THERE WAS NO NEED TO RAPE THE TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS IN A VERY VIOLENT WAY. THIS VIDEO SHOWS THE RAPE AND VIOLENCE AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR SENSITIVE EYES:
Rupture in doing things one way and overnight doing them in another way appeals to people who like change and chaos, but not to the majority of people who appreciate stability and peace.
If we could go back in time, knowing now what the past did to the future and it not being good at all, what would we change in the past to make the “Back to the Future” better?
The liturgies of the Church did not need a radical transformation to make them intelligible. All they needed was more vernacular which is the best kind of inculturation.
The mystical aspects of the Mass did not need to be eliminated nor the silent private prayers of the priest which formed him in his mission and vocation to be precisely a priest. These are devotional prayers institutionalized to support the priestly function and identity of the man of the ordained priest.
I truly believe that no rubrics needed to be changed, no prayers eliminated, no low voice prayers needed to be made loud. The Order of the Mass did not need to be changed. The lectionary did not need a radical overhaul.
What was needed was an all vernacular low Mass. The so-called High or Chanted Mass, could have been all vernacular but in order to preserve Gregorian Chant, the propers, meaning the Introit, Offertory and Communion antiphons would remain in Latin and Gregorian Chant. That would preserve Gregorian Chant and Latin.
The Solemn Sung Mass, with deacon and subdeacon (and especially Pontifical versions of it) would be entirely in Latin, except the changing parts. This preserves the Latin Chants for the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei.
There would be an elimination of the requirement for the priest to recite any parts of the Mass that the Choir sings. The low voice canon, though, remains, either in Latin or the vernacular, but with all the rubrics in place.
The lectionary remains the same, but with the addition of years B and C modeled after the traditional lectionary but incorporating Scripture from the Old Testament and New Testament not in it and the daily lectionary, expanded as we now have it into years 1 and 2.
The Roman Calendar needed no major revision and many elements of it need to be recovered.
What I have found since praying the TLM is how important all the private priestly prayers are, regardless if the laity hear them or not. These need restoration and as soon as possible. Praying these private prayers isn’t clericalism. Authoritarianism is clericalism not the true priestly function of the priest in the Sacrifice!
8 comments:
The liberal mindset is focused on destruction - they are petulant children.
I agree completely as to your assessment of all it simply needed was a good classical English translation still maintaining the thee/thou intimate/formal language distinction as most all languages have past modern English (soon also to erase even gender from language)...
But also of great harm was the ditching of classical architecture engendering a sense of set-apart/holy, where churches instead modeled on modern civic utilitarian bus station/airport terminal/office building style of now horribly dated "modern" art.
And still I must argue against better rites and architecture alone would have brought about any new springtime, as none of that change had yet happened when, in 1967, Father Ratzinger was warning of the collapse, because he could see how profoundly lacking was spiritual catechesis, and had been for a very long time.
Those seeking and finding holiness had always been an extreme minority even 80yrs ago and further back....the modern changes only made that seeking and finding even harder, to approach zero of laity staying in only a parish setting.
I think the best that can be said of the new Mass is that it is an attempt at ecumenism. The wholesale change to the liturgical and physical treasure was not called for, but almost universally accepted and curiously very uniform. I have the very strong impression that the religious men and women in the Church didn’t believe or like it.
Ecumenism at the price of Catholic souls - sounds like a poor bargain
RCG, I think it was more an attempt by churchmen who lacked any spiritual life, profoundly dissatisfied with that current worship form as unfulfilling and empty ritual (and on which case they were largely right from the standpoint of near-zero spiritual life celebrants and most laity), and already them seeing the fleeing of mainline churches for suddenly appearing touchy-feely mega-churches, and them thinking that the wave of the future.
Being profoundly non-spiritual, they were profoundly attracted to all forms of new and exciting, to include also art and architecture, and remain so to this day, one only need look at their "improvements" to Roman churches or latest banners/logos for promotional events, which are nothing but marketing to garner consumers.
I would also think the changes quite unpopular with those who were seeking a spiritual life and having all those wonderful aids snatched away.
I feel their pain, and frequently say to myself that I am not leaving my Church, but it certainly is busy leaving me. Any Masses within an hour drive of me are more akin to organized sacrilege self-love fests, where all their good works celebrated at Masses, while the actual sacrifice is speed-read-mumbled through in record time so fast that I find it impossible to believe the words are even said.
But, boy, do they all have nice grand pianos down front.
Forgot to mention those grand pianos are playing to ever smaller and older congregations. But, will they change? Not on your life...not when their pastor never tires of telling them what wonderful People-Of-God they are...after all, declining membership is the fault of outside influences, of course. Even when the empty seats grow in number for the choir down front and fewer and fewer join their bell choir.
I am an accomplished pianist who despises the piano being played in Church. But empty cassocks love it!
I am an unaccomplished pianist who also despises pianos in the Catholic Church. Every time I hear a piano at Mass all I can picture is Rex Humbard's "Cathedral of Tomorrow" or Roger Williams hamming it up for Dr. Robert Schuller.
Too protestant.
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