Summorum Pontificum August 30, 2007

Alexy II Praises Letter on 1962 Missal

ROME, AUG. 29, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's move to allow for wider celebration of the Roman Missal of 1962 has received a positive reaction from the Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow.

"The recovery and valuing of the ancient liturgical tradition is a fact that we greet positively," Alexy II told the Italian daily Il Giornale.

Fr. Z comments on Archbishop Nichols at conference on the older Mass


More Fr. Fessio on the Motu Proprio.


Short Video Series #5 - Type the Caption here (15min) >>> Play

Summorum Pontificum August 29, 2007

Summorum Pontificum at the University of Notre Dame
Excerpt:After several weeks of promising rumors, Campus Ministry has determined on a very favorable course of action regarding the Tridentine liturgy: a regularly-scheduled recited mass in the Extraordinary Form will be celebrated in the chapel of Alumni Hall dorm (it's generally considered one of the most beautiful on campus, and possessing a fine high altar, shown above) at 8 AM on Sundays

Note****Equally important, the Fighting Irish will be kicking off the football season on Saturday vs. Georgia Tech at 3:30. I am sure the Pope will be watching.

Fr. Z has a book review Book review: Bradshaw, L. A guide to the Celebration of Low Mass according to the traditional Roman Rite.

And this is much better than Bingo Nite! Don't you think?

SP Varia

From EWTN

The World Over Live will be taping a program on Pope Benedict XVI's recent motu proprio on the Traditional Roman Mass, Summorum Pontificum. Our guests will be bishops and canon law experts who will be able to answer your questions on this very important document that restores the use of the pre-Vatican II liturgy (1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII). Email us your questions now to worldover@ewtn.com or Click Here and we just might use your's on the show."


The taping will occur on Thursday, August 30. It will air on the September 14, 2007 World Over Live.

At CMR.
Of Footballs and Insults
——The liturgy is not a football.

Bishop Fellay Speaks

Rorate Caeli has an amazing series of excerpts of interviews done with the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, Bishop Fellay.

Some excerpts:

"We have never moved away from the Church. We have always been and are Catholics, and we have always worked with the intent of remaining so. There are difficulties with the authority, but that does not mean that we deny it [the authority]."
...
"We have never intended to build a parallel Church or authority"..."The official Church has put us aside. We have been marginalized. That is true. Yet, they cannot say or prove that we are on the outside. It is interesting that in the motu proprio which rehabilitated the ancient Mass of the Tridentine Rite, the Pope says that the reason for his action is to work towards the internal reconciliation in the Church. He is speaking about us. We have thus here the declaration of the Pope himself that we are not schismatics," he affirmed.
...
-[La Nación] Do you foresee the future extinction of the current Mass?

-"The Latin Mass appears now [to be] an extraneous body because it was said to be forbidden for 50 years. But one will take the place of the other. This motu proprio which rehabilitates the ancient rite will generate a movement which, at first, will be slow. It will demand time, but it will slowly grow. I am certain [of this]."

There is much more, please be sure to read the whole thing.

Tupelo Two Step

From a letter to the editor in the Diocese Of Jackson Mississippi.

Do we really want to go back?
Dear Editor
Lex Grandi, Lex Credendi.
“Have you ‘heard’ Mass lately?”
In recent months I have seen reports of a move in the church to make the Mass of Pope Pius V (Tridentine Mass) more available to the laity. This would include returning to the Mass being “said” by the priest with his back to the people. A recent article on this subject in the Tupelo paper, the Daily Journal, quoted one lay woman who attends this Mass describe the priest as the pilot and the laity as passengers. She said she would not want the pilot flying her plane to be facing the passengers.
I have some questions I wish to raise regarding the Mass of Pius V.
1. Does the Mass of Pius V give the worshipper a sense of God’s presence (the holy) among the worshippers gathered or is the “holy” only present on the altar?
2. Does the Mass of Pius V give the worshipper a sense of being gathered together for corporate worship or private, personal devotion?
3. Does the Mass of Pius V help foster in the worshipper a sense of their own priesthood (per baptism) which enables them to offer the Mass with the priest (per ordination)?
4. Does the Mass of Pius V promote in the worshipper a sense of God who is immersed in the world and their life, or a sense of God removed from the world and their life? A God removed from flesh or a God made flesh?
5. Does the Mass of Pius V help convey the bond of intimacy between God and his people intended by the covenant ritual or does it promote a sense of God’s aloofness from his people?
One of the most potent tools the church has to catechize both the priests and laity is the way Mass is celebrated, whether that of Pius V or Paul VI. These two forms of the Mass operate from very different theologies. They convey very different ideas about God, Jesus, holiness, priesthood, laity, worship, and spirituality – I believe the Mass of Pius V, with its heavy emphasis on the transcendent nature of God contributed to most Catholics not receiving Holy Communion at Mass. It took Pope Pius X to make it a law of the church for Catholics to receive Holy Communion at least once-a-year for them to be in good standing in the church. I am old enough to remember those days.
Do we truly want to go back to an experience of Mass where the priest’s role is described as “saying Mass” and the laity’s role that of “hearing Mass”?
“Lex orandi, lex credendi.”

Fr. Henry Shelton
St. James Parish, Tupelo

Who wants to answer this one?

Summorum Pontificum August 27, 2007

Give Tradition Some Time
I keep hearing people saying things like, "there aren't many people in my parish who want the Traditional Latin Mass." Well there probably aren't many people in those parishes who "like" or "want" to do penance, live a life of devout prayer, or "take up their cross" and follow Jesus Christ.

Latin Mass in Maine? Don't Count on it.
In July, Pope Benedict XVI issued a ruling granting priests the right to hold Latin Masses without the approval of the region's bishop starting in September, but don't count on it happening quite that soon on the Seacoast.

Father Z takes on The Tablet on the Archpb. of Glasgow’s harsh provisions for the older Mass

Summorum Pontificum August 24, 2007

Altoona Strikes Again
GUIDELINES For the celebration of Mass in the Extraordinary Form Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown

Florida has gone off the Deep End!

Summorum Pontificum August 23, 2007

Summorum: Innovative Opposition
In Baton Rouge, the hits just keep on comin'. I have to give this priest from some credit, he does not just recite the party line. This is some innovative opposition.

Florida has gone off the Deep End!

TLM in Diocese of Joliet, IL
Jake, Elwood, and especially the Penguin would be pleased.

Fr. Maxime Babel Kouakou Gbende asks "Can't we all just get along?"

Summorum Pontificum August 22, 2007

Amazing Article by Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. on the motu proprio. (HT to Fr. Z)

Father Z. . the fisking machine, is up to his ol' tricks in A “Parish Life Coordinator… Coordinatrix” writes in the bulletin about Motu Proprio and Buffalo, NY: expansion of older Mass

“OMNIA YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LATIN MASS BUT WERE TOO TIMIDUS TO POSTULARE” ---So reads the invitation to a series of informational sessions on the Traditional Latin Mass hosted by Una Voce Columbus featuring Keynote Speaker Fr. Kevin F. Lutz. If you live in the area, check it out.

Now Hong Kong has a regular Latin Mass

How many motu proprios will it take to stop this? (HT to the Curt Jester)

Before and after images of St Joseph’s Catholic Church in London

Summorum Pontificum August 21, 2007

Summorum Open Questions
John Allen reports that Bishop Trautman is seeking answers to some open questions regarding the motu proprio. Questions such as altar girls and communion under both species.

The Curt Jester has "Top five surprising results to Summorum Pontificum"

Also take a look at Pardon Me Grandma, Your Contempt is Showing
Mother of four and grandmother to nine, Patty McCarty put her disdain for the Pope, The Church, the mass, and the Eucharist on display at the National Catholic Reporter. She thinks the Pope should let her say the Latin Mass.

Driving stick.
——Brilliant, simply brilliant analogy of the situation with the Latin Mass. (HT to Some Have Hats)

Father Z. wants to know of you are a newbie or an old veteran to the "Extraordinary Form"