NO SONGS TO BE SUNG AT HOLY MASS?

Below my comments and highlights of Archbishop Ranjith of Columbo's prescrption for liturgical renewal in the ordinary Form in his diocese is his complete talk. Simply press the link.

All of the Archbishop's points caught my attention, but number eight seems very controversial:"(8) No songs to be sung in the Holy Mass. The Priest is not to be a protagonist in celebrating the Holy Mass, but it is Lord Jesus who is present in the Priest while he celebrate the Most Holy Eucharist. Holy Eucharist is not the place to show off our talents, instruct your faithful to dress properly when they are coming to read the Word of God or read the intentions or when bringing offerings to the Altar."


I'm not sure about the later part of this paragraph about being a "protagonist" but the first part I think is very important but might need some clarification. I don't know what the music culture of the Archdiocese of Columbo is, but there must be some problems as in the USA. What the Archbishop is asking is that the Mass, meaning its texts be sung, these are the "hymns" or "songs" of the Mass. One the things that most parishes in the USA do not do is to sing the texts of the Mass and to see the texts of the Mass as the actual hymns and music of the Mass. What most parishes do is to sing other hymns and songs at Mass which are not integral to the Mass, but "fillers" for other actions and "additional" music not integral to the Mass itself.

For example, the actual hymns of the Catholic Mass are: 1. The Official Entrance Antiphon also known at the Introit. I know of almost no parishes that actually sing the Introit in some form of Chant because the current rubrics of the Mass does allow for it to be "substituted" by an "appropriate" hymn. This was a grave mistake in my humble opinion and this mistake goes all the way back to 1969. 2. The Kryrie; 3. The Gloria; 4. The Creed; 5. The official offertory antiphon (this has disappeared altogether and is not even printed in the Roman Missal, but it does exist! 6. The Sanctus; 7. The Mystery of Faith; 8. The Great Amen; 9. The Lord's Prayer; 10. The Agnus Dei; 11. The official Communion Antiphon (we sing the refrain once at St. Joseph, but not the complete setting).

In addition to the parts above, the priest is encouraged to sing the entire Mass, beginning with the Sign of the Cross and Greeting, the opening collect and all other orations; the preface dialogue and preface, parts of the Eucharistic prayer, the embolism of the Lord's prayer, and the final blessing and dismissal.

Do you see hymns out of a hymnal in any of the above? Certainly though, pious custom has allowed additional hymns and motets and we have a rich treasury of these in our tradition. So in addition to what is highlighted above, I would have very little trouble with an additional metrical "Entrance hymn", motets at the offertory and at Holy Communion as well as a recessional hymn (which by the way is not even mentioned in the rubrics of the Mass.)

So what do you think?

By the way, in terms of what theologians suggest and what some bishops might permit, I would not be allowed as a lowly priest to implement kneeling for Holy Communion, because the norm in the USA and in our Diocese is to stand. I could not even encourage our faithful to kneel because of this "norm." Our bishop could offer us an indult to do so, but that's his decision not mine. However, no priest should ever refuse someone who does kneel for Holy Communion. I would say this is true also of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, where kneeling for Holy Communion is the "norm." No priest should refuse someone who stands at one of the Masses. We're still at the stage of talking not implementing. But in terms of the Mass and what to sing, the norms I highlight are the norms and what we should be doing or at least strive to implement.

THE ORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS AND THE REFORM OF IT WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE HERMENEUTIC OF CONTINUITY

Father Michael Lang, a disciple of Pope Benedict's hermeneutic of reform within the context of Continuity with the Church of the past, gives a marvelous talk in the Archdiocese of Columbo, Sri Lanka. Read is complete talk after the excerpt I offer below.

Why do some liturgist's so abhor this manner of receiving Holy Communion?

REV. FR. MICHAEL LANG in a talk given in Colombo, Sri Lanka gives a very good catechesis for the return to receiving Holy Communion while kneeling and receiving the Consecrated Host on the tongue. I was well schooled the the Hermeneutic of reform within the context of rupture during the late 1970's and for many years thought this hermeneutic was what the Second Vatican Council (and thus the Holy Spirit) wanted for the Church. I believed this in faith. I realize that this belief was a misplaced and misdirected belief. I think Pope Benedict and now his disciples like Fr. Michael Lang, who is a young whippersnapper, have shown the fallacy of the much touted theological perspective of reform in discontinuity and how the Second Vatican Council taught no such thing, only those after the Council who misinterpreted the Council. But don't people also misinterpret the Bible? I highlight what Fr. Lang said about receiving Holy Communion in the Ordinary Form of the Mass and link to you his complete excellent talk below it:

Communion Received on the Tongue and while Kneeling

The oldest practice of distributing Communion was, according to the early Fathers of the Church, to give Communion to the faithful in the palm of the right hand. However, already towards the end of the Patristic age, the practice of receiving Communion directly on the tongue became more widespread. In fact, virtually all the liturgical rites that can claim an apostolic origin have adopted Communion on the tongue. The reason for this preference is twofold: first, to minimize the dispersion and consequent profanation of Eucharistic fragments; secondly, and more importantly, the increasing devotion of the faithful to the Real Presence of Christ in the sacrament. In fact, even today the norm for receiving Holy Communion is on the tongue, although in many countries the Conferences of Bishops have received the permission of the Holy See that the Sacred Host may also be distributed in the hand of the communicant.7

Over the centuries, the Church has always sought to mark the moment of Holy Communion with the utmost dignity and sacredness. The Sacred Banquet, when Christ gives Himself in the Blessed Sacrament, requires external gestures that will help the faithful to become conscious of this great mystery. Among the signs of Eucharistic devotion, the Latin Church has established the custom to kneel while receiving the Sacred Host. A famous expression of Saint Augustine of Hippo, has been taken up by Benedict XVI in his Post-Synodical Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis: "no one eats that flesh without first adoring it; we should sin were we not to adore it".8 The Holy Father comment : In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church's supreme act of adoration. Receiving the Eucharist means adoring him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy.9

The posture of kneeling when receiving Holy Communion expresses and increases the inner attitude of adoration that is absolutely necessary when receiving Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Pope John Paul II wrote in his last encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia : By giving the Eucharist the prominence it deserves, and by being careful not to diminish any of its dimensions or demands, we show that we are truly conscious of the greatness of this gift. We are urged to do so by an uninterrupted tradition, which from the first centuries on has found the Christian community ever vigilant in guarding this "treasure". Inspired by love, the Church is anxious to hand on to future generations of Christians, without loss, her faith and teaching with regard to the mystery of the Eucharist. There can be no danger of excess in our care for this mystery, for "in this sacrament is recapitulated the whole mystery of our salvation".10 For these reasons and in keeping with the teachings of his venerated predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI has begun, on the solemnity of Corpus Christi in 2008, to distribute the Body of Christ to the faithful, kneeling and directly on the tongue.

WHO KNEW LITURGICAL DANCE COULD BE SO OFF PUTTING AND DANGEROUS AT THE SAME TIME!

I know it is EASY to miss the congregation because of the distraction of the "liturgical dancer" but look at the faces of the congregation. Utter boredom and passive audience look at a poor form of entertainment, not to mention prayer. Some people call this inculturation. Others call it decline, impoverishment and diminishment of the Ordinary Form of the Mass which people seem to think they can manipulate in this way. Just what does this have to do with prayer, worship, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, its holy banquet and the call to live the Gospel in the world? On top of that, it is dangerous. Read the story below.

Other forms of impoverishing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, look at the faces of the Children and it says it all! These Masses are also dangerous to the orthodox faith and practices of Catholics and could weakend and destroyed that faith!


Now compare this image to the images above and tell me which strikes you as the most serious? The law of prayer is the law of belief and when the law is manipulated and degraded is it any wonder we have contemporary Catholics who mock and deride the Holy Father, promote same sex marriage, abuse children in the most horrible of ways and think they have a right to get away with it and live their Catholicism as though it is a product they buy that they can manipulate and mold according to their own gnostic intuitions or the cultural and political fads of the day?

Another reason not to allow the silliness of liturgical dancing:

Misunderstander of Islam poses as liturgical dancer, tries to murder Roman Catholic Archbishop of Khartoum

Proof that liturgical dance should be avoided at all costs. "Sudanese Cardinal Survives Assassination Attempt," from Zenit, October 12:

KHARTOUM, Sudan, OCT. 12 (Zenit.org).- The archbishop of Khartoum escaped unhurt from an assassination attempt that was directed at him on Sunday, the feast of St. Daniele Comboni.

The Catholic Information Service for Africa (CISA) reported today that during a Mass held at the Comboni playground in Khartoum, marking the anniversary of the 1881 death of St. Daniele Comboni, a man with a dagger posed as liturgical dancer and managed to come within a few steps of Archbishop Gabriel Cardinal Zubeir Wako.

The man was apprehended, and has been identified as Hamdan Mohamed Abdurrahman, an Arab of the nomadic Messiria tribe from Southern Kurdufan. He is in police custody as authorities determine his intentions and whether or not he was acting alone.

The master of ceremonies, Barnaba Matuech Anei, is reported to have been the one to spot the would-be attacker, and disarm him. He told CISA that the Church in Sudan will seek to "find out what was his mission [...] and why he did carry a dagger with him. After that, we will see what to do next.

"We must know his background and identity. If he has people backing him to carry out such actions in the church, we would like to know."...

WHAT DO A MINE RESCUE AND HOLY BAPTISM HAVE IN COMMON?

(UPDATED BELOW)

Which of the two images is more dramatic? I would say the Holy Father baptizing an infant. Like those gathered around the rescued miner, so those who gather for baptism witness a great event, Jesus Christ lifting us from the depths of the waters of destruction to new and eternal life.
A rescued infant:

A rescued miner:

Out of the Depths (De profundis)

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication:

If you, O Lord, mark iniquities,
Lord, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.

I trust in the Lord;
my soul trusts in his word.
My soul waits for the Lord,
more than sentinels wait for the dawn.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn,
let Israel wait for the Lord;

For with the Lord is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.

A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful, who piously recite the psalm Out of the depths (Ps 129)

Out of the Depths

The 33 miners who were trapped for nearly 70 days in a Chilean gold and copper mine are all alive and safe. They were freed today, on October 13, the day of Our Lady of Fatima. But there is more...

By Robert Moynihan, reporting from Rome

=====================================

"De profúndis clamávi ad te, Dómine" ("Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord"). —Psalm 129, known as the Psalm "De Profundis" ("Out of the Depths"), from its first two Latin words

===============================

The Mystery of Prayer and Redemption

Prose is not adequate to describe what has just happened in Chile. It requires poetry -- like the poerty of the Psalms.

Thirty-three miners, caught in a mine cave-in hundreds of meters below the surface of the earth on August 5, 69 days ago, began to be brought up to the surface today, one by one.

The first man was rescued just after midnight, in the first moments of October 13, and as this is being written, a little after midnight in Rome, 28 miners are safe and the 29th miner is about to be brought to the surface, so it appears all will be brought out within one day.

[Just now, the 33rd miner has been brought up, so all the miners are safe. All were brought up in 22 hours. Here is a link to the BBC live news feed from Chile: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11489439]

All Lost, All Found

At the beginning, it was thought they were all lost, as there was no contact with them at all. Not a sound. Silence.

Then, after 17 days, they were all found to be alive, and safe in an underground cave. But it was still thought that the rescue operation would take many months, until Christmastime, perhaps, and that the men, confined in such a small space, might all go mad before they could be freed.

And now, today, in a feat of engineering worthy of all praise, they have all been brought up safe and in their right minds.

And the entire world has been able to watch as this drama has unfolded.

A Papal Gift

But there is a little known aspect to this amazing story, and that is an aspect related to Pope Benedict, and to the rosary.

The rosary the prayer par excellence of Our Lady, because in its traditional form, it contains 150 Hail Marys in 15 joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries -- the same number as the Book of Psalms.

Benedict offered public prayers for the miners on several occasions, but he also decided to send each of the miners a special gift: a rosary he himself had blessed.

The rosaries were brought to the miners personally by Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz of Santiago, Chile.

It is said that, to survive, the miners organized their life in a disciplined way, even creating a little chapel in the corner of their cave. Praying the rosary, according to a report, became a part of the trapped miners' daily ritual.

(Here is a Rome Reports video which describes this gift of rosaries; it is located at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH5azcuEL_Y&feature=channel)

And now, on October 13 -- the anniversary of the last appearance of the Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal -- the miners are safe.

The Prayer in Westminster

October 13 is also the feast day of Saint Edward the Confessor, in the United Kingdom.

The drilling to free the miners started on September 17.

The Pope was in London on that day, the second day of his trip to Scotland and England.

At the service on September 17 at Westminster Abbey, Pope Benedict and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, prayed before the tomb of Saint Edward the Confessor.

On October 13, Saint Edward's feast day, the miners are free.

A Sign of Redemption

At a Mass in Chile that began just after near midnight on October 13, as the first miner was being brought to the surface, Santiago Auxiliary Bishop Cristian Contreras Villarroel, speaking in El Sagrario chapel next to Santiago's Metropolitan Cathedral, said the lives of the 33 miners should be seen as a sign of the need all people have for redemption.

And the bishop echoed the words of Psalm 129, where it says, "If thou, O Lord, shalt observe our iniquities, Lord, who can stand?"

"There is no saint without a past, nor sinner without a future," the bishop said.
"Out of the depths, O Lord, I cried unto Thee"

The most powerful single line in all the psalms -- arguably the supreme poetic monument of the Jewish, and of the Christian, religious-cultural tradition -- is this one: "Out of the depths, O Lord, I cried unto Thee."

The words sum up all the sorrow of a frail humanity, mortals doomed to inevitable defeat by the power of sin and death.

The words could have been spoken by Jonah in the belly of the whale, by Job from the ash heap in his sufferings, by David surrounded by enemies seeking his life, by Jesus when he was raised, to all outward appearance totally powerless, onto the cross, then laid, limp and cold, in his tomb.

Psalm 129 is part of the Vespers liturgy for the dead, and expresses the hope that the one who has fallen into shadow and darkness, the one who has been overcome by death, will yet be saved, and come again into the light.
Here is moving text of Psalm 129, first in Latin, then in English, which seems to express the prayer of the miners, caught in the dark under half a mile of rock for 70 days:

De profúndis clamávi ad te, Dómine: Dómine, exáudi vocem meam:
2 Fiant aures tuæ intendéntes: in vocem deprecatiónis meæ.
3 Si iniquitátes observáveris, Dómine: Dómine, quis sustinébit?
4 Quia apud te propitiátio est: et propter legem tuam sustínui te, Dómine.
5 Sustínuit ánima mea in verbo ejus: sperávit ánima mea in Dómino.
6 A custódia matutína usque ad noctem: speret Israël in Dómino.
7 Quia apud Dóminum misericórdia: et copiósa apud eum redémptio.
8 Et ipse rédimet Israël: ex ómnibus iniquitátibus ejus.
9 Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine.
10 Et lux perpétua lúceat eis.

Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice.
2 O let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
3 If thou, O Lord, shalt observe our iniquities, Lord, who can stand?
4 For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord.
5 My soul hath relied on his word my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
6 From the morning watch even until night: let Israel hope in the Lord.
7 Because with the Lord there is mercy, and with him plentiful redemption.
8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
9 Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
10 And let perpetual light shine upon them.

===============================================
The Stone Was Rolled Back

In front of the whole world, on this October 13, for these miners, and for all of us as well, who are witnesses of it, the stone has been rolled back.

THE VIGIL OF THE FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY

Below is an abbreviated or edited version of our Holy Rosary on October 6th:

You can view the whole thing on BLIP:
http://blip.tv/file/4226808

IF 68 MILLION CATHOLICS KNEW AND LOVED CHURCH TEACHING AND VOTED ACCORDING TO A PROPERLY FORMED CATHOLIC CONSCIENCE, WHAT WONDERS WOULD OCCUR!

I try not to get too political, but this video sums it up. During the pro-life month of October, it is good to post this one:

The only way to see Catholics really impacting the culture and country in which they live is by fully embracing the tenets of the authentic meaning of the Second Vatican Council. The role of the laity from the Mass to the home, to the work place, to the arena of politics and decision making was and is to be motivated by one's Catholic faith. It shouldn't take bishops, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers, doing all these things for the laity, it should be the laity. In fact clergy and religious are forbidden to run for public office, but not so the laity. But the laity are to bring our Catholic morals and ethical positions to politics and everywhere else the laity has influence. In 2010, from the Mass to political office, the laity in large numbers have failed in their mission. Look at the Catholics we have in political office today and how Catholics vote in terms of the cultural issues of the day. They are influenced more by fads and anti-Catholic polemics than by their Catholic faith and the mandates of Vatican II. The reform of the reform within the hermeneutic of continuity is an attempt to implement Vatican II faithfully.

With these two videos in mind and the role of the bishop, including the pope, to not only teach and sanctify, but to rule the Church, I find it interesting that Pope Benedict unfurled a new papal coat of arms this past Sunday. I'm not sure what it means since there has been no press release about it, but maybe the pope in bringing back the papal tiara to his coat of arms is rehabilitating the crown that pope's once wore to symbolize the unity of of the spiritual and temporal in God's plan for governing! In addition, the synod for the Church of the Middle East began this past Sunday. As you know, many bishops of the Eastern Churches wear crowns rather than miters to symbolize the office of bishop. In addition, brides and grooms are crowned in the Eastern Rite. So the papal crown I suspect is to show solidarity with the crowns of the Eastern Rite?
The old papal coat of arms with the missing papal tiara and the new coat of arms with the papal tiara:

Do these crowns of the Eastern Rite bishops offend your religious sensibilities in 2010?

Coat of Arms of a bishop in the Eastern Rite, does it look like the pope's new one? Does the crown look kind of like a tiara?

Finally, the Holy Father himself speaks of the false divinities that wear crowns of dictatorship striving to cause the true faith to fall. But it is the false divinities that must fall. This sounds like the Church Militant must once again take up the Crown of the Tiara to face the false divinities, combat them and restore the Gospel message to the world and bring down all the false powers and principalities:

SAINT JOSEPH CHURCH, MACON, GA, OCTOBER'S EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE HIGH MASS

Many thanks to Dr. Buck Melton for photographing our Extraordinary Form of the Mass. You can click once or twice on each photo to enlarge it. Can you pick out two places where the Ordinary Form of the Mass is influencing the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in this magnificent celebration? I believe if this form of the Mass allowed for the vernacular for the parts of the Mass people hear and even the revised OF Lectionary, that most people would prefer this to the current OF Mass. What do you think?
Getting ready for the Entrance Procession

The Procession

Prayers at the Foot of the Altar

Incensing the priest during the singing of the Introit

Dominus Vobiscum!

The Opening Collect

Full, conscious and active participation, hallmarks of any Post Vatican II Mass including the Extraordinary Form!

A pew's eye view

The reading of the Epistle with the OF influencing the EF!

Transfer of the Roman Missal for the Gospel

Incensing the Book of the Gospel

Proclamation of the Gospel OF style!

The Singing of the Gospel, another view!

Credo!

The Schola and daughter

"Te Igitur" The beginning of the Roman Canon from a neat point of view!


Continuing the Roman Canon

Elevation of the most Precious Body of our Risen Lord under the metaphor of Holy Bread

The elevation of the Chalice of the Most Precious Blood of our Risen Savior under the metaphor of Holy Wine

An ethereal "Ecce Agnus Dei!"

I have distributed the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Risen Lord for well over 30 years to people standing. In the past three years of celebrating the EF Mass and distributing Holy Communion to kneeling communicants, I must say that from an external point of view it is much more reverent looking and from an internal point of view leads to more piety, reverence and faith in the Real Presence of our Lord. We need to return to this practice!

After the "Ite Missa Est" and the "Final Blessing" and the "Last Gospel" we finally have the Recessional!

LET A CARTOON TEACH YOU ABOUT THE NATURE OF SACRED MUSIC FOR THE CATHOLIC MASS AND OTHER LITURGIES AND DEVOTIONS!

I just love cartoons and this one teaches too!


And this from the blog, "The Hermeneutic of Continuity" concerning the hymn, "Blessed Assurance!" What he says is very important for musicians and choir directors to understand. We need to look at the words of songs to make sure the theology and/or doctrine is Catholic. We have borrowed heavily from Protestant metrical hymns, some of which are magnificent, but others of which are polemics against Catholic teaching. I would never have thought "Blessed Assurance" to be one of these because I love the singable tune and it is in our hymn book too. I wonder often about Luther's great hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is our God" and what hidden or overt message is in it concerning the Protestant Reformation. It's in our hymn book too, as is "Amazing Grace" and the worst of all, "Be Not Afraid" and "Eagle Wings." With the new Translation of the Mass, we'll have to be very careful about the new hymn book we will purchase for the parish. It will be fully Catholic, trust me!

From Hermeneutic of Continuity:

I was surprised to hear the other day that the hymn "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine" is sung in some Catholic Churches. It is apparently popular among devotees of a more charismatic kind of worship. Although at a push, the hymn could be interpreted in a Catholic sense, it is certainly not intended to be so understood. "Blessed assurance" is a watchword among evangelical protestants, referring to the certainty of predestination and certainty of the gift of perseverance for those who are among the elect.

As Catholics we do believe in predestination, in the sense that God has prepared eternal bliss for those whom he foresees, in his infinite wisdom, will merit eternal life. Here on earth, we are not certain of our "election" or of final perseverance. Such supposed certainty is a sin of presumption. We pray with confidence to our heavenly Father, knowing his mercy but not taking it for granted.

Hence, the Council of Trent condemned the following errors:

If any one saith, that a man, who is born again and justified, is bound of faith to believe that he is assuredly in the number of the predestinate; let him be anathema. (Council of Trent. Canons on Justification. canon 15.)

If any one saith, that he will for certain, of an absolute and infallible certainty, have that great gift of perseverance unto the end,-unless he have learned this by special revelation; let him be anathema. (canon 16.)

We do not have a "blessed assurance" but a blessed hope.

TRADITIONAL ALTARS, MODERNISTIC ALTARS, AND ALTARS WITHIN THE HERMANEUTIC OF REFORM IN CONTINUITY WITH OUR TRADTION; WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THESE?

This altar arrangement looks sacred! How about the others below?

Very traditional and inspiring!

This was the altar for an outdoor Mass in Sicily this past week with Pope Benedict. This altar is very much in continuity with what you see above as the way altars looked prior to the some of the more dreadful reforms of the Mass and altars after Vatican II. These dreadful reforms were not needed and have done more to hurt the faith of Catholics than most anything else that has happened in the Catholic Church these past 40 years. If the altar doesn't inspire faith, if poor celebrations of Mass on these dumbed down altars occur every Sunday, is it any wonder we're down to about 28% of Catholics attending Mass on Sunday today compared to almost 90% in the time immediately prior to the Second Vatican Council? Is it any wonder that a very high number of Catholics today do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist compared to Catholics immediately prior to the Second Vatican Council where the majority of Catholics did? We need Pope Benedict's hermeneutic of reform within continuity to reverse the damage we brought upon ourselves immediately following Vatican II and some of the silly dumbing down of our altars, ritual and piety.

I'm not opposed to modern architecture for Churches and the new Los Angeles Cathedral intrigues me on many levels. However, can you pick out the altar from this vantage point? It is as though it's not even there. It's fine for those who are near it, but from any distance it is swallowed up by the massive space and invisible. If it were three steps higher, more rectangular than square, with a modern reredos behind it and Pope Benedict's revival of the traditional look of the altar with six candlesticks and crucifix, then I would stand up and applaud. But right now I say, it missed the mark!

Look at the horrible "ironing board" thing they placed in front of a magnificent Extraordinary Form altar. What are we thinking when we do this sort of trash and what does it convey to the congregation about the differences in the EF Mass altar and the OF Mass altar? Which Mass and what altar has more dignity? Why did we shoot ourselves in the foot over this kind of supposed "sacred sign?" These sorts of things have done more to diminish the Catholic faith and our understanding of reverence, piety and respect for the sacred.

This one misses the mark too!

Does this altar give you the warm fuzzies of the hermeneutic of reform within continuity? Blah!

This one really misses the mark of reform within continuity, there is a rupture, but certainly there is continuity with a Masonic hall! How do you like the altar?

BLESSING A RENOVATED BUILDING FOR MACON'S CATHOLIC CHARITIES, FAMILY ADVANCMENT MINISTRIES

Yesterday, Bishop J. Kevin Boland blessed a building owned by St. Joseph Church and used by our Catholic Charities program called Family Advancement Ministries or FAM. This outreach is geared toward parents and their young children and offers a variety of ministries including educational ministries to help these families out of poverty and into strong families. It is headed by Daughter of Charity, Sister Elizabeth Griem. Can you pick her out from the other women attending the blessing? For more information on FAMILY ADVANCEMENT MINISTRIES CLICK HERE.

Bishop J. Kevin Boland, Diocese of Savannah and Sister Elizabeth Griem,DC, Director of Family Advancement Ministries


Fr. Allan McDonald reading scripture, Fr. Dan Malaba, pastor of neighboring parish, St. Peter Claver

WILL THE INFLUENCE OF THE E.F. MASS ON THE OF MASS AND THE OF MASS ON THE EF MASS LEAD TO A REFORMED OF MASS AND ONLY ONE MASS AND NOT THEN THREE?

Those of you who read the liturgical blogs know that when Pope Benedict issued Summorum Pontificum liberalizing the permission to celebrate the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, that many in the liturgical renewal, especially those who worked heroically to promote their particular understanding of Vatican II's Sacrosanctum Concilium, were outraged and terrified that the broader use of the 1962 Missal would undermine the "spirit of Vatican II" that they had spent most of their religious career's striving to implement. In a sense, these poor liturgists developed overnight what could be call EF-APHOBIA!

The Holy Father, though, stated that he wanted the more liberal allowance of the 1962 missal to influence the manner in which the revised Roman Missal would be celebrated. But he also said he wanted the reformed Vatican II Missal to influence the 1962 missal. But he gave no specifics which leaves the door wide open on speculation.

Some in the more moderate liturgical movement feel that we need to go back to having only one missal that the Latin Rite celebrates, but that missal should look and feel more like the 1962 missal. I've offered suggestions on this in the past, but I personally feel that maintaining the 1962 missal as a legitmate option, but celebrating it through the lens of Sacrosanctum Concilium does not harm the unity of the Church.

So if I were a close advisor to the Holy Father, these are my recommendations:

Keep the 1962 missal as is, eliminate anything from it that could offend Jews,(in the Breviary also) that might be blatantly anti-Semitic and insist that the laity participate in song and word where it is prescribed now for altar boys and choirs. Keep everything else as is including the 1962 missal lectionary.

For the 1962 missal, though, allow for a clear option of the revised Lectionary to be proclaimed as it is in the OF Mass. As well, allow for General Intercessions following the Creed and an offertory procession of gifts. In low Masses, allow the Introit, Offertory Antiphon and Communion Antiphon to be recited in common by priest and laity and in the vernacular.

As it regards the Ordinary Form of the Mass, revise it so that its order and rubrics are closer to the 1962 missal, maintain the vernacular as it is being revised in English currently. This is what I would recommend to the Holy Father as as revised Roman Missal in the Ordinary Form.

1. Require that the official Introit, Offertory Antiphon and Communion Antiphon always be sung or spoken, that nothing else replace it.

2. Change the placement of the Introit so that it corresponds to the 1962 missal. By this I mean, after the priest arrives at the altar, he goes directly to his chair and begins with the Sign of the Cross and greeting. Then he introduces the Mass as prescribed in the Missal and all pray the Confiteor. The absolution is given. Then the priest leaves the chair, approaches the altar, kisses it as the official Introit is sung or said. If incense is used, it is used at this point. The changing of the position of singing the introit would not preclude a metrical hymn of one's choice being sung for the entrance procession or simply a strong instrumental procession.

3. After incensing the altar or kissing it, he returns to the chair for the singing or saying of the traditional form of the Kyrie (9 fold) and singing or saying of the Gloria and opening Collect.

4. All are seated for the Liturgy of the Word as it is currently carried out in the OF Mass.

5. After the homily, Creed (which should be mandated to be sung in sung Masses) and the General Intercessions, the Mass continues as the custom of the current OF Mass allows, with the offertory procession of gifts, the singing of the official offertory antiphon and any other anthem deemed appropriate. The offertory prayers are as they currently are in the OF Mass.

6. The Roman Canon is prayed in the vernacular, but with the rubrics of the 1962 missal except is is spoken or sung aloud. The other Eucharistic Prayers are prayed as they currently are, except for the addition of the double genuflection at the consecrations. The rubric of the use of the pall is made explicit in terms of when it is to be removed and replaced on the chalice with the appropriate genuflection that is required for this in the 1962 missal.

7. The Rite of Holy Communion as it is prescribed currently in the OF Mass, but with the singing or saying of the official Communion antiphon and any other communion hymns. Kneeling should once again be the normal way of receiving Holy Communion in the Latin Rite along with receiving on the tongue.

8. The concluding rite and dismissal and recessional as currently.

9. The Revised Order of the Ordinary Form of the Mass should have explicit rubrics for a legitimately optional Ad Orientem Celebration of this Mass as well as Facing the People form of this Mass.

I think implementing my humble suggestions would not offend the "noble simplicity" that Sacrosanctum Concilium explicitly requested. My changes are minor revisions and reform within the hermeneutic of continuity!

In addition to my suggestions above, we would follow the advice below on sacred music from ZENIT:

ROME, OCT. 7, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Sacred music cannot be limited to Gregorian chant, but it is chant that contains the key to renew liturgical song, according to a consultor for the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.

Father Uwe Michael Lang, also an official of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, made this observation Wednesday at a lecture at l'Accademia Urbana delle Arti in Rome.

Father Lang pointed to the 1749 encyclical "Annus Qui" by Pope Benedict XIV as the "most important papal pronouncement on sacred music" prior to Pope St. Pius X's "Tra Le Sollecitudini."

The 18th century encyclical "proposes the important criteria of sacred music that are valid beyond the limits of their historical context and resound also in our time," the priest said.

Father Lang explained that the encyclical presents plainsong as normative for the Roman liturgy "while it approves unaccompanied polyphony and also permits orchestral music, though with certain conditions, in divine worship."

He said this position of the Church is reflected in the constitution of sacred liturgy from the Second Vatican Council, which "exalts Gregorian chant as the 'proper' music of the Roman liturgy."

"The pre-eminence of chant," Father Lang further recalled, "was confirmed by Benedict XVI in his 2007 post-synodal apostolic exhortation 'Sacramentum Caritatis.'"

Father Lang proposed that the value of Gregorian chant is "its profound relationship with the liturgical text, to which it gives musical form."

"'Annus Qui' requests explicitly the integrity and intelligibility of the texts that are sung in the Mass and in the Divine Office," the priest affirmed. "This concern was already debated in Trent, but not included in the council's official documents."

He added that though "sacred music cannot be limited exclusively to Gregorian chant, it has in itself, however, the keys for a true renewal of sacred music."

THE SCHIZOPHRENIC APPROACH TO SAVING BABIES AND KILLING THEM--A PRO-LIFE LESSON EARLY THIS MORNING

Early this morning at 2:30 AM, I was called to the hospital. A pre-mature baby, born five months into the pregnancy was on life support. She had all kinds of internal deformities and had been on life support in the neo-natal care unit following several surgeries.

After I met with the child's family, the baby, although on life support, began to code, that is to die, her heart rate plummeted. The family had already made the decision to take the child off of life support, but the doctor had to be contacted first before this procedure could take place.

As the child's heart rate plummeted, the nursing staff, to the objection of the mother, began manual CPR on this pre-mature baby. They could not follow the family's direct request to allow nature to take its course without the doctor's consent.

As I watched the medical team do their "heroic" work to save this baby's life or at least pro-long it until the doctor told them to remove life support from her, I thought to myself that this baby, although 5 months into her development in the womb, looked like a fully formed baby.

In another venue and in other circumstances, this baby could have been aborted. Rather than heroic measures to save this baby's life, a medical team would have killed the baby acting as if this was just some glob of genetic material, a mere fetus with no human value.

In both cases, the medical team was following the letter of the law. In the first, they had to do everything possible to save the baby's life, although they were waiting word from the doctor to terminate life support. Until they got that, they could not allow the child simply to die a natural death. How odd!

In the second case, that of abortion on a baby this far along in a pregnancy, the law allows the mother to make the decision to kill the child directly. This gives license to the medical team to kill the child without being charged with negligence, murder or man slaughter or infanticide.

I'm not sure the lesson I learned this morning other than human life is sacred and we have no right to play God.