James and Ella's new baby boy

New Baby!

Congratulations to James and Ella Preece on the birth of their new baby boy. (Photo from James's blog Catholic and Loving It.)

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CD 297: Laity and the Divine Office

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I am trying to pray the Office each day. Should I only use the official breviary or can I use the Little Office of Our Lady?
The second Vatican Council encouraged lay people to pray the Divine Office; indeed the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy encouraged parish priests to see that Vespers are celebrated in Churches on Sundays, something that is quite rare nowadays. So it is an excellent practice for you as a lay person to pray at least a part of the Office. By doing so, you unite yourself to the whole Church in the prayer which Christ offers up as our High Priest. It is rightly called a sacrifice of praise when we pray the psalms to sanctify the hours of the day.

Priests and religious are bound to celebrate the Divine Office every day and must use the Office that is approved for them. Secular priests, for example, must use either the Liturgy of the Hours (the Office that was composed after Vatican II) or the older breviary that was approved before the Council. Lay people who are no…
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Confraternity of Catholic Clergy Colloquium 2017

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I am happy to pass on the following information concerning the forthcoming Colloquium of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend myself this time, but I pass on the notice with my support and recommendation.
Booking is now open for the Autumn Colloquium of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, which this year takes place at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, from Wednesday 15th till Thursday 16th November.

Speakers include Bishop John Keenan of Paisley, Monsignor John Armitage (Rector of the Shrine at Walsingham) and Father John Saward.

Full details are available on the Confraternity's website where you can also download the booking form.

Attendance is limited to fully paid up members of the Confraternity, including new members (who can join by downloading the appropriate form from the website)

Those wishing to attend should post the completed booking form, with your payment, to the Secretary at the address given. Mgr Armitage …
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Buckled shoes on trial

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In the High Court, R. v Fibulas

The principal expert witness for the prosecution is Mgr X whose identity has been witheld for reasons of national security. Yesterday morning, the prosecution established in their questioning that buckled shoes were definitely abolished by Pope Paul VI in 1969 and that the abolition is still in force because of the clear ruling of the Caeremoniale Episcoporum.

This morning, we join the court as the counsel for the defence rises for the cross-examination.

Counsel - Monsignore, you were, for a number years, a senior official at the Pontifical Office for Liturgical Acoutrements, were you not?

Mgr X - Yes, that is correct.

Counsel - And that office has now been subsumed under the Pontifical Council for Migrants, Tourists, and the care of domestic animals, is that correct?

Mgr X - Yes, unfortunately ...

Counsel - [interrupts] Unfortunately? You perhaps question the wisdom of the Holy Father's decision in this matter?

Mgr X -…
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Hippolytus and Eucharistic Prayer II

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When I was a student in Rome, I remember going with a priest for Mass in one of the ancient Churches. The priest said that he was going to use Eucharistic Prayer II because it was the most ancient of all the prayers and was specifically Roman, composed by Hippolytus. This was the standard view at that time (early 1980s) but has since been called into question. A number of people have recently mentioned the matter to me and so here are a few notes for you.

In the 19th century, a number of ancient texts were discovered that were similar to the "Apostolic Constitutions", (of which the first modern edition was published in 1563). Among these texts was a document which came to be referred to as the “Egyptian Church Order”. In addition, the Canons of Hippolytus and the Testamentum Domini were discovered.

The scholarly consensus in the early 20th century on the dependence of these documents was that the “Egyptian Church Order” was in fact the "Apostolic Tradition" of Hippol…
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The “Readings” at Mass: Worship or Instruction?

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Following my post on Cardinal Sarah, reconciliation and the lectionary, Peter Kwasniewski kindly sent me a scan of his article “The Reform of the Lectionary” which was published in Liturgy in the Twenty-First Century. At first, I thought of simply summarising some of the main points but it occurred to me that several principles were important and worthy of further discussion, so I will look at some in due course.

The first is the most fundamental. Kwasniewski rightly says that it should be engaged before examining any particular principle behind the new lectionary. It is the question of the purpose or function of reading the scriptures at Mass. As he puts it:
“Is it a moment of instruction for the people, or is it an element of the latreutic worship offered by Christ and His Mystical Body to the Most Holy Trinity.” He affirms that what we may call the doxological purpose is primary.

This question determines any subsequent discussion of what passages are chosen, how they are distribut…
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