Our young up-start parochial vicar, energetic, pious, and with the ability to do all thing better than anyone else has done before, who is also out-going and very likable also wants to celebrate the EF Mass on a rotating basis with me. We celebrate it the First Sunday of the month as a High Mass and each Tuesday as a low Mass.
While he had a course on it at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, he has yet to celebrate it since his ordination in early June. Last evening he attended the 5:00 PM EF Low Mass to observe the expert that I am, much older, refined, intentional in energy and scope of ability, really like a finely aged, dry, humorous red wine, celebrate this Mass as it is meant to be celebrated within the much touted "hermeneutic of continuity" method that Pope Benedict has promoted in his finely aged magnificent self.
Afterwards I mistakenly asked the upstart parochial vicar for any comments on the Mass and how I celebrated it. Of course given his nature he proceeded to tell me all the things I did wrong, for example the lack of military, robotic, mechanical movements at the altar, not holding my arms exactly in the right way in the "orans" position where the hands and arms do not extend beyond the shoulders (as wide as mine are)and the less than precise holding of my hands and greeting people as I turn to them for the extension of my arms at the "Dominus Vobiscum."
I tried to explain to my young, smart, outgoing, energetic, pious, know it all parochial vicar that I agree with Pope Benedict that the OF Mass should have some influence on the EF Msss and the EF Mass on the OF Mass and that I love the hermeneutic of continuity especially for the EF Mass that our Holy Father promotes.
We'll see come the First Sunday of October at 2:00 PM when my young, upstart, energetic, outgoing, well beloved by all who witness his piety and sincerity, not to mention his energy and ability to conquer the religious world of Macon just how robotic and anti-hermeneutic of continuity between the EF and the OF Mass he will be. Time will tell.
14 comments:
Don't be too hard on Father Kwiatkowski. At least he's eager to say the EF, whereas you were singularly unsuccessful in your ability to get Father Ferguson on the EF band wagon other than as an MC.
Perhaps we can have the EF Mass on 1st and 3rd Sundays once he's up to snuff!!
Fr. Dawid is the latest in a long line of top notch Vicars we have had at St. Jo's since Fr. MacDonald has been here. He is very young, but you can feel his power and passion across the room. He received his baptism under fire 2 weeks after his ordination when a local female law student parishioner was brutally murdered while Fr. was on vacation. Fr. Dawid handled it beautifully.
Having observed our Vicars for a few years, and having known and seen many others in other parishes, I asked Fr. one day if hwe had some kind of inside track to getting all the top Vicars. He said, "Well, no, I don't think so."
He then added, sheepishly, "Well, the Bishop did appoint me to the Diocesan personnel board..." Give me a break...LOL!
The two complaints I most often hear from new parochial vicars are that (A.) they have no real role in the life of the parish and (B.) their Parish Priest doesn't give them the freedom to celebrate Mass in a traditional manner (within the bounds of the rubrics, GIRM 111). I suspect your new assistant will not complain of these things.
Father, I respectfully disagree with your analysis of the "influence" the Novus Ordo should have on the Tridentine Mass.
In the indult Quattuor Abhinc Annos, the Congregation for Divine Worship stated: "There must be no interchanging of texts and rites of the two Missals."
More recently, in Universae Ecclesia, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei stated: "The liturgical books of the forma extraordinaria are to be used as they are. All those who wish to celebrate according to the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite must know the pertinent rubrics and are obliged to follow them correctly."
I disagree that the Holy Father foresaw, anticipated, or encouraged a "relaxation" of the rubrics of the 1962 Missal when promulgating Summorum Pontificum. I do think it is clear, however, that he wished for the very "robotic" rubrics of that Missal to have an impact on the celebration of the Novus Ordo. The influence, therefore, really travels in one direction. This is proper because, quite frankly, there is only one direction that needs to be influenced. The Tridentine Mass lacks nothing and needs no influence from the Novus Ordo.
My last comment sounds harsh (and that was unintentional). Of course, we are all blessed to have the Latin Mass here in Macon (thanks to Fr. McDonald) and very much looking forward to Fr. Dawid's first Latin Mass.
I, for one, will be quite interested (as I always am) in hearing about his experience celebrating the Latin Mass for the first time. Perhaps we can have Fr. Dawid do a guest post on this blog after his first Latin Mass to share his impressions...?
For those of us who are trying to get people to attend the Latin Mass, this is a great opportunity that we should not let pass us by. We should try to use whatever resources we have to have as many people assist at this Mass as possible! Any ideas of how to get people in the pews for this special Mass?
"Any ideas of how to get people in the pews for this special Mass?"
Threats of Hellfire and damnation...oops, sorry...residual Calvinism kicking in...LOL!
As I look into the face of Fr. Kwiatowski, I see an intensity that edifies and inspires my lukewarm spirit.
What a blessing to know that they are teaching the EF at Mt. Saint Mary's!
I'd like to not just see the Tridentine Mass performed on more than one Sunday, but also because I work graveyard shift I'd really appreciate a morning Tridentine Mass.
I also agree with Marc in that the Novus Ordo really shouldn't in any way influence the Mass of Ages. Indeed the influence should only flow from the Tridentine to the Novus Ordo. Though I doubt I'd even like it much then unless it was basically a Tridentine in the vernacular. This Novus Ordo resembles too much the Protestant Bible readings, er... services.
I once heard a recording of the traditional Mass (1962 missal plus recent revisions) being celebrated in English in the late '60's, and the priest and people DID sound like robots! It was very strange. Having the two Roman forms together in a parish these days will surely help us celebrate both in a human way, without our particular personalities dominating either one. I think we are on the verge of a high point in Roman liturgical history (although my outlook varies from week to week!).
Sounds like the rigid northern European versus relaxed southern European conflict has resurfaced. Fr. I see you looking over his shoulder in those photos, so maybe you could offer to record it and do a frame-by-frame debrief afterwards. He might relax them ;-)
rcg
Fr. Shelton, I hope you are correct about the "high point in Roman liturgical history." Things could not get much lower than some of the slap-stick liturgy brought to us by the post Vat II crowd.
I'm just happy to hear that our Savannah Diocese will gain one more priest (and a younger one at that!) who will be able to celebrate the Extraordinary Form.
If more priests (regardless of how long they've been ordained) would simply take the time to learn and practice the EF, then, little by little ("brick by brick"), the EF could become a regular part of parish life and spread throughout the Diocese. Only then can we experience a true "reform of the reform" of the Ordinary Form because the EF will have an effect on how both priests and laypeople experience and understand the Liturgy.
As I've commented before, maybe right now Summorum Pontificum doesn't exist in the Diocese of Savannah (except in Macon and Savannah) but if more priests will follow Fr. Dawid's example this can all change for the better for all of us.
Now, if someone can just get Fr. Dawid's hat size . . .(Leaflet Missal Co. sells a very nice collapsible Italian-made biretta with black pom--reasonably priced!)
Apparently he spares noone.
I like the videotaping and post-event debriefing idea..and I bet a hundred bucks that your parochial vicar would actually like it too.
Probably, he would LOVE it.
Keep us posted....;-)
~SqueekerLamb
Post a Comment