Justifying my quote--Part I

As Schola Master and Choir Director for the former Toronto Apostolate of the FSSP, I have been quoted in The current edition of The Catholic Register. A friend from Rome has written asking that I justify and clarify me comments:

“The Extraordinary Form is the fullest form of Catholic worship to God,” wrote David Domet, 53. “It is how the Mass was celebrated in Rome for over 1,500 years: it was only codified… at (the 16th-century Council of) Trent to promote uniformity in the rite. The roots of this (liturgy) are (in) the Temple in Jerusalem… The said or sung propers, the psalms of the Mass, connect us with the roots of our faith… When I sing the Gregorian chant and chant the psalms, it is the closest thing we know to the manner in which our Lord Himself would have heard and sung the psalms.”
Part the First: The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite is the fullest form of Catholic worship to God.
Polemic arguments tend to arise when one expresses the opinion that the Holy Mass as celebrated in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite is a fuller and more complete expression of Catholic worship for the greater glory of God and the edification of His people. If indeed this is true, then it would logically follow that the current or more modern liturgical books are somehow deficient in their expression of the fullness of the worship due to God and needed by us. How then can this be argued without descending into a polemical debate clearly out of keeping with the desires of Pope Benedict XVI in his Motu Proprio SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM?

In paragraph 1323, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” As Catholics, we believe that the Consecration of the species through the words of the priest is the re-presentation of the blood atonement of the LORD at Calvary offered once to the Father and brought forward in time and space for us to be present there and Him, here. This is the same in the Extraordinary or Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite and in all of the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church and in the schismatic Orthodox and some other Old Catholic Masses and even a few Anglican Masses said by former Catholic priests or those ordained by the referred to Old Catholic bishops. The Eucharist is confected and therefore the Mass is “validated” by the form, matter and substance. However, the consecration can occur even if done outside of the Holy Mass. Since it is the words of the priest combined with the proper matter the Eucharist can be confected by a priest sitting in shorts at a coffee table outside of the Mass or on a hay-bale wearing blue jeans. The words of consecration make it valid and the sacrifice offered up to the Father; but it is the service of prayer and praise before and after in our Divine Worship that is for the greater glory of God and our edification and it is the lack thereof that may render it illicit, sacrilegious and even sinful. Unless it were Cardinal Nguyễn Văn Thuận in his jail cell putting a drop of wine in his hand and consecrating the Blood of Christ offered up to the Father then such a careless attempt at Mass would be truly, objectively sinful to the LORD. What we do for God cannot equal what He does for us. But whatever we do for Him, we must do all we can with the talents and energy He gives us to reach perfection in our leitourgia—our public duty to Him. This is why the great cathedrals were built over decades and centuries; why Palestrina wrote his four-hundred Masses and motets and why Michaelangelo laboured so expressively in the Sistine Chapel and why when Jedd Clampet put on a suit and tie he referred to it as his "Sunday goin a meetin' " clothes; these simply must be our best!

If it is true that the words of the priest at the Consecration confect the Eucharist then what is the point of the remainder of the Mass? Perhaps as some liturgists and antiquarians suggest, we should return to a practice of early Christians. Therefore, let us go to a Synagogue to sing the Psalms and then go to a private home, have a meal and then at the end of the meal have the Eucharist whilst we recline on cushions on the floor? Perhaps we should just recline spread around any gathering hall imitating the Last Supper of the LORD. This is a debate that raged throughout the professional liturgists over the last forty to fifty years; but their time is ending. Their work has been proven to be dross and they left no progeny to carry it on. We are now at a point of transition as the biological realities take hold.

After the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and as Christianity was spreading, still in the first century, liturgy was developing. No longer did these Christians worship in the synagogue but in their own homes or where possible within separate structures—churches, as have been found recently in parts of what is now, Jordan. In Rome of course, the Christians worshipped in the catacombs. St. Justin Martyr in his First Apology wrote: “On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons.” St. Justin was describing the Mass. Therefore, we know that whatever was being done to celebrate the Eucharist in first century Jerusalem and its surroundings, developed organically by the time of the Saint’s death in 161AD. The Early Church Fathers took the Temple worship as passed on to them by the Apostolic Fathers a Liturgy of the Word and enjoined to it what we now call the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The word Mass comes from ite missa est the dismissal, literally meaning “go, you are sent.” Perhaps the Eastern Rite Catholics and Orthodox express it more clearly where it is called, The Divine Liturgy or Divine Worship.

The Mass as we have it today is from apostolic times which has developed organically as theology developed. Transubstantiation was believed from the very beginning but it was only defined in the time of St. Thomas Aquinas. Surely one would not suggest that we should do away with his teachings or Thomism itself.

To disprove the protestant or evangelical Christian and anti-Catholic claim that the Mass came much later or the opinion of some liturgists in the latter half of the 20th century that true worship should be bare and stripped down as that described above is to ignore the truth as expressed by three ancient rites of the Catholic Church. When the Crusaders came through Mount Lebanon in the 10th century they were surprised to find the Divine Liturgy. While different from what they knew in Europe they recognised the Mass in the Maronite Rite, which is my own background. These Maronite monks knew of “Peter” and after were always united with Rome even though there had been no contact for centuries. Two other rites trace their history back to St. Thomas the Apostle. The Chaldeans (also the Persian Rite) in what is now northern Iraq on the Plains of Ninevah are the oldest indigenous Catholics in the world still on their land (though that is clearly becoming tenuous) and the Nasrani in India, descendants of the ancient Jewish diasporas evangelised in 52AD by this same apostle. Different from those Latin Rite Catholics in Goa and other parts of India, from whom did these learn their liturgy—their public duty if not from the Apostle himself? Yet the liturgy of these "St. Thomas Christians" in what is known as the Syro-Malabar and the Syro-Malankar Rites both bear greater resemblance to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite than the Ordinary. Can anyone deny that the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite in its manner of celebration in many places bears more resemblance to that of the heretical Lutherans or Cranmer’s Elizabethan Prayer Book than of our eastern Christians and our Catholic and Jewish roots?

I mention Jewish roots because that is the root of the Mass and in its Extraordinary Form, the Temple Worship is more clearly present and fulfilled in the Holy Eucharist. I have spoken recently with a Hebrew Catholic who believes that in the Ordinary Form the Catholic Mass has hidden its Jewishness and this is more clearly expressed in the Extraordinary. Since it was this worship that grew organically from the ancient Temple who are we to replace it? Don’t take my word for it, consider what Pope Benedict XVI in The Spirit of the Liturgy wrote: “We abandoned the organic, living process of growth and development over centuries, and replaced it—as in a manufacturing process—with a fabrication, a banal on-the-spot product.”
The Mass is more than the Eucharistic consecration. It is a prayer of thanksgiving—a eucharistia and praise to the Triune God. The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite makes this abundantly clear throughout with the oft repeating of the “Glory be…” and the various prayers addressed specifically to the Holy Trinity. Beginning with the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar (added by Pope Pius V at the Council of Trent but formerly said by the Priest on his way to the Altar) the Bishop or Abbot or Priest and his assisting Ministers and by extension the people present all profess their joy at being present at the Holy of Holies but also their unworthiness. These prayers at the beginning of what we know call the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite establish to us that what we are about to do is something outside of ourselves. It establishes through our words and actions, internally and externally that we are about to do something that is out of the regular.

Throughout the EF, particularly in its sung or solemn form, this is made clear. The depth of the prayers, the invocation of the Trinity, frequent invocation of the Blessed Virgin, the Communion of Saints and the Angels, specifically the Archangel Michael, (such as at the incensing), all invoke great spiritual power. The silent Canon promoting prayer and contemplation and mystery, the elimination of the personality of the priest through the posture, the frequent genuflections to the Real Presence, the reception of Holy Communion in a solemn and dignified manner whilst kneeling, on the tongue and by the consecrated hands of the priest; all of this increases the depth of the peoples prayer and thus, their faith so that they can truly at the end of the Mass, be sent. Within are also the psalms or scripture verses contained in all five Propers which are not optional and cannot be substituted by devotional hymns. They are sung or in the case of a Missa Lecta they are read aloud, but they must be said. The great psalm at the opening prayers at the Foot of the Altar and at the Lavabo together with the Prologue of St. John at the end consistently and continually reinforce the Lex orendi, lex credendi of Catholic life and praxis.

While the above is true, the historical application of liturgical understanding by people was not always apparent and catechises was not always properly provided. But let us not debate that for 1,900 years most people were simply illiterate--yet they seemed to understand more than we. The oft sited remarks of little old ladies with doilies praying their rosary during Mass was why no less than Pope St. Pius X exhorted the people to “pray the Mass.” Now at the dawn of a new century a Pope desired a greater interior attitude amongst the commonfolk. People were no longer illiterate, education was no longer the domain of the wealth or those entering clerical life. The common folk could read, could be fully catechised, the hand missal was available with the people’s tongue written side-by-side with the Latin.

The liturgical movement grew in the 20th century to foster, not change in the liturgy but change in how we approached the liturgy. This is clear in Pope Pius X’s motu proprio Tra le sollecitudini and those documents issued by Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei and De musica sacra et sacra liturgia. These documents exhorted bishops, priests and the faithful to change how we approach and participate in the Mass. It was Pope St. Pius X who coined the phrase “actuoso participationem.” Badly translated as active, actuoso has a deeper meaning to include full, actual or true, it has come to be interpreted as outward activity—externals, if you will, and on the part that we all must by doing something outwardly and forgot what it meant inwardly.

The lack of implementation of the true liturgical movement allowed a false liturgical movement, what became the “spirit of Vatican II” to prevail. That “spirit” invaded Dominicans in North America and Europe whose influence was felt worldwide. Those in the Concilium who put before the Holy Father for promulgation a new liturgy that was something less than what existed before were the greatest purveyors of the false spirit. I have previously made the argument that the post Vatican II liturgical reforms, except for the new Lectionary, were complete by 1965. The Missa Normative of 1970 simply went beyond anything articulated in Sacrosanctam Concilium. However, let me make it clear, this is not an argument that the modern liturgy is invalid; it simply and objectively is less than what it was and must be drawn closer to its historic root. Let me also make it clear that while I attempt to attend Mass as frequently as possible during the week, it is most often in its newer Ordinary Form. What is described above existed for over 1500 years grew organically from the first century. It was and remains the highest form of Catholic worship to God. Therefore, it would follow that removing that from it which made it so makes its replacement somewhat lower in its worship. It does not make it invalid, nor does it discredit, but it simply must follow that if you remove prayers and penances, psalms and the pleading assistance of Saints and Angels then you have lowered its degree of worship. If you turn a ritual that is focused totally on God to one that is more focused on ourselves as is often the case, you cannot help but lower its meaning and its efficaciousness.

This is not to say that all people who attended the former before or now are holier or that those people who do not are less than so. This is not the Pharisee versus the Tax Collector. But, externals are important. The lex orendi, lex credendi, the manner of how our prayer of prayer becomes or influences how we believe is a fact of our sensual nature. If coming in to Mass I am struck with a deep sense of adoration and prayer and worship then I too can be lead to that same sense of deep contemplation and mystery with the meta-physical and the Triune God. If we offer to God and to the people less than that because of our laziness then what are we truly able to gain from it?

Setting aside the currently used banality of the ICEL translation, even the Latin original of the Second Eucharistic Prayer neglects to even mention sacrifice. Before the Holy Mass is a banquet it is a sacrifice. We eat the Eucharist, truly it is a meal, but before that it is an offering—a sacrifice which is made most clear in the Roman Canon or First Eucharistic Prayer. The Mass is first and foremost the re-presentation to the Atonement of Christ the Lamb, sacrificed for us and pre-figured by Abraham (the father) and Isaac carrying the sticks for the sacrifice as Christ carried His Cross. The heavenly Father then provided a substitute sacrifice for Isaac again prefiguring Christ crucified. The blood of the lambs on the doorposts and lintels in Egypt prefigured the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary. The blood of the lambs—pesach, covered the people and saved them from death—just as the blood atonement of Jesus on Calvary covered the sins of the people. All of these sacrifices, those which pre-figured Christ and the one, true and everlasting one of Jesus are made clear in the usus antiquior consistently everywhere. This sacrificial dimension is less clear in the more modern liturgical expression of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. It is there and it can be made clear but it takes more attention on the part of the Priest and Levitical Ministers—liturgists, lectors, cantors. If one sings the Gregorian Propers in English but more particularly in the Latin from the 1972 Graduale Romanum (for the Novus Ordo), one uses the I confess as the Penitential Rite, the Roman Canon or First Eucharistic Prayer and as well if the priest and people face the same direction for the Liturgy of the Eucharist together with the use of incense then the lines are not as blurred. One can also conclude that the number of options and the substitution of the Propers with hymns many of which are not theologically sound combined with the invasion of secular forms of music, contributes profoundly to this deficiency.

To justify the statement that the “The Extraordinary Form is the fullest form of Catholic worship to God,” must be carefully addressed so as not to alienate. The rancour over “which Mass is better” must be avoided. It follows though that if one takes the position that one Form is higher than another then one who prefers another Form could take a position that the former is an elitist or dismissive of other forms of Catholic worship or indeed is becoming pharisaical. But this is not the case. In the EF, we are familiar with the terms High Mass and Low Mass to describe the difference between a Missa Solemnis or Missa Cantata and Missa Lecta. Therefore, we have always acknowledged that there is something “higher.”

Make no mistake. The Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is the normal manner of worship in the Catholic Church. It is edifying and can be celebrated with great beauty and solemnity. This has been proven in Minneapolis at St. Agnes, in Chicago at St. John Cantius in Toronto at The Oratory and in little churches and big cathedrals throughout the world. However, it contains within its basic structure rubrical deficiencies, casualness, variety and a false interpretation that has lead to abuses and as Pope Benedict XVI has himself called, "deformities." Going forward, we simply cannot continue with the same practice undertaken since 1970 or the shenanigans and experimentation with the 1965 Missal. Nor is this to say that there were no abuses prior to the reforms. Any priest that celebrated the Mass in 18 minutes or slurring the words was unfaithful to the liturgy, the need for Mass on the hood of an army jeep, notwithstanding. The fact that Mass is now said in the vernacular and facing the people has exposed Father Experimenter for what he is.

In conclusion, the Holy Father has said that the two Missals, that of 1962 and that of 1970/2002 (which we hope to see by 2012) are two Forms of the one Latin Rite. Legally speaking, both are equal, there is no difference. Objectively speaking, that is simply not possible and the future of the Ordinary is one where it will be shaped by the Extraordinary to bring it fully to the intent of the Fathers of the Council—The Reform of the Reform.

Part II

FURTHER READING:

The Ottaviani Intervention

The Day the Mass Changed Part 1 & 2--Adoremus Society

The Case for the Latin Mass--Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand

A Short History of the Roman Mass--Michael Davies

Anglican Catholic Ordinariate Requested for Canada

The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada has asked for an Ordinariate in the Catholic Church. You can read the complete letter here:

"We have all read and studied with care the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus with the Complementary Norms and the accompanying Commentary. And now, in response to your invitation to contact your Dicastery to begin the process you lay out, we respectfully ask that the Apostolic Constitution be implemented in Canada; that we may establish an interim Governing Council of three priests (or bishops); and that this Council be given the task and authority to propose to His Holiness a terna for appointment of the initial Ordinary."

The long Lent

This long Lent continues.

On a global Catholic level, the depravity of homosexualist infiltration into the spotless Bride of Christ continues. The media in Europe and America and Canada is rejoicing. Father Gabriel Amorth has explained it all quite well. Satan is in the Vatican and there are "cardinals who do not believe in Jesus, and bishops who are linked to the Demon." The enemies of the Church are real and the worst ones are inside Her. Those who agree with Father Amorth or believe that Bella Dodd actually did what she said she did (and no less than Dr. Dietrich von Hilderbrand believed this to be true) are often ridiculed or called conspiracy theorists. Folks, the Catholic Church is under fierce attack by the world and the media and their master, Satan; because She is the Bride of Christ. It is all true friends. Everything. All of it. The Real Presence of the LORD in the Holy Eucharist, Mary, The Vicar of Christ, The Communion of Saints, the Four Last Things, the Antichrist. It is all true and that is why they hate Her and seek to destroy Her and us along with Her!

Friends, put on the "helmet of salvation...the armour of God...gird your loins...run the course and finish the race; keep the faith" Do you think that there is a better way? Not Ganesh, nor is it Buddha nor Mohomat. It is not Hitchens, nor Freemasonry, nor Luther, nor Zwingli not Calvin either; they are lies and from the Prince of Darkness and remember the psalmist admonition to "Put not your trust in princes."

This is going to get worse and you must be ready.

Go to Confession.

Go to Holy Communion.

Go to Mass. Often. More than Sunday.

If you did not go last Sunday then go to Confession for it and whatever else you need to confess on Saturday and repent and fix yourself. Go then to Mass on Sunday and receive Him and do not bring "condemnation upon yourself."

If you do not, then you will not see the truth. The battle is heating up. The battle to destroy our Mother, the Church and to take you straight to Hell.

They hate the Church, they despoiled Her liturgy and they put up roadblocks in every way from stifling Pope Benedict XVI in his work from the Holy Spirit to restore Her and the liturgy both Ordinary to bring it "Just as the hermeneutic of continuity is revealing itself to be ever more important for an adequate understanding of the texts of Vatican Council II" and in the Extraordinary for those who desire it and to provide the example and benchmark to strive for.

On a personal level, amongst many of my friends and the people who have worked so hard over the last 17 months in the Schola Tridentina, and to serve at the Altar of God and who assisted in the pews, this is a long Lent of penance. The departure stings still. The liturgical setback is profound for the spiritual life of the all and I speak here of the choir too, myself included as Cantor and Schola Master, particularly with the Holy Days to come. The departure feels like a betrayal and an abandonment. It matters not the reason or the circumstance. The fact is that whatever the reasons the decision was made or came about to be made, for what was provided or promised or not provided; for vacancies elsewhere or a desire to give up the fight for something more immediate and deemed more important and for a place deemed more worthy; in all of this, for whatever reason, the impact of these decisions by those in authority on the little people seems hardly considered. Had it been considered, there would have been a different outcome. The spiritual needs of the little people were never considered. Just as "the heavens proclaim the greatness of the LORD" so do their actions show what their words cannot. The sense of betrayal and abandonment is real and profound.

Here is something to ponder.

A 73 year old woman using a cane travelled over two hours each way by TTC to attend the only Mass on Wednesday in the whole Archdiocese of Toronto in the manner she preferred to worship; that is four hours on transit for the liturgy she prefers as is her right.

Does this matter to you; to anyone?

The people are hurting yet they are also hoping.

They are waiting and they are longing.

This is their long Lent.

This is our long Lent.

This is my long Lent.

We are in Gethsemane and soon we will be on Calvary.

We know there will come the resurrection.

We hope it will be soon because we have not put our trust in princes, we have put them in the LORD!

Extraordinary Form or Extraordinary Conditions?

From Paix Liturgique

"Catholic tradition is not an Indian reservation. The rehabilitation of the Church's liturgical tradition is the exclusive business neither of the Society of Saint Pius X, nor of the "traddies", nor of French Catholics; it is that of Catholicism as a whole."

Why they are singing Gregorian chant

A priest in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, Father Lawrence Donnelly has a new blog; A Son of St. Philip.

In a recent post, Father Donnelly publishes a letter which he wrote to his parishioners, "Why We Are Singing Gregorian Chant" wherein he articulates clearly the mind of the Church and the desires of the Popes and the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council. This letter is with reference to the celebration there at St. Jude's Parish and Shrine, primarily for the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. One Sunday Mass is in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite integrated fully into the life of the parish and two are in the Ordinary Form in English with Gregorian chant with Solemn Vespers every Sunday afternoon:

"My motive for having you all learn to sing the chant is part of my priestly fidelity to lead you more deeply into the mind of the Church on sacred music and ultimately to enter into the true spirit of the Mass, which the chant, in its beauty, movement and text is geared to do. Admittedly it is a challenge for us all, but once we have a familiarity with this great treasure of the Church, we will find consolation and spiritual benefit."

It really is that easy.

Just do it!

The sublime Sancta Missa Lecta et Musica

With the departure of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter from Toronto, next Sunday at St. Theresa Shrine Church the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form will be a Missa Lecta (Read Mass) or what is more commonly known as Low Mass. There will be NO MUSIC. Hopefully sooner rather than later we will return to the Missa Cantata or Sung Mass.

The Missa Lecta as many remember it gave rise to much of the need for liturgical reform. Bishops, priests and laity did not heed the desires of Pope St. Pius X, XI and XII in fostering the legitimate liturgical movement. Of course, ther was no internet then. The Mass was quiet or done with dated and sappy hymns with the then equivalents of On Eagles' Wings--not much has changed. People knelt and prayed the rosary or read a devotional book. They did not respond in dialogue, they did not read the Mass nor sing and the choir rarely sang the Propers and often a hybrid Mass was attempted with some of it sung and most of it not, all rubrically speaking, incorrect. Liturgical abuse or carelessness is not new and some priests said the Missa Lecta in 18 minutes! The line from the Elvis Presley, Mary Tyler Moore film, Change of Habit summed it up pretty good; "I liked the old days when we could come to church and not do a blessed thing!" That was a reference to the above and it was a film from about 1968 and as part of its finale it displayed the abrupt changes to the Mass prior to the promulgation of the 1970 Missal, it was an ugly time for liturgy including an offertory procession and a doo-wop trio.

Given that the resources were not always available for a Missa Solemnis or Missa Cantata and considering Sunday should not be simply a Missa Lecta (unless circumstances prevent anything else), what should this more basic liturgy look like?

Let us look very briefly at the different levels of what is now referred to as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Keep in mind though that notwithstanding what some may say, the so-called Tridentine or Trent Mass was not composed there. The Council of Trent codified or made the Mass as it was celebrated in Rome the norm for the whole Latin Church except for certain ancient rites such as the Mozarabic and Ambrosian or the Sarum had their been no English schism and certain rites under the purview of religious orders such as the Carmelite or Dominican Rites. There were no printing presses until a few decades before Trent so a consistent rubric before this was not necessarily possible.

Arising out the catacombs the Mass was more or less organised in its current form by the sixty century. It was celebrated by the bishop assisted in his cathedral by his priests or by the Abbot in the monastery. These were generally at the centre of town or in the countryside where the people would travel. The Mass would have always been sung and was what we would refer to now as a Missa Ponticalis (Pontifical Mass celebrated by a bishop). The first part of the Mass up to the Mass of the Faithful (Liturgy of the Eucharist in the Ordinary Form) was from the cathedra or chair. This is now replicated by the priest in the Ordinary Form. As time progressed and a bishop was not always available the Mass without the bishop became known as a Missa Solemnis or Solemn Mass with the bishop's role taken by the priest assisted by a deacon and subdeacon and celebrated exclusively at the altar. From this came the Missa Cantata utilised when deacon and subdeacon were not available and then the Missa Lecta or Read Mass. As apostolate orders such as the Franciscans developed and village churches were opened the Missa Lecta became commonplace. Our history in Canada is mostly that of the quiet Mass, much of it because of the silent masses necessary in Ireland due to priestly persecution and often necessarily said in houses or barns or in the forest. Eventually, music was added to the Missa Lecta and this is primarily what people would remember from the days before the reforms following the Second Vatican Council. The Missa Cantata or Missa Solemnis was a rarity because the whole Mass must be sung. As an aside, this was one of the reasons that Msgr. John Edward Ronan founded St. Michael's Cathedral Schola (now St. Michael's Choir School.)

A Missa Lecta is a deeply meditative and contemplative union with God. Whenever possible during the week, it is something I will go out of my way to attend. You need a missal so that you can undertake actuoso participationem as so desired by Pope St. Pius X and you leave the rosary or private devotional book alone. You are not illiterate and this is not your grandmother's Low Mass. As we were told by Pope Pius XI in Divini cultus, Dec. 20, 1928 we are to be at Mass "not as strangers or mute spectators" but as we were advised by Pope Saint Pius X in Tra le sollecitudini, we are to engage in "actuso particpatonem." But on Sundays and Feasts or Solemnites the Mass should always be sung, though every Mass could certainly be sung and their are Gregorian Propers for every day of the year.

Depending on the local custom you may dialogue with the priest fully or partially. That is, you may recite the Server's part for the Prayer at the Foot of the Altar (not usually recommended) and undertake the responses to the priest. The Altar Server at as Missa Lecta is actually standing in for the deacon by ancient indult. Most will remember only the Server responding. However, Popes St. Pius X and Pius XII and the true liturgical movement of the nineteenth and twentieth century encouraged the people to take their part, though many resisted and still do. Again, depending on the local culture, the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus may be said with the priest. Beginning in 1922, this was encouraged by Pope Pius XI as the Missa Dialogata or Dialogue Mass. It's popularity in Europe was generally confined to France and the Low Countries and resisted firmly in Ireland and in never really took hold in North America though it was not unheard of in Quebec.

The proof of what I say follows. Again, from Pope Pius XII "Da musica sacra:"

30. The faithful can participate another way at the Eucharistic Sacrifice by saying prayers together or by singing hymns. The prayers and hymns must be chosen appropriately for the respective parts of the Mass, and as indicated in paragraph 14c.

31. A final method of participation, and the most perfect form, is for the congregation to make the liturgical responses to the prayers of the priest, thus holding a sort of dialogue with him, and reciting aloud the parts which properly belong to them.

There are four degrees or stages of this participation:

a) First, the congregation may make the easier liturgical responses to the prayers of the priest: Amen; Et cum spiritu tuo; Deo gratias; Gloria tibi Domine; Laus tibi, Christe; Habemus ad Dominum; Dignum et justum est; Sed libera nos a malo;

b) Secondly, the congregation may also say prayers, which, according to the rubrics, are said by the server, including the Confiteor, and the triple Domine non sum dignus before the faithful receive Holy Communion;

c) Thirdly, the congregation may say aloud with the celebrant parts of the Ordinary of the Mass: Gloria in excelsis Deo; Credo; Sanctus-Benedictus; Agnus Dei;

d) Fourthly, the congregation may also recite with the priest parts of the Proper of the Mass: Introit, Gradual, Offertory, Communion. Only more advanced groups who have been well trained will be able to participate with becoming dignity in this manner.

32. Since the Pater Noster is a fitting, and ancient prayer of preparation for Communion, the entire congregation may recite this prayer in unison with the priest in low Masses; the Amen at the end is to be said by all. This is to be done only in Latin, never in the vernacular.

This is the Mass that you pray most intimately with the priest. Most of it is on kneeling, sitting only for the Epistle and from after the Credo to the Sanctus with the remainder kneeling, though one may sit after the Ablutions. One would stand for the entrance, Gospel and Credo and Last Gospel. Whether silent or in dialogue, the Missa Lecta is sublime. As referred to, if one follows the whole Mass with the priest and even silently in one's mind reads the whole Mass in time with the priest, it is the most active or actual participation in the Holy Mass that any Catholic can undertake.

Eventually music was added to the Missa Lecta, particuarly on Sundays. But because of the difficulty of a full Missa Cantata with sung Gregorian propers and the priest chanting the epistle and gospel a "hybrid" developed with the singing of the Kyrie or Sanctus and Agnus Dei as an example and perhaps a hymn. While this is what many remember, this was not in keeping with the rubrics. The Rossini Propers were meant to be the answer here for some parishes.

For the next little while, we will undertake the Mass at St. Theresa as a Missa Lecta et Musicam and we will do it according to the rubrics. This is very important for anyone moving forward with the Extraordinary Form. Until Rome issues new rubrics if it even will we must look carefully at what was intended in every way we celebrate the EF.

Based on the document from Pope Pius XII, De musica sacra et sacra liturgia; let's look at what the Congregation of Rites, the predecessor of today's Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments had to say, quoted here at length on September 3, 1958 pp47, 48 of the 1959 Edition of Matters Liturgical:

"First of all, such popular religious hymns are greatly to be commended and esteemed, since they constitute a most effective means in directing the minds of the faithful to heavenly things and in imbuing the Christian life with a genuine religious spirit. Strongly to be encouraged for pious exercises, they can only be sung at liturgical functions "when this is expressly permitted."

"English hymns are expressly permitted during a Low Mass, but in general expressly forbidden during a High Mass: Hymns in the vernacular are permitted at a Low Mass, on condition that their theme corresponds to the part of the Mass at which they are sung. This means that a theme of sacrifice or offering is retained at the Offertory, of thanksgiving, love of God or any similar theme at Communion time. However, the singing of vernacular hymns at a sung Mass or Missa Cantata is manifestly an abuse that can only be tolerated when backed up by a long standing custom that has lasted for over a century: They [hymns in the vernacular] are permitted at a Mass in chant only in the case of a centenary or immemorial custom, which in the judgment of the local Ordinary cannot prudently be suppressed."

What the above will looks like with a few posture lyrics follows; here is a sample Missa Lecta, for Lent:

Choral Preludes: Audi Begnigne Conditor & Parce Domine
Processional Hymn: LORD, Who Throughout These Forty Days
Prayers at the Foot of the Altar--kneel
Epistle--sit
Gospel--stand as priest moves to Gospel side of Altar
Homily--sit (stand for Gospel if read in vernacular)
Credo--stand (genuflect at "et incarnatus est...")
Offertory--sit
Offertory Hymn: Attende Domine
Sanctus--kneel
Communion Chant: Responsory from Ash Wednesday, Emendemus in melius
Communion Hymn: Ave Verum Corpus-chant
Second ablution--sit
Last Gospel--stand
Marian Antiphon: Ave Regina Caelorum
Recessional Hymn: Forty Days and Forty Nights

Oh, notice something? For good or ill, this is the origin of the Ordinary Form's four-hymn sandwich; and we still don' sing the Propers even though they are in the book!

Last Mass (for now) of Toronto FSSP Apostolate

They came from Brampton and from Stouffville, from Peterborough and Niagara Falls, from Hamilton and from Mississauga. They came; 155 Catholics. They came to the worship God in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form and to say good bye, or perhaps until we meet again, to Father Howard Venette, FSSP and the wonderful experiment of the Toronto Apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

It will be a Missa Lecta or Low Mass for now. The choir will remain for the time being and provide a simplified music program; the Ordinary (Asperges, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus) and the Propers (Introit, Gradual, Alleluia/Tract, Offertory and Communion) are not sung and none must be sung in accord with the rubrics. But we will present a simplified Mass to encourage the people not to lose heart and to assist them as best we can with expressing their love of the Mass through music. There will be a Processional and Recessional hymn in English, the Marian Antiphon to conclude Mass and a Latin chant, antiphon, hymn, motet or responsory during the Offertory and Communion. While the rubrics permit a vernacular hymn at the Offertory and Communion provided it is in keeping with those to actions, we will remain with Latin. We certainly have enough seasonal repertoire. (Nota bene; Since this was written the priest has decided that the Mass will be a Missa Lecta or Low Mass with no music).

The Toronto Traditional Mass Society is a registered member of International Federation Una Voce, which you should join. Your support is needed.

As well, you might consider joining the Facebook site.

On behalf of all of those at St. Theresa's Latin Mass Community thank you to Father Howard Venette for the last 19 months of his faithful and prayerful chaplaincy. Thank you to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter for coming to Toronto and bringing us many blessings. Thank you to His Grace, Archbishop Thomas Collins for inviting them here and for the public commitment to invite them back again when the circumstances are more appropriate.

We hope and pray that this is not good-bye, but only until we meet again, and that our waiting may be short.

Getting There From Here

To shock you into where we need to go from here, it is important to preserve this evidence lest we forget what is at stake. Now, this is an extreme liturgical abuse and clearly not indicative of the Mass in Toronto but it was allowed to happen. It took place on July 2, 2006 (prior to the appointment of Archbishop Thomas Collins). This is a magnificent century-old stone classical Church in the east end of downtown Toronto, St. Ann's.

 

On February 2, 2009, at St. Brigid's not far from St. Ann's but as far as what you saw above could be short of a Missa Pontificalis, Father Howard Venette, FSSP assisted by transitional deacons and seminarians from St. Augustine's Seminary celebrates as Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

This is the truest Catholic worship to Almighty God. The first three pictures are a matter of sacrilege and false theology that is more pagan than Catholic.

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While the FSSP will leave Toronto, the Mass will continue at St. Theresa Shrine Church on Kingston Road at Midland. The Mass will continue at 1:00 with a retired priest as a Low Mass. The goal is a stable and consistent parish where, if not exclusive, at least the shared and integrated existence where both "Forms of the Roman Rite" can co-exist and compliment each other in a normal parish life.

Father Michael Eades, C.O. celebrating his first Solemn High Mass at The Oratory (St. Vincent de Paul Church) on Pentecost Sunday 2009. Father Eades, C.O. was ordained at The Oratory (Holy Family) by Archbishop Thomas Collins on the feast of their founder, St. Phlip Neri only a few days before, Father Eades first Mass the next day was in the Extrordinary Form.

This already exists in Toronto and it is at The Oratory (above photo). The good Fathers there in addition to their own House and Seminary operate two diocesan parishes, Holy Family and St. Vincent de Paul. The usus antiquior (ancient use) is offered daily at Holy Family as a Missa Lecta and Sunday at St. Vincent's as a Missa Cantata and moving more frequently towards the Missa Solemnis. This is ideal and what Pope Benedict XVI hopes for by his motu proprio; that the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms can co-exist side-by-side and integrated into parish life. At this place, there is no rancour or dispute or debate about which is "better" or brings one "close to God." There is no "us and them" mentality; no pre or post-Vatican II Church. There is only one Church. Go to Vespers and you will find people that attend both Forms. Go to the 8:30 on Saturday to the usus antiquior and you'll find someone there who was at the 5:30 Novus Ordo the afternoon before. No complaint, just sinful people trying to be better and working at their salvation in fear and trembling and accepting and praying and doing that which the Church asks. Present them both, and let the Holy Spirit do His work. To be sure, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is a wonderful grace. Similar is the Institute of Christ the King. The challenge though, which has been clearly evident at St. Theresa Shrine parish is that before and after the FSSP's arrival, the Traditional Latin Mass there has been ghettoized. Very few attendees actually lived within the boundaries of the parish and those who did rarely ventured in at 1:00. To the "real" parish, it was like these people were intruders at worst or didn't even exist at best. When I first arrived as Cantor and to build the choir in Advent 2008 (and singing from the front it was easy to see) there were on some Sundays 40 maybe 50 people. It's an old habit of choir directors from the loft to count. In the summer of 2009, I was embarrassed to see it even drop to about 30. But then something happened. More publicity was being created on blogs and the internet about the Mass in other parts of North America and around the world. The motu proprio was becoming more known and the word was getting out. EWTN continued to broadcast from the Shrine special Masses by the FSSP and people came to realize that the Fraternity was actually here. We were consistent with our Missa Cantata on Sundays and Feast Days and Solemnities and the Chaplain worked to cultivate the vineyard. By autumn it started to increase, slowly. Throughout January 2009 the attendees were consistently moving up to 70, 80 even a few more. Lest anyone forget their math. If we said that typical attendance was 40 in December 2008 and in January 2009 it was consistently 80 that is a 100% increase in attendance. It was my view that by next Christmas we would be up a similar amount. That is how fast it was growing.

And better still, they were not little ladies with doilies on their heads (forgive me please). These new congregants were younger, with children and they were not even born before 1970. They could hardly be accused of "nostalgia neurosis" as was said once by a long since retired Ottawa Archbishop Emeritus about Gregorian chant. Some going tto St. Theresa's for years and sitting up front insist they always had 80 to 100 people. This is simply not true. Before the arrival of Father Howard Venette, before the fully implemented Gregorian chant, the choir and the publicity, this little Latin Mass community was on life support. The laity there did little to nothing to promote the Mass or support Una Voce Toronto, lobby, write or encourage anyone to attend. It was a closed and quiet little group and if we are not careful, that is what it will return to. People attending the usus aniquior in other parts of Toronto did nothing to support these or Una Voce. All have been pretty passive and complacent. As a fruit of the last 19 months of the Fraternity's presence, there are two young men who are discerning a call to the priesthood. Yes, you read that correctly. Two. Young. Men. Discerning the call to the priesthood. In 19 months! The responsibility now to move forward lies with all the laity there. Una Voce Toronto requires more support. There are people attending St. Theresa Shrine who do not belong to this most important international association. There are people attending the Latin Mass in other parts of Toronto who have not joined.

Join the Toronto Traditional Mass Society-Una Voce. Now! Join Latin Mass Toronto on Facebook. Now! So what are the solutions?

• In a perfect world, the Pastor at St. Theresa Shrine Church would simply undertake to celebrate the Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The people after all, do take up the collection which goes to the parish.
• If the above is not possible, then a "Chaplain" needs to be appointed to undertake this as a mission on Sundays.
• The appropriate solution is that at St. Theresa Shrine Church or another church in the east of Toronto where the Sunday Mass can move, the Mass in the Extraordinary Form needs to be offered daily and on Solemnities and Feasts in the normal life of a parish undertaken by a visiting Chaplain or Parish Priest or Associate.
• For the people of God, the importance of it being in one location, daily cannot be underestimated. This would also serve to re-invigorate a needy parish with more people, more life and more--dare I say funds! (The fact is, Latin Mass attendees, while they still may not tithe are usually generous so that they can preserve what they have).

The four points above are the short-term solution to the departure of the Fraternity of St. Peter from Toronto. The odds of a whole parish building being given over to the FSSP or the Institute of Christ the King (ICK) or their attendance here, at least in the short term, are not great. Further, the fact of the matter is that even if the congregation was 200 a week, the collection, may still not be sufficient to maintain the salaries of a priest and secretary and the property. Let's face it; there are some beautiful churches in east Toronto where this Mass could blossom, Holy Name, St. Ann's, Canadian Martyrs, and Immaculate Heart of Mary to name four. All have declining attendance but taking over a building of the ages of these by a small group would not be sustainable. The "sharing" of a parish and "integration" is the short-term answer and this would also prevent the ghettoization which currently exists at St. Theresa Shrine.

The Archdiocese of Toronto also has a responsibility to fully implement the Holy Father's desires in Summorum Pontificum. Clearly it is a chicken and egg scenario. On one hand, if there is no demand what is the Chancery to do? On the other hand, if they do not promote SP how can people respond? So far, the growth has been because of individual discovery, probably through the internet. But is this really what the Holy Father wanted when he referred to the gravitational pull of "two forms of one Roman Rite?" After the implementation of the four points above both the Archdiocese of Toronto and St. Augustine's Seminary should consider the following:d

• Mandatory training of all Seminarians in both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite at St. Augustine's Seminary in both its practicum and theology. I say "mandatory" so that these priests in the future can fulfill the obligations of Summorum Pontificum. Let us assume that a priest in Brampton establishes as part of the regular parish life through the request of a stable group or at his own initiative as announced last week by Ecclesia Dei; he is transferred to a new parish, and the new priest arriving must be able to serve the people in a liturgical manner desired. How could a priest be appointed to tell an existing group of 50 or 200 that "I won't say the EF? This is not a good scenario.
• Refresher courses for those elderly priests trained prior to the reforms who may wish to celebrate it; and, courses for priests who wish to learn it to implement it in their parishes.
• Establishment of firm guidelines from a "liturgical" office on what is appropriate and what is not for example; the question of the distribution of Holy Communion (the hand and EMHCs are not appropriate liturgically and are within the purview of the Local Ordinary to regulate), gender of Altar Servers (see the last), manner of celebrating Missa Lecta with music (we are not sure how the 1967 Musicam Sacram applies to the 1962 Missal. Currently, the Missa Lecta cannot have a sung ordinary (Kyrie, Gloria, etc.) but it can have an opening and recessional hymn in English, Latin at Offertory and Communion but no Sung Propers or Ordinary). These are important questions which will need to be addressed, certainly locally but also by Rome. The prospect of these "indults" of communion-in-the-hand, the use of EMHC's (and their overuse) and Altar Girls would not allow us to move forward in peace and would provoke severe debate from those who desire the more traditional form of worship.
• The eventual holding of a conference in and sponsored by the Archdiocese of Toronto on Summorum Pontificum.
• In a perfect world, the eventual celebration of a Pontifical High Mass at St. Michael's Cathedral, (I hear they have a pretty excellent choir), thus showing to all Catholics in Toronto that this is part of the Church's life.d

In the Holy Father's letter accompanying the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum he wrote "It is true that there have been exaggerations and at times social aspects unduly linked to the attitude of the faithful attached to the ancient Latin liturgical tradition. Your charity and pastoral prudence will be an incentive and guide for improving these." He further added that "Looking back over the past, to the divisions which in the course of the centuries have rent the Body of Christ, one continually has the impression that, at critical moments when divisions were coming about, not enough was done by the Church or its leaders to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity. One has the impression that omissions on the part of the Church have had their share of the blame for the fact that these divisions were able to harden."

All of us need to move forward, but those who desire the liturgical ebb and flow and marking of the usus antiquior desperately need pastoral outreach. I think this is what the Holy Father refers to above.

This must never be a debate about which is better, the OF or EF? Many of you know I assist with my professional skills at both and when I usually attend Mass during the week it is in the Ordinary Form.

But one thing that has hardened "traditionalists" is at the top of this blog and what follows below.

In Summorum pontificum the Holy Father went on to write: "Many people who clearly accepted the binding character of the Second Vatican Council, and were faithful to the Pope and the Bishops, nonetheless also desired to recover the form of the sacred liturgy that was dear to them. This occurred above all because in many places celebrations were not faithful to the prescriptions of the new Missal, but the latter actually was understood as authorizing or even requiring creativity, which frequently led to deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear. I am speaking from experience, since I too lived through that period with all its hopes and its confusion. And I have seen how arbitrary deformations of the liturgy caused deep pain to individuals totally rooted in the faith of the Church"

In case we need a reminder of what Pope Benedict XVI, was referring to; what you see below occurred in June 2008 at the Jesuit Farm near Guelph in the Diocese of Hamilton, and this is a priest, Father Jim Profit, S.J., becoming "one with the earth." I don't think anything this bad happened in Toronto since the "hindu" Mass at St. Ann's as referenced above.

Fr. Jim Profit offers the sacrifice of the Mass as a sacrament which connects us to God's creation at the Jesuit farm in Guelph, Ont., June 1. (Photos by Michael Swan)