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Showing posts with the label Liturgy

Liturgy at Bellahouston

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Liturgically, the Mass at Bellahouston Park was a mixed bag. It looked very much like the result of a tussle between the Papal celebrations team and the Scots new liturgy enthusiasts. There was some superb music and singing side by side with some that was so ghastly I took the headphones off until it finished. (As I write, Susan Boyle is singing "Make me a channel of your peace" as part of the post-liturgy provision which presents me with a more than usually difficult Catholic Dilemma.)

Visually, the sanctuary was disappointing. The throne, altar and lectern were made from fine materials, including marble, but managed to look pedestrian. This was particularly helped by the placing of three candles in boxes in a line either side of the altar. Whatever nuLiturgy expert managed to browbeat Mgr Marini into allowing that, instead of having some beautiful candles on the altar, should stick to school assemblies and creative liturgy prayer sessions for discussion groups.


One of the…
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Abergavenny - OORAH!

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The indefatigable Fr Tom Regan OSB of Our Lady and St Michael's Church, Abergavenny, has Solemn High Mass tomorrow 14 September for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross:
to celebrate the feast,to celebrate the anniversary of Summorum Pontificumto celebrate 150 years of Holy Mass in our Churchto prepare for the visit of the Vicar of ChristAs our American cousins would say - OORAH!

(The photo shows High Mass celebrated at Abergavenny for the 40 hours.)
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Grandma Snark on liturgical abuse

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Grandma Snark (pictured - well it's her profile picture anyway) has started a blog called Extra-Ordinary Monkey Business (Devoted to liturgical abuse). Grandma says
I'm a Catholic ninja. Well, not really. But I'd like to be.You can go over for your daily dose of liturgical dance, hand-waving and kool-aid pitchers as well as good, no-nonsense grandmaternal comment.
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Precious chalice or cup?

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In the combox of the post "Telling the truth - a new corrected translation", Lawrence the Roman writes concerning the new corrected ICEl translation of accipiens et hunc praeclarum calicem in sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas:
Jesus Christ did not take “a precious chalice".
"He the cup" (I Cor 11: 25)
"He took a cup" (Matt 26:27)
"He cup a cup" (Mark 14:23
"He did the same with the cup after supper.." (Luke: 22:20)
"The inspired books teach the truth. Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confined to the Sacred Scriptures." (Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 107)
Just as the Sacred Scripture is the “soul of theology” it should also be the “soul of the Liturgy”. Let’s not alter Hol…
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Telling the truth - a new corrected translation

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Fr Z links to and quotes an important point made at the blog Serviam: A Semantic Proposition. He outlines the different reactions to the new ICEL translation and points out that many people have no idea what is really going on:
As most people don’t know there is anything wrong with the current translations, their default position will likely be “why hassle me with a change where none is needed?” They might also conclude that the original prayers were simply re-written by Pope Benedict to reflect his conservative agenda. Then we are put in a defensive position from square one.In my own comments to people about the new translations, I have always pointed out that the older translations are inaccurate in many places and deficient in many others, and that the new translations are a vast improvement in terms of fidelity to the text that we were supposed to be using all along.

When people (especially priests) look doubtful about this, I generally quote my favourite example which has appea…
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Pope is "an expert in liturgy" - elder Marini

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In the post ICEL translation - don't try this at home, I mentioned the ludicrous assertion made in the Tablet that the Pope is not a trained liturgist. This is occasionally taken seriously and therefore it was interesting to read a quotation, passed on to me by a correspondent, from the former Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, Archbishop Piero Marini (not to be confused with his successor Mgr Guido Marini).

In his valedictory letter, Archbishop Marini referred to the Holy Father as an “expert in the liturgy”. He speaks of his time serving Pope John Paul II and then offers particular thanks to Pope Benedict. He says:
[...] fin dal primo momento mi sono sentito accolto da Papa Benedetto come un figlio. In lui ho potuto conoscere, con mia viva soddisfazione, non solo un Professore ma un Papa esperto in liturgia.

[...] from the very beginning, I felt welcomed by Pope Benedict as a son. In him I have been able to know, with great pleasure, not only a Professor but a Pope who is a…
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ICEL translation - don't try this at home

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Mgr Charles Pope has drawn attention to the fact that the New Roman Missal Translation Contains Some Last Minute Changes. Fr Anthony Ruff at the PrayTell blog has posted a helpful table with a comparison of the changes. They are genuinely minor but somewhat irritating nevertheless. In the combox, Mgr Pope says
It’s kinda murky as to who in the Vatican got their fingerprint on this at the last moment.Quite so.

Leaving that slight annoyance aside, it is interesting that Mgr Guido Marini, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations recently spoke about the liturgical texts to be used during the Papal Visit to Britain next month and referred to the ordinary as having been approved a while ago.

This presents something of an anomaly since, for example, in the USA, the implementation of the new translation is set for the first Sunday of Advent 2011. We have, as yet, no date for England and Wales. Thus we have texts that are approved for use but not yet "implemented". One sugges…
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The future's bright - but not with orange vestments

While looking up material for the post I wrote yesterday about the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation and their recording contract with Decca, my interest was piqued by the subtitle of the CD "Chant from Avignon." Later this month, Fr Briggs and I will be travelling down by Eurostar and TGV to stay in Avignon for a few days. I thought that it might be possible to find the Abbaye de Notre-Dame and go to hear the nuns singing Vespers.

Looking them up, I felt rather silly. We have already planned to take a day out to visit Le Barroux; and in fact, the nuns are next door to the Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine and they celebrate the Liturgy according to the usus antiquior. That detail slipped past many of those who wrote about their deal with Decca.

Here is my translation of the text at the Barroux website concerning the nuns:
The community of Benedictine nuns of Our Lady of the Annunciation was born in 1979. Four young girls were gathered around Mother Elizabeth and, following Do…
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A stunning Kyrie Cunctipotens

Via the excellent messainlatino.it, this video shows the schola Exsurge Domine, a young group of singers who got together to provide the music for the usus antiquior Mass celebrated every Sunday and Holyday at the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Cagliari by Monsignor Dante Usai.

Their style recovers some of the connection between the western and byzantine traditions of chant and reminds me of the schola which sang at the Masses I celebrated in Estonia last year. Here they are rehearsing the singing of Kyrie "Cunctipotens" of Mass IV.
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Cardinal Cañizares on youth and liturgy

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NLM has a full translation of an interview given by Cardinal Cañizares Llovera to the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost on the occasion of the third anniversary of the publication of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

He praises Bishop Dominique Rey of Toulon as an excellent man who is implementing in his diocese the concept of the hermeneutic of continuity with evident good fruits. He also recommends priests to make their preparation for Mass as is provided for in the traditional books.

I was especially struck by his words concerning the participation of young people in the Sacred Liturgy:
We need a new introduction to Christianity. Also for children and young people. An introduction to the liturgy does not only mean to know something about the celebration, although of course that is indispensable both theologically and doctrinally. Young people and children should participate in liturgies celebrated with great dignity, which are entirely permeated by the mystery of God in w…
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Sacred and secular music: the difference explained

Sometimes people ask for a simple explanation of the difference between sacred music which is suitable for the liturgy, and secular music which is not. This video is an excellent attempt to promote music worthy of the Sacred Liturgy.

I found this over at Corpus Christi Watershed located at Corpus Christi, Texas, where you can also find some three part polyphonic motets, newly composed by Kevin Allen.
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Fr Michael Lang to speak at "Call to Youth" on translations

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On Thursday 15 July at 8.15pm, Fr Michael Lang will be speaking to the London Oratory's "Call to Youth" meeting. His talk is titled "Introduction to the new English translation of the Missal".

Fr Michael Lang is a priest of the London Oratory who is working in the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome. He will explain the reasons behind the changes in translation that are due to be made in the Missal.

This is a great opportunity for young adults to meet Fr Lang and to hear him speak. It is a fairly safe bet that there will be no icebreaker games, you will not be "broken up" into small groups, and you will leave knowing more than you did when you arrived.

The talk is at 8.15pm in St.Wilfrid's Hall. there will be drinks & sandwiches afterwards as usual.
The group is for people aged 18-35.

(A note from me: please don't gatecrash if you are outside this age range. These meetings are generally quite full and they are intended for young adul…
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Different kinds of silence at Mass

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One of the attractions for many people, of the celebration of Mass according to the usus antiquior is that there is more silence. I can heartily sympathise with this preference from my relatively rare opportunities to assist at another priest's Mass in addition to celebrating my own.

Interestingly, though, the ceremonies of the usus antiquior provide little in the way of pauses for silence. The "silence" that people love so much is mostly when the priest is praying secreto, that is to say, he vocalises the words in such a way that he can hear them but others don't. Thus the "silence" is a more or less determined length of time which comes to an end when the priest reaches the next part that is to be said out loud or sung.

In the older form of Mass, there are three moments where the priest pauses in silence. At the memento of the living in the Canon, he remains for a short time in silence, remembering those for whom he wishes to pray (stat paulisper in quiet…
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friday funny

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Posted as the "friday funny" at The Crescat.
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Mgr Marini - print edition in "The Priest"

MARINIthe Priest March 2010

Back in January, the English translation of the lecture given by Mgr Guido Marini at the Rome Conference of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy was published widely on the internet. Fr McGavin, editor of "The Priest", the Journal of the Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy sent me the above file with Mgr Marini's lecture printed in the journal. You can read all the articles in the special March 2010 edition of "The Priest".

[The issue is copyright to Fr McGavin as the publisher for ACCC.]
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Authentic growth without cutting the roots

Rome reports has this interview with Mgr Guido Marini, the papal Master of Ceremonies.



There is a full transcription of the interview at Rome Reports. In this short piece, Mgr Marini highlights the importance of the hermeneutic of continuity as applied to the Sacred Liturgy so that there is authentic growth without cutting the roots so that development includes the richness of the Church's history and tradition.

Rome Reports has come up on the radar a few times recently. Taking a more careful look, I must say that it is very impressive and have added it to the blogroll.
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Strum with me O my Lord...

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On the way up to the Parish Church in Lourdes, I spotted this shop which sells everything to equip you for a happy-clappy Mass: guitars, bongo drums and even harmonicas. (The tambourines were only 8 Euro and it was very tempting to get one.) I was going to photoshop it with the header board "Musée du Rite Nouveau" but that might be a little unfair.
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Society of St Tarcisius

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The Latin Mass Society is sponsoring a new sodality for altar servers who serve the classical form of the Roman Rite: the Society of St Tarcisius. The aims are listed as follows:
1. To promote the dignified, devout, and accurate service of the altar in the traditional Roman rite.

2. To promote the spiritual formation of altar servers, in the spirit of St Tarcisius, who accepted death rather than allow the profanation of the most holy sacrament.

3. To disseminate information on the correct service of the altar, and arrange from time to time training events for servers.

4. To maintain a list of those who are willing and able to serve at the traditional liturgy, and provide this information to those organizing traditional events, where needed.The website says that the Society is "specifically committed to the traditional Latin liturgy of the Catholic church, in a form no later than that current in 1962" which is a rather good way of putting it.

This is a very welcome initiative …
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James MacMillan, the Papal Masses and the new ICEL

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Damian Thompson reports on the great news that James MacMillan's new Mass will be sung in Coventry as well as Glasgow. This follows his earlier report on the rather depressing proposals for the music at the Pope's Mass, concluding with the sound observation, "The Coventry Mass should be one that makes the heart soar, not the toes curl."

The new Mass by James MacMillan is a setting for the words of the new ICEL translation. It is not clear yet whether the Holy Father will himself use the new translation at the Masses in Glasgow and Coventry.

Fr Blake discusses the question of Jumping the gun with ICEL as has Fr Boyle. Fr Blake's post on ICEL: Ad Experimentum makes interesting reading. I would have thought that a Bishop in his own diocese has competence to authorise the use ad experimentum of a text that has received recognitio from the Holy See.

In fact, the new translation is being used all over the place at "special" gatherings, by Bishops, by particul…
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Ombrellino appeal

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The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate at Lanhearne are in need of an ombrellino (ceremonial umbrella) for when the Blessed Sacrament is transferred from one place to another. Since they do live a very frugal life, the cost of such an item would be prohibitive for them.

Three possibilities, I think:

If you have a spare ombrellino in your sacristy that is unused, it would find a good home and you would benefit from the prayers of the good sisters.If you have some spare money, you could buy them oneIf you follow sources of second-hand liturgical items (I know that some readers do enthusiastically!) then you could notify them if one comes up at a reasonable cost
Please leave a comment here or email me if you have definitely provided one so that I can update the post to say "problem solved" (now done) - but contact the sisters or their chaplain directly to arrange things:

Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate,
House of Contemplation of the Blessed Virgin of Mt. Carmel
St. Mawg…
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Popular posts from this blog

Academy of the Annunciation: a new initiative in Bournemouth

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I am very happy to pass on news of the founding of the Academy of the Annunciation in Bournemouth. The Academy plans to offer conferences and study days for lay people to equip students to evangelise effectively in the vineyard of the Lord. It is also looking to provide conferences for priests, religious, and seminarians.

The Academy will be based at the Sacred Heart, the home of the Bournemouth Oratory-in-Formation which is a beautiful setting: stunning Church and lovely environment with the beach and gardens only a few minutes' walk away. The Angel of the Annunciation logo (above) is taken from an image on the reredos of the Lady Chapel at Sacred Heart.


Bishop Philip Egan is seen here with Dr Denise Oliver (left) and Dr Christina Pal (right) who taught in Rome at the Pontifical North American College (seminary) and other places – Dr Pal at Christendom College and Dr Oliver at the Angelicum, the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas and elsewhere.

The first offering of the …
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How to make an act of perfect contrition

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How can you go from imperfect to perfect contrition? Gabriella D from Australia asked me this on Twitter today and I want to give an answer because I think that many people misunderstand what we mean when we talk about “perfect contrition.”

Perfect contrition is sorrow and detestation of sin arising out of the love of God. One way of exciting this contrition in our hearts is by considering the passion of Jesus Christ and making acts of love for Him. We can also think of the infinite love which God has for us, and express sorrow in our heart in the presence of this great love which we have offended.

Imperfect contrition is sorrow and detestation for sin arising from a consideration of the ugliness of sin or out of the fear of hell. Disgust at the ugliness of sin is more common today than fear of hell. That is because we do not preach enough, or with sufficient conviction about the four last things.

If a person commits an act of impurity, for example, perhaps by deliberately looking at a…
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Commemoration of Abbe Edgeworth

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A commenter passes on this interesting snippet from the Latin Mass Society of Ireland.

Bishop O'Reilly of Ardagh & Clonmacnois will the Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form) on Sunday, 23 September 2007 at St Mary's Church, Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford as part of a commemoration of the Bicentenary of the death of Monsignor Henry Essex Edgeworth de Firmont.

Bishop O'Reilly of Ardagh & Clonmacnois to offer Latin Mass at Monsignor Edgeworth commemoration

Although born in Co. Longford, Mgr Edgeworth was the confessor of Louis XVI and Vicar General of Paris at the height of the French Revolution. There is an article summarising his extraordinarily eventful life in the Catholic Encyclopaedia: Henry Essex Edgeworth.
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Our Lady Immaculate, our model for preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ.

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Listening with respect to the message of the angel, and prudently questioning him on how it was possible for her to be the Mother of Christ, Our Lady gave her immediate, willing and whole-hearted consent. From then on, her prayerful expectation of the birth of Christ is a model for us of the devout attitude we should endeavour to adopt during the season of Advent.

From the moment of her conception in the womb of Saint Anne, Our Lady, by a singular privilege, was free from original sin and never committed a single venial sin. Educated in the Temple from childhood, she faithfully and obediently followed the law of God as it was then in force for the Jewish people. She took part in the worship of the synagogue on the sabbath and went to Jerusalem for the great feasts. She observed those feasts with devotion, aware of their meaning which pointed to the Messiah, her own child, the One who is to come.

At those feasts, the psalms formed a major part of the liturgy. She would have known them…
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Bishop Budd on Summorum Pontificum

Fr Z has text and comments on the statement issued by Bishop Christopher Budd of the Plymouth Diocese.

I agree with Fr Z's comments and would add that Bishop Budd is a fair-minded man. I liked the last part of his statement:May I urge you to celebrate the present liturgy (the ordinary rite) of all the sacraments of the Church ‘attente et devote’. The quality of the parish celebration of the renewed liturgy is an important context for the permitted use of the rite now designated `Extraordinary’.The use of the older form of the rite should help and encourage priests in the proper celebration of the newer form. In fact, as Dr Hemming pointed out at the Merton Conference, the older form provides a necessary anchor for the newer form.
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