Vatican Denies Rumors of Coming Liturgical Reform

VATICAN CITY, AUG. 24, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican is denying rumors promulgated by some news organizations that announced forthcoming changes in the liturgy.

Father Ciro Benedettini, deputy director of the Vatican press office, clarified that "for the time being there are no institutional proposals for a modification of the liturgical books used at present," Vatican Radio reported.

In recent days some media sources incorrectly reported that the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments had presented proposals to Benedict XVI for a "reform of the liturgical reform" motivated by the Second Vatican Council.

Mass: The Old Way

Mass, the ‘Old Way’

by Fr. Ranhilio Callangan Aquino
I started serving Mass when I was in the second grade, barely able to carry the ponderous Missal that the ‘sacristan’ was supposed to transfer from the Epistle—the left side—to the right, or Gospel side at some point in the celebration. Of course, at that time, it was the Tridentine Rite that priest and sacristans alike had to master. The Confiteor… I confess was, to a young altar server, gut-wrenching, especially when, as in my case, it was a cantankerous, elderly priest who was presiding. Frankly, I never memorized the prayer at that time, although I knew that at some time you had to swing towards the priest, and then beat your breast three times.

It was in 1969 when I entered the minor seminary, and that was a period of exciting confusion in the liturgy, for while the Novus Ordo Missae (the New Order of the Mass) was already in place, it was not yet so in the minds and hearts of many priests who did their best to comply with the letter of the law but were really quite attached to the Mass ‘as it had always been’. Each priest, it seemed to me, had his own rather ingenious way of bringing in the New Order while retaining as much of the Tridentine Liturgy as he could.

By the time I was in college seminary, the New Order of the Mass was no longer new. The vestments that, in the minor seminary, were so familiar because we handled them each day in preparation for Mass, became oddities of the past and soon hardly anyone had any recollection of the Latin prayers of the former rite.

Things came to a head of course, when Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and his followers, who were later to be called the Society of St. Pius X, defied the orders of the Holy See, proceeded to celebrate the liturgy according to the Tridentine Rite, to ordain new priests, and then bishops without papal mandate. John Paul II was many things— holy and noble—but he was not one to stand by as his orders were defied and so hard times fell on Lefebvre and his companions. “Tridentine” became almost synonymous with “schismatic”. But it is necessary to set things aright. What made the Holy See wield its now sparingly-used rod of canonical sanctions was not that Lefebvre and company had used the Tridentine Rite; rather it was their rejection of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council—and some of its doctrinal pronouncements—that set the alarm signals on in aedibus Vaticanis.

Last week, Undersecretary Oscar Palayab of the Department of Tourism brought the John Van de Steen Choir to Tuguegarao City. Before they arrived, I did not know that that is how they called themselves. I was pleasantly surprised to find out when I finally met the group that they were “Van de Steen” boys, the ninos tiples of the Manila Cathedral Choir who were trained by the later Fr. John van de Steen, CICM. I can lay claim to being a “Van de Steen” boy myself because while in college seminary, I did piano lessons and choir work with Fr. Van de Steen. Anyway, Undersecretary Palayab requested for a Tridentine Mass, and Archbishop Diosdado Talamayan consented. The task fell upon me, as chairman of the liturgical commission of the Archdiocese, to be Master of Ceremonies at a Rite that was now as strange to me as the Syrian, Coptic or Malabar rites. But I retrieved a Missal from its resting place in the archives of San Beda College, studied the rite—and struggle with the Latin instructions (as there was no English translation available)—and then train law students, who had been in the minor and college seminaries and had some passable degree of familiarity with Latin to get them by, as Mass servers. So as the choir sang the Misa de Angelis, with the back of the priest to the people, we went on, really inching our way, through the Tridentine Mass—in a Cathedral that was packed with people, many obviously nostalgic about the Mass of yesteryears.

Benedict XVI issued Summorum Pontificum, an apostolic letter on July 7, 2007. He decreed that it was now permissible to celebrate Mass according to the Rite set forth in the Missal of St. Pius V (at the time of the Council of Trent) and re-issued, after editing, by Blessed John XXIII. With generosity towards his predecessor, he pointed out that John Paul II had in fact allowed for this possibility in letter that the late Pope had written. The Pope’s motu proprio did not only give permission; in many ways it encouraged the celebration of the Mass according to this liturgy by recognizing it as the “extraordinary form” of the very same ‘law of prayer’ behind the present rite of the Mass. That is another way of saying that the public worship of God and the sanctification of his people can take different forms: the form as prescribed by the Second Vatican Council, and the form of the Mass “of the past”. The Pope’s Masses in Latin that one can watch over EWTN and other channels is not the Tridentine Liturgy. It is actually the Vatican II Rite in its original Latin.

My mother has always expressed a fondness for the Latin Mass in the Tridentine, or “extraordinary” form because it was the Mass as she had known it from childhood. The chants of the Misa de Angelis are familiar to her. While she understands some Latin words and phrases, particularly as they occur in law and legal literature, she by no means reads, much less writes or speaks it. But she likes it for Mass and, as with many others, she feels that it makes something ‘special’ of the Mass. Of course, my brother grumbles about the priest mumbling to himself in Latin without anybody understanding him.

Actually, every religion is marked by some form of disciplina arcana—the use of gestures, a language, habiliments—that set off the sacred from the profane, for religion can only thrive in that tension that makes the sacred and profane distinct, yet related to each other. And for that matter, even the legal profession as its own language and rites, strange to the uninitiated, but that nevertheless serve the purpose of instilling in all the majesty of the law and the solemnity of the administration of justice.

But preparing for that “re-birth” of the Tridentine Liturgy at our Cathedral left me with an appreciation for the Mass as it had been: the elegance of the Latin prayers, though formulated in lapidary style, is undeniable. The prayer Aufer a nobis..that the priest says while ascending the altar is moving. But this might be the opportune time to set aright a misconception. Actually, the Tridentine Liturgy does not take us closer to the ‘original’. What we have in the Missal of Pius V as re-issued by John XXIII is the Mass encrusted with all the embellishments of the centuries. Witness the repeated blessings, the multiplied bows, genuflections, signs of the cross, etc. and you will get just what I mean. In fact, the very intention of Vatican II’s liturgical reform was to strip the rites of later accretions, take them to the bare simplicity of their Roman origins and then allow for cultural adaptations. So it is that when the Holy See published the editiones typicae (the normative editions) of the Liturgical Books, this was the liturgy in its barest essentials—as close to the original as close can be – and open to adaptations as well as to different forms of inculturation. Having made that clarification and by now having gained some respectable degree of mastery of the Tridentine Rite, I would be happy to celebrate Mass according to its “extraordinary form” soon!
God is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth—and that will mean, according to the various forms that the spirit finds expression in the world and in the culture of men and women who worship. Benedict XVI’s generous concession is not a return to the past. It is a welcome signal that pluralism is not anathema to him and to the shepherding office of the Church!

Restore the Old Mass

Restore the Old Mass


by Robert Moynihan
[This article originally appeared an an editorial in the May 4, 2004 issue of Inside the Vatican (www.InsideTheVatican.com). For subscription information, call 1-800-789-9494]

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song: and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy."

(Psalms 137: 1-6 (KJV))



On April 23, the Congregation for Divine Worship issued a 60 page instruction, Redemptionis Sacramentum, ("The Sacrament of Redemption"). It is the result of long and serious deliberations on how the Mass is being celebrated today in the Church, and sets forth a standard of solemnity to be followed everywhere. (Even in Rome, I would hope: a couple of weeks ago at the Church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, I heard "Danny Boy" played during Communion).



No one can deny the desire on the part of the authors of this instruction to impart a sense of the sacred to the new Mass.



But after studying the catalogue of the "do's and don'ts" in the document, one senses a reluctance on Rome's part to get to the root causes of the problem: namely, the new Mass itself.



There have been books written on what's missing in the new Mass, by Cardinal Ratzinger among others, and the authors of this instruction are aware of these studies. But they do not pinpoint the real source of the 40-year secularization of the Mass. The problem is that the new Mass attracts and "enables" abuses because it was intentionally shaped to diminish the "transcendent" and emphasize the "profane" dimension.



The new Mass has turned out to be a rite too rapidly produced and too influenced by the rampant secularization of the 1960's. Patching it up is a vain effort.



At least in this one area it is possible for the Church to take decisive action.



The successor of Peter can even tomorrow issue a solemn decree more or less as follows "The cries of God's people are at last heard; the winter is over, the true springtime is come; the ancient, holy liturgy of the Roman rite, cherished by so many saints, will, with no further delay, be restored in all the churches of Christendom..."



Then the Pope would set forth the steps by which innovation, experiment, and individual artistry would come to an end and the ancient sacrificial offering of the Mass — in all dignity and solemnity — would be restored. Some would argue that such an action would be a grave mistake, that making such a liturgical change would both "impede ecumenical progress" and "further confuse the faithful."



I understand these arguments and feel their force.



But I am persuaded that the restoration of the old Mass, with its simple solemnity and rich symbolism, would not offend non-Catholics, as is feared, but attract them and attract them profoundly.



And I am persuaded that the restoration of the old Mass would not "confuse" the faithful, but would "galvanize' them, deepening their Christian faith, confirming them in the love of God and their neighbor. And this, in fact, is what the bishops at Vatican II most deeply desired.



I am convinced that the restoration of the old liturgy would be a consolation to many, who have attended the new Mass, not to "participate more fully" in the new liturgy, but, out of obedience to a Pope and hierarchy which has asked them to "give up" the Mass they love.



I am persuaded that the restoration of the old Mass would be a "festival day," a day of universal celebration and, as such, would mark the beginning of a great renewal in Church life."



Some will argue that such a restoration would be disrespectful toward Pope Paul VI, who promulgated the new Mass in 1969.



I disagree. Paul VI himself was hesitant about the new Mass, as he was about so many things. He approved it half-heartedly. It is said that after he attended a "trial run" of the new Mass, he said, "But where is the mystery? The mystery is gone!" He himself felt something was missing in the new Mass, but promulgated it anyway.



In April I had a conversation with Fr. Jean Marie Charles-Roux, 90, one of the priests who celebrated Mass for Mel Gibson in Rome during the filming of The Passion of the Christ. Charles-Roux was ordained in the 1950's. He knew Pius XII, John XXIII, and Paul VI personally, In 1971, after celebrating the new Mass for about 18 months, he asked Paul VI to receive him at Castel Gandolfo. Paul agreed. Charles-Roux said to Paul: "For 18 months I have celebrated the new Mass, but I cannot continue. I was ordained to celebrate the old Mass, and I want to return to it. Will you permit me to do so?" And Paul said: "Certainly, I never forbade celebration of the old Mass; I have only offered an alternative."



The alternative has become the norm, and the perennial liturgy of the Latin West is celebrated in only a few chapels here and there, almost furtively, as if in hiding, as if in a time of persecution.



So let us read the sign of the times and restore the liturgy of the ages, the liturgy of Gregory the Great and St. Augustine of England, of Boniface and Bernard, of Francis and Clare, of Aquinas and Bonaventure, of Ignatius and Bellarmine, of Newman and Chesterton, and our own parents and grandparents.



Let us preserve from oblivion the beautiful and holy liturgy which we inherited from our forefathers, that our posterity may thank us for having the courage to do what is fitting and just in an age of iron and lead.





***

Robert Moynihan is the editor of Inside the Vatican magazine

Filipino Nuncio to Haiti Gives First Hand Account of Earthquake

First-hand Account of Destruction Jan 13, '10 10:05 PM

Jan 14, '10 8:06 AM for everyone

Port au Prince, Haiti, Jan 13, 2010 / 01:21 pm (CNA).- Speaking with the Vatican's Fides news agency, the Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, described the devastation in the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince. He reported on what he had observed of the situation of religious and government officials in the area and described widespread destruction.

Archbishop Auza stated his observations of the situation in the capital to Fides, saying, "Port-au-Prince is totally devastated. The cathedral, the archbishop's office, all of the big churches, all of the seminaries have been reduced to rubble."

The nuncio said that the resident priest at that cathedral had informed him of the likely death of Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot as he was buried under rubble along with hundreds of priests and seminarians. Other news reports confirmed that the archbishop did pass away in the earthquake.

Auza reported that many government buildings had been razed. All of the Ministry buildings but one were on the ground, as were the Presidential Palace and the schools.

"Parliament with the Senators, the schools with the children, the supermarkets were reduced to nothing," the nuncio stated.
The nuncio had made his way across the city to see the Haitian President and "express his condolences and solidarity" and found that, because they had been outdoors, he and his family had been saved although their home had crumbled.

People who live in front of the collapsed U.N. headquarters had reported to Auza that the head of that mission, Hedi Annabi, was trapped inside with hundreds of others.

The nuncio said that he had returned to his residence later in the morning to find "Priests and Sisters in the street, no longer with homes. The Rector of the seminary saved himself, as did the Dean of studies, but the seminarians are under the rubble. You hear yells everywhere from underneath the rubble."

"The CIFOR (according to Fides, an institute of study for religious men and women) collapsed with students inside that were participating in a conference. The office of the nuncio resisted (the earthquake), there was no one injured, but all of us are in shock!" he said.

"So many things were broken, including the tabernacle, but we are more fortunate than others. Many relatives of the personnel are dead, their houses destroyed. Everyone is asking for help. We will have a problem with water and food before long. We cannot go inside and stay there for very long because the ground continues to shake, so we're camping out in the yard."

ERECTION OF A PERSONAL TRIDENTINE PARISH IN THE DIOCESE OF CUBAO

ERECTION OF A PERSONAL TRIDENTINE PARISH IN THE DIOCESE OF CUBAO

Jan 26, '10 12:52 AM for everyone

The Bishop of the Diocese of Cubao, his excellency Bishop Honesto F.Ongtioco, D.D., has permitted the erection of a personal parish for those who are attached to the Extra Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite. The church building will be dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and will under the auspices of Fr. Michell Joe Zerrudo and the Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph to consolidate efforts aong various groups advocating the return of the form of Mass popularly known as the Tridentine Mass. The parish will also be available for other Sacraments to be administered according to the liturgical books of 1962 or prior to 1970. It will also be a venue of training for priests who would like to learn the ancient usage of the Roman Rite and others who would like to learn the rubrics of serving at the traditional rites, including schola and choir training. The Diocese is now looking for a venue for the said personal parish and funds are solicited in order to commence such as august aposolate. Funds may be channeled through Fr. Michell Joe B. Zerrudo, Parish of Our Lord of Divine Mercy, Diocese of Cubao, Maamo cor. Madasalin Sts., Sikatuna, Quezon City, Philippines or may call his parish at 029213337. We therefore appeal to traditional Catholic communities to help us in such endeavor.

Dennis Raymond P. Maturan
Founding Chairman
Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph

5,500 Participants Attend the National Congress of the Catholic Clergy 2

The 2nd National Congress of the Clergy opened today at the World Trade Center (WTC) with over 5,200 priests in attendance, 400 of whom are walk-ins. Martial music from a brass band lent a festive air to the event, greeting the participants at the entrance of WTC which was decorated with multicolored banners.

Veneration of the relics of the patron saint of priests, St. John Mary Vianney—his stole and his breviary—preceded the Eucharistic celebration presided by His Excellency, Most Rev. Edward Joseph Adams, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.
The congratulatory message from the Vatican, signed by the Secretary of State Tarcisio Cardinal Bertoni, was read by Chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Clergy Florentino Lavarias, Bishop of Iba. The message exhorted the priest-participants to “embrace more fervently the three evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience” which have been set as the “surest road to the desired goal of Christian perfection” on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney.

ERECTION OF A PERSONAL TRIDENTINE PARISH IN THE DIOCESE OF CUBAO

The Bishop of the Diocese of Cubao, his excellency Bishop Honesto F.Ongtioco, D.D., has permitted the erection of a personal parish for those who are attached to the Extra Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite. The church building will be dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and will under the auspices of Fr. Michell Joe Zerrudo and the Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph to consolidate efforts aong various groups advocating the return of the form of Mass popularly known as the Tridentine Mass. The parish will also be available for other Sacraments to be administered according to the liturgical books of 1962 or prior to 1970. It will also be a venue of training for priests who would like to learn the ancient usage of the Roman Rite and others who would like to learn the rubrics of serving at the traditional rites, including schola and choir training. The Diocese is now looking for a venue for the said personal parish and funds are solicited in order to commence such as august aposolate. Funds may be channeled through Fr. Michell Joe B. Zerrudo, Parish of Our Lord of Divine Mercy, Diocese of Cubao, Maamo cor. Madasalins Sts., Sikatuna, Quezon City, Philippines or may call his parish at 029213337. We therefore appeal to traditonal Catholic communities to help us in such endeavor.

Dennis Raymond P. Maturan
Founding Chairman
Ecclesia Dei Society of St. Joseph