Paul VI: A Pope of Contradictions

Fifty years ago, the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, was promulgated by Pope Paul VI and nearly all the fathers of the conciliar assembly. Having considered the glaring discrepancy between what the Constitution says and what has become its legacy, one’s thoughts naturally turn to him—the Pope who, on the one hand, insisted, against the innovators, that the venerable Roman Canon be retained in the Latin rite, and, on the other hand, approved the most radical reconstruction of the liturgy ever witnessed in Church history.

No doubt about it: Pope Paul VI is a complex and difficult figure. It is one thing to cling to righteousness and suffer rejection and opprobrium, as did Our Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate “sign of contradiction”—and as his Vicar, Paul VI, did at certain times as well. Humanae Vitae is the most shining example, even though its teaching is rejected, say the polls, by the vast majority of Catholics today. It is another thing, however, to have taken revolutionary steps that led, by an avalanche effect, to confusion, dismay, abuse, amnesia, rupture, and infidelity. He himself intended no such effects—and yet they came, came in abundance, occasioned and even abetted by some of his actions. We can see the problem at work in two quotations. In an address of October 29, 1964, to the Consilium (the group entrusted with the renewal and revision of the liturgy), Paul VI said:

The proper implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy [Sacrosanctum Concilium] requires of you that the “new” and the “old” be brought together in a bond that is both suitable and beautiful. What must be avoided at all costs in this matter is that eagerness for the “new” exceed due measure, resulting in insufficient regard for, or entirely disregarding, the patrimony of the liturgy handed on. Such a defective course of action should not be called renewal of the Sacred Liturgy, but an overturning of it. The liturgy, in fact, displays a similarity to a hardy tree, the beauty of which shows a continual renewal of leaves, but whose fruitfulness of life bears witness to the long existence of the trunk, which acts through its deep and stable roots. In liturgical matters, therefore, no real opposition should occur between the present age and previous ages; but all should be done so that, whatever be the innovation, it be made to cohere and to concord with the sound tradition that precedes it, and so that from existing forms new forms grow, as through spontaneously blossoming from it.

This sounds very balanced and principled, emphasizing what we would call today the hermeneutic of continuity, and even gently warning against any course of action that would compromise or dilute the patrimony of the liturgy handed down to us, or appear to create novelties and disruptions.  Then there is the same Pope, speaking these words right before the promulgation of the new Missale Romanum, the Novus Ordo Missae, just three years later, on November 30, 1969:

We may notice that pious persons will be the ones most disturbed [by the changes], because, having their respectable way of listening to Mass, they will feel distracted from their customary thoughts and forced to follow those of others. Not Latin, but the spoken [vernacular] language, will be the main language of the Mass. To those who know the beauty, the power, the expressive sacrality of Latin, its replacement by the vulgar language is a great sacrifice: we lose the discourse of the Christian centuries, we become almost intruders and desecrators in the literary space of sacred expression, and we will thus lose a great portion of that stupendous and incomparable artistic and spiritual fact that is the Gregorian Chant. We will thus have, indeed, reason for being sad, and almost for feeling lost: with what will we replace this angelic language? It is a sacrifice of inestimable price.

Is this the same man, the same thinker, the same pope? In the first address he is exhorting the group of experts to adopt continuity as a guiding principle; in the second address, he is apologizing to the people for the massive rupture about to occur, which he then went on to justify for “pastoral” needs. How exactly can genuine pastoral needs be opposed to true theological and liturgical principles? How exactly is abandoning vast swathes of tradition a response to the teaching of Vatican II, which not only reaffirmed the place of Latin in the liturgy but exalted the place of Gregorian Chant as no council had ever done before?

A pope of contradictions. He praised Latin and urged its preservation in many speeches—but he also approved and defended its virtual abolition. He defended the inseparable connection of the unitive and procreative meanings of the marital act—but he also paved the way to an increasing acceptance of secularity and secularism in relations with modern governments and the United Nations, institutions that have turned violently against marriage and children. He wept at the opening of the first abortion mill in Rome, yet inasmuch as he did not violently resist modernity and all its pomps and works, he contributed to an environment in which an abortion mill was not, for the people of Rome, an unthinkable abomination but rather a sign of Modern Progress. He famously lamented that the smoke of Satan had somehow entered into the temple of God—but he had thrown open so many windows of that temple to a profane, anti-Christian worldview that he should hardly have been surprised when some of Satan’s smoke came drifting in.

What we saw in the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI was an heroic effort to shut and bolt many of those windows, to restore much of what had been rejected or forgotten, to reorient the faithful towards the Good with unambiguous moral teaching, to lead us into the Truth with profound and precise theological doctrine, and to enrapture our hearts towards the Beautiful by the renewal of the sacred liturgy and the fine arts. The shallow innovation and rude experimentation that characterized the 1960s and 1970s began to crumble as the Catholic identity of the faithful was enkindled anew.

We are at a decisive crossroads: the proponents of the legacy of rupture are still numerous and strong, and although the momentum of young and educated Catholics is no longer with them, there are structures that perpetuate the errors and missteps of the past, and there is also a combination of widespread ignorance and indifference that helps the status quo remain the status quo.

Never have the patient teaching of orthodox Catholic doctrine and the fervent practice of traditional Catholic worship been more important than they are now, when the very transmission of doctrine and the very essence of worship are at stake—things that could once be taken, in a way, for granted. We cannot undo the errors of earlier shepherds, but we can and must spread the good doctrine and sound model given to us by our tradition and by our best shepherds. This is our decisive and irreplaceable work at this moment of trial, in this season of grace.

Liturgical Notes on the Immaculate Conception

This year, the feast of the Immaculate Conception falls on a Sunday; in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, the Sundays of Advent are given precedence over all feasts, and so the feast is translated to Monday, December 9th. This is the traditional date for the feast in the Byzantine Rite, in which it is called “the Conception (in the active sense, ‘σύλληψις’) of Saint Anne, Mother of the Theotokos”. In the Missal and Breviary of 1962, the same level of precedence is granted to the Sundays of Advent, excepting only the Immaculate Conception, which trumps the Second Sunday of Advent when the two coincide. This represents a change from the rubrics attached to the reform of St. Pius X, in which any feast of the highest rank, (“double of the first class”, in the older terminology) is allowed precedence over the Second, Third and Fourth Sundays of Advent, as also over Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima.

The Immaculate Conception, by José Antolínez, 1650

However, before the 1911 reform, these six Sundays (and also the Second, Third and Fourth of Lent) could only be impeded by the feasts of patron and titular Saints, or the feast of a Dedication. Of course, the Virgin Mary was honored as the patron Saint of innumerable churches, dioceses and religious orders under the title of the Immaculate Conception; elsewhere, however, the feast would normally be translated off the Sunday. And so, in a Roman Breviary printed in 1884, we find the rubric, “If this feast falls on the Second Sunday of Advent, it is transferred to the following Monday.” This is a full 30 years after Blessed Pope Pius IX made the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, and more than 20 after the promulgation of a new Office and Mass for the feast in 1863. (S.R.C. 3119) In this regard, the practice of the post-Conciliar reform represents a return to a custom which was still in use even in the first decade of the 20th century. (Going further back, the original rubrics of the reform of St. Pius V admitted no impediment to the Sundays of Advent whatsoever.)

In the liturgical books of the Tridentine reform, the feast has no proper Office or Mass; the texts were those of the Nativity of the Virgin, with the word “Nativity” changed to “Conception” wherever it occurs. Apart from that, the only difference is the proper readings of the first and second nocturns of Matins, from the Book of Ecclesiasticus and St. Ambrose’s treatise “On the Virgins.”

Among the Franciscans, however, a proper Office for the feast was kept well before the decree of 1863, even though in most respects they had from the very beginning followed the liturgical use of the Roman Curia, and hence also the Missal and Breviary of St. Pius V. The Order, and famously among them, the Blessed Duns Scotus, had been the great champions of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and kept the feast as that of the “Principal Patron and Protectress of the Order.”

The Office in question was originally composed by Leonardo Nogarolo, a notary in the court of Pope Sixtus IV, who formally approved it in the year 1480. Sixtus IV had been the Minister General of the Franciscans until two years before his election in 1471; and as Pope, he issued two important decrees on the subject of the Immaculate Conception. The first of these, Cum praeexcelsa of 1477, gave formal permission and encouragement to celebrate the feast, which was still not kept in many places. The second, Grave nimis, was issued in 1483, condemning the “preachers of certain orders” who had dared to assert that belief in the Immaculate Conception, and the celebration of the feast, was heresy, while likewise imposing silence on those who asserted the contrary, that denial of the dogma was heresy. “Preachers” refers quite obviously to the Dominicans, who were at the time largely opposed to the idea of the Immaculate Conception as taught by the Franciscans, and particularly Duns Scotus’ explanation of it. In their liturgical books of the later 15th century, the feast on December 8 is usually called the “Sanctification of the Virgin Mary”, reflecting a theory that the Virgin was sanctified in the womb like John the Baptist.

The Calendar page for December of a Dominican Missal of 1484, (the last year of Sixtus IV’s reign), showing the feast as the “Sanctification of the Virgin Mary”.

Pope Sixtus is of course known especially as the man who commissioned the most famous chapel in the world, the Sistine Chapel, which is nicknamed for him. Its official name, however, is the chapel of the Immaculate Conception, and the Office mentioned above was written by Nogarolo specifically for use in the Sistine Chapel, as the proper Office of the titular feast. (Following the normal custom, I will refer to this Office as “Sicut lilium”, the first words of its first antiphon.”) For this reason, the first two antiphons at Lauds are borrowed from Lauds of the Dedication of a Church, and do not refer to the Virgin Mary.

The text of most of the other antiphons and responsories is taken from the Bible, and predominantly from the Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiasticus and the Song of Songs. At Second Vespers, however, a rather unique set of antiphons was composed for the Psalms, consisting of quotations from the Church Fathers; some of the texts cited are also read at in the lessons of Matins in Nogarolo’s original version of the Office. In the pre-Tridentine liturgical books, the name of each Father is printed before the antiphon.

Jerome Nihil est candoris, nihil est splendoris, nihil est numinis quod non resplendeat in Virgine gloriosa. - There is no part of brightness, no part of glory, no part of the godhead, such that it does not shine forth in the glorious Virgin. (In the post-Tridentine use, “godhead” was evidently felt to be a bit of an exaggeration, and changed to “virtutis – virtue.”)
Origen Quæ neque serpentis persuasione decepta, nec ejus venenosis afflatibus infecta est. - Who was not deceived by the coaxing of the serpent, nor infected by his poisonous breath.
Augustine (speaking in the person of Christ.) Hanc, quam tu despicis, Manichaee, mater mea est, et de manu mea fabricata. - This woman whom you despise, Manichean, is my mother, made by my own hand.
Anselm Decuit Virginem ea puritate nitere, qua major sub Deo nequit intelligi. - It was becoming that the Virgin shine with that purity, than which no greater can be understood beneath God.
Ambrose Hæc est virga, in qua nec nodus originalis nec cortex actualis culpæ fuit. - This is the rod, on which there was no knot of original guilt, nor the bark of any actual guilt. (referring to the rod of Jesse in Isaiah 11, 1)

A similar custom is still observed by the Premonstratensians, who sing the following antiphon for the Nunc dimittis on the Immaculate Conception, with the annotation at the end, “the words of our father Saint Norbert.” (St. Norbert and the Premonstratensian Order were, of course, champions of the dogma even before the Franciscans, and had an entirely different proper Office of their own for the feast in the Middle Ages.)

Ant. Ave Virgo, quæ Spiritu sancto præservante, de tanto primi parentis peccato triumphasti innoxia. - Hail, o Virgin, who by the preservation of the Holy Spirit, didst triumph unhurt over the sin so great of our first father.

If I remember correctly, I once read somewhere that “Sicut lilium” was also musically very beautiful, and back in the days when attendance at solemn Vespers was the norm on major feasts, people would flock to Franciscan churches to hear it. If any of our readers can confirm or deny this, I would be interested to hear from you in the combox.

The decree that promulgated the new Office and Mass in 1863 required all religious orders to accept them, and those who preserved their own proper uses to adapt it to their own particular customs, subject to the approval of the Sacred Congregation for Rites. Since the Franciscans (unlike the Dominicans or Premonstratensians) had always used the Roman Breviary, “Sicut lilium” then ceased to be used; a few parts of it were taken into the new Office, most notably the prayer, which reflects Duns Scotus’ insight on how the Immaculate Conception is possible.

O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, prepared a worthy dwelling place for thy Son; we beseech thee, that, as by the foreseen death of Thy same Son, Thou preserved Her from every stain, so Thou may grant us also, through Her intercession, to come to thee with pure hearts.

One of the most notable features of the 1863 Office is the readings at Matins for the feast and its octave. In the third nocturn, the readings (with one exception) are taken from Eastern Saints whose writings had never, to the best of my knowledge, appeared in any form of the Breviary hitherto. These are two patriarchs of Constantinople, Ss. Germanus (715-30) and Tarasius (784-806); St Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, (634-38), the great enemy of the Monothelite heresy, and St. Epiphanius of Salamis, (died 403), a great enemy of heresies generally. (The exception is a passage from St. Bernard on the 10th of December.) These passages are unusually long, and rhetorically effusive in the manner of their age, but were clearly chosen to witness the belief of the Universal Church in the Immaculate Conception. The reading of St. Germanus on the feast itself begins thus: “Hail Mary, full of grace, holier than the Saints, more exalted than the heavens, more glorious than the Cherubim, more honorable than the Seraphim, and venerable above every creature.” This is a clear reference to the hymn Axion esti, which is sung in the Liturgy of Saint Chrysostom.

It is truly right to bless thee, O Theotokos, ever most blessed, and wholly pure, and the Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, without corruption thou gavest birth to God the Word, the true Theotokos, we magnify thee.

Likewise, the litanies of the Divine Liturgy refer repeatedly to the Virgin Mary as “immaculate” at the conclusion, “Having made memory of our all-holy, immaculate, (“ ἄχραντος ”) blessed above all and glorious Lady, the Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, with all the Saints, let us commend ourselves and one another and all our life to Christ our God.”

The original version of “Sicut lilium” makes only one brief mention of the Virgin Mary’s mother St. Anne, in whose womb the Immaculate Conception took place. As mentioned before, however, the Byzantine Rite calls the feast itself “the Conception of St. Anne.” In the icon below, the upper left shows St. Joachim in the desert, where he has gone to mourn his and Anne’s barrenness, for the sake of which his offering in the temple had been refused. An angel has come to tell him to return to Anne, and that God will grant them a child who will become the Mother of the Redeemer. In the upper right, the same message is delivered to Anne herself.

The legend on which this image is based goes on to say that Joachim and Anne then went to find each other, meeting at the gate of Jerusalem called “the Golden Gate.” The depiction of their embrace and kiss is often used not only to decently represent the act of Anne’s conception, but to distinguish the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin from that of the Virginal Conception of Christ. This legend is referred to in a prayer found in some pre-Tridentine missals and breviaries, such as that of Herford in England; it also commonly depicted in Western art, as seen below in Giotto’s frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.

O God, who by an angelic prophecy foretold the Conception of the Virgin Mary to her parents; grant to this Thy family gathered here, to be protected by Her assistance, whose Conception we happily venerate in this great solemnity.

The Meeting at the Golden Gate by Giotto, 1304. The mysterious female figure in black standing in the middle of the gate may represent the devil, whom Christ begins to defeat in the Conception of His Holy Mother. This figure seems also to have been the inspiration for one of the most sinister representations of the devil in modern art, in the movie The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson.

What is a Carol?

Although most of us would generally define a carol as a verse song written for Christmas, the origins of the carol are quite different. In medieval England, carolers would stand in a circle and sing a refrain, and a soloist in the centre of the circle would sing (and possibly dance) the verses. Crucially, the refrain, or burden, would open the carol, as well as follow each verse. It is this structure which originally defined the essence of a Carol, and it didn't have to have a Christmas text, nor even a religious one (the Agincourt Carol being such an example). In England our understanding of the carol nowadays is largely shaped by the major Victorian Christmas hymns and epitomised by the world famous Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College, Cambridge, broadcast to the nation annually on Christmas Eve. Starting tomorrow on BBC Radio 4 is a series which explores the origins of the English Carol and the traditions which have developed over the centuries. Entitled 'A Cause for Caroling', Jeremy Summerly presents ten episodes of fifteen minutes each which will be broadcast Monday to Friday over the next two weeks at 1.45pm GMT. More information is available at the BBC website here. You can listen online or use the 'listen again' link to catch up later.

Gaudete Sunday - Liturgical Formation Seminars in Hong Kong

The Tridentine Liturgy Community of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong “Mary Help of Christians” is offering a series of liturgical formation seminars, the first of which will take place next Sunday. His Excellency Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, will celebrate a Pontifical High Mass for Gaudete Sunday, and afterwards speak on “The History, Theology and Pastoral Applications of Receiving Communion Kneeling and on the Tongue.” Further information is available on the community’s website in both English and Chinese, and on the poster below, including the list of seminars coming up in the first half of 2014.

Carols for the suffering Church in Syria

There will be a Carol Service this Wednesday at 7pm at St Mary Moorfields Church in London to raise money for Aid to the Church in Need's appeal for the Church in Syria. Admission is free with a retiring collection.

Dominican Rite Breviary Ordo for 2014 Available

Through the kindness of our friends at Breviarium S.O.P., I am pleased to make available a 2014 Ordo for use with the Dominican Rite Breviary.  It may be purchased here.

I also remind readers that the Dominican Rite Calendar for 2014 is also available for download (free) on the left sidebar of Dominican Liturgy.  This calendar has been recently corrected and expanded.

Reminder: Norcia Calendars for 2014

On this feast of Saint Nicholas, when in many parts of the Catholic world it has been a centuries-old custom to give small gifts, it occurred to me to remind fellow lovers of the liturgy that the 2014 Calendar from the Monks of Norcia is available for purchase as a way to support these monks in their daily life of work and prayer, a simple but sublime expression of the Benedictine charism.  (We are thinking about Christmas presents these days, are we not...?)

This calendar, which I reviewed here in detail, is a splendid overview of the Roman Rite in both its forms, as the calendar gives the Sundays, feastdays, and memorials for the Vetus Ordo and the Novus Ordo.  Check it out.

The Feast of St. Saba

Today is the feast of one of the great Patriarchs of Eastern monasticism, Saint Sabbas, who is usually given the epithet “the Sanctified” in the Byzantine Rite. Born in the year 439, he died at the age of 93 in 532 A.D. Having entered upon the monastic life as a child, he eventually founded the famous lavra named after him in the Kidron Valley, about 8 miles from Jerusalem, and an equal distance from Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. This lavra is the second oldest continually functioning monastery in the world, after that of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, and counts several famous saints among its alumni, such as St. John Damascene. St. Sabbas is named in the preparatory rites of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and the Typikon, the book which regulates the order of services, which was used in the lavra became the basis for the modern Typikon still used to this day.

An aerial view of the lavra. From Wikipedia

A small church dedicated to him is on the lower of the two peaks of the Aventine Hill in Rome. Traditionally, it was said to have been founded as a monastic oratory by St. Gregory the Great, on a property once owned by his mother, St. Silvia, and given to a colony of monks from the lavra in the Holy Land. It has subsequently passed through the hands of various other religious congregations, Cluniacs, Cistercians, and Canons Regular, and is now served by the Jesuits. Although heavily restored in 1932-3, the church preserved several fragments of the various phases of its earlier history.

As in many of Rome’s older churches, the colonnade of the nave is made of “spolia”, i.e., materials taken from various ruins; hence the complete lack of uniformity. The Annunciation above the apse was painted in the mid-15th century when the monastery became the residence of Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini, nephew of Pope Pius II, and the future Pius III (reigning for 3 weeks in September and October of 1503.)

The Crucifixion scene over the throne at the back is only part of the apsidal decoration that has not been badly restored. Nevertheless, the effect of the painted apse as a whole remains impressive.

A relic of Saint Sabbas enclosed in the altar.

The 13th century throne behind the main altar.

The apsidal fresco was originally painted in the 13th century, but has been heavily and badly restored and repainted.

On the right wall of the church is preserved this large fragment of the schola cantorum, which would originally have been in the nave right in front of the altar. Many of these were dismantled in the wake of the Council of Trent, since they largely blocked the view of what was happening at the altar during the Mass.

Several parts of the Cosmatesque pavement are more or less well preserved.

The ceiling of the church was completely redone by Cardinal Piccolomini, whose family crest is still seen in several directly underneath it on both sides. Exposed wooden ceilings of this sort became very unfashionable in the Baroque period, and are extremely rare in Rome.

On the left side of the church, a fourth aisle preserves several other frescoes from the 13th century, which are in fairly rough shape, but have been spared the repainting that happened to the apse. Here we see St. Gregory the Great, traditionally honored as the founder of the church, with St. Sabbas to the left. The Saint to the right holding a book may be St. Ambrose, since his feast day is kept only two days after that of Sabbas; the book would represent his status as a Doctor of the Church.

The legend of St. Nicholas providing the dowries which will enable the father of three girls to spare them from a life of prostitution. This story is the origin of the traditional veneration of St. Nicholas as a gift-giving saint, leading ultimately to his transformation into Santa Claus. His feast day is kept the day after Sabbas’.

The Virgin and Child with St. Sabbas.

In the modern parish buildings next to the church are preserved several fragments of fresco work from an earlier stage of the church, roughly 8th to 9th century. Here we see the calling of the first Apostles, with the words “James and John” in Greek on the far left, and the paralytic being lowered through the roof.

A group of Eastern monks.

Juventutem DC Celebrates Feast of St. Ambrose with Day of Recollection

Juventutem DC follows up its successful Day of Recollection for All Souls Day with a December sequel: a special traditional Latin Mass and Day of Recollection for the Feast of St. Ambrose on Dec. 7.

The Chapter plans to mark the feast day of this Doctor of the church with a Low Mass at 8:30am at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Washington, D.C. (a short distance from the Woodley Park Metro station), celebrated by the chaplain of Juventutem DC, Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth. It also plans, however, to follow the Mass with a “Day of Recollection” – a spiritual conference drawing important lessons on the day – moderated by Sister Maria Kiely, O.S.B., an instructor at Catholic University of America and expert on St. Ambrose, in the St. Thomas parish hall. Light refreshments will be available.

This emphasis on spiritual formation reflects the particular priorities of the DC Chapter, which received its official word of affiliation with Juventutem International only on Sept. 29. While promotion of traditional Masses is important to the chapter, it places an even higher priority on spiritual formation, catechesis and instruction for potential celebrants, servers and scholas. The chapter is keen not to merely duplicate the efforts of other traditional groups, which already have proliferated in the region – even as it is happy to cooperate with them where possible.

"Our chapter wants to put a joyful face on Catholic tradition and plumb the depths of all it has to offer for young adults today – spiritual formation and instruction, not just Masses,” says Chapter Coordinator Daniela Petchik. ‘We hope that our programs focusing on the spiritual life of young adult Catholics will be a leaven for evangelization in the greater Washington area, providing a basis for more of these kinds of things in the future. We are all about ‘Extraordinary joy, extraordinary youth, extraordinary form.’"

The group has grounds for hoping for a large turnout from Beltway-area Catholics either familiar with, or merely curious about reconnecting with traditional Catholic liturgy and formation. Msgr. Wadsworth celebrated a Solemn High Mass for the Assumption on August 15 to stage interest both in forming a Juventutem chapter, as well as future such events. The result was a nearly full church, and several dozen young Catholics who showed up for an informational meeting afterward, despite limited publicity. Continued successful turnouts for these Days of Recollection could lead to more such events on a regular basis.

The All Souls and St. Ambrose events also mark a new beginning for the host church, which is now the home also of a new community-in-formation for the Oratory, of the Congregation of St. Philip Neri. America’s newest Oratory joins ones formed in St. Louis and Maine this summer, and includes Msgr. Wadsworth, the moderator, and the new pastor of St. Thomas, Fr. Richard Mullins. Msgr. Wadsworth is perhaps best known as the Executive Director of The International Commission on English in the Liturgy, the group charged by bishops conferences in the English-speaking world with preparing English translations of the Church’s Latin liturgical books.

Juventutem (Latin: Fœderatio Internationalis Juventutem) is an international movement of young Roman Catholics who are attached to traditional Catholic liturgy and spiritual life. The aim of Juventutem is to sanctify young Catholic laity through these traditions, by pious undertakings by its members, by the liturgical texts in use up until 1962, and by traditional doctrinal formation, inspired by St. Thomas Aquinas. Juventutem was founded in the Year of the Eucharist, decreed and inaugurated by Pope John Paul II in October 2004 and concluded by Pope Benedict XVI in October 2005. Juventutem now includes dozens of chapters around the world, and sends large contingents of young Catholics to every World Youth Day.

Catholics in the greater Washington, D.C. area – be they young or not – are warmly encouraged to attend both the Day of Recollection conference and the Mass of Requiem. No charge or registration is necessary to attend either event. Confessions will be available a half hour before the beginning of Mass.

Why Reform? Part two of Notre Dame Interview

Universality is extremely important because we don’t want music segmented by demographics if we can avoid it: there shouldn’t be one kind of music for the youth, one for the old people, and one for the boomers. Whatever kind of music that goes on at Mass, it should be obvious to everybody that it is holy and beautiful. And my hope is that once people start singing this kind of music [chant] they will understand that there is a structural and stylistic integrity to it. This will also lead them into a richer experience with the Latin, but that will only come in time. Once you break that language barrier, then this whole world opens up to you and you have put together the whole Catholic musical universe.

Read entire interview

Lessons from the Council of Trent, 450 years after it closed

Yesterday marked the 450th anniversary of the close of the Council of Trent. This is the Council that launched the Catholic Counter-Reformation stimulating, for example, the foundation of new and successful religious orders, 'introducing' the Tridentine Mass and initiating a cultural change that saw the creation of a whole new artistic form, the baroque, that was, according to Pope Emeritus Benedict, the last authentically liturgical tradition of sacred art. This was so powerfully beautiful that it what started out in the early 1600s in Rome as painting for the liturgy, became the standard in both sacred and mundane art (such as landscape and portraiture) throughout Europe, in both Catholic and Protestant lands. The Dutch artists, such as Rembrandt, copied this style. Charles 1 of England, for example, brought Anthony Van Dyck (later Sir Anthony) over from mainland Europe so that he could have his own baroque painter. From this line came the tradition of great British portrait painting, with figures such as Reynolds, Gainsborough, Lawrence. From this line came the tradition of landscape painting that gave rise to Constable, for example.

In this article, which appeared first in Catholic Exchange, Stephen Beale discuss the reasons why it was so successful at re-asserting the Faith and connecting with the wider culture. He also considers what lessons we can learn from this in regard to the situation we have today.

 He writes: 'Today marks the 450th anniversary of the end of the Council of Trent, which not only stood athwart the currents of the Protestant Reformation but even turned the tide of European history by launching the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The achievements of the Counter-Reformation are breathtaking: It gave rise to great religious orders like the Discalced Carmelites, the Capuchins, and the Jesuits, who, in turn launched the great missions to South America, Africa, China and Japan. It gave birth to great saints like St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Philip Neri, and St. Francis de Sales and inspired a new era of devotional fervor, as exemplified in books written by many of those saints, like The Spiritual Exercises and An Introduction to the Devout Life. And it created the form of Catholicism that withstood centuries of social strife and political turmoil, from the French Revolution to the emergence of communism, as Catholic author George Weigel has observed. Trent’s anniversary is an opportunity to not only celebrate such extraordinary success, but also to learn from it.' The rest of the article is here.

Below we have Guido Reni's Ecce Homo; Van Dyck's Entry into Jerusalem; Van Dyck's triple portrait of Charles 1; and then a 17th century landscape by Dutch artist Ruisdael's.

Is Your Liturgy Like What Vatican II Intended?

Although in recent years much has been done to spread an accurate knowledge of the teaching of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, we are still a long way from Pope Benedict XVI’s desire that the faithful everywhere, led by their pastors, would rediscover the riches of the sixteen conciliar documents. The Year of Faith became a year of disbelief, humanly speaking, as we witnessed the almost unprecedented abdication of the papal throne and the accession of a new pope whose words and actions have been interpreted and misinterpreted in a dizzying whirl of media attention that has certainly not been characterized by a patient reassessment of the doctrine of the last ecumenical council—much less the doctrine of the twenty ecumenical councils and the fullness of Tradition that preceded it.

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the promulgated of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium (December 4, 1963). If I may borrow a rhetorical strategy from Fr. Fessio, here is what your local liturgical scene would look like if we were all following, to the letter, the teaching of Vatican II:

1. The Eucharist would be perceived by all as a “divine sacrifice,” in which, as in the Church herself, action is subordinated to contemplation (cf. SC 2). The Mass would be understood to be, and would be called, a “holy sacrifice” (SC 7, 47, et passim) and the liturgy in general “a sacred action surpassing all others,” whose purpose is “the sanctification of man and the glorification of God” (SC 10; cf. 112). Indeed, the liturgy would seem like a foretaste on earth of the heavenly liturgy of the new Jerusalem (SC 8).
2. The faithful would be well catechized and well disposed to receive the sacraments fruitfully (SC 11), and would understand the nature of the liturgy and how to participate well in it (SC 14), led by the example and instruction of the clergy (SC 16-19): “through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration” (SC 48). In this way, they would be unlike the majority of Catholics today, who, according to many surveys, are unaware that the Mass is the re-presentation of the Holy Sacrifice of Calvary or that the Eucharist is the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ—and who also don’t sing very much, in spite of decades of cajoling.
3. The liturgy would look much as Catholic liturgy has looked for centuries, since “there must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them; and care must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing” (SC 23).
4. The ordained ministers would be the only ones performing the actions they are supposed to do, while the laity would be involved in those ways that pertain to them: “in liturgical celebrations each person, minister or layman, who has an office to perform, should do all of, but only, those parts which pertain to his office by the nature of the rite and the principles of liturgy” (SC 28; cf. 118).
5. No one, “even if he be a priest,” would ever “add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority” (SC 22.3).
6. The use of the venerable Latin language would be a frequent and appreciated occurrence, since “the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites” (SC 36.1). The vernacular, of course, will be utilized, but only for certain parts of the liturgy (SC 36.2), and the clergy would remember the Council’s request that “steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them” (SC 54).
7. Liturgies would frequently be celebrated in their most noble form, namely, “solemnly in song” (SC 113). Most of the singing would be closely connected with the actual texts of the Mass (cf. SC 112, 113) and the music would be such as “adds delight to prayer, fosters unity of minds, or confers greater solemnity upon the sacred rites” (SC 112). There would be an important role for trained choirs or scholas, which preserve and foster the treasure of sacred music—a treasure of inestimable value (SC 112, 114-115). The people, for their part, would sing acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs—and everyone would observe reverent silence at the proper times (SC 30). None of the texts of the songs would be in any way objectionable from a doctrinal point of view, since they would be drawn directly from Scripture or the liturgy itself (SC 121).
8. Notably, Gregorian chant, being “specially suited to the Roman liturgy,” would be given “pride of place in liturgical services” (SC 116). Other forms of sacred music would not thereby be excluded—such as, preeminently, polyphony (ibid.). And of course, the pipe organ would be “held in high esteem” as “the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man’s mind to God and to higher things” (120). Other instruments would only be used if they “are suitable or can be made suitable for sacred use, accord with the dignity of the temple, and truly contribute to the edification of the faithful” (ibid.). Hence, such instruments as piano, guitar, and drums, which, in the Western world, originated in profane settings and are still associated with genres like jazz, folk, and rock, would never be used for sacred music. None of this is surprising, since the Council Fathers announced their purpose of “keeping to the norms and precepts of ecclesiastical tradition and discipline, and having regard to the purpose of sacred music, which is the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful” (SC 112).
9. Communion under both kinds would be rare—e.g., to newly professed religious in the Mass of their religious dedication or to the newly baptized in the Mass that follows their baptism (SC 55). Similarly, concelebration would be relatively rare (SC 57).
10. Sunday Vespers would be a much-loved weekly occurrence, to which large numbers of faithful flock: “Pastors of souls should see to it that the chief hours, especially Vespers, are celebrated in common in church on Sundays and the more solemn feasts. And the laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually” (SC 100).
11. The liturgical year would be of enormous importance in the life of the community, marked by the observance and promotion of each season’s traditions and customs (cf. SC 102-110). Images and relics of the saints would be publicly honored (SC 111). Sacramentals and popular devotions would abound, such as Eucharistic Processions, Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, the Stations of the Cross, the Rosary, the Brown Scapular, and customs connected with saints’ days, because all of these things deepen the spiritual life of the faithful and help dispose them to participate more fully in the sacred liturgy (cf. SC 12-13).
12. The church architecture and furnishings would be “truly worthy, becoming, and beautiful, signs and symbols of the supernatural world” (SC 122), “turning men’s minds devoutly toward God” (ibid.). There would be nothing that could disturb or distract the faithful, since the bishop would have “carefully remove[d] from the house of God and from other sacred places those works of artists which are repugnant to faith, morals, and Christian piety, and which offend true religious sense either by depraved forms or by lack of artistic worth, mediocrity, and pretense” (124), since what are rightly sought are “works destined to be used in Catholic worship, to edify the faithful, and to foster their piety and their religious formation” (SC 127).

Is this what you experience, week in, week out?

Is not the monumental failure to implement much of Sacrosanctum Concilium a scandal?

What became of the great promise of the original liturgical movement? It is hard to escape the impression that Sacrosanctum Concilium was largely a dead letter within a year or two of its promulgation. Should we be happy or sad about that? Indifference seems to be far the greatest reaction. And surely that is unworthy of Catholics.

If those of a more traditional mind have pointed out ambiguous or problematic passages in the conciliar documents (including Sacrosanctum Concilium), they would also be the first to recognize the abundant presence of traditional doctrine—nearly all of which has been systematically ignored or even contradicted in the name of the “spirit of Vatican II.” Pope Benedict’s Christmas Address of December 22, 2005, where he systematically exposed and refuted the false understanding of Vatican II, is one of the milestones of the postconciliar Magisterium and has changed the entire conversation about the Council. There can no longer be a serious discussion of the Council or of the liturgy that does not bring in the expressions the Pope introduced on that occasion—the “hermeneutic of rupture and discontinuity” and the “hermeneutic of reform in continuity” (referred to in some later documents simply as the “hermeneutic of continuity”). The conversation has been decisively reoriented. What has yet to be reoriented is the way the Mass is celebrated in most places.

I have been quite surprised throughout my adult life that the places where these points from Vatican II are most being lived, week in and week out, are the chapels of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter and similar communities, where the traditional Roman Rite is exclusively celebrated. This is not to say that the usus antiquior itself embodies every recommendation made (for better or for worse) by the Council Fathers, but rather, that the grand theological vision of Sacrosanctum Concilium—the centrality, dignity, and solemnity of the sacred liturgy, with the devout chanting of its prayers by priest, schola, and people—is being lived out in these communities, and in very few others. That should give us considerable food for thought.

While proponents of the new liturgical movement have reservations about many of the formulations in Sacrosanctum Concilium, it is nevertheless obvious that both those who adhere to the usus antiquior and those who promote a “reform of the reform” model are far more faithful to the explicit teaching of the Council than any of the progressives have been. In the past fifty years, we have seen the rigorous implementation of the suppositious “spirit” of the Council and of its weaker and woolier passages. Now that the Year of Faith has ended—a year full of many surprises—let us continue to pray for and work towards the implementation of the best and clearest of the Council’s teaching.

The Ordinary Form as it should be:
Sacred Music Colloquium, Cathedral of the Madeleine, Salt Lake City

Again, an Ordinary Form celebration that the Fathers of Vatican II
could have recognized as the Roman Rite
(and the people crowding the church were chanting the Mass in Latin...)