OUR LADY OF FATIMA
CATHOLIC CHURCH
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OUR LADY OF FATIMA CATHOLIC CHURCH |
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The Future of the Indult and the Tridentine Mass
October 8, 2005
In my column yesterday I mentioned in passing my intention of writing about the changes expected in Rome for the Indult communities. Just a few weeks ago Bishop Fellay said this in his interview about his recent visit with Pope Benedict XVI:
"it is said in Rome that documents are in preparation for communities attached to the Ecclesia Dei Commission, that are quite new, and offering things that have never previously been offered."
At that time I suggested we should take a "wait-and-see" approach on this question. Now we know a few more details. In order to understand the developments we need a little history:
It will be recalled that Cardinal Ratzinger gave an interview to Raymond Arroyo of the EWTN Mother Angelica network in 2003. One of the questions Mr Arroyo asked the Cardinal concerned the future of the indult permissions. Cardinal Ratzinger (correctly) responded that an indult is a temporary measure and should not be seen as a permanent solution to the tensions between the neo-modernists and traditionalists.
Last year the same Cardinal wrote a reply to a traditional catholic German theologian in which he said the following:
But I think in the future the Roman Church will have to have only a single rite; the existence of two rites presents administrative difficulties for bishops and priests. The Roman Rite of the future ought to be a single rite, celebrated in Latin or the language of the people, but entirely based on the tradition of the old rite; it might integrate some new elements that have proven themselves, some prefaces, longer readings - more choices than before, but not too many - an Oratio fidelium (Prayer of the Faithful), this could mean a litany of prayers of intercession after the Oremus before the offertory, which is its primitive place.
This year Cardinal Medina (former prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship) gave a brief interview published in the French review La Nef June 2005 #161 on the occasion of his mission as papal legate for the dedication of Our Lady of the Annunciation Convent on May 12, 2005. Speaking about the future of the liturgical reforms the Cardinal said in part (my translation):
La Nef: Is Benedict XVI going to take action in the liturgical domain ?
Cardinal Medina: I am not a prophet. He has, however, expressed his desire for a "reform of the reform" and we can ask ourselves if he will want to recover some valuable elements from the old rite. For example the offertory of the St Pius V rite is very rich and clearly spells out the sacrificial aspect of the mass. Not that this aspect is not present in the new order of the Mass, which is perfectly orthodox by all means, but this ancient prayer is very clear and pious and it has been suppressed because it was considered as a private prayer of the priest. On the other hand, there would be some advantage to integrating into the old Missal some elements of the new : for example inserting the new feasts and taking in account the new lectionary which is much richer than the old one. There is no theological problem in this and this does not affect the form of old rite.
La Nef: You were telling us 2 months ago "the rite of St Pius V has never been suppressed" : do you think the pope could recognize and give every priest the faculty to celebrate according to the old liturgical forms ?
Cardinal Medina: That depends up on the Pope. It will be necessary to take into account the right pastoral order in the dioceses and avoid causing confusion.
New rites for old ? And then only a few days ago the same Cardinal said almost the same thing in an interview that discussed Bishop Fellay's visit to Rome:
"I only see a few difficulties in the practical order. For example, we would have to make the two liturgical calendars compatible. We can also find a solution to the problem of the lectionary. In a diocese, of course, that might pose a problem of homogeneity. These aren't capital problems, we can resolve them without major difficulties."
Now a new instruction has been made public from the Ecclesia Dei commission for some Benedictine monasteries where the celebration of the Traditional Mass is permitted it states:
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Translation of the document (to the left)
The Conventual Sung Mass is to be ordered as follows 1. When the conventual Mass follows some part of the Divine Office, it begins with the singing of the Introit, the prayers at the beginning of the Mass are omitted. 2. The Liturgy of the Word is
celebrated at the sedilia. 4. In the proper place, that is after the "Oremus" before the offertory the universal Prayers can be said according to the formulae contained in the liturgical books or other duly approved ones. 5. The prayer over the gifts is sung 6. The Doxology "Per ipsum" is sung by the celebrating priest when he himself elevates the chalice with the host above it, all the way to the end of the doxology with the choir responding "Amen" 7. The Pater Noster is sung by everyone along with the celebrant. 8. The final blessing is sung, after which the reading of the begining of the Gospel according to John is
omitted. Every one of these modifications is exactly the same as the Novus Ordo Mass ! |
Reportedly this same document was posted in an indult church of the Fraternity of St Peter in France hence the changes have now migrated from the monasteries to Traditional communities ! Clearly the Tridentine Mass is being modified to resemble the Novus Ordo and the Novus Ordo will be tweaked with a few Tridentine options and presto the new new missal of Benedict XVI which will be essentially the Novus Ordo with a few Tridentine options.
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