It's Hip to be Latin

Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:48 am (GMT -5)


Catholics show fresh interest in Latin mass

By JACQUELINE SALMON
The Washington Post via The Colorado Gazette
December 7, 2007
Link to original


WASHINGTON - Parts of it are 1,500 years old, it’s difficult to understand, and it’s even more challenging to watch. And it’s catching on among young Catholics.

It’s the traditional Latin Mass, a formal worship service making a comeback after more than 40 years of moldering in the Vatican basement.

In September, Pope Benedict XVI relaxed restrictions on celebrating Latin Mass, frequently called the Tridentine Mass, citing “a new and renewed” interest in the ancient Latin liturgy, especially among younger Catholics.

Spoken or sung entirely in Latin by priests who face the altar instead of the congregation, it is a radical departure for most Catholics, who grew up attending a more informal Mass celebrated in their native tongue.

And it is a hit with younger priests and their parishioners.

Attendance at the Sunday noon Mass at St. John the Beloved in McLean, Va., has doubled to 400 people since it began celebrating in Latin. Most of the worshippers are younger than 40, said the Rev. Franklyn McAfee.

Younger parishioners “are more reflective,” McAfee said. “They want something uplifting when they go to church. They don’t want something they can get outside.”

For some, the popularity of the service represents the gap between older Catholics, who grew up in the more liberal, post-Vatican II era, and their younger counterparts, who say they feel as if they missed out on a tradition jettisoned in the move to modernize.

Priests, musicians and laypeople are snapping up how-to videos and books, signing up for workshops and viewing online tutorials with step-by-step instructions on the elaborately choreographed liturgy.

“I knew there would be some interest, but I didn’t know how quickly it would spread and how really deep the interest was,” said the Rev. Scott Haynes, a priest in the Archdiocese of Chicago who started a Web site in August offering instructions in celebrating the Mass. The Web site, www.sanctamissa.org, has received at least 1 million hits, Haynes said.

“Before Vatican II, there were a lot of things that marked Catholics as Catholic: the Tridentine Mass in Latin, fish on Fridays, those kinds of things,” said Monsignor Kevin Irwin, dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at Catholic University. “And I think that 40 years after the (Second Vatican) Council, there is a revival of questions asking what is Catholic identity, and for some, this is an external manifestation of saying, ‘We’re Catholic.’”

Second Sunday of Advent

Second Sunday of Advent

he Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, xv. 4-13.

Brethren: What things soever were written, were written for our learning: that through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope. Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind one towards another, according to Jesus Christ: that with one mind, and with one mouth, you may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive one another, as Christ also hath received you unto the honour of God. For I say that Christ Jesus was minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. But that the Gentiles are to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name. And again He saith: Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again: Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and magnify Him, all ye people. 2 And again Isaias saith: There shall be a root of Jesse; and He that shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing; that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost.

    What are we to learn by this epistle?
    To be grateful to God for having received us into the bosom of His holy Church. Again, we are taught that by envy, discord, pride, and hatred we lose our salvation. Finally, St. Paul refers us to the Scriptures for instruction.

    Why do the Holy Scriptures profit us?
    1. They teach, correct, and instruct us in justice, that we may serve God faithfully, and be ever ready for good works. 2. They sustain our patience in suffering, and our hope of eternal life, by many promises, and by the example of Jesus Christ and His saints.

    Why is God called the God of patience, comfort, and hope?
    1. Because He looks with patience and long-suffering upon our sinful lives. 2. Because He gives us grace to carry our cross with patience and joy, and removes our dispair by spiritual consolation. 3. Because He gives us hope that after this life we shall possess Him, the object of our desire.

Aspiration.

    O God of patience, comfort, and hope, fill our hearts with joy and peace, and grant that we may become perfect in all good works by faith, hope, and charity, and that we may attain the promised salvation.

he Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ, According to St. Matthew, xi. 2-10.

At that time: When John had heard in prison the works of Christ: sending two of his disciples he said to Him: Art thou He that art to come, or look we for another? And Jesus making answer said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them: And blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me. And when they went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: What went you out into the desert to see? a reed shaken with the wind? But what went you out to see? a man clothed in soft garments? Behold they that are clothed in soft garments, are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to see? a prophet? yea I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.

    Why was St. John cast into prison?
    Because he rebuked King Herod, who was living in adultery with the wife of his stepbrother. This teaches us that we should not be deterred from our duty, though great suffering and misfortune should thereby befall us. Is it not nobler and more profitable to our salvation to be a martyr for truth, as St. John was, rather than to gain favor with the world by timidly looking on, or by deceitful flattery?

    Why did St. John send his disciples to Jesus?
    St. John sent his disciples to Christ so that they, too, might be convinced that He was the Messias.
    Superiors and parents should learn from this to see that their dependents and children are well instructed in the faith.

    Why did Christ merely say to the disciples of St. John "Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, " etc.?
    Because they ought to have been convinced from the miracles He wrought, which were the fulfilment of the prophecies, that He was the promised Messias.

    What was the object of the question, "What went you out to see?" which Our Saviour asked?
    1. To praise the constancy of St. John, who was not to be deterred from exercising his sacred functions either by the commands of Herod or through fear of imprisonment and death. 2. To approve the austere life of St. John, that we should thereby be encouraged to crucify the flesh and to do penance.

    Why did Our Saviour say that St. John was more than a prophet?
    Because he was destined to see the Messias, to preach Him to men, and declare Him to be the Saviour of the world. And as he was a messenger of God, to announce the coming of Christ and prepare His way, he was called an angel (Malach. iii. 7).

    Why did Jesus add, "Blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me"?
    On account of those who would be scandalized at His humility, His poverty, His ignominious suffering and death upon the cross, and who would, accordingly, despise and reject Him; although the more He humbled Himself for them the more they ought rather to love and honor Him.

    Why does the Church set before us this gospel?
    In order that we, like the disciples of St. John, may, by His works, recognize Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, and that we may make ourselves worthy of the grace of redemption by doing penance earnestly and firmly, thus preparing the way of the Lord in our hearts.

Consolation in Adversities and Afflictions.

    What can and should console us in adversity?
    1. A firm belief that everything is ordered by God's wise providence, and that no evil can befall us except by His permission, Who never allows us to suffer more than is for our good.
    2. That if we call upon Him in adversity God will help us, whenever it is expedient for our salvation. Thus to encourage us He says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee" (Ps. xlix. 15); and, "If God be for us, who is against us?" (Rom. viii. 31); and "Can a woman forget her infant so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? and if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee: behold, I have graven thee in My hands" (Isaias xlix 15,16).
    3. That it is useless to resist Divine Providence, for all who have done so have been filled with shame and ignominy: "Who hath resisted Him and hath had peace?" (Job ix. 4.)
    4. That our sufferings when borne with patience and submission lose their sharpness, and bring us merit and reward. "For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us, above measure exceedingly, an eternal weight of glory" (II. Cor. iv. 17).

 Goffine's Devout Instructions on the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and Holy Days, 1896

Interview of Bishop Bernard Fellay with Present

Summary : Concerning the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, here are a few questions to Bishop Fellay

How has the Motu Proprio been faring since September 14?

The feedbacks I have had so far are rather negative. Some bishops are obviously trying to limit its application. There is in this, a certain irony, inasmuch as they are acting a little as if the Motu Proprio were creating a disorder because there is no need henceforth to ask their permission to celebrate the sacraments according to the traditional rite. This is an objective opposition to the magnanimity which the pope intended to show.

 

Nevertheless this Motu Proprio remains positive in your eyes?

Indeed, the cause of our joy is that it states that the Mass of St. Pius V has never been abrogated. This includes   many  implications. To begin with the fact that, since it has continued to exist, it has always been a universal Church law. The conciliar reform was not able to replace the old Mass, even if it outlawed it as it were.

 

Does this mean that the crisis is over?

Not at all! We have henceforth the mission of helping to re-introduce the rite. Numerous priests are asking us to help them to celebrate it. And their testimonies can be summed up in the words of a Roman prelate: “The priest cannot find his identity in the new Mass.” Of course, this will take much time.

 

Isn’t it paradoxical to state, in the tone of a warm connivence for the pope, that this Motu Proprio means an undeniable step forward and that you expect much from it, and to say, at the same time, that it will take much time -- probably several generations?

No! because any coin has two sides. On the one hand, there is the possibility of immediate practical result; on the other, peace in the Church by the resolution of the crisis at its very root which is doctrinal. The present situation is very much contrasted. To be complete, we must take both sides into account.

 

Yet, according to the person you are addressing, you seem to present either mostly one side another…

It is a matter of seeing where the person you are speaking to is standing, and of reaching him where he is. With our faithful, I try to give the correct guideline, and to correct errors. My concern is to give them and make them retain the Catholic spirit, namely an unfailing attachment to the faith, and on another level, an attachment to the Church.

 

But you said to some journalists that you were expecting “much more” from the impetus given by the pope since the Motu Proprio.

When I am saying that, I am considering the possibility of finding practical remedies relatively soon. But when I tell the faithful that it will probably take several generations, I am speaking of the peace which the Church will recover by a solution of the doctrinal crisis. If you want to combine both viewpoints, both sides of the coin, it means that practical remedies will intervene long before the end of the crisis.

Yet, even for the first point, all the necessary conditions will have to be obtained. There is, of course, the Mass such as we have regained it in the Motu Proprio. The withdrawal of the decree of excommunication does not seem to meet with any difficulty. But first of all, let them stop trying to make us swallow poison as far as the faith and dogma are concerned. This is always the first and main condition.

 

Interview by Olivier Figueras

date : 5/12/2007