The LMS Birmingham and Black Country reports on a Mass celebrated according to the usus antiquior for St John Fisher Primary School at West Heath, Birmingham last Thursday. The parish priest, Fr George Grynowski said a Votive Low Mass for the Blessed Sacrament for the school children aged 8-11. Fr Grynowski described how the Mass came about:
The Mass started out as a casual comment from myself to Melanie Bullivant. I said something like "wouldn't it be great if the school had the opportunity of experiencing the Extraordinary Form so that they can appreciate something about the richness of the Church's traditional liturgy, which is after all part of their heritage". This would have been as recently as about December last year. I didn't expect much to come from it, certainly not in the immediate future. Melanie mentioned it to the headteacher, and to my great joy I was told that she was quite happy for one of the regular scheduled school Masses to be in the Extraordinary Form. We decided on today, 3 March, to give time to prepare for it.In his parish newsletter the previous Sunday, Father wrote:
School Mass: will be in Church on Thursday, and will be different from usual. As part of their education in their Catholic heritage the children will be experiencing the traditional form Latin Mass. They will be taking an active part with hymns and a scripture reading and presenting an explanatory commentary on what is happening. It is important that all Catholics (and especially children) are aware of their heritage and the diversity which exists in the Church. All are welcome. Later in the year they will be visiting places associated with other Christian groups and other religions. These experiences help to promote understanding and prevent prejudice and bigotry, which can exist even among people who think of themselves as liberal or progressive in their thought. (St John Fisher Parish Newsletter 27 February 2011)That is a good point to make. Children are accustomed nowadays to visiting all sorts of places of worship and experiencing many different things. It is not really a "progressive" attitude to deny them access to their own heritage simply because they may not be used to it.
4 comments:
Wish my childrens' primary school would do likewise. Perhaps I should ask!
I wonder if this isn't an opportunity for more priests who have an involvement in school chaplaincy to present the Usus Antiquior to youngsters.
From a purely educational perspective it would be a good thing. Work on liturgy in RE lessons would necessarily be enhanced (for pupils and teachers) by having seen the different forms of Mass 'in action', as it were. After all, there would be no doubt as to the educational benefits for the appreciation of Shakespeare of seeing a play performed on stage, or of doing a practical experiment for the understanding of a science concept.
I can think of a number of possible good outcomes from this, for example:-
- Children who are disaffected by the liturgy in their parish may return to worship if they are able to do so in the old rite
- Others may deepen in their appreciation of the new rite, having gained an understanding of liturgical symbolism and development (mutual enrichment)
- There is obvious scope to foster an understanding of the new translation of the new rite missal, through an appreciation of the origins and significance of liturgical prayers
- There may be some young people who decide that the old rite is 'not for them', but are able to make this decision for themselves, rather than being subjected to the 'spirit of VII' propaganda that persists in many parishes.
I encourage priests and teachers to follow this lead and look into the possibility of occasional Usus Antiquior Masses for their schools.
Whilst I'd normally welcome an event such as this, am I the only one worried about the children doing a reading (presumably the Epistle?). It's against the Church's liturgical law for the EF and what's more is unnecessary in educating the children about the Old Rite. One of the major problems with the New Rite is this spirit of needing to actively involve people in the Mass, instead of teaching them true active participation (i.e. spirtual participation). These well-meaning elements are perpetuating the man-centred spirit that these children will have been brought up with.
Presumably it would be a child reading the epistle while the priest was saying it quietly in Latin. I agree with you that it is not really necessary but would not want to be too picky about a new initiative.
I think you are right about the spirit of activist participation - it is a rather frightening thing for many priests and teachers to let go of activism entirely (and they do have to consider possible reactions). From my own experience, I would say that there is nothing to be afraid of. Especially when the children have been so well prepared as in this case.
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