More interesting news on Sacramentum Caritatis

I have been very busy with work and family so I have not had a chance to continue reading Sacramentum Caritatis. However, skimming a few internet posts, consider reading those below.

Anything linking to Fr. Z's website may or may not be working when you go to click on it. If you get an error, or a single page talking about high traffic, just try his site a little later - in off peak hours. The only problem is that you need to consider there is no single clock on the internet. Peak hours here in the US are in the evenings from 7-9 for my site. But, Fr. Z is in Rome, and there are people viewing from Down Under, and many other continents. Just keep trying back. And, if you frequent his site, consider hitting that donation button and give him something to upgrade. While this site is free, the level of content he had was not. The more hits he gets, the more bandwidth he needs and the more it costs. I sent my donation in because I pretty much read his articles daily. It's one of the first stops I make in the blogosphere.

Sandro Magister: "Sacramentum Caritatis": Everyone to Mass on Sunday

Fr. Zuhlsdorf: Another yranslation error in Sacramentum Caritatis and some sharp comments

Fr. Zuhlsdorf: Killing the Exhortation by Silence




THE JOURNALISTIC LACK-OF-INTEGRITY AWARD

In general, mainstream media in typical fashion has taken this beautiful document and communicated to the public in their headlines:

From the New York Times: Pope Reaffirms View Opposing Gay Marriage and Abortion

From Associated Press: Pope Reaffirms Traditional Views

From Reuthers (via ABC News): Catholics must oppose gay marriage

I'm not sure which should get the trophy. Let's award it to all three and the many other news outlets which blew the real news coverage of Sacramentum Caritatis. What else would we expect. The Angel of Darkness is alive and well.

Confession: A School of Mercy

Zenit is carrying an excellent article on confession. It's actually an interview with the Archbishop of San Antonio about his pastoral letter issued at the beginning of Lent 2007. You can get a link to the PDF file of the original letter over at Zenit.

The Tender Mercy of Our God
A Pastoral Letter to the People of God of San Antonio
On Forgiveness and Reconciliation in the Christian Life
The Most Rev. José H. Gomez, S.T.D.
Archbishop of San Antonio
February 21, 2007 – Ash Wednesday

I want to pull out a few things from the interview:

As I point out in my pastoral letter, I believe the problem is rooted in our culture's loss of the sense of sin. Our culture is relentless in telling our people that there are no absolute truths or moral norms, and that what's true or good or evil is all relative -- that it depends on the subjective opinion of the individual. So, a lot of people are morally confused -- deceived, really. And we have to reach out to help these people to come back to the sacrament.

I have not had a chance to read the document yet, but I have often wondered how long it will take for a bishop to produce a pastoral letter on the art of watching television. I know many Catholics who can't wait for Desperate Housewives and other programs where promiscuity and open violation of the Ten Commandments is the norm. This distorts our sense of sin and Hollywood can make the worst of sins seem ok, especially to the poorly catechized generations.

The beautiful truth is that the more we go to confession, the more we grow in holiness. We experience real conversion every day. We are less absorbed in material things. We find we have the grace to see the world differently and to think and act differently. We have real friendship with Jesus.

To be honest, I think anyone who goes to confession frequently - that is at least one or more times monthly can attest to the fact that Sacramental Confession is addicting in a positive way. Once you get the hang of acknowledging your sins and a weaknesses, the freedom gained is desired more frequently. Even for those who do not fall into mortal sin, the Sacrament is worth frequent use. It is through working on venial sins - or those weaknesses and shortcomings that aren't serious, that we learn to tame the serious sins, and grow in holiness.

The first step is to find a confessor who values confession enough to encourage bringing even venial sins into the confessional. Then, you know you have a confessor who understands the pursuit of holiness in daily life. The inteview continues further down....

Q: Regarding the reception of Communion while being in a state of mortal sin, what types of pastoral steps have you taken to help the faithful understand that they must confess their sins and restore their communion with the Church before approaching the sacrament of the Eucharist?

Archbishop Gómez: Confession and Communion belong together. Before Communion we always pray the prayer of the Roman soldier: "Lord, I'm not worthy to receive you, but only say the word." Confession is that word of pardon that heals us, that cleanses us of our faults and makes our souls worthy to receive our Lord in the Eucharist.

We can't be in communion with God if there are things in our lives that aren't worthy of our baptismal calling as children of God. People know this in their hearts. I think that's why some people stop going to church -- they sense that their sins have made them unworthy of the sacrament. They're like the prodigal son who says to his father, "I've sinned against heaven and earth. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son."

Of course, our Father never stops loving us as his children. But it's still true that our sins can make us unworthy to be called to Our Lord's supper. I think people understand that -- that receiving the Eucharist under those conditions would be somehow false and wrong.

What I hope to help those in that situation see is how much our Father wants them to come back. Sometimes people stay away from confession because they're ashamed or they're afraid to tell the priest about their failings and weakness.

They've forgotten that confession isn't a conversation with a priest; it's a dialogue with God. The priest has been chosen, ordained to serve "in persona Christi," in the person of Christ -- to forgive sins in Christ's name. No one else but the priest has been given this power on earth.

With a 58 page Sacramentum Caritatis out there, I don't know when I'll get onto this fine pastoral letter by Archbishop Gonzalez, but Confession definitely comes in as a Sacrament well worth discussing here on this blog.

Mary Mother of the Eucharist Dominicans on YouTube

You gotta love this when the media begins to acknowledge the vocation boom at traditional convents like Mary Mother of the Eucharist in nearby Ann Arbor, Michigan. They were recently featured on the local ABC affiliate here in metro Detroit. Now, an NBC report shows up on YouTube with a lead-in statement mirroring one of my earlier posts on them.

Justin Cardinal Rigali - Walking the Talk

Justin Cardinal Rigali, when first installed in Philadephia, wrote a pastoral letter asking pastors to put the Tabernacle back in the center of the Church behind the main altar.

On March 4, the feast of Sts Peter and Paul, the Cardinal celebrated Mass with the Tabernacle behind him (seen in the photo above, which contrasts the smaller photo above it showing how empty the background looked before the restoration). This is so appropriate to the discussion on Sacramentum Caritatis.

Here is an from the Catholic Standard. I am pasting in the entire article out of fear that it will disappear as some of the Catholic papers do to conserve space. The photo is also from the article.

Keeping Christ in the center of our lives and our churches

by Lou Baldwin and Michelle Johnson

In his first pastoral letter as Archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Justin Rigali asked pastors to consider placing the tabernacle in the center of the church behind the main altar if it was not already there and if individual circumstances made such a move feasible.

On Sunday, March 4 at the Cathedral of S.S. Peter and Paul, the Cardinal led the way and made the mother church of the Archdiocese an example to all when he blessed a brand new tabernacle which has been relocated from a side altar to the center of the Cathedral’s sanctuary where it is visible by all.

The tabernacle has been placed on a ledge which is part of a luminous new reredos, a freestanding “screen” erected a few feet behind the main altar. Amazingly, it looks for all the world as if it has been there ever since the altar itself was installed 50 years ago.

“Cardinal Rigali has been telling everyone they should keep Christ in the center of their lives, and what better way to do that than to keep Him in the center of our churches also,” said Louis DiCocco, president of The St. Jude Shop, which was responsible for the new tabernacle, reredos and matching candlesticks.

The Cardinal was clearly moved by the event. In his homily, he told the Cathedral’s parishioners, “Our hearts are filled with joy to celebrate this great event, and once again in a very special way to express our faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the tabernacle. ...[W]e honor the presence of Christ truly and substantially in the Eucharist which we have enthroned in this beautiful new tabernacle that expresses our holy Catholic faith.”

The whole setting is breathtakingly beautiful. The reredos, executed in marble, exactly matches the half-century old altar. That’s because it was executed in Pietrasanta, in the Tuscany region of Italy, with marble obtained from a quarry in the same area as the original altar marble, and a perfect match was found.

Design elements include pilasters which mirror similar Corinthian pilasters and capitals on the altar. Rising above the tabernacle is a niche with an interior facing of white gold and gold tiles, a fitting backdrop for a gold crucifix with an ivory corpus.

The large tabernacle is adorned with gold pilasters and dome, which, similar to the repository of the holy oils in the Cathedral’s shrine to the priesthood, reflects the architecture of the 19th century cathedral. Crafted in Spain, “it is brass, hand gold-plated, one of a kind,” DiCocco said.

Unique features of the highly polished tabernacle are silver medallions on the door and on the inner rear wall of the tabernacle. Both medallions were crafted from designs chosen by the Cardinal.

The exterior medallion depicts Christ as the Lamb of God, while the interior image depicts the risen Christ, modeled after a painting which hangs in the the Pope’s study in the Vatican.

The proof of a good restoration and addition is how seamlessly it fits the existing décor.

“It really looks like it has always been there,” said Msgr. Michael T. McCulken, the Cathedral rector. “The reredos and restoring the tabernacle to the center behind the altar are absolutely beautiful. This will hopefully allow all of us to grow in our love for Jesus and in our devotion to the Eucharist through the beauty that is present there.”

“It was great working with [the Cardinal] on this,” DiCocco said. “He has very good taste and very good art style. I guess all of those years working in Rome gave him that.”

Since coming to the Archdiocese on Oct. 7, 2003, the Cardinal has asked that devotion to Our Lord in the Eucharist be a priority for his priests and that priests foster this devotion in the laity. He has encouraged participation in Forty Hours Devotion, Eucharistic Adoration (especially Holy Hours for an increase of vocations to the priesthood), the regular celebration of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, the faithful use of the Sacrament of Penance for the worthy reception of Communion, as well as pesonal and liturgical prayer.

“It is my hope that all the works of the Archdiocese and the lives of all our people will be vivified by a new wave of Eucharistic devotion solidly rooted in the sacred word of God and expressed in personal and liturgical prayer,” the Cardinal said in his 2004 pastoral letter. “We look forward to the renewal of a sense of reverence and awe for Christ’s gift of His Body and Blood, to be expressed in appropriate times of silence in our churches, in our genuflection before the Blessed Sacrament and in all the care that sourrounds the celebration of the liturgy.”

Pieces of art that lift the mind and heart can increase reverence and awe and help foster Eucharistic devotion.

As the Cardinal said in his 2004 pastoral letter: “We proclaim the Real Presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. ... We ... acknowledge that the Eucharist, given to us at Mass, is also to be adored in the Blessed Sacrament reserved in our tabernacles. Adoration ... prepares us spiritually to come back and share again in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. ... I ask the whole Archdiocese of Philadelphia to do everything possible to promote and increase Eucharistic Adoration of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.”

Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo parish and a freelance writer. Michelle Laque Johnson is Editor-in-Chief of The CS&T.

Hat-tip to the New Liturgical Movement, which is also providing some good coverage of Sacramentum Caritatis and continuing discussion of the anticipated motu proprio on the Tridentine.

Sacramentum Caritatis - Ongoing Discussion

Pope Benedict signs the Exhortation

As you may know by now, Sacramentum Caritatis is 58 pages long when printed.

I have skimmed the document and there are many things I could pull out and make mention of. But, news organizations like EWTN (via CWNews) have done this, as has Fr. Z. Domenico Bettinelli has two posts up - one on politicians and the Eucharist, and another on Latin in the Liturgy. Drew at the Shrine of the Holy Whapping had an excellent commentary which speaks for me in terms of how this document is going to play out. I was disappointed in reading some of the combox responses in other blogs covering this, when people were visibly down because the Pope didn't smack anyone over the head. In part, Drew writes (emphasis mine and comment in red brackets)

As you know, the Exhortation for the most part has not taken upon itself to decree changes to the Missal or the General Instruction. Does this mean the document is of no consequence to the "reform of the reform?" The answer to this must be a resounding "No": Cardinal Ratzinger, in his books on the liturgy, gave much of the intellectual foundation of the "reform to the reform" simply by pointing out the problem, offering an alternative vision, and letting this vision grab the attention of Catholic intellectuals and youth [precisely my thought as I skimmed the document]. The reform of the reform is impressive for its success thus far given that it has not, for the most part, been promoted by sanction or decree, and yet it not only exists but grows [Bingo! The Holy Spirit at work!]. Indeed, the weakness of the original liturgical reform was that it was done by decree, and in light of this the strength of the reform of the liturgical reform is that it has, among the laity, people who are actively concerned, committed, and, er, participating in promoting it.

The Exhortation plays an important role in this movement, then, by codifying Ratzinger's ideas on liturgy into the written magisterium of the Church. He gave the reform of the reform much of its steam by expressing these ideas in popular books; it can only continue to pick up steam now that these ideas are more fully incorporated into the magisterium. The momentum of liturgy seems, from my vantage, to be clearly swinging in favor of a this reforming of the reform: by this exhortation, will it not continue to pick up speed, and continue to be desired by the people and priests themselves? Certainly, creating an environment in which the Church wants the "reform of the reform," though this takes longer than reform by fiat, is more effective in the long run. [The Holy Spirit doesn't have to make a change in a day, but may work over decades and centuries. It took 40 years to fully reveal just how misunderstood and misapplied Vatican II truly was]. It may be less satisfying than a glorious smack-over-the-head delivered to those with whom one disagrees, but glorious smacks-over-the-head are not effective in the long term [and, to desire smacks-over-the-head is somewhat disordered against charity. God does not force anyone to follow his will and such smack-downs reflect a desire to force people into submission. Rather, this approach puts the food out there for those who are hungry to partake]. How many people, pining for a liturgical smack down akin to Pius X's smack-down against "Modernism," are willing to concede that Modernism dissapeared consequent to being "smacked down?"

My thoughts for the last year or so, are that some of the most progressive-minded priests who have participated and orchestrated a loosening of all things Catholic - including the liturgy - are going to be retiring or heading to final judgment. They will have a few young disciples who will continue to create confusion, but for the most part, this JPII generation of priests and seminarians are being guided by documents just like this, which lift the ambiguity "reform" was previously cloaked in.

Hence, I have much hope and excitement out of this document which some see as having few teeth. The Holy Spirit often works silently in the background, and the work he is doing is in the hearts and minds of seminarians and priests who have been authentically seeking Truth.

Drew beautifully articulates this point:

After Mass today, I met one of the seminarians for my diocese--a reverent guy my age, also in love with the Church. These future leaders of the Church have had their hearts moved and formed by the exhortations of Cardinal Ratzinger and Benedict XVI, and it is precisely to loving and willing hearts that exhortations are recieved and by them are enacted. This exhortation, then, is a seed planted in the heart of those who want to reform the liturgy and the Church, and it is precisely the desire to reform the Church, it seems to me, which is the way to effect a reform of the Church that is sincere and lasting. Reform of the Church, then, begins in the reform of the heart--and in exhorting the willing heart. It is easy to call such Christian exhortation "ineffective" because the effects take time to come to fruition: but is that ineffective governance, or is it good psychology? Reform by fiat, which is not also reform of the hearts of Christians, waits only until the cat is away to quickly decay.

Theology was behind this document, and it should drive our meditations. The problem for the past 40 years is people wanting to conform the theology to their thoughts and feelings, rather than conforming thoughts and feelings to the theology.

I look forward to exploring this document with you, and to bring you links to other good posts on the subject. But, I think we will start back at the beginning and digest this slowly one post at a time. It may take a while, but will give us something to chew on for a while.

What's new? Translation error found in Sacramentum Caritatis

The good news is that Fr. Zuhlsdorf is getting lots of traffic at his blog with everyone wanting his take. As you know, Father always sharpens his pencil on translating Latin and this was no exception. While the error was initially found by someone else, it fell under the Z-light.

The bad news is that Fr. Zuhlsdorf is getting lots of traffic at his blog - so much, the hosting service keeps shutting it down or it's crashing. It's about 3am there now, so he probably doesn't know the blog is down again. The link is there for later use - right now it may not work.

---

Bad translation in English version of Exhortation about Latin
by Fr. Z on March 13, 2007 (with his original emphases)

For a long time I have warned people about bad English translations of papal documents.

There are methodological problems in that the documents are no longer composed in Latin.

The Latin text, which is the official text, is itself a translation.

However, since no on refers to the Latin text… few people know this. Thus, they are always working with compromised versions of documents.

Moreover, the texts they are working with were those released at the time of the presentation of the document, even though the LATIN is itself revised before publication in is final official form in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis. But no one goes back to revise the vernacular versions in keeping with the changes in the Latin Lot’s of people are misquoting documents because the vernacular docs themselves were never updated.

That said, let us take a look at the Exhortation’s paragraph on Latin in the liturgy and see if there is a disconnect. I tip my biretta to "stefano" who was alert and caught this before I did.

Latin: exceptis lectionibus, homilia et oratione fidelium, aequum est ut huiusmodi celebrationes fiant lingua Latina.

In Latin, the phrase aequum est means "it is reasonable, proper, right". It can be rendered as "it is becoming", to use a somewhat archaic turn of phrase.

German: es ist gut, wenn außer den Lesungen, der Predigt und den Fürbitten der Gläubigen die Feier in lateinischer Sprache gehalten wird.

Italian: eccettuate le letture, l’omelia e la preghiera dei fedeli, è bene che tali celebrazioni siano in lingua latina.

French: excepté les lectures, l’homélie et la prière des fidèles, il est bon que ces célébrations soient en langue latine

Spanish: exceptuadas las lecturas, la homilía y la oración de los fieles, sería bueno que dichas celebraciones fueran en latín

Portuguese: exceptuando as leituras, a homilia e a oração dos fiéis, é bom que tais celebrações sejam em língua latina

Polish: z wyjątkiem czytań, homilii oraz modlitwy wiernych, dobrze będzie, jeśli takie celebracje będą odprawiane w języku łacińskim (Literally: "It will be good, if such celebration will be officiated in Latin language").

Are you sensing a pattern in the rendering of aequum est, or rather how aequum est in Latin is more than likely the accurate reading of the original language of composition of the Exortation?

Let’s see the English.

English: with the exception of the readings, the homily and the prayer of the faithful, such liturgies could be celebrated in Latin.

WOAH…. wait a minute… "could be" celebrated? That changes the entire impact of what the Pope said. All the of the other languages reflect one concept and the English alone says another thing entirely. The English implies that the value of Latin is, at best, a neutral thing. The Latin and all the other languages imply that Latin is positive.

I think we must conclude that whoever did the translation into English chose not to stick to the original text which they were given to work from.

Sacramentum Caritatis

I am at work and just wanted to get the link out to the Pope's exhortation based on the October 2005 Synod on the Eucharist.

Here are some links:

Fr. Zuhlsdorf announces it has been released with his initial thoughts on the complexity of it.

The Official Vatican Text

More later.

EDIT: Fr. Z's Initial Thoughts....

Full text of talk by Msgr Smitz on Motu Proprio

The other day I noted an article in Envoy Magazine online in which Msgr Smitz of the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, was quoted on the subject of the expected motu proprio on the Tridentine. Shawn Tribe at The New Liturgical Movement has brought us the full text of this speech via the Institute's website. You can read the full text by clicking the link below, or by following this link to the NLM post by Shawn which extracts a few interesting quotes. It is too lenghty to post in full. It does get into talk about issues pertaining to the Novus Ordo, as well, so whether you enjoy the Tridentine, or a more traditionally celebrated Novus Ordo, you will probably like reading this talk.

"The Classical Roman Rite and the Renewal of the Liturgy"

Conference by Monsignor R. Michael Schmitz

February 19, 2007

Sacred Signs by Romano Guardini: Walking

Image courtesy of Wendy Bumgardner,
About Walking Guide

Walking
from "Sacred Signs" by Romano
Guardini, c 1956
via the EWTN online Library

How many people know how to walk? It is not hurrying
along at a kind of run, or shuffling along at a snail's pace, but
a composed and firm forward movement. There is spring in the
tread of a good walker. He lifts, not drags, his heels. He is
straight, not stoop-shouldered, and his steps are sure and even.

There is something uncommonly fine in the right kind of walking.
It is a combination of freedom and discipline. It is poised, as
if the walker were carrying a weight, yet proceeds with
unhampered energy. In a man's walk there is a suggestion of
bearing arms or burdens; in a woman's an attractive grace that
reflects an inner world of peace.

And when the occasion is religious, what a beautiful thing
walking can be! It is a genuine act of divine worship. Merely to
walk into a church in reverent awareness that we are entering the
house of the Most High, and in a special manner into his
presence, may be "to walk before the Lord." Walking in a
religious procession ought not to be what so often it is, pushing
along out of step and staring about. To escort the Blessed
Sacrament through the city streets, or through the fields, "his
own possession," the men marching like soldiers, the married
women in the dignity of motherhood, the young girls in the
innocent charm of youth, the young men in their restrained
strength, all praying in their hearts, should be a sight of
festive gladness.

A penitential procession should be supplication in visible form.
It should embody our guilt, and our desperate need of help, but
also the Christian assurance that overrules them,--that as in man
there is a power that is superior to all his other powers, the
power of his untroubled will, so, above and beyond human guilt
and distress there is the might of the living God.

Walking is the outward mark of man's essential and peculiar
nobility. It is the privilege of man alone to walk erect, his
movement in his own power and choice. The upright carriage
denotes the human being.

But we are more than human beings. We are, as the Bible calls us,
the generation of God. We have been born of God into newness of
life. Profoundly, through the Sacrament of the Altar, Christ
lives in us; his body has passed into the substance of our
bodies; his blood flows in our veins. For "he that eats my flesh
and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him." These are his
words. Christ grows in us, and we grow in him, until being
thoroughly formed by him, we attain to the full stature of Jesus
Christ, and everything we do or are, "whether we eat or sleep, or
whatsoever we do," our work, our recreation, our pleasures and
our pains, are all taken up into the Christ-life.

The consciousness of this mystery should pass in all its joyous
strength and beauty into our very manner of walking. The command
"to walk before the Lord and be perfect" is a profound figure of
speech. We ought both to fulfil the command and illustrate the
figure.

But in sober reality. Beauty of this order is not the product of
mere wishing.

Commentary

May we walk in the presence of Our Lord, not only when in church, but in life. When we walk into church fully recollected and aware that Our Lord is in the Tabernacle, it should be reflected in our walk through the aisles and corridors: Slow, humble, and with all focus on God. We have the rest of the day to project His love to others, but these precious few moments per week or per day we have in Church should be given entirely to Him.



Blogpost series on Romano Guardini's meditations: Sacred Signs

Introductory Blogpost to Romano

Guardini's book, "Sacred Signs"
- The Sign of the Cross
- The Hands
- Kneeling
- Standing

Two New Bishops - One for Dallas; another for Lake Charles, LA

Dallas has finally gotten a bishop, and so has Lake Charles, Louisiana.

You can read what was posted on the USCCB site on both of them. However, this headline caught my eye at CWNews:

Bishop-elect Provost's parish a center of Gregorian chant, polyphony

Now we're talking! Check out the links in what is above, especially his choir music list for the parish he was at.

EDIT: At the Vivat Jesus blog, there are many more links on this.

Exhortation on the Eucharist coming March 13, 2007

CWNews is reporting that the Exhortation based on the Eucharistic Synod is forthcoming next Tuesday. Here's more:

Papal document on Eucharist due March 13

Vatican, Mar. 6, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict’s apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist will be released on Tuesday, March 13, the Vatican has announced.

The new papal document, entitled Sacramentum Caritatis, summarizes and concludes the deliberations of the Synod of Bishops, which met in October 2005 to discuss the Eucharist.

The apostolic exhortation will be introduced to the press at a briefing hosted by Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice, who was the relator general for the Synod assembly; and Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, the secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops.

The Synod of Bishops met in October 2005 to discuss the theme, “The Eucharist: Living Bread for Peace in the World,” with 256 bishops from 118 countries participating in the discussions. In a break from the usual practice, the Synod fathers made public an “unofficial” list of the 50 propositions approved at the conclusion of their deliberations. Ordinarily the propositions remain confidential, to be used by the Pope in preparing an apostolic exhortation on the topic of the Synod's deliberations. But Pope Benedict approved the public release of the conclusions from this assembly.

During a February 22 meeting with priests in Rome, Pope Benedict had said that the release of his apostolic exhortation was imminent.

CWNews goes on to think outloud what the rest of us are thinking about:

Some Vatican sources have suggested that the unveiling of the apostolic exhortation could clear the way for another long-awaited papal document: a motu proprio allowing wider use of the pre-conciliar liturgy. In announcing the release of Sacramentum Caritatis, the Vatican press office made no mention of that other document

ARTICLE IN ENVOY MAGAZINE:

Also, Envoy Magazine Online has just released an article by Brian Merhson in which he brings forth some discussion from Monsignor Michael R. Schmitz, U.S. Provincial Superior for the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest.

Here are some excerpts with a link to the full article below:

For the moment, at least, it also appears that fears in some Catholic quarters that the Traditional liturgical calendar would give way to the reformed liturgical calendar, as well as some possible modifications to the Traditional liturgy itself, will not in fact be part of the expected motu proprio easing restrictions on the Traditional Roman rite. “The missal we use will be left unchanged,” Msgr. Schmitz said.

And this gem about the Reform of the Reform:

There have been some subtle signs that these two specific encouragements — offering Mass ad orientem and using a Latin canon and Gregorian chant during the ordinaries of the Novus Ordo liturgy — may indeed be part of the post-Synod on the Eucharist document, expected to be promulgated soon.

This too was quite interesting on the subject of Archbishop Piero Marini - the MC behind the papal Masses of the last half of Pope John Paul II's pontificate, and the beginning of Pope Benedict's:

Another notable newsworthy item that Msgr. Schmitz delivered at his February 19, hour-long presentation during the question-and-answer period was that Archbishop Piero Marini, whom many had speculated would have been removed long ago, has finally accepted another assignment.

“The Pope is before all else, a gentleman,” Msgr. Schmitz said, clarifying for many Catholics in the room why this particular step has taken as long as it has. Vaticanists have expected this move ever since the beginning of Pope Benedict’s pontificate. Msgr. Schmitz did not give any details as to the nature of Archbishop Marini’s new assignment.

The entire article at Envoy is well worth reading:

Traditional Liturgy Not Affected by “the Reform of the Reform”


Something else going around the blogosphere are some photos from Redemptoris Mater Chapel in Rome where the altar position has been changed in a way that appears more compatible with the ad orientem posture. Go to the New Liturgical Movement to read:

Redemptoris Mater Chapel; a barometer of the liturgical shift?

Altar in Redemptoris Mater Chapel BEFORE

Altar in Redemptoris Mater Chapel AFTER

Fr. Zuhlsdorf comments on a related subject [emphasis mine]:

Today I was strolling and found the Church S. Maria della Pace open. "Miracolo!", quoth I and entered. It is a gem. Standing before the church’s main altar I saw a picnic table pushed to the side of the sanctuary. What really got my attention, however, were a couple of young people looking at the sanctuary and talking about how beautiful it was. I heard one say, "Imagine, for Mass they put that nasty table (tavolaccia) in front of that!" They were all properly disgusted with the idea. The moral of the story? What the aging hippies think they need to do to engage "the people", "the people" don’t want. And today younger people, who are not hauling around the baggage of the ‘60’s don’t want what the hep-cats have pushed on us for years.

But times are changing rapidly. I think we will see more and more younger priests ridding their churches of iron-boards and re-orienting the Mass once again. We are getting constant hints that this is path of the future. I am guessing the Holy Father might even talk more about this in a document.

We can only hope!!!

We will be watching the many blogs and newscolumns closely in the next few weeks. Here is one more to digest:

It is the Holy Father that Will Decide - a Catholic Exchange article by Anthony Valle, which includes a recent interview with Archbishop Malcom Ranjith of the Congregation for Divine Worship (Cardinal Arinze's right-hand man)

***Te Deum Laudamus! Home***

Bishop Bruskewitz - keynote speaker for March 16 banquet in Michigan

THE RENEWAL OF CATHOLIC HIGHER EDUCATION NEEDS YOU!

PLAN TO ATTEND THE BENEFIT BANQUET --Friday, MARCH 16TH!

Please--if you have not done so already please plan to attend the benefit banquet that will support the founding of The Collegeof SS Peter and Paul--to be located in Michigan! This is a new Catholic Liberal Arts college--totally faithful to the Magisterium of the Church. Colleges like this one will bring the light of Christ to this dark time! It will serve to renew Catholic higher education! Please help make this college a reality. The banquet is Friday, March 16th. The cost of the banquet is only $40.00 per person. Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz is the keynote speaker--truly one of the most outstanding bishops in the whole country! The banquet is at the lovely St. John's Center located at 5 Mile and Sheldon in Plymouth, MI. For $150 dollars a private reception is provided with the bishop. Please call 248 347-3649

COME --BE A PART OF THE NEW SPRINGTIME OF THE CHURCH - see the website

Click here for a PDF flyer of the event

Fr. Perrone catechizes the parish on "praying hands"

In today's Pastor's Descant, Fr. Perrone talked about the need for us to be aware of our gestures during holy Mass. He specifically targeted how we approach for Communion. I couldn't help but think about what I had just read last night in Saint Bernadette Soubirous 1844-1879 by Abbe Francois Trochu.

Bernadette, following the first apparition, described Our Lady's hands as the Rosary was prayed. The author says that among the many details that came out during questioning, was the manner in which Mary held her hands:

"..... Her hands, when she kept them joined, where pressed together along their whole length, palm to palm...."

In any painting you see of Our Lady of Lourdes, you see this posture. And, it is appropriate to recall as we read Fr. Perrone's words for our own personal reflection. We can't change what others are doing or not doing, but we ought to be conscious of what we are doing when in prayer, in Church, or at Mass. Our Lady, among other roles, is a profound teacher. Perhaps we ought to follow her lead.

Without further delay, here is the March 4, 2007 Pastor's Descant:

"You’ve all seen those disembodied hands joined in prayer, etched so masterfully by Albrecht Dürer. They adorn greeting cards, advertisements and brochures, but were surely intended for the more noble purpose of representing Christian piety. Those hands returned to my imagination in writing today on a topic, seemingly but a trifle, that should concern everyone. This is the little-regarded subject of folding one’s hands in prayer. Now, why should I write about a thing of such relative insignificance? I hear you thinking: ‘has he nothing better to say?’ It’s because little things sometimes can make a big difference and because this subject came up in a recent adult catechism class that I’m taking it up here today.

It was pointed out to me that some of our Grotto people wend their way to and fro the Communion line with arms adangling, which is to say, with hands unfolded. Truth to tell, I had never noticed. (In fact, let it be known that I make it my business not to look much at the congregation lest I lose track of what I’m doing before God.) In this matter I’m reminded of the immense loss for the Church of the teaching Sisters. They were the ones who taught and who exemplified Catholic decorum. With their disappearance from the scene in nearly every parish, we have either forgotten or had never learned how to conduct ourselves reverently in church.

No doubt, you will have noticed that I require our altar boys to keep their hands joined at the breast and pointing upward when serving Mass. There’s more reason for this than merely the edification of the faithful, although that’s an important thing. I can’t adequately explain why, but the folding–or not–of the hands has a great deal to do with the way our minds pray. If you look at the representation of angels in our church–and elsewhere in art–you will see their hands joined in prayer. Likewise the Virgin Mary. To my mind, this discipline of the hands has the effect of helping to concentrate, to focus one’s thoughts more securely on God. It’s a posture we don’t employ for anything else except prayer. Hence, like kneeling, it’s an act of the recognition of God. You can swing your arms freely about wherever you may be, but you should not in church, and especially at Communion time, because you know you are in the august presence of the Most High.

Should you think I am making too much of this, I will let our Holy Father Pope Benedict have a word. In his important and highly influential book, Spirit of the Liturgy, after recalling Saint Paul’s admission, “I train my body and subdue it” (1 Cor 9:27), the Pope says that the body needs to be trained, so to speak, for the resurrection it is meant to share. “The body has a place within the divine worship of the Word made flesh, and it is expressed liturgically in a certain discipline of the body, in gestures that have developed out of the liturgy’s inner demands...” Then, recalling that the practice of joining hands in prayer came out of the custom in feudal times of placing one’s joined hands into the hands of his ruling lord as an expression of loyalty and fidelity, the Holy Father concludes that when we fold our hands in prayer we symbolically place our hands in God’s, pledging to Him our fidelity.

Getting to my point, I’d like those hitherto ‘unyoked’ in their Communion habits to give due consideration both to the impression their nonchalant mannerism may have to onlookers and to how its correction might contribute to an improved mental disposition after receiving the holy Sacrament. Speaking for myself, I find it hard, without summoning the body’s cooperation, to concentrate in prayer. Joining my hands seems to help arrest the powers of my mind, feeble though they may be, and fixing them more pointedly on God.

There are many things of a like kind in our liturgical comportment that I might single out for ‘airing,’ such as the bowing of the head at the name of Jesus or Mary, the closing of one’s eyes at the moment of receiving Communion, and–here’s another
thing to rail against–the slipshod way we dust ourselves with the sign of the cross. But these are more for another time when my zeal might be roused to suggest other ways better to use our bodily powers to assist in our prayer. “Glorify God,” wrote the Apostle, “in your body.” (1 Cor. 6:20)."

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, Msgr Breier, Fr. Perrone, Fr. John, and Fr. Amah during the early 2006 Marian Catechist memorial liturgy for Fr. John A. Hardon

I do hope Fr. Perrone will continue with this kind of catechesis for those of us who were busy tending to our fingerpaintings while our folks thought we were learning about the faith.

As for the book mentioned, I highly recommend it. There are many historical pictures in the book, and it is just a good read. It obviously goes much more deeper than any movie. I'm actually reading many books right now, but I only read a few pages of one of them each day.

More on the expected liberation of the Tridentine

Visit Fr. Z's blog for more info on the expected motu proprio (and consider that it is second hand). It may or may not be an actual glimpse of some of what is to come.

Go read, "Some contents of the motu proprio?" at the blog of Fr. Z.

Pope Benedict on the Transfiguration

In his Angelus address, Pope Benedict spoke on the Transfiguration. From Zenit:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

On this Second Sunday of Lent, the Evangelist Luke underlines that Jesus went up the mountain "to pray" (9:28) together with the apostles Peter, James and John and, "as he was praying" (9:29) the luminous mystery of his transfiguration took place.

For the three apostles, to go up on the mountain meant to be involved in Jesus' prayer, who often withdrew to pray, especially at dawn or after sundown, and sometimes during the whole night. However, on that occasion alone, on the mountain, he wished to manifest to his friends the interior light that invaded him when he prayed: His face -- we read in the Gospel -- his countenance was altered and his raiment became dazzling, reflecting the splendor of the divine person of the Incarnate Word (cf. Luke 9:29).

There is another detail in St. Luke's narrative which is worth underlining: It indicates the object of Jesus' conversation with Moses and Elijah, who appeared next to him when transfigured. The Evangelist narrates that they "spoke of his departure (in Greek, 'exodos'), which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem" (9:31).

Therefore, Jesus listens to the Law and the prophets that speak to him of his death and resurrection. In his intimate dialogue with his Father, he does not leave history, he does not flee from the mission for which he came into the world, though he knows that to attain glory he will have to go through the cross. What is more, Christ enters this mission more profoundly, adhering with all his being to the will of the Father, and he shows us that true prayer consists precisely in uniting our will to the Father's.

Therefore, for a Christian to pray is not to evade reality and the responsibilities it entails, but to assume them to the end, trusting in the faithful and inexhaustible love of the Lord. For this reason, the proof of the Transfiguration is, paradoxically, the agony in Gethsemane (cf. Luke 22:39-46). Given the imminence of the passion, Jesus experiences mortal anguish and entrusts himself to the divine will; at that moment his prayer is a pledge of salvation for us all. Christ, in fact, would implore the heavenly Father to "save him from death" and, as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes, "he was heard for his godly fear" (5:7). The Resurrection is proof that he was heard.

Dear Brothers and Sisters: Prayer is not something accessory, it is not "optional," but rather a question of life or death. Only one who prays, that is, who entrusts himself to God with filial love, can enter into eternal life, which is God himself. During this season of Lent, let us pray to Mary, mother of the Incarnate Word and teacher of the spiritual life, to teach us to pray as her Son did so that our life is transformed by the light of his presence.