The saintly Peggy, at her desk at Catholic University, and in Rome last year with her daughter Anne and our dear Marcus.
Thursday, 28 June 2007
A blessing
A number of people from Santa Croce were in D.C. for the feast of St. Josemaria -- celebrated at the basilica by Archbishop Wuerl -- including Father Alphonse! See his story on this blog under the post "From the Sahel" (http://casasantalidia.blogspot.com/2007/05/from-sahel.html). He will be here for the summer at a parish in Virginia.
A bit of hope
OFFICIAL NOTICE OF THE PRESS OFFICE OF THE HOLY SEE: Yesterday afternoon, in a meeting at the Vatican, presided over by the Cardinal Secretary of State, the content and the spirit of the announced "Motu Proprio" by the Holy Father on the use of the Missal promulgated by John XXIII in 1962 have been presented to representatives of various episcopal conferences. The Holy Father greeted the participants and engaged in an hour long, profound dicussion with them. The publication of the document, which will be accompanied by an extensive personal letter by the Holy Father to every single bishop, is expected in a few days, when the document will be transmitted to all bishops with the indication of when its entry into force will follow.
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San Gregorio is also mentioned at the end of this (typically inacurate and condescending NYT) article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/world/europe/28mass.html?_r=2&ref=world&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
There really isn't room for more than 30 souls...
************
San Gregorio is also mentioned at the end of this (typically inacurate and condescending NYT) article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/world/europe/28mass.html?_r=2&ref=world&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
There really isn't room for more than 30 souls...
Sunday, 24 June 2007
Saturday, 23 June 2007
Colloquium Mass at Old St. Mary's, D.C.
Ordination in Baltimore
Sorry these are so dark -- it's a very dark cathedral. It was a happy and noisy occasion, with some oddities like the high altar being used as flower stand. But ordinations are always wonderful!
Thursday, 21 June 2007
A day at the museums
Last week brought another happy visit -- this time from Shinju, herself a pearl of great price! Like I said, I didn't even pray for this one...
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
Not the Casa Santa Lidia...
This is not the "Casa Santa Lidia." This is the villa in Rome where I live with three housemates who are also students. But it is a wonderful place to share with others, which I have tried to do on a regular basis for the benefit of my classmates -- mostly young seminarians and priests from all over the world. The house is surrounded by garden (most unusual for Rome) and the whole roof is a terrace. We greatly enjoy having our own figs, grapes, lemons, persimmons, 'nespole', and all the flowers as well.
Dean Navarro at the Holy Sepulcher
It was a bit like a miracle, but the good people at Santa Croce arranged for me to work the religious law conference in Jerusalem last October, and Professor Navarro was called upon to fill in for another professor who was too ill to attend. It was an amazing two weeks. The highlight was Mass at the Holy Sepulcher.
Thursday, 14 June 2007
Big changes in the world of canon law
Catholic University announced yesterday that Msgr. Brain Ferme, Dean of the School of Canon Law, is moving to Venice to become President of the St. Pius X Institute of Canon Law, which is closely connected to my school in Rome (almost like a "satellite campus" -- see http://www.marcianum.it/canonico/). The previous President, Msgr. Juan Ignacio Arrieta, is now the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. Sister Rose McDermott will act as Interim Dean while CUA searches for Msgr. Ferme's replacement (http://publicaffairs.cua.edu/Releases/2007//07McDermottInterimDean.cfm).
At my school, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross ("Santa Croce" http://www.pusc.it/), the Vice-Dean, Rev. Prof. Luis Navarro, was promoted to Dean of our School of Canon Law (he takes office tomorrow). Those of you who have been following my adventures in canon law know that Prof. Navarro has been my mainstay at the university, without whom I simply would not have persevered this far!
At my school, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross ("Santa Croce" http://www.pusc.it/), the Vice-Dean, Rev. Prof. Luis Navarro, was promoted to Dean of our School of Canon Law (he takes office tomorrow). Those of you who have been following my adventures in canon law know that Prof. Navarro has been my mainstay at the university, without whom I simply would not have persevered this far!
Monday, 11 June 2007
My two cents' worth on the MP
This is meant to be just "a note to my non-Catholic friends." But I've a had a couple of e-mails about this. As it stands, the permission to use the Classical Rite of the Mass (which goes by a variety of names, including "Tridentine"), was given in 1984 and again in 1988 by John Paul II in the Motu proprio (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10602a.htm) which bears the title "Ecclesia Dei adflicta." Application could be made to the local Ordinary (the bishop) to use the liturgical books of 1962, which contained the Mass, with a few modifications, very much like what it was when promulgated by Pope St. Pius V in 1570. This Mass was in turn a return to something very close to the Mass of the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great (590 - 604 A.D., the man who gave us Gregorian Chant), which itself was based on the oldest liturgical elements of the Mass.
**********
Whatever this new document brings, it will be a welcome antidote* to the "Note" issued by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, the innocuously titled "Conferentiarium Episcopalium", dated 28 October, 1974. It was the death knell for the ancient liturgy. I have yet to find it online, but it is the last of the liturgy documents in the Flannery edition of Vatican II (run, don't walk, away from the disastrous Abbott edition): "Ordinaries, [both religious and local], should...endeavor to secure the acceptance of the Order of the Mass of the new Roman Missal by priests and laity. They should see to it that priests and laity, by dint of greater effort and with greater reverence comprehend the treasures of divine wisdom and of liturgical and pastoral teaching which it contains. What has been said does not apply to officially recognized non-Roman rites, but it does hold against any pretext of even an immemorial custom." Only elderly and infirm priests were to be able to keep saying the rite familiar to them, but they had to do so alone and without a congregation.
So the previous MP (the "Ecclesia Dei" of 1988) allowed the faithful to ask for the old rite of the Mass from the local bishop, who was supposed to give "wide and generous" permission for it. This rarely happened, since the old rite was seen as "pre-Vatican II" and therefore bad, backwards, maybe dangerous and reactionary, and justly discarded in favor of a whole new spirit in the Church. Plus it might "confuse the people" (I think if I hear a cleric say that one more time I might do something to incur excommunication myself). (Most of you know how I love statistics, so take a look at the "bad" pre-conciliar Church:http://www.seattlecatholic.com/article_20040119.html -- though this is not to deny that a number of Catholic people I know who grew up in the 1940s and '50s in this country had a very negative experience of the Church of that time...).
**********
The new document may "reverse" the issue, that is it may give something close to "blanket" permission for the old rite and it would then be up to the local bishop to forbid it if he really doesn't want it in his diocese.
There are a number of unknowables in all this as to exactly what will happen when the MP is issued -- most priests don't know the old rite, don't know much Latin, can't read Gregorian Chant, perhaps can't sing, don't have the requisite vestments and altar linens or well-trained servers, access to a suitable altar and workable sanctuary, a congregation full of faithful who know the old rite, and the list goes on. Surely there would have to be some kind of requirement in the new document that no priest is to attempt the old rite until he has has sufficient training.**
**********
Before he became Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a great deal about the liturgy. On the right side of this page are a few links to works of his which state his opinions on the liturgy very clearly (the best one, the "easiest" to read is "Looking Again at the Question of the Liturgy with Cardinal Ratzinger"). Readers who know me know how happy I was when he was elected Pope (coming soon: photo with me in St. Peter's Sq. just after the Urbi et Orbi blessing on April 19th, 2005 -- you can't really see it, but I'm wearing my old "Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club" t-shirt). For me it meant the beginning of the end of a painful era in the history of the Church -- not that I discount it all, since I was baptized, confirmed and received first Holy Communion 25 years ago on Corpus Christi Sunday. The only Church I knew was the post-conciliar. The only Mass I knew was the Novus Ordo, the "new" Mass which can be seen in most parishes today (but which is something, in its present incarnation, that the bishops of Vatican II would have been quite surprised by, and some not pleasantly so...).
**********
I suppose it may be different if one only goes to the new rite Mass on Sundays. One hour a week of polyester vestments and guitars and being forced to sing and hold hands and interact with the celebrant and those sorts of things***, which foster more "feminine" values -- it's face-to-face, rather than side-by-side as most men tend to relate (and may explain why my parish is mostly made up of men...), can be done by some people without too much distress. But early on as a Catholic I realized there had been an immense patrimony lost, in large part thanks to the fact that by some miracle I had acquired my grandfather's 1908 Lasance (a book of prayers, which included the old Mass). And when one must cope -- and for me it did become an exercise of coping -- with these questionable elements on a daily basis, one begins to lose heart. At least I did. Just in time, I got whisked off to Rome, and the decrepit but delightful parish of San Gregorio dei Muratori, staffed by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. And the rest is history...so far.
**********
* Or to some a great vindication!
** In one of the most charming developments of what some call the "liturgy wars" some communities of priests who offer the old rite are holding CAMPS this summer (!) to train those who want to learn the rite ahead of the promulgation of the MP (and demand has been such that they are sold-out). This has to be one of the cutest things I've ever heard of -- definitely not band camp!
*** ...and sometimes dancing and clapping. If the Mass is what we say it is, the re-presentation of the salvific death of Christ on the Cross, then all I can say is that I have it on good authority that no one danced and clapped at Calvary. Our salvation is a cause for joy, but not for merriment.
**********
Whatever this new document brings, it will be a welcome antidote* to the "Note" issued by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, the innocuously titled "Conferentiarium Episcopalium", dated 28 October, 1974. It was the death knell for the ancient liturgy. I have yet to find it online, but it is the last of the liturgy documents in the Flannery edition of Vatican II (run, don't walk, away from the disastrous Abbott edition): "Ordinaries, [both religious and local], should...endeavor to secure the acceptance of the Order of the Mass of the new Roman Missal by priests and laity. They should see to it that priests and laity, by dint of greater effort and with greater reverence comprehend the treasures of divine wisdom and of liturgical and pastoral teaching which it contains. What has been said does not apply to officially recognized non-Roman rites, but it does hold against any pretext of even an immemorial custom." Only elderly and infirm priests were to be able to keep saying the rite familiar to them, but they had to do so alone and without a congregation.
So the previous MP (the "Ecclesia Dei" of 1988) allowed the faithful to ask for the old rite of the Mass from the local bishop, who was supposed to give "wide and generous" permission for it. This rarely happened, since the old rite was seen as "pre-Vatican II" and therefore bad, backwards, maybe dangerous and reactionary, and justly discarded in favor of a whole new spirit in the Church. Plus it might "confuse the people" (I think if I hear a cleric say that one more time I might do something to incur excommunication myself). (Most of you know how I love statistics, so take a look at the "bad" pre-conciliar Church:http://www.seattlecatholic.com/article_20040119.html -- though this is not to deny that a number of Catholic people I know who grew up in the 1940s and '50s in this country had a very negative experience of the Church of that time...).
**********
The new document may "reverse" the issue, that is it may give something close to "blanket" permission for the old rite and it would then be up to the local bishop to forbid it if he really doesn't want it in his diocese.
There are a number of unknowables in all this as to exactly what will happen when the MP is issued -- most priests don't know the old rite, don't know much Latin, can't read Gregorian Chant, perhaps can't sing, don't have the requisite vestments and altar linens or well-trained servers, access to a suitable altar and workable sanctuary, a congregation full of faithful who know the old rite, and the list goes on. Surely there would have to be some kind of requirement in the new document that no priest is to attempt the old rite until he has has sufficient training.**
**********
Before he became Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a great deal about the liturgy. On the right side of this page are a few links to works of his which state his opinions on the liturgy very clearly (the best one, the "easiest" to read is "Looking Again at the Question of the Liturgy with Cardinal Ratzinger"). Readers who know me know how happy I was when he was elected Pope (coming soon: photo with me in St. Peter's Sq. just after the Urbi et Orbi blessing on April 19th, 2005 -- you can't really see it, but I'm wearing my old "Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club" t-shirt). For me it meant the beginning of the end of a painful era in the history of the Church -- not that I discount it all, since I was baptized, confirmed and received first Holy Communion 25 years ago on Corpus Christi Sunday. The only Church I knew was the post-conciliar. The only Mass I knew was the Novus Ordo, the "new" Mass which can be seen in most parishes today (but which is something, in its present incarnation, that the bishops of Vatican II would have been quite surprised by, and some not pleasantly so...).
**********
I suppose it may be different if one only goes to the new rite Mass on Sundays. One hour a week of polyester vestments and guitars and being forced to sing and hold hands and interact with the celebrant and those sorts of things***, which foster more "feminine" values -- it's face-to-face, rather than side-by-side as most men tend to relate (and may explain why my parish is mostly made up of men...), can be done by some people without too much distress. But early on as a Catholic I realized there had been an immense patrimony lost, in large part thanks to the fact that by some miracle I had acquired my grandfather's 1908 Lasance (a book of prayers, which included the old Mass). And when one must cope -- and for me it did become an exercise of coping -- with these questionable elements on a daily basis, one begins to lose heart. At least I did. Just in time, I got whisked off to Rome, and the decrepit but delightful parish of San Gregorio dei Muratori, staffed by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. And the rest is history...so far.
**********
* Or to some a great vindication!
** In one of the most charming developments of what some call the "liturgy wars" some communities of priests who offer the old rite are holding CAMPS this summer (!) to train those who want to learn the rite ahead of the promulgation of the MP (and demand has been such that they are sold-out). This has to be one of the cutest things I've ever heard of -- definitely not band camp!
*** ...and sometimes dancing and clapping. If the Mass is what we say it is, the re-presentation of the salvific death of Christ on the Cross, then all I can say is that I have it on good authority that no one danced and clapped at Calvary. Our salvation is a cause for joy, but not for merriment.
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Orthometer
What Father thinks about the MP:
http://orthometer.blogspot.com/2007/06/so-father-what-do-you-think-about-motu.html
http://orthometer.blogspot.com/2007/06/so-father-what-do-you-think-about-motu.html
More on the Motu proprio "Nos de cunctatione excusamus"
"I've been in a state of terrible M.P. anxiety -- but I think I'm coming out of it..." A quote from the Great Possum himself. (So kee-yoooooooot!)
Saturday, 9 June 2007
Motu proprio "Latin word Latin word"
I don't know what they're going to call it yet, but Reginald (sorry, but he insists I not call him "Father") will come up with something wonderful I'm sure (as least as good as "Veritatis Splendor"!).
Wednesday, 6 June 2007
More Ordinations
Second from right, Don Pablo Perez-Rubio Villalobos, who keeps Santa Croce running (http://www.pusc.it/eng/), was one of 38 new priests ordained for the Opus Dei prelature at Sant' Eugenio in Rome on May 26th.
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Former Anglicans at CUA
This is Father Eric Bergman, ordained about 6 weeks ago. Sixty of his Episcopalian former parishioners followed him into the Catholic Church. The following links tell his story:
and
Former Anglicans at CUA
This last weekend there was an Anglican Use conference at Catholic Univerisity here in Washington. These souls are former Anglicans and Episcopalians who have become Catholic. In the top photo is Linda Poindexter, the wife of Admiral John Poindexter. She was an Episcopalian priest for 13 years. The story of her conversion is amazing (and I think will be posted soon somewhere online -- details to follow, since it's a must-read!). The other two snapshots are from Rite One of The Book of Divine Worship (I'm sorry the images are so poor -- there was no time to attend this liturgy properly since I was working at the Basilica main office that day and was only able to sneak over on break! But it was well-attended, despite what the pictures show...). Note the "ad orientem" position (which I put in quotes, since it is liturgical east, but almost due north on a compass) at the altar: daily Mass is offered here versus populum (yes, the celebrant usually turns his back on the tabernacle AND the crucifix...).
Rite One is as follows: http://www.walsingham-church.org/mass.htm
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A priest who attended the conference (not a former Anglican but a cradle Catholic) said he would be happy to celebrate this liturgy. He said he has tried learning Latin in order to attempt the 1962 Missal but has had little success, and would like to use the reverent and less pedestrian English texts of Rite One rather than the Novus Ordo. He has asked his Bishop for permission but has little hope of receiving it.
*******************
The celebrant was Fr. Eric Bergman, who deserves a post of his own! (SEE NEXT POST ABOVE)
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