Almost 5 years after Summorum: In Trent, the chancery hates the "Tridentine" Mass

Another reason not to call it the "Tridentine" Mass - in the Archdiocese of Trent, the chancery hates it.

The Association "Sacra Liturgia" invites to the conference "Beauty in Sacred Art and in the Liturgy," with the pontifical ceremoniary Mons. Marco Agostini, which will take place in Trent on Saturday, February 11, at 1700, in the great hall of the Major Seminary. The Feininger Choir will present some Gregorian chants. On the following day, Sunday, February 12, the Mass will be celebrated in the Seminary, at 1800.

Regarding this, this was the note of the diocesan press office:

"It is the constant and prioritary concern of our Diocesan Church the effort that the liturgical celebrations be the summit and source of Christian life, with an active participation of the faithful, and convergence of the various ministries.

"The initiative, taken by a diocesan priest, of promoting the celebration of H. Mass according to the ancient rite in the Diocesan Seminary is occasional. Although within the scope of catholicity, the initiative is personal and brings forth some perplexity; precisely for this, the choice of place intends to make clear that those to whom the celebration is destined are those persons capable of understanding it and participating in it, any form of spectacle being excluded.

"Regarding this, it is affirmed that the Council of Trent did not choose a single rite, and that Pope Benedict XVI has supported the one approved by Paul VI, but has consented that also the rite approved by Pope John XXIII, which, with successive modifications, dated from Pope Pius V, may be celebrated, in the presence of specific conditions.

"It is recalled that, also on the occasion of this celebration, as for other events, access to the Seminary church and square is not indiscriminately granted to the public."

We are often accused of wishing to promote "scandal" by mentioning the shameful shenanigans which seem to be inseparable from the celebration of the "Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite", the Mass of Paul VI. Yes, we are fully aware that there are a handful of places around the world where it is celebrated "reverently", according to variable unpublished standards - but other kinds of celebrations have been part and parcel of this Rite from the beginning, and they are in most cases considered quite legitimate. In fact, they are promoted from the highest places, and are the ordinary part of Church life everywhere worldwide.

We bring this up only because, on the very same day on which the above note was published, with "perplexity" for a single celebration in the only rite Trent knew for centuries (and for a millenium before the Council of Trent, in celebrations identical to the Traditional Mass or almost indistinguishable from it), the Archdiocese published as its main event for that same Saturday (Feb. 11) a "Rock Mass" (Messa Rock), with the participation of "Trent metal band 'High Voltage'":

Honestly, we are not the ones who cause scandal. The Archdiocesan Curia is, by publicly shaming a priest and faithful who are merely exercizing their (literally) God-given  papally-recognized rights, and limiting them - at the very same time they promote a "Metal Mass".

Shame on the Trent Curia: vergogna!!

[Tip and source: Messa in Latino]

The ambiguous response of the Flemish bishops to the "Faithful have their say" petition

Just a few months ago we reported on the heretical Faithful have their Say petition in Flanders, which calls (among other things) for the ordination of women to the priesthood and communion for 'remarried' divorcees. As of February 9 of this year -- when it was presented to 5 Flemish bishops as well as to Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard of Mechelen-Brussels -- the petition had 8,235 signatories, including 304 priests and 41 deacons. (The original Dutch text of the petition and the list of signatories can be found here.). 

The following is the response of the Flemish bishops, as translated by Mark de Vries of In Caelo (emphases are Rorate's):

“We, The Flemish bishops, attentively took note of the manifest “Faithful have their say”. The desire for change that speaks from the text, does not leave us untouched. We too are looking for renewal and a greater authenticity, loyal to Scripture and the tradition of the Church.  

The situation which we are going through as Church today is not comfortable. Much is asked from those with pastoral responsibility. We no longer have the social position nor the impact which we had in the past. We make every effort to bring the Gospel closer to the lives of the people. But this is not easy in a society in which the secular sense of life is increasing more and more. We understand the pain and powerlessness of many. How can we proclaim the Gospel in such a way that it touches the hearts of the people of this age? That is the question which lives in all of us and which remains our greatest challenge. Structural reform or adaptation will not change anything about that. But they may help us. That is why we understand that the gradual nature of these reforms try the patience. But the evolutions in our society are so fundamental that they require time and discernment to see what can and must happen in these cases. The manifest also gives us the opportunity to clarify our position. Some elements, such as the question of Word services on Sunday, are diocesan affairs and at the moment subject of deliberation. Others, especially those about Holy Orders and the priesthood, are matters of the world Church. In questions which touch upon the personal lives of people, we plead for a respectful, pastoral attitude. Even though not every state of life is equal, no one is inferior, because a human being is always more than his actions and than the situations in which he finds himself. The Church community then, built up around Christ and His Gospel, is sent to all people. She takes on this mission from a vital core which lives from the Eucharist. Because there the branches connect to the vine (John 15:5).  

God needs all faithful, all baptised, to make His love known to the world. Let us work together for a Church community which takes care of its identity, faithful to the mission it has received, a Church which is open and accessible for everyone, with a heart for all men.

Signed, the Flemish bishops.”

The Great Greek Famine Justice, charity, and the simplicity of the Lord

Commovisti, Domine, terram, et conturbasti eam. Sana contritiones eius, quia mota est. ("You have rocked the country, O Lord, and split it open. Repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering." Ps.59, Tract for Sexagesima)

_____________________________

In February 1942, exactly 70 years ago, the consequences of the German-powered occupation had reached the limit of what was tolerable: it was the Great Famine, the Μεγάλος Λιμός, that reached its peak in the winter of 1941-1942. Greeks could not take it anymore, and Britain lifted the blockade:

Britain last week broke its own Mediterranean blockade. Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton told the House of Commons that Britain and the U.S. together would send 8,000 tons of wheat to the hungriest country in the world, Greece.

Bread was priced at $15 a loaf in Athens last week and there was no bread. There were no potatoes, no figs, no raisins, no tomatoes. There was, in short, famine. The sight of wasted men and women faulting in the street was so common that no one thought anything of it. (Time Magazine, Feb. 9, 1942)

Few nations were as neglected in the post-war reparations it deserved in justice from the German occupiers as Greece - which had already been the victim of Western abandonment in the Turkish dismantlement of areas which had always been Hellenic and had been rightfully granted to Greece in the Treaty of Sèvres. Today, as it has often happened in the history of the Hellenes, only Christ can save them, from themselves and from outsiders. There is nothing wrong with a poorer but more dignified life, away from the love of passing things, towards a future of justice, but also charity, in the simplicity of the Gospel, received by the Greeks two thousand years ago:

The root and font of this defection in economic and social life from the Christian law ... are the disordered passions of the soul, the sad result of original sin which has so destroyed the wonderful harmony of man's faculties that, easily led astray by his evil desires, he is strongly incited to prefer the passing goods of this world to the lasting goods of Heaven.

Made Paul-like - Made Christ-like - Made perfect

[E]t dixit mihi: Sufficit tibi gratia mea; nam virtus in infirmitate perficitur. Libenter igitur gloriabor in infirmitatibus meis, ut inhabiter in me virtus Christi.. (From the Epistle for the Sunday in Sexagesima: "And he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.")

[W]hen someone desires to suffer, it is not merely a pious reminder of the suffering of the Lord. Voluntary expiatory suffering is what truly and really unites one to the Lord intimately. When it arises, it comes from an already existing relationship with Christ. For, by nature, a person flees from suffering. And the mania for suffering caused by a perverse lust for pain differs completely from the desire to suffer in expiation. Such lust is not a spiritual striving, but a sensory longing, no better than other sensory desires, in fact worse, because it is contrary to nature. Only someone whose spiritual eyes have been opened to the supernatural correlations of worldly events can desire suffering in expiation, and this is only possible for people in whom the spirit of Christ dwells, who as members are given life by the Head, receive his power, his meaning, and his direction. Conversely, works of expiation bind one closer to Christ, as every community that works together on one task becomes more and more closely knit and as the limbs of a body, working together organically, continually become more strongly one.

But because being one with Christ is our sanctity, and progressively becoming one with him our happiness on earth, the love of the cross in no way contradicts being a joyful child of God. Helping Christ carry his cross fills one with a strong and pure joy, and those who may and can do so, the builders of God’s kingdom, are the most authentic children of God. And so those who have a predilection for the way of the cross by no means deny that Good Friday is past and that the work of salvation has been accomplished. Only those who are saved, only children of grace, can in fact be bearers of Christ’s cross. Only in union with the divine Head does human suffering take on expiatory power.

To suffer and to be happy although suffering, to have one’s feet on the earth, to walk on the dirty and rough paths of this earth and yet to be enthroned with Christ at the Father’s right hand, to laugh and cry with the children of this world and ceaselessly to sing the praises of God with the choirs of angels this is the life of the Christian until the morning of eternity breaks forth.

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

(Reposted for Sexagesima 2012, year of the 70th anniversary of the death, in Auschwitz, of Saint Teresa Benedicta, co-Patroness of Europe.)

A gift for the city of the Immaculate Conception

What a wonderful gift from the Holy Father to the greatest city of Our Lady in France, Lourdes, on her day: a new bishop, very friendly to Tradition.

Bp. Nicolas Brouwet

Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes

(Image: Mass by the then Auxiliary of Nanterre in Ars, on the altar of the relics of Saint John Mary Vianney - FSSP Pilgrimage, Sep. 13, 2009.)

As simple as that

The Mass is believed by Catholics to be an unbloody sacrifice in which by the power of God, the institution of Christ, and the ministry of the priest, the body and blood of our blessed Saviour are produced upon the altar, under the appearances of bread and wine, and are there offered to the Almighty, not only as a propitiation for the sins of mankind, but also in testimony of the adoration or homage which is his due; in thanksgiving, for benefits received, in which view it is eucharistic; and to beseech future favors, whereby it is impetratory.

A Catholic church is a Christian temple, erected for the purpose of having the holy sacrifice of the Mass offered therein. This sacrifice is made upon an altar, which is a table sufficiently large to sustain the offerings, the book and other necessaries. Formerly the holy sacrifice was offered in the catacombs, upon the tombs of the martyrs. And frequently since that period, when splendid temples were erected, their bodies or remains have been removed from those obscure resting places, and enshrined in rich sarcophagi, over which the table of the altar was placed. The relics of other saints have been also, in several instances, thus entombed.

The rapt Evangelist beheld under the heavenly altar, where stood the immolated Lamb, the souls of those slain for the word of God. Glorious in their blood, they reposed in celestial bliss until their expected companions should arrive; whilst under the altars upon the earth, their bodies rested honorably enshrined in those places where the Lamb was produced as slain, and offered in the midst of the holy choirs below.

The crucifix or image of the Saviour in his state of bloody immolation, is very appropriately placed upon the centre of the altar where that commemorative immolation is to be made. On each side candles are lighted, not only as a token of joy, but also as by their blaze they mystically exhibit the descent of the Holy Ghost in the form of tongues of fire, for the purpose of endowing the Apostles, the first ministers of the Catholic Church, with power from on high, to perform the stupendous works for which they were commissioned by an incarnate God.

The altar is a consecrated stone. This has been the case during upwards of fifteen hundred years, previously to which period, no law prescribed any particular material. The Church also by the very color of the front of the altar, and of the vestments, teaches her children the nature of the solemnity which she celebrates. Thus, for instance, white is used upon the great festivals of the Trinity, of the Saviour, of his blessed mother, of angels, of saints, who without shedding their blood gave their testimony by the practice of exalted virtues; and on some other occasions. Red is used on the feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost descended in the form of tongues of fire; on the festivals of martyrs, and the like. In times of penance, violet is used, green on days when there is no special solemnity, and black on Good Friday, and on occasion of offices for the deceased.

Ceremonial:

for the use of the Catholic Churches of the United States of America.

Published by Order of the First Council of Baltimore,

with the approbation of the Holy See

(Prepared by Fr. Joseph Rosati. Introduction by Bp. John England, of Charleston)

[available for reading and downloading at Google Books]

Update: Il Fatto Quotidiano translation

See explanation and update below.

Tornielli says the document itself is "authentic", that is, it actually exists as it was reported with those exact contents. "It was in effect received by the Secretariat of State, where, after a first reading and some laughter, no consideration was given to it, even if it has been relayed to the Pontiff."

Comments in the post below.

For the record: Italian media in a frenzy - bizarre plot rumors. Lombardi: "Madness" Update: Content

Almost all Italian online media are in a frenzy tonight about a letter to be revealed in one of Italy's largest national dailies, Il Fatto Quotidiano.

We post the following for the record (from Corriere della Sera):

Milan - "Vatican, plots and intrigues. A plot against the Pope, he will die in the next 12 months" This is the title in the first page of Il Fatto Quotidiano in its February 10 edition.

Written in German - The news would have been given in a letter handed by Cardinal Castrillon to Benedict XVI. Included in the note, a report of a conversation [in a trip to China in November 2011] of the Archbishop of Palermo, [Cardinal] Romeo, in which he affirms that the Holy Father is in great risk and that an attack is feared within 12 months. The document is dated from December 30 2011, but it was given to the pope in January 2012. ... Romeo would have also spoken of the probable successor and indicated [Cardinal] Scola, Archbishop of Milan. The author of the article is journalist Marco Lillo. The director of Il Fatto Quotidiano, Antonio Padellaro, has said that the document will be published in its entirety in the paper. ... Soon afterwards, the reply of the Vatican arrived through Father Federico Lombardi, spokesman of the Holy See:  "These are clearly ravings, which are not at all taken seriously. This is madness."

We expect the actual text of the letter, whose authenticity has not been confirmed, to be published by Il Fatto Quotidiano and the eventual written response by the Holy See Press Office and by the Archdiocese of Palermo in the morning.

Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, president emeritus of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, was received in private audience by the Pope on January 13.

Update (0900 GMT): A translation of the text of the unsigned document.

It is a report on Cardinal Romeo's visit to Beijing in November 2011 and his words with his intelocutors, (in the Chinese government or in the Patriotic Association?), and, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano, the document's contents would have been written in German and delivered to the Pope by Cardinal Castrillón in January 2012.

The content itself, that is, that Cardinal Romeo visited Beijing and spoke in confidence to specific persons, does not sound implausible - only at the end the curious "prophecy" of Cardinal Romeo mentioned. (Source: Il Fatto Quotidiano - Tip: Papa Ratzinger blog).

Voyage to Beijing:

In November 2011, Cardinal Romeo arrived on a tourist visa in Beijing, where, in fact, he did not meet any personality of the Catholic Church in China, but rather Italian businessmen, who live or work in Beijing, and some Chinese interlocutors. In Beijing, Cardinal Romeo declared to have been personally sent by Pope Benedict XVI to move forward, or rather, to follow up with, the conversations launched by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos in China in March 2010. He also claimed to be the interlocutor designated by the Pope to be in charge, from now on, of the matters between China and the Vatican.

Reader Discussion: Contraception Mandate Silver Lining

While numerous conservative Catholic blogs have rightfully covered the United States Department of Health and Human Services's attack on the Catholic Church by mandating Catholic employers cover contraception and abortion in their healthcare plans or face millions of dollars in fines, there is one aspect to this, a blessing if you will or a silver lining, that hasn't been discussed.

In doing so, the United States Department of Health and Human Services has succeeded in doing what most bishops have refused to do for decades: ensure that all Catholics know that there is indeed a ban on contraception and that it is, in fact, a mortal sin.

While many traditional-minded Catholics assume all contracepting Catholics know it's a mortal sin, the truth is that many don't, but now surely most do with the media saturation that has followed this story. God willing, some will abandon their thwarting of His will, throw away their contraceptives and hit a confessional soon.

God works in mysterious ways, and through the most unlikely people.

What's your take on this issue? Does this attack on the Church actually help her restore dogma once known -- and shared -- by all Catholics? Please weigh in now, and please keep charity in mind at all times.

Near-death experience

From the semi-official daily of Church in France, La Croix, the long-lasting effects of the Council that keeps on giving:

With half of its priests aged 75 or older, the Church of France is confronted with a financial as well as human problem.

...

One half of French priests are more than 75 years old. It is a harsh realization and, still, "the apex of priestly aging is ahead of us," emphasizes Jean-Michel Coulot, assistant Secretary-General of the Conference of French Bishops, who deals in particular with the matter of elderly priests.

[Tip: Le Salon Beige]

A new Traditional monastery of Benedictine spirituality in France

From the Summorum Pontificum Observatus blog (French):

With the discretion proper to Benedictines, a new Monastery following the Rule of Saint Benedict has been created in France. Is is the Monastère Saint-Benoît ... .

Founded last December 7, at Garde-Freinet, in the presence of Bishop Rey [of Fréjus-Toulon], on whom it directly depends, this monastery lives according to the pace set by the Rule of the Patriarch of monks, with observance of the Traditional liturgy, for Mass as well as for the recitation of the Hours. The first vows were professed on December 7, in the chapter, in the presence of Bp. Rey; ... .

The diocese of Fréjus-Toulon has published the decree of erection of this monastery, which is a public clerical association of the faithful as a public corporation, and its statutes of foundation have been approved ad experimentum for three years.

The new foundation has its own website, with the timetable of the Conventual Mass and Hours of the Office (also in English).

Celibate priesthood, the glory of the papacy: "Nothing is forgiven them, because everything is expected of them."

I am far from exaggerating and wishing to speak of the law of celibacy as a dogma, properly so called; but I hold that it belongs to the highest discipline, that it is of unrivalled importance, and that we cannot be too grateful to the Sovereign Pontiff* to whom we are indebted for having maintained it.

The priest who belongs to a wife and children, belongs no longer to his flock, or does not sufficiently belong to it. An essential faculty is always wanting to him — that of giving alms, of exercising charity without sometimes considering too narrowly his own means. In thinking of his children, the married priest dares not follow the impulses of his heart; his purse is tied up against indigence, which has nothing to expect at his hands but cold exhortations. Moreover, the dignity of the priest would be mortally wounded by certain kinds of ridicule. The wife of a superior magistrate who should manifestly forget her duties would do more harm to her husband than the wife of any other man. And why? Because the higher magistracies possess a kind of holy and venerable dignity, by which they resemble the priesthood. What would it not be, then, in regard to the priesthood itself?

Russia, China - the unlikely allies of Syrian Christians?

From the Los Angeles Times (Feb. 4):

Russia, China veto new U.N. resolution on Syria

...

Syria rejected the Arab League blueprint as an infringement on its sovereignty, a stance backed by Russia and China, both wary of the prospect of Western-engineered leadership change just six months after Western airstrikes helped the Libyan opposition overthrow Moammar Kadafi.

The Arab League plan was freighted with geopolitical significance. Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, which supported the plan, are locked in a regional power struggle with Iran, a key ally of Syria. The Arab countries view the prospect of Assad's departure as a blow against Iran in its bid to wield wider influence in the Middle East.

But Assad still has support among many Syrians, especially Christians and other minorities who view his secular administration as a bulwark against Iraq-style sectarian warfare. Assad has blamed Islamic "terrorists" for his troubles.

The Pontifical Mass in Miami on February 2: Full Video

If you want to watch the complete video of the entrance and vesting of Archbishop Wenski, the Blessing of Candles, Procession, Terce and the Solemn Pontifical Mass, go to this page. Fr. Calvin Goodwin FSSP provides running commentary. 

It can also be downloaded from the main page of "Live Mass".

Archbishop Thomas Wenski's sermon can be found on the website of the Archdiocese of Miami, along with an article (with photographs) about this event. (The photo at left is taken from this article.) 

About 1,200 people, including 75 priests and seminarians, were in attendance. 

Bishop Fellay to Rome: "We are ready."

A guest-post by Côme de Prévigny

These words truly belong to Bishop Fellay. They were pronounced in Winona, Minnesota, on February 2, on the occasion of the conferral of the cassocks in the American seminary of the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX). Do they summarize the entire thinking of the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X? In any event, not less than all those that were used, distorted or taken from their context, by some journalists who impatiently picked the headlines "The failure of the negotiations", or still, "We could not go further in the confusion". Moved by a growing panic as news of the regularization of the Fraternity move closer in time, Progressives and Sedevacantists now advance hand in hand, the first not even hesitating to quote the second. "From enemies that they were, they were made friends," says Holy Writ.

The truth is that Bishop Fellay has done nothing else than repeating what he said in Écône last December 8. The Society will not sign the preamble as it was presented on September 14 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. At the same time, he recalls that the work of Archbishop Lefebvre cannot be conceived separated from the Apostolic See: "We are not an independent group. Even if we are fighting with Rome, we are still, so to say, with Rome." There is found the entire attitude of Abp. Lefebvre, who went to Rome whenever he was called. Without fleeing when faced with traps, he preferred to discern them with prudence, he moved forward, as usual, by asking for evident signs from above. What mattered to the Archbishop, on the one hand, was to proclaim the faith, as it had been professed throughout the centuries, and, on the other, to keep relations with the Roman Curia, recalling that the solution would come from Rome. He distinguished with the same care the search for a regularization, a matter of prudence, from the proclamation of the faith, a matter of principle. As long as the latter is put in grave danger by a canonical regulation, it has priority over the juridical questions. The day in which the Superior judges this proclamation possible in a legal order, then it might be dangerous to neglect those souls hesitating to come hither for fear of censure.

In the past few days, eminent Cardinals have studied, it is said, the response delivered by the Society of Saint Pius X. Germans, Frenchmen, or Swiss, these high prelates are not considered to be an Areopagus that is indulgent towards the defenders of the Traditional Mass and catechism. It was actually despite their negative opinions that Benedict XVI took the decision to free the Traditional Missal and to revoke the censures weighing on the Bishops consecrated in 1988. Why would the pope suddenly act in a different manner? Mentioning Abp. Lefebvre, the Superior General of the SSPX merely indicated his availability: "if you accept us as is, without change, without obliging us to accept these things, then we are ready." The ball is on Rome's court, where the Pope has powers that are  much more extensive than Bp. Fellay, because he can, simply with his signature, confer the widest prerogatives to the work directed by the Swiss prelate from the Valais. He can eventually acknowledge this recent thesis that defended, in Rome, that, "the authority of the magisterium of Vatican II is that of a homily in the 1960s." Had not he himself affirmed that the Council "deliberately chose to remain on a modest level, as a merely pastoral council"?

The last day of the Alleluias

Fr. Tomás Luis de Victoria

O Magnum Mysterium [4 v.]

The end of the Christmas cycle: Septuagesimatide begins later today, at First Vespers - the long way to Jerusalem, Sacrifice, and Redemption. The Alleluia, repeated for the last time at the end of Vespers, will return to the Mass and to the Office at Easter Vigil.

The crisis of the Church is a crisis of Bishops The "Season of Pride"?

At least they are in full communion  - with Abp. Vincent Nichols of Westminster.

FSSP to Close St. Gregory's Academy

Below is a letter released just yesterday from Fr. Eric Flood, North American District Superior of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), announcing the closure of the 20-year-old St. Gregory's Academy in Elmhurst, Pa. While you can read the official explanation below, Rorate has been given more detail about the Fraternity's reason for walking away from the school after two decades.

Holy See-SSPX: Reading comprehension skills urgently needed

Some, in the Italian media and elsewhere, are having quite a hard time understanding the very plain words of the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay, in Minnesota. He did not say that the Society said "no" to the Holy See defintiively - but that there was a "no" to the draft of the doctrinal preamble. This is not even news - everyone who is following this process know that the Society responded negatively, but sent a counter-proposal, that is currently being studied by the Holy See.

It goes even further, my dear brethren. That was during the discussion. At the end of the discussion, comes this invitation from Rome. In this invitation there is a proposition of a canonical situation that is to regularize our situation. And I may say, what is presented today, which is already different from what was presented on the 14th of September, we can consider it as all right, good. They fulfilled all our requirements, I may say, on the practical level. So there is not much problem there. The problem remains at the other level – at the level of the doctrine. But even there it goes very far – very far, my dear brethren.

Erroneous headlines and mistaken interpretations, the fruit of thoughtless reading, simply cannot change the generally positive tone of Fellay's sermon. Positive, but concerned. Positive, but careful. Positive, but unwilling to move too far. Prayers are necessary at this moment - as he insists in that sermon. Drama and distortions, not so much.

A very mysterious event: why has Fr. Becker been removed from the consistory?

Yesterday, we heard the strange rumor that the most traditional-minded of all Cardinals to be created in the Feb. 18 consistory, Fr. Karl Becker, an 83-year-old Jesuit, had had his name "blocked by the Secretariat of State", that a "rumor" would follow that he would "be made a cardinal in a future consistory", but that actually it had actually "been decided that he should not ever receive the honor".

We were stunned - Father Becker was one of the pioneers of the need for a "hermeneutic of reform in continuity". For instance, see his most interesting text on the question of the "subsistit" in Lumen Gentium published a decade ago (available in the EWTN library). Becker, a longtime consultant of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, also took part in the 2009-2011 doctrinal discussions with the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX).

Today, that amazing rumor was confirmed - Fr. Becker, "for health reasons, will not be created a cardinal in the public ceremony of Feb. 18, but in a private form in some other moment" (Bollettino of the Holy See Press Office). Some other moment that is not set... Exactly as our source had indicated yesterday. Yes, the health reasons are certainly true (health reasons can always be used as an excuse for almost anything, particularly related to the elderly). And the private conferral of the cardinalatial dignity is the most traditional form. But the fact that the rumor forwarded to us proved right forces us to share this with our readers.

Let us pray - for Fr. Becker and for the current state of mysterious affairs in so many parts of the Curia.

Rome in papal white

Friday, February 3, 2011

An uncommon view in the City

Source and tip: www.vaticanstate.va and Papa Ratzinger blog

Fellay: "...you can be certain that the Progressives will not be happy."

Main extract of the Sermon spoken by the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX) on the Feast of Candlemas

The Society of St. Pius X has been founded by the Church and in the Church, and we say this Society continues to exist, despite the fact that there is a pretense that it does not exist; that it was suppressed in 1976 (but obviously with total disrespect of the laws of the Church itself). And that's why we continue. And our dear Founder insisted many, many times on the importance of this existence of the Society. And I think, as time evolves, we must keep this in mind – and it is very important that we keep this Catholic Spirit.

We are not an independent group. Even if we are fighting with Rome, we are still, so to say, with Rome. We are fighting with Rome; or, if you want, against Rome, at the same time with Rome. And we claim and we continue to say, we are Catholic. We want to stay Catholic. Many times I say to Rome, you try to kick us out. And we see it would be much easier for us to be out. We would have many more advantages. You would treat us much better! Look at the Protestants, how they open the churches to them. To us, they close them. And we say, we don’t care. We do things in front of God. We suffer from the Church, fine. We don’t like that, of course. But we ought to stay there in the truth. And we have to maintain that we do belong to the Church. We are Catholics. We want to be and we want to stay Catholic, and it is very important to maintain that.

Two days till the end of the Alleluia

P.P.Rubens

The Holy Family with Saint Anne (detail)

Fr. Claudio Monteverdi

Vespers of the Blessed Virgin [I. Deus in adiutorium]

The Alleluia is recited several times every day by those praying the hours - it is right there in every hour, following the first words of Psalm 69 and the doxology. From Compline on this Saturday, the great veil of Septuagesima, Lent, and Passiontide will silence the word of jubilation for nine long weeks.

Septuagesimatide is coming!

Open thread Book suggestions for February

The mass was concelebrated. Racado counted sixteen priests in the sanctuary, which was not too bad considering the general collapse in recruitment. He was interiorly amused: one single mass instead of sixteen - they were certainly on a good path...

Jean Raspail

Sire

Raspail punctuates his fictional account of an adventure involving the heir to the throne in contemporary France with several observations on the state of the Church of our age - including the breathtaking absurdity of widespread concelebrations, particularly in religious houses.

If you wish to share any titles with us, in any language, regarding anything at all, including classics or new releases, please do so in the comment box - please do not mention again those you have already mentioned here in the past.

South Florida reminder

If you are in South Florida, or know anyone there who might be interested, remember: on 7:30 PM this afternoon a very special celebration of Candlemas - the Traditional way - with the Archbishop of Miami.

And for those who are elsewhere in the world, the Pontifical Mass will be broadcast by Live Mass [in Rorate's sidebar links], and also by iMass (app for iOS devices), starting at 1930 EST on Feb. 2 (0030 GMT +1d). The Rev. Fr. C. Goodwin FSSP will be joining Live Mass as commentator for this Liturgy.

Three days till the end of the Alleluia

William Byrd

Senex Puerum portabat: Puer autem senem regebat

[Alleluia - Candlemas]

Septuagesimatide is coming!

On Candlemas: three considerations

Consider, first, that on this day the Blessed Virgin Mary, according to the rites prescribed by the ancient law, came to the temple of God to be purified after her child-bearing, and to make her offering, according to what her poverty allowed, of a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons; the one for a whole burnt-offering, the other as a sacrifice for sin. Admire her ready obedience to a law in which in reality she was not concerned, being exempted, by that singular privilege of hers of bringing forth her Son without any detriment to her virginal purity.

Admire ber humility, in being willing to pass for a person unclean, she that was more pure than the angels; and to be excluded for forty days from touching any thing that was holy, or coming near the house of God; and to be cleansed by a sin-offering, as if she needed any such expiation. Admire her love of purity, which brought her on this day to the temple of God, to be there purified with these legal sacrifices; because she was desirous of omitting nothing that could in any way contribute to increase or maintain purity. And learn to imitate these great virtues, her ready obedience, her profound humility, and her great zeal and love for purity.

Consider, secondly, that on this day the Blessed Virgin made a rich present to God, in his temple, infinitely surpassing all the offerings that had ever been made there before; when, according to the law of the first-born, she presented her Son, the first-born of the whole creation, by whom all things were made, both visible and invisible, to his eternal Father.

Parents, learn to imitate this presentation, by making an offering of your children to God, by the hands of Mary, to be dedicated for ever to his love and service. Christians, learn to present him with your hearts, together with all their offspring, your thoughts, words, and deeds: learn to make an offering to him of your whole being, every day, and every hour of your life.

But then you must not stop here: you must also present to him his Son Jesus Christ, and yourselves with him, and through him, daily in the sacred mysteries, and hourly in the spiritual temple of your souls. The temple of God in Jerusalem was highly honoured on this day, by the presence of the Son of God, according to that prophecy of Aggeus(ch. ii): "The desired of all nations shall come:, and I will fill this house with glory: saith the Lord of Hosts.—Great shall be the glory of this last house more than of the first, saith the Lord of Hosts; and in this place I will give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts."

My soul, art not thou ambitious of a share in this glory, peace, and happiness? Invite then this same Son of God, the desired of all nations, into thy inward house; and he will come and make thee the temple of his glory, and bring thee his true peace, which will make thee happy indeed.

Consider, thirdly, that on this day the venerable Simeon, who had received a promise from the Holy Ghost that he should see the Saviour of the World before he died, coming by divine instinct into the temple, whilst our Lord was presented, there, took him into his arms, and declared him to be the promised Messias, the glory of Israel, and the light of all nations. At the same time that holy widow, Anna, the prophetess, who for a great number of years had attended on the Lord in his temple by continual prayer and fasting, was also favoured with the like grace, and made the like public profession of her faith in our infant Saviour. This sacred meeting of so many persons of such eminent sanctity in the temple of God, in company with the Son of God, and his blessed mother, the church celebrates in the procession of this day, which we make with lighted candles in our hands, that are solemnly blessed in the name of Christ, and received from the hand of God's priests, as emblems of the light of Christ.

See then, Christian souls, with what affection of devotion you ought to receive, and to bear in your hands these hallowed candles, as figures of Christ. O, learn, on this occasion, of holy Simeon, to seek Christ alone, to sigh after him alone, to aspire with your whole souls after his embraces; despising all things else that you may find him. O, remember that he is the true light of the world in his life and doctrine; and determine from this time forward ever to follow him.

Conclude to study well all the lessons which are to be learnt from the Presentation of the Son of God, and the Purification of his Blessed Mother, and to conform yourselves to them in the practice of your lives; that so being purified from all your sins, you may also be worthy to be one day presented to God, in the eternal temple of his glory.

Bishop Richard Challoner

Ignatius!

Remember in your prayers the Church in Syria, which now has God for its shepherd, instead of me. Jesus Christ alone will oversee it, and your love.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch

Epistle to the Romans

And pray without ceasing in behalf of other men. For there is in them hope of repentance that they may attain to God. See, then, that they be instructed by your works, if in no other way. Be meek in response to their wrath, humble in opposition to their boasting: to their blasphemies return your prayers; in contrast to their error, be stedfast in the faith; and for their cruelty, manifest your gentleness. While we take care not to imitate their conduct, let us be found their brethren in all true kindness; and let us seek to be followers of the Lord - who was ever more unjustly treated, more destitute, more condemned? -, that no plant of the devil may be found in you, but you may remain in all holiness and sobriety in Jesus Christ, both with respect to the flesh and spirit.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch

Epistle to the Ephesians

Four days till the end of the Alleluia

Vidimus stellam 

[Alleluia for the Mass of the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord]

Septuagesimatide is coming!

Comments

We are trying to improve the general tone of the comments in this web log. One of the points noticed in our poll on Mass attendance (whose final results we will publish soon) was that a very large proportion of our readers do not attent the Traditional Mass regularly. This probably means that they are not familiar with several terms used in our comment threads - and are not used to the tone not unfamiliar to those who are in Traditional communities. 

One of the main purposes of this web log has always been to show that we, Traditional-minded Catholics, can be equally firm and balanced in our views. If you are a regular commentator and wish to help us, please do not post again comments that were obviously blocked or deleted. If they were blocked or deleted, there was a reason for it - and two of the main reasons are to avoid scandal to other readers and to improve the tone. A general rule to follow is this: would you say these things in public to someone you barely know? If not, then perhaps you should not do it here. Help us, please, we are all volunteers doing this with great pleasure, but with no financial gain. Please, do not add more work to our pile.

Another general rule? Respect His Holiness and his venerable person. We are Roman after all.

Traditional Catholic news roundup

1. A complete translation of the SSPX theology professor Fr. Gleize's response to Mons. Ocáriz's article on the intepretation of the conciliar documents has been published online by The Angelus.

2. A partial translation of the stern letter of the Bishop of Albenga-Imperia (Liguria, Italy), Mario Oliveri, ordering his priests, under pain of disobedience, to implement the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum faithfully. (The New Liturgical Movement)

Bishop Oliveri stands out in the Italian episcopate for his respect for Tradition: he wrote the preface for Msgr. Brunero Gherardini's The Ecumenical Vatican Council II: A Much-Needed Discussion, spoke out repeatedly in favor of Summorum Pontificum (in addition to offering Pontifical Mass according to the 1962 Missal a number of times) and welcomed the Benedictines of the Immaculate to his diocese. Rorate wrote about him in 2009: An Oasis for the 1962 Missal in Italy. 

3.  (Update) The content of the third external news item  to which we had linked was incorrect in several of its most important details. From the SSPX we have received the following note: "The affirmation according to which the abjuration was received from the hands of Bp. Fellay and approved by Cardinal Levada is incorrect."

The New Patriarch of Venice

As predicted earlier, the Pope today appointed Bishop Francesco Moraglia of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato, Italy, as Patriarch of Venice.

Cardinal Koch on the Pope's intentions regarding the liturgy

(Previous posts on Cardinal Koch's various statements on the 'Reform of the Reform' can be found here and here.)

From the Sancrucensis blog (with a slight correction):

What follows is a quick translation of a Vatican Radio report. Cardinal Koch’s words are given a special edge by the fact that he was speaking at the theological faculty of the University of Freiburg, a stronghold of “progressive” theology: 

Revisions of the 1962 Missal coming soon? The International Federation Una Voce presents its objections

The International Federation Una Voce (FIUV) has learned that modifications of the 1962 Missale Romanum could be proposed by competent authority in the near future. It therefore presents its objections and concerns on a reform of the Traditional Missal to competent authority, also making its 2008 letter on the matter public.

The Revision of the Missal of 1962.

The Concerns of the International Federation Una Voce,

Preamble:

It is known that work has commenced in Rome on the revision of the Missal of 1962. As has been the norm in recent years, these matters are being conducted discreetly and only made public when the relevant document is promulgated, viz: Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae. The very narrow remit given by the Holy Father to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei in his Letter to Accompany Summorum Pontificum [7 July, 2007] was that: “..new Saints and some of the new Prefaces can and should be inserted in the old Missal.”  No other changes were sanctioned. Pope Benedict also stated that “The Ecclesia Dei Commission, in contact with various bodies devoted to the usus antiquior, will study the possibilities in this regard.”

Those who are “devoted to the usus antiquior” must continually and carefully ensure that this specific and narrow remit is not exceeded by those in Rome and elsewhere who desire to undermine the integrity of the Missal of 1962 by demanding the inclusion of some of the novelties which were introduced into the liturgy post-1962.  The International Federation Una Voce was founded in early 1965, even before the Second Vatican Council had ended, and is by far the oldest organisation, lay or clerical, which is devoted to the usus antiquior. While other organisations and societies, clerical and lay, may also be devoted to the ‘usus antiquior’, none can match the 46 year history of the Una Voce Federation in its unswerving devotion to this cause. The Federation has played a unique role in being the first, and the continuous voice of the lay faithful in seeking adherence to the expressed wishes of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council as declared in Sacrosanctum Concilium n.4:

“Finally, in faithful obedience to tradition, the Sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully recognised rites to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way.”

The members of the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce, being ever mindful of this decree of the Council Fathers, have been faithfully obedient to tradition, have consistently upheld the equal right and dignity of the Mass of Antiquity, and have striven since 1965 to preserve and foster this lawfully recognised rite. In his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, confirmed what the International Federation has always claimed, that the Missal of 1962 ‘was never juridically abrogated’. The Holy Father also confirmed in his letter that his decision was to bring about “an interior reconciliation in the heart of the church.”

Liturgical innovation and creativity is unwanted by the faithful and has consistently disturbed, angered and alienated them in the years following the Second Vatican Council. This must not happen again with the adulteration of the Missal of 1962. The International Federation accepts organic development but emphatically rejects liturgical innovation which is alien to the character, spirit, and integrity of the usus antiquior.  The inestimable treasure of the ancient liturgy must not be undermined by novelty, reductionism, and destructive modernisation. Nothing describes the attraction of the usus antiquior more powerfully than the growing number of young Catholics world-wide, including many seminarians and young priests, who are discovering this ancient and deeply spiritual liturgy and are being captivated by it.   

Nations, sovereignty, sacrifices, rights

The Nations, particularly the middle-sized and small ones, ask that their fate be placed in their own hands. They might be led to contract, with their full assent, in the interest of common progress, bonds that modify their sovereign rights. But, after having sustained their share, their great share, of sacrifices for the destruction of the system of brutal violence, they have the right of not accepting that a new political or social system be imposed upon them that the vast majority of their populations flatly rejects.

Pius XII

Allocution "Nell'accogliere",

on the end of the War in Europe

June 2, 1945

What now?

[The SSPX and the Holy See: what now?]

by Alessandro Gnocchi & Mario Palmaro

[Il Foglio, January 27, 2012]

Will the agreement be made or not? The dialogue between the Holy See and the Fraternity of Saint Pius X [FSSPX / SSPX], founded by Mons, Marcel Lefebvre, has entered a decisive phase. The outcome of this dialogue is, above all, of great concern to Pope Benedict XVI, who has personally encouraged and nurtured it; it is also of great concern to all the priests, religious and lay faithful who are with the Fraternity; it is of great concern to all of that vast part of the Catholic world which is not of the SSPX, but which is set on the part of Tradition. For different reasons, progressive Catholicism and the secular world are observing (the situation) with great attention and some nervousness.

In other words: the match that is being played is important and difficult, but an agreement is not impossible. A lot of the resistance might fall away though, if one considers that when discussing the doctrinal questions, it is done through diplomatic means, also because the Fraternity’s canonical resolution is in question. We are moving here on mixed ground where it is fundamental to distinguish the levels, a process, which objectively, is not always so easy.

This is the shaky ground on which the case proceeds. If you can understand the disorientation of Rome with regard to the hesitations of the FSSPX, you also have to understand the perplexity of the Fraternity when it complains that Rome asks of them something that has not been asked of any other in order for them to adorn that tricky ecclesial category called “full communion”.

On A Mission -- For Souls ...

This June, the FSSP St. John Bosco Youth Group (Lincoln, NE) is heading to the Dominican Republic joining a mission trip to not only help the local people, but spread the Traditional Latin Mass and Faith. And they need your help.

The mission hosts numerous groups of young people and they do various types of work: building houses, digging latrines, etc. While they perform their corporal works, they'll tackle the spiritual as well.

Fr. Keith O’Hare invited the FSSP because he wants them to teach him the Traditional Mass so he can start offering it regularly at his parish. The Fraternity will be running workshops with him and with his altar boys to get them prepared. At the end of their stay they hope to have a Solemn High Mass in his nearly 500-year-old church in Banica and then another one in an historic church in colonial Santo Domingo.

Friends of Rorate inside the Fraternity tell us this could be "big time" because that city of 8 million people, mostly Catholics, only has one old priest who occasionally says the Mass. This could be the spark that starts the restoration in a critical Catholic area.

You can help the FSSP mission trip in a number of ways: Pray for the success of this venture; Make a tax-deductible donation (checks can be made payable to St. Francis of Assisi Chapel); Buy Mystic Monk Coffee from them or through the Mystic Monk Coffee Drive at www.mmcoffeedrive.com (select “St. John Bosco Youth Group” from the pull down menu. 40% of coffee sales benefit our trip and the remaining proceeds benefit the Carmelite Monks of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Monastery; Sponsor specific items such as missals, vestments, and other necessities for the Traditional Mass; Sponsor a priest or seminarian at $1000; Sponsor a volunteer youth who may not otherwise be able to make the trip: $1400; Any gift you are able to make.

Please consider helping this worthy cause either on your own or by organizing a fundraising effort for the group. Contact StJohnBoscoYouthGroup AT gmail.com for more information (additional contact info on the poster above).

A relevant address: The Pope on Tradition, Ecumenism, and Vatican II

As we know, in vast areas of the earth, faith is in danger of being put out, as a flame that finds no more fuel. We find ourselves before a profound crisis of faith, before a loss of the religious sense that is the greatest challenge for today's Church. The renewal of the faith must thus be the priority in the effort of the entire Church in our day. I hope that the Year of Faith may contribute, with the cordial collaboration of all components of the People of God, to make God present in this world and may open to man acess to the faith, that he may entrust himself to that God who has loved us to the end (cf. John 13,1), in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen.

...

The coherence of the ecumenical effort with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and with the entire Tradition has been one of the areas to which the Congregation, in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, has always paid attention. We can see today not a few good fruits born of the ecumenical dialogues, but we must also recognize that the risk of a false irenicism and of an indifferentism, completely separated from the mind of the Second Vatican Council, demands our vigilance. This indifferentism is caused by the ever more common opinion that truth would not be accessible to man; it would thus be necessary to limit oneself to search for rules for a praxis which would improve the world. And, therefore, faith would be replaced by a moralism with no profound meaning. The center of true ecumenism is, instead, the faith in which man finds truth, that reveals itself in the Word of God. Without faith, the entire ecumenical movement would be reduced to a kind of "social contract" to be joined for a common interest, a "praxeology" for creating a better world. The logic of the Second Vatican Council is completely different: the sincere search for full unity of all Christians is a movement animated by the Word of God, by divine Truth that is spoken to us in this Word.

The crucial problem, that marks in a transversal way the ecumenical dialogues, is, for this reason, the question of the structure of revelation - the relationship between Sacred Scripture, the living Tradition in Holy Church, and the Ministry of the successors of the Apostles as a testimony to the true faith. And here the problematic of ecclesiology, which is part of this problem, is implied: in what way the truth of God reaches us. It is fundamental here, among other things, to distinguish between Tradition, with a capital letter, and traditions. I do not wish to enter in details, but just to make an observation. An important step in this distinction was accomplished in the preparation and application of the provisions for the groups of faithful coming from Anglicanism, who wish to join the full communion of the Church, in the unity of the common and essential divine Tradition, preserving their own spriritual traditions, liturgical and pastoral, that are consistent withh the Catholic Faith (cf. Cost. Anglicanorum coetibus, art. III). There is, in fact, a spiritual wealth in the various Christian confessions that is the expression of the one faith and gift to be shared and to be found together in the Tradition of the Church.

Today, therefore, one of the fundamental questions consists of the problematic of the methods to be adopted in the various ecumenical dialogues. These also must reflect the priority of faith. To know the truth is the right of the interlocutor in every true dialogue. It is the very demand of charity for brother. In this sense, it is necessary to face with courage also the controversial questions, always in the spirit of fraternity and reciprocal respect. It is important to offer a correct interpretation of that "order or 'hierarchy' of truth in Catholic doctrine," mentioned in the Decree Unitatis redintegratio (n. 11), which does not mean in any way to reduce the deposit of faith, but to make emerge the internal structure, the organicity of this one structure. Also the study documents produced by the various ecumenical dialogues have great relevance. Such texts cannot be ignored, because they are an important, though temporary, fruit of the common reflection matured throughout the years. Nevertheless, they are to be recognized in their adequate significance as contributions offered to the competent Authority of the Church, who alone is called to judge them in a definitive way. To ascribe to such texts a binding or almost conclusive weight for the ecclesial Authority would not, in a final analysis, help on the path to a full unity in the faith.

One last question that I would finally wish to mention is the problem of morals, which is a new challenge for the ecumenical path. In the dialogues, we must not forget the great moral questions related to human life, family, sexuality, bioethics, liberty, justice, and peace. It will be important to speak on these matters with only one voice, drawing the foundation on Scripture and on the living tradition of the Church. This tradition helps us understand the language of the Creator in his creation. By defending the fundamental values of the great tradition of the Church, we defend man, we defend creation.

Benedict XVI

Address to the participants of the Plenary Session of the

 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 

January 27, 2012
[Rorate translation]