Justin & the Church after Vatican II

June 1st: The Feast of Saint Justin. 

One of the apostolic fathers, Justin was a philosopher trained in rhetoric and the first great Christian apologist. We have important writings from his hand and a detailed account of his trial and martyrdom. The Romans were fastidious in their legal proceedings and, by one estimate, employed 100,000 stenographers in the empire.  Thus we know of his responses at his trial and those of his young followers.  His students followed him to the arena: humbling for those of us who teach.

Justin Martyr pray for us!

Vatican II Fifty Years After

Given the initial whirlwind we reaped after the Council, it is easy to forget why it was called.  Apologetics!  John XXIII wanted to find a new way to explain the eternal truths to a world which had lost its way and had a tin ear to the traditional language of Christianity.  In Europe the cultural disease was far more advanced than in America, but even in this New World the health of mother church was much more superficial than we realized.  

The hour is late, but the Council is now finally bearing fruit with John Paul the Great's  New Evangelism and a thousand flowers that are blooming.  Benedict chose the name of the patron of Europe knowing the task facing us is much like that of Benedict of Nursia whose monasteries century by century turned the dark ages into the High Mediaeval splendor exemplified by Thomas Aquinas' Proper and Office for Corpus Christi.  That great feast is celebrated June 13th or the Sunday before as in our diocese.

The Priestly Order of St. Peter is a fairly new order of priests trained to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (the traditional Latin mass.) In this interview with Catholic News Service, Father Joseph Kramer of the Order puts Vatican II into perspective and explains why young Catholics are turning to a more traditional Catholicism: 

Thanks to Father Z for this!

Father Jerry Wooten Was the Homalist

The New Liturgical Movement reports on a beautiful mass said on the Feast of the Epiphany (old calendar, i.e., January, 6th, 2009.) This was said according to the Missal of John XXIII or the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (i.e, the Traditional Latin Mass.)

The New Liturgical Movement was "told that several local seminarians from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the Institute of Christ the King, and the seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, as well as diocesan priests, who served or sang at the Mass.

The celebrant was Father Gregory Thompson, assistant pastor of All Saints church in Manassas, Va. The deacon was Father Kevin Beres, assistant pastor of Saint Michael's church in Annandale, Va. The subdeacon was Abbe Michael Stein of the Institute of Christ the King. The homilist was Father Jerry Wooten, assistant pastor of the church that hosted the Mass, Holy Trinity in Gainesville, Va.

"The schola consisted of three seminarians (two FSSP and one diocesan deacon) as well as three men from Saint Mary's in D.C. The acolytes consisted of two or three FSSP seminarians as well as men and boys from the parish and surrounding area."



Father Wooten is an excellent priest. Like quite a few in the Arlington diocese he is ex-military. He is a priest most worthy of your prayers. The the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) and the Institute of Christ the King are two new orders created to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

This is significant for two reasons. You have diocesan priests and seminarians joining together with the two priestly orders. This is cross-fertilization at the personal level. This is a great event for Arlington which we left just three years ago. I had not perceived Bishop Loverde as being the sort of bishop who might be caught reading the New Liturgical Movement. Still Arlington is a diocese whose priests gradually remold their boss in their own image. It has a great bunch of priests who will find a way to do the right thing.

Wow a new Church that is pretty!

Father Wooten has found himself a very fine church to be assistant pastor in.

Note the prominence of the tabernacle and the Latin above it and the altar: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him" (from today's gospel , the Feast of the Baptism of Christ.)

The altar allows them to go around it and celebrate ad orientem and they have used the "Benedictine" candle arrangement. What is ad orientem, you ask? The priest and other celbrants are facing the same direction toward the East or at least toward the liturgical east. If that is not enough of an explaination read on in my litugical postings. (Sorry no continuing ed credits given.)

Father Wooten's parish's has a website which gives its mission statement:

"The Mission of Holy Trinity Church is to lead all parishioners to Heaven and the Beatific Vision of the Holy Trinity."

How's that for getting back to basics?

I might have to think twice about my visceral rejection of parish's having mission statements.

How do you say "Cross Fertilization" in French?

From Paris and Lourdes, the Lesson of the "Liturgist" Pope

On his trip to France, Benedict XVI did not only defend the ancient rite of the Mass. He also explained and demonstrated repeatedly what he believes to be the authentic meaning of the Catholic liturgy of today and always. And, about sacred music, he said...

by Sandro Magister
ROMA, September 16, 2008 – In the three Masses celebrated during his trip to Paris and Lourdes, Benedict XVI followed the post-conciliar rite. But he intentionally enriched it with elements characteristic of the old rite: the cross at the center of the altar, communion given to the faithful on the tongue, while kneeling, the sacredness of the whole.

The reciprocal "enrichment" between the two rites is the main objective that impelled Benedict XVI to promulgate, in 2007, the motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum," which liberalized the use of the ancient rite of the Mass, according to the Roman missal of 1962.

Sandro Magister's analysis is always very valuable. It was just over a year ago, that Benedict freed the old version of the Roman Rite. He chose that aniverary to preach liturgical tolerance to a hierarchy short in that pastoral virtue. Moreover, Benedict used this "teaching moment" to show how the old and new can cross fertilize each other.

Hallelujah!

Hugh of Cluny is a Society Dedicated to the Traditional Mass

The Moto Proprio ("Which moto proprio?" you ask?) has spawned Hugh of Cluny is a Society, a Society located in Greenwich, Connecticut, dedicated to promoting the Traditional Mass in accordance with the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. Click on this post to link to their site.


They have a nice set of photos of a mass for the Ascension at St. Saviour parish in New York (George Rutler's parish. I think it is John Neuhaus's as well.)

Is the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite a "New Rite"

Is the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite a "New Rite?" Reading the following paragraph in the English translation of Benedict's letter to the bishops accompanying the motu proprio, you might conclude that:

"There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place. Needless to say, in order to experience full communion, the priests of the communities adhering to the former usage cannot, as a matter of principle, exclude celebrating according to the new books. The total exclusion of the new rite would not in fact be consistent with the recognition of its value and holiness."

That is not how I read the German, which I assume is the controlling text:

"Es gibt keinen Widerspruch zwischen der einen und der anderen Ausgabe des Missale Romanum. In der Liturgiegeschichte gibt es Wachstum und Fortschritt, aber keinen Bruch. Was früheren Generationen heilig war, bleibt auch uns heilig und groß; es kann nicht plötzlich rundum verboten oder gar schädlich sein. Es tut uns allen gut, die Reichtümer zu wahren, die im Glauben und Beten der Kirche gewachsen sind und ihnen ihren rechten Ort zu geben. Um die volle communio zu leben, können die Priester, die den Gemeinschaften des alten Usus zugehören, selbstverständlich die Zelebration nach den neuen liturgischen Büchern im Prinzip nicht ausschließen. Ein völliger Ausschluß wäre nämlich nicht in Übereinstimmung mit der Anerkennung des Wertes und der Heiligkeit des Ritus in seiner erneuerten Form."

Forget the Iowa Caucases and the New Hampshire Primary

Forget the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, the real polls are open already: what do we call the old mass now that that great liturgical liberal, Benedict XVI, has clarified that priests can say the mass as it said at the Second Vatican Council (which used the Missal of 1962.) Fr. Z. is conducting a poll as to what that mass should be called. My first choice lost out in the initial round (the Mass of John XXIII.) In the runoff, the top three choices are:

1) the Tridentine Mass
2) extraordinary form/use (forma extraodinaria)
3) the Traditional Latin Mass or TLM


You can vote on his blog, What Does The Prayer Really Say? The blog is a great resource to find out whether Rome (which speaks in Latin) really said what your local liturgist said Rome said.

I voted for #2. That is what Benedict called it. The "Tridentine Mass" suggests that this form dates back to the Council of Trent which is wrong by at least a thousand years. The "Traditional Latin Mass" is OK but distracts us from the fact that the ordinary form (what we have in almost every parish, every Sunday) is supposed to be in Latin most of the time and should be celebrated in a manner that preserves the tradition of the Latin rite.

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

Today, The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, is the day Pope Benedict set as the Liberation Day for the Extraordinary Usage of the mass of the Latin Rite (i.e., the mass according to the Missal of John XXIII, sometimes called by the misnomer "the tridentine mass.")

I heard a marvelous mass on EWTN this morning. How better to start the day than with Gregorian chant. I would love to get a podcast of the beautiful homily!

The New Liturgical Movement informs me that there is a DVD of it from EWTN. To find more follow the link. [Added this Sunday morning.]

The mass ended with "Lift High the Cross!" This was neither Latin nor Chant, but a great hymn. You can here it on two sites:

The Oremus Hymnal

and The Cyber Hymnal

I bounced into my classes with more life than all semester!

The Old Mass is More Jewish Than the New

Nicholas Frankovich on the First Things blog argues that the Mass of John XXIII is more Jewish than the ordinary form of the mass that we now use. He further argues that the new mass was adapted to allay Protestant opposition to the "Jewishness" of the old mass which corresponded more to the sacrifice offered in the temple than the rabbinical Judaism of the synagogue:

"Protestants were correct that the Mass, in its aspect as a sacrifice, could not be fully understood outside the framework of pre-rabbinic Judaism. By the middle of the twentieth century, when Rome’s wish for some thaw in its cold war with Protestantism was in full bloom, it reformed the Mass such that the visible and audible distinctions between Mass and the worship services of the mainline Protestant churches were now greatly softened. Many Catholics saw it as an appropriate ecumenical gesture. So did many Protestants. Whether that step in the direction of Wittenberg and Geneva was deliberate or unconscious, what it was a step away from was Jerusalem, from the Temple and the daily sacrifice priests used to perform there."

A carful anaysis of the structure, form, and language of the old mass would expose its true Jewishness, an analysis well beyond the scope of Frankovich's article.

Read the Text of Benedict's Document Motu Proprio Data "Summorum Pontificum"

MOTU PROPRIO "SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM"

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 2007 (VIS) - Given below is a non-official English- language translation of the Apostolic Letter "Motu Proprio data" of Pope Benedict XVI, "Summorum Pontificum," concerning the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the reform of 1970. The original text is written in Latin.

"Up to our own times, it has been the constant concern of supreme pontiffs to ensure that the Church of Christ offers a worthy ritual to the Divine Majesty, 'to the praise and glory of His name,' and 'to the benefit of all His Holy Church.'

"Since time immemorial it has been necessary - as it is also for the future - to maintain the principle according to which 'each particular Church must concur with the universal Church, not only as regards the doctrine of the faith and the sacramental signs, but also as regards the usages universally accepted by uninterrupted apostolic tradition, which must be observed not only to avoid errors but also to transmit the integrity of the faith, because the Church's law of prayer corresponds to her law of faith.' (1)

Read on....

The Holy See Press Office'd Explanatory Note on Benedict's Document Motu Proprio Data, "Summorum Pontificum."

EXPLANATORY NOTE ON MOTU PROPRIO "SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM"

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today issued an explanatory note concerning the Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum". The most important paragraphs of the note are given below:

"The Motu Proprio 'Summorum Pontificum' lays down new rules for the use of the Roman liturgy that preceded the reform of 1970. The reasons for such provisions are clearly explained in the Holy Father's letter to bishops which accompanies the Motu Proprio (the two documents have been sent to all the presidents of episcopal conferences and to all nuncios, who have arranged to distribute them to all bishops).

"The fundamental provision is as follows: the Roman liturgy will have two forms ('usus'):

Read on ...

Benedict's Letter to His Brother Bishops

LETTER FROM POPE TO BISHOPS ON "SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM"

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 2007 (VIS) - Given below is the text of the English- language version of Benedict XVI's Letter to all the bishops of the world concerning his Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum," which was published today:

"With great trust and hope, I am consigning to you as pastors the text of a new Apostolic Letter 'Motu Proprio data' on the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the reform of 1970. The document is the fruit of much reflection, numerous consultations and prayer.

"News reports and judgments made without sufficient information have created no little confusion. There have been very divergent reactions ranging from joyful acceptance to harsh opposition, about a plan whose contents were in reality unknown.

"This document was most directly opposed on account of two fears, which I would like to address somewhat more closely in this letter.

Read on....

Living in the New Liturgical Era

Fr. Martin Fox writes a blog called Bonfire of the Vanities. You can read in his latest posting how one parish priest is responding to Benedict's newest motu proprio freeing the traditional Latin mass. I find in his attitude the true spirit of Vatican II.

In the comments a few practical issues arose:

Do we have to learn Latin?

You will not need to learn much Latin. It was common practice to follow the old mass by using a missal with Latin on one side and English on the other. The Liturgical Movement and Vatican II wanted to emphasize the high or sung mass and reduce the importance of low or said mass. Thus the congregation would again sing its parts of the mass (in Latin.) The Council gave pride of place to Gregorian chant, the music of the people, to accomplish this. You do not need to be a Latin scholar nor do you need to be a great singer to chant the people's parts of the old mass. This is what the Council meant by "full and active participation" in the mass.
We presume that most communication is verbal. Yet the experts tell us that 60-90% of communication is nonverbal. You will find that the non verbal communication of the older form of the Latin rite conveys both an atmosphere and specific messages that will change your understanding of the mass.

What is Benedict trying to accomplish?

The very heart of Benedict's program is allowing the older form of the Roman rite and the newer form cross pollinate. The older use stopped developing in 1962. The motu proprio will allow normal organic change to resume in the traditional Latin mass. As individual priests learn the older mass and Catholics experience the it, the ordinary use of the Latin rite will relearn the reverence, the solemnity, and the trancendance of the traditional Latin mass. This will lead to the ordinary use moving more in line with what the Council fathers approved.

Thus the TLM will lead by example but it will no longer be stuck in 1962.

Benedict's Liturgical Liberalism

Pope Benedict is pro choice, at least when it comes to the liturgy.

Next Saturday, he will release his motu proprio which will allow priests to say the ancient Latin Rite mass without having to get their bishop's OK.

I do not believe that the freeing of the mass of the Missal of John XXIII is meant solely for an opening to schismatic traditionalists. The motu proprio is being released on the Feast of Cyril and Methodius under the old calendar. I read this as a signal to Eastern Orthodoxy. I do not read what the signal is however.

The Organic Development of the Liturgy

The Liturgical Movement, whose work was endorsed by the Second Vatican Council, was rediscovering the liturgical tradition of the Latin Rite, replacing less democratic music with chant, restoring to the people their legitimate parts of the mass (singing the Kyrie, the Gloria, etc.), and spreading an understanding of the mass. The Consilium commissioned to revise the missal in 1969 in its haste and, for lack of a better word, its bull-headedness, made some serious mistakes. Subsequent research has shown that many of its scholarly and pastoral assumptions were wrong. Heavy handed implementation compounded these problems.

The liturgy is supposed to develop organically. Given the break in that development, can we start afresh? Benedict seems to think so.

Benedict is asking us to replant the older liturgy next to Mass of Paul VI so that they can grow side by side cross pollinating and creating the proper fruits of the Liturgical Movement for our children and our children's children.

It took forty years for First Vatican Council to bear fruit. We will just now start to see the Second Vatican Council bear its first liturgical fruits.

You are not convinced? Read this moving account of one new priest's experience. He attended a one week training session ("boot camp") for the traditional Latin mass (i.e., according to the Missal of John XXIII.) This priest will be saying the new mass better, more reverently, and with greater effect because of his experience of the old.

Laus Tibi Dei!

Motu Proprio Watch II

Die Welt, one of Germany's major dailies, reports that "The pope from the land of Luther will restore the old Latin mass."


Paul Badde's story in Die Welt was reported by Catholic World News via The New Liturgical Movement. Catholic World News says this confirms stories that have appeared in French and Italian papers and adds the additional detail that a letter to accompany the motu proprio has already been drafted.

Die Welt reports major opposition in the curia and in the European hierarchy to Benedict's liberation of the ancient mass.


A motu proprio is a special pronouncement made by the pope on his own initiative. It is widely expected that the document will universally permit the old "Latin mass." Thus any priest, anywhere in the world, who wishes to say the mass according to the Mass of John XXIII may then do so without asking permission of his local bishop.

The Mass of John XXIII follows the rubrics as they were in 1962 before the changes made after the Second Vatican Council. This ritual was little changed over the previous four centuries and closely resembles the mass of fourteen centuries ago. While the current liturgy may be said in Latin, it is almost always celebrated in the vernacular. The Mass of John XXIII may only be said in Latin.

The Mass of John XXIII is sometimes referred to as the Tridentine mass, alluding to the Council of Trent which reformed it in the sixteenth century.

Motu proprio watch & Sacramentum Charitatis

Rumors have been rife since last summer that this pope will issue a document that frees priests to offer the holy sacrament of the mass according to the mass of John XXXII, variously known as the Tridentine mass, the mass according to the missal of 1962, or the Latin mass. This last name is unfortunate (see my previous clarification) since the current mass may be offered in Latin and the documents of the Council and from Rome indicate that Latin should be the normal language of the mass.

This rumored document is typically characterized as a motu proprio (Latin for "on my initiative.")

Benedict issued his Apostolic Exhortion, Sacramentum Charitatis on Tuesday. The Latin tittle translates as "Sacrament of Love." Scott Hahn's students might make a case for "Covenant of Love."

Some were disappointed the motu proprio was not issued. None of us should be disappointed in the new Exhortation.

Plunging "back into the liturgical life of another age."

Some French bishops think that freeing the Church to pray the mass of John XIII would "plunge us back into the liturgical life of another age."

Catholic World News reports French clerical and seemingly official "opposition to release of a papal document that would allow wider use of the traditional Latin Mass." According to a story dated October, 24th, 2006, "A group of 35 French bishops and priests have issued a statement urging Pope Benedict XVI ... not to issue the motu proprio that has been widely discussed in recent weeks. The clerics predict that by allowing broader use of the Tridentine rite, the papal document would 'plunge us back into the liturgical life of another age.'"

I like that phrase. The purported goal of the liturgical reforms imposed on the Church after the Council was to restore the mass to the pristine simplicity of worship in the early church. Now THAT, had it succeeded, would have plunged "us back into the liturgical life of another age."

Unfortunately, the experts and bureaucrats were more reductionist than restorationist. They created much that was new while destroying much that was old. Research and scholarship in the decades since have taught us how inaccurate was their understanding of liturgical history. Far from plunging us back into the age of the early church, they worshiped idols of their own intellectual making.

Now the council is finally bearing fruit. We are growing in our understanding of the worship of the early church. (See

Mike Aquilina's The Mass of the Early Christians.) The Council's call to rediscover the patristic roots of our theology and prayer life has been heard. And a true reform of the Roman liturgy is budding up through the dirty snow of our winter of liturgical discontent.

Deo gratias!

The Mass of John XXIII?

Fox News in St.Louis reports an upsurge in the traditional mass in Latin among younger Catholics. The New Liturgical Movement reports this and provides a link to the actual broadcast.

The broadcast seems to be talking about the pre-1969 Latin liturgy not the current mass (sometimes referred to as the Novus Ordo mass) celebrated in Latin. It is not always 100% clear. The broadcast is pretty good however. Anytime I have been quoted in the media and they got half of it right, I have considered it a victory. The perfunctory "balance" by Fr. Richard McBrien is predictable. Like so many aging "progressives," he is increasingly irrelevant.

That said, there is a real difficulty in nomenclature.

The current mass is based on the missal that was issued in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. It was claimed to be necessary to implement the reforms mandated by the Second Vatican Council. It is variously called the Mass of Paul VI, the Novus Ordo mass, or the mass of the Missal of 1969. Fr. Martin Fox (Bonfire of the Vanities) even suggests at one point calling it the Pauline Mass. (Read Fr. Fox's very useful discussion of the issue.)

Referring to the "Latin mass" is ambiguous. The current mass can be celebrated in Latin, in fact that is the clear intent of Vatican II. Certainly the current mass in Latin with both the people and the priest facing God together would be a vast improvement over what many people suffer through in too many parishes today.

Many people want the restoration of the so called "Tridentine mass," typically by reverting to the Missal of 1962. This mass is sometimes called the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), the Pian mass (after Pius V who issued the Missal implementing the reforms of the Council of Trent) or the Tridentine mass. The 1962 Missal was the latest (prior to Vatican II) revision of the mass in the form it took under Pius V's reforms. But do not be deceived. There was not some new rite developed after the Council of Trent. Calling it "Tridentine" is misleading. Pius V modestly and respectfully pared back to basics a 1,000+ year old rite. There was no break with the past. It developed organically from the practices of the Church in Rome in Peter and Paul's time and from the Jewish ritual that preceded it.

After the second Vatican council, a new missal was issued in 1965. One could argue that this Missal issued in 1965 (right after the Council) already met the requirements of the Council. If you hold to this position, you would argue that the very dramatic changes made in 1969, were not necessary.

Traditionalists who argue for going back to "The old Latin mass" typically call for restoring the Missal of 1962. This Missal was promulgated by Pope John XXIII. This was the mass as it was celebrated during Vatican II.

Rather than calling this the "Tridentine Mass," maybe we should refer to it as the Mass of John XXIII!