Whoah!!!
Slow down here. I don’t have a problem with the EF. I’m the theologian who teaches the EF at our seminary. In other words, I teach future deacons and priests how to celebrate the EF, the theology behind each part, its history, the rubrics and the five forms of the EF. I teach them the proper understanding of SP and UE and I teach them original spiritual theology necessary to pray the EF. I have 11 weeks to cram this into their heads.
I’m also the superior general who authorized the use of the EF in all of our houses.
Along with all of that, I do teach the seminarians to avoid any form of speech that would make either side of the aisle feel threatened. The liturgy should not be a threat. It should be inviting.
Actually, the language was and is an issue. Seminaries never required more than two years of Latin beyond high school. If you wanted more Latin, you took these courses as electives. For example, I studied four years. Two were required and two were electives. I’m good at languages. Two additional years of Latin were an easy “A”.
Converts need to be careful with what cradle Catholics tell them about the past. People have very selective memories. I guess this is true not only of cradle Catholics, but of other groups as well. Some will tell you that there was nothing wrong in the Church or with the way mass was celebrated. Others will tell you that priests took bets on who could say mass the fastest. Some will tell you that sisters beat children to a pulp and sent them home with broken noses and others will describe sisters as holy women who taught them the faith. The truth is a little of all the above, but none of the above is completely true.
You mentioned one of the points that I cover in my course, the sacrifice. There was a mindset among lay Catholics that the sacrifice was all that mattered. This stemmed from the fact that sisters taught the catechism. Most sisters of the day did not know theology. They knew the catechism. The catechism was very brief. It was meant to be brief. It was written for a rural culture where kids spent more time in the fields than in the classroom. It gave the highlights, not the details. Theology was not and still is not required to be woman religious. It’s only required for male religious, except for those communities that have lay brothers. Religious brothers are required to study theology, lay brothers are not.
Proper theology tells us that the mass is Word, Sacrifice and Communion. This has always been the case, dating back to the Apostles. When priests strung collects from two or more masses in order to fulfill two or more obligations in one mass, they distorted the mass. It would be grossly unethical and theologically erroneous to be tolerant of this as long as you have the sacrifice. One does not alter any form of the mass, EF or OF.
You also mentioned the language. One of the requirements to celebrate either form of the mass in Latin is fluency in the language. The Church finds it unacceptable to simply be able to pronounce what’s on the printed page without knowing what it says. The Ordinary of the mass is the same in any language. Those parts are easy. The Sanctus is the Sanctus in Spanish, English, Chinese or Latin and so forth. The parts that change from day to day are not that easy. Because you can’t memorize them. You either know what the page says or you don’t know.
It is true that we have translators. It is also true that human beings can be lazy or that they can be very busy with other things that are more important at the moment. Having time to sit and study the translation of tomorrow’s mass in honor of St. Alphonse may be a luxury for some priests. I can tell you that the one priest in our community who knows how to celebrate the EF does not have time to sit down with an English/Latin missal the day before. He has community life that takes up a lot of his time. He is the maintenance man for five centers. There is always a broken pipe, an AC unit that does not work or something that needs to be painted. He is also the Director of Postulants. During the quiet time that we have during the day, the man sits in a chair a falls asleep. As his superior, I must make sure that when he celebrates mass in Latin, either form, he knows what he’s reading. He can’t just decode.
I’ve seen people do that when they celebrate mass in another language. I attended a mass that was supposed to be in Spanish. The priest did not speak Spanish. He read from the missal. It was horrible for anyone who was fluent in Spanish. He lacked the cadence. He mispronounced some letters, and it was very mechanical. We cannot treat the mass this way. I was a guest there. For all I know the regular Spanish-speaking priest may have suddenly gotten sick. I sincerely hope that this was not the usual bread and butter. I have seen this happen with Latin as well.
I had a seminarian who passed his required Latin courses, be he couldn’t interpret Latin. He could do literal translations and very slowly too. I have no idea if that boy ever intended to celebrate a mass in Latin. My hope was that he would go back for more Latin or stay away from mass in Latin altogether. I used to think to myself that he was the only person whom I knew that could kill a dead language. I was not there to teach him Latin. I was there to teach him theology. I could only suggest a more Latin courses, which is what I did.
There are many complications that superiors, bishops, seminary staff and religious formation directors face that the outside world never hears about. I wish that we had more priests, deacons and brothers on these fora. They can share their experiences. When I came, we did have many. Unfortunately, people were so mean and disrespectful, that they decided that this was not worth their time and slowly left.
I think Brother David and I are the only ones around. Now, with the changes taking place in our respective communities, you will be seeing less of Brother and me. Once the summer lull is passed, we will have more things on our plate.
I love this ministry. When I was diagnosed with Leukemia and told to stay in bed, I chose this ministry, because I could do it from bed. I never expected to get stronger or to be appointed superior general. My expectation was to write, do online ministry and wait until it was time to go home. God always has other plans.
In any case, I DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE EF. I find the way that people on both sides of the aisle speak about the mass. They need to pick the form and parish that nurtures their spiritual lives and stop worrying about what others are doing or not doing. I say this to the mainstream and to the Trads.
We are to help others get to heaven, not intimidate them into heaven or nag them into heaven.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
confusion and error planted in a Catholic soul, being fed a diet which is constantly urging it to disobey and mistrust it’s own Mother.
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