Benedict XVI's Final Public Mass

I caught the rebroadcast of the Holy Father's last public Mass today on EWTN.  It was pretty normal except for the occasional shots of people looking sad due to the significance of the event.

Then after Communion, Cardinal Bertone came out to address Benedict.  And as soon as I saw this, I knew what was coming.  The secretary of state finished his address and went up to warmly greet the pope.  Cut away to the congregation applauding, clergy, religious, and laity.  I knew it would happen, but I hoped it would not go on, but it did.  Things moved along to the final blessing, but they were still applauding and Benedict had to wait.

*sigh*

I really wish Cardinal Bertone had waited for some other occasion than Holy Mass.

Zenit has his address translated into English.

Reorganization

Rorate has an excerpt directly from the source which I need not reproduce here. The gist is that PCED will be placed under the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments with Monsignor Perl, the commission's secretary, moved up to lead it as a bishop. The responses are catalogued below.

Positive:
What Does The Prayer Really Say - Father Z finds it interesting with some conditions. I put him in 'positive' due to his approval of Monsignor Perl's possible elevation to the episcopacy.

The New Liturgical Movement - The rumor, if true, is referred to as being an 'excellent' development.

Wait and see:
Rorate Caeli - The post gives no official position, though the comments cover the spectrum, though most are skeptical that this will be a positive development for the EF community. New Catholic describes his position in the comments as 'realist.'

Negative:
None outright so far that I've read.

I don't have an opinion as of yet.

Anxious?

UPDATE (10/8/08 1638): Father Z responses. It's pretty good. Read the comments. One snippet of Father Z's:

Is the priest afraid of the bishop? Help the priest. Keep working on the bishop. Carefully. Pray for him, perhaps using the Bux Protocol for praying for bishops: ask St. Joseph to intercede with God that He will either open the bishop’s eyes or close them permanently. Remember: the biological solution is going to be important for the future of the TLM. Therefore, work on the younger priests and on seminarians. Do you best to promote vocations to the priesthood among bright young men and boys who are interested in these things.

----------

Damian Thompson has a new piece out today on the MP's progress so far. After recounting the state of the Gregorian Mass, at the end he sums it up quite well.

Let us be blunt about this. If the Pope were to die tomorrow, he would be remembered for many fine achievements, most of all his encyclicals, but his liturgical reforms would peter out. Summorum Pontificum would remain on the statute book, but the Magic Circle in England and its powerful allies in the Vatican and Europe would quietly suffocate the work of Ecclesia Dei.

My guess is that the next Pope will be as theologically conservative as Benedict, but is unlikely to possess his blindingly intense vision of a liturgical reform in which the pre- and post-Vatican II liturgies revive each other. That reform is not yet properly under way, and the Pope is in his 80s. No wonder traditionalists are alarmed.

"Tick tock, tick tock, Clarice."

Catholic Education

Aside from the larger places like Notre Dame, Boston College or Georgetown, I've always been interested in the status of the smaller places that advertise themselves as 'traditional' and all the other adjectives.

Father Z has a long post with various quotes from parents, students, alumni and even an official response to one allegation from Franciscan U. of Steubenville in Ohio. It's a fascinating look at 'Charismatic' orthodoxy meeting 'traditional' orthodoxy, if you all will permit me the use of such broad and non-specific terms.

Have a look.

Liturgical Doings

Though we do look at our own diocese and its liturgical doings at times, we don't stray too often into the larger currents of the 'reform of the reform' and the 'extraordinary form' except as they are referenced by the Holy Father.

However, Dan at the Holy Whapping has a post and then a clarification that sets out his thoughts on one 'methodology' as championed by the New Liturgical Movement; Shawn Tribe of the NLM responds to Dan's initial post at the NLM.

Liturgy used to be something I was interested in, but not so much now. However, the ongoing discussion is interesting in and of itself.

Three reasons

Michael McGough of The LA Times has a piece on the MP.

This little snippet really says a lot:

The worst-case scenario is that the pope is reaching out to traditionalist followers of the late "rebel archbishop" Marcel Lefebvre, whose followers have problems with post-Vatican II Catholicism that extend well beyond the language in which the Mass is recited.

By God, it's a damned travesty if the Pope actually reaches out right instead of left!

Summorum Pontificum

LITTERAE APOSTOLICAE
MOTU PROPRIO DATAE

BENEDICTUS XVI

SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM
[In Latin]

---

LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS
BENEDICT XVI
TO THE BISHOPS ON THE OCCASION OF THE PUBLICATION
OF THE APOSTOLIC LETTER "MOTU PROPRIO DATA"
SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM
ON THE USE OF THE ROMAN LITURGY
PRIOR TO THE REFORM OF 1970
[In English]

The Mass in Baltimore

Feria in both calendars

The Baltimore Sun has an interesting article on the 'Tridentine Mass' and the indult parish where it is celebrated in Baltimore.

It starts off with a little context on the general indult situation and then goes on to explain the differences between the Mass of St. Pius V and the Mass of Paul VI.

"Identifying with the Tridentine Mass is a kind of a mild form of protest," says Mathew N. Schmalz, a professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross. "A lot of it has to do with a more aggressive assertion of Catholic identity and a feeling that that has been lost."

There is this gem on the balkanization of parishes (at least as far as Mass goes):

Bastress says the church almost operates like three separate parishes: the English-speaking community, those who come to Lithuanian services at 8:30 a.m., and the Tridentine followers at 11:30 a.m. The latter is the largest service with up to 175 attendees each Sunday, many of whom travel from as far away as Virginia or Pennsylvania to attend.

Nothing new at all here, but an interesting article from a mainstream newspaper.

For all

CWN: Pro multis means "for many," Vatican rules [updated] --Subscription required for full text.

Vatican, Nov. 18 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has ruled that the phrase pro multis should be rendered as "for many" in all new translations of the Eucharistic Prayer, CWN has learned.

Although "for many" is the literal translation of the Latin phrase, the translations currently in use render the phrase as "for all." [...]

Here we have the Roman Canon with the Latin and the English side by side [at the link; here it is one over the other]:

Accipite et bibite ex eo omnes:
--Take this all of you and drink from it:

hic est enim calix Sanguinis mei novi et aeterni testamenti, qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum.
--this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all and for many so that sins may be forgiven.

French opposition

Magister has a nice summary of events surrounding the motu proprio for the liberalization of the Mass of Pius V. He ends with the following [the link is my own]:

It is thus foreseeable that Benedict XVI will take a little more time, will listen to the objections from some bishops and cardinals, but in the end – probably by winter – will issue the Motu Proprio that will facilitate the use of the Tridentine rite.

He’s sure that this will do nothing but add to the plurality of rites that have always made the Church multifaceted.

The Council of Trent itself was careful not to unify the rites by force. Next to the “Roman” rite, Pius V confirmed the legitimacy of all the other rites in the Church that had been in existence for at least two centuries. And there were quite a few of these rites at the time. The predominance of the Roman rite asserted itself gradually over the following centuries, but it was never complete. Still today, there are marked differences between the Mass in the Roman rite and the “Ambrosian” rite celebrated in the archdiocese of Milan. To this must be added the great variety of the rites of the Eastern Churches united with Rome.

This is without mentioning the incredible – and often unapproved – variety in styles of celebration that was unleashed by the liturgical reform inaugurated by Vatican Council II and by its new missal, enacted in 1970.

Father Z has more on Magister's article.

While there are many out there who are eagerly awaiting a motu proprio, I am not terribly bothered by the delays. Mass these days is an almost-silent reading experience and the wonders of the Mass of Pius V will be found for me in the beauty of my missal and any outward movements of the priest up front rather than singing, chanting and the like. I was talking to a friend last night about the efficaciousness of going it alone through the missal while everyone else around me was busy singing, responding, etc. in the Novus Ordo. He said it was indeed efficacious and made the astute comment that I was merely doing what the laity had been doing for centuries before recent reforms.

That cheered me considerably.

Old Order, New Order, Old Order

In case anyone was wondering, I haven't sounded off yet on the whole Tridentine/Pian/Old/Latin/etc. Mass yet because frankly others have made better points.

For example, Amy and Father Jim Tucker make a lot of good points.

On a purely academic level, the return of the Pian Mass (recall, brethren, the great discussion Papabile had over the best term to use in referencing it) is a positive for the Church. As many have already noted, the SSPX and others out there are not going to return en masse just because of an indult (or whatever legal framework is designed).

For my own personal tastes, I can't say that I'm waiting for the Pian Mass's return with much enthusiasm. I have never seen personally the worst modern excesses of the Novus Ordo and due to my situation, I don't have to listen to the wailing and crooning of overzealous music directors anymore (which in itself is rather disappointing, you don't miss it until it's gone).

My own taste as far as what makes a church Catholic has really gone towards exterior and interior appearance. If you all look down to the picture I posted of the new church going up in Tennessee, you'll get an idea of what I mean.

Buildings aside though, liturgy is fundamental for the life of the Church. It's always interesting to read about people talking about bad music and soft, squishy homilies, but being unable to hear Mass leads one to really focus on the little details such as decor and what the priest is doing up there amid his surroundings. Everyone would do well to put on a pair of earmuffs or stick in some ear plugs and just sit through the Liturgy of the Eucharist and watch the priest. Over and above what he has to say for a homily or how he might intone the various parts of the Eucharistic Prayer, his basic motions I would surmise say a lot more about him. My parish priest I think says Mass more reverently than any other man I've ever seen.

As one friend noted, even with an indult, the Pian Mass is not going to make massive inroads out here in Iowa if only because there are not enough trained personnel to pull one off except in special locations such as the basilica up in Dyersville or other approved parishes. I think the point that the Pian Mass will enrich the Novus Ordo is valid and such a filtering down of the best of the Pian Mass's attributes onto the Novus Ordo would be the best outcome. But in the end for me, the quality of Mass is based on the where it's at and the how it's done, not the what is being done.

Spin the music scene

Silence modern music in church, says Pope | Telegraph.co.uk

The Pope has demanded an end to electric guitars and modern music in church and a return to traditional choirs.

The Catholic Church has been experimenting with new ways of holding Mass to try to attract more people. The recital of Mass set to guitars has grown in popularity in Italy; in Spain it has been set to flamenco music; and in the United States the Electric Prunes produced a "psychedelic" album called Mass in F Minor.

However, the use of guitars and tambourines has irritated the Pope, who loves classical music. "It is possible to modernise holy music," the Pope said, at a concert conducted by Domenico Bartolucci the director of music at the Sistine Chapel. "But it should not happen outside the traditional path of Gregorian chants or sacred polyphonic choral music."

Note the set up to the quote by Pope Benedict and then what Benedict actually said. He DEMANDS using words like 'should not'... But hey, it's the Telegraph!

But Cardinal Carlo Furno, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, said it was "better to have guitars on the altar and rock and roll Masses than empty churches". The use of modern music was a "sign of the vitality of the faith".

And you have evidence that this is the case, Eminence? You have statistics and survey data that show without a doubt that young people go to Mass not for Christ or anything like that but simply to listen to guitars and rock and roll? You have spreadsheets and a PowerPoint presentation ready?

Didn't think so. :)

The argument is part of a wider debate about the Latin Mass, restricted in the Vatican II reforms of the 1960s because it was seen to be putting worshippers off going to Church.

The Pope believes that if Latin Masses are reintroduced, more Catholics will learn the words to the Gregorian chants that he advocates.

Is there really such a restriction? I'm not talking about the old Mass, I'm talking about the Novus Ordo Mass in Latin. Is there some directive in the GIRM about how often and in what circumstances Latin can be used for saying Mass?

Pian Rite/Tridentine Mass

Amy over at Open Book discusses the various thoughts on the subject as the deadline of last Holy Thursday came and went without a rumored announcement on the subject of a liberalization of the policy regarding the Mass of St. Pius V.

Someone wrote last week that in the consistory and then the interdicasterial meeting, there was not a consensus for a change in policy. If the heavy hitters are not going for it, then its unlikely that Benedict XVI is going to strike out on his own on such a sensitive topic. Unlikely, but not impossible. If Benedict has taught us anything, it's that he'll do what he wants and thinks is best and his reasons will be impeccably researched.

With all this talk on the subject, it's important to remember that the Holy Father is interested in a reform of the reform. That does not equal a universal indult. That is more along the lines of fixing up the Novus Ordo and eliminating various abuses. The rumors swirling around a universal indult are far more interesting to cover and prognosticate about since reforms of the Novus Ordo are likely to be organic and little noticed as they are hidden in the daily business of the Congregation of Divine Worship. But that incremental reform is far more important for the billion or so Catholics whose Mass experience on any given day is that of the New Order.

But in order to appease the masses on this, in conversations with various people on the topic, it goes like this...

Anyone who is in the know on what Benedict's plans are is not going to say anything worth reporting. Those who are talking are outside the inner circle and are just talking for the sake of striking it rich should his particular prognostication prove to be right.

Differing opinions

Father Jim weighs in on the news out of the Diocese of Arlington:

What's liturgically untraditional isn't so much the sex of the server, as the fact that both the altar servers and the lectors are specifically and unambiguously *lay* ministries in the Novus Ordo, as opposed to clerical roles as they had always been before. That's the reason that altar boys dress up like little clerics (chierichetti, as they're called in Italian) in cassocks and surplices -- they're "disguised" as the minor clergy for whom they substituted. Traditionalists will recognize this in the way we "dress up" a seminarian (or, in necessity, even a pious layman) as a subdeacon for High Mass in the Old Rite, even though he's not been ordained as such yet. In the Old Rite, if you have a liturgical function on the priest's side of the altar rail, you dress as a cleric because it's presumed that you are a cleric (even if you really aren't). The New Rite doesn't presume that at all. I wish it did, but there's no use in pretending as if that didn't change. Once Pope Paul VI disconnected those liturgical ministries from the domain of the clergy, where they had always been before, I think it was inevitable that the Novus Ordo would have women washing the priest's fingers and men in neckties reading the Epistle. Which is why I'm not really bothered by the fact that there will be altar girls in some parishes of the diocese now. In fact, if that's the price of the two "Tridentine" Masses, I think it's quite a bargain.

Arlington diocese resident Mattias doesn't think the price is worth it:

Today, however, at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Great Falls, VA, Loverde gathered his priests for their annual priest retreat during lent. He had some news. For now forward at the discretion of pastors—in consultation with their parish counsels and parochial vicars, something NEVER required by cannon law—they may permit altar girls. No obligation of course. For now. Oh yes, and two parishes in the diocese, just two, may have the pre-1962 Mass.

The timing is questionable: Why the middle of Lent? The Church's liturgical year starts the first week of December during Advent. And why just wait until after your big fundraising push of the year? Don't you know such deception can be considered negligent out in the real world, let alone quite deceptive before your flock? Of course, you will cite the women who clamored for it. Or the little girls who all will be inspired to be nuns because of it. Show me the statistics that vocations for women have increased since altar girls were allowed in 1994? Show me the women that are upset. And I'll remind them the priesthood is a path to service not to power.

Both posts raise points. Check them both out in full.