The Bishop's Weekly Column from the Parish Bulletin

OUR LADY OF FATIMA

CATHOLIC CHURCH

The Latin Mass under "wraps"

October 18, 2006

Mass on the tomb of St Louis Marie de Montfort
October 18, 1996

Considering that the ban on the Tridentine Mass might just be about to be lifted I thought I would recount a tale from ten years ago. Ten years ago today I offered the Mass in honor of the Evangelist St. Luke on the tomb of St. Louis Marie de Montfort at St. Laurent-sur-Sèvres. It was a remarkable story in itself. We arrived the evening before, the priests of the community founded by St. Louis had room for me but the sisters over the road had no place for a religious sister in full habit. Indeed one elderly nun in a modified gray habit parted with a delightful scowl pasted across her face. The priests' secretary was on her way home and readily offered a place in her home which was right next door to the basilica. In conversation it turned out that she had been a nun herself but had left the convent once the changes hit after Vatican II. Her home was a religious center for a religious organization that started in Canada under curious circumstances. She asked me what plans I had for Mass in the morning. I was non-committal. She offered to contact the rector of the Basilica and arrange for me to celebrate Mass on the Saint's tomb. This she promptly did, but I made sure to inform her before making the call that I would say the Mass in Latin, not French. She gamely reminded me that she knew a little Latin since that had been the language of the Mass in her convent days.

She made the necessary contacts - it was all arranged. I would offer Mass after the Rector had celebrated the community Mass at the main altar. There was one slight hiccup - our host asked for permission to attend the Mass. Now I knew the game was up.

The next morning (October 18, 1996) we arrived as planned just as the rector was finishing the parish Mass. I quietly waited until he had finished. Approaching the tomb of St. Louis I noticed a Missal had been prepared with the Mass of St Louis de Montfort in various languages including Latin. One slight problem remained, it was the New Rite. In any case the rubrics for a 2nd Class Feast (St. Luke) do not permit the celebration of a votive Mass. I headed off in the direction of the Sacristy. Once inside I met the Rector who was unvesting. He asked if I had brought an alb. When I informed him that I had not, he threw the one he was taking off at me with an evident note of disdain. He asked what Mass I would say that day. When I mentioned I would offer the Mass of St. Luke another flash of anger. "The missal is no longer valid !" He hissed, referring to the New Rite Missalette for St Louis he had put out. He thrust the French Missal at me. Somewhat sheepishly I vested wondering how on earth I would get away with celebrating a Tridentine Mass under such conditions. I decided to follow the pre-St. Pius V missal ! I said the preparatory prayers in the Sacristy from a 1943 Benziger hand missal that I was using. (The type that seminarians use - the same as the altar missal just in a hand-sized form.)

When I arrived at the altar I finished the prayers with the confiteor and Mass proceeded as usual. I write "as usual" except that the rector showed up on the other side of the tomb and spent a few minutes observing me with an evident suspicious look on his face. With arms stretched wide (Novus Ordo style) I began the preface of the Mass. He seemed satisfied it was the new rite after all. He departed never to be seen again. The former nun, our hostess, clearly recognized the Tridentine formulae but participated with the responses without batting an eye-lid. Everything went well until the Last Gospel. Here there would be an obvious problem. I decided to promote myself temporarily to a "pectoral priest" and use an option available to bishops who may recite the Last Gospel as they return to the throne, faldstool, or indeed the Sacristy reciting the words as they depart.

Tales from other priests who managed to celebrate the Traditional Mass at various shrines had prepared me for the worst, but this was the last time I tried celebrating a Latin Mass in public where the authorities were clearly opposed to it.

Comparing these reminiscences of a decade ago with the Church today, it is clear that the atmosphere in the Church has changed much in the last 18 months. We can only hope and pray that the rightful aspirations of those "who feel attached to the Old Rite" may indeed soon receive "a renewed pastoral attention" as the late Pope John Paul II put it in an allocution dated October 26 1998.

+TF