Usus Antiquior First Mass in Dolcedo, Italy

Last week, I mentioned two First Masses of diocesan priests in the Extraordinary Form which were going to take place in the diocese of Albenga-Impria, Italy, cf. my post First Masses in the Extraordinary Form which gives details and background. One of these Masses, which took place last Sunday, was celebrated by newly ordained Father Francesco Ramella as a Solemn Mass in the parish church of St. Thomas the Apsotle in Dolcedo, the splendorous and completely intact sanctuary of which you can see in last week's post. Mozart's Spatzenmesse was sung by a choir, as well as Adorabunt Nationes by Himmel, and Ave Verum and Te Deum again by Mozart, whereas the Gregorian propers were sung by the Benedictines of the Immaculate. Some of the canons of the Cathedral and of the Concathedral also attended. Our friends of Messa in latino now have some images of this Mass.

The new priest greeting the faithful:


The sacred ministers - including a presbyter assistens, a privilege for First Masses - approaching the altar:











The NLM's best wishes and congratulations to Don Francesco Ramella and his fellow new priests.

First Masses in the Extraordinary Form

Very welcome news comes via the excellent Italian blog Messa in Latino from the Ligurian diocese of Albenga-Imperia. This diocese and its bishop, Mons. Mario Oliveri, have been noted before on the NLM: Mons. Oliveri has apparently been very accomodating to religious communities which has helped to bring about a situation in which even the smallest parishes of the diocese today have one or more priests in residence, which is very rare even in Italy these days. Last year, he has also received the new foundation of the Benedictines of the Immaculate of Dom Jehan de Belleville, who are attached to the usus antiquior, into his diocese (cf. NLM articles here and here). Mons. Oliveri himself has celebrated Solemn Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form in his Concathedral (cf. NLM report here). Interestingly, Mons. Oliveri, who also wrote a contribution for a recent book on Romano Amerio (cf. here) is a member of the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

The news is that this coming Saturday, Mons. Oliveri will ordain four new diocesan priests in his Cathedral. The notable thing is that two of these will celebrate their First Masses on the following Sunday, 11 January 2009, in the usus antiquior. Especially one of these, it seems, will be a rather splendid occasion: Soon-to-be-Father Francesco Ramella will celebrate his First Mass as a Solemn Mass in the parish church of St. Thomas the Apsotle in Dolcedo, the completely intact sanctuary of which you can see to the right. Mozart's Spatzenmesse will be sung by a choir, as well as Adorabunt Nationes by Himmel, and Ave Verum and Te Deum again by Mozart, whereas the Gregorian propers will be sung by the Benedictines of the Immaculate. Some of the canons of the Cathedral and of the Concathedral will attend.

The remarkable point here is of course not just the splendid Mass itself, but that this shows that not even a year and a half after Summorum Pontificum has entered into force, the usus antiquior is beginning to become a normal part of the life of the Church, not only for "special interest" groups, and not only in parishes, but also in dioceses. Admittedly, this is true as yet only in a very small number of dioceses (certainly not in mine), but the movement is unmistakable, and we have every reason to hope that with our own prayer and work it well steadily spread.

First Conventual Mass in the Usus Antiquior at Mariawald

A month ago, the German Trappist Abbey of Mariawald was granted the privilege to return to the Liturgy and the Observance in use in the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists) until 1963/64 (cf. NLM articles here and here). Now the Abbey reports that on 18 December, for the first time since the reforms, the conventual Mass was sung according to the usus antiquior in the Abbey church. The Mass was sung by Rev. Fr. Jehan de Belleville OSB of the Benedictines of the Immaculate in Villatalla, Italy (formerly of Le Barroux, France), who had been a guest of the convent for a few days - and, it may be assumed, instructed them about traditional monastic life. As the Trappists announce,

The next conventual Mass according to the Missal of our Sacred Order of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance will be celebrated in January.

A Firsthand Report from the New Traditional Benedictine House in Italy

Last week, we heard about a new traditional monastic foundation in Italy. Now, an Italian friend of the NLM actually went there last Sunday and sends in some impressions and pictures.

Villatalla, the village where the new house is situated, is perched halfway up a mountain at 550 m amid a sea of olive trees. The small village of only a few dozen inhabitants in this peaceful surruonding seems perfect for a moanstery.




From there, one has a breathtaking view that sweeps down to the Mediterranean:



Our friend had the opportunity to talk to the monks coming from Le Barroux who have settled there, including dom Jehan de Belleville, an early companion of the recently deceased dom Gérard Calvet, the founder of Le Barroux. While their new house is a new, seperate foundation (i.e. not a filial foundation of Le Barroux), dedicated to St. Catherine of Siena, the monks do not want their new undertaking seen or interpreted as a division or a form of dissent with respect to the current abbot of Le Barroux. Instead, they stress the positive aspect of extending the traditional Benedictine charism also into Italy.

The monks celebrate Holy Mass in the usus antiquior at 9:30 am on weekdays and 10 am on Sundays in the little parish church. The OF Mass is said at 3 pm ad orientem by the young parish priest, who resides in the neighbouring village of Dolcedo, where he himself celebrates the EF every Sunday - not bad for a little valley in the Ligurian hinterland.

Here we see dom Jehan celebrating last Sunday. Our correspondent was particularly touched by the Gregorian chant sung to perfection by the monks:



Our friend ends by saying that it was quite edifying to see how even the rather reserved Ligurians of the village have, in the bare month that they have been there, come to have an affection for these foreign monks, and he has observed how they bring them olive oil and vegetables as gifts.

New Traditional Monastic Foundation in Italy

On July 2nd, three monks, formerly of the famed Abbey of Le Barroux, have established a new monastic house within Italy, where the usus antiquior will exclusively be celebrated. Their new house is in Villatalla, Prelà, in the hinterland of the Diocese of Albenga-Imperia in Liguria (Northern Italy). On the Feast of the Visitation of the BVM, Dom Jehan (who was with Dom Calvet since 1970) and his two confrères from Le Barroux were received in the village by the Provost of the area, the mayor and all the faithful. They were formally installed in the old canonry close to the parish church of the village, which is now called the Benedictine House of St. Catherine of Siena (casa di Santa Caterina da Siena) with sung Vespers. They will offer Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form every day (10 am on Sundays, 9:30 am on weekdays, with Terce preceding at 9:15, sung Vespers every day at 6 pm).

They were welcomed into the diocese of Albenga-Imperia by its Bishop, Mons. Mario Oliveri, who apparently has been very accomodating to religious communities which has helped to bring about a situation in which even the smallest parishes of the diocese today have one or more priests in residence, which is very rare even in Italy these days. Interestingly, Mons. Oliveri is a member of the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

See more (in Italian) here and here.