Even Pope John Paul II recognized the necessity of Latin
in this Novus Ordo celebration of the mass.
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has decided that he will use Latin during the preface and the canon of all the masses he celebrates, regardless of the vernacular language the mass is being celebrated in.
(Telegraph) - Monsignor Guido Marini, Papal Master of Ceremonies, confirms in an interview with Scotland’s Herald newspaper today that during his visit to Britain Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate the Prefaces and Canons of all his Masses in Latin, “to emphasise the universality of the faith and the continuity of the Church”.Once again, the Holy Father sets an example for the rest of the Church, but how many clergy will follow his example? Answer - virtually none! Why? Because the churches in Western countries are controlled by Modernists who abhor tradition. We only need look at how many priests and bishops currently encourage communion on the tongue while kneeling to see how bad of shape the Church is really in, and how indifferent (or even rebellious) her clergy really are.
The Canon (Eucharistic Prayer) is the heart of the Mass, during which the priest consecrates and elevates the Host. There can be little doubt that Marini has put his foot down. Having already stopped liturgical philistines from subjecting the Pope to various musical horrors, he is now sending a clear – and, one suspects, deeply unwelcome – message to English, Welsh and Scottish bishops who actively discourage the celebration of Mass in Latin...
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So if you're a priest reading this, lets see how gutsy you are? I've got a challenge for you, if you have the courage to take it, and I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of you won't. Next Sunday after reading this, preach a homily explaining the Holy Father's liturgical examples for us, and how he wants us to imitate him in these things. If you need some more details into the way the Holy Father thinks, pick up a copy of The Spirit of the Liturgy
and read it. Recommend it to your congregation as well, especially to anyone who seriously questions your actions. Then on the following Sunday after that, have your staff put a couple of kneelers out, ready to be placed by your altar-servers (or ushers) at the appropriate time during mass. Also put a crucifix on your altar, front and center, regardless of which way you celebrate mass (ad orientem or ad populum). Next, learn to say the canon of the mass in Latin. It's not that hard. I'm a layman with no formal training in Latin whatsoever and I can do it. So man up already! If I can do it so can you. Then implement everything.- Put a crucifix on the altar in the center. (consider the ad orientem posture during the Liturgy of the Eucharist if functionally possible.)
- Have the servers or ushers position the kneelers at the right time during mass.
- Say the canon of the mass in Latin.
- Serve communion to your parishioners on the tongue while they kneel (if physically able).
I invite any priest reading this to comment below, regardless of what you have to say, and you can do so anonymously without leaving your real name. Use a pseudoname like "Father Q" for example if you feel you must.
14 comments; post here:
While I do find this new development exciting, I am more concerned now than ever. I fear that Pope Benedict XVI, in an effort to appease the modernists and not declare VII as purely "pastoral", will attempt to "meld" the Novus Ordo Mass and the Tridentine Mass into one. On the surface this may seem a good idea but ultimately I think it will lead to more confusion and further estrangement with faithful Catholics.
Vatican II was already declared "pastoral" by Pope Paul VI - see here - while Pope Benedict XVI echoed those views while he was Cardinal Ratzinger under Pope John Paul II. I suppose he could say it again, this time in some official capacity, but I don't see how it will help since it's already been done by one of his predecessors, indeed the very same one who closed the Second Vatican Council and gave us the Novus Ordo mass. If the Modernists would not listen to him, why would they listen to the current pope who says the exact same thing.
One thing is certain, the current Novus Ordo mass is on it's deathbed. It will not survive in its present form much longer. Rumor has it that the new "Ordinary Form" mass, being worked on behind closed doors will simply be a slight reworking of the Liturgy of the Word, and the total replacement of the Liturgy of the Eucharist with the Mass of the Faithful from the Extraordinary Form (Tridentine).
I highly doubt this will alienate anyone other than the Modernists, for the Extraordinary Form will remain for those who prefer it, exclusively in Latin. While the Ordinary Form will be translated into the vernacular (minus the canon) and resemble in much greater detail the Extraordinary Form - at least as far as the Liturgy of the Eucharist goes. We could effectively argue then that the Novus Ordo is dead, because the only thing that survived was the Liturgy of the Word, and even then altered a bit. Who cares about that!?! The only major difference is longer Scripture readings and a longer portion of the psalms, replacing the prayers at the foot of the altar. Basically it's just a variation in the way we approach the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which is what really matters the most.
Confusion is always be eradicated by education. The whole idea of making the Sacrifice of the Mass fully Catholic again, is really the goal that every Catholic should strive for. I am not saying the Novus Ordo should go, it just needs to be corrected in many ways. These changes are only the start.
I fully understand that not every Catholic can appreciate the Traditional Latin Mass, but I also wonder what Catholics did before V2. Modernists have had their day in the sun and the Church ended up sunburned. Time to apply the remedy.
The V2 social experiment was necessary to allow us to see what would happen. It was a rather scientific experiment where we learned what works and what does not. Now we have seen both good and bad results from it, and people seem to be demanding that the TLM be made more available. This is to be expected, and will, by all logic and laws of survival, be the beginning of a wave of things to come. The idea is to worship God, not glorify our own selves or talents.
The Latin is not difficult and actually makes one "pay attention" more. It can be basically learned, if one concentrates (a key word here), in about a month.
I pray always that people will see the great value of returning to the undeniable beauty and solemnity of the Traditional Mass. Often I wonder if a real renewal will not be achieved unless we practice reverting to the Mass that demands a solemn attitude towards God, not banal songs and dances accompanying liturgical abuses, often unwittingly committed through improper catechism teachers and understandings.
It is my prayer that all parishes have at least a TLM on Sunday. I can find no reasons why not. As for kneeling and receiving holy communion on the tongue, there is very little arguments as to why this should not be absolutely required. Not one.
Getting the Church back in shape is like a person recuperating from being bedridden for a long time: they must take easy steps to learn to walk and function properly again. Some may want to just stay in bed and moan, others will not.
Jerald, I agree with you that the Latin makes one "pay attention more". I try to go to an extraordinary form once a month, and I find I pay much more attention to the Mass. The weeks I go to the ordinary form, I find myself daydreaming a lot or looking around to see if there are any cute girls. And may I add, since I have been going to the extraordinary form, the music at the ordinary form has become unbearable...it's like nails on a chalk board. It's like a camp fire sing-a-long...no spirituality at all. It's all about community.
Mr Knight, I do hope you are correct about the current novus ordo being replaced as the ordinary form with a vernacular revision of the extraordinary form with more scripture readings. (or could it be a revision of the anglican use liturgy may become the new ordinary form???) I hope it happens within the decade!
Then the Vatican needs to crack the whip on the American bishops to "correct" the NAB.
Sir Knight
I love that you put this up here and gave priests a challenge to do it.
However after reading it I can say my hope of success for this challenge, and the full re-introduction of Latin in ALL the Church today, is very slim. By "All" I mean even the lukewarm "Catholic" clergy and their laity sheeples. Mediocre parishes will possibly, and Conservative parishes will definitely accept this. I do hope that the behind close doors rumour is true. Perhaps you can ask your fellow blogspotter Rocco Palmo the "Church Whisperer" at http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/ if perhaps he can catch a whisper of this.
Why do I have such small hope in this dare? You said it yourself in the posting "the churches in Western countries are controlled by Modernists who abhor tradition." Even in Canada I get this feeling, although it is lessened or at least liturgical abuses in our history are not known to me. Correct me if I do not know of any in Canada.
As for your priest challenge, I would be honestly surprised if a priest did infact do this as they'd probably get a bucket full of misery from their superiors, fellow priests or weak-minded laity they serve. I say add this to the dare: After you do this, write about your experience as a response to this post, or perhaps TCK will post the response in its own posting. Personally I think me and others want this to be proven false so to hear about the experience, and have hope in the future of the Liturgy of the Church at the layperson level.
Sir Knight, you said, "Rumor has it that the new 'Ordinary Form' mass, being worked on behind closed doors will simply be a slight reworking of the Liturgy of the Word, and the total replacement of the Liturgy of the Eucharist with the Mass of the Faithful from the Extraordinary Form (Tridentine)."
Where did you get this information and where can I find out more about it?
It is general common knowledge that the pope has something going on behind closed doors, and that "something" has to do with the Novus Ordo Missal. The Vatican generally has no comment on it and continually insists the pope "at this time" has no plans to change anything.
Rumors have been circulating the blogosphere for years on this topic and occasionally some high ranking Varican official will drop a hint or two allowing some bloggers to piece together the puzzle. However, the cat was let out of the bag by Bishop Bernard Fellay, General Superior of the SSPX. Apparently he's seen some kind of prototype of the new revised liturgy. Having taken no vows of secrecy himself, he seems to be willing to speak freely on 'the topic. My understanding is some kind of prototype was shown to him to solicit his feedback. There is a YouTube video out there in which he is seen discussing the matter with others in the SSPX. You'll probably have to Google it.
I see no logical reason to doubt Fellay's report. Think what you may of him, but he has given us no cause to distrust his word.
Even with these changes, what about all the innovations and abuses at so many of the OF Masses?
Unless the rubics state exactly what can be done and what cannot be done, the abuses and innovations will continue.
I hope that the new missal will be very explicit on how the Mass must be celebrated and if it is not, that the Bishops and priests who do not conform will be removed.
It is time for some new blood in the Church. No more sermons about love, how about a few about the dangers of hell and sin.
I attend SSPX. Mind you, I am not of the inner circles as the clergy are, but coming from the pulpit, it is very unlikely that there is some "compromise" in the works. The Mass is not about the ritual. It's about the content and intent. The Novus Ordo Mass is completely and totally different from the Traditional Form of the Mass. You know this. The New Mass is a hotbed for error. It's past time to scrap the whole thing and just return to Tradition. Most Modern Catholics I know, and I mean the conservative ones, will have a nervous breakdown if their daughters have to stop "serving", if their wives have to stop "lecturing" They may be conservatives, but they are Moderns and modernism has swept over the Church. You can defend this, but my jury is still out. I can tell you, though, that the SSPX will not fully embrace or encourage any "adjustments" or "compromises" They have been fighting a very long time to preserve that which they know is the Truth.
Mr Knight, I agree 100% with all the posts above. And yes, indeed there are still concerns about "mass resistance" to the pope; however, if he vigorously demands enforcement by his bishops, and actually threatens their removal, that will get things happening fast. Your challenge to "Father Renew" at St Martin Luther's worship center most likely will go unanswered until this crackdown happens. Pete Frey
Sir Knight, here is my list of 'recommendations" to be considered for the (final) revision of the novus ordo.
1) restore the prayers at the foot of the altar with separate confiteors for people and priest or alternately have the people chant the Introit while priest and servers say the PATFOTA
2) do the "vidi aquam" in latin at high masses
3) restore genuflection at "He became man"
4) restore a true Offertory to the mass--- which of course means getting rid of Vat II "terminology" such as "presentation of the gifts" or referring to the priest as "presider" ("Our presider today is Fr Bob, assisted by Deacon Joe, altar servers Peggy Pigtail, Suzie Snowflake and Johnny Wimp")
5) assure that there is only ONE canon, not umpteen "eucharistic prayers" of course said in Latin.
6) restore the Lenonine prayers after Low Mass (so what if 50% of the "assembly" is already in the parking lot. Pete Frey
It would revolutionise the Catholic Church (in a good way) if what Bp. Fellay has said is true. This is great news! I pray it's true.
One of the best things to do would be to once again make the Oath Against Modernism mandatory for all priests, bishops, and professors at Catholic schools.
There is simply no justifiable reason to why it was dropped.
This "hybrid" Mass you speak of (novus ordo liturgy of the word, Tridentine liturgy of the Eucharist) becoming the "new" ordinary form sounds promising, but I would hope for the penitiential rite, the Tridentine confiteor would be used. Even though the new translation is a vast improvement over the 1970 version, it still edits out asking specific saints by name to intercede for us. We need that today more than ever. Otherwise, this "hybrid" ordinary form sounds really good.
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