Yesterday at two liturgical expressions of the one Roman Rite, I wore green for the first time since Christ the King Sunday in the revised Roman Calendar.
This is the green vestment I wore for the 9 AM Bugnini Mass at Saint Gregory the Great Church in Bluffton, South Carolina. It is a parish vestment made by Holy Rood out of Massachusetts. The quality is excellent, although they take gothic vestments to an extreme and they go far over my arms and I find myself constantly pulling the vestment up so my wrists and hands are not constantly covered by it.
The 9 am Bugnini Mass was all sung, with a deacon, and as high as you can get in the Bugnini Mass, although incense wasn’t used. It is reserved for the 11 AM Bugnini Mass there.
It was beautiful, reverent and organized. But there were no Propers chanted in Latin (which would follow what Vatican II actually taught, there wasn’t any ad orientem or kneeling for Holy Communion except for a handful of young Catholics who knelt on the hard concrete floor). But otherwise, it was a reverent, grand celebration.
The lavish use of Scriptures, called for by Vatican II and fulfilled in the Vatican II three year lectionary which adds an Old Testament readings was negated by the elimination of the Sacred Scriptures of the official Entrance Chant, and Offertory and Communion propers.
Then I drove to Savannah, Georgia, about 30 minutes away, and a tale of two Masses concluded my Tale of Two Cities Green Day!
As you can see, it is a gothic green vestment but not swallowing the celebrant as Holy Rood vestments are wont to do or is it want to do?
There was no vernacular, except for the Scripture readings, very Vatican II, but the Propers were chanted in magnificent complicated Gregorian Chant, following what Vatican II desired for the Mass. The laity actually participated, actual participation and everyone, except for those unable to do so, knelt at the altar railing to receive Holy Communion and did so by receiving on the tongue. No one attempted to receive in the hand and no nuns were stationed nearby with rulers to hit on the knuckles those attempting to receive in the hand!
The Mass was as high as a high Mass in the Ancient Rite allows, including the use of incense, but compared to the Solemn Sung Mass with deacon and subdeacon or the variety of pontifical Masses there are, there was just as much noble simplicity in the Ancient Mass I celebrated on Sunday as the Bugnini Mass I celebrated earlier, thus both Masses fulfilled Vatican II’s call for “noble simplicity!” Praise God from Whom all noble simplicity flows!
And of course, even though the Ancient one year Lectionary was used that excludes an additional Scripture Reading at the Liturgy of the Word, aka, Mass of Catechumens, the lavish use of Scripture, asked by Vatican II was maintained by not eliminating the Propers, which are Sacred Scripture! The elimination of the Scriptures of the Propers occurred earlier at my Bugnini Green Mass, failing to follow what Vatican II taught about the lavish use of Sacred Scriptures!
We did sing a vernacular hymn as the recessional and no one left the church until the last verse was completed.
A TALE OF TWO GREEN MASSES IN DIFFERENT FORMS OF THE ONE ROMAN RITE!
1 comment:
Thank you for keeping the Faith alive!
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