded in the rubrics of the Missal of Sarum, as an explanation of the custom of celebrating a Mass in honor of the Virgin every Saturday.

In a certain church of the city of Constantinople, there was an image of the Blessed Virgin, before which there hung a veil which covered the whole image. But on Friday after Vespers, this veil withdrew from the image, with no one moving it, by a miracle of God alone, as if it were being born up to heaven so that the image could be fully seen. Once Vespers had been celebrated on Saturday, the veil descended once again before the image, and remained there until the following Friday. Once this miracle had been seen, it was decreed that that day should always be celebrated in honor of the Virgin.

The rubric continues with a beautiful meditation on the Virgin Mary’s faith in the Resurrection.

Another reason is that when the Lord was crucified and had died, as the disciples fled and despaired of the Resurrection, complete faith remained in Her alone. For She knew that She had carried Him without distress, and born Him without pain, and therefore she was certain that He was the Son of God, and must rise from the dead on the third day. And this is the reason why Saturday (i.e. the day between the death and Resurrection of Christ) belongs more than any other day to the Virgin.

A 17th century copy of the Blachernitissa icon of the Virgin Mary, from the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The original seems to have been lost when the church of the Blachernae was destroyed by fire in 1434.

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Latin Mass in the Ordinary Form at Pittsburgh's St. Paul's Cathedral

July 3, 2015, 4:29 am

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As part of today's liturgical life at the Church Music Association of America's 2015 Colloquium included a Latin Mass celebrated in the Ordinary form at St. Paul's Cathedral in Pittsburgh. The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Eric Andersen. Also included on the bottom are a few pictures of vespers which followed Mass.

[Photos: Charles Cole and Ben Yanke]

Vespers

In the Extraordinary Form

Mass for Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Carmel, New York

July 3, 2015, 12:00 pm

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A Solemn High Votive Mass of Our Lady of Mount Carmel will be offered according to the 1962 Roman Missal on Wednesday, July 15th at 7:30 PM at the Church of St James the Apostle, 14 Gleneida Ave., Carmel, New York. Full details in the flyer below: please note the date is July 15, not the 16th.

Fr Denis Coiffet FSSP - Requiescat in Pace

July 4, 2015, 12:07 am

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The website of the Fraternity of St Peter published notice today of the death of one of their founders, Fr. Denis Coiffet. Our condolences to his family and friends, and to all of the members of the Fraternity.

“Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Denis Coiffet FSSP. Our confrere passed away peacefully to his eternal reward this morning at 4:50 a.m., on the feast of St. Irenaeus of Lyon, surrounded by family and accompanied by the prayers of the Church. Fr. Vianney Le Roux was at his bedside and gave him the apostolic blessing at the hour of death. Fr. Coiffet died at the end of the Litany for the Dying.

The funeral mass for Fr. Denis Coiffet will be held at the Cathedral of St. Louis, Versailles at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 7.

His coffin will be moved to the FSSP house of Maison Saint-Dominique Savio, 14 rue des Moines in Versailles, Saturday at noon and the house will be open to those who wish to come to pray until Tuesday morning 8.00 a.m., July 7.”

Fr Coiffet (right) meeting His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, along with the Superior General of the FSSP, Fr John Berg. (Photos courtesy of FSSP Lyon.)

Deus, qui inter Apostolicos sacerdotes famulum tuum Dionysium sacerdotali fecisti dignitate vigere: praesta quaesumus: ut eorum quoque perpetuo aggregetur consortio. Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Amen.

God, who among the Apostolic priests made Thy servant Denis flourish by priestly dignity: grant, we beseech Thee: that he may also be joined unto their perpetual society. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Index of Antiphons for Dominican Rite Chant Books

July 4, 2015, 10:52 am

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Dominican Sisters Chanting the Office

I am pleased to announce that  Dominican Liturgy is  making available on our left sidebar an Index of  the Antiphons found in the chant books of the Dominican Rite.  This index will be useful for those seeking the Dominican music for antiphons to use in the new Roman rite, as well as those who want to compare the Dominican music with Benedictine, Roman, or other Latin religious order Rites.  The closest relative to Dominican chant is that of the Premonstratensians, both of which are derived mostly from Cistercian models.

Modern Roman-Benedictine chant books often have indices for the various chants, but the most important Dominican chant books for the Office—the Antiphonarium of 1863 (with night office), the Antiphonarium of 1933 (no night office, post-Pius X psalter), and the Matins book of 1936 (major feasts)—have never been indexed or the index is found in a separate, hard-to-find, pamphlet.  All the antiphons of these books are in our new index.  This index also includes all the antiphons found in the Dominican Processional, the Holy Week Books of 1949 and 1963, the Gradual, and the Compline book.

The links to the index are available at Dominican Liturgy on the left sidebar, under "Dominican Rite Texts—Downloadable."  One version is numbered straight through, the other formated to print as a double sided booklet.

Note: The Dominican cloistered sisters of Prato (the community of St. Catherine de' Ricci, O.P.) are wearing white veils and no scapulars because they were and are technically members of the lay penitents ("Third Order"), not nuns ("Second Order").

Photopost Catchup for June 2015

July 4, 2015, 12:00 pm

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We are always glad to receive photos of your liturgies, even when we haven’t specifically asked for them for a major feast. Here are three sets from various events: a Pontifical Mass in Australia, celebrated by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, an EF Solemn Mass in Louisiana, and an OF First Mass of a newly ordained priest in Tiverton, Rhode Island.

Maternal Heart of Mary Church, Lewisham, Australia

The Most Reverend Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of Astana (Kazakhstan), recently came to Australia at the invitation of the Australia Catholic Students Association (ACSA). During his visit in Sydney, he offered a Solemn Pontifical Mass and officiated at Pontifical Vespers at Maternal Heart of Mary Church, Lewisham. A great friend to the traditional liturgy and a strong defender of the faith, he preached on the importance of the liturgy and Eucharist in the everyday lives of the faithful. More photos of these liturgies can be viewed on the facebook page of the Maternal Heart Parish.

St Martin of Tours, Louisville, Kentucky

Solemn High Mass with Palestrina’s Missa Aeterna Christi Munera. Photos by Andrew Klusman and Katie Reed.

Holy Ghost Church, Tiverton, Rhode Island

First Mass of Thanksgiving of Fr. Nicholas Fleming, the first priest ordained from the parish in 74 years. Mass was in the Ordinary Form, celebrated ad orientem, as is the norm at Holy Ghost. Mr. Henri St. Louis played the organist and directed the Schola Santorum Sanctae Caeciliae of northern Rhode Island. The Mass was preceded by a series of preludes, including works of J. S. Bach, Fauré Buxtehude and Duruflé; the majority of the proper Mass chants were done in Latin, along with motets by Palestrina and Arcadelt.

Colloquium XXV Wrapup

July 5, 2015, 12:21 am

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The CMAA Colloquium has finally reached its completion. Below, you can find a picture of most of the attendees of the 2015 CMAA Colloquium (some left to catch flights home), on the steps of Holy Spirit Chapel at Duquesne after the final Mass. For those looking for them, pictures of the last two day's Masses will be posted soon, including Friday's solemn requiem for the deceased members of the CMAA.

First Report from Fota VIII

July 6, 2015, 12:37 am

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The St Colman Society for Catholic Liturgy has very kindly sent us the following summaries of the papers delivered yesterday at the Fota VIII Liturgical Conference, currently happening in Cork, Ireland. The subject of the conference this year is A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation: Aspects of the Priesthood of Baptism. This is, of course, a topic of prime importance for consideration of modern liturgical practice and liturgical reform, in light of the many ways in which the “priesthood of all the baptized” has been misused and misconstrued to justify various abuses, and promote dubious ideas about the nature of the Liturgy and the Mass.

The eighth Fota International Liturgy Conference was opened this morning by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke.

The initial session of the conference heard two papers on the scriptural aspects of the priesthood of Baptism. The papers were delivered by Fr. Joseph Briody, of St. John’s Seminary, Brighton, Massachusetts, and by Professor Dieter Böhler, SJ, of the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Sankt Georgen, Frankfurt.

Fr. Briody’s paper was entitled The priesthood as a central dimension of biblical revelation:an overview of the royal priesthood of the faithful in Sacred Scripture. In it, he emphasized that the priesthood is not a peripheral biblical theme, but a central dimension of biblical revelation, and gave an overview of the priesthood in Sacred Scripture, with emphasis on the royal priesthood shared by the people of God.

The paper illustrated that from the beginning, man is presented as both priestly and kingly (Genesis 1-2). The priestly system, especially in Leviticus, was about relationship with the Lord and living in the presence of the Holy One. With the disappearance of the monarchy, the intercessory role of kings is taken over by the priests, and then, by all the people, especially in the praying of the royal psalms and transmission of the wisdom tradition. Later post-exilic times look to a messianic figure, both royal and priestly. Exodus 19:5-6 is examined in some detail, since it provides the background for royal priestly texts in the New Testament.

The royal priesthood is what defines the relationship of Christians to God and is what manifests the lordship of the Lamb. Hebrews, 1 Peter and Revelation develop the royal priesthood imagery, indicating that man’s destiny is the holy priesthood around the throne of God in heaven. The Bible concludes with the New Jerusalem where there is no Temple because the Lord God and the Lamb are the Temple and all present there are priests. The communion with God, sought but unachieved by Old Testament sacrifice, is realised. The fulfilment of Christian life is in becoming “priests of God and of Christ.” The royal priesthood is in fact the key to the scroll that is history.

The Old Testament distinction between the priesthood shared by all the people and the divinely willed “ministerial priesthood” of the few is maintained and developed in the New Testament.

Fr Joseph Briody and Fr Thomas McGovern

Professor Böhler’s paper, entitled A Kingdom of Priests: (Ex 19:6). Priesthood and Royalty of God's People in the Old (MT, LXX, Tg) and New Testament compared the Hebrew Text of Exodus 19:6 with its Greek and Aramaic versions (the Septuagint and the Targum respectively) and investigated how the First Letter of Peter in chapter 2: 5,9 adopts the Greek version of the text, while St John’s Revelation seems to follow a kind of Targumic reading.

The Hebrew text calls Israel “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” This double expression most probably does not mean two synonyms, but, rather, two complementary entities which together form a whole: namely a priestly government for a sacred people. The Greek translation, however, interprets the Hebrew text in the sense of three synonyms: Israel is to be for God “a kingdom”, where God is king, “a priesthood”, probably mediating between God and the nations, and “a sacred people.” The priestly government of the Hebrew text has become in the Septuagint a priesthood of all Israel as a whole towards humanity. In the New Testament, 1 Peter 2:5,9 takes over the Old Testament expression in its Greek form, and more or less with the sense the Septuagint had given it.

The Aramaic versions of the Old Testament interpret Exodus 19:6 as attributing to the Israelites the dignities of kings and priests. This kingship then is not God’s any more over Israel, but a dignity of the Israelites over the nations. Israel’s priesthood as well becomes in the Targum a dignity of the individual Israelites. It is more or less in this sense that John’s Revelation in 1:6, 5:10 and 20:6 takes over the Old Testament idea of Ex 19:6.

Professor Böhler

Both papers were followed by lengthy discussions moderated by His Eminence George Cardinal Pell.
In the afternoon, two further papers were read by Fr. Thomas McGovern, of Dublin, Ireland, and by Professor Rodney Lokaj of the University of Enna “Kore”, Sicily.

In his paper entitled The Priesthood of the Laity: Holiness in Work, and the Challenge of the Secular, Fr Thomas McGovern emphasized the importance of the of the universal call to holiness in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and its significance for lay people.

All are called to the fullness of the Christian life. Since the great majority are immersed in temporal activities, they are called to holiness, not in spite of their ordinary circumstances, but indeed precisely in and through their daily commitments.

Sanctity is not something for a privileged few. Since Baptism is a true entry into the holiness of God through incorporation in Christ and the indwelling of his Spirit, it would be a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity. The Second Vatican Council emphasized the full implications of Baptism for the laity, of their vocation to holiness in the middle of the world. The vocation of the lay faithful to holiness implies that a life according to the Spirit expresses itself in a particular way in their involvement in temporal affairs and in their participation in earthly activities. Neither family concerns nor other secular affairs should be excluded from their religious programme of life.

The paper pointed to the importance of the sanctification of work as an environment in which the laity can seek holiness. A spirituality of work helps all people to come closer through work, to God, the Creator and Redeemer, to participate in his salvific plan for man and the world, and to deepen their friendship with Christ in their lives.’

The secularity of the laity is what gives them their distinctive characteristic in the Church. It is a state of life that identifies their vocation and mission on the basis of the baptismal consecration common to all. It also specifies the vocation by which they are called to work.

Prof. Rodney Lokaj

Professor Lokaj’s paper was entitled Early Franciscan preaching: an anomaly in canon law. It showed that the Franciscan sources contain many allusions to early preaching practices before and after Francis obtains his verbal authorisation from the Holy See to embrace the vita vere apostolica. These practices were carried out by Francis either on his own or with others who were in turn authorised to preach independently of the founder of the movement. The anomaly in canon law naturally consists in the fact that neither Francis nor many of his early brethren were ordained and yet they freely preached, thus creating what would otherwise seem to be a parallel with the many heretical movements abounding at the time.

The watershed in the founder’s life seems to be the episode recounting his renouncement of his father’s worldly possessions. It was then that, in rather dramatic circumstances and terms, Francis’ nakedness was literally and metaphorically cloaked by bishop Guido of Assisi. The sources and subsequent critical literature universally accept this episode as symbolising the fact that he had been taken in under the aegis of the Church thereby becoming a type of deacon in the service of all Christians. It was as such, furthermore, that the sources also implicitly explain his preaching to Clare. The paper pointed to the early sources indicating that such preaching was carried out in the company of other followers and that only later did successive sources speak of Francis and Clare on their own as if Clare’s conversion had been occasioned exclusively by Francis. The paper explored instances of early preaching practices within the Franciscan movement, then Order, including the initial attempts to preach within the Clarian community at Saint Damian’s.

The ensuing discussion was moderated by His Eminence George Cardinal Pell. The session was closed by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. The first day of the Conference concluded with the celebration of Pontifical Vespers at Sts. Peter and Paul’s.

Fr McGovern, Card. Pell, Mons, James O’Brien, and Cardinal Burke

Card. Burke. Prof. Lokaj and Mons. O’Brien

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Pontifical High Mass for the Nativity of John the Baptist in Lake Charles, LA

July 6, 2015, 9:59 am

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This article and the accompanying pictures were submitted by reader Barbara Wyman a few days ago, but I saved them for today, the eve of the eighth anniversary of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. Many years ago, in a place that shall remain nameless, friends and colleagues of mine were involved in organizing a Pontifical Mass, which was preceded by much wringing of hands over whether a full Pontifical Mass was opportune, or whether a Prelatitial Mass (i.e. the bishop’s form of Low Mass) would be less “controversial”. Happily, these controversies have (in many places, by no means all) become a thing of the past, and there is no longer any surprise or novelty to hear of an American bishop saying a Pontifical Mass from the throne in his own cathedral - another reason to thank Pope Benedict!

“If you build it, they will come” has once again been proven true, this time in the Diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana, under the spiritual guidance of His Excellency Bishop Glen John Provost. Since his installation as 3rd Bishop of Lake Charles on April 23, 2007, Bishop Provost has celebrated several Pontifical High Masses in the Extraordinary Form throughout the diocese, three at the throne in his own cathedral, the latest being in celebration of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24th, 2015. The crowds have been growing with each subsequent Pontifical High Mass, but on this occasion especially a record numbers of diocesan priests, visiting priests, deacons, and seminarians were present, as the following pictures show. The beautiful vestments worn by the clergy were purchased for the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Aug. 22, 2013, at which time, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States from the Holy See, officiated at the crowning rite of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The statue that was crowned, in the name of the Holy Father and by his authority, is located in the niche of the Cathedral’s high altar, and visible in the photos. The crown was custom designed and fashioned by Fratelli Savi, one of the most distinguished workshops in Rome for church items.

This Pontifical High Mass follows a historic event in the life of our diocese, the Bishop leading a Eucharistic procession from the Cathedral, which was proceeded by a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form celebrated by Fr. Rommel Tolentino, rector of the Cathedral parish. The procession drew large numbers of the faithful, who braved the heat and humidity of a Louisiana June evening and processed nearly a mile in the streets of downtown Lake Charles. Pictures of this procession follow those of the Pontifical High Mass. And finally, these lead up to a most joyous occasion on Monday June 29, the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Bishop Provost’s ordination. Is there any wonder that the Diocese of Lake Charles has a record number of seminarians? (more pictures of the Corpus Christi procession can be found at the following link to the diocesan website. http://immaculateconceptioncathedral.com/photoalbums)

 

 Photos of the recent Corpus Christi Procession mentioned above.

Second Report from Fota, and Photos of Pontifical Liturgies

July 6, 2015, 10:39 pm

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Here is our second report from the Fotoa conference, which concluded today. The first six photos are of Pontifical Vespers celebrated on the evening of Saturday July 4th, and the second six are of Pontifical Mass celebrated the following morning. Below is the report of the activities of the third and forth session. The liturgies are celebrated in the church of Ss Peter and Paul, with music by the magnificent Lassus Scholars, conducted by Dr Ite O’Donovan.

His Eminence George Card. Pell attending Vespers in choir.

Pontifical Mass, preceded by Terce

Report of the Third and Fourth Sessions

The third session of the Conference was chaired by His Eminence George Cardinal Pell and moderated by Professor Dieter Boehler. Two papers were presented, one by Dr. Anne Orlando, of Brighton, Massachusetts (read on her behalf by Fr. Joseph Briody), the other, by Dr. Johannes Nebel, of the Scheffczyk Foundation, Bregenz, Austria.

In her paper, entitled The Faithful’s Sacrifice as Priestly Service in St. Peter Chrysologus, Dr. Orlando illustrated the manner in which St. Peter Chrysologus, fifth century bishop of Ravenna and Doctor of the Church, extended an earlier Patristic tradition which affirmed the laity’s participation in the priestly sacrifice and service of Christ. In the first part of her paper she briefly reviewed the earlier Patristic tradition, including (1) Baptism as the anointing into the common priesthood of Christ; (2) Old Testament priestly models for the lay faithful; and (3) the martyrs and suffering as sacrificial participation in the priesthood of Christ. Building on the truths found in Scripture, especially 1 Peter 2:5,9, the Church Fathers sought to explicate these aspects of the mystery of the common priesthood of all the baptized. In the second part of her paper, Dr. Orlando described the manner in which both Scripture and Tradition informed St. Peter Chrysologus’ understanding of these truths. It began with a brief background account of the fifth century bishop, especially focusing on St. Peter’s rhetorical style. The paper concluded with an analysis of Sermons 108 and 109, on Rom 12:1, in which St. Peter Chrysologus urges his congregation to mold their lives in priestly imitation of Christ.

In his paper The sacra potestas as a core issue of the participatio actuosa of the faithful, Fr. Johannes Nebel examined two central concepts: sacra potestas (sacred power) is significant for the traditional idea of liturgy; participatio is basic for the liturgical reform of the 20th century. It showed that the concept of participatio makes sense properly when distinguished from the liturgy as actio sacra praecellenter (SC 10) and therefore from the implied sacra potestas of the ordained ministers. The importance of authorized liturgical ministers (clerics) is also clearly set out in the liturgical will of the Second Vatican Council.

– On a principal level sacra potestas is also proper to all the faithful. That is mainly how liturgy comes into relation with the world. This leads to the question of cult-power. In this light the sacra potestas of clerics and the essence of the authorized liturgical act are theologically explained. The latter is principally based on the liturgical remembrance (anamnesis), whereby the liturgical word becomes relevant as the core issue of the cult-power. The structure of the hierarchical Ordo has the character of word as well. How explicitly this structure retraces the sacra potestas is therefore relevant for the cult-power. All this leads to explaining the term participatio in a nuanced light.

– After the Second Vatican Council, however, tendencies arose to amalgamate participatio and actio to celebratio as a novel synthesis. This is symptomatic of an attitude in which the two basic terms are no longer seen as complementary but as subliminally concurrent with each other. In the new synthesis their former significance is attenuated. This has consequences for the concept of the hierarchical Ordo and for the relation between liturgy and world.

Following a prolonged discussion, the session adjourned and Mass was celebrated at Sts. Peter and Paul’s by His Eminence George Cardinal Pell.

The fourth session of the Conference was devoted to launching the proceedings of the seventh Fota International Liturgy Conference, held in Cork in July 2014. The acta are published under the title Agere in Persona Christi: Aspects of the Ministerial Priesthood. The book was presented by its editor, Dr. Mariusz Biliniewicz. His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke replied with an appraisal of the book. Copies at discounted prices may be obtained through St. Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy at colman.liturgy@yahoo.co.uk.

Solemn Requiem Mass - St. Paul's Cathedral, Pittsburgh, PA

July 7, 2015, 1:10 am

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Last Friday, Fr. Robert Pasley celebrated a Solemn Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form as a part of the Church Music Association of America’s Colloquium. The participants of the colloquium sang Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem (op. 48); the Mass was celebrated at St. Paul Cathedral for all the deceased members of the CMAA.

One of the beautiful sacristy implements: vesting prayers painted on the cabinets

Formed in the Spirit and Power of the Traditional Latin Mass: On the Eighth Anniversary of Summorum Pontificum

July 8, 2015, 1:28 am

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In her magnificent book Cistercian Europe: Architecture of Contemplation, Terryl Kinder describes how medieval Cistercian architecture, seemingly simple and humble, is actually extremely subtle in its relationship to the cosmos and particularly the light of the sun:

What there is in a Cistercian abbey—and in abundance—is the presence and the play of light. It is sunlight that animates the buildings by day, outlining every protuberance and recession, giving full value to architectural detail. When trying to understand light in an abbey, the role of silence needs to be underlined, for speaking draws attention away from visual subtleties. In order to experience fully the movement of light and shadow in a Cisterician church, one needs to be present throughout the day from morning until evening, in winter and in summer, at dawn, when it is raining, and in the reflected light of snow. The evolving luminous effect is most apparent when one is sitting in the same stall, the very slowness of the moving light providing a perfect backdrop to contemplative life. Then the subtlety of the architecture and its detail may gradually reveal itself to those who have grown aware and can see it.[1]

In other words, you have to live patiently and attentively with this architecture before it reveals its secrets to you, and once you have learned its language, you are ushered into a world of spiritual symbolism that echoes and amplifies the longings and thoughts of your own prayer.

This example from the Middle Ages reminds me of certain striking words Pope Benedict XVI addressed to bishops in the letter accompanying the publication of Summorum Pontificum:

The fear was expressed in discussions about the awaited Motu Proprio, that the possibility of a wider use of the 1962 Missal would lead to disarray or even divisions within parish communities. This fear also strikes me as quite unfounded. The use of the old Missal presupposes a certain degree of liturgical formation and some knowledge of the Latin language; neither of these is found very often.[2]

In noting how a “certain degree of liturgical formation” and “some knowledge of Latin” are required for the usus antiquior, Pope Benedict voiced a polite but stinging critique of the paucity and superficiality of liturgical formation found among many Catholics today as well as the pathetic and scandalous lack of Latinity among the clergy, contrary to the express requirements of Canon Law.[3] It is as if he said: You need not fear a sudden disarray in the Church, since the use of the classical Roman Rite, which presupposes the very things that the original Liturgical Movement and then Vatican II called for—namely, sound liturgical formation and the retention of Latin—are hardly to be found nowadays. Things are so bad that the old Mass, with its very great goods, will not immediately be able to spring back to life and take over.

Can we not see this as an implicit critique of the Novus Ordo, which, according to its architects’ express intentions, was meant to require little in the way of formation? It was designed to be self-explanatory, an “instant liturgy” like the instant coffees and dehydrated foods popularized in the Space Age. After all, in one of the most embarrassing sentences ever consigned to the text of an ecumenical council, we read in Sacrosanctum Concilium: “The rites … should be within the people’s powers of comprehension, and normally should not require much explanation” (34).

Never mind the fact that the people’s powers of comprehension have to be deliberately formed and informed in order for anything liturgical to make sense, and never mind the fact that the mysteries into which we are thrown are permanently and unfathomably mysterious, comprehensible and explicable only to a certain point, beyond which they dazzle and humble the human mind with their unapproachable light. As Benedict XVI frequently said in his homilies, man is not naturally Christian; we are not born redeemed; we must be born anew in water and the Holy Spirit, we must receive instruction and nurture our faith all our lives. Part of this process of becoming Christian is learning assiduously the vocabulary of the sacred, the language of the supernatural, the symbolism of the liturgy.

It is true, as Guardini reminds us, that many of the signs and gestures used by the Church have their origin in the order of creation, which speaks (or can speak) to man at the level of nature. But something like making the sign of the Cross or burning incense before the Blessed Sacrament is simply not intelligible apart from catechesis. Three conclusions suggest themselves: (1) taken in its totality, the Christian liturgy is not and can never be within the sphere of the people’s powers of comprehension in the absence of “formation in the spirit and power of the liturgy,” as Sacrosanctum Concilium recognizes elsewhere (n. 14). (2) Normally, and especially for modern man who spends his life deracinated from nature and culture, the liturgy will require much explanation. (3) Lastly, the worst place to attempt to explain liturgy is within the liturgy, even though this has been the constant trend for the past 50 years.

Tools of the trade: missals for the faithful

The original Liturgical Movement wanted serious formation of the clergy and the faithful so that they could yield themselves intelligently and willingly to the profound riches of the rites handed down to us, with their ultimately impenetrable mysteriousness that was the secret of their magnetism for devout souls. The Consilium decided instead on a horizontalized and transparent meeting format in which business is conducted in a linear fashion, “no congregant left behind,” with no residue of unintelligibility, no need for outside effort or inward suffering, and no submission to cultural forms that transcend our age as God transcends the entire created order—Latin being, perhaps, the most notable symbol of such a cultural form.

In fact, it is not difficult to see a certain pattern among those who discover the traditional Latin Mass and begin to attend it regularly. As a Catholic becomes more educated in both the Roman liturgy and the spiritual life, he or she comes to find the Novus Ordo less satisfactory. One notices more and more its thin rationalism, its openings for egoism, its heavy-handed didacticism, its lack of tranquility, its surprising distance from the interior world of the great spiritual masters. The classical Roman liturgy expresses to perfection all the great themes that the spiritual masters are always pursuing, and does so with a beauty, clarity, and forcefulness that is refreshing, invigorating, and habit-forming. Juventutem chapters and Fraternity parishes will recognize immediately the phenomenon I am describing here. It seems as if young people in particular, when serious about their faith, are quick to recognize the strengths of the old and the weaknesses of the new.[4]

Whether one realizes it or not, to seek to be formed “in the spirit and power of the liturgy” is, ipso facto, to become suited for the traditional Latin Mass, prepared to benefit from the feast it spreads before us. To become more prayerful, more accustomed to meditation, is to be in motion towards the usus antiquior—at least in the best of circumstances, when this trajectory can be peacefully completed. Tragically, as with storm-tossed ships too far from shore to find a safe harbor, there are many Catholics who cannot discover our liturgical heritage because it is simply not readily available to them. They will do what they can with the poverty of prayer forms they are offered, but it will be like poor children who cannot flourish on a meager diet, or who can do so only by special divine intervention and favor, outside of the ordinary course of things.

Let us return to the lines from Pope Benedict XVI’s letter to bishops of July 7, 2007. Having quoted these very lines, a commentator then went on to say:

The extraordinary form is difficult in the way that anything that’s rewarding but exacting is difficult, like classical music when what we know is mainly popular music. At Mass in the ordinary form, we experience it as something that projects itself from the sanctuary into the pews: it meets us halfway. At Mass in the extraordinary form, “Introibo ad altare Dei,” I will go to the altar of God. In the United States, a number of Catholics higher than anyone might have predicted from a survey of Catholics worldwide prefer to do the harder thing.[5]

The classical liturgy begins, in a sense, with the inner man and works from there to the outer man. This is why it is a harder, more demanding way, a more deeply transformative way—one that is, for that very reason, more full of joy and more productive of fierce devotion. This liturgy demands of us that we be formed and educated, otherwise we can make no sense of it. It prompts the development of new faculties of seeing and hearing; it requires an exodus from our surroundings of pop culture and intellectual fashion; it calls us to a strange land, like Abram being summoned from Ur to Canaan. Latin is the intuitive symbol of this stripping of oneself and donning a new garment, fit for standing in the presence of the Lord.[6] When Latin was de facto abolished, a potent and efficacious sign of the transcendence of God (the object of worship), of man (the subject of worship), and of the activity of worship itself (the mediating sacrifice), was lost, with immensely damaging consequences.

“What there is in a Cistercian abbey—and in abundance—is the presence and the play of light.” This, indeed, is what we find in the traditional Latin Mass and throughout the Roman liturgy as a whole: the presence and play of a divine light that illuminates man’s total condition, as a sinner redeemed in Christ, destined for immortality and fighting the battle of good and evil. It is this irresistible presence and liberating play of light, worlds removed from anthropocentric spontaneity and creativity, that we have discovered in the Mass of the Ages and everything that goes with it. With a shock of joy, we have embraced that gift, or rather, yielded ourselves to it, with all the fervor of young love, the foretaste of eternal blessedness.

Architecture, liturgy, and nature in perfect harmony

NOTES

[1] Terryl N. Kinder, Cistercian Europe: Architecture of Contemplation (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans; Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2000), 385–86.

[2] The full text may be found here.

[3] See Fr. John Hunwicke for the canonical requirements and kindred matters.

[4] For example, a college student wrote in an essay: “We do not immerse ourselves in the Mass [viz., the Ordinary Form] as much. It is more rushed and there is less concern with what every movement and every item means.”

[5] Nicholas Frankovich, First Things, September 26, 2013, “It’s Extraordinary.”

[6] This kind of stripping of the ego happens in the vernacular Byzantine liturgy in a variety of ways that do not have their exact parallels in the Western liturgy. But that would be another subject to pursue.

Solemn Funeral Mass for Fr. Denis Coiffet at the Cathedral of Versailles

July 8, 2015, 9:00 am

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This Tuesday morning, July 7, 2015 - the eighth anniversary of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum - was the funeral of Fr Denis Coiffet, one of the twelve founders of the Fraternity of St Peter in 1988. The solemn funeral mass was celebrated in the Cathedral of Versailles by Father Bisig, historic first superior of the Fraternity of St. Peter. The cathedral St. Louis of Versailles was filled with a large number of clergy and faithful.

More pictures.

Third Report from the Fota Liturgical Conference

July 8, 2015, 3:00 pm

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Our coverage of the Fota Liturgical Conference in Cork, Ireland, which concluded on Monday, is slightly delayed for the sake of yesterday’s  important anniversary. Here are the official press releases from the St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy, reporting on the two sessions held on Monday, July 6th. (All photos by Mr John Briody.)

The fifth session of the Fota International Liturgy Conference took place on Monday morning, 6 July 2015, chaired by His Eminence George Cardinal Pell and moderated by Professor Manfred Hauke. Two papers were presented, one by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, the other by Fr. Sven Conrad, FSSP.

H.E. Raymond Cardinal Burke and Fr Sven Conrad F.S.S.P.

Cardinal Burke’s submission, entitled Selected Canonical Questions regarding the Royal Priesthood of the Baptized, described how canonical discipline offers nothing original to the question of the royal priesthood of the baptised but rather safeguards and fosters the theological reality. The canonical discipline serves, in a particular way, the equal dignity of all the baptised and the distinction of two states of life: the lay state, the consecrated state and the clerical state. The distinction between the lay state and the clerical state belongs to the divinely established hierarchical structure of the Church. The consecrated state does not belong to the hierarchical structure of the Church but to the holiness of the Church. The lay faithful, under the care and direction of the Bishops and Priests, carry out the apostolate for the sanctification of the temporal order. The lay faithful can operate in the exercise of the clerical office but they cannot substitute for it. Such collaboration must carefully avoid any confusion about the irreplaceable service of the ordained. The liturgical expression of the priesthood of the baptised is acturna participatio, the union of heart with the glorious pierced heart of Jesus. In the post-conciliar implementation, a certain confusion of the lay and clerical states has entered into the life of the Church to the serious harm of Church life.

Fr. Conrad’s paper, entitled Ministry as an Expression of the Common Priesthood or of the Ordained Ministry? A Review of the Minor Orders, began by noting that the term ‘ordo’, always used to denote the sacrament in question and its related grades, has much philosophical impact. The term is also important for describing the social structure of the Roman Empire. Both aspects are linked to the Church’s own terminology. Fr. Conrad showed that the peculiar symbiosis between the new Christian ministry and the terminology of the ancient social structure tends to prove that the liturgy was understood as ‘cultus publicus.’

He then summarized the history of the minor orders, which are all mentioned in a letter of Pope Cornelius as early the year 251. The paper then considered the changes made by Pope Paul VI. and with the questions arising from those changes.

In developing some basic points of the theology of minor orders, the paper referred both to the classical meaning of sacramentals and the definition of sacramentals as found in Sacrosanctum Concilium (no. 60). They are sacramentals which ‘in aliquam Sacramentorum imitationem’ refer to the sacrament of the priesthood and not to baptism. Being sacramentals, the minor orders are expressions of the Church’s intention in certain matters (e.g. the struggle against evil). Therefore the existence of the minor orders or their non-existence is linked with the cultic power of the Church in general. Reducing the minor orders weakens the Church’s own cult-power.

The sixth session of the Conference, held in the afternoon, was chaired by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke and moderated by Professor Rodney Lokaj. It commenced with a paper by Professor Manfred Hauke which was followed by submissions from His Eminence George Cardinal Pell and Fr. João-Paolo Mendonça Dantas.

In his paper, entitled The “Sensus Fidei” of the Laity according to John Henry Newman and Contemporary Theology, Professor Hauke noted that during the preparation of the Extraordinary Bishops’ Synod on the family, some voices referred to the majority opinions of the faithful in certain countries as having the ability to ‘develop’ or to change the doctrine of the Church. But he posed the question: do such statements express the ‘sense of the faith’ (sensus fidei) referred to by the Second Vatican Council?

Prof. Hauke

The conference deals with the essay of Blessed John Henry Newman ‘On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine’, which was published in 1859. The appeal to the sense of the faithful appeared in a specific historical context, encouraged by the preparation for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, in which Pope Pius IX made reference to the testimony of the Christian people. Newman describes the basic elements of the ‘sensus fidei.’ Using the example of the fourth century struggle against the Arian heresy, he observes that the majority of the bishops and many Episcopal synods failed to preserve the Faith, whereas the testimony of the Christian laity, guided by holy bishops, such as St. Athanasius, remained faithful to its Baptismal vows.

Holiness is thus an indispensable component of this ‘proof of the fidelity of the laity.’ The laity echoes the clergy in matters of faith, ‘yet there is something in the pastorum et fidelium conspiratio, which is not in the pastors alone.’

The recent historical discussion of this matter shows the negative influence of heretical theologians in the Arian controversy. According to Newman, the laity, as the ‘measure of the Catholic spirit,’ can save or destroy the Church in an entire country. In his ‘biglietto speech’ (1879), he prophesied a ‘great apostasy’ in Western culture, when religion is treated as being a question of sentiment and not of divine revelation. This apostasy certainly does not represent the ‘sense of the faith.’

Professor Hauke then assessed the approach of Newman as regards the contemporary discussion. The recent document of the International Theological Commission on the ‘sensus fidei’ (2014) is examined in detail. The conclusion is that the ‘sense of the faith’ must be distinguished from public opinion. For discerning the authentic ‘sensus fidei’ there are certain criteria. The ‘sense of the faith’ is nurtured by the magisterium and clarified by faithful theology. He concluded his submission referring to an address of Pope Benedict XVI on the eve of the beatification of Cardinal Newman in which he called him ‘the great champion of the prophetic office of the Christian laity.’

George Cardinal Pell then delivered his paper The Vine and the Altar: Learning from the Teaching of St. John Paul II on the Priestly role of the Catholic Laity.

Fr. Vincent Twomey introduces Cardinal George Pell

The final paper of the Conference was delivered by Fr. João-Paolo Mendonça Dantas. Entitled The New Movements in the Service of the Unity of the Church. Reflections on the Charismas of Laity in the Light of the Thought of Joseph Ratzinger, the submission noted that during Vespers of the Solemnity of Pentecost 2006, in the context of a festive meeting with the New Movements in St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict XVI addressed a homily to all present that summarized the mission of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in the world through presentation of three of His gifts: life, freedom and unity. Before concluding his homily, the Pope exhorted the members of all Movements: «Dear friends, I ask you to collaborate even more, very much more, in the Pope's universal apostolic ministry, opening doors to Christ». In this homily, the Pope seems to suggest that there is a theological relationship between the ministry of the Successor of Peter and the apostolic activity of the New Movements.

Fr Dantas

This papal statement, Fr Dantas pointed out, echoes a theological idea expressed in a masterly way by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in a paper entitled The ecclesial Movements: A Theological Reflection on Their Place in the Church, delivered during the opening of the World Congress of Ecclesial Movements organized in Rome in 1998 by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

Fr. Dantas sought to present and, analyze Cardinal Ratzinger’s paper from which emerges a beautiful and interesting reflection on the relationship between the New Ecclesial Movements and the ministry of the Successor of Peter, a relationship that, according to the German author, expands, in a sense, the traditional notion of Apostolic Succession. A lively discussion followed.

In its annual report, St. Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy announced that the proceedings of the sixth Fota International Liturgy Conference (held in 2013), edited by Fr. John M. Cunningham, OP, Professor of Christology at the Angelicum University (Rome) and Prior of San Clemente, were about to be sent to the printers. It was expected that the volume, Sacrosanctum Concilium 1963-2013: Liturgy and the Second Vatican Council, would be released early in September 2015. The release of Fota VI would bring the publication of the Conference’s acta up to date and finally eliminated a time-lapse connected with the publication of the proceedings of the Fota I acta in 2010. It is planned that the editing process of this year’s proceedings will be completed by the end of January 2016 and the resulting volume released at Easter 2016.

Mons. James O’Brien, of the St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy

The Society was very happy to announce that the acta of Fota I, Benedict XVI and the Sacred Liturgy, had been translated into German by Emilia and Dr. Peter H. Gorg. The translation was edited by Professor Manfred Hauke and published by Pustet in Regensburg. The German edition of the book carries a foreword by Kurt Cardinal Koch and a review by Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. Copies may be obtained directly from Pustet or through the Society.

The Society also announced that it had launched a pamphlet series to promote liturgical and theological subjects among a wider general audience. The object of the initiative was to make good material easily accessible both in terms of readership pitch and cost.

The first volume in the series, It is Right and Just! The Responses of the Roman Missal, written by Fr. John Cunningham, OP, was released on 1 July 2015. It is essentially a commentary on the responses of the new English translation of the Missale Romanum drawing extensively on the wealth of available patristic sources but to which reference is not always made in liturgical publications. Some copies were available at the Conference while further copies could be obtained through the publishers at smenosbooks@yahoo.co.uk

The Society concluded its annual report by thanking its generous benefactors who underwrite the expenses of the Fota International Liturgy Conference – especially Dr. Carl Anderson and the Knights of Columbus, New Haven, Connecticut, P. Stephan Horn and the Ratzinger/Benedikt XVI Stiftung, Munich, several members of the clergy and laity in the diocese of Cloyne as well as private benefactors in Ireland, the United States and Germany.

A special vote of thanks was extended to Dr. Patrick McCarthy, PP, St. Peter and Paul’s parish, who very kindly made his beautiful church available for the liturgical ceremonies attendant on the Conference and to all who assisted in any way. The proceedings of the Fota VIII International Liturgy Conference were closed by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke.

Latin Mass texts (OF) – Missal Supplement

July 9, 2015, 2:00 am

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The revised English translation of the post-Vatican II Roman Missal, in use in the United States since the First Sunday of Advent 2011, is without question a more faithful translation of the post-Vatican II Missale Romanum than the 1973 translation which it replaced. With the exception of the Pater Noster and Agnus Dei, however, the Latin texts of the Mass were not provided in the new English-language Missal, making it difficult for priests who might wish to alternate freely between Latin and English. Until now, that is.

I am pleased to announce the availability of a Latin supplement to the English-language Roman Missal, the result of a collaborative effort of Ignatius Press, Newman House Press, and the Saint Gregory Foundation for Latin Liturgy. Available in two sizes (standard altar edition and smaller, “chapel” edition), this easy-to-read, easy-to-use supplement contains the entire Ordinary of the Mass (with chants), a generous selection of propers (one each for Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, etc.) as well as several commons, and Prefaces appropriate for the propers. It is designed to be inserted at the back of the Missal by means of adhesive strips, and comes with tabs to mark the Eucharistic Prayers and other key sections of the Mass.

The price is $15. Click HERE to order.

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Sacra Liturgia USA Wrap-Up - A Guest Commentary

July 10, 2015, 2:00 am

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Fr. David Friel, a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and blogger at Views from the Choir Loft has shared his thoughts in a wrap-up below from the June Sacra Liturgia USA 2015 conference, as well as a link to lengthier summary articles he wrote about the conference presentations.

The SLUSA Facebook page also highlights a number of other substantive articles on the conference, especially those from the blogs of the Cardinal Newman Society and James Monti at The Wanderer. 

Also, most readers have probably already seen the official photos from SLUSA, courtesy of Stuart and Jill Chessman, but if not, check them out at the SLUSA flickr page. 

Announcements about Sacra Liturgia 2016 in London and other future events, as well as news of the publication of the proceedings from SLUSA 2015 will be available at the main Sacra Liturgia website, available here: www.sacraliturgia.org. Please note that no audio or video recordings of the presentations and liturgies are available; publication will be in print format only.  

Encountering the Lord on the Upper East Side 

When plans for a Sacra Liturgia conference in New York City were first announced, I was very excited to attend. The 2013 conference in Rome was too far for many Americans to travel, and the prospect of continuing on our shores the work begun two years ago was enticing.

As I sat in the Kaye Playhouse waiting for the opening keynote address to be given, a young man sitting next to me remarked about the noticeable diversity of the conference attendees. In addition to the many priest participants, there were a large number of lay men and women. Participants included professors, musicians, mothers, bishops, seminarians, artists, and non-Catholics. There were people from all across the country present, along with a fair number of international attendees. Ages ranged widely, also, but a youthful vibrancy characterized the proceedings.

From the very outset, it was clear to me that the focus of this conference would be not simply liturgy, but liturgy and evangelization. This was the central theme of the opening remarks delivered by Bishop Frank Caggiano of the Diocese of Bridgeport. He spoke about the New Evangelization and the sacred liturgy as one of its integral tools. Another theme that surfaced throughout the week was beauty. Cardinal Burke, in particular, spoke about our natural human longing for beauty as one of the Transcendentals.

Both themes—evangelization and beauty—were marvelously linked during a presentation by Dr. Margaret Hughes, entitled, “The Ease of Beauty: Liturgy, Evangelization, and Catechesis.” Hughes’ background is in philosophy, and she drew upon her passion for Josef Pieper to make the point that the perception of beauty naturally enables one to participate in the liturgy with ease.

Among the greatest blessings of spending these days in New York City was the fellowship. Sacra Liturgia was an occasion to share conversations (and meals!) with friends I have made through the seminary, the CMAA Colloquium, and the Internet. I also had the happy occasion to meet many new people and to be inspired by their hospitality, good humor, and genuine love for God. The week was an extended experience of the “culture of encounter” about which Pope Francis often speaks.

One of the most significant revelations during the conference came in the form of a letter from Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the CDW. His Eminence explained that, upon his appointment as Prefect, the Holy Father asked him to implement the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council and “to continue the good work in the liturgy begun by Pope Benedict XVI.” The liturgical vision of Pope Francis, therefore, is to be understood in continuity with the liturgical vision of Pope Benedict, not as a rupture with it.

Sacra Liturgia USA 2015 was dense with intellectual content. A number of the lectures made serious contributions to the present liturgical movement, advancing the reform of the reform proposed by Pope Benedict XVI and now encouraged by Pope Francis. I have previously shared many details of the lectures in several posts at Views from the Choir Loft, available HERE. The academic meat of the lectures combined with the rich liturgical celebrations to form an experience that appealed to the whole person, body, mind, and soul.

This was not a closed-door meeting of entirely like-minded people. A couple of the lectures, in fact, took unexpected positions, and several of the presentations prompted vigorous debate in their respective question & answer periods. The diversity of thought strengthened the quality and pertinence of the proceedings.

For me, as a parish priest—not a liturgical scholar or chancery official or seminary professor—the Sacra Liturgia movement has nothing to do with idealism; my participation in these sessions was inspired neither by nostalgia nor by liturgical militancy. My earnest hope, rather, is that the fruit of this conference would be the revitalization of Catholic worship at the grassroots level, such that God might be more perfectly glorified and His people might be more deeply sanctified.

I am grateful to have experienced true beauty, true peace, and true Christian joy in—of all places—Manhattan.

Final Mass of the Colloquium - Latin Ordinary Form

July 10, 2015, 5:30 am

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As part of the final Mass of the CMAA's 2015 Colloquium, Mass was celebrated in the Ordinary Form at the campus chapel at Duquesne University. Thank you for following us this week for the Colloquium, and for more information about the CMAA, NLM's parent organization, check us out at our website and consider supporting the work of the CMAA and become a member.

Ten Reasons to Attend the Traditional Latin Mass

July 10, 2015, 6:00 am

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In the afterglow of the anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, Michael Foley and I have published at OnePeterFive a co-authored article that is likely to be of interest to readers of NLM:

Given that it can often be less convenient for a person or a family to attend the traditional Latin Mass (and I am thinking not only of obvious issues like the place and the time, but also of the lack of a parish infrastructure and the hostile reactions one can get from friends, family, and even clergy), it is definitely worthwhile to remind ourselves of why we are doing this in the first place. If something is worth doing, then it’s worth persevering in—even at the cost of sacrifices.
          This article will set forth a number of reasons why, in spite of all the inconveniences (and even minor persecutions) we have experienced over the years, we and our families love to attend the traditional Latin Mass. Sharing these reasons will, we hope, encourage readers everywhere either to begin attending the usus antiquior or to continue attending if they might be wavering. Indeed, it is our conviction that the sacred liturgy handed down to us by tradition has never been more important in the life of Catholics, as we behold the “pilgrim Church on earth” continue to forget her theology, dilute her message, lose her identity, and bleed her members. By preserving, knowing, following, and loving her ancient liturgy, we do our part to bolster authentic doctrine, proclaim heavenly salvation, regain a full stature, and attract new believers who are searching for unadulterated truth and manifest beauty. By handing down this immense gift in turn, and by inviting to the Mass as many of our friends and our families as we can, we are fulfilling our vocation as followers of the Apostles.

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Seraphicus Pater . . . Apostolicus Pater: A Devotion to Saints Dominic and Francis

July 11, 2015, 2:09 am

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Every once in a while I get an email asking where to find the text and music of the Devotion to Saints Dominic and Francis traditionally sung during the thanksgiving after the main meal on those saints' respective feasts.  There is a old tradition of Dominicans inviting the local the Franciscans to dinner on the Feast of St. Dominic and the Franciscans inviting the local Dominicans on the Feast of St. Francis, and this chant was part of those festivities.  So this text is also known to Franciscans.

I remember hearing it back when I was a novice back in the 1970s, but could never find a copy.  A couple days ago, I was looking for a chant in the Processionarium S.O.P. and there it was in the appendix!  So I made up a version that can be downloaded here.

 The text is actually an antiphon: Seraphicus Pater Franciscus et Apostolicus Pater Dominicus: ipsi nos docuerunt legem tuam, Domine.  ("Seraphic Father Francis and Apostolic Father Dominic: they taught us your law, O Lord."), sung with the Psalm 117 and a Gloria Patri.  The music is simply the Dominican Rite Psalm Tone VI.  So it is not at all hard to learn.  When the chant is sung on the Feast of St. Francis (at the Franciscan house), St. Dominic is named first.

St. Dominic's feast is coming up next month (August 4 in the traditional calendar, August 8 in the new calender), so this good time to make this chant available.

Cardinal Burke’s Sermon at the Fota Conference

July 11, 2015, 3:30 am

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In the midst of the Fota Liturgical Conference recently held in Cork, Ireland, His Eminence Raymond Card. Burke preached the following sermon at a Pontifical Mass celebrated on Sunday in the local church of Ss Peter and Paul. The readings for the Mass to which the sermon refers are those of the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Romans 6, 3-11 and Mark 8, 1-9, the account of the second multiplication of the loaves and fishes.

We can well identify ourselves with the crowd who had gone into the desert to be instructed by Christ. Clearly, a great number of people were hungering for the word of truth which the Lord alone could impart to them, and, for that reason, they had left the ordinary surroundings of their daily life to be in an extraordinary place with Him. In the words of Dom Prosper Guéranger’s commentary on today’s Gospel, the world had “grown weaker and weaker by the effects of original and subsequent sins” and had followed “false teachers, who gradually reduced her to the loss of that law and those gifts of nature which, as St. Ambrose expresses it, had been her vital patrimony.” The people were not just going out to see a popular figure; they were hungering for Christ’s word of truth in a culture marked by pervasive confusion and error about the most fundamental realities of life. They remained with the Lord for three days, and thus He did not want to send them on their way without giving them something to eat. At that point, Christ showed that He was not only speaking the word of truth to them but was also giving them the food of divine love.

Saint Paul instructs us on the reality our life in Christ, which has its source in His Incarnation, Birth, Hidden Life at Nazareth and Public Ministry culminating in His Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we begin to live in Christ. We, like branches, are grafted into the Vine Who is Christ, drawing our life from Him. Christ receives our hearts into His glorious pierced Heart, where He cleanses them from sin and animates them by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Fire of Divine Love. Let us listen to the words of Saint Paul:

Brothers, all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

His language is not merely figurative, even as the attraction of the crowd to Christ did not arise from some insubstantial populism. Life in Christ is a true participation in His suffering and dying, a true carrying of the Cross, which brings a share already now of the perfect happiness which is the sure and final destiny of the Way of the Cross.

Dom Prosper Guéranger comments on Saint Paul’s inspired teaching on the Christian life with these words:

The holiness, the sufferings, and then the glory of the Lord Jesus – in a word, His life continued in His members – this is St. Paul’s notion of the Christian life: a notion most simple and sublime, which, in the apostle’s mind, resumes the whole commencement, progress, and consummation of the work of the Spirit of love in every soul that is sanctified… If the very first effect of the sanctification of one who, by Baptism, is buried together with Christ, be to make him a new man, to create him afresh in this Man-God, to ingraft his new life upon the life of Jesus whereby to bring forth new fruits, – we cannot wonder at the apostle’s unwillingess to give us any other rule for our contemplation or our practice than the study and imitation of this divine model. There, and there only, is man’s perfection; there is his happiness… If we be of St. Paul’s school, adopting, as we shall then do, the sentiments of our Lord Jesus Christ, and making them our own, we shall become other Christs, or, rather, one only Christ with the Man-God, by the sameness of thoughts and virtues, under the impulse of the same sanctifying Spirit. How much we need to return to the simple and sublime notion of holiness of life, to draw upon the grace of our baptism, in order to remain on the way of the Cross which alone brings us happiness! (The Liturgical Year, Time after Pentecost vol. 2)

How much we, living members of the Body of Christ, need to be more deeply and securely united in heart with the Heart of Jesus, so that the Church may bring the truth and love of Christ to our culture! I think of my homeland, the United States of America, which celebrated yesterday Independence Day. The Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, invoking “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” to justify the people’s separation from the governance of the King of Great-Britain, in order to found a new nation, made clear the truths upon which the new nation was to be founded: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” The document rightly observes that all government exists to secure the respect and safeguarding of these fundamental rights.

Yet almost two hundred years later, in 1973, the highest tribunal of the nation took away the right to life from the innocent and defenseless unborn, and on this past June 26th, in defiance of “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” the same Supreme Court redefined the nature of marriage and its fruit, the family, the first cell of the life of society. The deadly confusion and error which such decisions represent for the United States of America, and similar confusion and error in other nations, demand from the Church a clear, courageous and tireless witness to the word of Christ, to the truth written upon every human heart, the truth upon which the happiness of the individual and the common good absolutely depend. The Church cannot stand by silent or idle, while a people is destroying itself by lawlessness, even if the lawlessness be clothed in the garment of the highest judicial authority.

Where does the Church find the clarity, the courage and the tirelessness to give witness to the truth which transforms society for the good of all? It is in the Heart of Jesus as He pours forth the grace of the Holy Spirit into our hearts, especially through the Sacraments. As we are blessed once again to celebrate some days in the deeper study of the Sacred Liturgy and, in particular, in the deeper study of the relationship of the Sacred Liturgy to the royal priesthood of the baptized, today’s readings from the Holy Scriptures remind us that the baptized are consecrated to serve the saving work of Christ in the world, to give their lives, with Christ, for the transformation of the world.

Pope Saint John Paul II, in his first Encyclical Letter, Redemptor Hominis, reflecting upon the kingly mission of the baptized, reminded us:

Nowadays it is sometimes held, though wrongly, that freedom is an end in itself, that each human being is free when he makes use of freedom as he wishes, and that this must be our aim in the lives of individuals and societies. In reality, freedom is a great gift only when we know how to use it consciously for everything that is our true good. Christ teaches us that the best use of freedom is charity, which takes concrete form in self-giving and in service. For this “freedom Christ has set us free” and ever continues to set us free. The Church draws from this source the unceasing inspiration, the call and the drive for her mission and her service among all mankind. The full truth about human freedom is indelibly inscribed on the mystery of the Redemption. The Church truly serves mankind when she guards this truth with untiring attention, fervent love and mature commitment and when in the whole of her own community she transmits it and gives it concrete form in human life through each Christian’s fidelity to his vocation. This confirms what we have already referred to, namely that man is and always becomes the “way” for the Church’s daily life.

May these days of study of the Sacred Liturgy lead us all to find in the Mystery of Faith, in the Eucharistic mystery, the pattern of our daily living for our salvation and the salvation of our world. May we be inspired to seek the truth of Christ by uniting our hearts to His own in the Eucharistic sacrifice. Thus we will strengthen ever more our life in Him through Baptism and bear abundant fruit for our freedom and the freedom of all men.

Let us now lift up our hearts, together with the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus, opened by the soldier’s spear on Calvary and forever opened for us in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. In the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, may our hearts be purified of sin and inflamed with pure and selfless love. So may we live the truth of the Mystery of Faith, in fidelity to our baptismal consecration, for the salvation of the world.