Friday, July 5, 2013

Novo cedat ritui

The Marylebone Ordinariate Group blog has a very interesting account of the new form of Mass for use in the Ordinariates for Anglicans that have come into full communion with the Catholic Church; the full text thereof is not yet available (doubtless to prevent manic bloggers dissecting it ruthlessly and impiously), but here at least are some pursuant extracts about it:
The full form of the Ordinariate Use is not yet freely available. However, we do know that... it is heavily based on an hieratic English translation of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Elements that have been retained include the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, consisting notably of the psalm, Judica me Deus, and the Confiteor; the fuller Offertory prayers taken from the Missal of John XXIII; traditional gestures and liturgical action during the Canon including most importantly the genuflection of the celebrant both before and after the elevation of the Host and the Precious Chalice; the triple Domine non sum dignus; and finally the Last Gospel taken from the Prologue of the Gospel of St. John. 
... the Ordinariate Use has taken a number of prayers and actions from the Ordinary Form, such as the General Intercessions (though heavily regulated), the option of using the Second Eucharistic Prayer (translated into hieratic English – bonkers, we know!) and the inclusion of the last blessing within the Mass as opposed to after the Ite, Missa est
Crucially the Ordinariate Use incorporates some elements of the Book of Common Prayer. Whether it be the 'Humble Crumble' [the Prayer of Humble Access] or the Collect for Purity, it is essential that the Ordinariate Use preserve the linguistic and spiritual treasures written originally in English by the Christian communities of England that succeeded the Catholic Church as the dominant religion in the land. These prayers are indisputably part of what Anglican Patrimony in any physical sense must consist of. 
Despite the many issues the problem of optionality has created since the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI, the Ordinariate Use has retained a substantial amount of choice over which aspects are used at each celebration of Mass. Many of those distinctive elements drawn from the Extraordinary Form are optional, from the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar before Mass through to the reading of the Last Gospel after its conclusion.
It is not surprising that the new form of the Ordinariate Mass (its original form being that in the Book of Divine Worship, drawn up in the 1980's for groups of Anglicans coming into full communion in the U.S.A.) is based in large part on the immemorial forms of the Roman Rite as expressed in the traditional Latin Mass, done into Cranmerian English – for Anglo-Catholics have used various English versions of the Roman Missal ever since the nineteenth century.  Just as at a TAC service here in Launceston that I attended years ago (when Anglicanorum cœtibus was first announced), so at the Ordinariate Mass I attended in Sydney the prayers at the foot of the altar were used: it is part of Anglo-Catholic worship. Would that such adjuncts to Divine service might be more widely restored throughout Holy Church!

1 comment:

  1. I would like to see what EP2 will look like in Elizabethan English. The new, corrected translation is pretty good but bungles the part where the Holy Ghost descends as raining dew upon the gifts. I'm interested to see how they will render it for the AU.

    I have also heard that the Novus ordo-style Mysterium Fidei is going to remain in the Ordinariate Use.

    Bugger.

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