In the Society of St Catherine of Siena, we celebrated the feast of our patron saint today. In a paper read to the St Nicholas Study group, Susan Parsons spoke about the moral lessons of the octaves. Various octaves were suppressed during the reforms of the 1950s and we are now left with only the Christmas and Easter Octaves. The octave of Pentecost was a surprising omission from the calendar of the post Vatican II reform, paradoxically coinciding with the proclamation of the "New Pentecost" and the birth of the Catholic charismatic movement.Dr Laurence Hemming had to hand an Octavarium showing that in the older tradition, not only were there many minor octaves of universal observance, but there were also octaves for local Churches for their patronal feast and the dedication of the Church.
After the paper, there was some intense discussion on the question of the Liturgical Movement in its early stages and the role played by Guéranger's Liturgical Year in bringing people to an appreciation of the richness of the Liturgy of the Church; as well as the question of the different levels of participation in the liturgy available to the faithful and whether the rehabilitation of the "Sunday" was really as important as it is usually considered to be. I find such discussions with learned colleagues very useful, especially when there is a clash of particular points of view, helping us to clarify important historical and theological questions.
After this session, we walked over to St James's, Spanish Place for Missa Cantata, sung at Bentley's stunning Lady Chapel by Fr Andrew Wadsworth, the Chaplain of the Society who is soon moving to Washington DC to take up post as General Secretary of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy and Executive Director of the ICEL Secretariat. Some boys from the London Oratory School sang for the Mass with great expertise and discipline. I was very pleased to be able to assist in choir and sing the Epistle for the Mass. Many thanks too, to the Rector, Fr Terence Phipps, for kindly allowing us to use St James's for this celebration.
6 comments:
Father - how can I contact Fr. Wadsworth - I need to book him for our priests when he arrives over here - thank you.
I am curious re: the common propers for the EF Mass for the doctors of the church. If memory serves there weren't any women doctors of the church prior to 1970s. [Please correct me if I am wrong.]
The Daily Missal I have prior to 62 has "him" (as would be natural, there being no women doctors) - does the new missal have a him/her choice now?
[I wasn't able to go to the EF Mass for the day, else I'd know!]
Also, any idea why the Gloria replaced the Creed? Prior to 62 a creed was said for Doctors of the Church. It was a pity this was lost, given the doctors were great defenders of the faith.
Thanks.
We are in a "minor octave" now, though I don't think I would term it thus. I wonder how many people claiming adherence to traditional liturgy are even aware of its existence?
I've always wanted a memento mori. I'm sure it would make me more holy. I wonder if you can get one from a medical supplier.
Owl of the Remove - perhaps the best thing is to send me an email (rosary@freeuk.com) for me to forward on to him.
GOTO - correct, it was Pope Paul VI who made women doctors for the first time. I just checked the 2002 missal (Latin) and the forms used are all masculine. Great shame that the Creed was dropped for doctors; all part of the slimming-down process and I agree that it is a pity to have lost it.
Semi-"grrr" on not including the him/her option. But perhaps because the extra Saints were tacked in post '62 they didn't look at the other bits and pieces that would logically be changed.
If you know of any good comprehensive sites on what changed during the Latin Mass all throughout the 1900s I'd appreciate it. I've found bits and pieces here and there but nothing comprehensive, or else I'm just not loking in the right place.
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