Is it true that the Divine Mercy Image should not be displayed during a TLM mass?

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Krisdun said:
I suppose the point my friend was trying to make is that when you go to a TLM mass you are expected to follow the rules set at that time (i.e. immediately prior to Vatican II). That is not to take communion on hand etc.
Therefore if the Divine Mercy Image was banned at that time one could argue it shouldn’t be displayed at TLM masses. I can sort of follow that reasoning since if you argue that rules are not frozen in 1962 then what is to stop someone going to TLM mass and wanting to receive communion on hand as is common today? Obviously it would be very disrespectful.
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No, the GIRM is frozen in 1962 (with some exceptions), however, anything that was part of Canon Law is not.

Also Divine Mercy does NOT have different readings. It uses the exact same readings that were already assigned to Low Sunday. Since there no liturgical changes, it’s fine celebrate.
 
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Krisdun said:
It is worth highlighting though the Catholic church immediately prior to Vatican II would have declared it inappropriate to display the Divine Mercy Image just as it would have deemed it inappropriate to take communion on the hand.
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First, the Divine Mercy Image was never banned. There was never anything wrong with the image.

The problem was with the TRANSLATION of St. Faustina’s Diary. When they first translated it from Polish to Italian (or Latin, not sure which) the translations were terrible. The mistranslations made the Diary appear heretical.

Pope John XXIII or Paul VI (I don’t remember which) asked Archbishop Wojtyła (the future Pope John Paul II) to read everything in the native Polish and report back. Cardinal Wojtyla reported that everything was good and explained the mistranslations. He also oversaw a re-translation from Polish so the Vatican would have corrected translation.
 
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Perhaps it was a translation error but in any case the Vatican forbade spreading of the Mercy Devotion for around 20 years!
 
Krisdun said:
Perhaps it was a translation error but in any case the Vatican forbade spreading of the Mercy Devotion for around 20 years!
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Yes. What is your point?

None of what you are saying means Divine Mercy Sunday cannot be recognized during the homily while using the 1962 missal.
 
Krisdun said:
Perhaps it was a translation error but in any case the Vatican forbade spreading of the Mercy Devotion for around 20 years!
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But now they don’t. So it’s fine to have the image in any church. It really doesn’t matter what form of the Mass is being celebrated.
 
The Image itself wasn’t banned, it was no longer supposed to be the center of attention at a specific DM devotion service. I sometimes go to Mass at a Polish American diocesan parish where the historian confirms that the prominent image had never been covered over in the 1960 era.

I’m sure there are in old churches some images, possibly Stations of the Cross, that showed Blood and water in some fashion, before Faustina s time. It’s a scriptural depiction. Faustina was emphasizing something not inventing.

Nothing in the 1962 rubrics refers to modifications due to Coronavirus. But they are being or will be made, at EF Masses, as per current authority.
 
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When they have the TLM at a Polish parish, believe me, the Divine Mercy image is in the worship space. It is not front and center in the sanctuary as it is at Divine Mercy Sunday services, it is likely installed on the wall of the church somewhere and it is not covered or removed or anything because a TLM is happening.

The Polish church that hosts TLM here also has images of Polish saints who were beatified or canonized after 1960.
 
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phil19034 said:
First, the Divine Mercy Image was never banned. There was never anything wrong with the image.
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It’s worth mentioning that Divine Mercy images, including the original one, were in various parish churches all over Poland and Lithuania and the surrounding area by the time of the suspension of Divine Mercy devotion. They weren’t removed from churches. The original Divine Mercy image was hanging in some little parish in Belarus and people were venerating during the 1960s and even during the 1970s after the Communists closed the church and made it into a warehouse but left the picture hanging up because it was too high for them to easily reach to take it down. People would sneak into the warehouse and pray before the image. No priests or bishops made them stop.

There’s no ban on praying before an image of Jesus with rays of blood and water coming from him. Ever.
 
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I would also like to add that the Baronius Press 1962 missal has the Divine Mercy Chaplet in it on page 56, under “The Most Necessary Prayers” section…

It’s right there with:
  • “The Memorare”
  • the “Daily Offering”
  • the “Litany of St. Joseph”
  • the “Prayer to St. Joseph”
  • the “Prayer of Self-Dedication to Christ”
  • the “Prayer of Thomas a Kempis”
  • the Prayer of St. Francis Xavier"
  • etc.
God Bless
 
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So, out of the slightest curiosity, say they celebrate the TLM at a place called Divine Mercy Catholic church, and I checked there are several places here in the United States (where I live) called that, do you really expect them to cover up icons or stained glass images of it?
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
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phil19034:
First, the Divine Mercy Image was never banned. There was never anything wrong with the image.
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It’s worth mentioning that Divine Mercy images, including the original one, were in various parish churches all over Poland and Lithuania and the surrounding area by the time of the suspension of Divine Mercy devotion. They weren’t removed from churches. The original Divine Mercy image was hanging in some little parish in Belarus and people were venerating during the 1960s and even during the 1970s after the Communists closed the church and made it into a warehouse but left the picture hanging up because it was too high for them to easily reach to take it down. People would sneak into the warehouse and pray before the image. No priests or bishops made them stop.

There’s no ban on praying before an image of Jesus with rays of blood and water coming from him. Ever.
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This is a good point. The Holy Office decree banning its dissemination explicitly left it up to the “prudent discretion of the bishop” what to do with images already being displayed in churches.
 
Just a general point for this thread, we should want the TLM to be a vital part of the living Church, not a museum piece stuck in the past. It should not be a historical re-enactment of 1962 Catholic life, but a true, and vital part of Catholic life today and in the future. The TLM is not an anachronism.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
after the Communists closed the church and made it into a warehouse but left the picture hanging up because it was too high for them to easily reach to take it down.
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You have no idea how much I love that fact
 
You should watch the whole documentary called “The Original Image of the Divine Mercy” if you haven’t already. It’s full of amazing little nuggets like that.
 
I see your point and I wish the TLM stays around in some capacity (although in my opinion it is NOT a preferred alternative to the NO mass). Trying to maintain a balance between some of the liturgical rubrics and modern Canon law could remain a challenge for TLM now and in the future.
 
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One example is the use of female altar servers
Canon law is ok with it; TLM rubrics not
 
I haven’t seen the attendees of TLM Masses complaining because there are no female altar servers. Nor have I seen any bishops complaining because there are TLM Masses going on in their diocese with no female servers. Basically, no one cares.

Also, I don’t think there is a canon law requirement that any priest MUST have X number of female altar servers. I seem to recall there have been both pastors and bishops who will not let females serve at Masses under their jurisdiction. If I’m wrong on that, somebody correct me.
 
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