A COUPLE OF THOUGHTS ON CARDINAL BURKE’S USELESS INTERVENTION INTO THE THINKING OF POPE FRANCIS

First, what do you think of Cardinal Burke’s names for the 1962 Roman Missal and older versions of it and for the 1970 Roman Missal and subsequent versions of it? 

 Usus Antiquior (More Ancient Usage) [UA], and Usus Recentior (the More Recent Usage)? 

UA AND UR IT IS?

UA:

UR:

I think this is the most important aspect of Cardinal Burke’s intervention and critique of Pope Francis’ Motu Proprio:

18.  Here, it is necessary to observe that the reform of the Sacred Liturgy carried out by Pope Saint Pius V, in accord with the indications of the Council of Trent, was quite different from what happened after the Second Vatican Council. Pope Saint Pius V essentially put in order the form of the Roman Rite as it had existed already for centuries. Likewise, some ordering of the Roman Rite has been done in the centuries since that time by the Roman Pontiff, but the form of the Rite remained the same. What happened after the Second Vatican Council constituted a radical change in the form of the Roman Rite, with the elimination of many of the prayers, significant ritual gestures, for example, the many genuflections, and the frequent kissing of the altar, and other elements which are rich in the expression of the transcendent reality – the union of heaven with earth – which is the Sacred Liturgy. Pope Paul VI already lamented the situation in a particularly dramatic way by the homily he delivered on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in 1972. Pope Saint John Paul II labored throughout his pontificate, and, in particular, during its last years, to address serious liturgical abuses. Both Roman Pontiffs, and Pope Benedict XVI, as well, strove to conform the liturgical reform to the actual teaching of the Second Vatican Council, since the proponents and agents of the abuse invoked the “spirit of the Second Vatican Council” to justify themselves.

My comment on this paragraph and the problem with Cardinal Burke’s intervention:

The vast majority of the laity attend Mass in the UR and this must be admitted. For those who attend this Mass, which includes many young people and married couples with many children, they find the same experience that Cardinal Burke describes as the experience he has had and others he knows with the UA Mass. 

I am glad he describes the abuses of the UR Mass by priests. And there is evidence that these abuses lead to the denigration of the Catholic Faith or a new Gnosticism about what the Church should be in some Catholics, clergy and laity, who experience these abuses.

But there are other aspects of the official, rubrics UR Mass that should and must be studied and corrected if need be. This has nothing to do with the new order of the Mass or the elimination of some “useless” repetition, but with the lax or non existent protocols for the selection of lay ministers for that of lector and the Distribution of Holy Communion. And to a certain extent, the failure of bishops and seminaries to properly screen candidates for the priesthood leading to scandal once they are ordained. But the laity also involve themselves in a variety of scandal. 

Perhaps only allowing those laity, men or women, officially admitted to the ministries of lector and acolyte with a “seminary” preparation as well as a strict screening my alleviate this problem or lessen it. Of course this will lead to only a few or are allowed to do this in the parish, which is a good thing. The actual participation the council so desired for the revised Mass resides primarily with rank and file Catholics who participate from the pews not from the sanctuary.

In addition to that, the manner in which Holy Communion is distributed and according to the revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal could be the culprit that has led so many UR Catholics (a majority?) not to believe in the Real Presence of the Sacrament Risen Lord in the Species of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.  What I criticize is receiving Holy Communion standing, on the palm of the hand and on the run. We do of the abuses to so great a Sacrament that often happen at parish UR Masses where Hosts are taken back to the pew and discarded or brought home as souvenir. It has happened frequently in every parish I have been assigned as a priest. 

But watch how a majority of people receive standing, in the hand and on the run, especially children. Does this in any way promote awe, wonder and reverence or does it eat away at these experiences and lead to the dismal state of unbelief in so many UR Catholics?

I have asked it before and I will ask it again, rather than complaining about those who attend the UA Mass and their dispositions, would it not be better to improve the UR Mass with some minor changes and mostly revolving around the manner in which Holy Communion is distributed and received? Then one might look at strengthening the rubrics of the UR Mass and copying what is allowed by Pope Francis’ promulgation of the Ordinariate’s Divine Worship, the Missal which is ad orientem, the traditional order of the introduction Rite of the Mass, double genuflections at the consecrations, an additional genuflection following the Great Amen and kneeling at the altar railing to receive Holy Communion. Just these reforms to the UR Mass would go a long way in reinforcing good liturgy for this Mass and orthodoxy concerning the Deposit of Faith and what the Church believes, teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God. 

I ask; you answer.