From the first Sunday of Advent, the Birmingham Oratory will celebrate its sung 10.30am Mass as a High Mass in the extraordinary form or, as we prefer to call it here, the usus antiquior (an expression also used by Pope Benedict.)
I think that this is a sensible development.People who want to go to a sung Latin Mass are better served by the old rite without the interactive "Fratres agnoscamus..." and having to wait until the Sanctus is finished before the priest begins the Canon. The singing of the Propers fits better in the usus antiquior and the possibility of a regular High Mass is only to be welcomed.
There are, of course, those who would prefer to promote the celebration of the Novus Ordo ad orientem and in Latin. I respect such an agenda as it is one that I used to adhere to myself. We can agree to differ respectfully on such a question. Perhaps one day I should write a pale imitation of Newmans's "History of my religious opinions."
10 comments:
When I heard this announced a couple of months ago (and the reduction to two active Priest was mentioned) all I could think was that the Oratory urgently needs vocations and OH BOY do they deserve vocations. LMS and all EF Mass centres should be breaking all records to promote vocations for the three Oratories.
It would be wonderful if the London Oratory followed suit.
Yes, I agree, Father. I am leaning more and more towards the usus antiquior for a High Mass, as I think that the pauses in the NO celebration for the singing/chanting are an interruption. I won't say they've begun to irritate me as, apart from infrequent visits to the Brompton Oratory, I never get to attend a sung NO High Mass *sigh* but when there I always find that the sight of the celebrant at the altar but not continuing with the celebration is, well... not bizarre, exactly, but tending in that direction!
In a way, it fosters the suspicion that the onlie begetters of the NO wanted to do away with the "elitism", as they saw it, of the Sung High Mass and turn everything into a Low Mass with maximum popular participation by way of hymns and responses. I know this has been expressed many times before - and better - but the new rite contains little room for prayerful reflecting and recollecting. Anyway, returning to the point, I find that the uninterrupted "flow" of the UA sung High Mass is just more logical than the NO version with its breaks. For me,it better concentrates the mind on the primary fact that the priest is directing the action to God. I think that the pauses in the NO can run into the danger that we're all, priest included, concentrating on ourselves rather than on the offering to God. Maybe that's a bit far-fetched but it's just my impression.
I would certainly be interested in your version of the 'Apologia'. I'm very curious about how you travelled to your current view on Holy Mass, as I'm on a similar journey myself. Perhaps you could highlight, for more recent readers, some of the posts you have done in the past that relate to this?
I worry about the loss of the common calendar and lectionary at what is the main Sunday celebration. I can't see London going the same way although Fr Ignatius is now at the helm in both locations. Or is he? The London and Birmingham Oratory websites rarely give any news.
Anthony Radice - I had made the "journey" well before I started blogging in 2006 but it might be helpful to describe it a little. Will think about this.
Amfortas - the lectionary/calendar thing is not really such a great problem unless the priest is determined always to give expository sermons on the scripture of the day. (He is not obliged to do that by the NO General Instruction though a lot of people think it is obligatory.) The two calendars run merrily side by side in my parish.
Great news!
I suppose it is only a matter of time until the other Oratories do the same, at least here in the UK.
Mundabor
In view of the musical settings used at the Oratories (and for that matter Westminster Cathedral) the UA makes more sense. However, the OF is going to be the norm in most parishes for the foreseeable future, and if it is sung to the missal chants (English or Latin) it has its own musical logic; I'm thinking of how the sung embolism balances the Preface and Sanctus, with the congregation's "Quia tuum ..." acting as a sort of doxology.
... all three of the Birmingham Oratorians who are still there, you mean?
I'm a choir director for near-weekly Sung Masses in both the Latin OF and the EF...I can attest that things are just much smoother and simpler in the EF, and I'm much more comfortable during it because I'm not going up against any expectations of how Mass normally should be. In the OF, I feel like everyone gets terribly antsy if I attempt to sing the full versions of the Gradual or Alleluia, or if I sing a Mass setting that takes a really long time (I can't do the Missa de Angelis without a host of people rolling their eyes). The longer Sanctus chants really are a bit more awkward in the OF, particularly if the priest is going to pray the Roman Canon out loud, which always takes a longer time than praying it silently.
On the other hand, I feel more of a personal sense of accomplishment after completing a Sung Mass in the OF, like I've done more of a good deed. Doing the EF well is easy, but you have to work harder to do the OF correctly.
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