Preparations are underway for the first 1962 Latin Mass (also called the Tridentine Mass) to be celebrated in the diocese. The pamphlets have been ordered, the ladies are shaking out their veils and the priests are brushing up on their Latin. In late March, Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde announced that St. Lawrence Parish and St. John the Baptist Parish in Front Royal would be allowed to offer a weekly Tridentine Mass. Father Christopher Mould, pastor of St. Lawrence Parish, plans to have a practice session before the first Mass this Sunday at 12:30 p.m. He has been studying and practicing the old Mass as he prepares.
John Schultz: April 2006 Archives
We know well how the resurrection is represented in the Western tradition, for example, in Piero della Francesca. Jesus comes out of the sepulcher raising the cross as a standard of victory. His face inspires extraordinary trust and security. But his victory is over his external, earthly enemies. The authorities had put seals in his sepulcher and guards to keep watch, and, lo, the seals are broken and the guards asleep. Men are present only as inert and passive witnesses; they do not really take part in the Resurrection.In the Eastern image, the scene is altogether different. It is not developed under an open sky, but underground. In the resurrection, Jesus does not come out but descends. With extraordinary energy he takes Adam and Eve by the hand, who were waiting in the realm of the dead, and pulls them with him to life and resurrection. Behind the two parents, an innumerable multitude of men and women who awaited the redemption. Jesus tramples on the gates of hell which he himself has just dislocated and broken. Christ's victory is not so much over visible but over invisible enemies, which are the worst: death, darkness, anguish, the devil. ...full article from Catholic Online.
The following text is used during the preparation of the altar when first communions are celebrated at my parish. I'm posting without comment because I'd like to know what you think about it. If you have a few moments, please review and post your reactions below.
TEXT FOR USE DURING OFFERTORY, AFTER COLLECTION/OFFERTORY HYMN:
FIRST EUCHARIST CELEBRATION
PREPARATION OF THE TABLE
READER: Today we shall recall what Jesus and his friends did when they celebrated their last supper. This was the first Eucharist. Jesus ate this meal the night before he gave his life for all of us on the cross.
(Slight pause)
READER: Jesus wants us also to share in his meal. First we need a table. We call it an altar. To prepare the table for a meal, we bring up a table cloth.
(Two children walk up the center aisle bringing the altar cloth. They place the cloth on the altar. One other child brings up the corporal, opens it and places it on the altar. Two parents assist with this.)
READER: The meal Jesus shares with his friends is a special meal of love and thanksgiving. We therefore decorate the altar with flowers.
(Children bring up flowers and place them in front of the altar.)
READER: We also use candles on our altar to show that we are celebrating a special meal.
(Two children bring up tapers. The two parents assist in the lighting of the candles.)
READER: For our meal, we need the food and drink that Jesus used at the Last Supper: bread and wine. Bread gives us the strength to live, and wine helps us rejoice.
(Two children bring up the bread and wine. These gifts are received by the presider. Two other children bring up the collection basket.)
READER: In Jesus’ time, all the people at a meal drank from one large cup to show their union with one another. Let us bring to the table the cup that we use at the meal of the Lord.
(One child brings up the cup and a second child brings up the purificator. Both are received by the presider.)
READER: We have brought to the table of the Lord all that is needed for the meal. But there is no meal without people to eat and drink together. At each Eucharist, we are invited as guests of the Lord. We bring to the meal all that we are and all that we do.
Some of you know I have a big problem with the Becker "Litany of the Saints." To me, it sounds like a jam session with a bunch of names thrown in. The joke with folks who share my disdain is you can add all sorts of name combinations since the word "Saint" doesn't appear much:
Peter, Paul & Mary - pray for us
George Jetson - pray for us
His Boy Elroy - pray for us
The banality of the Becker piece compared with the prayerful simplicity of chant drives me batty. Why replace something honored by the Church as having a special place in our liturgies with something so... blah?
I finally found out why the Becker won out over the chant Litany: our DRE thinks gregorian chant is boring.
That's right: boring. As in not fun or exciting. And prayer is supposed to be fun and exciting.
We're back to the chant litany this year, thank God. It was my only request of our main music/liturgy director and I'm glad it was honored.
Today's liturgical practices smackdown brought to you by Cardinal Arinze.
Holding up his fists, he said "This one is law, and this one is order"
Actually, what he said was:
"A do-it-yourself mentality, an attitude of nobody-will-tell-me-what-to-do, or a defiant sting of if-you-do-not-like-my-Mass-you-can-go-to-another-parish, is not only against sound theology and ecclesiology, but also offends against common sense," the Cardinal said."Unfortunately, sometimes common sense is not very common, when we see a priest ignoring liturgical rules and installing creativity, in his case personal idiosyncrasy, as the guide to the celebration of Holy Mass."
Episcopalians consider freeze on gay bishops
"Our continued membership in the Anglican Communion can no longer be taken for granted," he wrote. "There is now evidence that a majority of bishops are beginning to rethink the position staked out by the General Convention 2003, when it approved the election of the bishop of New Hampshire."
Cardinal Mahony: Left-Wing Radical
I'll leave the commenting to you.
I call this, the "promised lamb."
This was our Thanksgiving meal - no one in my family gets excited about turkey.
Here's Fr. Jerome Magat with my wife Teresa and me from last Thanksgiving.
Fr. Magat is parochial vicar at St. Elizabeth's in Colonial Beach, VA. He organized a free clinic in Colonial Beach as well.
