New Liturgical Movement

Confirmations at St. James, Spanish Place

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:58:00 +0000

Blogger Mulier Fortis sent news to the NLM today of Confirmations in the usus antiquior from St. James, Spanish Place in London -- a beautiful church in the heart of the city.

Fr. Tim Finigan (of the Hermeneutic of Continuity) and Fr. Andrew Southwell assisted Bishop George Stack.

Visiting Rome Virtually

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:29:00 +0000

Those of you who have never visited Rome, or who simply wish to revisit it, may be interested to know that Google Maps has a rather interesting feature that will allow you to do it "virtually" in a rather unique way that is actually somewhat proximate to being there, walking those streets.

I have been rather interested in this Google feature for some time, and no doubt, many will already be aware of it, but I am sure many others are not.

If you go to Google Maps and double click on the maps, zooming in, eventually you will be taken to views such as these:

(Ss. Trinita, the FSSP parish in Rome)

(The Pantheon, Sancta Maria ad Martyres)

You can do this with Rome, Paris, London, Oxford or many other cities as well.

The interesting thing about this method is you can look around in almost 360 degrees, and you can actually "walk" along the path as though you were walking along the roads in person.

It is a very interesting feature.

Different Forms of Altars as Historically Seen in St. Joseph's Cathedral, Sioux Falls

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:30:00 +0000

We recently shared news about a renovation that is taking place at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Sioux Falls, South Dakota -- a post which stirred up some very interesting debate and discussion surrounding the specific plans for the high altar and its new ciborium.

On a related note, as it concerns the high altar of this cathedral that is, one of our readers sent in some historical photographs of the various high altars that have adorned the sanctuary of this cathedral over the years.

These photos provide some interesting views of different forms and styles of altars within the context of one and the same building; accordingly they also provide a vehicle for the more general consideration of different forms of altars found within our tradition. Beyond this, they may also be understood as showing forth some of the trends and movements that were to be found within the 20th century Liturgical Movement as it related to church furnishing.

The original high altar

The second high altar

The third high altar; a ciborium magnum

This photograph shows the ciborium and altar rather better in the context of an ordination

Comparisons such as these certainly invite us to consider the various forms of the altar that we have seen within our liturgical tradition. Those interested in this sort of subject may be interested in re-reading: The History and Forms of the Christian Altar. Part 1: The Early Christian and Early Roman Forms. (The series is as yet unfinished, but not forgotten.)

Living a Liturgical Life: Customs of Advent

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:33:00 +0000

It may seem strange, just on the heels of All Saints and All Souls, to be discussing the Season of Advent, the beginning of the liturgical year in the West, but in point of fact Advent is only three weeks away, beginning with the First Vespers of Sunday, Saturday evening, November 28th.

Accordingly, those of you who have taken in earnest the idea of living a liturgical life, you will want to begin to consider how you might manifest this, this coming Advent season.

The primary way to manifest this of course, as in all times of the liturgical year, is by way of the Mass and the Divine Office itself. By this, I am referring to going to Mass and praying the Divine Office of course. A further extension or supplement to this might also be found in the practice of prayerfully and meditatively lingering on the liturgical texts of the Proper, such as the introits or collects for instance.

Secondarily however, cultural and domestic customs can also be of importance for they can further tie us to the liturgical feasts and seasons in their own particular ways. Typically these are manifest through family customs of prayer and ritual, through special foods associated with the season and so forth. Advent is one of the times of the liturgical year which (like Christmas) has seen a number of rich customs and traditions developed around it, particularly within Northern Europe -- some of which have spread to other parts of the world as well.

Accordingly, it is our hope to pursue a consideration here in the coming weeks of at least some of these Advent customs and traditions, both for interest's sake, and also that it might be of some personal inspiration or use.

While the emphasis here is Northern Europe, those of you who would like to submit particular cultural customs associated with Advent from your own regions of the world, please do feel free to write in with them for consideration.

In the meantime, I am hopeful this will serve as a reminder that in establishing for ourselves or for our families a liturgical life, until habits and customs are firmly re-established, we need to make considerations and preparations for how we will approach this in our own circumstances, lest these opportunities and enrichments potentially slip by.

Latin Table Blessing

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:11:00 +0000

Many people have written me to ask for the copy of the Latin table blessing that the MusicaSacra forum distributes. Glad to provide this link. Every family should consider using this at every meal. It is a fantastic way to teach both Latin and music.

Transalpine Redemporists Issue Liturgical Wall Calendar

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:23:00 +0000

It is that time of year again when we should begin to think of purchasing a Catholic liturgical wall calendar for the forthcoming calendar year.

Liturgical calendars are very useful for living a liturgical life for they remind us and provide us with easy access to the particular feasts of a given day, they tell us of the particular Sunday and week in liturgical time, and they also bring before us the liturgical seasons. They are both useful in their own regard and also helpful for those who have taken up the practice of praying the Divine Office for instance -- amongst other benefits.

Some people will select a calendar that follows the modern Roman calendar, others the calendar of the usus antiquior, while still others opt for a liturgical calendar that includes both liturgical calendars, or they will buy one of each.

Today, the Transalpine Redemportists contacted the NLM to let us know of the release of their own liturgical wall calendar -- their very first.

They describe the calendar as a "liturgical one with daily brief mention of feasts and other pious and holy commemorations" and I would presume this particular calendar would follow the liturgical feasts and seasons of the usus antiquior given that this is their own liturgical focus.

Here is what they have to say about it:

Here in the monastery we are busy preparing something new for 2010 — the Papa Stronsay Calendar.

It is the first time we have printed a wall calendar and we hope that it will be for all of our friends and readers an uplifting companion during the forthcoming year. Our calendar shows you the feastdays and holy seasons at a glance with beautiful images from the monastery island of Papa Stronsay in 2009.

What we now need to know is what the response will be to the publication. Each Catholic subscriber is going to receive a copy free with their paper but what we must find out is how many extras we must print. Hence this post.

Extra calendars, in full colour and printed on glossy paper, cost £5 each.

For more information, including how to order, please visit their website. They are in need of knowing how many they need to produce in the coming weeks, so if this particular calendar is of interest to you, now is the time to order.

Old St. Paul’s, London

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:30:00 +0000

Within certain streams of English culture, one is rather accustomed to hearing occasional references to "the Dome of St. Paul's." This, of course, is made in reference to St. Paul's in London, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. (See right)

Today Andrew Cusack reminds us of what preceded Wren's St. Paul's; the mediaeval gothic structure now known as Old St. Paul's.

Here are just two of the drawings Andrew provides.

Do look at the other drawings he provides.

Additionally, I found one other drawing which shows the great church with its spire yet in tact:

More from Catholic Italy: Santuario di N.S. Dell'Assunta, San Remo, on All Saints

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:35:00 +0000

The Italian blog Messa in Latino have up some more beautiful photographs of an All Saints Day Mass in San Remo, Italy, from Maranatha.it.

The Mass was celebrated by Monsignor Vittorio Marteletti, rector of the Santuario di N.S. Dell'Assunta, San Remo. The art and architecture of this church is quite stunning to say the least.

Here are a selection of their photographs.

One Priest Shares His Impressions of Celebrating Sung Vespers in His Country Parish

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 +0000

"Pastors of souls should see to it that the chief hours, especially Vespers, are celebrated in common in church on Sundays and the more solemn feasts. And the laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually."
-- Sacrosanctum Concilium, para. 100

* * *

A priest of my acquaintance, Fr. Paul Nicholson, recently undertook, for the first time, Sung Vespers in his parish of St. Patrick's in Kinkora, Ontario -- which parish and priest we also recently showed to you in the context of their Sung Requiem Mass offered there on All Souls Day.

As part of the NLM's continued efforts to promote the use of the Divine Office both on the part of laity within the privacy of their own homes and also within the public context of the parish church, I asked Father if he would mind sharing a brief consideration of this endeavour and his experience of it so that it might help to inspire each of us, both as it relates to our own personal practice, and also as it relates a revival of Sung Vespers within our parish practice.

Here is that consideration.

I come from a very small country church where Vespers has not been sung for at least two or three generations. Recently, I discovered a schola from a nearby city and they graciously offered to come to the parish to sing the Vespers of All Saints (according to the more ancient usage).

St. Patrick's Church, Kinkora, Ontario

I borrowed a splendid cope from a young priest and sent out the word to my parishioners that, yes, we would be having Sung Vespers on All Saints Day!

I am pretty confident in saying that if this can be coordinated in my country parish in Kinkora, Ontario, it can surely happen in most any parish with a little determination!

We were by no means celebrating Solemn Vespers to the level of a Brompton Oratory of course; we were just one country priest and a few country folk endeavouring to praise God according to the Church's more ancient forms. And what a splendid moment it was! It was liberating to place oneself before Our Lord, to praise Him, by simply being. St. Augustine says in his Confessions: "How I wept when I heard your hymns and canticles, being deeply moved by the sweet singing of your Church. Those voices flowed into my ears, truth filtered into my heart, and from my heart surged waves of devotion. Tears ran down, and I was happy in my tears."

With Vespers sung in the local church, we give people a pattern for prayer and allow truth an easy entry.

I had heard of other parish priests, often in small, out of the way parishes, celebrating choral vespers with the help of some very talented people. They were not afraid to go "outside the parish" to find assistance to provide a unique liturigical enrichment to the parish. I thought that if they could do it, so could we!

Having Sung Vespers is not like other parochial events. Attendance may be small and there is no way to gauge the effect, but that is precisely what parishes need at this time. People need to surrender from the business model of doing things to simply being in the Lord's presence.

I highly encourage other parish priests to make an attempt at having Sung Vespers.

Fr. Paul Nicholson celebrating Sung Vespers

Some Images of Today's Papal Mass for Deceased Cardinals and Bishops

noreply@blogger.com (Gregor Kollmorgen) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:56:00 +0000

As is customary, the Holy Father today celebrated Mass at the altar of the Chair of St. Peter's for the Cardinals and Bishop who died in the course of the last year. Some particularly beautiful images have become available through Daylife (click to enlarge):

(In the picture above, note that the prie-Dieu used for Holy Communion bears the coat of arms of Pope Benedict)

The Holiness of Beauty and the Beauty of Holiness

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:42:00 +0000

(Photo source unknown)

Martin Mosebach and Others Appeal to Benedict on Sacred Art and Music

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:54:00 +0000

From Sandro Magister's Chiesa site today.

An appeal to Benedict XVI "for the return to an authentically Catholic sacred art." The main signatory is the great German writer Martin Mosebach. And in the meantime, the meeting between the pope and artists in the Sistine Chapel is drawing near

by Sandro Magister

ROME, November 5, 2009 – A few days before the meeting announced for November 21 between the pope and artists in the Sistine Chapel, an appeal anticipating its principal motivation has already come to Benedict XVI's desk.

The appeal is "for the return to an authentically Catholic sacred art," and was signed not by artists, but by scholars and other figures who are passionately concerned, for various reasons, about the fate of Christian art. Two names stand out above all: Martin Mosebach, and Enrico Maria Radaelli.

Mosebach is an established German writer whom Joseph Ratzinger knows well. His latest book: "The heresy of the shapeless [Formlessness]. The Roman liturgy and its enemy" was published this year, including an Italian edition by Cantagalli. And it is a stunning apologia on behalf of great Christian art, and more than that, of the Catholic liturgy itself as art. With biting invective against the iconoclasm that reigns today within the Catholic Church itself.

Radaelli, a disciple of the great Catholic philosopher and philologist Romano Amerio, is a sophisticated scholar of theological aesthetics. His masterpiece is: "Ingresso alla bellezza [Entryway to beauty]," released in 2008, a magnificent introduction into the mystery of God through his "Imago," which is Christ. Beauty as the manifestation of the truth.

The appeal was born from seminars held in recent months in the library of the pontifical commission for the cultural heritage of the Church, hosted by the vice-president of this Vatican commission, Benedictine abbot Michael J. Zielinski. Active participants in the meetings included Fr. Nicola Bux and Fr. Uwe Michael Lang, consultants for the office of papal liturgical celebrations. Fr. Lang is also an official at the congregation for divine worship. But no clergyman figures among the promoters of the appeal, not to mention any Vatican official. The signatories are laymen, of various competencies and professions.

After a brief introduction, the test unfolds in seven small chapters dedicated to the causes of the current fracture between the Church and art, to theological references, to the commission, to the artists, to the sacred space, to sacred music, to the liturgy.

And it ends with the appeal itself, which is formulated in this way:

"For all the reasons set out above, we are eager to receive from Your Holiness a fatherly listening and the merciful attention of the Vicar of Christ. We beseech you, Holy Father, to read in our heartfelt appeal our most pressing concern for the appalling conditions of contemporary sacred art and sacred architecture, as well as a modest and most humble request for your help so that sacred art and architecture can once again be truly Catholic. This so that the faithful can again enjoy the sense of wonder and rejoice once again at the presence of the beauty in God's House. This so that the Church can be once more regain her rightful place, in this era of irrational, mundane and malforming barbarism, as a true and attentive promoter and custodian of an art that is both new and truly "original": an art that today as always flowers in every age of progress, which reflowers from its ancient roots and eternal origin, faithful to the most intimate sense of Beauty that shines in the Truth of Christ."

The complete text with the list of signatories can be read, in multiple languages, on the website created for this purpose:

Appeal to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for an authentically Catholic sacred art

The following is a sample chapter:

VI. SACRED MUSIC AND LITURGICAL CHANT

Holy Father, the Church has today the opportunity to regain his "highly" role in the magisterium of music, mainly in the field of sacred music and liturgical chant, which must necessarily respond to the categories of "good" and "right" for their intimate connection, not just correspondence, with the liturgy itself (Paul VI, Address to the singers of the papal chapel, March 12th, 1964).

In the ancient history of Christianity the dialectical relationship between sacred music and secular music has produced many times the intervention of the Church to "clean up the building of the Roman liturgy" (a term explicitly used by many popes) from the secularist intrusions that the music itself lead in the temple and that, over the centuries and the gradual technical and musical development, have become increasingly severe and spill-over from the proper liturgical use, ending often in the assumption of roles of self-referencing or profane nature.

From the time of the Const. Ap. “Docta Sanctorum” issued by Pope John XXII (1324), the magisterium has always indicated the righteous ways of understanding music in the service of worship, gradually adopting new techniques compatible with the liturgy, but always and consistently pointing up to the present day (including the magisterium of Vatican II and the entire post Vatican II period) in the Gregorian chant, the primal root, the source of constant inspiration, the highest – because it’s simply the most noble – form of music that can perfectly embody the Catholic liturgical ideal also by virtue of its anonymity and its meta-historical true aesthetical, verbal and sensitive universality.

We cannot now definitely establish musical forms and styles a priori, but the
recovery of Gregorian chant, good polyphonic and organ music (even inspired by the Gregorian), – ancient, modern and contemporary – would certainly, after decades of absolute shock and “probability” in music, recall the liturgical "words" that the Catholic tradition in art and music has given us for centuries: they have worked – using a representative expression of Pope Paul VI in the Enc. "Mysterium Fidei" – as real "tiles of the Catholic Faith", which was always founded on sensible data, endowed with truth and beauty; and always devoid of sterile and mannered or archaeological intellectualism, to be avoided with care (as indicated by Pope Pius XII in Enc. “Mediator Dei” that introduced the liturgical reform of the late twentieth century.

Maybe in the arts devoted to the service of worship, music is the strongest, for that constant "catechetical" meaning which the magisterium has constantly recognized, and also the more delicate because, by its nature and unlike the other arts, requires a tertium medium between the author and the viewer, or the interpreter. For this reason the Catholic Church should take better care of the music than of other arts and should, as happened in the past, urge the education of both authors and interpreters: for sure today the effort is much more difficult than in Middle Age, Baroque period or in the XIX century, since the actual society is completely secularized. However today is needed a clear knowledge of the fundamentals so that the musicians – once endowed with the needed expertise – can recover the "sensus ecclesiæ" together with the "sensus fidei".

A View into the Life of the Canons Regular of the Mother of God

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:24:00 +0000

Readers will recall that I recently featured some stills from a DVD which shows a day in the life of the Canons Regular of the Mother of God at the Abbey of Sainte-Marie in Lagrasse, France.

I am pleased to let our readers know that, with the permission of the Abbey of Lagrasse, I was able to take out a couple of short excerpts from the 45 minute edition of this DVD recording, which will serve to both give you a sense of the DVD and give you some specific insights into the Canons and their liturgical life. (Though the DVD's themselves show various aspects of the life of the Canons I would note.)

I generally hope you will find these of edification and that it will likewise inspire your interest in the Canons Regular of the Mother of God.

* * *

To order the DVD, send 16 Euros (9 Euros for the 12 minute version) payable to "ICMD Librairie" and mail it, along with your shipping address, to:

Abbaye Canoniale Sainte-Marie,
Commande DVD,
6, rive gauche,
11220 Lagrasse

Juventutem Argentina

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:08:00 +0000

One of our Argentinian readers shared with us today a Mass in Argentina on the Vigil of All Saints which comes from an Argentinian chapter of Juventutem, the young adults group attached to the usus antiquior.

See their site for all the pictures.

Official Report from the Roman Summorum Pontificum Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:27:00 +0000

The NLM recently reported on a liturgical conference held in Rome. This was the conference which was concluded by the Solemn Pontifical Mass offered by Archbishop Raymond Burke in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Peter's Basilica. (To re-review those articles, see: Day One, Day Two and the Solemn Pontifical Mass).

The NLM has now been provided with a summary report (originally reported in Italian on Corrispondenza Romana) from that conference which it is pleased to present to you today. (The photos were inserted by the NLM as were certain bolded emphases of names and papers delivered.)

A Conference on the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum

A long awaited conference has been held in Rome on 16–18 October, just a few steps from the Vatican, entitled A Great Gift for the Entire Church, on the Motu Proprio “Summorum Pontificum” of H.H. Pope Benedict XVI. The success of this important event is undeniable and it was marked with a Papal greeting to the participants.

The event was organized by the association “Amicizia Sacerdotale Summorum Pontificum” (Priestly Friends of Summorum Pontificum”) and the lay group “Giovani e Tradizione” (Youth and Tradition). The conference was chaired, directed and concluded by the organizer and founder of the two aforementioned organizations, the Dominican theologian, Father Vincenzo Nuara.

The Conference proper, which was preceded by a retreat for priests on Friday 16 October, commenced on 17 October. The great numbers of young priests, seminarians and religious, many of them under the age of 30, was a clear signal that the current “signs of the times” are indicating a clear return to the roots of Christian faith, doctrine and spirituality.

Following the celebration of Holy Mass in the extraordinary form by Monsignor Athanasius Schneider, Fr. Nuara gave a remarkable opening speech to the conference in which he reminded his audience that since the promulgation of the Motu proprio the lives of many of those present had been changed. Regretting the difficulties surrounding the application of the pontifical text, Fr. Nuara recalled the ascetic significance of suffering for a just cause: it was precisely because of the pains endured in silence and abandonment by those priests and faithful who are wholeheartedly attached to the traditional rite that the true reform of the Church will begin.

The first lecture was that of Mgr Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Karaganda (Kazakhstan), on the theme “The Sanctity and Beauty of the Liturgy of the Holy Fathers”. According to the prelate, the worship of God must take place in awareness of divine sanctity. This fundamental and unavoidable notion has been present since to the very first ancient liturgical texts that come from tradition. In practice, this is the exact opposite of that which the prevalent liturgical “fashion”, steeped in humanistic and worldly values, has tried to impose for the past few decades. The symbolism and gestural expressiveness are essential for the proper understanding of the mystery being celebrated. As far as the prelate is concerned, nothing - absolutely nothing - must be left to chance, improvisation or human discretion.

This was followed by a presentation by Professor Roberto de Mattei, president of the Lepanto Foundation, who spoke on “Catholicism and Romanità in the Church Today”. He presented a synthesis of the significance of Rome and of the Roman tradition within the Catholic worldview. He noted that the Roman tradition is not merely a supplementary note of secondary value used to identify God’s true Church; rather, it is the quintessence of Catholicism. It is not by chance that the enemies of the Church are also enemies of the (true) Roman and Latin traditions. Modernism, inaugurated by the Lutheran anti-Romanism, demonstrates two phenomena which are in fact mirror images of one another. On the one hand it seeks to purify Christianity from the Roman tradition — as do all Protestant sects, Jansenism, and then modernism and neo-modernism. On the other hand, Ancient Rome is exalted so as to create a sort of anti-Catholic idol: one thinks of Frederick II, Machiavelli, the Ghibellines, Jacobins and lay nationalism of the 1800's.

That same morning, there were two brief but important talks given by the Vice President of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and for Sacred Archeology, Dom Michael John Zielinski, and Mgr Valentino Miserachs Grau, President of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music. Both were meant to stress the importance for sacred art and Church music of their ties to the Latin and Gregorian liturgical traditions. Both prelates criticized many of the recent artistic and musical evolutions that hide that sanctity which is so necessary for Christian worship and the spirituality of the faithful.

After lunch, the lecture by Mgr Guido Pozzo, new Secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Pontifical Commission, was warmly received. The prelate reiterated the importance of the traditional liturgy for the continuity of Catholic doctrine and noted that, despite the current difficulties, implementation of the Motu proprio will continue to expand.

The lecture by Fr. Stefano M. Manelli, founder of the “Francescani dell’Immacolata” (Franciscans of the Immaculate) - one of the youngest and most prominent families of the “Franciscan reformation” – had been eagerly awaited. The distinguished priest addressed, at length and with heartfelt pleas, the inseparable bond that exists between religious life - which he has lived for well over half a century - and liturgy. The current liturgical decadence, often pointed out by Benedict XVI, has certainly had an impact on priestly and religious vocations, as well as on the secularization of monasteries, convents and institutes that once flourished. The decision by the Franciscans of the Immaculate to return to the traditional Mass and liturgical offices is bearing precious fruit, both in terms of the number of vocations and in terms of the improvement of the spiritual life in both their male and female communities. According to Fr. Manelli, the Motu proprio especially encourages religious to resume the ancient liturgical and ascetic practices; by doing so, will they form those holy oases that the faithful say are ever more necessary.

The last speaker was the renowned theologian Mgr Brunero Gherardini, the author of a recent important study on the development on the value (and limitations) of Council documents. After having reminded the audience that the Motu proprio has been set up as a “sanatio”, he demonstrated the true sense of Tradition, as a banner of dogmatic and magisterial continuity. With acumen and theological depth, Mgr Gherardini demonstrated the opposition between living Tradition, understood in a Catholic sense - that is to say, the infinite capacity of the Magisterium to proclaim “new” dogmas which in fact are already a part of Divine Revelation - and the so-called “living tradition” invented by Modernism that uses this expression to adjust dogma and doctrine to the almost infinite variations of the fragile human mind.

Fr. Nuara closed the conference by thanking all guests and noting that the Conference itself was the result of God’s grace and its success a true miracle.

On Sunday, 18 October, the participants had the joy of attending Pontifical Holy Mass, celebrated by Mgr Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signature, in St. Peter’s Basilica. It should be noted that the final Mass, as with those throughout the conference, was attended by members of all the institutes that use the old Missal: from the Fraternity of St. Peter to the Institute of Christ the King, from the Franciscans of the Immaculate to the Institute of the Good Shepherd, as well as the well known figure of Mgr Perl.

The unity of the “traditional Catholic family”, even among so many difficulties, is not the least of the successes of Fr. Vincenzo Nuara’s initiatives.

During the Angelus on that same day the Holy Father greeted all Conference participants, thereby supporting this important initiative from on high.

Relics of St. Charles Borromeo

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:18:00 +0000

With today being the Feast day of St. Charles Borromeo, I wanted to share with you some photos taken by myself and two other pilgrims, one of whom was John Sonnen, of the earthly remains of the sainted Cardinal and Archbishop of Milan which are found beneath the sanctuary of the Duomo in Milan, just off of the chapel of the Canons of the Cathedral of Milan.

Speaking liturgically, I have a particular interest in this saint due to his association with the archdiocese of Milan, which of course is the home of the Ambrosian rite -- one of the liturgical rites in the Western Church which, alongside the Mozarabic liturgy, I find of most personal interest.

(The Duomo seen from the Archepiscopal residence)

(The circular chapel of the Canons of the Metropolitan Cathedral. The entrance to chapel which holds the remains of St. Charles Borromeo is located after a short passageway to the left.)

(The altar and relics)

(The chapel altar has a beautiful metallic frontal and stretched tapestry walls.)

(You have to look closely through the glass in this photo to see the vested relics of the saint.)

(A closeup)

Above the Tomb

Some of you may also recall us showing some of the vestments used by St. Charles Borromeo, such as these kept in the museum beneath Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

Allow me to use this opportunity to suggest that those of you who are interested in the Ambrosian rite may wish search the NLM archives for "Ambrosian" which will bring up various pieces. One good place to begin is here (though this will not bring up all the pieces we have featured on the Ambrosian rite).

Our Starting Point Must Be The Extraordinary Form

noreply@blogger.com (Arlene Oost-Zinner) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:23:00 +0000

Fr. Allan McDonald of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in downtown Macon, Georgia offers an insightful reflection on the first EF Solemn High celebrated in this church in more than 45 years. An excerpt:

Last night's Requiem sang what is prescribed for a Requiem. The Introit, offertory verses and Communion antiphon with their words seeking eternal rest for the faithful departed. The Dies Irae Sequence with its apocalyptic anticipation tied the liturgy together as a prayer seeking God's mercy on those who face their particular judgment and anticipate the final judgment.

I could not help but contrast this to the Ordinary Form Funeral Mass where so many options for music and prayers cause it to disintegrate into gross sentimentality and superficial "good feelings." Always the prescribed "entrance antiphon" is omitted in favor of a metrical hymn of dubious merit. Normally "On Eagle Wings" or "Be Not Afraid" are chosen for their dripping, sing songy, saccharine qualities. The choices that are given allow all semblance of personal judgment and apocalyptic anticipation to be eradicated in favor of banal canonization of the deceased.

Images from All Souls [UPDATE 2]

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:28:00 +0000

(This post may be updated and re-posted through the day as new photos come in)

UPDATE 2

Ss. Peter and Paul, Cork City, Ireland

Photos by Cillian Kelly

St. Patricks, Kinkora, Ontario

Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank, Wisconsin

(Source: Sub Tuum)

* * *

St. Lawrence Chapel, Harrisburg, PA.

Compendium of the Reforms of the Roman Breviary, 1568-1961: Part 7.2 - The Breviary Reforms of St. Pius X (Continued)

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:40:00 +0000

We continue with our consideration of the breviary reforms pursued in the early 20th century by Pope Pius X.

For terms and their definitions, please see the associated Glossary which accompanies this compendium.

Compendium of the Reforms of the Roman Breviary, 1568-1961

by Gregory DiPippo
for publication on the New Liturgical Movement

Part 7.2 - The Breviary Reforms of St. Pius X (Continued)

The Psalter of St. Pius X

If the Church wished to restore the regular use of the entire Psalter to its public prayer, there were only two ways to do this. One was to keep the Psalter of the Pian Breviary unchanged, and radically reduce the number of Saints. This solution was in fact proposed by some liturgical writers at the time, but it would simply have restored an Office which fell into disuse in no small part because of its great length, as St. Pius X himself admits in the decree which promulgated the new Psalter. The second solution was to do as the neo-Gallican breviaries had done, namely, to restructure the weekly Psalter in such a way that it could be integrated into the Offices of the Saints, which were otherwise left untouched. The reform of Saint Pius X opted for this latter solution, “so that nothing may be lost from the cult of the Saints”. (Divino afflatu, parag. 5)

The decree of 1911 creates a mostly new arrangement of the Psalter for Sundays and ferial days, with the stated purpose of restoring as far as possible the weekly recitation of the whole Psalter. The use of the ferial psalms is extended to the great majority of the Saints’ days; the division of feasts into six grades is retained, and in all but the two highest, the psalms of the feria are said at every hour. An exception is made for the feasts and octaves of Our Lord, and the feasts (not the octaves) of Our Lady, the Angels and the Apostles, St. John the Baptist and St. Joseph; all these retain the traditional festal psalms, with a slight adjustment at Lauds. Another exception is made for all feasts which have their own proper antiphons; these are kept along with their traditional psalms at the major hours, but the ferial psalms and their antiphons are said at the minor hours.

The new Psalter admits of no repetition at all among the psalms; each is said only once in the course of the week. Matins of Sunday is reduced from eighteen psalms to nine, and that of each feria from twelve to nine, conforming them to the pattern of Matins on feast days. The number of psalms at the other hours remains unchanged, and a canticle from the Old Testament is still said at Lauds after the third psalm. The extremely ancient custom of reciting psalms 148, 149 and 150 together as the last psalm of Lauds is done away with; however, it must be noted that the psalms chosen to replace them all begin with the word “Laudate” or “Lauda”.

There are 231 places for the psalms over the seven days of the week: nine each day at Matins, four at Lauds, five at Vespers, three each at the remaining Hours. There are, of course, only 150 psalms. In order to fill each of the 231 places, without repetitions, many of the longer psalms are divided into two or more sections. Unlike the Parisian Breviary of 1736, the new Roman Psalter keeps to the numerical order of the Bible, broadly speaking, as did the older Office; no attempt was made to imitate the Parisian arrangement, constructed around a “theme of the day.”

The psalmody of Lauds is now arranged in a two-fold scheme, one to be used on feast days and ordinary ferias, the other to be used only on penitential ferias. This latter, penitential scheme retains the Miserere as the first psalm each day, and the traditional Old Testament canticles in the customary order. However, since it is used only on penitential ferias, (those of Advent and Lent, and the vigils of Saints), they are still said only quite rarely. The first scheme of each feria is arranged in imitation of Sunday Lauds; the first psalm of each day is clearly selected for its joyful theme, more appropriate to the feasts of Saints feasts, and a new selection of Old Testament festal canticles is also provided, largely borrowed from the 1736 Paris Breviary.

The complete re-ordering of the Psalter also necessitated an extensive re-writing of the corpus of antiphons which accompany them; in general, the new antiphons are longer than the traditional ones of the Pian and medieval Breviaries. Psalm 65, moved from Wednesday to Thursday, has an antiphon in the Pian Breviary, “Benedicite, gentes, Deum nostrum.”; it is is now divided into two sections, one with the antiphon “Videte opera Domini, et auditam facite vocem laudis ejus.”, the other with the antiphon “Audite, omnes, qui timetis Deum, quanta fecit animae meae.” Many of the new antiphons are borrowed directly from the neo-Gallican breviaries. The traditional rules about doubling and semidoubling antiphons are left intact.

A very notable difference from the practice of the Parisian Breviary is that the same antiphons are used in both the ferial office and the offices of the Saints; in the Parisian Breviary, the ferial psalms were mixed with the antiphons of the feast. Much of the new corpus of antiphons is clearly designed to create a repertoire which is better suited to the Saints’ offices. The traditional antiphon of Psalm 97 is a grammatical fragment, “Quia mirabilia fecit Dominus – Because the Lord hath done wonders.” It is replaced by a new antiphon, “Jubilate in conspectu regis Domini – Shout with joy in the sight of the King, the Lord.”

The preceding six paragraphs were written by taking six paragraphs from the article on the neo-Gallican breviaries, and modifying them where necessary. The careful reader will note that several sentences from the earlier article have been left completely unchanged, so closely does the reform of 1911 resemble the Parisian reform of 1736.

Other changes in the reform of St. Pius X

The reformed Breviary of Saint Pius V had given much greater prominence to the weekly Psalter than its predecessor, a change which was then undone by the subsequent increase in the number of Saints’ feasts. The reform of 1911 therefore included a number of other changes to ensure that it would remain more or less intact.

The Mass and Office of Sunday are given much greater prominence in the new reform; since the Sunday office has now been considerably shortened, the principal reason for not doing it has been done away with. Only the top two grades of feast (out of six) are allowed to impede a common Sunday – in 1913, the first year the new Psalter was universally obligatory, only eight common Sundays were impeded by feasts on the general Calendar. The custom of assigning feasts to a particular Sunday was abolished, with only one exception, the feast of the Holy Name, newly assigned to the Sunday between the Circumcision and the Epiphany. (Two further exceptions were made later, for the Holy Family by Pope Benedict XV, and the feast of Christ the King, instituted by Pius XI.) All of the others were assigned to a particular day on the calendar, although the practice of the external solemnity, i.e., the repetition of a major feast on Sunday, remains to this day.

The translation of feasts is also strictly limited to the top two grades; all others are simply commemorated if they are impeded by a more important office, or, on fairly rare occasions, omitted altogether. This being the case, it now often happens that a local feast falls on the same day as a feast of the general Calendar. Previously, one of the two feasts was celebrated on its own day, and other permanently translated to another day; under the new system, such permanent translations are also abolished.

Shortly after the reform of 1911 was promulgated, every feast which could no longer be translated was provided with a “lectio simplificata” a shortened version of the Saint’s life, in only one lesson. This was to be read, according to the new rubrics, as the ninth lesson at Matins of the impeding feast. To give a concrete example, the Discalced Carmelites formerly celebrated the feast of All Carmelite Saints on November 14th, and permanently translated Saint Josaphat to the 26th. In the new system, Josaphat is commemorated on the 14th, and a shortened version of his life read as the ninth lesson at Matins of All Carmelite Saints. This practice already existed in a very limited way in the Breviary of Saint Pius V; the extension of its use in 1911 will lead to a tremendous change to the Breviary fifty years later.

Only the most minute changes were made to the general Calendar of Saints in 1911, but the number of feasts on local calendars was in places reduced by various expedients. A number of secondary feasts were either abolished or relegated to local calendars; the feast of Our Lady’s Expectation on December 18, which originated as the Mozarabic Rite’s version of the Annunciation, disappears from many Breviaries. The diocese of Rome had formerly kept each Sainted or Blessed Pope (more than eighty of them!) with his own feast; many of these were collapsed into feasts of two or three Popes together, and a new Common of Several Confessors invented to accommodate them. The privileges related to the celebration of proper octaves were severely curtailed; ten were removed from the Carmelite calendar mentioned above, and twenty-two from the Dominican Use. All votive offices are definitively abolished without exception.

[In the third part of this section, we will conclude with an assessment of the specific reforms of Pius X.]

-- Copyright (c) Gregory DiPippo, 2009

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To read previous installments in this series, see: Compendium of the Reforms of the Roman Breviary, 1568-1961

Sancte Deus by Thomas Tallis

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:54:00 +0000

I was thrilled yesterday to find that a huge new series of performances by the Tallis Scholars have made their way onto youtube. In particular, I love this motet by Thomas Tallis: Sancte Deus. The text provides a lovely connection between East and West - more familiar in Eastern liturgy but known in the Roman Rite for its Good Friday association, though it is not limited to that. The setting is not musically inaccessible to a good parish schola.

The drama is intense but understated in this performance. You will hear challenging dissonance here, and the modal structure again reinforces my growing impression that music of the 16th century was more complex and sophisticated than it became in the baroque period. Listening especially to the way the final Amen summarizes the piece and provides an excellent culmination and fulfillment of all that came before.

Sancte Deus, Sancte Fortis, Sancte et Immortalis, miserere nobis.
Nunc, Christe, te petimus, miserere, quaesumus.
Qui venisti redimere perditos, noli damnare redemptos:
Quia per crucem tuam redemisti mundum. Amen.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy and Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Now, O Christ, we ask thee, we beseech thee, have mercy.
Thou who came to redeem the lost, do not condemn the redeemed:
For by thy cross thou hast redeemed the world. Amen.

All Souls Day from Rome

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

All Souls Day from Rome, with pictures courtesy of John Sonnen.

(The tabernacle is never veiled in black)

(Absolution at the Catafalque. Note again the candlesticks.)

Five Days of Learning and Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Arlene Oost-Zinner) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:52:00 +0000

I have received many letters detailing the intentions of seminarians as they look toward the future - as pastors and as musicians themselves. They recognize the urgent need for proper musical and liturgical formation. They are turning to the Church Music Association of America to supplement what is not being offered elsewhere - a solid foundation in the music of the Church.

In fact, an unprecedented number of diocesan seminarians from around the country have applied for assistance to participate in the Winter Chant Intensive in Charleston, South Carolina. These are our future pastors - those who will be making decisions about liturgy in our local churches over the next ten, twenty, or forty years.

Donations from you are necessary to make it possible for a good many of the seminarians who have written to me. And we'd like to get as many seminarians there as we can - with either full or partial scholarships. No amount is too small, but please consider a donation of $20, $50, $100, or the full tuition amount of $245.

Things are changing - mostly through the momentous efforts of websites such as NLM, passionate individuals, parishes and pastors with an ear for the eternal, and nonprofit organizations like the CMAA.

Weekend workshops for seminarians, priests and professional and amateur musicians are filling up at record rates. While these workshops do well to whet the appetites of those wishing to learn the chant in all its forms, it is not enough. They are an essential first step. Essential. But if you think about it a little longer, you realize that it took two thousand years to create the treasure we know as the Liber Usualis, not to mention the myriad liturgical books that might be ignored and sitting on dusty shelves in rectory attics, in chant enthusiasts' personal collections, or listed for sale on Ebay. The mysteries of these books cannot be unraveled in a day and a half. More extensive training is needed.

Priests today, newly ordained and veteran priests, are learning to sing the EF through the exhaustive efforts of week-long training workshops sponsored by the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius in Chicago. Seminarians, priests, and church musicians, both professional and amateur who seek the eternal are applying in droves for scholarships to attend CMAA programs, especially the the Chant Intensive, a week-long program that does more than whet the appetite for chant, but allows participants to work with the chant in an intimate way - to grapple with its structure and render it vocally and prayerfully - and to learn to teach it to others.

The CMAA has of course already hurdled enormous obstacles by making many of these treasures available to the world via online publication of items in the public domain - but that is another story, and one avidly covered here on NLM.

But putting the books online is not enough. Nothing can replace real life instruction. In order to restore to full vibrancy the Church's musical treasures The effort must be complemented with within-reach educational opportunities and hands on practice in contemporary liturgical life.

The CMAA Chant Intensive doesn't come close to years spent in a monastery, but it does allow a seminarian or church musician to vibrate with the struggle, for at least five days, of a life of intensely focused learning and prayer.

The Catafalque at the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament, Raritan, New Jersey

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Many of you will be familiar with Fr. Guy Sylvester, an expert in ecclesiastical heraldry and the blogger at Shouts in the Piazza. Fr. Sylvester was kind enough to send some photos of the catafalque setup at his parish, the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Raritan, New Jersey, for All Souls today.

Father was offering Masses in utroque usu, in both uses, for All Souls and if any further pictures of the Masses themselves become available, we may update this post.

You will note around the catafalque the use of non-gold/silver candlesticks, which form another aspect of the sobriety which our tradition presents to us for Masses for the faithful departed.

More from All Souls: The Anglican Use

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:53:00 +0000

The blog of the flagship Anglican use parish in the United States, Our Lady of the Atonement, has up a photo from the Requiem Mass in the Anglican use liturgy offered at their parish.

The Dies Irae Sequence

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:31:00 +0000

One of the most revered and beloved of chant sequences is the Dies Irae, which is sung on All Souls Day and for Requiem Masses.

Here it is sung by members of the Institute of Christ the King for the Mass of All Souls offered at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama (i.e. EWTN) last year.

This revered bit of liturgical poetry has come to us in various English translations. Here are a few examples.

Day of wrath, that day
Will solve the centuries in ashes
With witness David and the sibyl!

How much tremor there will be,
when the judge will come,
investigating everything strictly!

(etc.)

* * *

Day of wrath, day that
will dissolve the world into burning coals,
as David bore witness with the Sibyl.

How great a tremor is to be,
when the judge is to come
briskly shattering every (grave).

(etc.)

A more poetically paraphrased variant by William Josiah Irons sees the first two stanzas as follows:

Day of wrath! O day of mourning!
See fulfilled the prophets' warning,
Heaven and earth in ashes burning!

Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth,
when from heaven the Judge descendeth,
on whose sentence all dependeth.

(etc.)

Finally, one other variant:

That day of wrath, that dreadful day
When heaven and earth shall pass away,
Both David and the Sibyl say.

What terror then shall us befall,
When lo, the Judge's steps appall,
About to sift the deeds of all.

(etc.)

This latter translation was pulled from a work which some of our readers may not be familiar with. The Rev. Dr. Nicholas Gihr, who is best known to most for his book, The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, also wrote a work on the Dies Irae, accordingly titled.

In that work Gihr provides a history and interpretation of the various stanzas of the Dies Irae sequence. The aforementioned translation, Gihr notes, is found within Dom Matthew Britt's work, The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal, which points us to another source for considerations of this revered bit of liturgical poetry.

About these numerous translations Britt notes:

The exquisite beauty of the Latin original has continually lured translators to attempt to reproduce this noble hymn in the vernacular. The great number of translations is an eloquent witness of this fact. It is freely acknowledged that no adequate translation has yet appeared. (p. 205)

In that same study, Britt gives us Sir Walter Scott's "greatly admired condensed rendering of the Dies Irae which is found in his Lay of the Last Minstrel."

That Day of wrath, that dreadful day,
When heaven and earth shall pass away,
What power shall be the sinners stay?
How shall he meet that dreadful day?

When, shrivelling like a parched scroll,
The flaming heavens together roll;
When louder yet, and yet more dread,
Swells the high trump that wakes the dead:

O, on that day, that wrathful day,
When man to judgement wakes from clay,
Be Thou the trembling sinner's stay,
Though heaven and earth shall pass away!

Britt notes that one of the various sources of inspiration for this sequence is thought to be Zephaniah (Sophonias) 1:15–16:

"Dies iræ, dies illa, dies tribulationis et angustiæ, dies calamitatis et miseriæ, dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nebulæ et turbinis, dies tubæ et clangoris super civitates munitas et super angulos excelsos."

"That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high bulwarks."