Please help with EF rubrics and calendar

[Matthew_Holford]

OK, so I’ve got your attention. My apologies for the dramatic Thread Title.

This is my situation: I always attend Holy Mass in Forma Ordinaria of the Roman Rite. I believe, fully, that Blessed John XXIII and Paul VI and the College of Bishops had the inalienable right to hold Vatican II. Likewise, I fully believe in Paul VI, Blessed John Paul II, and Benedict XVI’s right to implement the Council. (Please don’t give up now, bear with me I’m nearly getting to the point.)

However, I also accept, and now understand, that the Forma Extraordinaria of the Roman Rite is perfectly valid. I have considered attending an EF Mass.

One thing that puts me off and I know many of you would probably criticise me for having this reason but I find the rubrics extremely complex. Probably some will also say they’re not my concern as its the sacred ministers who need to understand them.

The rubrics (if that’s the correct term) I want to understand are those that control the calendar and Ordo. I find the range of liturgical days, octaves, commemorations very complex. Can anyone recommend a resource (preferably online) that CLEARLY explains all the aspects of the calendar and Ordo to a simple lay man.

 

[MarkThompson]

You’re right, it’s very complex. My suggestion would be to read the introductory portion De Anno et Eius Partibus from the Missale (there’s a translation here, .doc file), and to download the Liber Usualis (115 MB pdf here) and read pp. xl - lvi. That should give you a decent start.

EDIT: Actually, maybe better than the section from the LU, and certainly a smaller download, would be pp. 1 - 14 of this document (text pages, not pdf pages).

 

[preV2tradcath]

Speaking of commerations with the extra collects, secrets, and postcommunions, it is simpler now for that. Following the wishes of the Holy Father, priests who say the EF of the Mass should be using the 1962 Missal. Those rubrics reduced the number of commerations said during Mass. For example, previous to the changes in the '62 Missal , in Advent there was, at least on Sundays, 2 commerations (2 extra collects, secrets, and postcommunions). Those were elimintaed and now there would only be commerations in any situations called for by the '62 rubrics.

 

[jmj603]

The rubrics (if that’s the correct term) I want to understand are those that control the calendar and Ordo. I find the range of liturgical days, octaves, commemorations very complex. Can anyone recommend a resource (preferably online) that CLEARLY explains all the aspects of the calendar and Ordo to a simple lay man.

Basically, if you want to know what day it is going to be, a layman buys a Traditional Calendar from one of the vendors.

The Rubrics in effect during the year 1962 are (mostly) available here:

• General Rubrics
• General Rubrics of the Roman Missal
• Table of Feasts

Of course, this doesn’t cover the rubrics for the Breviary, any changes that were introduced between 1960 and December 31, 1962, and those longstanding, orthodox local customs that exist today which relate to rules that are technically outside of the 1962 timeframe.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

Thanks for all the documents attached. However, these are basically the rules. I’ve already got the rules on more than one occasion from many sources. What I’m after is a simple straightforward guide that explains what everything in the old calendar means, e.g. greater doubles, commemorations, etc.

 

[MarkThompson]

Thanks for all the documents attached. However, these are basically the rules. I’ve already got the rules on more than one occasion from many sources. What I’m after is a simple straightforward guide that explains what everything in the old calendar means, e.g. greater doubles, commemorations, etc.

The 1962 calendar has only feasts of the I, II, and III classes, and commemorations, which rank in that order. Doubles, semidoubles, and all that have been abolished. See here for a layman-friendly explanation, and here for a recent discussion of the changes to the calendar in 1955 and 1960.