This is a powerful sermon by a traditionalist priest directed towards the “excesses” of those who would call themselves “traditionalist”, myself included. He has articulated my recent convictions about the same “excesses” which I have observed in these communities. Listen to what Fr. Chad Ripperger, FSSP has to say. It is only 13 minutes long.
Laurence Gonzaga
UVSB President
Traditionalist Problems (Mp3, 13 mins, http://www.sensustraditionis.org)
VATICAN
Normalizing the Extraordinary Form
Priests Are Free to Celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass
BY Edward Pentin
Rome Correspondent
March 28-April 10, 2010 Issue | Posted 3/22/10 at 9:05 AM
The Vatican has issued a directive to a Polish diocese that emphasizes the freedom of priests to celebrate Mass in the extraordinary form whenever they choose.
The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei made the clarification in January in a series of responses to questions from a Polish diocese, which sought clarification regarding the use of the traditional Latin Mass. The answers, which came to public attention in mid-February, concerned Pope Benedict’s 2007 letter Summorum Pontificum, which was issued “motu proprio” (on his own initiative).
However, the Vatican stresses that the clarification is addressed to a particular group and is “not a set of guidelines.” Officials are still working on a comprehensive set of guidelines on Summorum Pontificum, which are expected to be published soon.
Two points of the ruling are considered most significant: A Mass in the extraordinary form “may replace a regularly scheduled Mass in the ordinary form,” and a parish priest “may schedule a public Mass in the extraordinary form on his own accord.”
Another response also stipulates that the calendar, readings or prefaces of the 1970 Roman Missal “may not be substituted for those of the 1962 Roman Missal in Masses in the extraordinary form.”
Michael Dunnigan, chairman of Una Voce America, an international organization that promotes the traditional Latin Mass, said the commission’s response “forcefully reaffirms both the plain meaning of Summorum Pontificum and also the rights of the laity and clergy who are devoted to the traditional Mass.”
The first response begins: “If there is no other possibility, because for instance in all churches of a diocese the liturgies of the Easter triduum are already being celebrated in the ordinary form, the liturgies of the Easter triduum may, in the same church in which they are already celebrated in the ordinary form, be additionally celebrated in the extraordinary form, if the local ordinary allows.”
The second response clarifies that a Mass in the usus antiquior (extraordinary form) “may replace a regularly scheduled Mass in the ordinary form.” The question contextualizes that in many churches Sunday Masses are more or less scheduled continually, leaving free only very inconvenient mid-afternoon slots, but this is merely context, the question posed being general. The answer leaves the matter “to the prudent judgment of the parish priest,” since a stable group enjoys “the right to assist at Mass in the extraordinary form.”
In the third response, it states that a parish priest “may schedule a public Mass in the extraordinary form on his own accord (i.e. without the request of a group of faithful) for the benefit of the faithful including those unfamiliar with the usus antiquior.” The response of the commission here is identical to No. 2.
Fourth, it adds that “the calendar, readings or prefaces of the 1970 Missale Romanum may not be substituted for those of the 1962 Missale Romanum in Masses in the extraordinary form.”
Lastly, it states: “While the liturgical readings (epistle and Gospel) themselves have to be read by the priest (or deacon/subdeacon) as foreseen by the rubrics, a translation to the vernacular may afterwards be read also by a layman.”
Regarding the second and third responses, Dunnigan said that, strictly speaking, they should “not have been necessary at all, because the language of Summorum Pontificum already was clear.” However, he added that in the United States the faithful have experienced the same type of obstruction to celebration of the traditional Latin Mass as has happened in Poland.
“Some leaders in the Church seem determined to relegate the traditional Mass to second-class status by restricting the pastor’s prerogative to revise his parish’s Mass schedule,” said Dunnigan. “I am grateful to the commission for making clear that these obstacles find no support in Summorum Pontificum and amount to unjust restrictions on the rights of the faithful.”
The last two responses may not be as rigid as they seem. A committee of Ecclesia Dei is currently studying what parts of the new missal can be used in the extraordinary form and, although not yet certain, it is probable that saints canonized since 1962 will be incorporated into the 1962 Missal. (There are already communities where the 1970 sanctoral cycle is followed with the commission’s tacit approval, such as the Abbey of Fontgombault in France and all its daughterhouses, including Clear Creek in Hulbert, Okla.)
This means, for instance, that the two forms of the Mass could celebrate saints on the same days, something which would be in line with Pope Benedict XVI’s accompanying letter to Summorum Pontificum.
The Holy Father wrote: “The two forms of the usage of the Roman rite can be mutually enriching: New saints and some of the new prefaces can and should be inserted in the old missal.”
The directive on liturgical readings may also be looser than it might appear in these responses, as there are already communities using the traditional Latin Mass with the new lectionary in the vernacular with permission.
The Vatican has long been concerned about resistance to allowing stable groups of faithful and priests to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass. Ecclesia Dei still plans on issuing a “clarification document” on Summorum Pontificum.
Rumors have long circulated that the Vatican has been drawing up such a document and that it was delayed because some officials found problems with the drafts. These recent responses, apparently issued with minimal consultation, are therefore not meant to replace the forthcoming document.
Edward Pentin writes from Rome.
“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.”
–Benedict XVI, issuing Summorum Pontificum
The ancient Dominican liturgy, largely unchanged since 1256, beautifully expresses the distinctive charism of the primitive Dominican Order. This site, a project of the Liturgical Commission of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, makes accessible the riches of the ancient Dominican liturgy – not as a rival to the Novus Ordo, which remains the Ordinary Form of the Mass, but as a supplement to enrich our liturgical life with the treasures of our tradition, consistent with the express wishes of the Second Vatican Council (Sacrosanctum Concilium 4).
“The opening to the world called for by Vatican II has often been interpreted, in the years after the Council, as a sort of “conversion to secularization”: This attitude was not lacking in generosity, but it led to obscuring the importance of the liturgy and to minimize the need for observing the rites, which were considered too distant from the life of the world which had to be love and with whom one had to be fully connected, up to being fascinated by it. The result was a grave crisis of identity of the priest who could no longer perceive the importance of the salvation of souls and the need to announce to the world the newness of the Gospel of Salvation. The liturgy is, without doubt, the privileged place of deepening the identity of the priest, called to “fight the secularization”; for, as Jesus says, in his priestly prayer: “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.” (John 17, 15-17).
“This certainly will be possible through a more rigorous observation of the liturgical norms that preserve the priest from the requirement, even the unconscious one, to draw the attention of the faithful on his person: the liturgical ritual which the celebrant is called to receive filially from the Church in fact allows the faithful to come more easily to the presence of Christ the Lord, of which the liturgical celebration must be a telling sign, and which must always come first. The liturgy is wounded when the faithful are left to the arbitrariness of the celebrant, his quirks, his personal ideas or opinions, to his own wounds. Hence also follows the importance of not banalizing the rites which, tearing us away from the secular world and thus from the temptation of immanentism, have the gift to immerse us suddenly in the Mystery and open ourselves to the Transcendent. In this sense, one can never stress enough the importance of the silence preceding the liturgical celebration, an inner narthex, where we are freed of the concerns, even if legitimate, of the secular world, in order to enter the sacred space and time where God will reveal his Mystery; [sc. one can never stress enough the importance] of silence in the liturgy to open oneself more readily to the action of God; and [sc. one can never stress enough] the appropriateness of a period of thanksgiving, integrated or not into celebration, to apprehend the inner extent of the mission that awaits us, once we were back in the world. The obedience of the priest to the rubrics is also itself a silent and eloquent sign of his love for the Church of which he is but the minister, i.e. the servant.”
Taken from: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=9276
The Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem (CRNJ) is a clerical institute of consecrated life whose members (known as canons) pursue the proper apostolic ends of their religious society. By pronouncing the ancient vows of Stability, Conversion of Life and Obedience and living a common life according to the specific form of the institute, each member consciously strives towards the perfection of charity.
The Divine Liturgy in its traditional Latin, in the august Eucharistic Sacrifice, Divine Office and other rites and ceremonies of the Church, constitute the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the fount from which all her powers flow.
For this reason the worthy celebration of the Church’s worship of the Most Holy Trinity is at the heart of the spirituality and work of the CRNJ. The effectiveness of personal sanctification and apostolic works will stem from each member’s faithful participation in the offering of the Church’s liturgy particularly in their own daily celebration of the Sacrifice of Redemption.
The CRNJ further places itself under the protection of the Glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary in the mystery of her Annunciation.
The institute as a whole and each of its members profess fidelity to the Roman Pontiff, the successor of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Vicar of Christ, head of the whole Church, the Father and Doctor of all Christians.
Just before the March 7 EF Mass at St. James in Perris, I was asked to address a group of young Confirmation candidates who were standing just outside the entrance of the church. The young man who was leading their studies for the evening stumbled upon the celebration of the Latin Mass five months ago and was immemdiately attracted to its beauty and reverence. So, he brought his class with him this evening. Unfortunately, it was for only half of the Mass, as the scheduled end of the class was during the Mass. So, I had to give an impromptu introduction to the history of the Latin Mass and why the language was in Latin. There was about fifteen of them.
Let us continue to pray for our young Catholics, that they may be given the grace necessary to combat the evils which they have to face day to day.
Sancte Aloysius Gonzaga, ora pro nobis!
Laurence Gonzaga
UVSB President
“Whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and of the Blood of the Lord… For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord” - 1 Corinthians 11:27,28
Pope Benedict to Catholics:
Kneel and Receive on the Tongue Only
Pope Benedict XVI does not want the faithful receiving Communion in their hand nor does he want them standing to receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. According to Vatican liturgist, Monsignor Guido Marini, the pope is trying to set the stage for the whole church as to the proper norm for receiving Communion for which reason communicants at his papal Masses are now asked to kneel and receive on the tongue.
The Holy Father’s reasoning is simple: “We Christians kneel before the Blessed Sacrament because, therein, we know and believe to be the presence of the One True God.” (May 22, 2008)
According to the pope the entire Church should kneel in adoration before God in the Eucharist. “Kneeling in adoration before the Eucharist is the most valid and radical remedy against the idolatries of yesterday and today” (May 22, 2008)
The pope’s action is in accord with the Church’s 2000 year tradition and is being done in order to foster a renewed love and respect for the Eucharist which presently is being mocked and treated with contempt. The various trends and innovations of our time (guitar liturgy, altar girls, lay ministers, Communion in the hand) have worked together to destroy our regard for the Eucharist, thus advancing the spiritual death of the church. After all, the Eucharist is the very life and heartbeat of the Mystical Body around which the entire Church must revolve.
Kneeling also coincides with the Church’s centuries old ordinance that only the consecrated hands of a priest touch the Body of Christ in Holy Communion. “To priests alone has been given power to consecrate and administer to the faithful, the Holy Eucharist.” (Council of Trent) This teaching is beautifully expressed by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica: “Because out of reverence towards this sacrament, nothing touches it, but what is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priest’s hands, for touching this sacrament.”
It is for reason that Pope Paul VI in his May 1969 pastoral letter to the world’s bishops reaffirmed the Church’s teaching on the reception of Communion, stating that: “This method on the tongue must be retained.” (Memoriale Domini) This came in response to the bishops of Holland who started Communion in the hand in defiance of the centuries old decree from the Council of Rouen (650 A.D.) where this practice was condemned as sacrilegious. “Do not put the Eucharist in the hands of any layperson, but only in their mouths.” To date this prohibition has never been overturned legally.
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Laurence Gonzaga | 
03 31st, 2010| 
