Tea at Trianon: Pope Orders Review of Old Rite

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, May 4, 2020

Pope Orders Review of Old Rite

From The Tablet:

The Holy See is conducting a world-wide survey of the traditional Latin Mass focussing on whether celebrations of the Tridentine liturgy respond to genuine pastoral needs and are following guidelines. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has written to the world’s bishops explaining that Pope Francis “wishes to be informed” about the application of Benedict XVI’s 2007 ruling which lifted restrictions on pre-Vatican II liturgical celebrations.

Along with the letter, the bishops are asked to respond to a series of questions aimed at gaining an accurate picture of how the Extraordinary Form of the Mass is celebrated across the world. With his legal ruling “Summorum Pontificum”, Benedict XVI lifted restrictions on the old rite due to “the continued requests of these members of the faithful”, including young people, attached to this version of the Mass celebrated before the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

It allowed for the wider use of the 1962 missal of John XXIII, which the bishops of the council had overwhelmingly voted in favour of reforming. These reforms were then implemented by Paul VI and completed in 1970. There has long been debate about the level of demand for pre-Vatican II forms of worship, and there is scant evidence of any serious take-up outside of traditionalist hotspots in Europe, North America and some parts of Latin America.

Some devotees of the old rite have responded with alarm to the review with the Rorate Caeli site asking whether “the rights and continuity of the Traditional Latin Rite” are now under threat and whether the results may indicate “serious consequences”. But Joseph Shaw, Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, says he is optimistic about the doctrine congregation’s attitudes to the wider use of the Extraordinary Form.

“I do not view this survey as a threat, but simply as indicating a desire by the CDF to have solid information from around the world,” he told The Tablet. Among the questions the bishops are being asked to consider is whether celebrations of the old rite “respond to a true pastoral need or is it promoted by a single priest” and whether the norms and conditions of “Summorum Pontificum” are being respected. In that text, Benedict states that priests should respond to requests for the old rite “where a group of the faithful attached to the previous liturgical tradition stably exists” and gave priests freedom to celebrate it privately. A Rome source told The Tablet the survey was a routine piece of work to understand what is happening with the old rite. (Read more.)