Joyful Joyful, We Adore Thee

The motu proprio has been published.

Thank you, Lord.

A Novena for the Traditional Mass (day 9)

Glory to Thee, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
One God over all the world in every age.

In Thy mercy
grant that Thy servants
may once again freely worship Thee
in the unity of the Mass of Ages,
with St. Gregory the Great,
with St. Bonaventure,
and with St. Pius V,
whose memory we honor today.

Father in Heaven,
through Christ our Lord, we ask Thee
to pour out the grace of Thy Holy Spirit
on Thy vicar, Pope Benedict XVI,
and on Thy unworthy servants,
to conform our hearts to Thee,
so that, animated by Thy Spirit,
we may serve Thee faithfully in this life
and enter into the joy of Thy kingdom
at the end of our days.

For the Holy Father:
Our Father Who art in heaven...
Hail Mary, full of grace...
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...

+++

"Upon our elevation to the Apostolic throne We gladly turned Our mind and energies, and directed all Our thoughts, to the matter of preserving incorrupt the public worship of the Church; and We have striven, with God’s help, by every means in Our power to achieve that purpose. ...

Furthermore, by these presents and by virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We give and grant in perpetuity that for the singing or reading of Mass in any church whatsoever this Missal may be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or censure, and may be freely and lawfully used. Nor shall bishops, administrators, canons, chaplains and other secular priests, or religious of whatsoever Order or by whatsoever title designated, be obliged to celebrate Mass otherwise than enjoined by Us."

- Pope St. Pius V, Quo Primum

+++

Remove not the ancient landmark
which your fathers have set.

Proverbs 22:28

A Novena for the Traditional Mass (day 8)

Glory to Thee, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
One God over all the world in every age.

In Thy mercy
grant that Thy servants
may once again freely worship Thee
in the unity of the Mass of Ages,
with St. Thomas More,
with St. John Fisher,
with St. Ignatius of Loyola
and with all the saints
whom Thou hast spiritually formed
through the traditional Mass.

Father in Heaven,
through Christ our Lord, we ask Thee
to pour out the grace of Thy Holy Spirit
on Thy vicar, Pope Benedict XVI,
and on Thy unworthy servants,
to conform our hearts to Thee,
so that, animated by Thy Spirit,
we may serve Thee faithfully in this life
and enter into the joy of Thy kingdom
at the end of our days.

For the Holy Father:
Our Father Who art in heaven...
Hail Mary, full of grace...
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...

+++

And when He had arisen from prayer and come to His disciples, He found them sleeping for sadness, and He said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Sleep on now and take your rest. That is enough. Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation. Behold, the hour is coming when the Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us go. Behold, the one who will betray me is near at hand." [Mt 26:45-46, Mk 14:41-42]

See now, when Christ comes back to His apostles for the third time, there they are, buried in sleep, although he commanded them to bear up with Him and to stay awake and pray because of the impending danger; but Judas the traitor at the same time was so wide awake and intent on betraying the Lord that the very idea of sleep never entered his mind.

Does not this contrast between the traitor and the apostles present to us a clear and sharp mirror image (as it were), a sad and terrible view of what has happened through the ages from those times even to our own? Why do not bishops contemplate in his scene their own somnolence? Since they have succeeeded in the place of the apostles, would that they would reproduce their virtues just as eagerly as they embrace their authority and as faithfully as they display their sloth and sleepiness! For very many are sleepy and apathetic in sowing virtues among the people and maintaining the truth, while the enemies of Christ, in order to sow vices and uproot the faith (that is, insofar as they can, to seize Christ and cruelly crucify Him once again), are wide awake--so much wiser (as Christ says) are the sons of darkness in their generation than the sons of light.

Saint Thomas More, The Sadness of Christ

+++
(Today is the Feast of St. Monica)

Saint Monica, at whose powerful prayers Augustine was rescued from the spirit of the age and raised to heights of holiness, ora pro nobis.

A Novena for the Traditional Mass (day 7)

Glory to Thee, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
One God over all the world in every age.

In Thy mercy
grant that Thy servants
may once again freely worship Thee
in the unity of the Mass of Ages,
with St. Teresa of Avila,
with St. Thérèse of Lisieux,
with St. Margaret of Hungary
and with all the saints
whom Thou hast spiritually formed
through the traditional Mass.

Father in Heaven,
through Christ our Lord, we ask Thee
to pour out the grace of Thy Holy Spirit
on Thy vicar, Pope Benedict XVI,
and on Thy unworthy servants,
to conform our hearts to Thee,
so that, animated by Thy Spirit,
we may serve Thee faithfully in this life
and enter into the joy of Thy kingdom
at the end of our days.

For the Holy Father:
Our Father Who art in heaven...
Hail Mary, full of grace...
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...

+++

Christ's prayer for his disciples

These things Jesus spoke: and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said: the hour is come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee. As Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he may give eternal life to all whom Thou hast given him. Now this is eternal life: That they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.

I have glorified Thee on the earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. And now glorify Thou me, O Father, with Thyself, with the glory which I had, before the world was, with Thee. I have manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they were: and to me Thou gavest them. And they have kept Thy word.

Now they have known that all things which Thou hast given me are from Thee: Because the words which Thou gavest me, I have given to them. And they have received them and have known in very deed that I came out from Thee: and they have believed that Thou didst send me.

I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them whom Thou hast given me: because they are Thine. And all my things are Thine, and Thine are mine: and I am glorified in them.

And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou hast given me: that they may be one, as we also are. While I was with them, I kept them in Thy name. Those whom Thou gavest me have I kept: and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition: that the scripture may be fulfilled.

And now I come to Thee: and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy filled in themselves. I have given them Thy word, and the world hath hated them: because they are not of the world, as I also am not of the world. I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from evil. They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world. Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth.

As Thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for them do I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me. That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me.

And the glory which Thou hast given me, I have given to them: that, they may be one, as we also are one. I in them, and Thou in me: that they may be made perfect in one: and the world may know that Thou hast sent me and hast loved them, as Thou hast also loved me. Father, I will that where I am, they also whom Thou hast given me may be with me: that they may see my glory which Thou hast given me, because Thou hast loved me before the creation of the world.

Just Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee. And these have known that Thou hast sent me. And I have made known Thy name to them and will make it known: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

John 17

Saint Philip and Saint James, chosen and blessed by the Lord, orate pro nobis.

A Novena for the Traditional Mass (day 6)

Glory to Thee, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
One God over all the world in every age.

In Thy mercy
grant that Thy servants
may once again freely worship Thee
in the unity of the Mass of Ages,
with St. Isidore of Seville,
with St. Bede the Venerable,
with St. Albert the Great
and with all the saints
whom Thou hast spiritually formed
through the traditional Mass.

Father in Heaven,
through Christ our Lord, we ask Thee
to pour out the grace of Thy Holy Spirit
on Thy vicar, Pope Benedict XVI,
and on Thy unworthy servants,
to conform our hearts to Thee,
so that, animated by Thy Spirit,
we may serve Thee faithfully in this life
and enter into the joy of Thy kingdom
at the end of our days.

For the Holy Father:
Our Father Who art in heaven...
Hail Mary, full of grace...
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...

+++
(Today is the Feast of St. Athanasius)

“But for the searching and right understanding of the Scriptures there is need of a good life and a pure soul, and for Christian virtue to guide the mind to grasp, so far as human nature can, the truth concerning God the Word. One cannot possibly understand the teaching of the saints unless one has a pure mind and is trying to imitate their life. Anyone who wants to look at sunlight naturally wipes his eye clear first, in order to make, at any rate, some approximation to the purity of that on which he looks; and a person wishing to see a city or country goes to the place in order to do so. Similarly, anyone who wishes to understand the mind of the sacred writers must first cleanse his own life, and approach the saints by copying their deeds. Thus united to them in the fellowship of life, he will both understand the things revealed to them by God and, thenceforth escaping the peril that threatens sinners in the judgment, will receive that which is laid up for the saints in the kingdom of heaven. Of that reward it is written: 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared' for them that live a godly life and love the God and Father in Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom and with Whom be to the Father Himself, with the Son Himself, in the Holy Spirit, honor and might and glory to ages of ages. Amen.”

- Saint Athanasius, On the Incarnation

+++

'His whole life was shaped around his defense of the divinity of Christ at a time when powerful imperial forces, and perhaps even the majority of churchmen, had fallen into the Arian Heresy. This situation is summed up in the famous saying: Athanasius contra mundum—“Athanasius against the world.” At a famous meeting at Milan between the Emperor Constantius and Pope Liberius, the Emperor had challenged the Pope: “Who are you to stand up for Athanasius against the world?”'

Tan Books has published a book about the 33 Doctors of the Church, and has put the introduction and first chapter online. To read about "The Father of Orthodoxy", click here and search for "Saint Athanasius".

A Novena for the Traditional Mass (day 5)

Glory to Thee, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
One God over all the world in every age.

In Thy mercy
grant that Thy servants
may once again freely worship Thee
in the unity of the Mass of Ages,

with St. Clare of Assisi,
with St. John Vianney,
and with St. Peregrine Laziosi,
whose memory we honor today.

Father in Heaven,
through Christ our Lord, we ask Thee
to pour out the grace of Thy Holy Spirit
on Thy vicar, Pope Benedict XVI,
and on Thy unworthy servants,
to conform our hearts to Thee,
so that, animated by Thy Spirit,
we may serve Thee faithfully in this life
and enter into the joy of Thy kingdom
at the end of our days.

For the Holy Father:
Our Father Who art in heaven...
Hail Mary, full of grace...
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...

+++(Today is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker)

Prayer for the Universal Indult through the intercession of St. Joseph

O Saint Joseph, foster father of Jesus, spouse of our Blessed Mother and patron of the Universal Church, grant us through thy intercession that the Holy Father will soon issue the Motu Proprio which shall permit the universal use of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to that venerable rite codified by Pope Pius V. May this Motu Proprio be a means of healing from the painful divisions which have been so evident in our church today. We make our prayer through thy powerful intercession with God and in the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

A Novena for the Traditional Mass (day 4)

Glory to Thee, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
One God over all the world in every age.

In Thy mercy
grant that Thy servants
may once again freely worship Thee
in the unity of the Mass of Ages,
with St. Bernard of Clairvaux,
with St. John of the Cross,
and with St. Catherine of Siena,
whose memory we honor today.

Father in Heaven,
through Christ our Lord, we ask Thee
to pour out the grace of Thy Holy Spirit
on Thy vicar, Pope Benedict XVI,
and on Thy unworthy servants,
to conform our hearts to Thee,
so that, animated by Thy Spirit,
we may serve Thee faithfully in this life
and enter into the joy of Thy kingdom
at the end of our days.

For the Holy Father:
Our Father Who art in heaven...
Hail Mary, full of grace...
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...

+++

“See, dearest daughter, in what an excellent state is the soul who receives, as she should, this Bread of Life, this Food of the Angels. By receiving this Sacrament she dwells in Me and I in her, as the fish in the sea, and the sea in the fish—thus do I dwell in the soul, and the soul in Me—the Sea Pacific. In that soul grace dwells, for, since she has received this Bread of Life in a state of grace, My grace remains in her, after the accidents of bread have been consumed. I leave you the imprint of grace, as does a seal, which, when lifted from the hot wax upon which it has been impressed, leaves behind its imprint, so the virtue of this Sacrament remains in the soul, that is to say, the heat of My Divine charity, and the clemency of the Holy Spirit. There also remains to you the wisdom of My only-begotten Son, by which the eye of your intellect has been illuminated to see and to know the doctrine of My Truth, and, together with this wisdom, you participate in My strength and power, which strengthen the soul against her sensual self-love, against the Devil, and against the world. You see then that the imprint remains, when the seal has been taken away, that is, when the material accidents of the bread, having been consumed, this True Sun has returned to Its Center, not that it was ever really separated from It, but constantly united to Me. The Abyss of My loving desire for your salvation has given you, through My dispensation and Divine Providence, coming to the help of your needs, the sweet Truth as Food in this life, where you are pilgrims and travelers, so that you may have refreshment, and not forget the benefit of the Blood. See then how straitly you are constrained and obliged to render Me love, because I love you so much, and, being the Supreme and Eternal Goodness, deserve your love.”

- St. Catherine of Siena, A Treatise of Prayer

A Novena for the Traditional Mass (day 3)

Glory to Thee, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
One God over all the world in every age.

In Thy mercy
grant that Thy servants
may once again freely worship Thee
in the unity of the Mass of Ages,
with St. Dominic,
with St. Thomas Aquinas,
and with St. Peter of Verona,
whose memory we honor today.

Father in Heaven,
through Christ our Lord, we ask Thee
to pour out the grace of Thy Holy Spirit
on Thy vicar, Pope Benedict XVI,
and on Thy unworthy servants,
to conform our hearts to Thee,
so that, animated by Thy Spirit,
we may serve Thee faithfully in this life
and enter into the joy of Thy kingdom
at the end of our days.

For the Holy Father:
Our Father Who art in heaven...
Hail Mary, full of grace...
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...

+++

From today's traditional Mass:

COLLECT.--O God, who to those that go astray dost show the light of Thy truth, that they may return to the path of justice: grant that all who are enrolled in the Christian faith, may both spurn all that is hostile to that name, and follow after what is fitting to it. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God through all ages of ages.

From today's new Mass:

I, John, had a vision of a great multitude,
which no one could count,
from every nation, race, people, and tongue.
They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

Then one of the elders said to me,
“These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“For this reason they stand before God’s throne
and worship him day and night in his temple.
The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.
They will not hunger or thirst anymore,
nor will the sun or any heat strike them.
For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne
will shepherd them
and lead them to springs of life-giving water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 7:9, 14b-17

+++

Keep us faithful and true to Thee, O Lord, through all trials great or small.

A Novena for the Traditional Mass (day 2)

Glory to Thee, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
One God over all the world in every age.

In Thy mercy
grant that Thy servants
may once again freely worship Thee
in the unity of the Mass of Ages,
with St. Louis Mary de Montfort,
with St. Peter Chanel,
and with St. Paul of the Cross,
whose memory we honor today.

Father in Heaven,
through Christ our Lord, we ask Thee
to pour out the grace of Thy Holy Spirit
on Thy vicar, Pope Benedict XVI,
and on Thy unworthy servants,
to conform our hearts to Thee,
so that, animated by Thy Spirit,
we may serve Thee faithfully in this life
and enter into the joy of Thy kingdom
at the end of our days.

For the Holy Father:
Our Father Who art in heaven...
Hail Mary, full of grace...
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...

+++

"Be constant in practicing every virtue, and especially in imitating the patience of our dear Jesus, for this is the summit of pure love. Live in such a way that all may know that you bear outwardly as well as inwardly the image of Christ crucified, the model of all gentleness and mercy. For if a man is united inwardly with the Son of the living God, he also bears his likeness outwardly by his continual practice of heroic goodness, and especially through a patience reinforced by courage, which does not complain either secretly or in public. Conceal yourselves in Jesus crucified, and hope for nothing except that all men be thoroughly converted to his will."

- Saint Paul of the Cross

A Novena for the Traditional Mass (day 1)

Glory to Thee, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
One God over all the world in every age.

In Thy mercy
grant that Thy servants
may once again freely worship Thee
in the unity of the Mass of Ages,
with St. Frances of Assisi,
with St. Frances de Sales,
and with St. Peter Canisius,
whose memory we honor today.

Father in Heaven,
through Christ our Lord, we ask Thee
to pour out the grace of Thy Holy Spirit
on Thy vicar, Pope Benedict XVI,
and on Thy unworthy servants,
to conform our hearts to Thee,
so that, animated by Thy Spirit,
we may serve Thee faithfully in this life
and enter into the joy of Thy kingdom
at the end of our days.

For the Holy Father:
Our Father Who art in heaven...
Hail Mary, full of grace...
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...

+++

"It was as if you opened to me the heart in your most sacred body. I seemed to see it directly before my eyes. You told me to drink from this fountain, inviting me, that is, to draw the waters of my salvation from your wellsprings, my Savior. I was most eager that streams of faith, hope, and love should flow into me from that source. I was thirsting for poverty, chastity, obedience. I asked to be made wholly clean by you, to be clothed by you, to be made resplendent by you.

"So, after daring to approach your most loving heart, and to plunge my thirst into it, I received a promise from you of a garment made of three parts: these were to cover my soul in its nakedness, and to belong especially to my religious profession. They were peace, love, and perseverance. Protected by this garment of salvation, I was confident that I would lack nothing but all would succeed and give you glory."

- Saint Peter Canisius

Our Lady of Good Counsel

Devotion to our Lady of Good Counsel began with a reverent woman in an irreverent age. Petruccia Noteria, a pious widow, lived in Renaissance Genazzano, a small walled town near Rome. A Church there, named the Virgin Mother of Good Counsel, had been built a thousand years earlier, but it had been abandoned and was nearly in ruins. Petruccia had a vision that she should rebuild the church, so she dedicated all her modest funds to that purpose. Rather than admiring her efforts, her modern-minded skeptical neighbors treated her with scorn and derision.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.

Amen.

According to legend, an image of the Madonna and Child was miraculously transported to the church from its former location in Albania, where it had been threatened by vandalism from Muslim invaders.

Once the image appeared, scores of miracles attributed to the Blessed Virgin were recorded in the next few months, and the church was finally repaired and became a destination for pilgrims.

Dr. Marian Therese Horvat writes: "One of great graces one finds at the feet of Our Lady of Genazzano and from the example of the noble Petruccia is that of confidence. If we have the courage to pray and act with confidence for great or impossible things, great and impossible things will be given us. God never refuses confident prayers, and bestows his gifts in proportion to our confidence."

Today Pope St. Cletus I and Pope St. Marcellinus are also honored by those that follow the traditional calendar. St. Cletus was the third pope after St. Peter and St. Linus. St. Marcellinus wisely provided for large rooms to be constructed in catacombs so that the Roman church could continue to worship even during persecution. Both entered into eternal life as martyrs.

Prayer to the Blessed Mother for the Universal Indult

O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of the Eucharist, we humbly seek thy intercession. O heavenly Mother, for so long now, many in the Church have long desired for a return to the Traditional Latin Mass. Many have sought a universal indult while others have sought out its complete restoration to the Church. Most tender and compassionate mother look upon thy children in this time of expectation. For so long now, dear Lady, many have expected that thy Son’s Vicar on earth would issue a Motu Proprio for the Traditional Mass. Grant dearest Mother by thy powerful intercession that our Holy Father will issue his decree of a universal indult for the Holy Mass of St. Pius V. Grant to us as well by thy powerful intercession that this universal indult will bring about peace and unity in the Church and will help return those traditionalists which have strayed from the fold. O Mother of the Church may our prayer be granted if such is the Will of God. Amen.

Pray an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be for the Holy Father

Sts. Cletus and Marcellinus, orate pro nobis.

Die Tagespost interview with Cdl Castrillón

Gillibrand at the Catholic Church Conservation blog has translated an interview with Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos. The good cardinal is president of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, whose purpose is to reconcile estranged traditionalist Catholics. The commission reportedly was given responsibility for revising the much anticipated motu proprio, which is expected to make the traditional Mass more available. The interview with Cardinal Castrillón was published earlier today in Die Tagespost. Two highlights:

The Motu Proprio does not mention figures.

Earlier versions of the motu apparently mentioned a minimum number of parishioners required to petition the pastor for a traditional Mass, and perhaps the maximum number that would be allowed at a private Mass, before it would be considered a public Mass, and subjected to more restrictions. Whether the lack of figures indicates that the motu has been strengthened or weakened is not revealed in the interview.

The Bishops, Priests and Faithful of the Society of St Pius X are not schismatics.

The label of schismatic causes many Catholics to avoid scorn or avoid members of the SSPX. Perhaps there is now some movement towards reintegration of the Society into the governance of the Church at large.
+++
(2/9/07) Oops. Father Zuhlsdorf points out that Cdl Castrillón was talking about the old Ecclesia Dei Motu in his comment about "figures"; thoughout the interview the cardinal avoids providing any information about the expected new motu prioprio.

For Fear of the Wolves

A request for prayers from the Inaugural Homily of his Holiness Benedict XVI:

One of the basic characteristics of a shepherd must be to love the people entrusted to him, even as he loves Christ whom he serves. “Feed my sheep”, says Christ to Peter, and now, at this moment, he says it to me as well. Feeding means loving, and loving also means being ready to suffer. Loving means giving the sheep what is truly good, the nourishment of God’s truth, of God’s word, the nourishment of his presence, which he gives us in the Blessed Sacrament. My dear friends – at this moment I can only say: pray for me, that I may learn to love the Lord more and more. Pray for me, that I may learn to love his flock more and more – in other words, you, the holy Church, each one of you and all of you together. Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves. Let us pray for one another, that the Lord will carry us and that we will learn to carry one another.

According to Hilary at The Devout Life, the wolves have won the battle over the indult:

I have it through various channels that there is not going to be a motu proprio freeing the Mass. ... A threat was made the exact nature of which I have not been able to discover. Either way, it's over for now.

With sincere respect for the estimable Hilary, I'm still not willing to give up hope.

Come, Thou long-expected Jesus

Argent by the Tiber says:

Come, thou long expected indult -- found this header at Catholic Light and I haven't stopped humming the hymn Come, thou long-expected Jesus all day.

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Gliding through the blogosphere

Made comments this evening on my two favorite subjects:

On the return of the old Mass, in Καθολικός διάκονος:

Since you have "no burning desire to return to the missal of 1962" you are welcome to continue attending the novus ordo. By all accounts, the motu proprio will make the traditional Mass more available to those who want it; it will not outlaw the new one for those who want that. Some of us have been hoping for a restoration of the old Mass for a long time, especially in dioceses that make it pointlessly difficult to get to. (My diocese allows a Latin Mass once per month, in one location a long drive away, and in the past allowed it less often than that).

One of the differences between the introduction of the new Rite of the Mass and the proposed partial restoration of the old Rite is that the new Rite was forced on people whether they wanted it or not; now the old Rite will be offered for those who want it, without suppressing the new.

Why can't the new Rite and old co-exist? I have seen several parishes get along just fine with different Masses in different languages (e.g. English and Spanish, or English and Polish). The Eastern Catholics seem to cope with having more than one Divine Liturgy available without difficulty.

I'm not convinced that people were more disconnected from the liturgy in pre-Vatican II days. Attendance has dropped off since the introduction of the New Mass. Maybe some that have voted with their feet will return if given the option of returning to the Mass of Ages.

+++

On the correct translation of pro multis, in End of Times:

Seems pretty straightforward to me. Open your Bible to Matthew 26:28 and you can read what Jesus said. That is what the priest says he is going to say during the consecration. ("Again he gave you thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples, and said...")

Speculation about what the Lord really intended even if he said something else is beside the point.

As you mention, we would not have had this problem if they had left it in Latin. The Mass's Latin "pro multis" matches the Bible's Greek "περι πολλων".

+++

In happy anticipation of the coming of the Lord and a renewal in the Church.

Indult Schmindult

Puella Paschalis is less than completely overjoyed at the prospect of a universal indult, seeing in it a looming choice between boredom and irreverence. She also objects to traditionalists speaking negatively of the NO, since the two missals are equivalent.

+++
As long as the NO masses are said with mangled words of consecration (claiming Jesus said "for all" instead of "for many"), it is not clear (to me) that the NO and TLM are equivalent. However, my view is a minority view. Most of the commentary I have read celebrates the prospect of a freely available traditional Mass without disparaging the new Mass at all.

If you want to keep going to the new Mass, great, keep going to the new Mass, and may it be an instrument of God's grace to draw you closer to Him. I agree that "the NO is not per se some kind of automatic route into inevitable happy-clapping"; most Sundays I go to the NO myself.

I do find the traditional Mass to be a more clear-cut act of worship, with stronger expressions of piety that just naturally nudge people towards reverence in the rest of the Mass. But I think the difficulty of worship in Latin would be enough to keep most Catholics going to the new Mass, even if they had a choice. Why not go to one or a few traditional Masses yourself, and judge whether this is a form of worship to which you can imagine the majority of church-going Catholics returning? It might put your mind at ease.

+++
11/9/06 update:
Puella is still thinking about the Traditional Mass, and Fr. Finigan has some helpful comments for her here, here and here.

A Universal Indult?

From the Catholic News Agency

Universal approval of Latin Missal could be on the way

Vatican City, Mar. 31, 2006 (CNA) - The St. Pius V Missal, which the Catholic Church used until 1962 before it was replaced by the new ordinary following the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, could be approved for universal use, according to sources close to the Vatican.

The decision on the use of the Missal, which was the subject of consultations between Pope Benedict XVI, the cardinals of the Church and the heads of the different Vatican diacasteries, could be announced after another meeting the Pope has scheduled for April 7 with Curia leaders.

The Pius V Missal contains the Mass celebrated in Latin according to the “Tridentine” rite and is currently allowed only with the permission of the local bishop. Universal approval would mean the traditional rite could be celebrated freely throughout the world by priests who wish to do so.

The move is not directly related to the Lefebvrist schism, since as a theologian the Pontiff had always expressed in interest in bringing back the rite. Nevertheless, Vatican sources note that this would be an important step in resolving the schism, as the possibility of freely celebrating the Mass of St Pius V is one of the points of contention with the Lefebvrists.

In July, the Society of St. Pius X—known as the Lefebvrists—will elect a new superior. The group will chose between openness to reconciliation embodied in the current superior Bernard Fellay or the decidedly anti-Vatican stance of Richard Williamson, another of the four bishops illicitly consecrated by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

+++

Related stories here (2006), here (2005), here (2004), and here (2003).

+++

Holy Week Update:
According to an article published in Il Tempo and posted in translation in the Rorate Caeli blog yesterday (Palm Sunday), we could have a universal indult this week.

In the next few days, maybe on Holy Thursday (the news is not still certain), Benedict XVI could decide to fulfill an official gesture in which he would grant the possibility, to whomever wishes to do so, to celebrate Holy Mass according to the ancient rite, that of Saint Pius V, and could do so by declaring that this rite (which was the one in force before the Second Vatican Council) is still in effect today simply because it has never been abolished.

The rumor is that Pope Benedict has already signed a document authorizing priests to use the traditional missal:

Yves Chiron's Aletheia bulletin (in French) and Alejandro Bermúdez's Catholic News Agency-CNA/ACIPrensa have joined the choir of those who have declared that the Pope has signed a document and will have it published in the next few days.
...
CNA publishes the information that "according to [its] source, the announcement could come 'between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday,' but the exact day has not yet been set. Nevertheless, the source said the decision has already been made by the Holy Father and that it’s ' only a matter of time' before it is publicly announced."