Last night (Wednesday, November 17) we had our annual "teaching Mass" for our religious education program, especially those receiving First Holy Communion and Confirmation. We also had our RCIA members present and their sponsors. There were many others too, as it was advertised to the entire parish.
In total, I would say there were a couple of hundred there last night, although you can't see the congregation in the video below.
I am sure some out there will be shocked by this, but I do think it is a good way to teach the essence of the Mass to people who need to learn it. I would recommend doing this only once a year.
But, indeed, this would be impossible to do with the EF Mass, no?
27 comments:
It is a VERY good way to teach about the mass.
Why not have a "dry Mass"?
I have done a "walk-through" the Mass many times, and I have found that even having a series over two or three evenings enables a LOT more depth. But even if it has to be on one evening, a "dry Mass" (i.e., not a Mass at all, but a walk-through with explanations) works better, because you can stop at any point and give explanations without any irreverence or disruption to the flow of the Mass itself.
Father Fox,
Excellent idea.
To follow up...
Another advantage of a "dry Mass" approach is that it's entirely permissible to "mix" in as much of the traditional Latin Mass as you like! That is, you can connect the current Mass back to the older form of Mass.
Father Fox,
I made my first Holy Communion before Vatican II. The good sisters taught us extensively about the Mass throughout the school year. I think the average second grader back then had a better grasp about the nature of the Mass than the average adult Catholic today.
I'm at work and cannot stop to watch the video however, this sounds very good and very needed!
Priests intending to celebrate the traditional Mass learn the rubrics by rehearsing them in a 'dry run' under the tulelage of an experienced celebrant. They would not, of course, be vested. I gather this was the practice when the older rite was normative. When a priest celebrates his first proper Mass it is still customary for him to have an assistant priest vested in cope over choir dress, although the rubrics of the OF are so rudimentary and imprecise as to render this unnecessary.
Isn't the Novus Ordo sufficiently didactic as to make a 'teaching Mass' somewhat redundant? In most places it resembles an hour-long lecture delivered by a poor lecturer with no question-and-answer session at the end.
Similarly, I don't understand the modern fad for wedding rehearsals.
John Nolan:
The essential purpose of the rehearsal is to put the bride at ease. I think that if we didn't have the usual rehearsal, I could simply meet with the readers and have them practice, and meet with the person I dub the "traffic cop" -- i.e., a friend or family member who sends the couples (and children, if included) walking down the aisle. and make sure she (it's always a she) knows what to do and does it. But the bride (or her mom) would find this intolerable.
I celebrated the traditional mass at the regularly scheduled Saturday vigil at my home parish, without the assistance of an experienced celebrant, two days after my ordination. The rubrics for the OF do not contain superfluous and/or repetitive gestures and phrases, so no overseer was needed. The next day, Sunday, I celebrated the traditional mass at the Carmelite monastery here in Savannah.
I have never heard that it is "customary," at least not in these parts, to have an assistant priest in cope over choir dress when celebrating the OF. Most often, there are concelebrants wearing chasubles.
John Nolan,
In the US the rehearsal is followed by a celebratory dinner hosted by the groom’s family
Fr. K,
You celebrated the EF? Given your stance here, that is nothing short of amazing
TJM
'Fraid not. Fr K likes to wind up traddies by referring to a rite manufactured only a few years before he was ordained as the 'traditional mass'. It depends on what you mean by traditional and by a leap of logic he manages to reconcile tradition with rupture. It's no mean feat, although it fails to convince.
John Nolan,
Ah, in other words he lied
Regarding a "chaplain" or assistant at the first Mass...
There is nothing at all in the rubrics for the 1970 Missal regarding this, but it certainly is possible to an MC, i.e., master of ceremonies, who could be a priest or deacon or a layperson. In addition, nothing prevents a concelebrating priest from playing this role for a new priest. I wouldn't be surprised if something like this has happened here and there. My sense, however, is that it is more informal, i.e., the new priest may look to one of the concelebrants from time to time for assistance if needed.
That said, there certainly is a need for a firm hand when there are concelebrants, when the time comes for Holy Communion. Unless you have some very clear guidance, the sanctuary becomes a Chinese fire drill.
It has led me to prefer attending such Masses "in choir," something that was unheard of when I was ordained, but now has become much more common. For those who may not know what I am referring to, a cleric attending Mass "in choir" is (generally) not exercising any liturgical role, and a priest in choir is not offering Mass. He is, to strip it down, merely attending Mass, like anyone else; except, because the cleric has Holy Orders, he is to sit in a distinct place, thereby expressing the hierarchical structure of the Body of Christ.
What is not clear is whether a cleric in choir can indeed exercise *any* liturgical role. I.e., can he preach? Distribute Holy Communion? I tend to think so, but I think the O.F. rubrics are not clear.
We do seem to vacillate between being didactic and literalist when it suits us (followed if not supplied up-front with snobbery and insults). Based upon what's been given to us, rightly, or otherwise by Mother Church, that's what I take from Fr. MJK's commentary.
I've not voted for a democrat in almost a quarter century btw. Prior to that, my working class relatives would have only voted for democrats as they were the only ones at the time who gave a damn about their wellbeing.
As it is handed out with ease, have some back.
We do seem to vacillate between being didactic and literalist when it suits us (followed if not supplied up-front with snobbery and insults). Based upon what's been given to us, rightly, or otherwise by Mother Church, that's what I take from Fr. MJK's commentary.
I've not voted for a democrat in almost a quarter century btw. Prior to that, my working class relatives would have only voted for democrats as they were the only ones at the time who gave a damn about their wellbeing.
As it is handed out with ease, have some back.
Fr. Fox,
In my experience, I've seen bishops sit in choir then, vest in stole to preach. Both instances were at funerals where the celebrant had a familial connection to the deceased yet, both bishops felt compelled to offer a few words towards the end of mass. As for first masses that I've attended, the newly ordained did not preach, usually his pastor, mentor or close priest friend offered a reflection. Regarding the '62 missal, my understanding is this was also done however by said priest acting as MC as the newly ordained had more than enough to try to remember to then layer on top of that a reflection.
Folks here and elsewhere like to write about the "traditional" mass, meaning, of course, the Extraordinary Form. (Our little friend TJM took the bait and ran with it as was intended.)
This is an intentional hijacking of the word "traditional," designed to give the impression that the Ordinary Form is "non-traditional." It is not non-traditional.
The OF is as traditional as any other form, Eastern and Western rites included. There are rubrical variations aplenty, but all of them, without exception, are traditional.
Fr Fox
'I think the O.F. rubrics are not clear.' This must be the understatement of the century! I can only comment on what I have seen in the Novus Ordo over the years.
1. A bishop 'presiding' but not celebrating. Vested in cope and mitre, he says or sings the opening and closing prayers.
2. Priests and bishops in choro giving the homily, vested in choir dress.
3. A priest not attending in choro emerging from the sacristy to preach the homily. Presumably he has celebrated an earlier Mass and the homily can be recycled. This seems eminently sensible. Choir dress.
4. Priests emerging from the sacristy to assist in the distribution of Holy Communion. Choir dress with stole. This would be in parishes which do not use 'extraordinary monsters'. It was very common when the EF Mass was the norm and most parishes had two priests.
Fr. K obviously failed Logic. John Nolan settled your deceptive use of the term, traditional Mass, quite nicely. The very title of Paul VI’s Missal says it all: Novus Ordo Missae
Extraordinary monsters!!! LOL. Good one, John
John Nolan:
Here's a practical example: there are times when, as pastor, I've needed to preach at all the Masses, as many as six on the same weekend. Offering all the Masses was not an option, or even being present for the entirety of all the Masses; so I dropped in as I could. I don't know any other way to do it.
Fr. K is Orwellian like his party which calls abortion “healthcare!”
TJM
It will be remembered that the original GIRM (1969) had to be withdrawn following the 'Ottaviani intervention' and was reissued in 1970 with a new preamble which overrode Bugnini's essentially Protestant description. One lengthy section is entitled 'A Witness to Unchanged Faith', another 'A Witness to Unbroken Tradition'. So, at a pinch, one could describe the Novus Ordo as traditional, but this is based on its self-identification rather than its content.
I don't refer to the classic Roman Rite as the TLM for this reason.
John Nolan,
Thanks for that information. I guess some folks identifying the OF as the traditional Mass does not make it so any more than a man identifying as a woman makes it so
Fr. K can use his "repeat the lie often enough" tactic as much as he wants, but he cannot change reality:
Less than 20 percent of the old rite was maintained in the Novus Ordo. The language was changed--an essential part of our universal identity as Catholics. Various disciplines (like fasts and feast days, etc.) were changed.
Only someone with blinders on would call that a preservation of tradtional! But hey Father, don't let me stop you! I'll try to use a language you prefer (in fact, seem obsessed with): This is like saying Johnson's "Great Society" programs ended poverty and racism.
The Novus Ordo is "traditional". Yeah. Right.
Father K is ignoring Jerome. Cat have your tongue, Father K?
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