Sunday, July 25, 2021
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Latin Mass Updates, by Diocese
- Bishop Malesic of Cleveland has released a statement stating that he is granting temporary permission for the Traditional Latin Mass to continue to be celebrated in private and in churches that have already been doing so prior to 7/16/2021.
- Savannah Diocese: New Bishop in office 10 months, very supportive of the mass. He will allow masses til the end of the month, then meet with advisers and decide what he will do. The motu has really upset him.
- Atlanta Archdiocese: FSSP pastor spoke with the archbishop, the Archbishop said the motu will NOT affect the FSSP personal parish and that it is business as usual.
- Asst pastor Father James Smith being transferred to be chaplain of apostolate in Harrisburg PA. We will get Father Andrew Rapoport as his replacement. He is coming from Post Falls Idaho
- Good news! The Bishop of Fort Worth has come out in support of the local FSSP parish (Bishop Michael Olson on Twitter: "St. Benedict Catholic Church in Fort Worth is effective for the spiritual growth of its faithful who live in @FWdiocese. The priests of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter have cared pastorally for parishioners and fostered unity with the Local & Universal Church. @startelegram" / Twitter).
- Going forward, the Archdiocese of Boston will consult with the United States Conference of Bishops Committee on Divine Worship and our Archdiocesan Office for Divine Worship as we review the motu propio. With note that the Holy Father provided the local ordinary exclusive competence for use of the Extraordinary Form in his diocese, Cardinal O'Malley wishes to assure all the faithful of his concern for their spiritual and pastoral needs. In light of the pending consultations he is making no changes to the current practice.
- Little Rock Diocese retaining the 2 FSSP Personal Parishes ( Cabot AR and Springdale AR). BUT the El Dorado, Cherokee Village, and Mountain Home people will no longer have a TLM. Those locations were served by diocesan priests.
- I just got an email from St. Timothy's in San Antonio, TX, the sole surviving Archdiocesan TLM. The secretary said that nothing's changed yet but if anyone is planning on coming this Sunday, they should call the office Friday afternoon just to make sure it's still on.
FSSP: Official communiqué following the publication of the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes
Fribourg, July 20, 2021
The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, whose goal is the sanctification of priests through the faithful observance of the liturgical traditions prior to the reform implemented after the Second Vatican Council (cf. Constitutions n. 8), has received Pope Francis’ Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes with surprise.
Founded and canonically approved according to the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei Adflicta of Pope St. John Paul II of July 2, 1988, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter has always professed its adherence to the entire Magisterium of the Church and its fidelity to the Roman Pontiff and the successors of the Apostles, exercising its ministry under the responsibility of the diocesan bishops. Referring in its Constitutions to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, the Fraternity has always sought to be in accord with what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI called in 2005: “the hermeneutic of reform in the continuity of the Church” (Address to the Roman Curia, December 22, 2005).
Today, therefore, the Fraternity of St. Peter is deeply saddened by the reasons given for limiting the use of the Missal of Pope St. John XXIII, which is at the center of its charism. The Fraternity in no way recognizes itself in the criticisms made. It is surprising that no mention is made of the many fruits visible in the apostolates attached to the missal of St. John XXIII and the joy of the faithful in being able to benefit from this liturgical form. Many people have discovered or returned to the Faith thanks to this liturgy. How can we fail to notice, moreover, that the communities of the faithful attached to it are often young and flourishing, and that many Christian households, priests or religious vocations have come from it?
In the current context, we wish to reaffirm our unwavering fidelity to the successor of Peter on the one hand, and on the other, our desire to remain faithful to our Constitutions and charism, continuing to serve the faithful as we have done since our foundation. We hope to be able to count on the understanding of the bishops, whose authority we have always respected, and with whom we have always collaborated loyally.
Confident in the intercession of Our Lady and our Patron, Saint Peter, we hope to live this trial in faith and fidelity.
[source: fssp.org]
https://www.fssp.org/en/official-communique-following-the-publication-of-the-motu-proprio-traditionis-custodes/
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Changes to the TLM from Traditionis Custodes
- No more TLMs at parish churches, which must mean there will no longer be a proximal coexistence with the NO Mass at a regular parish church.
- No more new “personal parishes” which are basically what a regular parish looks like and how it operates, but exclusively offers the TLM Sacraments, to the exclusion of the NO Sacramental forms.
- Days and times set by the bishop.
- Readings in the vernacular.
- Readings using the New American Bible in the US, unless other translations are approved for use.
- Appoint a bishop’s delegate for the pastoral care of the TLM groups.
- Regulate and assess the parish life of the personal parishes.
- No “new groups”.
- Priests ordained after 7/16/21 need to request permission from the bishop, who then needs to consult with Rome.
- Current priests who offer the TLM need to request authorization to continue offering the TLM.
- The FSSP, ICK, and the like are now under the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies for Apostolic Life (ICLSAL).
- The Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW) and the ICLSAL are in charge of regulating these regs.
- Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, Summorum Pontificum, etc. are done. They no longer have any force of law.
- All the above, in force, right now.
1971 Statement by Scholars, Intellectuals, and Artists Living in England
1971 Statement by Scholars, Intellectuals, and Artists Living in England (after the New Mass was introduced, and the Old Latin Mass was seemingly abrogated by Paul VI)
“If some senseless decree were to order the total or partial destruction of basilicas or cathedrals, then
obviously, it would be the educated -- whatever their personal beliefs -- who would rise up in horror to oppose such a possibility.
Now the fact is that basilicas and cathedrals were built so as to celebrate a rite which, until a few months ago, constituted a living tradition. We are referring to the Roman Catholic Mass. Yet, according to the latest information in Rome, there is a plan to obliterate that Mass by the end of the current year.
One of the axioms of contemporary publicity, religious as well as secular, is that modern man in general, and intellectuals in particular, have become intolerant of all forms of tradition and are anxious to suppress them and put something else in their place.
But, like many other affirmations of our publicity machines, this axiom is false. Today, as in times gone by, educated people are in the vanguard where recognition of the value of tradition is concerned, and are the first to raise the alarm when it is threatened.
We are not at this moment considering the religious or spiritual experience of millions of
individuals. The rite in question, in its magnificent Latin text, has also inspired a host of priceless
achievements in the arts -- not only mystical works, but works by poets, philosophers, musicians, architects, painters and sculptors in all countries and epochs. Thus, it belongs to universal culture as well as to churchmen and formal Christians. In the materialistic and technocratic civilisation that is increasingly threatening the life of mind and spirit in its original creative expression -- the word -- it seems particularly inhuman to deprive man of word-forms in one of their most grandiose manifestations.
The signatories of this appeal, which is entirely ecumenical and nonpolitical, have been drawn from every branch of modern culture in Europe and elsewhere. They wish to call to the attention of the Holy See, the appalling responsibility it would incur in the history of the human spirit were it to refuse to allow the Traditional Mass to survive, even though this survival took place side by side with other liturgical forms.”
Signed,
Harold Acton
Vladimir Ashkenazy
John Bayler
Lennox Berkeley
Maurice Bowra
Agatha Christie
Kenneth Clark
Nevill Coghill
Cyril Connolly
Colin Davis
Hugh Delargy
Robert Exeter
Miles Fitzalen-Howard
Constantine Fitzgibbon
William Glock
Magdalen Gofflin
Robert Graves
Graham Greene
Ian Greenless
Joseph Grimond
Harman Grisewood
Colin Hardie
Rupert Hart-Davis
Barbara Hepworth
Auberon Herbert
John Jolliffe
David Jones
Osbert Lancaster
Cecil Day Lewis
Compton Mackenzie
George Malcolm
Max Mallowan
Alfred Marnau
Yehudi Menuhin
Nancy Mitford
Raymond Mortimer
Malcolm Muggeridge
Iris Murdoch
John Murray
Sean O'Faolain
E.J. Oliver
Oxford and Asquith
F.R. Leavis
William Plomer
Kathleen Raine
William Rees-Mogg
Ralph Richardson
John Ripon
Charles Russell
Rivers Scott
Joan Sutherland
Philip Toynbee
Martin Turnell
Bernard Wall
Patrick Wall
E.I. Watkin
“If some senseless decree were to order the total or partial destruction of basilicas or cathedrals, then
obviously, it would be the educated -- whatever their personal beliefs -- who would rise up in horror to oppose such a possibility.
Now the fact is that basilicas and cathedrals were built so as to celebrate a rite which, until a few months ago, constituted a living tradition. We are referring to the Roman Catholic Mass. Yet, according to the latest information in Rome, there is a plan to obliterate that Mass by the end of the current year.
One of the axioms of contemporary publicity, religious as well as secular, is that modern man in general, and intellectuals in particular, have become intolerant of all forms of tradition and are anxious to suppress them and put something else in their place.
But, like many other affirmations of our publicity machines, this axiom is false. Today, as in times gone by, educated people are in the vanguard where recognition of the value of tradition is concerned, and are the first to raise the alarm when it is threatened.
We are not at this moment considering the religious or spiritual experience of millions of
individuals. The rite in question, in its magnificent Latin text, has also inspired a host of priceless
achievements in the arts -- not only mystical works, but works by poets, philosophers, musicians, architects, painters and sculptors in all countries and epochs. Thus, it belongs to universal culture as well as to churchmen and formal Christians. In the materialistic and technocratic civilisation that is increasingly threatening the life of mind and spirit in its original creative expression -- the word -- it seems particularly inhuman to deprive man of word-forms in one of their most grandiose manifestations.
The signatories of this appeal, which is entirely ecumenical and nonpolitical, have been drawn from every branch of modern culture in Europe and elsewhere. They wish to call to the attention of the Holy See, the appalling responsibility it would incur in the history of the human spirit were it to refuse to allow the Traditional Mass to survive, even though this survival took place side by side with other liturgical forms.”
Signed,
Harold Acton
Vladimir Ashkenazy
John Bayler
Lennox Berkeley
Maurice Bowra
Agatha Christie
Kenneth Clark
Nevill Coghill
Cyril Connolly
Colin Davis
Hugh Delargy
Robert Exeter
Miles Fitzalen-Howard
Constantine Fitzgibbon
William Glock
Magdalen Gofflin
Robert Graves
Graham Greene
Ian Greenless
Joseph Grimond
Harman Grisewood
Colin Hardie
Rupert Hart-Davis
Barbara Hepworth
Auberon Herbert
John Jolliffe
David Jones
Osbert Lancaster
Cecil Day Lewis
Compton Mackenzie
George Malcolm
Max Mallowan
Alfred Marnau
Yehudi Menuhin
Nancy Mitford
Raymond Mortimer
Malcolm Muggeridge
Iris Murdoch
John Murray
Sean O'Faolain
E.J. Oliver
Oxford and Asquith
F.R. Leavis
William Plomer
Kathleen Raine
William Rees-Mogg
Ralph Richardson
John Ripon
Charles Russell
Rivers Scott
Joan Sutherland
Philip Toynbee
Martin Turnell
Bernard Wall
Patrick Wall
E.I. Watkin
Friday, July 16, 2021
Christianity or Chaos - Evelyn Waugh
Christianity or Chaos
Evelyn Waugh
"I think one has to look deeper before one will find the reason why in England today the Roman Church is recruiting so many men and women who are not notably gullible, dim-witted or eccentric.It seems to me that in the present phase of European history the essential issue is no longer between Catholicism, on one side, and Protestantism, on the other, but between Christianity and Chaos…Today we can see [the loss of Christian faith]…as the active negation of all that western culture has stood for. Civilization – and by this I do not mean talking cinemas and tinned food, nor even surgery and hygienic houses, but the whole moral and artistic organization of Europe – has not in itself the power of survival. It came into being through Christianity, and without it has no significance or power to command allegiance. The loss of faith in Christianity and the consequential lack of confidence in moral and social standards have become embodied in the ideal of a materialistic, mechanized state… It is no longer possible, as it was in the time of Gibbon, to accept the benefits of civilization and at the same time deny the supernatural basis upon which it rests…That is the first discovery, that Christianity is essential to civilization and that it is in greater need of combative strength than it has been for centuries.The second discovery is that Christianity exists in its most complete and vital form in the Roman Catholic Church. I do not mean any impertinence to the many devout Anglicans and Protestants who are leading lives of great devotion and benevolence; I do find, however, that other religious bodies, however fine the example of certain individual members, show unmistakable signs that they are not fitted for the conflict in which Christianity is engaged. For instance, it seems to me a necessary sign of completeness and vitality in a religious body that its teaching shall be coherent and consistent. If its own mind is not made up, it can hardly hope to withstand disorder from outside…Another essential sign one looks for is competent organization and discipline. Obedience to superiors and the habit of submitting personal idiosyncracies to the demands of office seems to be sure signs of a real priesthood…Most important of all, it seems to me that any religious body which is not by nature universal cannot claim to represent complete Christianity…No one visiting a Roman Catholic country can fail to be struck by the fact that the people do use their churches. It is not a matter of going to a service on Sunday; all classes at all hours of the day can be seen dropping in on their way to and from their work…The Protestant attitude seems often to be, ‘I am good; therefore I go to church,’ while the Catholic’s is, ‘I am very far from good; therefore I go to church.”"
Evelyn Waugh
"I think one has to look deeper before one will find the reason why in England today the Roman Church is recruiting so many men and women who are not notably gullible, dim-witted or eccentric.It seems to me that in the present phase of European history the essential issue is no longer between Catholicism, on one side, and Protestantism, on the other, but between Christianity and Chaos…Today we can see [the loss of Christian faith]…as the active negation of all that western culture has stood for. Civilization – and by this I do not mean talking cinemas and tinned food, nor even surgery and hygienic houses, but the whole moral and artistic organization of Europe – has not in itself the power of survival. It came into being through Christianity, and without it has no significance or power to command allegiance. The loss of faith in Christianity and the consequential lack of confidence in moral and social standards have become embodied in the ideal of a materialistic, mechanized state… It is no longer possible, as it was in the time of Gibbon, to accept the benefits of civilization and at the same time deny the supernatural basis upon which it rests…That is the first discovery, that Christianity is essential to civilization and that it is in greater need of combative strength than it has been for centuries.The second discovery is that Christianity exists in its most complete and vital form in the Roman Catholic Church. I do not mean any impertinence to the many devout Anglicans and Protestants who are leading lives of great devotion and benevolence; I do find, however, that other religious bodies, however fine the example of certain individual members, show unmistakable signs that they are not fitted for the conflict in which Christianity is engaged. For instance, it seems to me a necessary sign of completeness and vitality in a religious body that its teaching shall be coherent and consistent. If its own mind is not made up, it can hardly hope to withstand disorder from outside…Another essential sign one looks for is competent organization and discipline. Obedience to superiors and the habit of submitting personal idiosyncracies to the demands of office seems to be sure signs of a real priesthood…Most important of all, it seems to me that any religious body which is not by nature universal cannot claim to represent complete Christianity…No one visiting a Roman Catholic country can fail to be struck by the fact that the people do use their churches. It is not a matter of going to a service on Sunday; all classes at all hours of the day can be seen dropping in on their way to and from their work…The Protestant attitude seems often to be, ‘I am good; therefore I go to church,’ while the Catholic’s is, ‘I am very far from good; therefore I go to church.”"
Thursday, June 10, 2021
Does the Latin Mass Offer More Grace than the Novus Ordo?
I used to argue, years ago, that the Latin/Tridentine Mass/Extraordinary Form (EF) was superior to the Vernacular Mass/Novus Ordo/Ordinary Form (OF).
I still believe that, but now I make a distinction.
I made a video on this last year but suffice it to say:
1) The Mass, all validly offered Masses, in every Rite, is a participation in the one eternal Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross of Calvary.
2) The OF is a validly recognized, "form" or "rite" (depending on who you ask, Gamber and Davies would probably say rite, Benedict XVI would say form) of the Catholic Church.
3) The EF, of all degrees of solemnity, also offers the same eternal Sacrifice whether in Low form, or Solemn Pontifical form.
4) Therefore, the OF offers the same grace that the EF offers.
That's what I would call the "substance" of the Mass, to borrow from the doctrine on Transubstantiation.
The accidents of the Mass, which are the external ceremonials, art, music, architecture, vestments, etc. serve to accentuate the Mass, and varying degrees of their quality helps to dispose the Catholic to be able to receive more or less grace, depending on their subjective disposition.
That's the level, in my opinion, where more or less grace is accessed.
Further, a poorly disposed person attending a solemn Pontifical EF Mass probably accesses less grace than a properly disposed person attending a simple weekday OF Mass.
To put it simpler, grandma makes a delicious pie and says "come and get it".
Depending on your situation at the time, you may be inclined to take some or all of that pie. That's on you.
Don't overthink it!
The bottom line is the true Church says the OF is legit.
If you believe otherwise, well, you are basically a sedevacantist, and we should be debating that issue.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)