An Appeal for Prayers for the Unity of the Church

In view of the upcoming consecration of new bishops for the Society of St Pius X without the necessary mandate from the Holy See, we share this appeal from the Monastère Saint-Benoît in Brignole, France, to pray for the unity of the Church. We note especially the suggestion to priests to celebrate the votive Mass for the unity of the Church, for both the Holy Father and those who serve in relevant positions of authority, and likewise for the leadership of the Society. (Click image to enlarge.)

Prayers for Pope Leo

We are glad to share this image from Pax inter Spinas, the printing house of the Monastère Saint-Benoît in Brignole, France, with the traditional prayers for the Pope said at Benediction and other occasions, and the name of the newly elected Leo XIV added in its proper place to the “Oremus pro Pontifice nostro” and in the collect.

I make bold to share the words of His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, who urges us “to pray fervently for Pope Leo XIV that Our Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Saint Peter the Apostle, and Pope Saint Leo the Great, will grant him abundant wisdom, strength, and courage to do all that Our Lord is asking of Him in these tumultuous times.”

I also thought our readers might like to see this, the notarial certificate by which Cardinal Prevost’s acceptance of his election and choice of papal name are formally recorded, signed by the papal master of ceremonies, Abp Diego Ravelli, the Vice-Camerlengo, Bp Ilson de Jesus Montanari, and two of the other masters of ceremonies, Marco Agostini and Massimiliano Boiardi.

 

A New Ceremonial Book for the Old Holy Week, Now Available to Order

As we noted earlier this year, Pax inter Spinas, the publishing house of the Monastère St Benoît in Brignoles, France, is releasing a ceremonial manual for the traditional rites of Holy Week as they were before the reform of 1955, as well as the vigil of Pentecost, and has just announced that it will be available in January. “The book faithfully presents the liturgical directives for Holy Week and the Vigil of Pentecost published in the ninth (1951) augmented edition of Adrian Fortescue and J.B. O’Connell’s Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, edited to as to reflect the actual canonical circumstances of our day, with the addition of explanations of which matters the previous editors would have assumed readers at the time may have implicitly understood.” To pre-order (at the special discounted price) email: editionspaxinterspinas@monasterebrignoles.org.

A New Ceremonial Book for the Old Holy Week

Pax inter Spinas, the publishing house of the Monastère St Benoît in Brignoles, France, has just announced the upcoming publication of a ceremonial book specifically for the traditional rites of Holy Week as they were before the reform of 1955, as well as the vigil of Pentecost. It will include the relevant portions of the last edition of Fortescue-O’Connell before the reform (1953), edited by Dom Alcuin Reid in such a way that the single volume contains everything necessary to do Holy Week. The final publication price will depends on the amount of interest in the book, its final size after typesetting, etc., but it will certainly be a worthy edition, hardback with a marker ribbon, designed to last much reference over many Holy Weeks. To register interest, and to receive full publication details and a special pre-publication discount offer, please email the publisher by September at: editionspaxinterspinas@monasterebrignoles.org

A Monastic Profession in France

On the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Monastère Saint Benoît in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France, celebrated the solemn profession of one of the monks, Dom Ildephonse, in the course of a solemn Mass. With the kind permission of the Prior, Dom Alcuin Reid, we are happy to share these pictures, and the text of his address to the newly professed monk. Notice in particular the beautiful rite by which the newly professed monk lies on the ground in the middle of the church and is covered with a funeral pall, from the Offertory until Communion. This symbolizes the death of the old man and the putting on of the new in the permanent acceptance of the religious state, and the offering of himself to God.

Dom Ildephonse signs his written promise of profession on the altar of the community’s new chapel. In August they moved to a medieval commandery of the Knights Templar with an 11th century Romanesque chapel, and have restored it to monastic use.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

A Special Offer from the Monastère Saint Benoît on Table Blessing Booklets

The Monastère Saint Benoît in La Garde-Freinet, France (diocese of Fréjus-Toulon), will soon be moving into a new permanent home during the summer, a medieval commandery in the town of Brignoles. In preparation for the move, they need to reduce their stock of Benedictiones Mensæ, their 2019 publication of the traditional prayers before and after meals for each day, including all of the proper prayers for the greater feasts and their octaves, in Latin, and newly typeset with their proper Gregorian chant.

Accordingly, the price has now been reduced by approximately 50%, from €4,95 per copy to €2,50 per copy (hitherto the wholesale amount for purchases of 100 or more copies). This offer lasts up to and including the feast of Saint Benedict, July 11th.

For convenience, one may use the PayPal button on their website to order:
https://www.msb-lgf.org/news/benedictiones-mensae-special-offer-until-july-11th.

It has been set up to allow for ordering the maximum number of booklets in the relevant postage band. The postage price is the same for all countries outside of France.

1 copy: €5,50 including postage worldwide
​4 copies: €17,50 including postage worldwide
8 copies: €31,95 including postage worldwide
18 copies: €65,00 including postage worldwide

To order in France, or to order different quantities, please contact the monastery with the number of booklets required, and they will send a PayPal invoice including the relevant postage charge: monasteresaintbenoit@gmail.com. The booklets will be despatched as quickly as possible.

Dom Alcuin Reid on the New Additions to the EF Missal

Yesterday, Dom Alcuin Reid, the well-known liturgical scholar and prior of the Monastère Saint Benoît in La Garde-Freinet, France (diocese of Fréjus-Toulon), published in the Catholic World Report his assessment of the CDF’s recent decrees on additions to the Missal of the Extraordinary Form: “The older form of the Roman rite is alive and well.” As always, the full article is well worth your time, but I found his concluding paragraphs to be especially useful.

“These voices, which are also those who decry any possibility of the reform of the liturgical reform, seem to be oblivious to the reality in the life of the Church at the beginning of the twenty-first century that usus antiquior is a living liturgical rite in which people—indeed significant and growing numbers of young people—participate fully, actually, consciously and fruitfully in a manner that would have brought great satisfaction to the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council and to the pioneers of the twentieth century liturgical movement which preceded it. They are oblivious to the fact that because the older form of the Roman rite is alive and well and bearing good fruit in the life of the Church, and because participation in it is growing numerically, it is more than appropriate that the Holy See—with the explicit approval of the Holy Father, Pope Francis—has made provision for the use of newly canonized saints and more prefaces (the reservations expressed above notwithstanding).

There is another element of this reform, alluded to earlier, that is not without significance. As already mentioned, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has judged it apposite to permit the celebration of the Mass of Saints whose feasts fall in Lent with the commemoration of the Lenten Mass, reversing the relevant provision of the 1960 code of rubrics published in the missal of 1962. Hitherto the Holy See has not derogated from the liturgical books in force in 1962 in a manner that ‘corrects’ previous reforms. But through this small provision it has happily shown that it is possible to recognize that not everything in the liturgical books in force in 1962 is set in stone: the correction of unfortunate elements present in them is possible. The permissions given in recent years for the use of the pre-1955 Holy Week rites (to be sure, at the correct times) show a similar, healthy openness, for which the Holy See must be praised.

‘In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture,’ Pope Benedict wrote in 2007. ‘What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place,’ he insisted.

The possibility of the celebration of new saints and of the use of more prefaces in the usus antiquior of the Roman rite is, overall, an example of such growth and progress. That their use is facultative means that they will find their proper place in worship according to the older rites, or not, according to the pastoral judgement of those responsible, avoiding any rupture with the past. Regardless of some of the particulars, the authoritative recognition these measures bring to the fact that the older form of the Roman rite is alive and well and has its rightful and proper place in a healthy diversity in the liturgical life of the Church of our times is something for which we may be very thankful indeed.”

Burying the Alleluja 2020

Our regular readers are certainly familiar with the various customs related to the removal of the word “Alleluia” from the liturgy on Septuagesima Sunday. In the Roman liturgical books, this is done in a typically simply fashion; at the end of Vespers of the previous Saturday, “Alleluia” is added twice to the end of “Benedicamus Domino” and “Deo gratias”, which are sung in the Paschal tone. It is then dropped from the liturgy completely until the Easter vigil. In some medieval uses, however, “Alleluia” was added to the end of every antiphon of this Vespers, and a number of other customs, some formally included in the liturgy and others not, grew up around it as well.

One of the most popular was to write the word on a board or piece of parchment, and then afterwards Vespers bury it in the churchyard, so that it could be dug up again on Easter Sunday, and brought back into the church. Here we have three examples, if any others readers have photos of this ceremony which they would like to send in, we will be very glad to share them with our readers: photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org.

From the Monastère Saint Benoit in La Garde-Freinet, France:

From the Cofradia San Juan Bautista (Confraternity of St John the Baptist) at Most Holy Redeemer Parish in Quezon City in the Philippines:

Our first ever “domestic church” contribution for this, from the Waller family of Raleigh, North Carolina – tradition will always be for the young!

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Minor Orders at the Monastère Saint Benoît

Last Saturday, December 21st, His Excellency Dominique Rey, bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, France, ordained a member of the Monastère Saint Benoît to the minor orders of Exorcist and Acolyte. The day was the Saturday Ember Day of Advent, one of the very ancient traditional days for the conferal of holy orders, which this year was kept in the EF as a commemoration on the feast of St Thomas the Apostle. Congratulation to the new acolyte, Dom Ildephonse (who received this name in religion in honor of the Bl. Ildephonse Schuster), and to his community - feliciter!

The ordinand comes forward at the call to receive orders.

The traditional ordination rites contain an admonition to the ordinands, the text of which is fixed and included in the Pontifical, in which the bishop explains the duties of each order to the ordinands, who kneel before him holding a lit candle.

There follows a “porrectio instrumentorum – the handing over of the instruments”, in which the bishops gives the ordinand (or has him touch) an object associated with the exercize of the order he is receiving. For the exorcists, this is a book containing the text of various rites of exorcism (e.g. that of the salt used in making holy water), but a Missal or Pontifical, both of which contain several such exorcisms, may be used instead.

The bishop then says a prayer over the ordinands.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Card. Sarah Visits the Monastère Saint Benoît

This past weekend, the Monastère Saint Benoît in La Garde-Freinet, France (diocese of Fréjus-Toulon), welcomed Robert Card. Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, for the celebration of Pontifical Mass on the feast of St Matthew, and the presentation of his latest book, The Day is Now Far Spent. On Sunday, His Eminence attended and preached at a solemn Mass on the feast of the dedication of the cathedral of Fréjus, followed by solemn Vespers in the evening. Our thanks to the prior, Dom Alcuin Reid, for sharing these photographs with us; the complete set can be seen at the monastery’s Facebook page.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Abp Gullickson Speaks on Liturgical Restoration at Sacra Liturgia

The Monastère Saint Benoît in La Garde-Freinet, France, is currently hosting the annual Sacra Liturgia Summer School. Yesterday evening, Archbishop Thomas Gullickson, Apostolic Nuncio to Switzerland and Lichtenstein, celebrated Pontifical Vespers of the feast of the Transfiguration, after which, he gave an address to the participants entitled “Moving Forward – My Plea for Full Liturgical Restoration”. Here are just a few excerpts from His Excellency’s talk; the full text can be read at his blog Ad Montem Myrrhae. 

Photo courtesy of the Monastère Saint Benoît, via the Facebook page of Sacra Liturgia.

“On the topic of liturgical renewal and the advancement of the tradition, I wonder if the veterans of the cause, like Dom Alcuin here, would have accurately predicted all the great things that have come to pass in these five years since our last encounter! Although the various fronts in the battle remain hardened and occasionally there are brutal setbacks, in many places we hear tell of vibrant communities, with mostly young people and families. Even in places where celebrations are still infrequent, I have experienced the exuberance of people who will give of themselves generously, with or without the expertise of communities like the Seminaries in Wigratzbad in Germany or Denton, Nebraska, not far from my home in the US, to bring about liturgies of extraordinary beauty, which draw people from far and wide.

In these five years, even among supporters of the traditional Latin Mass the terms of discourse have changed somewhat. We encounter dyed in the wool traditionalists who now tend to glow and melt because of the hope inspired by annual occurrences such as the Chartres Pilgrimage. It is not that our witness is less militant or strident, but things are changing. Our Merciful Lord offers us the occasion not only to stand fast but also to be nurturing for once, in the real and ever growing hope of winning over men and women of good will for the cause of the Tradition.

‘Moving Forward’ then! Any right minded or right thinking Catholic should have an instinctive aversion for the notion of progress or moving forward, especially when it comes to the Divine Liturgy in and of itself. This aversion wells up not because of any prejudice rooted in some kind of antiquarian spirit or predilection, but because the obsession with progress is wrong-headed. It can be and most often is disjunctive, that is, not Catholic. It is often modernist, flawed in the most profound sense, and hence it is wrong to look for progress in things either Catholic or liturgical, as if progressing were a value. That being said, I still want to title my talk ‘Moving Forward’, because organic development in matters liturgical is a part of our history and rightly so. Liturgical life in the Church did not reach its apex with the death of the last Apostle. Catholic liturgy is not frozen in time once and for all. There is development in the way we worship and have worshiped over the centuries. Divine liturgy is something rational, but as such it is in continuity with the past and marked above all by a constancy which takes it out of the hands of innovators, of liturgists and even of popes and councils. Unfortunately, the postconciliar liturgical reforms were tainted by arbitrariness or caprice far more than attaining any particular improvement or progression they may wish to claim as fruits of the reform. …

Be advised that ‘turning back’ is not so much a nostalgic turning back of the clock. Rather, it is a systematic reset aimed at recovering our footing, if you will. Why bet on a loser? Why jump into the abyss if you do not have to? Right reason would decree that a best effort be made at recovery; we need to pick up the trail that was lost or abandoned. Liturgical restoration could become a rallying point for a general recovery of faith life, or perhaps given the half century and several (2+) generations which separate us from our patrimony, represents the hoped-for bulwark against an even greater loss of faith. The Vetus Ordo could become the beachhead for a new evangelization, a renewal of faith life within the Church and for the world. …

Some of you, no doubt, are even more aware than I am of the volumes of literature out there analyzing what went wrong in the Church and in the world back at the time of the Second Vatican Council. Far be it from me not to accentuate the positive, but it is time for us to face up to the hard reality. You might say that what I am arguing for is an honest effort on the part of Catholics to get beyond denial and to recognize the arbitrary nature of much of what was imposed upon us, yes, I will say it, with violence. If you do not like the word ‘violence’, then substitute the expression “imposed with arbitrary force of will”.

A New Edition of the Traditional Prayers at Meals

The new publishing house of the Monastère Saint-Bènoit, Éditions Pax inter Spinas, will shortly release its first publication, Benedictiones Mensae, containing the traditional Latin blessings before and after meals, with their proper chants according to both the Roman and monastic rites, newly typeset and printed in black and red throughout. Designed for easy use, this inexpensive booklet also included all of the proper blessings for the various major liturgical seasons (Christmas, Epiphany etc.) The booklet carries the imprimatur of the bishop of Fréjus-Toulon. For further details and to order copies, see the Éditions Pax inter Spinas webpage:
http://www.msb-lgf.org/editionspaxinterspinas.html.

Burying the Alleluia 2019

I am sure that most of our readers have read or heard something of the various customs related to the removal of the word “Alleluia” from the liturgy on Septuagesima Sunday. In the Roman liturgical books, this is done in a typically simply fashion; at the end of Vespers of the previous Saturday, “Alleluia” is added twice to the end of “Benedicamus Domino” and “Deo gratias”, which are sung in the Paschal tone. It is then dropped from the liturgy completely until the Easter vigil. In some medieval uses, however, “Alleluia” was added to the end of every antiphon of this Vespers, and a number of other customs, some formally included in the liturgy and others not, grew up around it as well.

One of the most popular was to write the word on a board or piece of parchment, and then after Vespers bury it in the churchyard, so that it could be dug up again on Easter Sunday, and brought back into the church. Our friends from the Fraternity of St Joseph the Guardian in La-Londe-les-Maures, France, observe this every year, with the black cope otherwise used only at funerals. (If any others readers have photos of this ceremony which they would like to send in, we will be very glad to share them with our readers: photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org.)

Continue Reading this Article. . .