A
Antonius_Lupus
Guest
I write this in a state of trepidation. His Holiness has recently promulgated the Instruction on his recent Motu Propio letter, Summorum Pontificum. I laud His Holiness for having exercised his position as Supreme Lawgiver of the Universal Church. Moreover, I thank him for making the 1962 Missal of Bl. Pope John XXIII more accessible to those Roman Catholics who desire it. In doing this, he has continued the august legacy of his predecessor, Bl. Pope John Paul II. Not only that, he has made this older use of the Roman rite available for celebration *sine populo *by any Roman priest; an accessibility that will indubitably help the entire presbyterate of the Latin Church to celebrate the sacred liturgy more faithfully.
Despite these good things, I remain extremely apprehensive of what may happen to the beloved Roman rite.
I need not remind my fellow posters of the wondrous unity that the Roman rite has witnessed for so many centuries. Long has the Roman rite been praised for the fact that any Roman Catholic can assist at Holy Mass in any nation and still celebrate the liturgy in an active manner. Aside from that great unity, many liturgical historians have noted the ancient origin and illustrious past that is the pride of the Roman rite.
The Second Vatican **Ecumenical **Council (why does it seem so easy for people to forget the awesome authority of this synod?!?!?!), called for the restoration in the whole Roman Church of many aspects of the Roman rite which had been lost for many centuries. The Servant of God, Pope Paul VI, carried out these restorations faithfully and delivered to the Roman Church a new edition of the Missal. This new Missal gave back to the Roman Church many aspects of the pre-medieval and Patristic form of her liturgy, which she had been trying to reclaim since the time of Pope St. Pius V.
Even so, as His Holiness has noted, this grand liturgical renewal was hampered by a liturgical crisis. This new Missal, a splendid restoration of the ancient Faith, was misused and mistreated. The directives promulgated by the predecessors of His Holiness were often ignored, and the faithful suffered greatly. I can attest to my own experiences of seeing the Mass of Paul VI, the ordinary form of the Roman rite, abused and defaced.
There is no doubt in my mind that His Holiness’ decision to widen the usage of the Missal of Bl. John XXIII, which he has made the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, was an attempt to restore the sense of the sacred in the Roman Church. Yet, I, an unlearned son of Holy Mother Church, have grown worried at what may occur from this new direction.
I was baptized according to the ordinary form of the Roman rite and thus became a Christian through it. Furthermore, my first confession, my confirmation and my first holy communion all occurred in accord with the ordinary form. Those moments were the greatest of my life, and I am fearful that liturgy under which I came to know Christ may soon be divided. I am afraid of a day when the Roman rite, so long marked by unity, will be divided between pre-Vatican II and post-Vatican II liturgies.
That is my fear. His Holiness’ promulgation of the Instruction only further deepens that fear.
I have defended the Mass of Paul VI and the ordinary form more than once. I am proud of the liturgical advances which were implemented in accord with the mandates of the twenty-first ecumenical synod. It fills me with delight to know that when I attend the Mass of Paul VI, I am experiencing much of what my Roman/Latin blood ancestors in the Patristic era also experienced. The very thought that this restored Roman rite will be forced to share its rightful place as the ordinary form with a Gallicanized, medieval liturgy (which an **ecumenical **council stated needed reformation) fills me with agony and sadness.
Why simply can we not focus working to make the ordinary form what it should be? By no means do I suggest that the Missal of Bl. John XXIII be abrogated, but why allow it to become anything more than a mere variation of Latin rite; something akin to what the Ambrosian and Mozarabic rites are to the Church of Rome even today?
Why not allow the ordinary form to shine and blossom!? Let’s pave a way for the ordinary form to be further polished and restored; with all the pomp and noble simplicity characteristic of our rite. In this way, will not the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council will be vindicated against all who detract it? In this way, will not the unity of the Roman rite will be preserved and the extraordinary form safeguarded as the historical treasure that it is?
I am REALLY concerned about this, and now I am hearing rumors of a future “common rite” which will incorporate both the EF and OF (thus destroying both and creating a whole new rite).
I have spent countless hours struggling in a long journey to come to love the ordinary form as a restoration and a needed gift for the Church…now is all that struggle for nothing?
I feel like I am watching the Roman Rite divide in two, and I can’t do anything to stop it!
Am I missing something here?
Despite these good things, I remain extremely apprehensive of what may happen to the beloved Roman rite.
I need not remind my fellow posters of the wondrous unity that the Roman rite has witnessed for so many centuries. Long has the Roman rite been praised for the fact that any Roman Catholic can assist at Holy Mass in any nation and still celebrate the liturgy in an active manner. Aside from that great unity, many liturgical historians have noted the ancient origin and illustrious past that is the pride of the Roman rite.
The Second Vatican **Ecumenical **Council (why does it seem so easy for people to forget the awesome authority of this synod?!?!?!), called for the restoration in the whole Roman Church of many aspects of the Roman rite which had been lost for many centuries. The Servant of God, Pope Paul VI, carried out these restorations faithfully and delivered to the Roman Church a new edition of the Missal. This new Missal gave back to the Roman Church many aspects of the pre-medieval and Patristic form of her liturgy, which she had been trying to reclaim since the time of Pope St. Pius V.
Even so, as His Holiness has noted, this grand liturgical renewal was hampered by a liturgical crisis. This new Missal, a splendid restoration of the ancient Faith, was misused and mistreated. The directives promulgated by the predecessors of His Holiness were often ignored, and the faithful suffered greatly. I can attest to my own experiences of seeing the Mass of Paul VI, the ordinary form of the Roman rite, abused and defaced.
There is no doubt in my mind that His Holiness’ decision to widen the usage of the Missal of Bl. John XXIII, which he has made the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, was an attempt to restore the sense of the sacred in the Roman Church. Yet, I, an unlearned son of Holy Mother Church, have grown worried at what may occur from this new direction.
I was baptized according to the ordinary form of the Roman rite and thus became a Christian through it. Furthermore, my first confession, my confirmation and my first holy communion all occurred in accord with the ordinary form. Those moments were the greatest of my life, and I am fearful that liturgy under which I came to know Christ may soon be divided. I am afraid of a day when the Roman rite, so long marked by unity, will be divided between pre-Vatican II and post-Vatican II liturgies.
That is my fear. His Holiness’ promulgation of the Instruction only further deepens that fear.
I have defended the Mass of Paul VI and the ordinary form more than once. I am proud of the liturgical advances which were implemented in accord with the mandates of the twenty-first ecumenical synod. It fills me with delight to know that when I attend the Mass of Paul VI, I am experiencing much of what my Roman/Latin blood ancestors in the Patristic era also experienced. The very thought that this restored Roman rite will be forced to share its rightful place as the ordinary form with a Gallicanized, medieval liturgy (which an **ecumenical **council stated needed reformation) fills me with agony and sadness.
Why simply can we not focus working to make the ordinary form what it should be? By no means do I suggest that the Missal of Bl. John XXIII be abrogated, but why allow it to become anything more than a mere variation of Latin rite; something akin to what the Ambrosian and Mozarabic rites are to the Church of Rome even today?
Why not allow the ordinary form to shine and blossom!? Let’s pave a way for the ordinary form to be further polished and restored; with all the pomp and noble simplicity characteristic of our rite. In this way, will not the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council will be vindicated against all who detract it? In this way, will not the unity of the Roman rite will be preserved and the extraordinary form safeguarded as the historical treasure that it is?
I am REALLY concerned about this, and now I am hearing rumors of a future “common rite” which will incorporate both the EF and OF (thus destroying both and creating a whole new rite).
I have spent countless hours struggling in a long journey to come to love the ordinary form as a restoration and a needed gift for the Church…now is all that struggle for nothing?
I feel like I am watching the Roman Rite divide in two, and I can’t do anything to stop it!
Am I missing something here?
