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Thursday, December 7, 2017

WRINGING MY HANDS, IF ONLY THIS FORM OF THE MASS, MOSTLY IN LATIN, ORDINARY FORM, FACING THE PEOPLE, HAD BEEN MANDATED TO BE THE SUNG MASS OF THE LATIN RITE, THERE MORE THAN LIKELY WOULD BE MORE LITURGICAL PEACE TODAY AND FEWER INACTIVE CATHOLICS, BUT ALAS!

Gregorian Chant for the propers, no hymns, Latin but thoroughly a post-Vatican II Ordinary Form Mass. Why in the name of God and all that is holy didn't this become the normal Sunday Sung High Mass in parishes throughout the world--completely in continuity with what was done with high Masses in most parishes everywhere prior to the Council?

This was celebrated this morning for the Memorial of St. Ambrose by Pope Francis in honor of Cardinal Sodano's 90th birthday:


5 comments:

TJM said...

Many priests are lazy or scared are the likeliest reasons.

ByzRus said...

Ad orientem could be the game-changer that might begin the process of leading the western church back to its roots. For most parishes, it would seem that until you reorient the priest's posture and thinking and, therefore, that of the people, the level of casualness that has crept into the celebration of mass will likely remain.

Henry said...

Agreed, so long as it's versus populum, no matter how nice and reverent, in the ordinary parish setting it still looks like a re-creation of the Last Supper rather than the re-presentation of the Sacrifice of the Cross, and people react accordingly.

John Nolan said...

The Gregorian Propers, for the memorial of St Ambrose, are as follows (1974 Graduale Romanum):

IN. In medio Ecclesiae
GR. Ecce sacerdos magnus
AL. Iuravit Dominus
OF. Veritas mea
CO. Semel iuravi in sancto meo

Of these, only the Introit was sung. Nor was it strictly speaking a sung Mass, since Francis doesn't do sung masses.

Does anyone know why he ignores the rubrics for the Preface dialogue (GIRM 148)?

Henry said...

The fact that a Mass like this could be thought exemplary--that is, worthy of emulation in parishes around the world--tells much about the deterioration of Catholic liturgy since Vatican II.