WHICH IS THE GREATEST THREAT TO THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH, SO DESIRED BY POPE LEO, THE SSPX OR THE GERMAN SYNODAL WAY? I WILL GIVE YOU A CLUE, IT ISN’T THE SSPX!

The Pillar has a good news article on the German Heretical/schismatic way, which is not just one religious institute, like the FSSPX, going rogue, but about entire national Church going heretical and schismatic and wanting to spread this contagious heretical/schismatic virus into a worldwide Catholic pandemic. 

The SSPX are chicken feed compared to the German Heretical/Schismatic Way. I can’t think of anything heretical in the SSPX but certainly there are canonical and disciplinary issues as well as disrespect for the Supreme Pontiff as certain non-doctrinal pastoral aspects of Vatican II to include the post-Vatican II Bugnini Fabricated Mass. 

Here is a money byte from the Coppen/Pillar news story linked in the title below:

German media reported that there was “widespread outrage” at the Jan. 30 session of the sixth assembly after the presentation of a study of the implementation of synodal way resolutions in dioceses. The text was heavily criticized because it presented the results for all 27 dioceses without singling out any by name.

At the Jan. 31 session, participants debated a resolution calling on the synodal conference “to regularly monitor the implementation of the decisions of the synodal way.”

According to a live report on the debate by Kirche und Leben, a Catholic news site based in the Münster diocese, Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising strongly objected. 

The site quoted him as saying: “I foresee significant difficulties. I do not want a higher authority that constantly monitors me as a bishop. This is precisely what Rome has criticized. It is not desirable.”

“I caution against pursuing this path. It is evident that we are discussing decisions in principle. However, I am firmly opposed to this proposal.”

Marx’s intervention was notable, because he was one of the synodal way’s architects, presiding over the initiative’s launch in 2019, when he was chairman of the German bishops’ conference.

You can read the Pillar news story by pressing their title:

Synodal way meeting ends with clash over monitoring dioceses

The proposal would have the synodal conference monitor how the decisions of the synodal way are implemented in dioceses.

LUKE COPPEN

SCHISMATICS COME CHEAP IN THE EAST AND WEST, A DIME A DOZEN, THUS IT IS TIME FOR THE FSSPX TO JOIN THE FSSP AND FOR POPE LEO TO MAKE A TLM ORDINARIATE WITH HUNDREDS OF BISHOPS IN COMMUNION WITH THE POPE…

 From Lifesite News:

BREAKING: SSPX announces consecration of bishops without Vatican approval

The bishops of the SSPX have been tasked with ‘proceeding with new episcopal consecrations’ on July 1, according to an official press release from Superior General Fr. Davide Pagliarani.

DID YOUR PARISH CELEBRATE GROUND HOG DAY OR THE GLORIOUS BUGNINI MASS FOR THE BLESSING OF CANDLES (CANDLEMAS) AND THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD?

And did you parish celebrate Candlemas as the Bugnini Mass prescribes, which is quite beautiful?

Here’s the outdoor Liturgy for the Blessing of parishioner’s lighted candles:

This feast was originally celebrated in the Eastern Churches as "The Meeting" or "Encountering" (Hypapante), in the Church mankind meets the Lord. By the sixth century it began to be celebrated in the West, where the focus became the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was accompanied by solemn blessings and processions with candles; hence, it is popularly called "Candlemas." By the offerings of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph and the prophecy of St. Simeon, the life of Christ here begins to point toward his Resurrection. 

The following is the The blessing of candles, procession and Mass propers for Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Third Roman Missal. 

Prayer:

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

The Blessing of Candles and the Procession

First Form: The Procession

At an appropriate hour, a gathering takes place at a small church or other suitable place other than inside the church to which the procession will go. The faithful hold in their hands unlighted candles.

The Priest, wearing white vestments as for Mass, approaches the ministers. Instead of the chasuble, the Priest may wear a cope, which he leaves aside after the procession is over. 

While the candles are being lit, the following antiphon or another appropriate chant is sung.

Behold, our Lord will come with power, 
to enlighten the eyes of his servants, alleluia. 

Or the LATIN PREFERENCE:

Ecce Dominus noster cum virtute veniet, 
ut illuminet oculos servorum suorum, alleluia. 

When the chant is concluded, the Priest, facing the people, says:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

Then the Priest greets the people in the usual way, and next he gives an introductory address, encouraging the faithful to celebrate the rite of this feast day actively and consciously. He may use these or similar words:

Dear brethren (brothers and sisters), 
forty days have passed since we celebrated the joyful feast 
of the Nativity of the Lord. 
Today is the blessed day 
when Jesus was presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph. 
Outwardly he was fulfilling the Law, 
but in relation he was coming to meet his believing people. 
Prompted by the Holy Spirit, 
Simeon and Anna came to the Temple. 
Enlightened by the same Spirit, 
they recognized the Lord 
and confessed him with exultation. 
So let us also, gathered together by the Holy Spirit, 
proceed to the house of God to encounter Christ. 
There we shall find him 
and recognize him in the breaking of the bread, 
until he comes again, revealed in glory. 

After the address the Priest blesses the candles, saying, with hands extended:

Let us pray. 
O God, source and origin of all light, 
who on this day showed to the just man Simeon 
the Light for revelation to the Gentiles, 
we humbly ask that, 
in answer to your people's prayers, 
you may be pleased to sanctify with your blessing + these candles, 
which we are eager to carry in praise of your name, 
so that, treading the path of virtue, 
we may reach that light which never fails. 
Through Christ our Lord. 
R. Amen

He sprinkles the candles with holy water without saying anything, and puts incense into the thurible for the procession.

Then the Priest receives from the Deacon or a minister the lighted candle prepared for him and the procession begins, with the Deacon announcing (or, if there is no Deacon, the Priest himself):

Let us go in peace to meet the Lord. 

Or:

Let us go forth in peace. 

In this case, all respond:

R. In the name of Christ. Amen.

All carry lighted candles. As the procession moves forward, one or other of the Antiphons that follow is sung, namely the antiphon A light for revelation with the canticle (Luke 2:29032), or the Antiphon Sion, adorn your bridal chamber or another appropriate chant.

I.

Ant. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. 

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace, in accordance with your word. 

Ant. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. 
For my eyes have seen your salvation. 

Ant. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. 
Which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples. 

Ant. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. 

II.

Ant. Sion, adorn your bridal chamber and welcome Christ the King; take Mary in your arms, who is the gate of heaven, for she herself is carrying the King of glory and new light. A Virgin she remains, though bringing in her hands the Son before the morning star begotten, whom Simeon, taking in his arms announced to the peoples as Lord of life and death and Savior of the world. 

As the procession enters the church, the Entrance Antiphon of the Mass is sung. When the Priest has arrived at the altar, he venerates it and, if appropriate, incenses it. Then he goes to the chair, where he takes off the cope, if he used it in the procession, and puts on a chasuble. 

ALTHOUGH NOT PRESCRIBED THE KYRIE IS CHANTED FOLLOWED BY THE CHANTING OF THE GLORIA.

After the singing of the hymn Gloria in excelsis (Glory to God in the highest), he chants the Collect as usual. The Mass continues in the usual manner.

EVEN ANGLICANS AND LUTHERANS CELEBRATE SEPTUAGESIMA (THEY ALSO HAVE AD ORIENTEM AND ALTAR RAILINGS) BUT ONE FORM OF THE TWO FORMS OF THE ONE ROMAN RITE DOES NOT! YOU GUESSED IT, THE BUGNINI RITE!

 

From AI:

Septuagesima is 

the pre-Lenten season in the traditional Catholic liturgical calendar, comprising the three Sundays before Ash Wednesday (Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima). Beginning on Feb 1, 2026, it serves as a 17-day transition from the joy of Epiphany to thepenitence of Lent, marked by purple vestments and the omission of "Alleluia". 

Key aspects of the Septuagesima season include:

• Purpose: It acts as a "spiritual warm-up" or preparation period for the rigorous fasting and prayer of the Lenten season.
• Liturgical Changes: In the traditional Latin Mass, the Gloria and Alleluia are omitted, and the color violet is used to signify a shift to a more sober, penitential tone.
• Significance: The term, meaning "seventieth" in Latin, symbolizes the70-year Babylonian exile, representing a time of reflection on human sinfulness and the need for redemption before the 40 days of Lent.
• Tradition: While removed from the modern (Novus Ordo) calendar, it is still observed in traditional Catholic, Saint Aelred Catholic Church, and Ordinariate liturgies and also some Anglicans and Lutherans. 

This period acts as a bridge, allowing the faithful to gradually move from festive time into a season of fasting, often linked with the start of Carnival or the "farewell to meat" before the Lenten fast. 

A POPE WHO APPRECIATES PAPAL PROTOCOL AND THOSE WHO PROVIDE FOR IT…

To Gentlemen working for His Holiness, to Antechamber Attendants and Pontifical Chair Bearers

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you!

Good morning to all, welcome!

Dear Gentlemen, Ushers and Chamberlains,

I am particularly pleased with this meeting, which – for once – is dedicated specifically to you, and allows me to offer you a word of gratitude and encouragement. I greet the Regent of the Prefecture of the Papal Household, Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, and the Vice-Regent, Father Edward Daleng, O.S.A., who coordinate your service. I express my gratitude to all of you, especially for the spirit of fidelity to the Pope with which you carry out your duties. This dedication accompanies and helps me daily in my apostolic mission, benefiting all those I meet in state visits, audiences, on the most solemn occasions as well as the more familiar ones.  Speaking of which, I think your work can be well summarized by three verbs, which encapsulate its meaning and value: preparing, welcoming, greeting.

The quality of an encounter, in fact, begins with the care that distinguishes its preparations, down to the smallest details. Rich in history and art, the space we inhabit demands a service that is both attentive and humble. The arrangement of the rooms is followed by the diligence of gestures of welcome and greeting that are noble but not affected, elegant but not sophisticated, so as to communicate affability to everyone. Whether prince or pilgrim, patriarch or postulant, the solicitude of the Successor of Peter remains the same towards all and loving towards each one.

The sober beauty that distinguishes the papal protocol is reflected in your every gesture. Thinking of the history of those who preceded you, bear witness to their values ​​with a consistent life, knowing well that the service of honor certainly requires a peculiar code of conduct, but first and foremost a solid faith, and therefore a spiritual style marked by devotion to the Church and the Pope. May your actions, posture, and daily glances always be a luminous reflection of this. As I encourage you to continue diligently in the various services in which you collaborate, each according to your respective role, I reaffirm my gratitude to you and impart the Apostolic Blessing, which I gladly extend to your families and loved ones. Thank you!

By contrast, Pope Francis blessing the St. Michael the Archangel statue in the Vatican Gardens:

IT IS SO SAD, SAD I WRITE, THAT THOSE WHO ONLY KNOW THE BUGNINI MASS AND ROMAN CALENDAR ARE COMPLETLY CLUELESS THAT ASH WEDNESDAY IS THREE WEEKS AWAY AND EASTER 70 DAYS AWAY!

 BUT, TLM CATHOLICS KNOW ALL OF THIS—THEY LIVE IN THE LIGHT, NOT DARKNESS!

THIS IS A POWERFUL CATHOLIC VIDEO AND VERY COMPASSIONATE BUT NO NONSENSE!

YOU CAN WATCH THE FACEBOOK VIDEO HERE AND THE GREAT COMPASSIONATE CATHOLIC COMMENTARY HERE!

ROMAN VESTMENTS AND ALTAR GIRLS: BISHOP GUIDO MARINI HAS NOT SUPPRESSED EITHER OF THESE…AND THEN THERE IS NEW ZEALAND…

 

Holy Family Church, New Zealand:

Brutal outside but glorious inside, like so many of us!

ORGANIC DEVELOPMENT IN APPLYING THE PRINCIPLES OF SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM TO THE TRIDENTINE LITURGIES

In the Church today, there are those who say that the Bugnini fabricated Mass did not employ organic development—Pope Benedict XVI was of this school of thought.

There are others who say that the Bugnini fabricated Mass did employ organic development and get over it. Pope Francis was definitely of this school of thought.

But, your most brilliant humble blogger has his own brilliant but most humble thoughts on what organic development might have been if it had occurred for the Tridentine Liturgies.

Here are these brilliant but most humble assertions as it concerns implementing Sacrosanctum Concilium to the Tridentine liturgies:

1. As it concerns implementing “noble simplicity” there should not have been a revamping of the Order of the Mass but rather a pruning away of certain ceremonies associated with the various forms of the Pontifical Masses and even the normal parish Solemn Sung Mass with deacon and subdeacon. All the minutia surrounding which foot to use ascending to the altar, the kissing of the priest’s hands, the holding of the patten with a humeral veil and the ceremony of getting it to the altar and even not using the paten for the entire Canon of the Mass, could all have been simplified and pruned away. But the Order of the Mass, in its entirety, should never have been changed as it developed organically.

2. In terms of useless repetition,  the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar could have been pruned back to eliminate the double comfiteors and absolutions, one for the priest and the other for the servers. The double ceremonies for the Communion of the Priest and then the Communion of the laity rightly should be combined as it is in the Bugnini Mass but not eliminating the triple Domini non sum dignus. It is essential, though, that the priest consumes the Holocaust first to complete the Sacrifice and only then the laity to receive Holy Communion as a share in that Sacrifice. 

3. None of the private priestly prayers of the priest should have been eliminated. This was a chopping down, not a pruning and certainly not organic development. That these prayers are in the 1962 Missal is organic development. 

4. To unify the actions of the priest with what the choir/laity are singing is organic development. For example in the sung Mass, as the choir/laity chant the Kryie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei, the priest independently of that says these prayers. For the Kyrie, Gloria and Credo, after he says these prayers quickly, he sits to allow the choir/laity to complete their singing of these parts. And for the Sanctus, after he says it he jumps forward to say the first part of the Canon. Unifying these actions was accomplished in the 1964-65 Tridentine transitional Missal.

5. Saying the Canon in a loud voice rather than a low voice would be organic development. 

6. Kneeling for Holy Communion in the Latin Rite was an organic development and should not have been nipped in the bud or branch!

7. Experiments with celebrating the Tridentine Mass facing the congregation occurred prior to Vatican II and this could be seen as an organic development but the ethos of how the Mass was celebrated facing the congregation never had the priest “playing” to the congregation of reading prayers as if to the congregation.

8. The manner of the Bugnini Liturgy of the Word is an organic development and could have been implemented in the Tridentine Mass and it was in the 64-65 Missal. 

9. More lavish use of Scripture should never have ended with the Propers of the Mass as just one option, although the first, among some other subjective choices that are not Scripture. These should always be sung or said and when sung, it should be in Latin to preserve Latin and Gregorian Chant. Psalm 42 should not be eliminated from the PATFOTA except for Requiem Mass (which should have maintained its unique aspects) and during Passiontide. The Gloria Patri should not have been chopped down from the Mass at various points—that wasn’t organic development but destruction. 

10. The expansion of the lectionary is certainly organic development but the ancient lectionary should have been maintained and the addition years of “b and c” should have been modeled on it. 

11. In terms of including the laity in the sung Mass’s Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, which acts as a pre-Mass Penitential Act, the Entrance Chant could begin after all participated in the PATFOTA, pruned back as I suggest above. Thus after the PATFOTA, the priest ascends to the altar to reverence it and incense it, as the Introit is chanted and then after incensing the altar, the priest goes to the chair for the chanted Kyrie and Gloria and then he greets the laity with “The Lord be with you” at the chair and then prays the Collect at the chair. The Credo and Intercessions (which should be a prescribed litany) should be at the chair as well as the Prayer after Holy Communion, but the Dismissal and Final Blessing at the altar with the private prayers of the priest. (All of this would be an organic development.)

12. Additional votive Masses, Masses for particular needs, as well as additional prefaces are a part of organic development. The organic development of only one Canon in the Latin Rite Mass and said aloud or in low voice in Latin should have been maintained. Additional Eucharistic Prayers goes against noble simplicity and giving the priest choices that he makes alone in the Mass in terms of which Eucharistic Prayer and which Penitential Act creates a clericalism not in the Tridentine Mass. 

13. Progressive solemnity based upon what the priest wants to do should be suppressed but more options of how the Sung Mass could be sung is wise. The Full Sung Mass would have the priest chant the Collect, Prayer over the Offerings (aloud) and Post Communion Prayer as well as the Preface dialogue and Preface. The Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Great Amen, Pater Noster and Agnus Dei would be chanted.

14. A partially sung Mass might see the priest not singing his parts but the laity’s parts are sung. Perhaps the Credo would not be chanted in some Masses.

15. The Low Mass, with no singing except for four hymns, could be recovered but the chanted Mass seen as the norm for the parish’s Principle Mass or Masses. 

16. I think  maintaining Latin and allowing some vernacular means that in the Sung Mass the Propers are always chanted in Gregorian Latin Chant and perhaps the Eucharistic Prayer in Latin as well as the Sanctus, Pater Noster and Agnus Dei. That would be organic development in allowing all else in the vernacular. 

17. I don’t believe that the wholesale revamping of the Roman Calendar was organic development nor the changing of the orations of the Sunday Masses. All of that should have been maintained in its basic foundation. 

REASON 6,666,666,666,666,666,666,666 FOR AD ORIENTEM!!!!

 While not a valid Mass, this is the most valid way for the “Archbishop of Canterbury” to celebrate whatever she is celebrating below. It makes a great photo although a faux sacrament. I wonder how she keeps a zucchetto on her head, though:

THIS IS A FAIR AND BALANCED RECOMMENDATION TO POPE LEO ABOUT WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A MASS LIKE THE TLM (CREDIT: WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A GIRL LIKE MARIA)!

The “New Liturgical Movement’s” article, has two things I have proposed, the Ordinariate route to the TLM and a “reform of the reform” of the Bugnini Mass to make it more in line with what Sacrosanctum recommended for a future reform.

The linked article below makes a good case, actually, an excellent case, for Pope Leo to return the Church to the brilliant solution of Pope Benedict XVI in terms of reestablishing Summorum Pontificum and abrogating the Motu Proprio of Pope Francis, Traditionis Custodis. 

I would add, that returning the magisterial document of Summorum Pontificum should not be done as a motu-Proprio but a more significant document like an apostolic letter or even a Bull. That would prevent future popes canceling various magisterial teachings of predecessor popes. 

What many people, like Pope Benedict and the article I link below, lament, is that the requests of Vatican II concerning the Church’s liturgy were manufactured in a very brief time period and not  allowed to develop organically.

How does one, then, promote organic development over time, on the heels of an Ecumenical Council which said the liturgical books should be revised to promote actual interior and exterior participation, noble simplicity, more Scripture and intelligibility and allowing some vernacular but maintaining Latin?

Where would what Vatican II requested for the reform of the Mass, be today if it were left to organic development over a period of time and how is that done in a universal way??????

You can read the wonderfully excellent recommendation to Pope Leo XIV by pressing the NLM title below:

The Question of the Traditional Mass in Pope Leo XIV’s Pontificate

A guest article by the Canon of Shaftesbury, who serves as a canonist in a major archdiocese.

WHY I AM A CATHOLIC, NOT A PROTESTANT OR AN ANGLICAN OR AN EASTERN ORTHODOX OR A NONE!

At the “Where Peter Is” blog, also known as “Where Francis Was” Pedro Gabriel has a video on why he is a Catholic and remains so:

Pedro Gabriel shares his personal faith journey, as a gradual process shaped by study, experience, and a desire for intellectual coherence.

Pedro talks about the moments that forced him to take his beliefs seriously again: his growing up in Portugal, the 2007 abortion referendum, his work in medicine, and his encounter with the writings of Pope Benedict XVI. He also reflects on how his faith was later challenged and refined during the papacy of Pope Francis.

This is a reflection on faith and reason, authority and conscience, and what it has meant to remain Catholic while trying to think honestly and consistently.

My response:

For me, the hierarchy of reasons why I remain a Catholic consists of the four or so most important reasons:

1. Jesus is One Divine Person, with two natures, Human and Divine

2. In His public Ministry He began to found and form His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

3. By the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and and mediated through the Catholic Church, which the Risen Lord founded, I can experience salvation through God’s grace that enables me to repent of my sins, and to strive to know, love and serve Jesus Christ in this world and to be happy with Him forever in heaven and with the communion of saints and angels!

4. I am a Catholic because I want God forgives the Original Sin of Adam and Eve and my own personal/actual sins through the ministry of the Church He founded and through that Church leads me to eternal life in heaven won for us by the same Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

In other words I want to go to heaven. That’s why I am a Catholic.

Everything else, faith and reason, nice liturgies, popes that look like popes in dress and manner, are all icing on the cake but not essential to me remaining a Catholic. Because Jesus founded the Cathoic Church is the only reason I remain a Catholic. If that wasn’t true and heaven is an automatic thing, I’d be a none and practicing pagan in every aspect of the word.   

POPE LEO MAKES IT “CLEAR” THAT HIS HOLINESS DISAGREES WITH CARDINALS ROCHE AND CUPICH WHEN IT COMES TO THE BUGNINI MASS BEING THE SOURCE OF UNITY FOR THE ROMAN RITE: POPE LEO PRAISES THE CATHEDRAL IN TOLEDO (SPAIN) FOR PRESERVING THE “HISPANO-MOZARABIC LITURGY “AS A LIVING TESTIMONY OF FAITH AND COMMUNIOIN WITH THE HOLY SEE OF PETER!”

BOMBSHELL: POPE LEO DECLARES THAT THE HISPANO-MOZARABIC LITURGY OF THE ONE ROMAN RITE IS A TESTIMONY OF FAITH AND (FULL) COMMUNION WITH THE SEE OF PETER!

 Of course, and yes to contradict Cardinals Roche and Cupich, the unity of the Church is not found in the exclusive use of the Bugnini Mass of the Roman Rite, but rather in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, experienced in every form of the Holy Mass or Divine Liturgy of the Church of the East and West in union with the Successor of Saint Peter! That certainly includes the Hispano-Mozarabic Rite and more importantly and more widely celebrated Ancient Form of the Latin Mass (Tridentine, Extraordinary, TLM)!

Thus, of course, given all the negative rhetoric about the Ancient Form of the Mass that has a 1,600 year tradition, being no longer considered a Mass that brings unity to the Roman Rite (such crap) it is a important what Pope Leo says about the Hispano-Mozarabic Liturgy!

From Vatican News (full story HERE):

Liturgy, music and jubilee

Leo XIV underlined the value of the Hispano-Mozarabic liturgy, celebrated daily in Toledo Cathedral as a living testimony of faith and of communion with the See of Peter. This musical and spiritual tradition forms part of the Centenary Music Programme, which seeks to recover and renew the Cathedral’s rich soundscape, drawing both on its historical archives and on contemporary productions.

• THIS IS FROM AI CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF THE HISPANO-MOZARABIC RITE:
• Suppression & Survival: In 1085, Pope Gregory VII ordered the suppression of the rite in favor of the Roman Rite to unify the Western Church. It was only preserved in a few parishes in Toledo, Spain.
• Cisneros Reform: In the early 16th century, Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisnerossaved the rite from extinction by printing new liturgical books and establishing the Mozarabic Chapel in the Primal Cathedral of Toledo.
• Modern Status: A reformed version of the rite was approved by the Vatican in 1988 following the principles of the Second Vatican Council. Today, it is celebrated daily in the Toledo Cathedral and occasionally in Madrid and Salamanca. 

The Hispano-Mozarabic liturgy (or Hispanic Rite) is an ancient Latin liturgical tradition originating in the Iberian Peninsula (Visigothic era) that was preserved by Christians under Muslim rule (Mozarabs). Centered in Toledo, it is distinct from the Roman Rite, featuring a unique, long structure, daily Creed, and nine-part breaking of the host. It remains a celebrated, albeit rare, Rite in the Catholic Church. 

Key Characteristics and History

• Origins: Developed in the 4th-7th centuries, it is also known as the Visigothic rite.
• "Mozarab" Terminology: Refers to Christians living under Muslim rule after 711 who maintained this tradition.
• Suppression and Survival: Largely replaced by the Roman Rite in the 11th century, it was preserved in specific Toledo chapels (e.g., Mozarabic Chapel in Toledo Cathedral) through the efforts of Cardinal Cisneros in the 16th century.
• Distinct Features:
  • Structure: Significantly different from the Roman Mass, featuring unique prayers like the Illatio (similar to the Preface).
  • The Breaking of Bread: The host is broken into nine pieces, representing mysteries of Christ's life.
  • Creed: The Nicene Creed is recited daily.
  • "And the Son": The creed includes the Filioque ("and the Son") clause.
  • Our Father: The congregation responds "Amen" to each of the seven petitions.
• Modern Usage: Following reform in the 1980s-90s, it is celebrated daily in Toledo and on special occasions in Spain and the Vatican. 

The rite is considered a crucial element of cultural and religious identity for the Mozarab community and a "national treasure" of Spanish Christianity.