Una Voce Dicentes
“Crying out with one voice…” ( from the Preface of the Mass)
News from Una Voce of Northeast Florida
Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapter
Volume No. 2 Issue No. 5 June 2005
The fundraiser is underway and we seem to be off to a good start—over $700 raised in only three weeks! But please remember to sell your tickets to everyone—a laptop is a non-denominational prize! This fundraiser, which was agreed to by all, will not be successful if only a few participate. It is imperative that everyone attempt to sell tickets, as well as volunteer to help out before and after Mass. Of course, personal donations will be accepted in lieu of your participation. It is disappointing to see that the adage “80% of the work is done by 20% of the people” applies to this group!!
Many Catholics today think those of us who love the ancient liturgy are either older and simply do not like the “new”, younger and only like the “romance” and mystery of an “unknown language”, or any age and merely fleeing the seemingly endless parade of changes in our parishes. We are to be treated as misfit Catholics to be pitied because we “don’t fit in”; but as this priest so clearly states, it is much more than that. The ancient liturgy is our heritage and our connection with the ageless Church. We must not be ashamed that we prefer the changeless beauty and truth, developed and preserved over many centuries by our ancestors in Faith, that is found in the Tridentine Mass.
A Priest´s First Tridentine Mass
by Father Stephen Shield
My first time celebrating the Mass, or rather the week or so before, was a nightmare. It all seemed so strange, so remote from my experience of Mass. The many rubrics and numerous stage-like directions to be remembered seemed so complicated and unnecessary. Would anyone notice if I forgot something? Couldn't I just simplify things a little?
As the bell rang and I heard the congregation getting to its feet the nightmare continued. I was very much aware of the truly awesome moments looming before me. Would I remember everything? I prayed I wouldn't forget that I was saying Mass amid my preoccupation with remembering what to do and when to move, when to make the Sign of the Cross, and so on.
Once the biretta was safely in the server's hand, the chalice was on the corporal, and the Missal opened, I genuflected and off we went. From that moment things settled down, the Mass began, and while the nerves didn't disappear, they were no longer controlling me. I think fear of the old is often as hard to cope with as fear of the new.
What had appeared a nightmare ended as a spiritual experience different from anything I had experienced before. But what made it so different and why did I feel so different? Above all, there was a powerful sense of the presence of God. It was a feeling of the majesty of the Father, the comfort and warmth of the Holy Spirit, the forgiving and gentle guidance of Our Blessed Lord in that Mass. Could it have been because this was a new experience? Or was it greater than that?
I remembered something along these lines I once heard in a lecture on Spiritual Theology. Father Jordan Aumann had spoken of the liturgy as a major source of inspiration for the spiritual life. On looking up his words I was struck by this passage:
"The link between tradition and the liturgy is manifested in such statements as ‘Lex orandi est lex credendi—the law of prayer is the law of belief.' The liturgy is thus an expression of the vital continuity and perennial unity of the Church's proclamation of the revealed truths to all nations throughout the centuries. As regards the Magisterium, Pope Pius XI referred to the liturgy as ‘The principal organ of the Magisterium of the Church'." (Jordan Aumann, O.P., Spiritual Theology, Sheed & Ward, London, 1986, p. 29).
Tradition is the transmission of the deposit of faith from one generation to another under the teaching guidance of the Church. This tradition proclaims, explains and applies revealed truths to the people of God throughout the centuries. While human traditions are often subject to error, the living tradition of the Church is infallible regarding the essential content of the Faith.
Liturgy is the public worship of the Church. It is the form of piety practiced by the Church in fulfillment of her mission to praise and glorify the Blessed Trinity and to sanctify souls. Through this public worship we are able to express our belief in the truths of our Faith and to show others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of His Church. In other words, the liturgy is not simply a necessity of duty, it is a living expression of what we believe, and of the life we live in the Blessed Trinity. This is part of the "vital continuity" Fr. Aumann refers to—the same faith believed by all people everywhere, at all times. The guaranteed continuity of this tradition is what gives life to Christ's Mystical Body, the Church. That body must not be divided; hence Fr. Aumann's phrase, "perennial unity," the unity of all believers holding the same Faith which has been preserved and passed on from generation to generation. The present Holy Father emphasizes tradition and unity in his Apostolic Letter Ecclesia Dei:
"It is impossible to remain faithful to the tradition while breaking the ecclesial bond with him to whom, in the person of the Apostle Peter, Christ Himself entrusted the ministry of unity in His Church" (Ecclesia Dei, para. 4, quoting Pastor Aeternus of Vatican I).
Tradition, liturgy and the oneness of the Church are essential to our understanding of the place the traditional rite of Mass holds in the contemporary Church. At that extraordinary event, my first Latin Mass, we were uniting ourselves in this traditional rite to the living tradition of the Church. We weren't setting ourselves up as something different; we were a living part of that tradition, moving on, moving forward.
Meanwhile, liberal liturgists continue to show only contempt for traditional forms and common sense. These very liturgists speak of the majesty of ancient rites, of the wonder of baptisms as celebrated in fifth-century Syria, and so on; but one mention of the Tridentine Mass and it's as though you asked them to deny the very existence of God. For some reason, they have a fear of the old Mass. What they seek is change, and with a familiar liberal dogmatism, they denounce anyone who disagrees with their point of view. While condemning the Tridentine Mass and those who desire its use, they condone personal changes made in the normative Mass under the guise of legitimate experience of liturgy.
Liturgists insist that the liturgy must be readily understandable and accessible to everyone. Under this pretext they have reduced the form of the Church's worship to the lowest possible common denominator. They have taken any notion of the sacred, any notion of sacrifice, and reduced it to "How do I feel?" or "Where are you at'?" or "Where are we going?" Surely the liturgy is not about that. The liturgy exists for the glorification of God and the sanctification of souls. Its purpose is not to make me feel happy and comfortable. It is for me to bring myself and offer myself with my Savior to the Father in heaven. This search for a lowest common denominator carries with it the patronizing assumption that laymen lack the ability to see for themselves the wonders of the traditional liturgy. Extra explanations have therefore been provided and ceremonies simplified to the point where they mean absolutely nothing.
The changes introduced to modernize the Mass and make it more accessible and understandable have hardly proved to be the success the experts predicted. How often have we heard: change this and change that, we are a community, this will be better for the community, this will let us share together? On it goes with little or no mention of God and prayer. How often are we asked to pray for the good of the Church, to pray for the bishops and priests, to pray for the spread of the Gospel?
The place for the traditional Mass in the life of the Catholic Church today, I believe, is vital. Its focus is God, not man. There is no confrontation between the priest and the people, and therefore, there is no need for the priest to feel he has to entertain the body in front of him. It is difficult to ignore people you are looking at directly. And so priests have been pressured to entertain, their minds taken away from what they are there to celebrate. The secularism of our age has led many priests to believe that man comes first. The old Mass, on the other hand, cries out the very opposite.
So all the fears I mentioned at the beginning—e.g., the vast number of rubrics and stage-managed movements—are not repressive, as I first thought. Rather, they enable a freedom which has gone from the Mass as it is now. Rubrics and canon law are both essential, for they are our security and our freedom. They give us the freedom to concentrate on the truths we are there to celebrate. A lack of rules does not equal freedom; it equals chaos, and that is where the new rite has gotten us—to a state of chaos. Liturgical rules enable the priest and the people to be completely free to absorb themselves in the great mystery they are celebrating. This is true participation; this is accessible and understandable worship. How can we honestly refer to swinging in the aisles and waving one's hands in the air as participation? Such behavior may satisfy the ego for a moment but nothing of it speaks of eternity; it confines souls to the present.
The old Mass is timeless, as should the new Mass be equally timeless. All time is brought together when Christ's Mystical Body gathers to celebrate the Passion, death and Resurrection of the Savior, and should not be lost in a few moments of something verging on hysteria. Liturgy is about the worship of Almighty God and the sanctification of the world; it has nothing to do with being entertained by a priest who looks like an out-of-place, second-rate comedian.
We all share the mission of Our Blessed Lord. The Church takes this mission seriously, for she exists for the sanctification of souls. It is for this reason that the Mass ends with "Ite missa est—Deo gratias." Here is that living tradition of the Church at work; after "Go, you are sent" surely "Thanks be to God" is the most fitting response we can make. By it we are prepared to go out into the world and to take with us the Church's mission of teaching to all nations. We have been given the grace of the Mass; now let us take the message of the Gospel with us to bring others to join in this most holy mystery. But how can we bring people in when all they are going to get is a priest sporting Mickey Mouse ears?
I have celebrated the Tridentine Mass many times now and each time I am more aware of the priceless gift we have in the traditional liturgy, more aware of the freedom of the timeless nature of this worship of the Trinity. There is no need for any priest to think constantly of new ways to keep people's attention, or any need to amuse the audience with funny stories. So many things have been removed from our churches: statues, vestments, music and even choirs (that is, real choirs that sing sacred music, not night club acts, or protestant praise and worship groups -ed.), to say nothing of doctrine and prayer; the list, alas, is too long to contemplate. We have a duty to preserve beauty in all its forms. The Tridentine Mass is indeed one of those priceless treasures we have. It must not be forgotten, nor should its spiritual benefits be overlooked. This great gift must never be considered a source of embarrassment. On the contrary, be proud of the love you have for the old Mass; never allow yourself to be put down or ridiculed by those who criticize it while knowing nothing about it.
Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek
is a monastic foundation of the French Abbey Notre Dame de Fontgombault, itself a foundation of Saint Pierre de Solesmes.
Over the years Solesmes started new monasteries, one of which was the Abbey of Fontgombault, restored to monastic life in 1948. Fontgombault in turn, after having sent monks to three monasteries in France, has now started one in Oklahoma in response to the gracious invitation of His Excellency Edward Slattery, Bishop of Tulsa.
Monasteries which are members of the Solesmes Congregation, as are Fontgombault and Clear Creek, in order to better to cultivate the essential of their vocation, that is, the life of prayer, do not assume pastoral charge of parishes nor run schools. But in the Rule of Saint Benedict, hospitality has an important place, and Benedictine tradition has always considered this to be a part of the monastery's role in the Church. So, besides their deep communion with the life of the Church and their prayer for all, the monks of Clear Creek receive guests for retreats and help the faithful participate in their life of prayer and recollection, especially through the Divine Office.
It is indeed a part of the Solesmes tradition to cultivate a solemn, public liturgical Office. The monks of Clear Creek celebrate God's glory in Latin, so appropriate to give an idea of God's majesty, a sense of the sacred. Thus the monks exploit the riches developed over centuries in the Church's liturgy and cultivate Gregorian Chant.
Two other main features of the Solesmes Congregation and which the monks of Clear Creek will strive to fully live must be noted: deep fidelity to the Holy See and devotion to the Virgin Mary.
Clear Creek Monastery
5804 W. Monastery Road
Hulbert, OK 74441
Phone: (918) 772-2454
Fax: (918) 772-1044
www.Clearcreekmonks.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feast Days for June 2005 (Traditional Calendar)
June 1, St. Angela Merici
June 2, Sts. Marcellinus, Peter, and Erasmus
June 3, The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
June 4, St. Francis Caracciolo
June 5, St. Boniface
June 6, St. Norbert
June 9, Sts. Primus and Felician
June 10, St. Margaret
June 11, St. Barnabas
June 12, Sts. John of San Facundo, Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor, and Nazarius
June 13, St. Anthony
June 14, St. Basil the Great
June 15, Sts. Vitus, Modestus, and Crescentia
June 17, St. Gregory Barbarigo
June 18, St. Ephraem the Syrian
June 19, Sts. Juliana Falconieri, Gervasius, and Protasius
June 20, St. Silverius
June 21, St. Aloyisius Gonzaga
June 22, St. Paulinus
June 23, Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
June 24, The Nativity of St. John the Baptist
June 25, St. William
June 26, Sts. John and Paul
June 28, Vigil of Sts. Peter and Paul
June 29, Sts. Peter and Paul
June 30, Commemoration of St. Paul; Commemoration of St. Peter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Closing
The next meeting of Una Voce Northeast Florida will be on Sunday, June 19, after the 8 a.m. Mass. The “Know Your Mass” Class will also be on June 19, directly after the meeting. The monthly meeting and class are held the 3rd Sunday of every month.
The Rosary in Latin for June will be said on June 12. It begins at 7:30 a.m. before Mass. The Rosary is said on the second Sunday of every month.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contact Information
For more information about Una Voce of Northeast Florida, or if you would like to place an add in this newsletter, please contact Mollie Garcia at 287-6470 or edward.garcia@att.net
The Latin Mass is said at 8:00AM every Sunday at
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church
121 E. Duval Street
Jacksonville, Fl 32202
359-0331
Confessions before all Masses
