How did JPII celebrate the Mass?

[ClemtheCatholic]

How did Saint John Paul II tend to celebrate the Mass? Did he ever celebrate the Tridentine Mass as pope? Or the Novus Ordo in Latin, or facing ad orientem?

I believe I’m right in saying JPII put restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass (later rescinded by Pope Benedict), so I’m wondering if he only ever celebrated the Novus Ordo in the vernacular, facing the people, etc. On the other hand, the second Karol film shows him celebrating a private Mass in Latin and facing east, though that could be historically inaccurate.

Thank you!

 

[twf]

The Ordinary Form / Novus Ordo is also “the Latin mass”. Both forms are the liturgy of the Latin Church, and both are given to us by the Church in Latin. There have never been restrictions on the celebration of the Novus Ordo in Latin. When I was in Rome, admittedly during Benedict’s reign, most of the masses I attended, papal or otherwise, were Novus Ordo masses with the ordinary sung in Latin and the readings in the vernacular Italian.

 

[ProVobis]

I believe I’m right in saying JPII put restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass

Actually in 1984 he restored the vetus ordo with the restrictions that it be the 1962 Missal AND in Latin. In 1988 he asked for wide and generous applications of it from the bishops.

And I wouldn’t read too much into which Mass or language he said it in. Popes generally say Masses from pastoral concerns with the local culture in mind.

 

[RPRPsych]

Actually in 1984 he restored the vetus ordo with the restrictions that it be the 1962 Missal AND in Latin. In 1988 he asked for wide and generous applications of it from the bishops.

And I wouldn’t read too much into which Mass or language he said it in. Popes generally say Masses from pastoral concerns with the local culture in mind.

Good points. And besides, wasn’t it under Paul VI and not St. John Paul II that the Extraordinary Form was curtailed?

 

[TimothyH]

How did Saint John Paul II tend to celebrate the Mass?

With the utmost reverence and devotion.

-Tim-

 

[OraLabora]

With the utmost reverence and devotion.

-Tim-

I have a CD of the Mass for the Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul sung by Saint John Paul II. The music is the Coronation Mass by Mozart, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Herbert von Karajan.

Absolutely beautiful recording.

Of note to the OP: any Mass sung at St. Peters is at the same time ad orientem and versus populum because of the location of the altar with respect to the nave and the fact that facing east also means facing the people. This was true in pre-conciliar days too.

 

[TimothyH]

Life is funny if you let it be.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

How did Saint John Paul II tend to celebrate the Mass? Did he ever celebrate the Tridentine Mass as pope? Or the Novus Ordo in Latin, or facing ad orientem?

I believe I’m right in saying JPII put restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass (later rescinded by Pope Benedict), so I’m wondering if he only ever celebrated the Novus Ordo in the vernacular, facing the people, etc. On the other hand, the second Karol film shows him celebrating a private Mass in Latin and facing east, though that could be historically inaccurate.

Thank you!

Many times he said the novus ordo Mass in Latin. Actually, I can say that in his private chapel in his residence, the altar was not facing the people, since it was a private chapel. This was where he said his daily Mass. There are various other places where he said Mass at altars in the Vatican that did not admit of celebrations versus populum, such as the Sistine Chapel. That is not unusual for us in Europe.

I am not aware, however, that he ever said Mass in the vetus ordo after he granted the indult, which was actually done prior to the schismatic act of Archbishop Lefebvre. But then, why would he? He was a Council Father of Vatican II and a great proponent of Sacrosanctum Concilium, who implemented it quite beautifully in Kraków.

 

[ProVobis]

Good points. And besides, wasn’t it under Paul VI and not St. John Paul II that the Extraordinary Form was curtailed?

If it were the Pope, it would have been done in proper manner IMO per 1948’s Mater Ecclesia, where it was ruled that only the Pope could change the liturgy. Otherwise any contemnation of a received and approved rite by any pastor of the Church would have been in violation of Trent Session 7 documents. As it turns out, it was ruled that the EF was never curtailed, not by the Pope anyway. The matter had been important enough for St. John Paul II to gather nine Cardinals to examine all related issues.