The collected papers given at the Fourteenth Fota International Liturgical Conference, held in Cork, Ireland, in 2023, are now available for pre-order from Smenos Publications. The topic of the conference is the centrality of the concept of sacrifice in understanding the Eucharistic liturgy, and is treated from various Biblical, theological, liturgical and historical perspectives, ranging from how the Mass fulfils the sacrifices of the Old Testament, to aspects of Joseph Ratzinger’s theology of the Eucharist, to the reform of the offertory in the Mass, and to the effects of modern liturgical reform on ritual itself. These proceedings are an important contribution to the ongoing post-conciliar recovery of the Church’s perennial teaching on the sacrifice of the Mass, a teaching deeply rooted in both Scripture and tradition. The papers have been edited by our own Matthew Hazell, who is also one of the contributors.
Sacrificium Patriarchae nostri Abrahae: The Aqedah in the Bible and the Canon of the Mass (Dieter Böhler SJ)
Christ’s Death as a Sacrifice of Atonement (Serafino M. Lanzetta)
The Sacrifice of the Mass in the New Testament (Thomas Lane)
The Heart, Sacrifice, and Koinonia in the Eucharistic Theology of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI (Peter J. McGregor)
The Idea of the Holy Mass as Sacrifice in Joseph Ratzinger and Matthias Joseph Scheeben (Sven Leo Conrad FSSP)
Why does Participation of the Faithful in the Eucharist require their physical Presence (during Mass)? (Michael Stickelbroeck)
The Importance of the offertorium as an Integral Part of Eucharistic Sacrifice: The Offertory as a Challenge to Liturgical Reforms in History (Manfred Hauke)
The Reform of the orationes super oblata in the Proper of Time of the 1970/2008 Missale Romanum (Matthew P. Hazell)
Sacred Liturgy and the Ritual Process (D. Vincent Twomey SVD)
Our thanks to Prof. William A. Thomas for sending us this write-up of the recent Fota XIV Liturgical conference.
The Saint Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy held the XIV Fota International Liturgy Conference at Ballyhea, Charleville, County Cork in Ireland on the weekend of July 1-2, on the subject of “The Sacrifice of the Mass”, exploring several aspects of Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI’s reflections on the centrality of sacrifice in understanding the Eucharistic liturgy. The conference was presided over by his Eminence Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, and heard speakers from Australia, Italy, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
The conference was opened by D. Vincent Twomey of the Divine Word Missionaries, Professor emeritus of Moral Theology of the Pontifical University of Maynooth. The topic of his paper was the contribution that post-structuralist cultural anthropology of ritual offers theologians and liturgists as a key to what Joseph Ratzinger called the “rules of play” of the liturgy, its “form” – or, in the words of Romano Guardini, the “liturgical action” (Kult-Akt). These “rules of play” constitute the “ritual process” common to all religions, albeit now transformed in Christ. Those “rules of play” bear within them the hallmark of God’s creation. I call them the “dynamics” of a truly sacral liturgy, one that involves not only sacred words but also sacred time and space, ritual movement and bodily gestures. The rationalist/functionalist mindset of modernity is inimical to the profound significance of natural symbols and rubrics. That mindset (shared in various degrees) by some European theologians and liturgists, it is argued, undermines the most profound theologies of liturgy and liturgical practice itself. With its exclusive emphasis on the Word (or, rather, words), that mindset promotes a new iconoclasm. The abstract, cerebral, and so ritually impoverished, liturgy has been (and continues to be) a major factor in the collapse of Christianity in Europe and America. Romano Guardini raised the alarm in 1964 but, tragically, was ignored.
The second speaker, Father Serafino M. Lanzetta, who earned his doctorate from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome read a paper entitled, “The Death of Christ as a Sacrifice of Atonement.’’ In presenting his paper, Father Lanzetta said that, “Sacrifice is necessary, since without it there is no life, and no encounter with God is realized. The initiative is of God, the precedence is of divine love. What is clear from a synoptic study of the Old and New Testament on the concept of atoning sacrifice and the reading of Jesus’ death precisely as such, is that if we do not start from the Old Testament ritual of atonement, keeping it firmly in mind as a background, we will not be able to understand Christ’s death on the Cross. This latter is in fact true atonement, foreshadowed in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the supreme offertorial moment of our Lord’s life on Golgotha. There are two strands that come together in Christ: a) the purification of the concept of sacrifice through the prophets, and particularly with Isaiah, without renouncing the hatta’t sacrifice that the Servant of YWHW shall make, and b) the sacrifice of yôm kippur, true atonement only by virtue of the blood of Christ poured out with an eternal Spirit that truly purifies and sanctifies us. Christ is the instrument of atonement and also the day of atonement, a day without sunset by virtue of His eternal sacrifice, entered with His glorified body in the presence of the Father in heaven. Man is transformed into Christ. In Our Lord’s sacrifice of expiation, he receives a new heart, and so David’s penitential Psalm 51 [50], true figure of worship in spirit and truth, now shines forth in all its sapiential power.”
The third paper of the morning was given by Father Dieter Böhler S.J., professor of Exegesis and the Old Testament at Sankt Georgen Higher Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt in Germany, who spoke on part of the Roman Canon while elucidating on the words “the Sacrifice of the Patriarch Abraham” (Sacrificium Patriarchae nostri Abrahae) and the Aqedah in the Bible and the Canon of the Mass. Referring to the Old Testament Father Böhler stated that “The Roman Canon of the Mass refers to three Old Testament offerings that are interpreted as models of the sacrifice of the Mass: Abel’s, Abraham’s and Melchizedek’s offering. What exactly was Abraham’s sacrifice is not immediately clear: certainly not the substitute ram, but probably neither the unsacrificed son Isaac. What, then, was Abraham’s sacrifice and why is the entire Jerusalem temple liturgy later based on it?”
Father Sven Conrad FSSP then gave the first conference of the afternoon as he presented a paper on the ‘Double Consecration’ in the Mass in which he said that Christ continues His immolation of His earthly body through His mystical body, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Holy Sacrifice is one of atonement, of reparation and of thanksgiving, he said. The covenant which God enters into with man is in the Incarnation, and the Eucharist is a continuation of the Incarnation, the sacrifice of supreme love. Father Conrad spoke about Matthias Joseph Scheeben in his book The Mystery of Christianity wherein Scheeben describes sacrifice as the deification of the person and that the “altar fire” that Scheeben alludes to is actually the work of the Holy Spirit who elevates man towards God through grace. Quoting from the works of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, he said that Ratzinger sees that there is a vertical and horizontal Incarnation so to speak, in the Mass, but that these were his own thoughts which were influenced by the writings of Augustine.
Father Conrad was followed by Dr. Peter John McGregor, lecturer in Dogmatic Theology at the Catholic Institute in Sydney, and at the University of Notre Dame in Australia, who spoke on the Spiritual Christology of Joseph Ratzinger in his paper “The Heart, Sacrifice, and Koinonia in the Eucharistic Theology of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI.” In his paper McGregor brought together three key concepts of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI: the heart, sacrifice, and koinonia. Bringing these three together will involve introducing what Ratzinger calls a ‘Spiritual Christology’. In this, he said that “we will see that he (Ratzinger) presents us with what could be called, not a Christology from above nor a Christology from below, but a Christology from within, that is, a Christology of participation, of koinonia. Within this Christology, we will find a theology of prayer, a theology of the heart, and a Eucharistic theology.” Then his paper outlined Ratzinger’s theology of the heart, followed by his understanding of sacrifice in relation to the Eucharist. He then concluded by trying to show how his understanding of the heart and sacrifice is brought together in his understanding of koinonia.
The conference’s second day began with Matthew Hazell M.A. (Biblical Studies-Sheffield), the compiler of the Index Lectionum, a comparative table of readings for the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite; he is currently working on a companion volume, the Index Psalmorum. His presentation was titled, “The Reform of the orationes super oblata in the Proper of Time of the 1970/2008 Missale Romanum”, and examined the reform of the super oblata (Prayers over the Offerings) in the Proper of Time of the post-Vatican II Roman Missal. First, the suggestions made about the super oblata during the antepreparatory, preparatory and conciliar phases of Vatican II were examined. Following this, there was an analysis of the relevant schemata of the Consilium ad exsequendam to see what was said about these prayers, as well as the principles and process behind their reform. Finally, he surveyed the texts of the super oblata in the Proper of Time of the post-Vatican II Missal, to observe what changes and edits had been made to the source texts of these prayers, the effects of these changes on the theology of sacrifice and offering, present in the source texts, and how well the principles of the liturgical reform were applied in practice.
Professor Dr. Manfred Hauke is professor of Dogmatic theology at the University of Lugano in Switzerland later presented his paper entitled, “The importance of the offertorium as an integral part of Eucharistic sacrifice, and the offertory as a challenge to liturgical reforms in history.” In his conference he posed the following questions:
Does the offertory contain an offering? Or is it only a matter of preparing?
A Sketch of the historical development up to the Middle Ages
The Offertory in the Missal of Pius V (1570)
Systematic clarification of the concept of sacrifice
He then stated that, “The concept of sacrifice contains a multi-layered reality that culminates in the sacramental sacrifice of Christ, but is not limited to it. The inward human offering and the ritual sacrifice of the Church find their completion in the offering of Christ, but also retain their relative intrinsic value. The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Church are therefore to be linked together when thinking about the sacrifice of the Mass. The priest performs in virtue of the specific power of sacred ordination, a true sacrificial act that brings creation back to God. Although all those who participate in the Eucharist do not confect the sacrifice as He does, they offer with Him, by virtue of the common priesthood, their own spiritual sacrifices represented by the bread and wine from the moment of their presentation at the altar. For this liturgical action, which takes a solemn form in almost all liturgies, it has a ‘spiritual value and meaning.’ The bread and wine become in a sense a symbol of all that the Eucharistic assembly brings, on its own part, as an offering to God and offers spiritually.” (John Paul II, Dominicae coenae, 1980)
His paper continued with:
5. The reinterpretation and destruction of the offertory in the Reformation
6. The moralising abridgement of the offertory as fruit of the “Enlightenment” in the work of Vitus Anton Winter
7. The discussion among the Old Catholics
8. The Catholic discussion on the reorganisation of the offertory from the beginning of the Liturgical Movement to the Second Vatican Council
9. The Liturgical Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium and its Official Commentary
10. ‘Preparation of the Gifts’ in the Novus Ordo Missae of Paul VI.
The translations of the Latin texts, and “the liturgical commentaries as well as the general practice indicate that what has a sacrificial character in the rite of the preparation of gifts has rather declined or is withdrawn. The reasons could lie in a biblical-ecumenical favouring of the Eucharist as a meal and memorial celebration as well as in an aversion to the whole semantic field of sacrifice due to the spirit of the times.” (Alex Stock, 2011).
He went on to describe the study by the French Benedictine Paul Tirot OSB on the history of the offertory prayers in the Roman liturgy from the 7th to the 17th century (published in 1985), which deserves special attention. The author emphasizes that an anticipatory way of speaking about the offerings was common in the Catholic liturgy in both East and West; and this still applies to Pope Saint Paul VI’s Missal. At the end, Tirot makes proposals for an optional enrichment of the offertory prayers in Pope Saint Paul VI’s missal, whereby the prayers of the medieval tradition, silently spoken by the priest, are once again used. In any case, the formulation according to which the newer form of the Roman rite simply replaces the “sacrifice” with the “preparation of the gifts” seems to be exaggerated. Nor is the praeparatio donorum merely a practical preparation that could be thought of without any reference to the sacrifice of the Mass. The Catechism of the Catholic Church uses the Latin expression donorum praesentatio, “offering of the gifts”, as synonymous with offertorium (cf. CCC 1350-1351).
The prayer request ‘that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Father Almighty’ belongs to the same dynamic that is completed in the Eucharistic Prayer. The offertory reveals with particular clarity the spiritual sacrifice, which is more than a psychological and spiritual preparation. Participation in the Eucharistic sacrifice begins before the Eucharistic Prayer, even if it reaches its climax at the words of the Lord. It is thus ‘not only a matter of a preparation of the gifts, but of an oblatio, an offering.’ (Helmut Hoping, 2011).
Father Joseph Briody STL, SSL, STD. is a priest of the Catholic diocese of Raphoe in County Donegal, and professor of Sacred Scripture and Formation at Boston College and Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts. He spoke about the Lamb of God and made reference to the Lamb that was offered morning and evening in the Temple along with the wine offering and how these symbols become a typology not only of Christ, the spotless, innocent, and unblemished sacrificial offering, but also a foretaste of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass itself. The Lamb was slaughtered by a layman, not the priest, in the Temple. The priest however sprinkled the blood of the lamb in the sanctuary area, the Holy of Holies in order to purify the Temple and to make it a place of holiness. The Lamb therefore is one important link between the Old and New Testaments. Father Briody went on to speak about the meaning in scripture of the ‘unleavened’ bread, stating that ‘leavened’ was akin to sin, weighed down, whereas the unleavened was like the Passover Lamb, spotless, innocent, and pure. (1Cor 5) The legs of the Passover Lamb were not to be broken; hence the legs of Jesus were not broken. Quoting from the Book of Revelation, Father Briody concluded that the Old Testament was brought to its fullness in Jesus as the Lamb of God and extends now to Heaven itself.
Father Tom Lane STD is a priest of the diocese of Cloyne in County Cork, Ireland who has taught Sacred Scripture at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg in Maryland, USA presented his paper on ‘The Sacrifice of the Mass in the New Testament’. He said that: ‘during the Last Supper, Jesus anticipated His death on Calvary and reinterpreted the traditional Jewish blessing of bread and wine during the Last Supper. He said the bread was His body and the wine His blood and said they were given “for you” that is, in sacrifice for our salvation. He asked the apostles to “do this in remembrance of me” which in the Jewish understanding means not just recalling but being personally present again and benefitting from the original. In other words, each time the Eucharist is celebrated, Jesus comes to us. Just as Passover lambs were sacrificed and their blood placed on the doorframes of their homes, saved the Hebrews in Egypt from destruction. Jesus could be seen as the New Covenant Passover lamb whose blood was shed for our salvation. Some scholars believe the timing is different in John’s Gospel and Jesus is dying on the Cross at the same time as the Passover lambs were being slaughtered further highlighting Jesus as the New Covenant Passover lamb. Jesus’ self-sacrifice on Calvary for us could also be seen as the fulfillment of some of the Day of Atonement rituals performed by the high priest once yearly behind the curtain inside the Holy of Holies to atone for sins. Jesus’ sacrifice was once for all time to atone for our sins and we are therefore invited to enter into God’s sanctuary by our participation in the Holy Eucharist.’
The conference concluded with a Pontifical High Mass celebrated by Cardinal Burke.
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce the following programme for the XIV Fota International Liturgy Conference, to be held at Ballyhea, Charleville, Co. Cork (Ireland) on July 1-2. The subject of the conference is The Sacrifice of the Mass, and will explore aspects of Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI’s reflections on the centrality of sacrifice in understanding the Eucharistic liturgy.
Saturday July 1
8.00 am Registration opens in the new Community Hall
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce that the XIV Fota International Liturgy Conference to be held at Ballyhea, Charleville, Co. Cork (Ireland) on July 1-2, will be opened by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke.
The subject of the conference is The Sacrifice of the Mass, and will explore aspects of Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI’s reflections on the centrality of sacrifice in understanding the Eucharistic liturgy.
Registration will open at 8am in the new Community Hall.
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce that the XIV Fota International Liturgy Conference will be held at Ballyhea, Charleville, Co. Cork (Ireland) on July 1-2, 2023. The subject of the conference is The Sacrifice of the Mass, and will explore aspects of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI’s reflections on the centrality of sacrifice in understanding the Eucharistic liturgy.
Papers will be delivered by Professor D. Vincent Twomey; Professor Manfred Hauke (Lugano); Professor Dieter Boehler (Frankfurt); Professor Joseph Briody (Boston); Matthew Hazell (United Kingdom); Dr. Thomas Lane (Ireland); Dr. Sven Conrad (Germany); Fr. Serafino Lanzetta (United Kingdom); and Dr. Peter McGregor (Sydney).
Bookings are open and reservations may be made by contacting the honorary secretary, Terry Pender, at colman.liturgy2@yahoo.com. A fee of euro 25 is charged for registration, which includes refreshments served at intervals during the conference, and may be paid on opening day of the conference.
While the Society can offer assistance in finding local accommodation, it is the responsibility of those attending to make their own arrangements.
Further details will be published shortly.
Copies of the acta of the XIII Fota Conference, held in 2022, are now available and may be purchased through the Society at euro 25 +P&P at colman.liturgy2@yahoo.com.
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce that the Fota XIV International Liturgy Conference will be held in Cork, Ireland, on July 1-2. The subject of the conference is The Sacrifice of the Mass, and will explore aspects of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI’s reflections on the centrality of sacrifice in understanding the Eucharistic liturgy. Further details will be announced later.”
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce the following program for the XIII Fota International Liturgy Conference, which will be held this coming weekend, July 2-3, in the New Hall at Ballyhea, Charleville, Co. Cork (Ireland). The conference is titled Worship in Spirit and in Truth, and is intended to mark the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Benedict XVI/Joseph Ratzinger’s book The Spirit of the Liturgy. Registrations may be made on line by email to Colman.liturgy2@yahoo.com.
Saturday, July 2
8.00 am - Registration opens
9.00 am - Conference convenes
9.30 am - Bryce Evans: The Role of the Sacred Liturgy in Joseph Ratzinger’s Fundamental Theology.
10.30 am - Serafino Lanzetta: The Sacrifice of the Logos incarnatus. Ratzinger’s Theology of the Liturgy in perspective.
11.30 am - morning coffee
12.00 pm - Mariusz Bilieniwick: Twenty years of reception of Ratzinger’s The Spirit of the Liturgy.
1pm - break
2.30 pm - Matthew Hazell: The Spirit of Liturgical Reform and the Vota of the Second Vatican Council Fathers.
3.30 pm - break
4.00 pm - Brian A Butcher: The Spirits of the Liturgy: Ressourcement vs. Aggiornamento in Contemporary Eastern-Rite Catholic Worship.
5.00 pm - discussion Panel
8.00pm - dinner
Sunday, July 3
9.00 am - Sven Conrad: The relationship of the Old and the New Testament in the light of the Logos incarnatus. Joseph Ratzinger’s solution of the spiritualisation of the idea of worship.
10.00 am - Roland Millare: An Iconic Theology of Liturgy for the World: A Rapprochement Between Joseph Ratzinger and Eastern Orthodox Theology.
11.00 am - morning coffee
11.30 - Manfred Hauke: Reservation and Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Its theological and pastoral importance.
2.30 pm - break
2.00 pm - Kevin Zilverberg: Worship in Truth (John 4, 23–24): Polyvalent Veritas in the Latin Fathers.
3.00 pm - John Hayes: Worship in Spirit and Truth: A Biblical Foundation for Ratzinger’s Notion of Active Participation.
4.00 pm - coffee
4.15 pm - Joseph Briody: Obedience over Sacrifice (1 Sam. 15, 22; Hos. 6, 6): Liturgical Interiority and Biblical Covenantal Attentiveness.
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce the speakers and topics of the XIII Fota International Liturgy Conference, which will be held on July 2-3 in the New Hall at Ballyhea, Charleville, Co. Cork (Ireland). The conference is titled Worship in Spirit and in Truth, and is intended to mark the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Benedict XVI/Joseph Ratzinger’s book The Spirit of the Liturgy. Registrations may be made on line by email to Colman.liturgy2@yahoo.com.
Mariusz Biliniewicz (Sydney): Twenty years of reception of Ratzinger’s The Spirit of the Liturgy.
Joseph Briody (Boston): Obedience over Sacrifice (1 Sam 15, 22; Hos 6, 6): Liturgical Interiority and Biblical Covenantal Attentiveness.
Brian A. Butcher (Montreal): The Spirits of the Liturgy: Ressourcement vs. Aggiornamento in Contemporary Eastern-Rite Worship.
Sven Conrad (Germany): The relationship of the Old and the New Testament in the light of the Logos incarnatus. Joseph Ratzinger’s solution of the spiritualisation of the idea of worship.
Bryce Evans (USA): The Role of the Sacred Liturgy in Joseph Ratzinger's Fundamental Theology.
Manfred Hauke (Lugano): Reservation and Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Its theological and pastoral importance.
John Hayes (USA): Worship in Spirit and Truth: A Biblical Foundation for Ratzinger’s Notion of Active Participation.
Matthew Hazell (GB): The Spirit of Liturgical Reform and the Vota of the Second Vatican Council Fathers.
Serafino Lanzetta (GB): The Sacrifice of the Logos incarnatus. Ratzinger's Theology of the Liturgy in perspective.
Roland Millare (USA): An Iconic Theology of Liturgy for the World: A Rapprochement Between Joseph Ratzinger and Eastern Orthodox Theology.
Kevin Zilverberg (USA): Worship in Truth (John 4, 23–24): Polyvalent Veritas in the Latin Fathers.
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce that after a delay of almost three years, the XIII Fota International Liturgy Conference will be held July 2-3, 2022 in the New Hall at Ballyhea, Charleville, Co. Cork (Ireland). The conference is titled Worship in Spirit and in Truth, and is intended to mark the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Benedict XVI/Joseph Ratzinger’s book The Spirit of the Liturgy. The conference will be opened by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke; a panel of established and emerging scholars from the United States, Great Britain, Germany and Ireland, will speak on a range of themes drawn from the book. A provisional program is being finalized and will shortly be published. Registrations may be made on line by email to Colman.liturgy2@yahoo.co.uk.
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce that the Fota XIII International Liturgy Conference, originally planned for July 4-6, 2020, will now be held in Cork, Ireland, on July 2-4, 2022, subject to the public health regulations in place at that time. The theme of the conference is “Worship in Spirit and in Truth”, to mark the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI’s “Vom Geist der Liturgie (The Spirit of the Liturgy)”. The Conference will focus on the ecclesial importance of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI’s liturgical vision, its underlying principles, its significance for a coherent theological understanding of the Roman liturgy and of its evolution, as well as for its wide ranging implications in ecumenical dialogue and the restoration of Christian unity. Further details of the conference will be published in 2022.
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy has asked us to announce that the XIII Fota International Liturgy Conference, previously scheduled for July of this year, has been postponed due to the current public health ordinances in Ireland to combat coronavirus. The Conference will now be held July 3-5 of next year; its subject will be Worship in Spirit and in Truth, to mark the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI’s Vom Geist der Liturgie (The Spirit of the Liturgy).
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce that the Fota XIII International Liturgy Conference will be held in Cork, Ireland, July 4-6, 2020. The subject of the conference is Worship in Spirit and in Truth to mark the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI’s Vom Geist der Liturgie (The Spirit of the Liturgy).
Further details of the conference will be published early in 2020.
The Sanctus and Benedictus of Palestrina’s Missa Brevis (preceded by the Preface), sung by the Lassus Scholars at a solemn Mass during the Fota conference this past July.
Our thanks once again to Prof William A Thomas for his report on the final day of the Fota liturgical conference, which took place this past week in Cork, Ireland.
On the final day of the 12th Fota International Liturgical Conference, the first speaker was Fr Manfred Hauke, Professor at the Univ. of Lugano in Switzerland, who delivered a paper titled “What is an exorcism, a critical assessment of terminology”
Cardinal Burke introduces Prof. Hauke.
Fr Hauke began by clarifying the etymologies of the terms he would use to describe the language employed in the rite of exorcism, and further that only an ordained minister with the authority of Christ can perform an exorcism. In 1985, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith admonished “prayer groups in the Church (which) aimed at seeking deliverance from the influence of demons, while not actually engaging in real exorcisms.” Here the imperative form is the determinative sign for liturgical exorcism; Jesus commands that unclean spirits depart and they obey. If we are to clarify the definition of “exorcism” from a linguistic point of view in a ritual context even before Christianity, the technical term seems to imply addressing oneself to the evil spirit in a direct way.
The new ritual of exorcism, however, does not compel the exorcist to use any imperative against the evil spirits. It is possible to choose between a “deprecatory” or “supplicating” formula and an “imprecatory” or “imperative” formula. The imperative formula can be used only when the deprecatory formula has been recited before. Is this deprecatory text a real exorcism, or is it only a “prayer for deliverance”?
The decisive factor for Jewish exorcism is the invocation of the name of God. The exorcisms performed by Jesus are not “prayers for deliverance”, but commands made in force of His being the Son of God. His practice manifests itself in the mission of the apostles, as for example in the exorcism performed by St Paul, who also commanded demons (Acts 16, 16-19). Exorcism, in Christian understanding, is a command in the name of Jesus Christ to a demon to leave his victim.
In the Rituale Romanum of 1614 we find an alternation between “exorcismi” and “orationes”. The latter are prayers, the former are commands given with imperatives to demons. The orationes have a conclusive role, whereas in the rite of 2004 similar prayers appear as “deprecatory formula” of exorcism and are located at the beginning.
The decisive point for liturgical praxis is the expulsion of demons, which cannot be separated from the prayer of the Church. But the use of the imperative form witnesses in a clearer way the authority given by Christ to his ministers to liberate vexed persons from the evil spirits.
In the liturgy of exorcism, we find the invocation of the name of God or Christ (epiclesis), the direct address to the devil, who is menaced in the name of God (increpatio), and the command to leave the afflicted person. It would be fitting that the definition of “exorcism” matches this liturgical description, which implies the invocation of the divine name and the direct address to the devil. It is not enough to define “exorcism” as “expulsion of evil spirits” in the name of Christ; “exorcism” in a strict sense implies also the command to the demons to leave.
Solemn Mass at the church of Ss Peter and Paul, Monday, July 8th
The second paper of the day followed a Solemn High Mass in the church of Ss Peter and Paul’s, celebrated by Fr Jerome Buecker FSSP, and was presented by His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke, entitled “The Juridical Structures for the Rite of Exorcism.” Highlighting the differences between the 1917 Code of Canon Law and the 1983 Code in use today, he said that many priests are turning back to the Rituale Romanum of 1614 because the new rite of 1999, amended in 2004, is lacking, in that it does not require that the sign of the Cross be made over the person or objects to be blessed, and likewise, does not have the proper blessing and exorcism of water and salt for the making of holy water.
Speaking further on sacramentals and blessings, he mentioned the orations, of which there were six types: prayer, touch (with water and oil), blessed foods, penance and the Confiteor, almsgiving and showing mercy, and blessings. A blessing is the invocation of the Divine Name, Jesus. Demonic possession might also manifest itself in vexations, temptations, even to places and objects, but there were established procedures on how to deal with them, assigned to competent and duly authorized clerics, and not the laity.
In the final paper of the conference, Fr Sven Conrad FSSP spoke on “The Apotropaic Effect of the Sacred Liturgy”, i.e. of the liturgy as such, beyond its formal exorcisms. The Church continues Christ’s mission through the Liturgy; this understanding not only comes from the writings of Pope Pius XII but also from the Second Vatican Council. The scholastic doctrine of sacramentals, which effect what the Church intends them to do, traditionally identifies the fight against Satan as one of their main effects. In this context, Fr Conrad briefly examines the Divine Office and Holy Mass and emphasizes their apotropaic effect (the warding off of evil), critically naming some principles of the reform of the rite of blessings and some deficiencies of contemporary theology of liturgy.
Sacramentals are not the conduit for sanctifying grace, in the way the Sacraments are; the Rite of Exorcism is not a sacrament like baptism or Confession, but rather a sacramental, whose apotropaic effects are healing and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. The first effect of the sacramentals used in exorcism to expel demons is through the power of the Cross and in the Holy Name of Jesus.
Our thanks once again to Prof. William A. Thomas for sharing with NLM his reports froms the Fota Liturgical Conference.
The second day of the Fota Liturgical Conference began at the church of Ss Peter and Paul, where His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke celebrated Pontifical High Mass for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost. The Mass was preceded by Terce; the Mass propers were taken from the Choralis Constantinus of Heinrich Isaacs, while the ordinary was Orlando de Lassus’ Missa Domine Dominus Noster, all beautifully sung by the Lassus Scholars under the direction of Doctor Ite O’Donovan.
The Introit of the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Dominus illuminatio mea.
The Gloria in excelsis
In the homily Cardinal Burke appealed to all of humanity to turn to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness, asking that “we give Him our hearts where they will be cleansed in Love.” Noting that we live in a world wrought about by the fall of our first parents whose Original Sin was disobedience, he said that likewise “today’s society rebels against Christ and shows hostility to His laws... We see in society today the attack on human life right from the moment of conception, we see the attack on the family. Society pretends to offer security without God, but this is folly. Satan seeks to destroy us, but Christ will never abandon us. Sometimes forces within us and outside of us will draw us away from Christ; to counter this we have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in which we can learn about the beauty and love of God and about the beauty of ourselves. Sometimes we have to endure suffering as it may be necessary to overcome evil as we await His final coming in glory.”
His Eminence then went on to quote from the day’s Gospel, Luke 5, 1-11 saying that union with God is offered to the world and that we must pray at every moment of our lives, even when we encounter hardship. We must never give up, but “bring these sufferings to Mass and united these sufferings with the sufferings of Christ”, quoting from the writings of Dom Prosper Gueranger. Noting that in the Gospel, Jesus told Simon Peter “Do not be afraid”, His Eminence said that today many are tempted to give up the struggle, but Jesus, recognizing this moment of disappointment in His disciples, tells them to “launch out into the deep” and as the Gospel passage concludes, so likewise does the Cardinal: “do not be afraid, henceforth you will be fishers of men”
The afternoon session of the conference began with a paper presented by Fr Anthony Ward SM, titled “Aspects of the Psalm Prayers in the de Exorcismis of Pope St John Paul II”
Fr Ward made an exhaustive study of the Psalm Prayers used in exorcisms from earliest times, which was called the “Corpus Orationum”, quoting from Psalms 90, 2 (psalm prayers directed to God in tribulation, asking for protection from the devil) psalms 10, 34, and 53, which is still used in the new rite of exorcism. The paper made an exhaustive study of 10 Psalms that were used as prayers of deliverance.
Like its predecessor, the Rite of Exorcisms promulgated in 1999 by order of Pope St John Paul II, foresees that the priest will recite certain traditional Psalms. However, the research into ancient Latin liturgies conducted by scholars such as St Giuseppe Maria Tomasi (1649-1713) had highlighted the existence in ancient times of so-called “psalm prayers”, that is, prayers used in a liturgical celebration after the recitation of one or more Psalms, partly echoing some of their phrasing and themes, linking them to the mystery of Christ or to the struggles of the Christian life. The study examined prayers of this type which are now part of the Rite of Exorcisms, and traces their likely source.
The second paper of the afternoon was delivered by Fr Ryan Ruiz on “Mutual Enrichment and de Benedictionibus; Revisiting the Scriptural Euchologies of the Usus Antiquior and their possible application in the Ordinary Form-Rites of Blessings.”
The paper explored the importance of Biblical typology and themes in the Church’s rites of blessing from the standpoint of the euchological content of the orations themselves. While many of the ancient prayers of blessing found in Title IX (De benedictionibus) of the Rituale Romanum of 1952 contain Scriptural images that make a connection between divine revelation and sacramental realities, the new euchologies of the De Benedictionibus of 1984 generally lack such Biblical themes, arguably to the detriment of the communicative value of the blessing formulae.
The paper compared the euchological structures of a sample number of ordines from three extant liturgical books: Title IX (De benedictionibus) of the Rituale Romanum of 1952, the De Benedictionibus of 1984, and the edition thereof approved for use in the dioceses of the United States, the Book of Blessings.
The intent of the study is to propose a relatively simple means to bring greater clarity to the Church’s overall theology of blessing by a kind of euchological ressourcement, if not back to the earliest sources, then at least to the de Benedictionibus of 1952. This proposal is rooted in the principles of Sacrosanctum Concilium that sought to highlight the importance of the word of God in the liturgical life of the Church, not merely in terms of an expanded corpus of readings in the various liturgical offices of the Church year, but also by emphasizing the foundational role of Scripture in the euchological tradition of the Church. The goal of such analysis is to assist our appreciation of the euchological patterns found in the liturgical books of the Roman Rite, to assist our appreciation of the important role that the sacred text plays in the liturgical text, and to assist our appreciation of the possibilities that might present themselves in the future for further enrichment of the Ordinary Form’s rites of blessings, based on the retrieval of scriptural themes from the usus antiquior.
On Saturday, July 6th, His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke celebrated Pontifical Vespers at the church of Ss Peter and Paul in Cork, Ireland, and the following morning, Pontifical Mass, as part of the 12th Fota International Liturgical Conference. As always, the liturgies were sung by the Lassus Scholars, conducted by Dr Ite O’Donovan, and we hope to bring you some videos with their wonderful music very soon. Our thanks to Prof. William A Thomas for providing us with these photographs.
Our thanks to Prof. William A Thomas for this report on the first day of the 12th Fota International Liturgical Conference.
The Fota International Liturgy Conference, organized in Cork, Ireland, each year since 2008, was opened today by Raymond Cardinal Burke, Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta. After the opening prayers, His Eminence welcomed delegates and speakers alike, and recalled the service and dedication of the St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy, which has promoted the study of the sacred liturgy through these conferences. Delegates and speakers have come from Germany, Great Britain and North America; the theme of this year’s conference is The Roman Ritual: De Benedictionibus and the Rite of Exorcism.
Professor Dieter Boehler S.J. presented the first paper for the conference, entitled “The Priestly Benediction in the Psalter.” Starting with Aaron’s blessing in Numbers 6, “The Lord Bless you and Keep you, May the Lord make His face to Shine upon you and be gracious to you”, Fr Boehler explained how these blessings are an important part of biblical worship and theology. Other Biblical texts such as the 50th chapter of Sirach and Luke 1, 5-23 show the central place that the priestly benedictions occupies in Israel’s service both in the Old and New Testaments. The influence of the wording of Aaron’s blessing can be detected in several places in the Bible, not least in Israel’s prayer book, the Psalter, which shows that Israel’s prayer is answered from above by heavenly blessings.
The paper’s first analysis shows in detail the highly poetic form of the priestly blessing, then looked at several other allusions to the text of these blessings in various psalms. Father Boehler’s main focus was on the Psalms of Ascents or Pilgrims’ Psalms (Pss. 120-134), also known as the Gradual Psalms, which present a kind of spiritual pilgrimage from a point far from God to his nearness. These same 15 poems show a certain correspondence to the 15 words of Aaron’s blessing. In conclusion, he stated that the blessings upward constitute praise, the lifting up of the hands , and that the blessings downward from heaven constitute a new creation, a charis, something freely given by God, expressing His kindness, His grace and the sharing of His life.
The second speaker at the conference was our own Matthew Hazell, MA (Sheffield) from the United Kingdom, who presented a paper entitled “A historical Survey of the Reform of De Benedictionibus (1959-1984)” Of the liturgical books reformed after Vatican II, De Benedictionibus (The Book of Blessings) is one that has received very little attention from liturgists and scholars, even thirty-five years after its promulgation; his paper would attempt to provide a historical survey of its reform, and hopefully encourage more detailed historical and theological research by liturgical scholars.
He began by examining the proposals (vota) of the future Council Fathers submitted during the ante-preparatory period of the Second Vatican Council (1959-60) regarding the reform of sacramentals and blessings, then looked at the various drafts of the relevant articles of Sacrosanctum Concilium from the preparatory period of Vatican II (1960-62) through to the first two sessions of the Council (1962-63), to see what the Council Fathers said about sacramentals and blessings, and how that influenced the final version of the Constitution on the Liturgy. Finally, utilizing the archival material found in the schemata of the Consilium ad exsequendam Constitutionem de Sacra Liturgia, he looked at the two phases of the reform process itself, from 1964 to 1974, and then from 1974 to the promulgation of the reformed De Benedictionibus in 1984. He concluded by highlighting the discussions of the Fathers of the Council who discussed the Reserved Blessings of bishops and how there should be no blessings that a bishop cannot give.
The third speaker, Dr Daniel van Slyke spoke on “Exorcism Rites of the Past and Present: Similarities and Differences” using examples from catechumenal exorcisms, the blessing of water, and the major rites of exorcism to explore the difference between liturgical exorcisms of the past and present. The pre-Vatican II rites and the rites revised after Vatican II provide the immediate points of comparison. Comparing these exorcism rites of the past and present -- both of persons and of things -- reveals markedly different compositions, purported effects, and underlying worldviews. The overall tenor of the revised rite of major exorcism reflects the tenor in the earlier revised catechumenal exorcisms and in the revised rites for blessing objects, and especially water, rites which have lamentably all but disappeared in the Latin Rite today.
The final paper, by Fr Joseph Briody of St John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass., offered a Scriptural and liturgical reflection on the evil spirit and Saul (1 Sam. 16, 14), and the coming of the Spirit upon David, whose lyre soothed the troubled Saul and banishing the evil spirit. David’s harp becomes symbolic of the Psalter. The paper works through the election and rejection of Saul and Saul’s deficient relationship with the Lord. Only the obedient, submissive one on whom the Spirit rests can be king of Israel. The wider canon expresses a longing for a future, perfect, Davidic king, anointed not only with oil but with the Holy Spirit. There is a dawning realization that it is Jesus, the Son of David, the One anointed with the Holy Spirit, who is the Christ-Messiah and who overcomes evil. The Church continues this liberating work of Christ. While Saul is not demonized in the biblical text, two contrasting models of kingship are presented: Saul or David? The choice between Saul and David indicates the fundamental choice between disobedience and obedience, sin and grace, the evil spirit and the Holy Spirit. When obedience, grace and the Holy Spirit depart, the result is not some kind of no-man’s-land of moral neutrality or spiritual vacuum. The tragic departure of the Holy Spirit from a life leaves one susceptible to the anguish suffered by the first King of Israel: “Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.”
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce the program for the Fota XII International Liturgy Conference, which will be held at the Clayton Hotel in Cork City, Ireland, July 6-8. The topic of the conference this year is The Ritual: de benedictionibus and the Rite of Exorcism. For information about registration, contact the Secretary of the St Colman’s Society, Terry Pender, at colman.liturgy@yaho.co.uk. The same address may be used to order the Acta of last year’s conference, which will be formally present at this year’s conference, as noted below.
Saturday, July 6
8.15am – Registration
9.30 – Opening of the Conference
9.45-10.45 – Prof. Dieter Boehler, SJ: The Priestly Benediction in the Psalter
11.00-12.00 – Matthew Hazell: A Historical Survey of the Reform of De Benedictionibus, 1959-1984
2.30- 3.30pm – Fr. Ryan Ruiz: Mutual Enrichment and the De Benedictionibus: Revisiting the Scriptural Euchologies of the Usus Antiquor and Their Possible Application in the Ordinary Form Rites of Blessing
3.45-4.45 – Daniel Van Slyke: Exorcism Rites of the Past and Present: Similarities and Differences
4.45-5.15 – Discussion
7.30pm – Pontifical Vespers at the church of Ss Peter and Paul, celebrated by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. The Lassus Scholars, under the direction of Dr Ite O’Donovan, will sing the Gregorian propers, a Magnificat by Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611), and the Salve Regina by Peter Philips (1560-1628).
The Benedictus from the Missa Papae Marcelli of Palestrina, sung by the Lassus Scholars during the Mass of Holy Thursday at St Kevin’s church in Dublin this year.
Sunday July 7
11.30am – Pontifical High Mass at the church of Ss Peter and Paul, celebrated by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. The Lassus Scholars will sing the Mass Propers from the Choralis Constantinus of Heinrich Isaac (c. 1450-1517), the Missa Domine Dominus Noster as the Ordinary of the Mass and the Offertory Illumina oculos meos, both by Orlando de Lassus (1532-94) and the Te Deum and Ecce Sacerdos Magnus of de Victoria.
4.00-5.00pm – Fr. Anthony Ward, SM: Aspects of the Psalm Prayers in the de Exorcismis of Pope St John Paul II
5.00-6.00 – Fr. Joseph Briody: A Scriptural Reflection on the Evil Spirit and Saul in 1 Samuel 6.30-7.30 – Launch of Psallite Sapienter: The Liturgy of the Hours, edited by Fr. Joseph Briody, Proceedings of the Fota XI International Liturgy Conference (2018), with contributions by Prof. William Mahrt, Prof. Dennis McManus, Sr. Maria Kiely OSB, Prof. Joseph Briody, Gregory DiPippo, Dom Benedict Andersen OSB, Fr. Sven Conrad FSSP, Matthew Hazel, and Dr Peter Kwasniewski.
8.00: Gala Dinner
Monday, July 8
9.30-10.30 – Prof. Manfred Hauke: What is ‘exorcism’? A critical assessment of terminology
10.45-11.45 – His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke
12.30pm – Solemn High Mass at the church of Ss Peter and Paul; the Lassus Scholars will sing the Gregorian Propers and Palestrina’s Missa brevis.
2.45-3.45pm – Fr. Dennis McManus: Three Significant Reforms in the 2004/5 Rites of Exorcism
4.00-5.00 – Fr. Sven Conrad FSSP: The Apotropaic Effect of the Sacred Liturgy
Please note that speakers and times may be subject to variations.
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce the preliminary programme of speakers and topics for the twelfth Fota International Liturgy Conference, to be held in Cork, Ireland, July 6-8, on The Ritual: de benedictionibus and the Rite of Exorcism.
Prof. Dieter Boehler (Germany): The Priestly Benediction in the Psalter
Fr. Joseph Briody (Boston): A Scriptural Reflection on the Evil Spirit and Saul in 1 Samuel
Fr. Sven Conrad (Germany): The Apotropaic Effect of the Sacred Liturgy
Matthew Hazell (England): A Historical Survey of the Reform of De Benedictionibus, 1959-1984
Prof. Manfred Hauke (Switzerland): What is ‘exorcism’? A critical assessment of terminology
Fr. Dennis McManus (Georgtown): Three Significant Reforms in the 2004/5 Rites of Exorcism
Fr. Ryan Ruiz (Cincinnati): Mutual Enrichment and the De Benedictionibus: Revisiting the Scriptural Euchologies of the Usus Antiquor and Their Possible Application in the Ordinary Form Rites of Blessing
Daniel Van Slyke (Dallas): Exorcism Rites of the Past and Present: Similarities and Differences
Fr. Anthony Ward (Rome): Aspects of the Psalm Prayers in the de Exorcismis of Pope St. John Paul II
In the video below, the Lassus Scholars, who come to Cork each year to sing the liturgies during the Fota conference, sing the Kyrie and Gloria of Mozart’s Missa brevis in C (K259) at the church of St Kevin in Dublin on Christmas Day of last year.
St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce that the Fota XII International Liturgy Conference will be held in Cork, Ireland, on July 6-8, 2019. The subject of the conference is The Roman Ritual, de Benedictionibus and the Rite of Exorcism. Further details of the conference will be published early in 2019.
The Creed from the Missa ‘Entre vous filles’ by Orlando Lassus, sung by the Lassus Scholars during the principle Mass at last year’s Fota conference, celebrated by His Eminence Raymond Card. Burke.
At the Fota XI conference in Ireland in July 2018, which had the Divine Office as its theme, many participants made remarks about the way in which the recitation of the postconciliar Liturgy of the Hours has severely fallen off in practice. Many clergy, apparently not seeing it as a serious obligation, either don’t pray it at all, or skip it all too readily. This is perhaps less a problem among younger clergy than among older generations, who, in the confusion following the Council, threw off many obligations (clerical clothing, daily Mass, daily Office, etc.) as so many out-of-date constraints by which their “work in the world” was being hampered—or so they thought. In reality, what finally killed their work in the world was the death of the spiritual life, the loss of the primacy of the cult of God over the “needs,” real or imaginary, of Man. This inversion and perversion is what is killing the Church in the West, wherever it is dying.
It is true that, as Matthew Hazell showed in his talk at Fota, there were a fair number of vota from bishops and superiors prior to the Council asking that the “burden” of the Divine Office be mitigated — sometimes considerably, as by the suppression of certain canonical hours, or by the rendering optional of the little hours. As we know, in the end the ancient office of Prime was suppressed without further ado, and the entire breviary stripped down and reorganized into what some critics have called (not unreasonably) “the Liturgy of the Minutes.”
I found most interesting an observation someone at the conference made, who said: If you make a certain obligation too easy, it becomes all the more easy to hold it in contempt. One feels that it is hardly worth the trouble. (A good example of a light burden readily shirked off is the current one-hour Eucharistic fast.) A heavier burden, because it feels heavy, feels serious, and the absence of it is, oddly, uncomfortable. If you are used to bearing a yoke, and suddenly the yoke is lifted, one can feel off-balance, deprived of a companion, naked and exposed, at a loss.
The old office had weight or gravity to it, and the duty to pray it was emphasized strongly in canon law and priestly formation. (It makes little difference, for our present ascetical theme, whether we are speaking about the pre-Pius X or the Pius X breviary; for both placed considerable demands on the clergy.) The sight of a Catholic priest praying his breviary in the sanctuary before Mass, in the pews after Mass, in the bus, on the train, in practically any spare moment, was a familiar sight. One of the participants in Fota told a story about how, before the Council, an elderly priest would stop his car at night, get out, and finish his breviary by the car headlights, in order not to fail in his responsibility.
Now, I have noticed that, as a general rule, there are two and only two ways of making an appeal to young men to discern the priesthood, and something similar can be said for appeals about religious life. The first way is to say (through words, images, music…): “This is going to be incredibly hard. It will demand everything you’ve got. Many won’t be able to hack it. But with God’s help, you just might. We’re not desperate for you, though, so don’t bother to come if you’re not serious.” The second way is to say: “The life of a Catholic priest is wonderful! You get to be so helpful to people every day. It’s bright and cheerful, even fun at times. We need you. We’ll make it work out for you and nothing will be too hard.”
I was thinking about this in connection with a vocations video my son showed me, made by the Russian Orthodox:
This “trailer” for the longer version (also worth watching) obviously and beautifully illustrates the first type of message. And even though it makes use of the nowadays almost obligatory “Gandalf slaying the Balrog” type of soundtrack, it is impressive in its earnestness.
Contrast this virile message with the flaccid tone of all too many Roman Catholic vocational videos, where it is all smiles, handshakes, coffee hours, and the like. For example, this one, from the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., starts off with a soundtrack that can’t quite decide whether it’s jazz, classical, easy listening, or a movie soundtrack, then features a slick cardinal doing his shtick, followed by jolly junior students — regular guys just like you and me!
This one, from the same diocese, is even worse — especially for the wild west liturgical life it gives us a sneak peak of. It would be hard to imagine most serious young Catholic men finding this appealing.
Why don’t we contrast the Archdiocese of Washington with the SSPX’s vocational video? It's enough to watch a minute to see that this is going to be very different.
Now, I will be the first to admit that the script could have been more interesting. It follows the somewhat hackneyed “day in the life of…” model. Nevertheless, what do we find here? The soundtrack is Renaissance polyphony. The narrator tells us about the symbolism of a liturgical vestment and shows the seminarians filing in for the office of Prime (believed by some beatniks to have been abolished — don't break it to them that it survived the purge!). Beautiful images of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass are followed by a panning shot that features the Angelic Doctor, who is repeatedly referred to. Cassocked teachers lead seminarians in prayer on their knees before class begins. Athletics make a required but thankfully brief appearance. A man is shown repairing a chasuble, which I consider very forward-thinking. All in all, the SSPX video is far closer to the Eastern Orthodox one, and would be similarly appealing to a man in search of a great cause to which to dedicate his life.
All this fits in well with the oft-observed phenomenon that the prospect of challenge or difficulty is what attracts intrepid spirits to make huge commitments. The U.S. Marines have capitalized on this strategy for years. They seek to attract not just warm bodies but talented candidates looking for the best, prepared to endure hardship to win glory. In other words, an elite. In fact, the strategy is as old as Our Lord, who says “take this teaching — if you can” (cf. Mt 19:12), and St. Paul, who compares Christians to olympians in training (cf. 1 Cor 9:24–27). Why, then, are we so afraid of this idea of an elite?
The apostles are often presented nowadays as a ragtag and bobtail crew, but let us consider for a moment how false this picture is. Several were strong and dedicated fishermen who knew how to labor day and night. They were not lily-livered wimps. Another was a Jewish zealot, the desperate sort who would have been ready to ambush Roman soldiers and strangle them. Another was a tax collector, which meant someone who could dominate and intimidate people, and keep a close eye on money in and money out. Two were nicknamed “sons of thunder,” presumably because of their temperaments.
The psychology at work — if you want to recruit good men, set them a towering challenge and then push them hard in its pursuit — seems obviously true in the realm of the military, athletics, and extreme outdoor activities; but it proves no less true in the realm of priestly and religious vocations. If a young man or a young woman is going to commit his or her entire life to the Lord, should it not look and feel quite serious, all-encompassing, demanding everything, but also promising everything? It will take all your mind, heart, soul, and strength, every waking minute, your voice, your lips, your senses, your imagination, your memory — “take it all, O Lord, I give it all to Thee,” as St. Ignatius prayed — but it promises to give you deification, eternal life, a hundredfold now and forever.
For this admirable exchange to be believable — that is, to be able to believe that the Church believes in the reality of this exchange — the way of life it entails must be radical and all-consuming; from the vantage of fallen human nature, it will be burdensome. But this is a necessary step along the path to that “freedom of the children of God” for which we long.
The traditional Latin liturgy is this way, too: it demands more and delivers more. It requires a fuller participation of the whole man, soul and body. We are given more to do spiritually and physically. It makes nothing easy for us — except praying, the one thing we need to do most of all. All of the difficulty is for the sake of breaking open our minds and hearts for communion with God, which will not be won cheaply, lest it be held cheap.
There are a lot of people out there in media, public relations, and, dare I say it, the Church hierarchy, who need to figure out this lesson. The Synod could use a serious injection of the same realism and nobility. (It won't help, since the whole thing has been rigged from the start, but it never hurts to say what the Synod might have been, had it been run by sane people in touch with youth.)
The most obvious way we can recover the toughness, challenge, and lofty purpose we have lost is to take up again the old breviary and the old Mass, and move on from there to a future full of promise.
