The Basilica of San Frediano in Lucca

The Roman Martyrology notes on November 18th the translation of the relics of San Frediano, a sixth-century bishop of the Italian city of Lucca in Tuscany. His feast is traditionally kept by many congregations of Canons Regular on the following day, since his death occurred in mid-March, hence always in Lent, and the day of the translation itself is also the feast of the dedication of the Roman basilicas of Ss Peter and Paul. Frigdianus, as he was called in Latin, was an Irishman who decided to settle among the hermits living on Monte Pisano, between Lucca and Pisa, while returning from a pilgrimage to Rome. For the great holiness of his life, he was chosen as bishop of the former city, much against his will, for he loved the life of solitude in the mountains; during his long tenure as bishop, he would periodically retire to his old hermitage, just as Saint Martin lived in a monastic community just outside the city of Tours. His clergy lived a common life, and maintained a reputation for austerity and discipline for many centuries; when Pope Alexander II (1061-73), who had previously been bishop of Lucca, wished to reform the canons of the Lateran Basilica, he brought canons from San Frediano into that church. The strict observance of the Canons of San Frediano remained one of the most important models for canons regular even after they were formally merged with the Lateran Canons in 1507.

When the cathedral of Lucca was destroyed during the Lombard invasion of Italy in 568, St Frediano rebuilt it, dedicating it to Ss Stephen, Lawrence, and Vincent, the three famous deacon martyrs; it is now named for him, and his relics rest within the high altar. (It was subsequently replaced as Lucca’s cathedral by a much larger church dedicated to St. Martin.) In keeping with the spirit of the community that traditionally had its home here, the building is fairly austere, but preserves a few notable artworks. The rather plain façade of the first part of the 12th century was decorated with a Byzantine mosaic of the Ascension roughly a century later by the painter Berlinghiero of Lucca.

A fresco by Amico Aspertini (1474-1552), in the chapel of the Cross, depicts St Frediano moving the river Serchio so that it would no longer flood into Lucca and the surrounding countryside, damaging buildings and crops. This miracle is reported by the Saint’s contemporary, St Gregory the Great, in the second book of the Dialogues, chapter 9.

The late-12th century baptismal font, sadly much damaged, is the work of three different sculptors. The lower part, signed by “Maestro Roberto”, shows the life of Moses; a very rough Good Shepherd and the Prophets (opposite side) were added by another hand, and the upper part, showing the Apostles and the months of the year, by an unknown Tuscan sculptor. Behind it, a 15-century glazed terracotta Annunciation, by the famous school of Andrea della Robbia.

A few paintings survive on the columns and walls below the clerestory. In the Middle Ages, it was a common custom, at least in Italy, to add frescoes, often commissioned as votive offerings, to any and every uncovered part of a church; the result could be a jumble of different styles with no unified program to their subject matter. After the Council of Trent, most such images were removed as a distraction to the faithful, who should focus their attention on the Mass celebrated at the main altar.

The 16th century high altar containing the relics of St Frediano.

An unusually well preserved carved and painted wooden altarpiece, attributed to the Luccan sculptor Matteo Civitali (1436-1502) or his nephew Masseo (active ca. 1490-1510).

Lucca is less than ten miles away from one of the major centers of Italian Romanesque architecture, Pisa, and the influence of the eclectic Pisan style is evident in several of the city’s church façades. Here we see the deconsecrated church of San Cristoforo, from about 1200; typically Pisan are the stripes of different colored marble, and the various heights and shapes of the arches in the various stages of the façade.

The façade of San Giovanni preserves an elaborately decorated Romanesque portal in the middle of a classically Renaissance frame. The earlier version of this church served as the cathedral for a time, before the new Duomo of San Martino was completed in the 14th-century.

The Abbey of St Augustine in Żagań, Poland

Our friend Dom Jakobus, a canon of Herzogenburg Abbey in Austria, administers a Facebook page about the various orders of canons regular, and recently posted pictures of the former church of the Augustinian Canons Regular in Żagań, Poland. I say “former” because the religious communites that founded the vast majority of such churches were turfed out of them during the various waves of revolutions that destroyed so much of Catholic Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the church is now a parish. However, it retains many beautiful signs and memories of its earlier history, including many images of the great Saints among the various families of Canons Regular. Thanks to Dom Jakobus for his permission to share these photos with our readers.

A statue of St Augustine, whose very simple Rule was taken as the basis of canonical life for many different kinds of  religious communities, while leaving ample room for individual congregations to develop their own particular traditions.

The main altar seen from the gallery.

Very nice choir stalls, each decorated with a painting of a different episode of the life of St Augustine.

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Priests learning the Extraordinary Form at St John Cantius

This week priests from across the USA and Canada are with the Canons Regular of St John Cantius learning the ceremonies of the Latin Mass. The priests participated in Solemn High Mass for the feast of Mary, Queen of Poland (May 3rd) at Saint John Cantius Church, Chicago IL.

Since being asked by Cardinal Francis George, O.M.I. in 2007, the Canons Regular have hosted 65 workshops in the Latin Mass in Chicago and locations around the world, helping over 1,000 priests to learn the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

For more information about these workshops click here.

A Reliquary of St Andrew the Apostle

For the feast of St Andrew, here is a picture of a wonderful reliquary containing some of the wood of both his cross and that of his brother, St Peter. Both sets of pieces are arranged in the shape of the crosses on which the two Apostles died, Andrew’s an X, and Peter’s like that of the Lord, but upside-down.

This photograph was taken by Dom Jakobus of Herzogenburg Abbey in Austria, a house of the Order of Canons Regular of St Augustine, and is reproduced here with his kind permission. Dom Jakobus also maintains a facebook page about the Order, (under their Latin title, “Ordo Canonicorum Regularium Sancti Augustini”), with lots of information about the various orders and houses of Augustinian Canons Regular, and many interesting pictures, both modern and historical, of the canons and their liturgies.

Fortune Favors the Brave

The reader of Annibale Bugnini’s Memoirs comes upon a passage early on concerning a questionnaire sent around in 1948 to “almost a hundred liturgical experts in all parts of the world” by the editors of the Roman periodical Ephemerides Liturgicae, concerning “reform of the Missal, Breviary, calendar, Martyrology, and other liturgical books.” Bugnini writes:

This questionnaire, sent as it was by the editorial staff of a periodical regarded as the semi-official voice of Roman liturgical circles, was the first alarm signal that something was stirring. In those days it was unheard of for anyone to challenge even a rubric or to use the word “reform.” The questionnaire was therefore a bold move. In this case the proverb was proved true: “Fortune favors the brave.” (p. 11)

Although this motto is not repeated again in the almost 1,000-page book, nevertheless the spirit of the motto, if one may call it so, hovers everywhere. Bugnini presents himself countless times as the intrepid visionary who dares to take action whenever and wherever he can to push forward the “renewal” of the liturgy. The moment there is an opening, he takes it.

Today we look back sorrowfully (at times, wrathfully) over the utter devastation caused by Bugnini and his companions, but we cannot dispute their mastery of the psychology of attack, alliance, subterfuge, feint, calculated compromise, redoubled attack. They were men who seized their opportunities and did not sit on their hands wondering when other people would do the job for them, or worse, waste their time on endless bickering and hairsplitting. Like our political liberals, they could lay aside small differences for the sake of gaining major objectives.

In his splendid commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict (featured in last week's article), Canon Simon quotes the same saying, but sees in it a larger spiritual lesson—one that all of us who are striving to recover and promote all things traditional, particularly the widespread celebration of the usus antiquior, would do well to heed and put into practice:

Probably a miracle will not be necessary to relieve our trouble. For, as we may repeat, the incapacity of men often arises from sloth or pusillanimity. They too often forget the simple truth that if a thing is to get done we must do it. And when we have spent long hours in contemplating, in a spirit of false and foolish self-pity, the real or pretended difficulties of our duty, we have not changed the reality of things one whit: our duty is always our duty, and the will of God abides: we have only succeeded in weakening ourselves. “Fortune favors the brave”: in this case fortune is the grace of God. (p. 475)

It is ever so. One must do all that one can to accomplish the good. The battle is never over, one can never rest on one’s laurels. In recent years the tables have begun to turn, the tide is shifting, even in spite of more recent setbacks. Now is the acceptable time for the true liturgical renewal that failed after Vatican II—a renewal that begins with the age-old tradition of the Church as contained in the Missale Romanum, Rituale Romanum, and Divine Office that predate the Council, and ends with the full, solemn, conscientious and devout celebration of these same rites, enriched with noble sacred art and music, and made fruitful by a deep formation of clergy and laity in the spirit of the liturgy.

Let us, then, do our part in this great work of liturgical renewal, which is to say, liturgical restoration and optimal celebration. Let us not grow weary, in spite of all obstacles, setbacks, and delays, or succumb to a kind of fatalistic resignation or quietism. Let us not indulge in foolish self-pity as we contemplate the real or imaginary difficulties of our duty. Duty will always be difficult, and the world within the Church will always be opposed to true reform. Rather, taking hold of every opportunity divine Providence gives us, using all our energy and every talent we have, let us take the steps and make the moves that will advance our side towards victory. Time is short, the stakes are high, and fortune favors the brave.

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Some resources that can help us:

For priests:
Extraordinary Form Workshops with the FSSP
Extraordinary Form Workshops with St. John Cantius
Sancta Missa Resources

For laity:
Fr. Z’s 5 Rules of Engagement and Tips for Writing to Bishops
Una Voce America's Suggestions and Sample Letters
How to Establish the Traditional Latin Mass at Your Parish

For everyone:
Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei

If readers out there would like to recommend other resources, please do so in the comments!

Photos: Three Ordinations at St John Cantius, Chicago

Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the imposition of hands by His Eminence, Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago, Fr. Joshua Caswell, Fr. Nathan Caswell, and Fr. Kevin Mann were ordained to the Holy Order of the Priesthood, for the Archdiocese of Chicago, as members of the Canons Regular of Saint John Cantius. The Mass of Ordination was offered at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, 2014 at St. John Cantius Church.

Hundreds of parishioners, friends, and family joined Cardinal George for this wonderful occasion. Family came from far away as California and Canada. Many visiting clergy, religious, and sisters were in attendance, including the Most Rev. Joseph N. Perry, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, the Very Rev. Douglas Mosey, Rector of Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, CT, Rev. Gregoire Fluet, professor at Holy Apostles Seminary, Rev. Regis N. Barwig, Prior of the Community of Our Lady in Oshkosh, WI, Mother Assumpta Long, O.P. of the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist, and Sister Mary Anne Linder, FSE, faculty member at Holy Apostles Seminary.

Cardinal George offered the Mass of Ordination in Latin according to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The Resurrection Choir and Orchestra directed by Fr. Scott Haynes, SJC sang the Messe Solennelle, Op. 36, by Charles-Marie Widor, as well as Ecce Sacerdos, Edward Elgar, Ave Verum, Colin Mawby, Magnificat in G, by Charles Villiers Stanford, I was Glad, C.H. Parry, as well as other motets. The Mass concluded with all singing the Te Deum in Thanksgiving for the newly ordained priests.

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An inspirational film about St John Cantius, Chicago

If you have half an hour to spare, you must watch this inspiring film which has been recently aired on EWTN. In it Father Frank Phillips speaks about the daunting problems which faced him twenty-five years ago when he was asked to become Parish Priest of St John Cantius in Chicago, IL. Large parts of the parish had disappeared as new expressways had been built, the new roads having the effect of marooning the church and cutting it off. However, Fr Phillips realised that although the roads took people away, they could also bring people in. This practical and positive approach underlines the story of the rise of this remarkable parish in the face of adversity. Faced with insurmountable maintenance bills, the parish mustered a group of volunteers to fix the boiler plant. Another rather extraordinary problem came in the form of ten tons of pigeon droppings which had built up in the church attic threatening to collapse the vault. The weight also caused one of the rose windows to bow out, coming dangerously close to being lost. And during a particularly hot summer when candles liquefied on the altar, the vinyl floor buckled and had to be completely replaced. The parish met every one of these challenges and lovingly restored the church. The restoration will reach its culmination with the dedication of the newly installed Casavant Organ on 20 October by Cardinal Francis George.

St John Cantius has been transformed from a dying parish into a powerhouse of evangelisation. Especially known for its excellence in liturgy, Mass is offered in both forms. Fifteen years ago, ten men came forward with vocations, and the Canons Regular of St John Cantius were founded. People come from far and wide to experience the liturgy at Cantius and I myself am greatly looking forward to visiting the church later this month. Towards the end of the film Fr Phillips says 'It takes a lot of work to do what we are doing, but the thing is, this can be done anywhere... any parish can do what we are doing here.'

Augustinian Canons of Klosterneuburg Make Foundation in the US

The Provost of the famous Augustinian Canonry of Klosterneuburg, Abbot General of the Austrian Congregation of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine and Abbot Primate of the Confederation of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, Rt. Rev. Bernhard Backovsky announced this Monday, Feast of St. Leopold, founder of Klosterneuburg, the happy news that the Augustinian Canons of Klosterneuburg are going to make a foundation in the United States of America. Three of the canons are going to take up residence in the diocese of Rockville Centre (NY) next summer and to be in charge of two parishes. "The new small U.S. community will lead a common life according to the rules of St. Augustine in the rectory of St. Patrick's and thereby introduce the institution of the Canons Regular in the northern U.S.", said the Provost. The new foundation takes place at the invitation of the local bishop, Most Rev. William Murphy. While we are expecting more detailed information from the Canons themselves, you can read more about the background of the American Project at Klosterneuburg here.