Fr. Cipolla's report on the "Sacra Liturgia Conference"

by Fr. Richard G. Cipolla

[Note: high-resolution images of the conference available here]

Dom Alcuin Reid, Bishop Dominique Rey and the other organizers of Sacra Liturgia 2013 are to be congratulated and sincerely thanked for what turned out to be an important and moving moment in the post-Conciliar traditional movement to restore liturgical continuity and traditional praxis in the post-Summorum Pontificum Church. This writer was most impressed by the high quality of the papers that were presented and by the enthusiasm of the more than 300 participants from every continent and isle. An analysis of the papers will be possible when they are published (we were promised that this would happen quickly).

Cardinal Ranjith on the sense of mystery in the liturgyFor the record: the Cardinal's interview with Zenit

(Video originally posted at 6:00 AM of 6/28)

***

Cardinal Ranjith on Forming the Faithful to Live the Liturgy

Sacra Liturgia Conference Under Way in Rome

Rome, June 27, 2013 (Zenit.org) Edward Pentin

The faithful must be taught the true meaning of the sacred liturgy: that it is “an instrument of communion with the Lord, allowing the Lord to take hold of you, and the Lord absorbing you into his divine mission, and making you experience what a great and privileged moment of communion this is.”

These are the words of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo, in an exclusive interview with ZENIT on the sidelines of Sacra Liturgia 2013, a major international conference in Rome this week. The cardinal, who was previously Secretary at the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, also discussed the importance of formation, Pope Francis’ approach to the sacred liturgy, and the crucial role it plays in the New Evangelisation.

Event: Sacra Liturgia conference, Rome, June 2013

A major liturgical conference is to be held in Rome on June 25-28, 2013: Sacra Liturgia 2013, including several of the major liturgical thinkers of our age, including Cardinal Burke, Cardinal Ranjith and Monsignor Guido Marini. Speakers will also include the recently named vice-president of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Abp. Di Noia. The program includes one solemn Traditional Mass and, considering the array of speakers, Traditional Masses will surely be widely available for the participants during all days of the conference.

The Conference will be held in the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, of the personal Prelature of Holy Cross and Opus Dei. Further information available at the official website.

Cardinal Ranjith to his clergy: communion on the tongue only and while kneeling is mandatory

Chrism Mass 2012 in the Archdiocese of Colombo.

As reported last year on Rorate the Archbishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, has restored in his archdiocese the practice of communion on the tongue only and while kneeling. Last month, on the Feast of St. Joseph, he reiterated in an address to his clergy that this manner of receiving communion is mandatory for all of the faithful in his territory, even during outdoor Masses (emphasis mine):

May I also remind you once again that in all Churches and Chapels in the Archdiocese Holy Communion is to be administered only on the tongue and kneeling. This should be implemented as normal use even at Holy Mass celebrated with the participation of a big crowd outdoors. On such occasions at least the youth and the children as well as the “youthful” should be called upon to kneel and receive the Lord. This is the most appropriate way of expressing our profoundest belief in the continuous and personal presence of the Lord in the most Sacred Host as we acclaim “down in adoration falling, lo! the Sacred Host we hail”. And in all our Churches, as an expression of that faith our people should be called upon to receive the Holy Communion, kneeling. And so kindly take steps to fix the altar rails and a cushion line fixed to the ground before the railing so that all could kneel and receive easily. It is also good for us to explain to our people about the teaching of the Church on the Most Holy Eucharist as found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church Nos. 1373-1381.

The Archbishop also announced that he will personally take charge of the effort to correct liturgical abuses regarding Mass vestments in the Archdiocese of Colombo:

I would also like to insist with you on the culture of priestly vestments at Holy Mass. In a sermon Pope Benedict gave at the Chrism Mass held at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on 5th April 2007, he explained this need in relation to what happens at Baptism where we put on Christ. St. Paul said so: “for as many of you as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ” [Gal. 3:27]. The Pope continued: “This is what is fulfilled in Baptism; we put on Christ, He gives us His garments and these are not something external. It means that we enter into an existential communion with Him, that His being and our being merge, penetrate one another” [Priests of Jesus Christ, Family Publications, Oxford 2009 p.31]. The challenge to let Christ live in us is indicated by this putting on of Christ – “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” [Gal. 2:20]. The Priest is one who is called upon to live that intimate spirit of communion with Christ even more intensely, especially when he celebrates the Eucharist. It is the highest point of our communion with Him, when we become totally identified with Him in His salvific sacrifice on Calvary. States the Pope “at the moment of priestly ordination, the Church has also made this reality of “new clothes” visible and comprehensive to us externally through being clothed in Liturgical vestments……the “putting on of Him” is demonstrated again and again at every Holy Mass by putting on the Liturgical vestments……the fact that we are standing at the altar clad in Liturgical vestments must make it clearly visible to those present that we are there ‘in the person of Christ’ ”[ibid p.32]. Indeed we ought to recall how Jesus explaining the parable of the wedding feast stressed on the need to be attired in a proper garment. He who was not thus dressed was ordered to be thrown with hand and feet tied into the dark where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. [cfr. Mt. 22:13]. The Vatican Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum of 2004 states on the matter: “the vestments proper to the priest celebrant at Mass, and in other sacred actions directly connected with the Mass, unless otherwise indicated, is the Chasuble, worn over the alb and stole” [123] and then it states “the abuse is reprobated whereby the sacred ministers celebrate Holy Mass or other rites without sacred vestments or with only a stole over the monastic cowl or the common habit of religious or ordinary clothes” [126]. The same document states that the “ordinaries should take care that in all Churches and oratories subject to their jurisdiction there is present an adequate supply of Liturgical vestments made in accordance with the norms” [ibid]. And so dear fathers, kindly ensure that in each Church in your parishes there is an adequate supply of a sufficient number of amices, girdles, stoles and chasubles for daily use. When I come for my parish visits starting from January next year, I will check on this matter personally. Kindly begin celebrating your daily sacrifice of the Eucharist properly clad and that means dressed with the alb, with or without the amice, the girdle, stole and chasuble. This should start immediately. The Auxiliary Bishops and Episcopal Vicars should kindly ensure that this is strictly followed in your areas.

His sharp remarks regarding abortion should be noted as well.

Cardinal Ranjith's reforms in his archdiocese, and more from Adoratio 2011

Fr. Simon Henry of Offerimus Tibi was present at the Adoratio 2011 conference in Rome and wrote three posts on the conference as it unfolded:

Adoratio - Rome 2011

Pope Benedict's intention - BEYOND INDULTS AND PERMISSIONS - that kneeling for Communion remains universal (This post says of Mauro Cardinal Piacenza that at a concelebrated Mass during the conference at which he was the main celebrant, "at the canon of the Mass he dropped his voice considerably (even though microphones were used) and so the canon was not actually silent but sotto voce.")

Impressive forward thinking bishops

The final post reports, among other things, the statements of Cardinal Ranjith during the conference:

In his address to the Conference he spoke of the lack of faith in many parts of the Church itself, a lack of faith in the objective presence of the Lord in the Holy Eucharist.

Habemus ad Dominum

Next week, the Italian translation of Father Uwe Michael Lang's famous book, Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer, with a foreword by then Cardinal Ratzinger, will be presented in Rome at the Augustinianum Institute, next to the Palace of the Holy Office.

The Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Archbishop A. Ranjith Patabendige Don (mentioned in our recent chronology), will make the official presentation of the book. The Italian edition includes a postface by Professor Nicola Bux, who notices "the agreement between Father Lang's argument for the orientation of the celebrant to the East and the Hebrew and Paleo-Christian sources (not only Western, but also of the Middle East and North Africa)."
---
Father Lang is a member of the London Oratory. The first chapter of the book is available here.