Things Catholic

I don't pretend to be an expert on my Faith. As a Vatican II baby and the product of a well intentioned yet dubious CCD program it has been a struggle the last few years to play catch up in the pursuit of a knowledge base that I feel is appropriate for a Catholic Adult. Where I can make time in a busy schedule I struggle with Latin, try to make important liturgical celebrations and just try to polish what has turned out to be a very unfinished piece of educational woodwork.

In this pursuit I have had the benefit of some very patient and learned clergy who take the time to teach their flocks and provide ongoing support for growth. Soon, Holy Mass will change somewhat with better translations that will result in the new English language version of the Mass. You would think this would be a welcome development. After all, as a Faith rich in tradition we should endeavor to stay as true to our roots as possible. Apparently in addition to being mistaken, I am also a bit dim.

WASHINGTON – Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Erie, Pa., former chairman of the U.S. bishops’ liturgy committee, sharply criticized what he called the “slavishly literal” translation into English of the new Roman Missal from the original Latin.

He said the “sacred language” used by translators “tends to be elitist and remote from everyday speech and frequently not understandable” and could lead to a “pastoral disaster.”

“The vast majority of God’s people in the assembly are not familiar with words of the new missal like ‘ineffable,’ ‘consubstantial,’ ‘incarnate,’ ‘inviolate,’ ‘oblation,’ ‘ignominy,’ ‘precursor,’ ‘suffused’ and ‘unvanquished.’ The vocabulary is not readily understandable by the average Catholic,” Bishop Trautman said.

Not to question the teaching authority of a Bishop but I had always understood that the primary responsibility of a Diocesan Ordinary is to TEACH. So in an instance where the vast majority of us pew sitters are not familiar with words of more than two syllables, should not the focus then be on uplifting the flock both spiritually and intellectually?

Touching back on Vatican II this is clearly a case of reaping what one sows. When a centuries old style of worship is removed willy nilly and dumbed down what does one expect? There are a great many commentaries on the web today both supporting and challenging Bishop Trautman's stance.

A basic tenant of gardening is that if the roots are week the plant will wither and die. It is time as Catholics to return to our roots (Brick by Brick as the de facto flying Bishop of the Internet Father Z would say) and ensure that they are healthy and capable of delivering the fragrant fruit of the Good News.

The rest of Bishop Trautman's comments here.

Good Seminar

My intrepid friend the Maestro will be offering a sacred music seminar here in the Diocese of Metuchen. In the hope that any of you interested in great church music might be inclined to attend I have posted the flier for the event.

May the appropriate authorities be inspired to ban guitars, tambourines and the dreaded farfisa organ from all Roman Catholic liturgies.

Accepting routine

Something we all fall in to at one point I suppose. For those of you who are Catholic and have questions about Extraordinary Ministers of Communion Father Z offers some interesting insight. Just remember that it is not necessarily right even if you see it done all of the time. Check it out.

Quaeritur-extraordinary-ministers-and-approach-the-altar

Crooning tunes

From the web site of the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in Raritan, NJ.

September 25, 2009

Military Order of the Collar of St. Agatha

On Friday evening September 25, the members of the Military Order of the Collar of Saint Agatha will hold an investiture of two new members at the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament. The investiture will take place at 5:00, pm during Vespers with Benediction. All are welcome to attend this event. Please Note: There will be no evening mass on this day due to the investiture.

The only site in the Diocese of Metuchen that offers the traditional Latin Mass on a daily schedule has been a nice gift bestowed upon us by Bishop Bootkoski.

At the invitation of the Shrine Rector Father Guy Selvester our Schola will be providing the plain chant for Vespers and Benediction. For those of you who pine for traditional Latin liturgy this event is for you.

Going Old School

After a good amount of preparation our Schola and the Chamber Choir from Saint Mary's will be singing a Missa Cantata at Saint Ambrose Church in Old Bridge.

For the better part of us Latin has been a really new experience since most of us were at best toddlers when the change to the Novus Ordo took place. However, trepidations aside we will be doing our best to make this liturgy the special event it should be.

Grateful thanks to Father Bob for inviting us.

Back to the Future?

Thanks to Mulier Fortis for the pictures of Laetare Sunday Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen, UK. What Holy Mass used to look like. What I hope it looks like more and more.

Liturgical Counteroffensive

Just when things are rolling along nicely someone has to chuck an obstacle in your path.

When last I updated you about our Guerrilla Schola we were well into the Advent season and our efforts were met with appreciation at the Parish where we sang for Mass. We have since begun to gear up for Lent and look forward to adding to an already thriving and talented pastoral music program. In addition we are looking forward to making a regular appearance at a nearby Parish where the Pastor offers Mass in the Extraordinary Form on Saturdays. That is of course once we manage to learn the propers. Our long suffering Maestro is learning the difficulties of imparting new knowledge on less than fertile middle aged minds. Undeterred he marches joyfully on.

That is of course until last week. I will be vague on details in order to protect his identity. Gently and over the course of a year or so The Maestro has been incrementally adding more traditional elements to the music at Mass. Not all in Latin but certainly the musical selections introduced have been in lock step with the Magesterium and without a doubt appropriate for season and feast. While there has been a great deal of encouragement from the folks in the pews Father has seen fit to, shall we say, put a screeching halt to any further forward movement in this regard. To add insult to injury he has indicated his preference to musical selections more akin to the St. Louis Jesuits. For those of you unfamiliar with liturgical music this is the equivalent of hosting Barney the Dinosaur at Avery Fischer Hall or holding the Super Bowl in Mozambique.

Chafing under the unforgiving bridle of obedience what choice does he have. However, the building will continue brick by brick. But it is apparent at least in the short term that we will be operating the kiln in a more clandestine fashion.

In the meantime we will continue to work on the propers in the hope that things will really catch on at our alternative location. More to follow as things develop.

Traditional Latin Mass......Help Wanted

While checking my email this evening I received a note from the Maestro that he received from Father Bob Gorman at Saint Ambrose in Old Bridge, NJ. The Traditional Latin Mass is being offered at Saint Ambrose on Saturday mornings at 9:30 am. Sadly, after a hiatus the attendance has dropped substantially and it appears that this opportunity will not last if numbers are not boosted. So, if you or anyone you know is interested in this very beautiful liturgy.....see you there.

Lead, follow or get out of the way

This evening several of us travelled to the Diocesan Center to participate in a Q and A about the Latin Mass. Despite the fact that it has been a year since His Holiness cleared up any lingering questions about the ability of Priests to celebrate in the Extraordinary Form there really hasn't been that much brewing in the Metuchen Diocese. To his credit, our Bishop has arranged for daily and Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. The unfortunate element is that in a Diocese of over one half million with 108 Parishes, one chapel in the middle of a diocese that spans four counties doesn't lend itself to the easy or even practical possibility of attending daily or even Sunday Mass.

The session was presented by Msgr. Michael J. Alleigro who is the Rector of our Cathedral. We were provided with three documents. The first was a chronology of "liturgical reforms" spanning 1962 to 2007. This was followed by a release from the Vatican Press Office and bore the title Observations on the use of the Roman Liturgy prior to the 1970 reform. Finally there was a list of several common questions regarding Summorum Pontificum. Pretty rudimentary stuff.

To summarize a very long and brutal story;

1) the Pope says any competent Priest can say Mass according to the Extraordinary Form.
2) We won't stand in any one's way but don't expect any help.
3) Good luck with all of that.

Certainly the presentation was longer and sugar coated a bit more but we got the drift. There were about seventy people there. Only about four Priests, a smattering of Directors of Music and then the laity.

There were a few really pointed questions from the group. Deflected ably. No great progress but no sign of stimulus from the Chancery. The party line seemed to be "there has been no great swelling of requests for the Extraordinary Form". The question remains...what will happen when there is?

Guerilla Chant

It all started innocently enough. My good friend and daughter’s piano teacher and I often run in to each other while waiting for the kids to get out of school. What is nice about our chats is that the Maestro and I have found how very much we have in common. He is a professional church musician (and an accomplished one at that) and I am a music lover. We share a love for the Church and have chatted at length about Church history and current events. Barbeque, distilled spirits and fine cigars traditionally round out our exchange. The list grows each time we steal those fifteen minutes from work and family obligations to just enjoy some idle time bantering about our passions.

One afternoon not too long ago I was lamenting the absence of the TLM in our diocese. While the Mass is offered in our Diocese it is only available in one rather distant location. The probability of making that trek on a routine basis is unlikely in the face of the realities of space and time. Thus I confessed I am a burgeoning yet frustrated “wanna be” Traditionalist Roman Catholic.

The Maestro too confessed his frustration at not being able to explore this rich liturgical heritage. Being bound to his schedule as the Director of Music at his Parish the possibility of his slinking away to join me in my quest was equally unlikely. It was at this point it happened. Like a member of the Underground cautiously giving a password to one who he hopes is a confederate and not a member of the secret police he told me about a project he was working on, a men’s schola. Did I really hear him say that? Gregorian chant here? In liturgical tambourine land? I kept my composure and with a soft conspiratorial yet guttural response encouraged him to continue.

Through some magic he convinced his Pastor to allow the inclusion of this most precious part of our liturgical heritage as a small part of the Masses for Advent and Christmas. While it will still be a Novus Ordo Mass the customary sights and sounds of worship will be edged aside to include both the Introit and Communio. In excited and suitably hushed tones he shared the location and secret meeting time with me and we hurriedly separated amongst the crowd of dispersing school children and unsuspecting parents.

Thus not long after we met on a sunny fall afternoon in a location that for security reasons will have to remain undisclosed. I then was introduced to our co conspirators. Naturally we used pseudonyms in case our activities were compromised. There in our secret lair we plotted. The Delivery Man, Mr. Curie, The Student and of course the Dirty Copper listened attentively as The Maestro lay out our plan.

What a joyful undertaking! Often in the privacy of my thoughts I am saddened at the thought that there are so few of us out there, those who yearn for liturgical tradition, a tradition of which we were deprived. Yet here we all were. Despite having no direct experience or exposure to its graces, we collectively possess imbued knowledge that it is right and proper, a direct lineage to the time of the earliest Christians. A treasured gift of continuity, the uninterrupted path to the prize of our faith.

So there we plotted, and chanted with grateful souls. I know not where this path will lead us. Yet I know that it is right. It is comfortable. It inspires me to grace. Whether our venture will succeed is yet to be determined. With God’s grace and the efforts of like minded cells of conspirators, perhaps we will be part of the surge behind the Great Liturgical Reformation. Brick by Brick.