The fssp and their celebration of the mass

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Question: Would it be considered scandalous for a FSSP priest to celebrate the ordinary form? I’m extremely attracted to the extraordinary form, but still, I see no reason both cannot be celebrated with equal reverence and zeal. I feel very strongly that my vocation to the priesthood is directed towards a more orthodox and “traditional” form of worship. I find the pious tradition of the extraordinary form extremely attractive and a suitable expression of my longing for Christ. My family however, follows the ordinary form, and as a priest I would find a great grace in bringing the sacraments to those I love, not to mention, the ordinary form has its beauty as well, partaking in it on occasion, when celebrated with reverence and proper respect to the form and to Christ, it too can and does enrich the soul. Does the FSSP acknowledge this, or do they strictly and exclusively celebrate the extraordinary form? If they do, is there a more suitable/flexible priestly society out there that I perhaps haven’t heard of?

Thank You for your (name removed by moderator)ut!
 
Cruikshank_s said:
Question: Would it be considered scandalous for a FSSP priest to celebrate the ordinary form? I’m extremely attracted to the extraordinary form, but still, I see no reason both cannot be celebrated with equal reverence and zeal. I feel very strongly that my vocation to the priesthood is directed towards a more orthodox and “traditional” form of worship. I find the pious tradition of the extraordinary form extremely attractive and a suitable expression of my longing for Christ. My family however, follows the ordinary form, and as a priest I would find a great grace in bringing the sacraments to those I love, not to mention, the ordinary form has its beauty as well, partaking in it on occasion, when celebrated with reverence and proper respect to the form and to Christ, it too can and does enrich the soul. Does the FSSP acknowledge this, or do they strictly and exclusively celebrate the extraordinary form? If they do, is there a more suitable/flexible priestly society out there that I perhaps haven’t heard of?

Thank You for your (name removed by moderator)ut!
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It is de jure permitted, but finding a FSSP priest celebrate the OF would be extremely rare. However there is nothing preventing it.
 
is it generally looked down upon though? Unofficially I mean.
 
There are lots of priests that celebrate both forms-- diocesan priests, and the Society of St. John Cantius is another that I know of.
 
I used to live in Germany and occasionally attended FSSP masses in a town about 30 minutes away from where I lived. Some were the TLM, some were Latin/German NO. We never knew when we showed up whether we’d get the TLM or the NO.

The NO masses, which were beautifully done and extremely reverent, were always packed. (In fact, if you attend a well-done Latin/vernacular NO mass you will find many similarities to the TLM.) They were continued even after the MP was issued.

I attend an FSSP parish in the U.S. now, which is exclusively TLM (all rites).

So … I don’t know how common it is in the society as a whole but I’ve personally experienced it being done.
 
Back a little over a year ago when I was still considering the priesthood I contacted OLG Seminary. They told me the FSSP does not encourage celebration of the NO. They actually made it sound like they really really discourage it, except in certain situations…

Instead of asking us. Email their vocations director in the US. vocations@fssp.com
 
Cruikshank_s said:
Question: Would it be considered scandalous for a FSSP priest to celebrate the ordinary form?
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The priests in union with Rome and of the Roman Rite are all required to be willing to say the Ordinary Form. (See the Moto Proprio opening the use of the EF… I’m too lay at the moment to dig up the title and citation.)

The only scandal is in the minds of those who reject the OF for various reasons. And, IMNSHO, those people are the true scandal of the Church.
 
BrendanD said:
There are lots of priests that celebrate both forms-- diocesan priests, and the Society of St. John Cantius is another that I know of.
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Yes - true. A young man from our diocese joined them recently. With the spread of Summorum Pontificum, some diocesan seminaries are actually training young men to celebrate the Extraordinary Rite.

So, your opportunties for solid liturgical formation as you prepare for the priesthood are much greater now than ever.

Both rites can be used in diocesan parishes and the TLM will do much to improve the Novus Ordo in those cases.
 
Cruikshank_s said:
is it generally looked down upon though? Unofficially I mean.
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It’s looked down upon. There are some people who would denouce the FSSP if they ever found them celebrating the Novus Ordo. Probably some of their own priests would quit the order if they had to.
 
Freshman88 said:
Why?
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It depends on what is meant by “reject”.

It would certainly be a scandal for any Roman Rite priest to “reject” the Melkite Rite as a liturgy of the Church.

The Novus Ordo is the ordinary form of the Roman Rite. On what basis could a Roman Rite priest “reject” it without causing scandal?
 
These orders are traditionalist orders to the core. They live and breath the Classical rite. The ICRSS priests spend 7 years in formation where they submerge themselves into that liturgy, for 7 years.

These orders were brought about to feed the needs of Traditionalist Catholics, and to fulfill their own respective role within the Church.

The role of these Traditionalist orders is to provide the Extraordinary Form. Now, I’d be curious to see if these priests have even had training for the NO. Many on these forums argue that NO priests simply don’t have time for the EF, how much truer is this for a traditionalist priest.

Simply put, yes they may be able to have a NO - but that’s not their calling. It would be an exception, if anything. Remember these priests have a duty to live out the spirituality of their order - and for these priests, the EF is inseparable from their spirituality.
 
Freshman88 said:
Simply put, yes they may be able to have a NO - but that’s not their calling. It would be an exception, if anything. Remember these priests have a duty to live out the spirituality of their order - and for these priests, the EF is inseparable from their spirituality.
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That may all be true, but ultimately the Church will decide that. The calling and the duty come from the Church herself, not from the priests or their own interests. God calls them to service, but only through the authority of the Apostolic See.
 
Aramis said:
The priests in union with Rome and of the Roman Rite are all required to be willing to say the Ordinary Form. (See the Moto Proprio opening the use of the EF… I’m too lay at the moment to dig up the title and citation.)

The only scandal is in the minds of those who reject the OF for various reasons. And, IMNSHO, those people are the true scandal of the Church.
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Not being satisfied with it is not rejecting it.
 
reggieM said:
That may all be true, but ultimately the Church will decide that. The calling and the duty come from the Church herself, not from the priests or their own interests. God calls them to service, but only through the authority of the Apostolic See.
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That may all be true and maybe when that time comes it’s the OF that will be updated, to be more in line with the renewed circumstances of our times, the pope is going to do it 😃

There is no canon that says that all Latin priests have to celebrate the OF. None provided in SP either. But as you said the pope can add one.
 
I believe the priests of the FSSP are strictly forbidden to observe the NO and are required to celebrate the EF only.

fssp.org/en/liturgie1962.htm

The members of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, as well as other priests who are guests in houses of the Fraternity or who exercise the sacred ministry in their churches, are conceded the use of the liturgical books in force in 1962.
 
BlyssfulDreamer said:
I believe the priests of the FSSP are strictly forbidden to observe the NO and are required to celebrate the EF only.

fssp.org/en/liturgie1962.htm

The members of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, as well as other priests who are guests in houses of the Fraternity or who exercise the sacred ministry in their churches, are conceded the use of the liturgical books in force in 1962.
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That is false. The FSSP priest cannot be forbidden to celebrate the OF. They could be forbidden to celebrate Mass in public but that is a different story. However, their charisma is the celebration of the EF and it would be absurd to expect them to move in an opposite direction. That is what they are being called to.
 
BrendanD said:
There are lots of priests that celebrate both forms-- diocesan priests, and the Society of St. John Cantius is another that I know of.
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Here in Upstate NY, I know of three diocesan priests, and one LaSalette Missionary priest who do both forms of the Mass.

In fact, one of them is in a one-year assignment as a teacher and chaplain in the FSSP’s St. Gregory Academy for boys in PA. He likes it, but says he misses doing the other things that parish priests do (weddings, funerals, etc). He didn’t get a new parish when the one he was in merged with another in the same small city.
 
eelpis said:
That may all be true and maybe when that time comes it’s the OF that will be updated, to be more in line with the renewed circumstances of our times, the pope is going to do it 😃

There is no canon that says that all Latin priests have to celebrate the OF. None provided in SP either. But as you said the pope can add one.
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Good points.
There is one problem though.
A new canon is not required to determine if all Latin priests are required to celebrate the OF or not. The existing canons are used to determine various applications of the law and practice.

The Roman Rota, Supreme Tribunal interprets the law based on the will of the law giver. Summorum Pontificum gives some indication that all priests must say the OF.

We can pray and hope for some outcome and Canon lawyers can state their case, but ultimately the Holy See decides on those matters of Canon Law.

At present, this issue hasn’t been challenged formally, but we’re not totally free to declare that no Latin priest is required to celebrate the OF. That’s still an open issue.
 
Cristiano said:
However, their charisma is the celebration of the EF and it would be absurd to expect them to move in an opposite direction. That is what they are being called to.
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True, but that assumes that the Novus Ordo is necessarily an “opposite direction”.
 
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