Complete Video of a Recent Glagolitic Mass Celebrated in Australia

Early last month, we posted photos of a Solemn Mass celebrated on the feast of the Precious Blood for the Croatian Catholic community of Sydney, Australia, according to the traditional Glagolitic Missal, which is the Roman Missal translated into a form of Church Slavonic. A complete video of the Mass was recently made available on an Australia-based YouTube channel called New Ark Films. I am sure our readers will find this precious documentation of such a venerable liturgical tradition extremely interesting, and in no small part because it shows us that the transition from Latin to another language does not have to bring with it the destruction of our rite’s musical patrimony. Feliciter, i blagoslovenno!

Notes on the Slavonic Feast of Saint Elias

Many thanks to Mr Danijel Uremović for sharing with us this article about the feast of the Prophet Elijah, which was celebrated on Monday, and figures prominently in the tradition of the Glagolitic Missal used in his native Croatia, and in some other regions of the Balkan peninsula. We recently published his account of a Glagolitic Mass celebrated in Sydney, Australia, for the local Croatian community, on the feast of the Precious Blood. 

While the veneration of Old Testament figures is largely associated with the liturgy of the Eastern Churches, commemorations of the saints who lived prior to Christ’s Incarnation are not entirely foreign to the Western tradition. Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with the Carmelite order, enjoys the patronage of the holy prophet Elijah, celebrating his feast on the twentieth of July. Though differing slightly at certain points from the texts traditionally used by the Carmelites, the liturgy given in the 1927 Rimski Misal (that is, the traditional Roman missal translated into Church Slavonic) is particularly beautiful, focusing on the prophet’s flaming zeal, constant intercession, and heavenly-mindedness, as well as the virtue of true worship. In the Introit of the Mass (English texts adapted from the 1953 Carmelite Daily Missal and Douay Rheims Bible) for instance, we hear:

Introit 3 Kings 19:10, Ps. 29, 2 I am all jealousy for the honor of the Lord God of hosts, replied Elias to the Lord; see how the sons of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and put thy prophets to the sword. Of these, only I am left, and now my life too is forfeit. Praise to thee, Lord: thou hast taken me under thy protection and baulked my enemies of their will.

The beginning of the Mass of St Elijah in the 1927 edition of the Glagolitic Missal, which uses the Latin alphabet...

and in the 1893 edition, which uses the ancient Glagolitic script.

Such “jealousy” for the Lord, according to certain versions of the story, plays into the very establishment of this feast among the faithful of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When Bishop Pavao Dragičević sought from the Vatican a new patron for his people, Rome’s response was supposedly, “a wild saint for a wild people.” Another explanation, however, is that the common veneration of Elijah by Catholics, Orthodox, and Muslims (the three major religions of Bosnia and Herzegovina) made him a suitable choice. Another interesting feature of the Introit comes with its use of the word “vrag.” While its basic sense in Slavonic is indeed that of an “enemy,” speakers of modern Croatian would immediately make the connection with the true enemy, the “devil,” against whom the zeal exemplified by the prophet is most fittingly directed.

The next three propers, along with the readings from Sirach 48, 1-10 and Matthew 17,1-9 turn upon the imagery of Elijah taken up into heavenly glory.

Collect Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God: that we, who believe thy Prophet the blessed Elias to have been wondrously taken up in a fiery chariot, may, through his intercession, be lifted up to the things of heaven, and rejoice with him in the company of your saints.

Gradual 4 Kings 2, 1; 11 And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elias into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elias and Eliseus were going from Galgal. V. And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold a fiery chariot, and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

Alleluia, alleluia. 1 Macc. 2, 58; Sir. 48, 9 Elias, while he was full of zeal for the law, was taken up into heaven. Alleluia.

While the well-known episode of Elijah being taken up in a flaming chariot suggests an obvious destination, it is only during the Transfiguration that we see, with Peter, James, and John, the true Christological shape of the divine life to which the prophet was called. This celestial motif, notably, impressed itself upon the popular imagination of the Slavs and provides one of many examples of the Christian transfiguration of pagan religion: No longer Perun, god of thunder and lighting, but “Ilija Gromovnik – Elijah the Thunderer”.

While the Offertory prayer certainly brings to mind these connections of the prophet with meteorological events, more importantly, it speaks of the faith-filled intercession characterised by the Old Testament prophets. By bearing God’s word to the people and interceding for them, their prophetic office likewise bore a priestly character, perfected now in the offering made upon the altar. And insofar as Elijah’s prayer for rain follows on his encounter with the prophets of Baal, this offering is further shown forth as the expression of true worship.

Offertory Jas. 5, 17-18 Elias was a man passible like unto us: and with prayer he prayed that it might not rain upon the earth, and it rained not for three years and six months. And he prayed again: and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Secret We offer to thee, Lord, the sacrifice of praise in honour of Saint Elias, thy prophet: and even as thou accepted his burnt-offering, so vouchsafe to be present at our sacrifice, that we may thereby attain everlasting gladness. Through our Lord.

In the Postcommunio we encounter a classic image of spiritual nourishment borrowing from the life of the prophet:

Postcommunion O God, who by thy holy Angel gave food and drink to blessed Elijah, thy prophet, grant by his intercession, that what we have received from this heavenly table we may with pure minds keep undefiled. Through our Lord.

The preceding Communio, however, is somewhat untypical, and perhaps less transparent in its meaning:

Communion Mal. 4, 5-6 Behold I will send you Elias the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.

With every Mass, however, comes that “great and dreadful day of the Lord,” given as the foretaste of the future glory to which the faithful are called. More than that, the witness of the saints, like that of the prophet Elijah, are not mere superadditions to an otherwise more pristinely Christo-centric worship, but the very means of suitable spiritual preparation for receiving the eucharistic Lord. Throughout the texts of this unique feast, we see the prophet Elijah not only pointing us toward the Lord, from a distance. We see him actively interceding on the behalf of God’s people; providing, through the example of his zeal and right worship, a model of holiness; and awaiting us at the ultimate heavenly destination. On this account, the words of Rome (in another version of the story), “As the people, so the saint,” might perhaps give way to a further possibility: “As the saint, so the people.”

A Solemn High Glagolitic Mass Celebrated in Australia

Yesterday, the feast of the Most Precious Blood, saw an historic occasion for the preservation of the traditional Roman liturgy. Following a number of sung Slavonic Masses of the Melbourne Croatian chaplaincy in recent years, the Croatian Catholic community of Sydney was blessed with its first ever High Mass according to the traditional Slavonic Missal (i.e., the “Vajs” Missal of 1927). It is believed that this is the first of its kind for the Croatian diaspora of Australia since a High Mass celebrated in Adelaide prior to the Council. (The current owner of the Missal used, Fr Velimir Maglica, was present for this Mass as a child).

For readers unfamiliar with the Glagolitic (or more correctly, Slavonic) Mass, this liturgy traces its origins to the missionary work of Ss Cyril and Methodius to the Slavs. Following much controversy, the Slavic people were eventually afforded the peculiar privilege of celebrating a Western liturgy not in Latin, as was the norm throughout the West, but an adapted form of Slavonic, the historical ancestor of modern Slavic languages such as Croatian, Czech, Polish, and Bulgarian. This liturgy differs not only in language, but all in many aspects of its chant. Despite its origins in the work of the Moravian Mission, it would ultimately be on Croatian lands that this unique use would (until relatively recently) be best preserved.

Australia, though far from this liturgy’s native soil, is home to a sizeable Croatian diaspora, among whom the unique case of the “Glagolitic” Mass, its associated script, and musical heritage are well known and celebrated, though seldom experienced - even despite the fact that its regular celebration still remains a part of living memory (one parishioner, for instance, was able to recall serving Slavonic Masses in one parish and Latin Masses in another). Aside from the local Croatian-Australian contingency, the packed church for yesterday’s celebration included a handful of faithful from overseas, including those who had travelled from as far as Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Italy.

The Mass was celebrated by Fr Mateusz Markiewicz IBP, who is no stranger to the traditional Slavonic liturgy, having previously offered it for the faithful of Zagreb; the deacon and subdeacon came in from Adelaide and Perth respectively to assist. The Mass featured an Ordinary and Propers fitted to Gregorian melodies and accompanied by organ. More characteristically “Glagolitic” melodies could be heard, for instance, in the Epistle, which was sung according to a traditional tone from the island of Hvar. Altar cards used previously in Melbourne returned to Sydney for the occasion. As for the missal, it was discovered in Zagreb before making its way to Melbourne, and eventually Sydney, where it will remain on loan for future Masses.

Where “nostalgia” remains among the most common charges against the Church’s traditional liturgy, this Mass for the Most Precious Blood testifies to the fact that the traditional rites touch the hearts of the faithful for far deeper reasons. Many if not most present at the liturgy were regulars not of traditional communities, but regular Croatian chaplaincies, and so experienced the traditional rite of Mass for the first time. While the (relative) familiarity of language surely facilitated, it is apparently that the beauty of the rites were a part of the overwhelmingly positive reception, for which reason future celebrations are already being planned. We are very grateful to Mr Danijel Uremović for sharing this account with us, and to New Ark Films for the photographs.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

A Roman Rite Pontifical Mass in Church Slavonic

Here is an interesting thing I just stumbled across via a friend on social media, a video of His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider celebrating a Pontifical Mass in the Roman Rite, but in Church Slavonic, rather than Latin. The Mass was celebrated in Friday, September 16, 2016, for the feast of St Ludmilla, a martyr of the very early years of the conversion of Bohemia in the later 9th century.

One week before this Mass was celebrated, we published an article about a Glagolitic Mass, as it is called, celebrated in Croatia: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2016/09/glagolitic-mass-celebrated-in-zagreb.html. This tradition of celebrating the Roman Mass in a Slavic idiom rather than Latin goes back, of course, to the missionary activities of Ss Cyril and Methodius among the Slavs. On Monday, I wrote about a Saint named Procopius who is very important in Bohemia, and whose religious community in the later 11th century may very well have celebrated the Roman Rite in Church Slavonic. Without prejudice to the importance of Latin, or to the importance of preserving its liturgical use, as both St John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council wanted, this custom can be a useful reference point for continuing the essential work of correcting the botched post-Conciliar reform, since it uses a form of “vernacular” without compromising the ceremonial or textual tradition of the rite.

Glagolitic Mass Celebrated in Zagreb, Croatia

As some of our readers may remember from previous articles, there was a long-standing custom in parts of Croatia that the Roman Rite be celebrated in the Croatian recension of Old Church Slavonic, rather than in Latin. Shawn Tribe published an article about the Glagolitic Missal, as it was called, from the ancient script originally created for the Slavic languages, back in 2011. Recently, a Mass was celebrated according to this Missal for the first time in 50 years in Zagreb; we are grateful to one of the faithful who were present for providing us with this account of it.

Let me start with a brief introduction. The current situation concerning the Extraordinary Form in Croatia is that there is not a single diocesan Mass available anywhere in the country. The only regular Sunday Mass was available from February 2011 to October 2014 , when the priest assigned by the Archdiocese of Zagreb suddenly died. So now, we, the Coetus fidelium of Zagreb, the capitol of Croatia, have been without a priest for almost two years, so we have to rely on the generosity and availability of the visiting priests to at least have occasional Masses. Such was the recent case when a priest from the Institute of the Good Shepherd, Fr. Mateusz Markiewicz, currently stationed in Bordeaux, was on a three day long visit in Zagreb.

During those three days, Father Markiewicz celebrated the Traditional Mass in the church of St. Martin. For the first two days, these were Latin Masses, but on the third day, we had a Low Glagolitic Mass, a first public Mass of its kind in Croatia after approximately 50 years. It was a votive Mass of St. Joseph, the patron of Croatia, and also of our local ordinary, Cardinal Josip Bozanić. The Mass was celebrated from the so-called “Vajs Missal” (Missale Romanum Slavonico Idiomate), the last printed Glagolitic Missal from 1927, written in the Croatian recension of Church Slavonic. This Missal was transliterated to Latin script, unlike the previous Glagolitic missals, see other examples here: http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/parcic_misal.html.

As a side note, the first printed Croatian book was a Missale Romanum Glagolitice dating from 1483. You can find the digitized version here: http://dk.nsk.hr/stara_knjiga/NSK_SK_ID01/.

The copy of the “Vajs Missal” we used was purchased recently from the United States by the society “Benedictus”, the Croatian chapter of the Una Voce Federation. As the celebrating priest is a Slav, he had no problem in reading the Church Slavonic or Croatian. Here is a short clip of the prayers at the foot of the altar.

As a gift from a local priest, we also had the Church Slavonic altar cards. A small curiosity - it was not unusual in southern parts of Croatia along the coast of Dalmatia, to have two-sided altar cards, one side containing the Latin text and the opposite side the Church Slavonic – here is an example of the Church Slavonic side from a church in Split.

Unlike the southern parts of Croatia, the Glagolitic Mass was not something usual in northern Croatia, Zagreb included. However, it was regularly celebrated in the 20th century by the Zagreb Third Order Franciscans (TOR). A common name for them in Croatia was “Popi glagoljaši”, or Glagolitic friars/fathers). The Blessed Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac celebrated a Glagolitic Mass in 1942, during the opening of a new TOR parish in Zagreb.

Sadly the TOR friars completely abandoned the Glagolitic Mass, a tradition that lasted over thousand years, after the Second Vatican Council. Nevertheless, a big part of our Glagolitic legacy, for instance praying the old Breviary, was preserved on some islands in Dalmatia, especially in the Zadar Archdiocese. You can hear the examples of the ancient Glagolitic chant still used today on the island of Iž here:

or here (singing of Vespers):

There are plans for celebrating a sung Mass with the Glagolitic chant in Croatia for the next year, so we will keep you informed. We sincerely hope that this Mass in Zagreb will serve as an encouragement for priests in Croatia, especially the younger ones, to learn the old rite, and to embrace the ancient Glagolitic legacy passed to us from the “Apostles of Slavs”, the saintly brothers Cyril and Methodius. A fun fact to end with – one of the oldest monuments of the Croatian language is the “Baška tablet,” dating from around 1100, who has an inscription in the Croatian recension of the Church Slavonic language. The tablet itself is part of a pluteum, or a partition that separated the sanctuary from the nave, so this remains one of the few communion rails that actually survived the numerous “renovations” following the Second Vatican Council.

(Parts of this article have been translated into English from a report originally published on www.tradicionalnamisa.com (http://tradicionalnamisa.com/hleb-nas-vsedanni-daj-nam-danas/)

The lighting of the Sanctus candle

The Glagolitic Missal - Missale Romanum Slavonico Idiomate

Recently, one of our readers sent in something that we have yet to have shown here: scans from the last preconciliar edition of the Roman Missal in Glagolitic as published in 1927. (In point of fact, the reader in question sent in a scan of the entire missal, but for now I will simply show a few select pages from this.)

As it was explained to me, the 1927 edition of the Glagolitic Missal was transliterated into Latin script since knowledge of Glagolitic script was already in great decline by this time. Glagolitic script was only used for the Ordinary of the Mass and in parallel to the same in Latinized script.

For the sake of interest, however, let me first show you the original title page of the Glagolitic Missal as published in 1631; you can see the Glagolitic script beneath the Latin title:

Here then is the title page of the 1927 edition of the Glagolitic Missal:

Background of the Glagolitic Missal

Before we continue, a few words are likely in order about the Glagolitic Missal.

The Catholic Encyclopedia offers the following summary which should suffice to give the core background context:

These Slavs were converted to Christianity and to the Roman Rite by Latin missionaries, and gradually the Roman alphabet drove out the use of the Glagolitic, so that the Bohemians, Slovenians, Moravians, and part of the Croatians used Roman letters in writing their languages. In Southern Croatia and in Dalmatia (often treated as synonymous with Illyria in ancient times) the Glagolitic has continued in use as an ecclesiastical alphabet in writing the ancient Slavonic. Although the Slavic peoples bordering on the Adriatic Sea were converted to the Roman Rite, they received the privilege, as well as their brethren of the Greek Rite, of having the Mass and the offices of the Church said in their own tongue. Thus the Roman Mass was translated into the Slavonic, and, in order to more fully distinguish the Western Rite from the Eastern Rite among the Slavic peoples, the use of the Glagolitic alphabet was reserved exclusively for the service books of the Roman Rite, just as the Cyrillic was used for the Greek Rite.

The use of the Glagolitic Missal and office books, while permitted in general among the Slavs of Dalmatia and Croatia from the earliest times since the Slavonic became a liturgical language under Pope John VIII, was definitely settled by the Constitution of Urban VIII, dated 29 April, 1631, in which he provided for a new and corrected edition of the Slavic Missal conformable to the Roman editions. In 1648 Innocent X provided likewise for the Slavic Breviary...

For those who would like to read more about this a detailed consideration may also be found on pp. 58-67 of Archdale King's The Liturgy of the Roman Church.


Scans From the Glagolitic Missal

What follows then are a few pages from within the missal. I have tried to select pages which would be reasonably familiar to many of our readers. (Click on any of the photos to enlarge them.)

(The beginning of Mass)

And here in these images, we see the Glagolitic script in parallel to the Latin script:

(The Canon of the Mass)

(More from the Canon of the Mass)

For those who are curious about the chant:

Speaking of music, our reader also draws our attention to the following traditional Glagolitic liturgical chant. (Click the video as well as the audio samples in the grey box.) Other examples of Glagolitic church music are also available here, here and here.