Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Father, all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks
as we do honour the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of Carmel.

Your word filled her heart
and inspired her actions,
making her constant in prayer with the Apostles,
and, through her share in our salvation,
constituting her the spiritual mother of all mankind.
She watches unceasingly with a mother’s loving care
over the brethren of her Son,
and lights us along our pilgrim way
to the Mount of your Glory,
our beacon of comfort,
and the embodiment or all our hopes
as members of the Church.
Now, with all the saints and angels,
we praise you forever:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

(Preface of Our Lady of Mount Carmel I, Carmelite Missal)

1 Year Ago Today: Summorum Pontificum

On July 7, 2007 Pope Benedict XVI released his Apostolic Letter Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum along with an accompanying Explanatory Letter adressed to bishops.

Both of these are worth a read. A couple of excerpts:

The Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the ‘Lex orandi’ (Law of prayer) of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite. Nonetheless, the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and reissued by Bl. John XXIII is to be considered as an extraordinary expression of that same ‘Lex orandi,’ and must be given due honour for its venerable and ancient usage. These two expressions of the Church’s Lex orandi will in no any way lead to a division in the Church’s ‘Lex credendi’ (Law of belief). They are, in fact two usages of the one Roman rite.

It is, therefore, permissible to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass following the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Bl. John XXIII in 1962 and never abrogated, as an extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Church.

(Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum, Article 1, July 7, 2007)

Many people who clearly accepted the binding character of the Second Vatican Council, and were faithful to the Pope and the Bishops, nonetheless also desired to recover the form of the sacred liturgy that was dear to them. This occurred above all because in many places celebrations were not faithful to the prescriptions of the new Missal, but the latter actually was understood as authorizing or even requiring creativity, which frequently led to deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear. I am speaking from experience, since I too lived through that period with all its hopes and its confusion. And I have seen how arbitrary deformations of the liturgy caused deep pain to individuals totally rooted in the faith of the Church.

(Pope Benedict XVI, Explanatory Letter on Summorum Pontificum, July 7, 2007)

The Feast of the Most Precious Blood

Sanguis Christi, inebria me! Blood of Christ, inebriate me!
(from the Anima Christi)

In the Liturgical Calendar of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite July 1st is the Feast of the the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. (This Feast exists in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite in the form of a Votive Mass.) It commemorates all of the times Our Lord shed his most precious blood: the Circumcision, the Agony in the garden, the Scourging at the pillar, the Crowning with thorns, and in the Crucifixion.

You may recall that the Circumcision is specifically commemorated in the Mass on the Octave Day of Christmas. But, today’s Feast calls to mind all of the occasions Our Lord shed his Blood. And this same Blood is offered daily in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on altars the world over.

I read something interesting today online in the June 29th bulletin of Assumption Grotto in Detroit. The pastor writes:

I have often noted the practice of wine connoisseurs–those more adept than myself (if it were possible) in the art of drinking wine–who studiously oscillate their glass and ceremoniously sniff their beverage before consigning it to the quaff. Real wine lovers, you see, must first inform their olfactories before their tongues concerning the quality of the wine. Smell is among the senses that both informs and gives pleasure or displeasure, as the case may be.

Now, what in heavens has this to do with the Mass? Well, in the celebrating of the Tridentine Mass, there is a coincidence of word and gesture in the priest’s offering of the wine during the Offertory rite. He, while moving the chalice over the altar in the form of the cross says, “may this chalice ascend in the sight of Your divine majesty with a sweet odor…”

That God should take delight in smells may be a surprising idea, but it does have biblical precedent. After the flood, Noah offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord for his delivery and God who “smelled the pleasing odor” then promised never again to destroy all living creatures. In other places of the Old Testament there is ample reference to the fragrant incense offered to God.

At Mass, when I make that sign of the cross with the chalice, I too get a brief sniff of odoriferous wine and think that this is symbolic of the agreeableness of the sacrifice that is soon to be offered to God, namely, the sacrifice of Christ. You will note, by contrast, that this Offertory prayer is not said in the ‘ordinary form’ (new rite) of the Mass and that there is no gesture made with the chalice except for its slight elevation during the priest’s words of ‘blessing.’ I know that this is only a little thing, but it is one of those many subtle and meaningful touches that arrest my attention in the Tridentine Mass and which help to raise the mind to God.

Book of Divine Worship now online

The Book of Divine Worship, used by the Roman Catholic Anglican Use parishes in the United States, is now available in pdf format.

The Book of Divine Worship (BDW) is a kind of combination Sacramentary and Liturgy of the Hours in one volume. The Lectionary used in these parishes is that of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

I am happy to see this book online. I got my copy a few years ago and it is an impressive (and very big) book. It is now out of print in anticipation of possibly incorporating the material from the upcoming new translation of the Roman Missal into the 2nd edition.

The Wave of the Future?

Fr. Z has an excellent post on the Holy Father’s recent trend of distributing Communion on the tongue to people who are kneeling.

How should people receive Communion? Pope Benedict sets example…again

And in a comment on another post on Fr. Z’s blog a reader writes:

Apparently, the Pope said today during Mass at a site in Italy:

“I am convinced of the importance of giving the host once again to the faithful directly in the mouth without them touching it” and “the return of kneeling during Communion as a sign of respect”

HOORAY FOR POPE BENEDICT XVI !

Quote

“Your prayers should be liturgical. How I would like to see you using the psalms and prayers from the missal, rather than private prayers of your own choice.”

(St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, 86)

Lauda Sion Salvatorem

Lauda Sion Salvatorem, the Sequence for the Feast of Corpus Christi, written by St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Use of Scripture in the Roman Rite of the Mass

(UPDATED)

I have been working on a project lately that may be of some use to others. I am compiling all of the various Scripture verses used in the Mass. You can look up a particular verse and determine when and where it is used at Mass.

The Use of Scripture in the Roman Rite of the Mass

The site includes the Entrance Antiphon (most priests seem to replace this with a hymn), 1st Reading, Responsorial Psalm, 2nd Reading (if any), Alleluia Verse (called the Verse before the Gospel during Lent), the Gospel, the Communion Antiphon (again, usually replaced with a hymn), and other things such as the addtional Readings of the Easter Vigil.

Right now it covers all of the Sundays and weekdays of the Liturgical Year as well as the Common Masses (Common of Martyrs, Common of Pastors, etc.). Still to be added are the Ritual Masses (Conferral of the Sacrament of Marriage, etc.), the Masses for Various Needs and Occasions, the Votive Masses, and then finally the Feast Days.

I will then go through the Psalms and verify the chapter and verse. I believe that some use the Hebrew numbering and some use the Greek. I will make sure they all use the Hebrew numbering with the Greek following in parenthesis (if different).

When all of that is completed I will begin adding a 3rd column on the right side covering the use of Scripture in the Mass of Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (also known as the Tridentine Mass or the Traditional Latin Mass).

There have been multiple times that I have wished for something like this. But, I have been unable to find anything complete. So, I decided to put it together myself. I would be very interested in comments, suggestions, and criticisms.

Give Me Back My Holy Days!

Rather than just me ranting about how the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is actively trying to reduce the religious practice of American Catholics to a Sunday only thing with their constant need to transfer Holy Days of Obligation to Sunday (like the Ascension) or to remove the obligation to attend Mass if the Holy Day falls on a Saturday or Monday (like most of the other Holy Days of Obligaton), I thought I would just link to the thoughts of a couple of priests on the issue:

Give Us Back Our Holy Days! and Hey You! by Fr. Erik Richtsteig, pastor of St. James Catholic Church in the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

Non-ascension Day by Fr. Christoper Phillips, pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement, a Roman Catholic Anglican Use parish in the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

St. Joseph The Worker

In those dioceses not celebrating the Feast of the Ascension today is the Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker. We already honor St. Joseph each year on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, March 19th (moved to March 15th this year).

This feast was instituted in 1955 by Pope Pius XII and is celebrated on May 1, since this is the day labor is honored in many countries. In the Gospel Jesus was called “the son of the carpenter.” This feast reminds us that honest work, no matter how seemingly menial, can be sanctified. Through work we can sanctify ourselves and others, making each of us participants in the work of redemption.
(Our Sunday Visitor/Midwest Theological Forum Daily Roman Missal)

God, our Father,
Creator and ruler of the universe,
in every age You call man
to develop and use his gifts for the good of others.
With Saint Joseph as our example and guide,
help us to do the work you have asked
and come to the rewards you have promised.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(Opening Prayer 1970 Roman Missal)