This commentary isn’t about the TLM, but about the modern Mass, but reformed to be in continuity with the TLM.
Everyone has their own opinion about why so many Catholics, up to 83% of them, do not go to Mass and certainly don’t think anything special is happening during the Mass. It is social change, individualism, loss of faith, loss of confidence in the bishops and priests of the Church, to include the pope, loss of transcendence, dignity and reverence. Why go and be bored to death with blah and homilies that put most people to sleep or to a zoning out state of mind?
The Modern Mass is here to stay, but its form and manner of celebration is not set in concrete.
I am angered and frustrated that Pope Benedict did not create a “new Consilium” to reform the Modern Mass, which is in need of reform more so than the TLM at the time of the Council was reformed fixing things that weren’t broken.
Here is what needs to be done:
1. Restore the ancient order of the Mass. The Official Entrance Chant is required and in the form of the TLM’s but in the vernacular or Latin. The priest and ministers process to the sanctuary, but at the foot of the altar, after the chanting of the Introit, the priest begins in an audible voice with the sign of the cross and immediately introduces the Penitential Act with the prescribed words. The Confiteor is said by all with the modern absolution. The Priest ascends to the ad orientem altar as the Kyrie is chanted praying the TLM devotional prayers silently. The Gloria is chanted or spoken and then the priest turns to the assembly and says/chants “The Lord be with you.” Then he goes to the epistle side of the altar and prays the Collect.
All are seated for the Liturgy of the Word.
2. The lectionary is reformed to eliminate one of the first readings and to restore the Gradual/Tract. The Liturgy of the Word is carried out as it is now offered in the Modern Mass. Lectors are officially installed and wear the alb or cassock and surplice to perform their ministry.
3. On Sundays the homily is required and should be 5 to 8 minutes long and relevant to people’s life, not a theological discourse or repetition of the readings.
4. The Credo is prayed with the priest standing at the middle of the altar. The Universal Prayer is suppressed. The Offertory Antiphon is restored to the missal and always offered in the manner of the TLM’s.
5. The Offertory Procession is suppressed
6. The traditional offertory prayers are restored and prayed in a low voice.
7. After the prayer after the priest washes his hands, he turns to the congregation with the full “Orates Fratres” and then prays out loud the Prayer over the gifts.
8. The Roman Canon is prayed on Sundays and Solemnities. Eucharistic Prayer III is the alternative Canon, all the others are suppressed. The canon is prayed in a low voice with the TLM’s restored rubrics.
9. The Communion Rite is restored to the TLM’s format.
10. Holy Communion is distributed at the altar railing with reception on the tongue while kneeling. Only bishops, priests, deacons and formally instituted acolytes may distribute Holy Communion and the installed acolytes vested in alb or cassock and surplus.
11. The concluding rite recovers the TLM’s order. The last Gospel is suppressed.
Definitely my way will restore the vigor and health of the modern Mass and by its beauty and transcendence it will attract the laity to the Mass and inspire non Catholics.
22 comments:
Sounds like the TLM with minor changes that was envisioned by Sacrosanctum Concilium
Agree with TJM.
The opposing view seized the moment to advance their agenda.
Seems plain to me it hasn't worked and no amount of mental manipulation and Pew stats is going to get it to work. Too many have checked out by now.
Should have just gone with the vernacular on the right side of the Missal, retained the universal language for some of the common parts, cleaned up the ceremonials, particularly for papal masses not gutted the churches and things wouldn't likely be as dire as they've become.
ByzRus,
You nailed it. But the apologists for failure will drone on to their dying day about the wonderfulness of it all.
Father McDonald,
The buffoon playing the banjo at Mass needs to be sent to a re-education camp.
TJM, you occasionally say some pretty strong words but this time you have crossed a line. Banjo? That, my good sir, is a baritone ukulele. 😂
TJM and ByzRus,
Well put, the both of you.
Fr. AJM,
Your phrasing, such as "bombarded by words, sacred or not," "bored to death with blah," a "zoning out state of mind" really resonates with me. I attend a "reverent Novus Ordo" parish--altar boys, some chant, kneeling for Communion (we're installing an altar rail as I type!), etc. Really, it is one of the best parishes in my diocese both liturgically and in terms of community. Even so, there is many a time where I go to Mass and quickly become so overloaded with words, words, words, especially the banal sort (the universal prayer written by the parish office lady the week before, the announcements, etc.), that I intentionally direct my attention away from the rational and verbal and attempt to direct myself to the transcendent. Otherwise I would zone out or just start staring at the wall. Perhaps it's because I'm an introvert, or because I'm a lawyer and already see, read, process, speak--overloaded--too many words every day.
The difficulty is that the Novus Ordo's constant banging on with words leaves little opportunity to even attempt to direct oneself to those mysteries (or aura of mystery!) that cannot be adequately put into words. I suspect my efforts would be even less availing had I not previously been living where I could attend the TLM frequently.
As an aside, I agree that the universal prayer should be done away with. Let the priest offer all of our unspoken intentions; let him announce a specific intention or intentions in, say, his homily; but must we really express a laundry list of 4, 5, 9, 10, 11 intentions through a series of hackneyed calls-and-responses that stick out like a sore thumb within the liturgical action? The next best alternative to elimination would be implementing one or more of the forms of intercessions found in Divine Worship: The Missal.
Nick
Nick,
Likewise, we'll said.
My writing tends to be ghastly, I'm mostly fumbling with my phone in my office.
The Universal Prayer might be salvageable if it followed the Byzantine approach. Fixed language, simple call and response.
Agree, church office worker writing "Let us pray for those who work at the Spam factory that the Holy Spirit might inspire them to use cuts of pork that we've actually heard of etc.", in aggregate, becomes a very tedious word salad to absorb. Lengthy to the point of losing its effectiveness and audience. Ushers are usually waiting impatiently to start the collection. The music ministry is waiting impatiently to start their next number. In some instances, the drummer has burnt most of a cigarette waiting.
It's an excess, that to me has been fetishized, and as a flawed human, it's length stretches my attention span.
Father McDonald said..."I am angered and frustrated that Pope Benedict did not create a “new Consilium” to reform the Modern Mass, which is in need of reform more so than the TLM at the time of the Council was reformed fixing things that weren’t broken."
Father McDonald, speaking of, if you will, Joseph Ratzinger: As I have documented here via his writings, Father Ratzinger, at the time of the Council, insisted that the Roman Liturgy, centuries ago, had fallen into shambles.
Joseph Ratzinger blamed the Council of Trent for having "fossilized the Roman Liturgy. He insisted that the Roman Liturgy was in dire need of reform.
He supported the continuation of Pope Pius XII's major liturgical reform that, with Monsignor Bugnini's assistance, had been launched in 1948 A.D.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Mark Thomas,
How many times do we have to go through the fact that Fr. Ratzinger evolved and matured into Pope Benedict XVI and in so doing, his views evolved?
Just because Fr. Ratzinger said it 50 years prior doesn't negate a revised opinion later brought about by experience and maturity.
rcg,
LOL. I should have known better because I used to play a ukulele!
Mark Thomas,
LOL. You continue to cherry pick words from the deceased, like Pope Benedict. You totally ignore the time he said it, and how his thoughts evolved over time. His issuance of Summorum Pontificum totally undermines your premise. As a Cardinal, he celebrated the TLM long after the Novus Bogus was promulgated. Do you think, at all? Here is what a mature, Joseph Ratzinger had to say about the Novus Ordo:
"What happened after the Council (Vatican II) was something else entirely: in place of liturgy as the fruit of development over centuries came fabricated liturgy. We abandoned the organic process of growth and development over centuries, and replaced it - as in a manufacturing process - with a fabrication, a banal, on-the-spot product.”
It is obvious to the sentient, that just like Father McDonald, Joseph Ratzinger's views on the Sacred Liturgy, after study and reflection, evolved and matured. Why not try it, you might like it? Your cut and paste approach, pulling statements out of time and context prove nothing other than the obvious.
Mark
The ones who ruined the old crafted the new. It had to be a failure.
John,
Bingo!
ByzRus said..."Mark Thomas, How many times do we have to go through the fact that Fr. Ratzinger evolved and matured into Pope Benedict XVI and in so doing, his views evolved? Just because Fr. Ratzinger said it 50 years prior doesn't negate a revised opinion later brought about by experience and maturity."
How many times? Until the record is set straight.
Joseph Ratzinger did not repudiate his Vatican II days as a liberal/progressive. During interviews as Pope Emeritus, he insisted that he had remained "progressive."
In 1998 A.D., he reiterated his bleak assessment of Latin Church liturgy prior to the liturgical reform. He declared "that the disappearance of the old liturgical books was of no importance in many countries and caused no sorrow. One was never in contact with the liturgy itself."
Then-Cardinal Ratzinger insisted as well that "it must be admitted that the celebration of the old liturgy had strayed too far into a private individualism, and that communication between priest and people was insufficient."
===============================================================
During the early 1960s, Father Ratzinger insisted that the (Latin) Church was in a state of horrific, spiritual shambles. In 2005 A.D., then-Cardinal Ratzinger reiterated that when he offered the following, horrific assessment of the Church's spiritual condition:
"How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him! How much pride, how much self-complacency! What little respect we pay to the Sacrament of Reconciliation...Lord, your Church often seems like a boat about to sink, a boat taking in water on every side."
"In your field we see more weeds than wheat. The soiled garments and face of your Church throw us into confusion. Yet it is we ourselves who have soiled them! It is we who betray you time and time again,"
===================================
Joseph Ratzinger was unrelenting in support of the Holy Mass of Pope Saint Paul VI.
As Cardinal, he declared that the Roman Missal of Pope Saint Paul VI is "nothing other than a renewed form of that same Missal to which Pius X, Urban VIII, Pius V and their predecessors have contributed, right from the Church's earliest history."
"Lest there be any misunderstanding, let me add that as far as its content is concerned (apart from a few criticisms), I am very grateful for the new Missal, for the way it has enriched the treasury of prayers and prefaces, for the new Eucharistic prayers and the increased number of texts for use on weekdays, etc., quite apart from the availability of the vernacular."
As Pope, he declared: "There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture."
As Pope, he informed supposed TLM-only communities that:
"Needless to say, in order to experience full communion, the priests of the communities adhering to the former usage cannot, as a matter of principle, exclude celebrating according to the new books."
"The total exclusion of the new rite would not in fact be consistent with the recognition of its value and holiness."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
John,
Said Popes disagree with you. They have taught that the reformed Mass is of great "value and holiness" (Pope Benedict XVI).
Popes Saint Paul VI, Blessed John Paul I, Saint John Paul II, Benedict XVI, as well as Francis, were/are unwavering in their support of the reformed Mass.
Pope Benedict XVI declared also that there "is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture."
Pope Saint John Paul II declared:
"The reform of the rites and the liturgical books was undertaken immediately after the promulgation of the Constitution and was brought to an effective conclusion in a few years thanks to the considerable and self less work of a large number of experts and bishops from all parts of the world."
"This work was undertaken in accordance with the conciliar principles of fidelity to tradition and openness to legitimate development, and so it is possible to say that the reform of the Liturgy is strictly traditional and in accordance with the ancient usage of the holy Fathers."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
ByzRus,
We did not have the benefit of seeing each others comments but we reached the same conclusion! Cheers!
Mark Thomas,
Your cherry picked quotes taken out of time and context convince no one - you are wasting your time posting them. In his maturity, Pope Benedict issued Summorum Pontificum to begin the process of reinvigorating the Latin Rite and to correct the considerable damage caused by the Novus Bogus. I guess you think the Prius is on par with a Mercedes Benz.
You still have not addressed or been able to repudiate Pope Benedict’s statement that the Novus Bogus is “a fabricated, banal, on the spot product.” You cannot because you lack the knowledge and training to do so. You are proudly arrogant in your ignorance and you insult our genial host who recognizes what you do not or cannot because you inhabit a different world than the rest of us - fantasyland. Instead of trying to engage you, I believe one of our other, more erudite posters had the right idea - ignore your puerile rants.
Mark Thomas,
Your cherry picked quotes taken out of time and context convince no one - you are wasting your time posting them. In his maturity, Pope Benedict issued Summorum Pontificum to begin the process of reinvigorating the Latin Rite and to correct the considerable damage caused by the Novus Bogus. I guess you think the Prius is on par with a Mercedes Benz.
You still have not addressed or been able to repudiate Pope Benedict’s statement that the Novus Bogus is “a fabricated, banal, on the spot product.” You cannot because you lack the knowledge and training to do so. You are proudly arrogant in your ignorance and you insult our genial host who recognizes what you do not or cannot because you inhabit a different world than the rest of us - fantasyland. Instead of trying to engage you, I believe one of our other, more erudite posters had the right idea - ignore your puerile rants.
TJM
We're either great minds, or, we simply see that which is made plain for all.
MT,
Believe what you wish, even a broken watch is right twice per day.
ByzRus,
Maybe a bit of both?
Mark
I believe but I do not believe you.
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