Tea at Trianon: Latin Mass Appeal

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

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Latin Mass Appeal

An Op-Ed in the The New York Times sums up why the sacred liturgy was changed forty years ago and why the traditional Latin Mass is making a comeback.

Many of Bugnini’s reforms were aimed at appeasing non-Catholics, and changes emulating Protestant services were made, including placing altars to face the people instead of a sacrifice toward the liturgical east. As he put it, “We must strip from our ... Catholic liturgy everything which can be the shadow of a stumbling block for our separated brethren, that is, for the Protestants.” (Paradoxically, the Anglicans who will join the Catholic Church as a result of the current pope’s outreach will use a liturgy that often features the priest facing in the same direction as the congregation.)
How was Bugnini able to make such sweeping changes? In part because none of the popes he served were liturgists. Bugnini changed so many things that John’s successor, Paul VI, sometimes did not know the latest directives. The pope once questioned the vestments set out for him by his staff, saying they were the wrong color, only to be told he had eliminated the week-long celebration of Pentecost and could not wear the corresponding red garments for Mass. The pope’s master of ceremonies then witnessed Paul VI break down in tears....
But Bugnini may have finally met his match in Benedict XVI, a noted liturgist himself who is no fan of the past 40 years of change. Chanting Latin, wearing antique vestments and distributing communion only on the tongues (rather than into the hands) of kneeling Catholics, Benedict has slowly reversed the innovations of his predecessors. And the Latin Mass is back, at least on a limited basis, in places like Arlington, Va., where one in five parishes offer the old liturgy.
Benedict understands that his younger priests and seminarians — most born after Vatican II — are helping lead a counterrevolution. They value the beauty of the solemn high Mass and its accompanying chant, incense and ceremony. Priests in cassocks and sisters in habits are again common; traditionalist societies like the Institute of Christ the King are expanding.
At the beginning of this decade, Benedict (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) wrote: “The turning of the priest toward the people has turned the community into a self-enclosed circle. In its outward form, it no longer opens out on what lies ahead and above, but is closed in on itself.” He was right: 40 years of the new Mass have brought chaos and banality into the most visible and outward sign of the church. Benedict XVI wants a return to order and meaning. So, it seems, does the next generation of Catholics.

tubbs said...: I remember, many years ago, the late William F. Buckley proposing to at least allow a 'high church' tradition to exist along side the Novus Ordo, but that wouldn't even be countenanced by the happy-clappy dominated Church leadership back then.

IMHO, the Novus Ordo isn't all that bad if it is done with dignity, solemnity, and reverence. But please spare the congregation the smiley-face stoles, the moronic music, and especially - those ad-libbed 'creative liturgy' interjections in the Mass.

Ya want creative liturgy??? Well here's a new rite for ya: gather up all the felt banners, burlap chasubles, and romper-room hymnals, process out of the sanctuary to the church parking lot, dose the collected items in kerosene, and start a huge bonfire.; December 10, 2009 at 12:33:00 AM EST
Stephanie A. Mann said...: My husband and I attend the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite Mass here in Wichita. Our diocese does not have one of the orders (FSSP or Christ the King) so priests with other parish duties say the Mass. We appreciate the reverence, the silence and the prayerful participation the form engenders. I do wish there could be some slight adaptations for the congregation to join in some prayers aloud: the Confiteor with the servers and the Our Father with the priest particularly. Otherwise, I find the greatest difference in the celebration of the Mass is in the congregation, not the priest.; December 10, 2009 at 9:40:00 AM EST
Arkanabar Ilarsadin said...: I've read that Bugnini used what amounts to a child's trick to get his reforms accepted: when the council balked, he said, "This is the will of the Pope!" When the Pope boggled, he said, "But this is the will of the council...."

I wish I could remember where I read that.; December 13, 2009 at 8:22:00 PM EST