LAETARE SUNDAY! DID YOUR CELEBRANT WEAR PINK, HOT PINK OR ROSE TODAY? A ROSE BY ANY OTHER COLOR IS STILL A ROSE! I HAVE TO DELUDE MYSELF IN THAT WISHFUL THINKING

The previous pastor of my new parish left this rose vestment for me which I wore on Gaudete  Sunday when I blessed an out outdoor shrine to the unborn after the 3rd Sunday of Advent Mass. Today, Laetare Sunday, I wore it again! If you don't like hot pink, then, please, in your charity send me a nice rose vestment (Gothic style please) with matching dalmatic. Have I ever asked for anything on this blog???

In Macon, today, in addition to Laetare Sunday, it is also the opening of the Cherry Blossom Festival there and as it frequently the case it coincides with the Laetare Sunday Mass and of course visitors and parishioners thought I was being "cute" by wearing the pink of the Cherry Blossom Festival and of course I had to correct them publicly at Mass!

Did you, your fellow Catholics and your priest wear rose today????????????

Other examples of rose and not so rosy:

CRICKETS!

 Yesterday, our Holy Father, His Holiness Pope Francis celebrated in splendor the Modern Ambrosian Rite of Milan which I posted on the previous post with video and differences in the Ambrosian Rite and the normative Latin Rite. Silence from commenters!

I checked other liturgical blogs and nothing, absolutely nothing, except that Praytell highlights an African Rite.

Given the fact that His Holiness, Pope Francis hasn't celebrated the Ambrosian Rite as pope until yesterday and and did so in a most splendid way with beautiful vestments for His Holiness and the other ministers, you would have thought this should have been fodder for discussion but what do we hear? CRICKETS!  WHY Oh WHY, I ASK??????

HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS WITH POPE FRANCIS IN THE REVISED AMBROSIAN RITE OF MILANO

 MANY DIFFERENCES IN THE AMBROSIAN RITE COMPARED TO OUR LATIN RITE!

FASCINATING INTRODUCTORY RITES OR PRAYERS AT THE FOOT OF THE ATLAR/CRUCIFIX WITH PROPER CHANTS! THE DEACON SEEMS TO INCENSE THE ALTAR, NOT THE POPE. 

THE POPE'S MITER REMAINS ON UNTIL AFTER THE SIGN OF THE CROSS AND GREETING THAT IS FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY THE COLLECT. THE FIRST READER SEEKS A BLESSING FROM THE POPE. IT SEEMS THAT THE SECOND LECTOR WHO ALSO ASKS FOR A BLESSING IS DRESSED AS A DEACON. THE FIRST LECTOR WASN'T SHOWN BUT I PRESUME THE SAME, A SUBDEACON POSSIBLY????? 

THE GOSPEL PROCESSION IS MAGNIFICENT AND IT APPEARS THERE ARE VESTED SUBDEACONS AS DEACON AND SUBDEACON DALMATICS/TUNICS ARE BEAUTIFUL. DEACON REQUESTS BLESSING FROM POPE FROM AMBO, NOT IN FRONT OF THE POPE DIRECTLY! CENSING OF GOSPEL IN AMBROSIAN STYLE.

NO CREDO (SOLEMNITY OF THE ANNUNCIATION) IT APPEARS THAT THE OFFERTORY CHANT AND PREPARATION OF THE ALTAR TAKES PLACE BEFORE THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER. 



THE SIGN OF PEACE TAKES PLACE BEFORE THE PRESENTATION OF THE OFFERINGS WITH AN ACCOMPANYING CHANT!

THE OFFERINGS ARE PRESENTED WITH INCENSE PRECEDING THEM. THE POPE PLACES INCENSE IN CENSOR PRIOR TO GOING TO ALTAR. ONE SIDED ALTAR INCENSATION BY THE POPE. DEACONS CONCLUDES INCENSATION OF ALTAR.

NOW THE CREDO IS CHANTED WITH POPE AT ALTAR!!!!!! THE DEACON INCESNES EVERYONE DURING THE CREDO IN AMBROSIAN HUGE CIRUCULAR FASHION, SPECTACULAR. THE POPE KNEELS AT THE ALTAR AND EVERYONE ELSE KNEELS FOR THE "INCARNATUS EST!"

THE POPE IS ASSISTED TO HIS FEET GRIMACING IN GREAT PAIN!

DIRECTLY TO COLLECT, NO ORATE FRATRES!

THE AMBROSIAN RITE KNOWS HOW TO INCENSE AT IT IS SMOKING THROUGHOUT THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER!

THE CONSECRATION OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD IS LONGER THAN OURS AND I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER PRAYED IN ITALIAN  

AFTER THE GREAT AMEN, SOME MARIAN CHANT OR COMMUNIONC CHANT? NO OUR FATHER BUT THE FRACTION RITE!

AFTER THE FRACTION RITE WITH CHANT, THE PATER NOSTER IS CHANTED.

NO AGNUS DEI PRIOR TO THE ECCE AGNUS DEI AND COMMUNION! 

THIS IS CHURCH HISTORY IN THE MAKING: MORE FROM CARDINAL BURKE ON THE FORMAL CORRECTION OF A SITTING PONTIFF

To view the video of Cardinal Burke's brief presentation on the correction of Pope Francis concerning Amoris Laetia on Friday, March 24, The Vigil of the Annunciation of the Lord, press this sentence.

Whether you question the prudence of Cardinal Burke or not, this is somewhat similar to the Archbishop Marcel Lefebrve case in the 1970's. It is history in the making, wouldn't you agree? 

CELEBRATING THE ORDINARY FORM MISSAL IN THE VERNACULAR AS IS BUT IN AN EXTRAORDINARY FORM WAY

As I watched the Children's Mass from Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church in San Antonio which I posted in the previous post, I thought to myself, "Self, why don't bishops of every diocese in the world promote this kind of Mass not only for children but for adults as Atonement does?"

Let me explain what I mean. I think the style in which the children's Mass is celebrated in the video in the previous post (which, btw, is the way Atonement celebrates the Mass with adults and families on Sunday, no difference!) can, could and should be celebrated in every Catholic parish with our very own Ordinary Form Roman Missal, allowing for all the prayer options contained in it.

Thus, I continue to say, that knowledge and celebration of the 1962 Roman Missal even in a "boutique" way, should be the template on how the Ordinary Form is celebrated. The OF can, could and should be celebrated as the Atonement video shows, but priests and pastors need the encouragement if not mandate of the bishop to do so!

So, without changing one iota of the current 2012 Ordinary Form Missal, apart from the direction of the prayer, which in fact is allowed already and certainly in continuity with the more than 1,900 years of praying the Mass in an ad orientem direction, even if symbolically, I would suggest the following:

1. The 2012 Roman Missal does in fact contain in a separate liturgical book for musicians the Proper Introit, Offertory and Communion Antiphons.  This can, could and should be chanted either in our traditional format in the various degrees of Gregorian Chant in Latin or in the vernacular and the Atonement video shows how marvelous these chants can be in English! --This would eliminate from the Mass the inane hymns and other music choices that do not fit the musical, spiritual and devotional qualities of the Latin Rite Patrimony! I would suggest that since the current OF Roman Missal allows a substitution of the Propers for inane hymns of silly styles incongruous with the Latin Rite's chant patrimony, that liturgical musicians could borrow the chants of the Ordinariate's Missal, Divine Worship with their Elizabethan English and the traditional format of the Introit that mirrors the EF's format for the Introit, which includes the Gloria Patri!

2. All the prayers of the Roman Missal be celebrated at the altar ad orientem as in the Atonement video, except for those parts that are directed to the congregation, such as liturgical greetings. This would allow for the complete use of any option of prayers in the Roman Missal, such as the options for the Penitential Act and Eucharistic Prayers.

3. Kneeling for Holy Communion! This is a no-brainer if we are to recover the mystery and reverence for the Sacramental Real Presence of our Risen Lord transubtantially present in the Consecrated Host with Holy Communion reverently received on the tongue.

4. The recovery of kneeling for the Final Blessing as well as for the Penitential Act--of course this would entail a slight revision of the OF Missal to allow this since it isn't currently a rubric.

What I truly appreciated in the Atonement Video was the recessional. After the priest and ministers departed, all the children knelt to sing a hymn of Thanksgiving. It is in our tradition, although lost in many places today because of all the chit chat that takes place in the nave of the church, for Catholics to make a prayer of thanksgiving after Mass. The Atonement video takes this a step further making it a communal act and sung with a devotional hymn! How marvelous is that?

5. I noticed in the Atonement Video that only the scola chanted the Propers and beautifully. This will certainly raise the ire of modern liturgists who insist the congregation must sing everything along with a choir, cantor or scola/choir! We have to mature beyond this ideology as the Atonement parish has done and realize that active participation can be accomplished through listening and contemplation as so much of our chant and musical patrimony in the Latin Rite requires an expertise that the laity cannot always accomplish! We don't need to dumb things down to a level of triteness to appease modern liturgists' hang up about vocal active participation by the laity in every hymn and chant!

6. Please note too, that the Liturgy of the Word in the Atonement Video is not done at the altar facing it, but at a lectern for the Epistle and on the Epistle side of the sanctuary. The traditional Gradual and Tract is chanted marvelously in English which is noble in its simplicity compared to the responsorial psalm style with the useless repetition of the refrain over and over and over again! The Gradual/Alleuia or Tract is available in the Ordinary Form's musical resources! How many people know this??????? Also, please note that the Roman Missal is transferred to the Gospel side of the altar during the chanting of the Gradual/Tract even though the Gospel is read by the deacon facing the congregation at the center of the sanctuary below the altar.

My Final comments: As I have continuously written, our only hope for a Latin Rite Mass in the Ordinary Form that is in continuity with our Latin Rite Patrimony heritage is the refinement of the 2012 Ordinary Form Missal that makes it more EF in spirituality and ethos! We will never see the entire Latin Rite Church return to the 1962 EF Missal exclusively. That missal should remain but will remain only as a "boutique" experience for an elite group of Catholics who appreciate it.

I do propose though, and I think it could happen one day, that the current OF Roman Missal be more closely aligned to the Ordinariate's Roman Missal, something I have consistently advocated! This means a return to the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, the reordering of certain aspects of the Mass to be consistent with the EF's Order, the return of the traditional offertory prayers, the elimination of all the useless additional Eucharistic Prayers except the Roman Canon which is normally required in the Divine Worship Missal for Sundays and Eucharistic Prayer II which is allowed for week day Masses--the Divine Missal has only these two canons with strict rubrics to mandate the Roman Canon on Sunday! It also has rubrics for the canons for double genuflections at the consecrations, kissing the altar as in the EF to include kissing it each time the celebrant turns away from the altar toward the congregation.

The revision of the 2012 Missal should also align itself to the Divine Worship Missal in terms of revisions to the Roman Calendar to include the Season of Septuagesima, the Octave of Pentecost and ember and rogation days.

DISCUSS!

IF BY CHILDREN'S LITURGY, WE MEAN THIS, WELL THEN, PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS COME!

When it comes to children's and teenager's liturgies, most parishes cater to the child's mentality which will keep them children and teenagers as it concerns their preference for the style of liturgy well into their adulthood. In other words, parishes enable arrested development of our young people's Catholicism and liturgical praxis and spirituality.

This children's liturgy is from the Ordinariate's Roman Missal, approved by the way, by Pope Francis and celebrated at Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church in San Antonio, Texas on March 22, just two days ago.

While this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass includes elements of the Anglican liturgical patrimony, which I find wordy, it is nonetheless a liturgy that Sacrosanctum Concilium envisioned which was disordered by those who fabricated the new Order of the Mass. This is sad indeed, but steps like the Ordinariate's Missal are rectifying a sad situation.

Please listen to the chanting of the Propers in English. Magnificent. How many lay Catholics even know that the Introit, Offertory and Communion Propers even exist if they never hear it since these are not required to be chanted but substitutes can be made, like "Be Not Afraid" and "Here I am Lord" and "Leaping the Mountains" not to mention "How Great Thou Art", "Amazing Grace" and "The Old Rugged Cross."

Thanks to Knoxville Henry for leading me to this video:

AN IMPLICIT CRITIQUE?

Cardinal: ‘By African standards, I’m not conservative, I’m ["Catholic"]

• John L. Allen Jr.
  March 23, 2017
  EDITOR

Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, retired prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, is pictured outside St. Peter's Basilica after the closing Mass of the Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 25. 2015. (Credit: CNS photo/Paul Haring.)

Does the comment from Francis Cardinal Arinze I post below imply that conversations among cardinals who elect a pope are concerned that a pope might act as a non Catholic? This is quite a fascinating discussion given how the "spirit of Vatican II" has made possible two answers to this famous question which until recently always had only one answer! "Is the Pope Catholic?"

This is the comment from Cardinal Arinze of Africa in an interview with Crux about electing an African pope which you can read in full by pressing the title of this post from John Allen above, where the Cardinal also criticizes liturgical dance in Africa and other aspects of inculturation:

“If he [the pope] doesn’t deliver the goods, what do we gain even if he comes from my own village? For me, it’s not important. What matters is that he’s a Catholic!”

My comment: Recently Pope Francis in an interview said the same thing about the conclave that elects the next pope, that IT BE CATHOLIC. I wonder, given Cardinal Arinze's remark, full of implications, doesn't also imply that cardinals have raised the concern in private about the catholicity of a pope and the current pope's remark about conclaves is a snarky reply?????

Of course implied in the two "catholic" remarks is the two meanings of catholic. Pope Francis' remark has nothing to do with the Deposit of Faith that a pope is required to hand on, but rather, the international or universal flavor of the cardinal electors, that they be multi-cultural and diverse--catholic.

Whereas Cardinal Arinze's definition of Catholic is based upon faith and morals of the person elected pope, that he be Catholic. 

DOES VATICAN II ECUMENISM LEAD TO CHRISTIAN EGALITARIANISM AND A LACK OF AUTHENTIC CATHOLIC PRAXIS THUS MAKING THE POINT OF THE SSPX?

Both Vice President Pence and Judge Gorsuch are fully initiated into the true Church, yet their current Catholic identity is ambiguous. Pence calls himself an evangelical Catholic and attended a non denominational mega church.

Gorsuch has attended his wife's Episcopal Church for the past 15 years although it is ambiguous if he has formally joined that denomination.

In days gone by this would have been declared anathema, but not a peep today from their local bishops considering their high profile stature as public servants.

What is so sad is how common this is today contributing to the tragic truth that in some dioceses only 12% of Catholics actually attend Mass with a goodly percentage of the 12% heterodox. In other words 88% of Catholics don't attend Mass.

I THINK WE CAN BLAME MANY ELEMENTS OF VATICAN II FOR THE LOSS OF CATHOLICS WHO NO LONGER PARTICIPATE IN THE CHURH OR HER LITURGIES

I think that Vatican II was successful in alienating both traditionalists and liberal/progressives and thus will be seen as one of the most polarizing councils of the Church which led to the loss of a huge number of traditionalists and consequently their children and children's children. Or these once strongly devout Catholics became lukewarm or disengaged from the Church they felt left them.

The same can be said of the liberal/progressives.

What Vatican II opened for the liberals was the false expectation, an expectation they took hook, line and sinker, that the Church could change this, that and the other to include dogma and morality. So when Pope Paul VI put the brakes on just what could change and what wouldn't, this led to the anti-Humanae Vitae crowd to vote with their feet and leave the Church and thus too their children and children's children or they became angry lukewarm, tepid Catholics completely disengaged from the Church.

The same for those who did not like change, especially in the liturgy and the chaos this caused in their local parishes and their personal faith lives, they too voted with their feet and left or became lukewarm and disengaged as so too their children and children's children.

INSECURITY IS THY NAME: SHUTTING DOWN THE CONVERSATION WHEN IT DOESN'T GO YOUR WAY

COMMENTS CLOSED!


PRAYTELL, that alternate narrow minded universe, typical of the progressive agenda and their insecurity, shut down a rather good discussion on this post:

Alternative Facts on Vatican II

MAR18

Posted by Other Voices in Demographics and Sociology, Secularism, Vatican II | 30 Comments

by Björn Odendahl

If one looks at church attendance trends in past decades, there remains no doubt: after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), things went downhill for the Catholic Church in Germany. In 1965 the proportion of Catholics who regularly attended Mass was still ca. 45%, but already by 1970 it was only 37%. In 1990 it was only one in five, and today only about one in ten of the faithful still goes to Sunday worship.

The insecure moderator did not like the comments so after 29 comments His 30th comment shut down the great conversation!

COMMENTS CLOSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONFLICTED IN HILTON HEAD ABOUT THE EF MASS!?!

I am on my day off and take it on nearby Hilton Head (40 miles from Savannah) on the coast of South Carolina where nothing could be finer!

I have been reflecting on the glorious 3rd Sunday of Lent High Mass in the Extraordinary Form that I celebrated yesterday at our splendid Cathedral in historic and magical downtown Savannah.

My on-going conflict has to do with the fact that in the Sung EF Mass, the priest and ministers celebrate the Mass somewhat disconnected from the choir which sings a parallel "Mass".  What this means specifically is that even though the choir sings the Introit, the priest after incensing the altar says it quietly to himself. The same is true of the gradual/tract--while the schola chants these the priest nonetheless says it to himself.

The same is true of the Kyrie, Gloria and Credo, the priest recites these silently and if the choir has not completed it during the Gloria and Credo, the priest sits until is is completed. At the Cathedral as well as my former parish of glorious St. Joseph in Macon, I opted to chant these wth the choir and never sat at a normal Gregorian chanted Mass. Kosher?? I ask; you answer.

The same is true of the Sanctus, as the choir chants it, the priest recites it and then recites in low voice the Canon while the choir continues to chant the Sanctus/Benedictus. In fact in more elaborate chanted or sung forms of the Sanctus, it is divided from its Benedictus with the Benedictus chanted after the consecrations while the priest concludes the Canon.

The earliest reform of the 1962 Missal, the short-lived 1965 Roman Missal, this parallel actual Mass of the priest and ministers with the "Mass" of the choir was suppressed or at least specifically discouraged. I tend to side with the suppression.

However, I have experienced both ways to celebrate the EF Mass and I must say that I can see the "mystical" or the mysticism of the parallel way of celebrating the EF--it shows forth in a powerful way the "drama" of what is celebrated in an unbloody and glorious "Risen" way.

YOUR THOUGHTS??????  

THE DAY AFTER: REFLECTIONS ON THE CATHEDRAL'S EF HIGH MASS ON SUNDAY

I love both forms of the Mass when celebrated well and with chants and anthems that are in continuity with the ethos, spirituality and devotion of the Latin Rite Mass.

I firmly believe that one day, we need to merge the OF Mass back into the EF Mass but properly and with the continuity we need in the Latin Rite in terms of chants, language, spirituality, devotion and liturgical ethos.

Currently, it is only in the OF Mass that a divergence from the Liturgical Tradition of the Latin Rite has experienced a rupture and that is for less than 50 years, a blink of the eye in terms of the 1,900 year liturgical tradition of the Church. For the most part, the breach in this tradition was not and is not official, but one of experimentation which has been a miserable failure when one realizes that in some places up to 90% of Catholics no longer participate in any way in the Mass because they don't attend!

This experimentation which is a breach in our Liturgical Tradition has to do with language, spirituality, devotion and ethos especially with the style of music employed, the direction of prayer, the ad libbing of the priest and crass casualism leading to the dismantling of reverence, tradition and a sense of awe and mystery, the mysticism that is such a necessary part of our nearly 2000 year Liturgical Tradition.

Thus my reflections on a new Roman Missal to return the Church to her liturgical tradition that is more EF than OF but contains elements of the OF Mass that are successful and within continuity with our Liturgical Tradition which is based on the EF High Mass I celebrated on Sunday, March 19 at our Cathedral:

1. The Processional Chant was the official Introit Chant of the Mass chanted in Latin--we must preserve thisTradition in the new Missal and in Latin not only for the Introit but the Offertory and Commmunion chants.

2. The Prayers at the Foot of the Altar is a preparation for the priest and ministers only and is accomplished during the time of the Processional Chant--a prelude to the actual Mass done publicly
for the congregation to witness as what the priest and ministers are about to celebrate need this preparation as they are about to enter the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies--there is nothing of clericalism in this but an esssential act of public piety but privately accomplished.

3. The Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Pater Noster, Agnus Dei all should be chanted in Latin.

4. The changing parts of the Mass should have the option of being chanted in the vernacular, such as the Collect, the Prayer over the Offering (Secret) which should be chanted out loud and Post Communion Prayer.

5. The Lturgy of the Word should be celebrated as in the OF Mass with the option of the revised Lectionary which itself should be revised to include readings from the EF Lectionary that were omitted. However, the Responsorial Psalm should be suppressed because of the useless repitition of the refrain. The Gradual and Tract need to be recovered as in the EF lectionary and chanted in Latin as a part of the Latin Chant Patrimony which includes the Introit, Offertory and Communion antiphons.

6. The Communion Rite should be as in the OF Mass eliminating priest's rite first and then the laity's, this especially works well when ad orientem as the priest turns to the Congregation for the "Ecce Agnus Dei" and "Lord I am not worthy" (with the latter done thrice by both priest and laity) then the priest turns back to the altar for his Holy Communion (which completes the Sacrifice) and then distributes Holy Communion first to the minsters and then the congregation.

7. The distinction between Low, Sung and Solemn Sung Masses needs to be recovered with intinction allowed in the Solemn High Mass.

8. Kneeling for Holy Communion and on the tongue must, I emphasize, must be recovered for the sake of preventing sacrilege which is so commmon with Holy Communion in the hand if only a few do it intentionally and the majority unintentionally.

THAT AWFUL PRE-VATICAN II CHURCH THAT CAUSED SO MANY TO LEAVE THE PRACTICE OF THE FAITH AFTER VATICAN II!

There are a slew of laity, priests, bishops and cardinal-bishops my age and much older, some all the way up into their 80's who feel like this person of that age feels:

Please discuss:

I am not an expert on secularism nor in sociology, but I have vivid memories of the church in greater Boston dating back to the 40’s and 50’s. in those days, the church was the building where we attended Mass on Sundays and Holydays under serious oblgation. It was the place we went on Saturdays to make our confession on the rare occasions we were planning to receive communion.

 It was the place where the aging Monsignor and his younger curates told us what we had to do to get to heaven. They, and the “good sisters” who were responsible for catechism classes, taught us that we should be proud to belong to The One True Church because all who didn't belong to her were likely doomed to hell.

They also taught us that our goal should be purgatory where after eons of punishment we could hope to see the face of God. 

The Catholic Church in those days was a monolithic institution which sought to rule over every aspect of our lives. We went to or heard Mass, though there was not much to hear. We were taught to say our prayers, support the parish, and obey all authorities in the church. No one told us that we became part of a royal priesthood in Baptism, nor that there were spiritual gifts and ministries available to us from the Holy Spirit.

Then came Pope John and The Council. It’s teachings on the role of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and the nature of the church and its leaders brought with the notions of critical thinking, full participation in worship, a new respect for other Christian churches, and, most importantly the call to holiness.

Most Catholics received those changes with enthusiasm or acceptance. I submit that the declining Mass attendance resulted from many factors (including HUMANAE VITAE) but was mostly due to increasing numbers of people unwilling or unable or fearful about the prospect of becoming more devout and intentional disciples of Christ. . If Catholics were content to observe a few obligations from time to, hearing the teachings of God’s word each week proved too great a burden.

SOBERING STATISTICS BUT HEADS STILL BURIED IN THE SAND

Praytell, an alternate universe, has an article about the Church in Germany and its decline since Vatican II which mirrors much of the rest of the Catholic world in the same period. However, the article disputes that Vatican II's spirit (which I distinguish from Vatican II properly understood within the context of reform in continuity) had anything to do with the decline in religious practice. In fact the article has the audacity to imply it slowed it down or it could have been worse if not for Vatican II as the decline began in the earlier part of the 20th century.

Here are some soundbites from the article:

If one looks at church attendance trends in past decades, there remains no doubt: after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), things went downhill for the Catholic Church in Germany. In 1965 the proportion of Catholics who regularly attended Mass was still ca. 45%, but already by 1970 it was only 37%. In 1990 it was only one in five, and today only about one in ten of the faithful still goes to Sunday worship.

But it is also true that church attendance numbers going back to the 1920s reached their high point in 1935.

In the years after the war there was only a short, temporary high. Official statistics of the German bishops’ conference prove this. Already between 1950 and 1965 the proportion of church attendees among all Catholics sank from 50 percent to 45.

If one thinks that people back then spent hours at Mass devoutly listening to Latin prayers and chants.

The reality of Sunday liturgy looked quite different than this in many places: the faithful came to Mass late or went outside the church during Mass – for example, to smoke. Others came just in time for the consecration, or left right after it, because according to their own conception they had thereby fulfilled their Sunday obligation. Parallel to the Mass “read” by the priest, the rosary or other pious devotions were prayed. The people were far removed from active particiation (Latin: participatio actuosa) in the liturgy, as called for by the Second Vatican Council in the liturgy constitution, Sacrosanctum Concilium. All this, even though Pope Pius X had deplored such a deplorable state of affairs already in 1903.

But in the comment section on this post in Praytell, Jack Wayne makes very perceptive observations:

While I find articles like this interesting and enlightening in some ways, they really don’t speak in favor of the reform. The conclusion seems to be that the reform was a multi-billion dollar deck chair rearrangement on a sinking ship. Perhaps some can speculate, based on polls done after the reform, that the exodus would have been worse had the liturgy not been changed – but how can one be so sure those same people would have left had they been in a control group never exposed to even the idea of liturgical reform? What if the reform had been much milder? I bet those polled were mostly talking about vernacular when asked about the reform, and maybe versus populum and contemporary music.

My personal opinion is that reform was needed, but that they did a lot of completely unnecessary things that needlessly caused division. (And I would say pushed devout people as well as those on the periphery of the Church away from the Church that had ramifications for future generations of Catholics who would be completely disengaged from the Church and her liturgy resulting in the dismal statics today in most parts of the Western world.) How many people truly stayed in the Church because the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar had been replaced by four new penitential rites? Did anyone cite the new offertory prayers as a major deciding factor for staying? How about the new prayer after of the Our Father or the new Eucharistic Prayers? Would more people have left had their side altars, communion railings, and reredos not been secretly ripped out of their parish church? Did anyone say they were on the brink of leaving the Church, but had a change of heart when the final blessing was moved to before the dismissal?

My comments: Apart from subsequent generations not formed fully in the Catholic Church due to the fact that devout Catholics and those on the periphery of the Church were turned off by the manner of the reforms of the Liturgy and the Church leading to subsequent generations disengaged from the liturgy and the Church, there are other factors to be taken into account that allowed secularism to gain the upper hand with Catholics:

1. Those who loved the pre-Vatican II Church were shamed and humiliated by reformers as being backwards, living in the past and a threat to Vatican II's spirit. This alienated otherwise strong, devout Catholics.

2. Catholics who liked to pray devotions, had powerful devotions to Mary and the saints, believed in private revelations where shamed and humiliated for their faith and religious practices as the cult of the saints and popular devotions were ridiculed by the spirit of Vatican II anarchists.

3. Catholics on the periphery who came late, left early, took smoking breaks, seldom received Holy Communion but attended weekly to fulfill their obligation were shamed and humiliated, mocked and scorned. This significant group ceased participating even in a peripheral way. (There is anecdotal evidence that some priests locked the doors of the church keeping latecomers from coming in and those who wanted to leave early or to take smoking breaks from leaving!)

4. Those Catholics who wanted to listen but not sing or respond to the spoken parts of the Mass, who wanted to use worship aids to follow the Mass were shamed, mocked and humiliated. (I saw a priest on noticing a parishioner was not singing the processional hymn, grab a hymnal, open it and shoved it into the hands of the non-compliant!)

5. The outrage of lay Catholics leading to complete alienation often occurred with the crass iconoclasm forced upon ornate churches that priests had stripped. The biggest scandal in this regard or at least the most recent, although now long done, is the iconoclasm of the ornate Cathedral in Milwaukee, completely useless and responsible I am sure for alienating a huge number of devout Catholics and doing nothing to stop the bleeding of Catholics to secularism. It was the pride of the Archbishop at that time, a liberal, hypocritical Benedictine who thought he knew better and damn those throw-backs!

6. Coupled with liturgical iconoclasm was the destruction of sound and basic catechesis and the throwing out of the Baltimore Catechism, the single most unifying and basic form of catechesis for generations of Catholics. Coloring book Catholicism could not stand up to the seduction of secularism on a significant number of Catholics.

7. The loss of identity by throwing out the "sacramental" habit of religious sisters and brothers and the radicalization of religious orders who malformed more than two generations of young Catholics until sisters and brothers completely abandoned Catholic education or their order's liberalization led to their disappearance.

8. Once changed was seen as possible (in a Church that many clergy and laity did not believe change was possible prior to Vatican II) everything seem like it could be changed to include doctrine and dogma as well as morality.

9. The new morality of Catholicism ala Fr.Charles Curran and others like him, called into question the basics of Catholic sexual morality and opened the door to Catholic amorality on all levels of sexuality to include those who had disordered affections.

10. Pope Francis in seemingly allowing those who once were excluded on an official level from receiving Holy Communion, will escalate those who are traditional and devoted to authentic Catholic moral teachings who will disengage from the Church because of this alienation which will affect their children and children's children.

MAYBE IT WAS THE LATIN, THE SILENCE AND WHAT SEEM TO BE OBSCURED THAT LED TO THE WIDESPREAD ACCEPTANCE OF A LESS THAT RICH FORM OF THE MASS?

I was a young teenager when the Mass began to change. First there was the hybrid revision of the EF
Mass with Latin/English. Then the altar was pulled forward for the priest to face the congregation. Then the canon was allowed to be spoken out loud but in Latin. Then English was allowed with three additioal cannons.

I loved each and every change because I didn't need a missal for the translations and I could see the Mass with the priest facing us. For the most part, I did not realize that what was happening was a dumbing down of the richness of the spirituality and devotional quality of the Mass especially when the poor criteria of translating even the dumbed down Mass from Latin to English was instituted for the 1970 Missal.

The only thing I did not like about the Mass facing the congregation was the priest eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ in front of us. It seem like poor etiquette and we were all shocked that the priest chewed his Host since all of us were told not to chew!

I can remember as a young child, well before Vatican II, asking my father why the priest did not face us. My dad felt the same way and mused that maybe mirrors should be hung over the altar for us to be able to see.

But back to my point about the majority of Catholics by 1970 accepting the new order of the Mass with its new dumbed down prayers and poor English translation that was unfaithful to the new Latin texts and why:

1. It was shorter---and for most Catholics who went to the Low EF  Mass, shorter was better even in the EF!

2. Most people did not really pay attention to the prayers of the Mass because these were in Latin when prayed out loud and those which were prayed silently were ignored and simply taken for granted.

3. Thus when revisions were made to prayers or prayers like the canon were prayed out loud, one did not make distinctions between beauty and richness of spirituality contained in the older form of the prayer, they were just grateful to hear and understand.

For example, take the two different versions of the Offertory Prayer over the bread. In the EF the richer form of it was prayed silently, so no one noticed that the revised form had no richness, depth of spirituality or reference to the "priestliness" of the sinful  priest offering the spotless host!

The newer form was nice to listen to but lacked any spiritual richness, devotion or reality  and only focused on what the bread is not what it would become. It is vapid. But in the Ordinary Form these prayers may be prayed silently or out loud, and it sounds nice out loud. No one really paid attention to the dumbing down of the Offertory Prayers in the new Mass because of the Latin and silence of the old Mass!

So take note of the Offertory Prayers over the bread from both the EF and OF Masses that I post below. I now firmly believe that if the Old Mass had been prayed in a quality vernacular and most prayers out loud, that more people rather than an  elite group, would have protested the changes in 1970:

Accept, O holy Father, almighty eternal God, this unblemished Host, which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my living and true God, for my innumerable sins, offenses, and negligences, and for all here present, as also for all the Christian faithful, both living and dead, that it may avail both me and them for salvation unto life everlasting. Amen.

Compare with the Offertory Prayer for the Host in the Newer Form of the Mass:

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.

My final comment:  The EF's prayer prayed in English is obviously richer, deeper and more spiritual than the silly OF revision which is a completely new prayer. The EF version is a personal prayer of deep spirituality and ultimately names who the sacramental priest is compared to the High Priest he represents and what the offering will eventually accomplish for those offering it. 

The new Offertory prayer does none of this but only praises the earth and the humans that made the bread. There is no sense of the sinfulness of the priest who needs the Sacrifice of the Mass as much as those behind him and the many who need it as well nor is there the reason for the priest who will offer the bread which is  that God will make the bread offered into the Body of Christ for the salvation of us poor, helpless miserable sinners. 

It is clearly a dumbing down of the Mass to say the least. But no one noticed but the elites of 1970's and today who realized it, the liturgical nerds not the masses! The Latin and the silence keep the masses in the dark and thus they accepted the dumbing down hook, line and sinker. 

IN THIS HOLY SEASON OF SAINT PATRICK AND ON SAINT PATRICK'S DAY SUNDAY IN DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, JOIN ME FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT IN THE SEASON OF SAINT PATRICK AT THE CATHEDRAL OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF SAINT PATRICK WHO DROVE THE LITURGICAL SNAKES OUT OF IRELAND

GLORIOUS SAINT JOSEPH, PATRON SAINT OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH, WEARING GREEN IN HONOR OF THE SEASON OF SAINT PATRICK ON SAINT PATRICK'S SUNDAY WHICH BTW IS THE SOLEMNITY OF SAINT JOSEPH AS WELL AS THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT, LORDS IT OVER SAINT PATRICK MERE PATRON OF IRELAND:

Yes, yours truly will be the celebrant for Savannah's weekly EF High Mass at our Cathedral, this Sunday, St. Patrick's Day Sunday, at our Cathedral, March 19th! Never mind about poor old Saint Joseph, my patron saint!

Here is the lineup! Be there or be square, Lafayette Square that is!

Traditional Propers for the Third Sunday of Lent
Vestments: Violet

INTROIT
Psalm 24: 15, 16
My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for He shall pluck my feet out of the snare: look Thou upon me, and have mercy on me; for I am alone and poor. -- (Ps. 24. 1, 2). To Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: in Thee, O my God, I put my trust; let me be not ashamed. V.: Glory to the Father . . . -- My eyes are ever towards the Lord . . .

COLLECT - We beseech Thee, O almighty God, look upon the desires of Thy humble servants: and stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty to be our defense. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth . . .

EPISTLE
Ephesians 5: 1 - 9
Brethren, Be ye followers of God, as most dear children: and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness. But fornication, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints: or obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to no purpose: but rather giving of thanks. For know you this, and understand, that no fornicator, or unclean, or covetous person, which is a serving of idols, hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief. Be ye not therefore partakers with them. For you were heretofore darkness: but now light in the Lord. Walk then as children of the light: for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice, and truth.

GRADUAL
Psalm 9: 20, 4
Arise, O Lord, and let not man be strengthened; let the Gentiles be judged in Thy sight. V.: When the enemy shall be turned back, they shall be weakened and perish before Thy face.

TRACT
Psalm 122: 1 - 3
To Thee have I lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven. V.: Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters. V.: And as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He have mercy on us. V.: Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

GOSPEL
Luke 11: 14-28

At that time Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb. And when He had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke, and the multitudes were in admiration by it. But some of them said: He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. And others, tempting, asked of Him a sign from heaven. But He, seeing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say that through Beelzebub I cast out devils. Now if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? But if I by the finger of God cast out devils; doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a stronger than he is come upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. He that is not with Me, is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest: and not finding, he saith: I will return into my house whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. And it came to pass, as He spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to Him: Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the paps that gave Thee suck. But He said: Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.

OFFERTORY
Psalm 18: 9-12
The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts, and His judgments are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb: for Thy servant keepeth them.

SECRET - May this victim, O Lord, we beseech Thee, cleanse away our sins: and sanctify the bodies and minds of Thy servants for the celebration of the sacrifice. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity . . .

PREFACE (Preface for Lent) - It it truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who by this bodily fast, dost curb our vices, dost lift up our minds and bestow on us strength and rewards; through Christ our Lord. Through whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with these we entreat Thee that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted while we say with lowly praise:

COMMUNION
Psalm 83: 4, 5
The sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a nest, where she may lay her young ones: Thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God: blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, they shall praise Thee for ever and ever

POST COMMUNION - In Thy mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, do Thou from all guilt and peril absolve us, whom Thou grantest to be sharers in so great a mystery. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who . . .

AS ANOTHER BISHOP PROMOTES AD ORIENTEM, ISN'T IT TIME FOR BISHOPS, ALL BISHOPS, TO MOVE FORWARD THE PROPER CELEBRATION OF THE ORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS THAT WHEN CELEBRATED PROPERLY IS IN CONTINUITY WITH THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM

In my post below, the good bishop of LaCrosse, Wisconsin shows his openness to the celebration of the Mass ad orientem as it is a legitimate option in the Roman Missal of the Ordinary Form. This is such a positive development.

But let's look at other things that other bishops and even Pope Francis are saying which bodes well for the Ordinary Form to be celebrated properly as an organic development stemming from the reintroduction of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

1. Pope Francis highlights that music in the Mass since Vatican II has been a mixed bag and needs to be improved. Simply looking at papal Masses at St. Peter's with the pope gives us clues to his orientation: 1. Gregorian Chant is widely used for the propers and the propers are chanted even in addition to a processional hymn and anthems in addition to the Offertory and Communion antiphons.

While Pope Francis does not exclude celebrating Mass ad orientem as he has done so a few times, the manner in which His Holiness' celebrates Mass facing the people is in an ad orientem manner--there is nothing of his personality in the manner in which Pope Francis celebrates the liturgies of the Church!

2. We can go back to 1907 to discern what is good music in the Mass and what isn't by this one quote:

Catholic Church Music, Sir Richard R. Terry wrote:

I think we may say that modern individualistic music, with its realism and emotionalism, may stir human feeling, but it can never create that atmosphere of serene spiritual ecstasy that the old music generates. It is a case of mysticism versus hysteria. Mysticism is a note of the Church: it is healthy and sane. Hysteria is of the world: it is morbid and feverish, and has no place in the Church. Individual emotions and feelings are dangerous guides, and the Church in her wisdom recognizes this. Hence in the music which she gives us, the individual has to sink his personality, and become only one of the many who offer their corporate praise.

3. And the good bishop from La Crosse writes the following commonsensical observation:

 Asking that the grace of this blessed season of Lent be with you all, I particularly pray with you and for you during the celebration of the Mass, the source and summit of our faith. This treasure has been entrusted to the Church to be guarded and celebrated. It is not ours as priests to control and define the Mass, but to celebrate it as it has been handed down to us. I am grateful for you, brother priests of our Diocese who with great care and reverence celebrate this great Sacrament for the People of God.

My final comments: Attention to detail, choreography and the general instruction of the Roman Missal is essential and this needs to be spelled out. Going to the Extraordinary Form's aspects of this is essential, not so much in its rubrical details but the general ethos of this Mass as it relates to reverence and mystery, the vertical elements of the Mass which must be recovered.

Apart from the three points above, the single most important restoration in the Ordinary Form of the Mass which is already allowed in its General Instruction is the reintroduction of kneeling for Holy Communion and receiving on the tongue. Standing for Holy Communion and receiving in the hand as well as Communion from a common chalice have been the single most deleterious aspects of the Mass which has led to the diminution of reverence and respect for the Sacred in the Mass and should be address immediately. We all have horror stories concerning the manner in which people receive in the hand today and how the Host is taken without consuming it! The precious blood is splashed and splattered on people's clothes, shoes and on the floor. This should be considered a sacrilege and outrageous and those to blame are the bishops who do not act to restore communion on the tongue and kneeling and the Precious Blood by intinction which prevent such outrageous against the Sacramental Real Presence of our Lord, God and Savior!

Nothing in this post would be difficult to implement after proper catechesis from the top down. 

On this Saint Patrick's Day, may his intercession lead to the snakes of the Mass being banished in our day!

 

AAAHHHH! ORIENTEM: PROMOTED BRICK BY BRICK BY YET ANOTHER BISHOP!

Pray Tell  must be blue as it is reporting, much to their chagrin, I suspect, that Bishop William Callahan of the Diocese of Lacrosse, Wisconsin wrote a letter to priests on March 8th referring to celebrating Mass ad orientem. Although the letter mentions Cardinal Sarah’s support of  ad orientem, it does not mention Pope Francis’s response to Cardinal Sarah. The letter admirably emphasizes respect for people’s sensitivities and avoidance of division. But it seems to express some favor for the ad orientem posture.  

My comments first: I want to praise this bishop for recognizing that the current General Instruction of the Roman Missal allows for many options not the least of which is intinction for Holy Communion and receiving while kneeling. While he doesn't touch on this, but rather promotes a sound approach to celebrating the Mass ad orientem as it was done for about 1,900 years prior to Vatican II, as attested to by the unbroken ad orientem tradition in the Divine Liturgy of the East, it is good to know that priests need not be micromanaged when implementing what is allowed by the Roman MIssal as long as there is proper catechesis of those who will experience options that are not used. 

8 March 2017

My Dear Brothers in Christ,

May the Lord give you peace.

....My message to you today concerns itself with sacred things, “ad orientem.”

Asking that the grace of this blessed season of Lent be with you all, I particularly pray with you and for you during the celebration of the Mass, the source and summit of our faith. This treasure has been entrusted to the Church to be guarded and celebrated. It is not ours as priests to control and define the Mass, but to celebrate it as it has been handed down to us. I am grateful for you, brother priests of our Diocese who with great care and reverence celebrate this great Sacrament for the People of God.

(This is a bombshell, coming from a bishop, wouldn't you agree?) The worthy and proper celebration of the Holy Mass has legitimate options; one that has become more prominent in the last year is the posture of Ad Orientem. This was begun by a statement of Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, who encouraged the practice beginning in Advent of 2016. This has led a number of our brothers to start using this option. In some places, with proper consultation and education, it has been a blessing and has even helped to draw a parish together. In other places, where the same care to have proper consultation and education was not observed, it has become an issue of divisiveness.

Because of the new prominence of this practice the topic has been discussed with the College of Deans in addition to the Presbyteral Council. During both discussions, I have shown my support for this practice as well as a deep concern that it be implemented appropriately and after proper consultation with the leadership of a parish, after truly hearing and respecting the People of God and after good education of what is being expressed in the change of posture. 

Between the two meetings of priestly leadership, I somehow managed to confuse the ideas of permissions, approvals, etc. I write this letter to clarify the procedures I desire to be in place when considering the implementation of the posture of Ad Orientem as a regular practice in a parish.

 1.    It is my desire to be informed before any such practice is undertaken so I might ensure through the Office of Sacred Worship that Holy Mass is celebrated in a consistent manner throughout the entire Diocese, with proper consultation and support of the People of God and after an appropriate period of education and discussion.

2.    It is my hope that where consensus of the People of God is split over this practice and multiple Masses are offered on any given weekend that both approved postures would be offered.

I hope we will all enjoy a seat “by the Eastern wall” in our churches and that we will understand the significance of such a thought. In the meantime, know that I pray with you and our dear Priestly and Holy People. Have a blessed Lent and never tire of celebrating the Eucharist anticipating the coming of the Lord.

Dear brothers, you are close to my heart and always in my prayers.

Fraternally,

+William