The Assumption of St John

What of the saints who rose from the dead at Christ’s Resurrection? Did they die again? That would seem a poor reward! On the contrary, the common opinion is that they ascended with the Lord. This first evidence of Christ’s power gives all the more firmness to the tradition of the ages, proclaimed a dogma in 1950, that Our Lady, after her death, was assumed into heaven.

And what of the Beloved Disciple? It has remained a pious opinion – grounded on the absence of any primary relics, as also on his spotless purity and special closeness to the Word enfleshed and his Mother – that, at the end of his long life, St John the Evangelist first died and then was translated, bodily as well as spiritually, into endless light. Amongst the fathers, saints and doctors who thought thus are St Peter Damian, St Thomas Aquinas, Hugh of St Victor, Denys the Carthusian, St Albert the Great, and the Venerable Louis of Granada.

This opinion as to the assumption of St John is alluded to in his Office on the 27th of December in the Roman, Dominican and Monastic Breviaries – for one of the responsories of Matins runs thus:

Resp. vii.   Cf. Agg. ii, 24; Apoc. ii, 10b. 

In that day I will take thee my servant and will make thee as a signet in my sight, * For I have chosen thee, saith the Lord. V. Be thou faithful until death: and I will give thee the crown of life. * For.

Words originally addressed to Zorobabel by the Lord speaking through the prophet Aggeus are here applied to the Beloved Disciple. It is noteworthy that the verb “take” represents suscipiam in the Latin of the Responsory – but in the original Latin of the Vulgate, it is assumam. The versicle attached gives the context: this is not a mere call to discipleship, but, having remained faithful unto death, he who is called servant will be taken up and set in God’s sight.

Unsurprisingly, those friends of a life hidden with Christ in God, seeking even now for the endless repose promised to the saints, the Dormitionists, observe the feast of the Assumption of St John, on the date dedicated by the Greeks to his Repose, the 26^th of September (like their close cousins in holy religion, the Dominicans, they do not that day keep the commemoration of SS Cyprian and Justina).

Their Matins lessons that day are taken from St Peter Damian, who, as mentioned above, succinctly restates the tradition, purifying by his orthodoxy any suspect taint of the apocryphal Acts of John, some manuscripts and versions of which append an account of the disappearance of his body after his passing away into glory. To quote in translation some of what that holy Doctor wrote, still now appearing in the Breviary of the Dormitionists:

“Who is not filled with wonder at the unheard-of miracle of his blessed death? Who is not astonished at the glory of his most blessed departure? As his life was a wonder, so also his death was a wonder; and, as he had not lived a life like other men, so he did not die a death like theirs. For this is what the histories tell of him: he had a square grave made in the Church; he then went into it; and, after long and earnest prayer, his soul passed from his body.

“Soon such a light from heaven fell on the place, that no one could bear to look at it. After the light was gone, the grave was found to have nothing in it but manna, of which it is said to be full to this day. Thus was it fitting that the Beloved Disciple of the Giver of life should pass from the world, and that he should be as far removed from pain in death as he was from the corruption of the flesh.

“It is asserted with probability, and is a pious belief, that, as is believed of the blessed Mother of God, so St John rose from the dead; for, as they were alike in their virginal purity, so they seem justly to be equalled in an anticipated resurrection; nor should there be any difference in their resurrection, in whom there was such a marvellous likeness of life. For, if these most blessed Virgins, namely, Mary and John, have not risen, how is it that their bodies are not in their tombs, when the bodies of blessed Peter and Paul and the other Apostles and martyrs are known to have been in their own graves.”

“Even in death they were not divided” – so opines Fr Hawes, Oblate of St Charles, quoting Sacred Scripture: for the two who alone stood together beneath the Cross, who dwelt together for long years at Ephesus, are surely united in heaven, together with their Lord, who is for ever her Son, and who constituted St John her son in his stead.

Having opened the heavy folio pages of the Missale O. D. B. M V. of 1785, I offer, now first put online, the Mass of this feast. Laziness (that profane counterpart of the peculiar charism of their Order) has caused me to neglect to transcribe the long ess still used by the printers of that age. It may seem strange that the only Order still to refer to the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin ought use the term Assumption of her adopted son; but a little reflection will reveal that the distinction is a wise and prudent one, permitting the singular grace vouchsafed to the Immaculate Mother of God to be distinguished from that great but lesser blessing accorded to the Fourth Evangelist.

This Mass is rich in Scriptural allusion: throughout, the taking up of Henoch and Elias are referred to most justly as the Old Testament types and foreshadowings of what came to pass in regard to the Fourth Evangelist of the New Testament. The Collect is especially noteworthy; I hope I have copied it out correctly (UPDATE: a kind scholar has pointed out errors both in my transcription of the Latin and in my rubbishy Englishing of it; I have corrected both below).

As for the Secret and Postcommunion, they are taken from the Vigil and Day Masses of Our Lady’s Assumption, as they were in the wider Roman Rite in medieval times. As is common in Dormitionist Masses, the Offertory still retains its verse – and in this case, the Offertory has the same text as the Responsory mentioned above, save for returning to the Vulgate use of assumam, not suscipiam. (After the Latin, I give an English version.)

In Festo Assumptionis Sancti Joannis Apostoli et Evangelistæ

26 Septembris

Introitus    Cf. Gen. v, 24; Ecclus xliv, 16 & xlix, 16

Ambulavit cum Deo, et non apparuit, quia tulit eum Deus: placuit Deo, et translatus est in paradisum, nam et ipse receptus est a terra.

Ps. lxiv, 5. Beatus quem elegisti et assumpsisti: inhabitabit in atriis tuis.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Ambulavit cum Deo, et non apparuit, quia tulit eum Deus: placuit Deo, et translatus est in paradisum, nam et ipse receptus est a terra.

Oratio

Deus, qui beatum Joannem apostolum et evangelistam tuum per electionem tuam ita in gratia confirmasti ut dilectus discipulus Filii tui et Matris Virginis filius virginalis efficeretur, et ad cælos post mortem corpore assumpsisti: tribue quæsumus; ut nos quoque in conspectu tuo sancti et immaculati in caritate inveniri mereamur. Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum.

Lectio libri Regum.    IV Regum ii, 1-11

In diebus illis: Factum est cum levare vellet Dominus Eliam per turbinem in cælum, ibant Elias et Eliseus de Galgalis. Dixitque Elias ad Eliseum: Sede hic, quia Dominus misit me usque in Bethel. Cui ait Eliseus: Vivit Dominus, et vivit anima tua, quia non derelinquam te. Cumque descendissent Bethel, egressi sunt filii prophetarum qui erant in Bethel, ad Eliseum, et dixerunt ei: Numquid nosti quia hodie Dominus tollet dominum tuum a te? Qui respondit: Et ego novi: silete. Dixit autem Elias ad Eliseum: Sede hic, quia Dominus misit me in Jericho. Et ille ait: Vivit Dominus, et vivit anima tua, quia non derelinquam te. Cumque venissent Jericho, accesserunt filii prophetarum qui erant in Jericho, ad Eliseum, et dixerunt ei: Numquid nosti quia Dominus hodie tollet dominum tuum a te? Et ait: Et ego novi: silete. Dixit autem ei Elias: Sede hic, quia Dominus misit me usque ad Jordanem. Qui ait: Vivit Dominus, et vivit anima tua, quia non derelinquam te. Ierunt igitur ambo pariter, et quinquaginta viri de filiis prophetarum secuti sunt eos, qui et steterunt e contra, longe: illi autem ambo stabant super Jordanem. Tulitque Elias pallium suum, et involvit illud, et percussit aquas: quæ divisæ sunt in utramque partem, et transierunt ambo per siccum. Cumque transissent, Elias dixit ad Eliseum: Postula quod vis ut faciam tibi, antequam tollar a te. Dixitque Eliseus: Obsecro ut fiat in me duplex spiritus tuus. Qui respondit: Rem difficilem postulasti: attamen si videris me quando tollar a te, erit tibi quod petisti: si autem non videris, non erit. Cumque pergerent, et incedentes sermocinarentur, ecce currus igneus, et equi ignei diviserunt utrumque: et ascendit Elias per turbinem in cælum.

Graduale    Heb. xi, 5.

Translatus est, et non inveniebatur, quia transtulit illum Deus.

V. Ante translationem enim testimonium habuit placuisse Deo.

Alleluia, alleluia. V. I Mach. ii, 58 Dum zelat zelum legis, receptus est in cælum. Alleluia.

Sequentia sancti evangelii secundum Joannem.    Joann. xxi, 20-24

In illo tempore: Conversus Petrus vidit illum discipulum, quem diligebat Jesus, sequentem, qui et recubuit in cœna super pectus ejus, et dixit: Domine, quis est qui tradet te? Hunc ergo cum vidisset Petrus, dixit Jesu: Domine, hic autem quid? Dicit ei Jesus: Sic eum volo manere donec veniam, quid ad te? tu me sequere. Exiit ergo sermo iste inter fratres quia discipulus ille non moritur. Et non dixit ei Jesus: Non moritur, sed: Sic eum volo manere donec veniam, quid ad te? Hic est discipulus ille qui testimonium perhibet de his, et scripsit hæc: et scimus quia verum est testimonium ejus.

Offertorium    Cf. Agg. ii, 24; Apoc. ii, 10b. (Cf. Resp. vii. ad Mat., 27 Dec.)

In illum diem assumam te servum meum, et ponam te sicut signaculum in conspectu meo: * Quoniam ego elegi te, dicit Dominus. V. Esto fidelis usque ad mortem, et dabo tibi coronam vitæ. * Quoniam ego elegi te, dicit Dominus.

Secreta

Munera nostra, Domine, apud clementiam tuam beati Joannis apostoli et evangelistæ commendet oratio: quam idcirco de præsenti sæculo transtulisti, ut pro peccatis nostris apud te fiducialiter intercedat. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum.

Præfatio de Apostolis.

Communio    Sap. iv, 10.

Placens Deo factus est dilectus, et translatus est.

Postcommunio

Mensæ cælestis participes effecti, imploramus clementiam tuam, Domine Deus noster: ut qui assumptionem beati Joannis apostoli et evangelistæ colimus, a cunctis malis imminentibus, ejus intercessione liberemur. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum.

******

The Assumption of St John the Apostle and Evangelist

26^th September 

Introit    Cf. Gen. v, 24; Ecclus xliv, 16 & xlix, 16

He walked with God, and was seen no more, because God took him: he pleased God, and was translated into paradise, for he also was taken up from the earth.

Ps. lxiv, 5. Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and taken to thee: he shall dwell in thy courts.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

He walked with God, and was seen no more, because God took him: he pleased God, and was translated into paradise, for he also was taken up from the earth.

Collect

O God, who by thine election didst so confirm in grace blessed John thine apostle and evangelist as to be made the beloved disciple of thy Son and the virginal son of the Virgin Mother, and didst assume him bodily into heaven after death, grant, we beseech thee, that we also may be found holy and unspotted in charity in thy sight. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, who with thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

A lesson from the book of Kings.    IV Kings ii, 1-11

In those days: it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elias into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elias and Eliseus were going from Galgal. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay thou here, because the Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel. And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when they were come down to Bethel, the sons of the prophets, that were at Bethel, came forth to Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that this day the Lord will take away thy master from thee? And he answered: I also know it: hold your peace. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay here because the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when they were come to Jericho, the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho, came to Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that this day the Lord will take away thy master from thee? And he said: I also know it: hold your peace. And Elias said to him: Stay here, because the Lord hath sent me as far as the Jordan. And he said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee; and they two went on together, and fifty men of the sons of the prophets followed them, and stood in sight at a distance: but they two stood by the Jordan. And Elias took his mantle and folded it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they both passed over on dry ground. And when they were gone over, Elias said to Eliseus: Ask what thou wilt have me to do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Eliseus said: I beseech thee that in me may be thy double spirit. And he answered: Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless if thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt have what thou hast asked: but if thou see me not, thou shalt not have it. And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold a fiery chariot, and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

Gradual    Heb. xi, 5.

He was translated; and he was not found, because God had translated him.

V. For before his translation he had testimony that he pleased God.

Alleluia, alleluia. V. I Macc. ii, 58 While he was full of zeal for the law, he was taken up into heaven. Alleluia.

The continuation of the holy Gospel according to John.    John xxi, 20-24

At that time: Peter turning about, saw that disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned on his breast at supper, and said: Lord, who is he that shall betray thee? Him therefore when Peter had seen, he saith to Jesus: Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith to him: So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee? follow thou me. This saying therefore went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. And Jesus did not say to him: He should not die; but, So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee? This is that disciple who giveth testimony of these things, and hath written these things; and we know that his testimony is true.

Offertory    Cf. Agg. ii, 24; Apoc. ii, 10b. (Resp. vii. ad Mat., 27 Dec.)

In that day I will take thee up, my servant, and will make thee as a signet in my sight, * For I have chosen thee, saith the Lord. V. Be thou faithful until death: and I will give thee the crown of life. * For I have chosen thee, saith the Lord.

Secret

May our gifts, O Lord, be commended to thy clemency by the prayer of blessed John the apostle and evangelist, whom thou didst take up out of this present life, that he might faithfully intercede before thee for our sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, who with thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

Preface of the Apostles 

Communion   Wis. iv, 10.

He pleased God and was beloved, and he was translated.

Postcommunion

Made partakers of the heavenly banquet, we implore thy clemency, O Lord our God, that we, who honour the assumption of blessed John the apostle and evangelist, may be freed through his intercession from all threatening evils. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, who with thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

Three Masses

Fr Christopher's flight from Melbourne was delayed by quite a long time – meaning that our scheduled 7:30 pm Mass for the Assumption began at 8:20 pm! It was very edifying to see the full congregation remain, waiting patiently, and keeping vigil in prayer: we said Our Lady's Rosary and Litany together. At length, our Missa cantata for the Holy Day was celebrated, with the first use of the Missa Regia as the Ordinary (save for Credo III), taking up a French tradition for solemnities.

On Saturday morning, a small party attended Father's private Low Mass of St Joachim, and then enjoyed a festive brunch.

To-day, Sunday, our Dominican visitor sang Mass of the 10th Sunday after Pentecost for a congregation of fifty or so, returning to our usual Sunday Ordinary – Mass XI, Orbis factor. In honour of Our Lady, feted this weekend, we sang "Hail Queen of heaven" after Mass, before repairing to the parish centre for coffee, cake and good cheer. It was a fitting end to our three days of Extraordinary Form Masses.

Assumption & 10th Sunday after Pentecost Masses

As well as a sung Latin Mass on the third Sunday of August (the 17th of the month, which will be the tenth after Pentecost) at 10:30 am at Sacred Heart, New Town, our visiting Dominican, Fr Christopher, will sing Mass for the Assumption of Our Lady at 7:30 pm on Friday the 15th of August, likewise at Sacred Heart.

I will be driving down to Hobart after work on Friday, and staying for the weekend. Of your charity, please pray for me.

First Sunday of August

After some very stormy weather the last several days, it was a joy to have only a few patches of fog amid otherwise bright sunshine on the drive down to Hobart. There was a good attendance at our Missa cantata for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost, and the drive back was likewise fast and uneventful.

Being given to odd thoughts, I was reflecting on how, acting as M.C., I kneel less and stand more than anyone except the priest: I kneel for the prayers at the foot of the altar and answer his prayers; I kneel for the Et incarnatus est during the Creed; I kneel at the priest's left during the Consecration and Elevation, from Qui pridie to the in mei memoriam facietis; I kneel for the priest's own Communion and my own, and again when he returns any leftover Hosts to the tabernacle; and that's it (aside from many genuflections of course). And, like some Roman Emperor of old, everyone genuflects towards me – so to speak! – but only when I hold the altar card for the priest to read the Last Gospel.

NEWS FLASH: As well as a sung Latin Mass on the third Sunday of August (the 17th, which will be the tenth after Pentecost) at 10:30 am at Sacred Heart, New Town, our visiting celebrant, Fr Christopher, will sing Mass for the Assumption of Our Lady at 7:30 pm on Friday the 15th of August, likewise at Sacred Heart.

Holy Days of Obligation - What Obligation? What Holy Days?

As I understand it, the Vatican told the various Bishops’ Conferences that, while various Holy Days of Obligation could be moved to the nearest Sunday, or have the obligation to attend Mass on them suppressed “for pastoral reasons” (to be cynical, does that mean the “faithful” couldn’t be trusted to go to Mass on weekdays, since the bishops feared that even Sunday Mass-goers wouldn’t bother?), for some sort of largely symbolic reason – lest no Holy Days of Obligation remain, in which case it seems bizarre to have them mentioned in Canon Law at all – at least one solemnity of the Lord (i.e. Christmas) and one of Our Lady had to be retained as Holy Days of Obligation.

This thinking seems confused: if, out of fear for souls lest the lazy be damned for not going to a Mass on a weekday, all but two Holy Days of Obligation are either transferred or have the obligation suppressed, why then retain two? Even more confusingly, while the obligation to attend church on Good Friday was suppressed in the seventeenth century, it still remains far more well-attended than many a Sunday! Wouldn’t it be more rational to make Christmas and Good Friday the two remaining Holy Days of Obligation, since that is how what remains of popular piety regards them? After all, despite the importance of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, it is nowhere near as popular as those two days in terms of attendance at the Liturgy.

For the record, according to Canon Law (Can. 1246 §1) the following ten solemnities are the Holy Days of Obligation for the whole Roman Rite:

1. Christmas
2. Epiphany
3. Ascension
4. Corpus Christi
5. Mary Mother of God (the Octave Day of Christmas)
6. Immaculate Conception
7. Assumption
8. St Joseph
9. SS Peter and Paul
10. All Saints

In Australia, these three Holy Days, all solemnities of the Lord, have been transferred to the nearest Sunday, as provided for in Canon 1246 §2:

• Epiphany
• Ascension
• Corpus Christi

And the obligation to attend Mass has been suppressed for these five solemnities of Our Lady and the Saints, here in Australia (as also allowed for in Can. 1246 §2):

• Mary Mother of God (the Octave Day of Christmas)
• Immaculate Conception
• St Joseph
• SS Peter and Paul
• All Saints

Does not this send the dangerous message that devotion to the Saints is of little importance?

Here in Australia, therefore, Christmas and the Assumption as the only two Holy Days of Obligation remaining; just as, by a similar process of minimalization, not to say failure of nerve and dumbing-down, the days of fasting and abstinence also have been reduced to two: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (the minimum mandated by Canon Law – Can. 1251).

The bishops of England and Wales – not, as a body, known for their burning zeal in recent decades; so there is hope for us all – have restored the precept of abstaining from fleshmeat on all Fridays (excluding those falling on solemnities), which still is the norm throughout the Roman Church (Can. 1251), despite the perception in Australia, by those old enough to remember the former rule, that all that was abandoned as one of the “fruits” of Vatican II (the young, of course, have in many cases never even heard of it). It is wonderful to hear of bishops actually doing something for a change.

In recognizing the importance of reviving a custom that was once one of the universally known hallmarks of Catholic practice, the good bishops have imitated dear Fr Wells, a long-retired priest I remember from my university days, who told us at Mass one Sunday long ago that he had gone back to the discipline of meatless Fridays “Because I realized I was doing nothing instead”. It may be candidly admitted that few know, or care, that we are still meant to do some form of penance on Fridays – as usual, Paul VI’s efforts in that regard were singularly fruitless. Did he achieve anything?

If we are to start to rebuild, we need to restore disciplines – since the current drift into slackness and indifference simply indicates that Catholics have little commitment to anything, since they value the Faith so little. If we cared, if we actually believed, we would be willing to endure much. In the days of persecution, Catholics in England and Ireland stood firm in the face of adversity; these days, what firmness would be manifest? But I suppose if so few nominal Catholics even go to Sunday Mass, let alone bother with the occasional confession, let alone bother to get married before undertaking the marital act, let alone follow dear Paul VI's advice regarding that holy intimacy, well, no wonder even the bishops decided ditching a few more disciplines wouldn't matter.

In everything, we see the abandonment of the Catholic worldview, and a sort of play-acting in its place. We play children's games in the ruins.

Forgetting the Tradition, or, Why so Few at Mass of the Assumption?

If only I had retired to a Dormitionist cloister... instead of such, after an unpleasant day at work, I had the consolation of singing with the choir (directed from the organ) at the evening Mass for the Assumption. Singing the Ordinary of the Mass, the Psalm and Alleluia, together with sundry Marian hymns ("Immaculate Mary", "O Sanctissima", a setting of the Magnificat, "Jesus, my Lord, my God, my all", and "Hail Queen of heaven") certainly revived my drooping spirits, as did the combined devotion and good cheer of the choir and organist. But what a pity there were so few at Mass, on this, a Holy Day of Obligation – and in Australia, the only remaining such, apart from Christmas. Janet, the organist, remarked afterward that time was when the church would have been packed...

Here in Launceston, there are only three parishes. The north-western parish (my own) had Mass at 10 am (not practical for workers), and a second Mass at Beaconsfield, a country town to the north, at noon (garnering an excellent, albeit older, congregation of sixty – this Mass was also the occasion for celebrating the golden jubilee of the inestimable Sr Frances, stalwart of the locality). The default option for Launcestonians, however, is to attend Mass at the city church, that of the Apostles – hence my surprise there were so few present. Certainly the Carmelites (served by a roster of the three parishes' priests) would have had their daily Mass at 7:30 am, and given past experience they would have had a reasonable number present, but their chapel is small, and the hour early... As for the southern parish, I have no information to hand, but I seem to recall they (may) have an evening Mass (I haven't been there for decades, to be honest), at least for this solemnity. But again, I cannot imagine that that church was packed – having heard from a few, ahem, ex-parishioners thereof that they now go elsewhere.

The true vocations crisis in the Church is not a lack of candidates for the priesthood: it is a lack of committed Catholics (from whose ranks a small but sufficient percentage of men would naturally be drawn to Holy Orders). There is a reason why the number of church weddings, not to mention baptisms, declines yearly: it is called erosion of the faith, decline in commitment to living out the Faith, and general forgetfulness of what previous generations, often at great cost, nevertheless succeeded in passing on – until the last half-century or so. The tradition has failed: discontinuity and rupture has broken the links formerly passing down the Apostolic tradition in continuity from one generation to the next.

In this Year of Faith, what is too evident is a crisis and a lack of faith. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" – Hosea iv, 6. I recall what St Thérèse of Lisieux noted: that if there were no love in the heart of the Church (and she felt her vocation to be to live as that loving heart), the apostles would forget to preach, the martyrs would not bother to die for Christ, the missionaries would not labour to spread the Gospel. Terrible to say, what she spoke of per impossibilem has in many places throughout the West – certainly in Australia – come to pass.

What is believed by too many nominal Catholics is rather a comfortable falsehood, according to which Scripture and Tradition have little value, nor does commitment to the harder moral precepts or duties such as Mass-going (which ought in any case actually be a joy if one realize what Mass is, but I digress); rather, a fairy-floss version of eviscerated Christianity is given lip-service, according to which bourgeois niceness and thinly disguised versions of the current secular virtues (the fashions of the moment) are all that is required, to which the more pious may add lounging about on bean-bags and playing at prayer, since sometime hopefully far distant in the future we all go to "some heaven light-years away" anyway (though one should not be too serious about such fables, unappealing as they are to the worldly), and in the meanwhile "celebrating the life" and dabbling in trendy forms of do-goodery is really all that is necessary. Indifferentism replaces Christianity, in point of fact.

Despite being personally buoyed up by Mass and Holy Communion – "My soul He doth restore again" – and in a special way by helping out with the choir – "Make a joyful noise to the Lord" – I felt nonetheless saddened that the blessings freely available were offered, in vain it may seem, to an all but empty church. Granted, I didn't leer over the choirloft to enumerate the worshippers, but from what I saw the pews at least in the front of the Church of the Apostles were largely vacant.

Our priest and deacon celebrated Mass with reverence and dignity, of course; but I could not help but compare the lack of any servers to what I know would have been the case at my own parish in Perth, W.A.: Fr Rowe would have had a Missa cantata at least, quite possibly with choir singing polyphony, and certainly with acolytes, candlebearers, a thurifer and M.C. for this, one of the most important feasts of the year, the consummation of Our Lady's life in triumph, the entrance of the Mother of our God into celestial bliss. Again, there was lacking the support of, not the clergy, but the men of the parish, those who serve at the altar (I ought note that most of Fr Rowe's servers are adults). I know, also, that Fr Rowe would have carefully exhorted his flock to attend Mass on this day, and there would have been a good compliance with his reminder – as it is, many travel across Perth to attend weekday Mass, let alone Sunday or festal services there.

Personally, I was uplifted; corporately, so to say, the commitment, even the understanding of the needfulness of attendance at Mass of the Assumption, was manifestly lacking, even compared to the numbers who still more or less regularly attend Sunday Mass (as a friend of mine put it, the Devotion of the Fifty-Two Sundays is rather neglected these days). We hold great hopes that our new Archbishop, committed as he is to re-evangelizing, will direct the Church here in Tasmania to rebuild, rather than manage an ineluctable decline – God grant it.

I feel sad and embarrassed to think that the several priests from overseas who serve in Tasmania at the moment must be shocked at the lukewarmness and apathy of the Catholics here – they must wonder why a small remnant of cossetted rich people need to summon priests from countries where the needs are greater, and where the faithful are actually faithful, so that churches are packed, not all but deserted.

Dare I suppose that readers had similarly dispiriting impressions of the attendance levels at Masses of the Assumption?

Our Lady on Saturday – Why?

On the seventh day, God rested, and hallowed the Sabbath with an everlasting sanctification; in the womb of Mary, God's Son rested, the blessed Fruit sanctifying her uniquely maternal virginal integrity; on the Sabbath, the dead Christ rested in the tomb, having run the great race and perfectly accomplished all His works; and in process of time Our Lady rested in Him, as once He had rested in her, and passed to her everlasting rest, body and soul, "hid with Christ in God" till He, who is our life, shall appear, and manifest shall be the Holy Mother of God, together with all souls faithful to the new Adam and His helpmate, the new Eve.

Is it perhaps out of regard to the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin, as the Easterners so beautifully term her Assumption, that Saturday is Mary's day?

Bl Guerric, Abbot of Igny, one of the earliest Cistercians, indeed, one of the "Four Evangelists of Citeaux", wrote thus in her honour, preaching upon the text In omnibus requiem quæsivi, opening words of the traditional Epistle for the 15th of August, Our Lady's great feast, and alluding also to the traditional passage used for the Gospel on that day in both East and West – I give an English translation first, from a book of mine, then the Latin original, both being abbreviated of course from the full sermon:

A Sermon of Abbot Guerric.

“In all I sought rest.” (Ecclus 24:11) Rest is welcome to the weary. Therefore while we celebrate the rest of God’s holy Mother not only may our bodies be refreshed by this rest but also our hearts may draw breath in remembrance and love of that eternal rest. Mary, too, like any faithful soul, sought rest in all her actions; but today at last she has found it, when at length today she can say: “’Turn, my soul, into your rest, for the Lord has done well to you.’ (Ps 114:7) He who created me, was created from me and found rest in the tent (cf. Ecclus 24:12) of my body; he will not be able to refuse me the rest of his heaven. He heaps up grace for others as a free gift: how should he not return like for like to his Mother?” Rest, then, happy that you are, in the arms of the Bridegroom. He will recall to you amid embraces and kisses, if I am not mistaken, how pleasantly he rested in the tent of your body, how with greater delight he dwelt in the inner chamber of your heart.

Happy is he who in all his labours and in all his ways seeks blessed rest, always hastening, as the Apostle exhorts, to enter into that rest (cf. Heb 4:11). For desire of it he afflicts his body, but already prepares and disposes his spirit for that rest, being at peace with all men (cf. Rom 12:18) as far as it lies with him. Giving the preference, where his will is concerned, to the rest and the leisure of Mary, to the extent that necessity demands he accepts the toil and the business of Martha, yet does this with as much peace and quiet of spirit as he can, and always brings himself back from that manifold distraction to the one thing necessary (Lk 10:42).

For I say this, brethren: unless the Lord finds with us the rest he is seeking, we shall not find in him the rest we desire. “Upon whom will I rest,” he says, “if not with the humble and the quiet and him who fears my words?” (Is 66:2) In order then, my brethren, that he who loves quiet and bestows it may rest in you, make a point, as the Apostle advises, of being quiet. “If you turn back and become quiet, you shall be saved.” (Is 30:15) Let us all then together so make a point of being quiet (cf. 1 Thess 4:11) that in our quiet we may always be occupied with meditation on eternal quiet. May the blessed Mother of God, whose rest we are celebrating, obtain this for us by her prayers from him who rested in the tabernacle (cf. Ecclus 24:12) of her body and her heart. He is eternal rest, Christ Jesus, to whom be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Sermo Guerrici Abbatis.

Sermo 49, 1. 3

In omnibus requiem quæſivi. Grata quies feſſis. Dum ſanctæ Dei Genitricis requiem celebramus, non ſolum corpora recreentur hac quiete, ſed etiam corda reſpirent in recordationem et amorem illius æternæ quietis. Maria, ſicut et quælibet fidelis anima, in omnibus actionibus ſuis requiem quæſivit; ſed hodie demum invenit, cum tandem hodie dicere datum eſt ei: Convertere, anima, in requiem tuam, quia Dominus benefecit tibi. Qui creavit me, creatus ex me, requievit in tabernaculo corporis mei, negare non poterit mihi requiem cœli ſui. Qui enim gratiam ultro cumulat aliis, par pari quomodo non referet matri? Requieſce igitur, o felix, inter brachia Sponſi. Replicabit tibi ni fallor, inter amplexus et oscula, quam ſuaviter requieverit in tabernaculo corporis tui, quam ſuavis in cubiculo cordis tui.

Sermo 49, 2

Felix qui in omnibus laboribus et viis ſuis requiem quærit beatam: ſemper feſtinans ingredi, ut Apoſtolus monet, in illam requiem, ejus deſiderio corpus affligens, animum autem jam illi requiei parans et componens: cum omnibus hominibus, quod ex ipſo eſt, pacem habens; requiem et otium Mariæ voluntate præeligens, laborem autem et negotium Marthæ neceſſitate quidem ſuſcipiens; ſed quanta prævalet pace et quiete ſpiritus adimplens, et ſemper ad illud unum neceſſarium de illa multiplici distractione ſeſe recolligens.

Sermo 49, 4. 5. 6

Hoc enim dico, fratres, niſi Dominus requiem quam quærit, invenerit apud nos, nec nos optatam requiem inveniemus in illo. Super quem autem requieſcam, inquit, niſi ſuper humilem, et quietum, et trementem verba mea? Ut ergo requieſcat in vobis, o fratres mei, amator ille largitorque quietis, date operam, juxta conſilium Apoſtoli, ut quieti ſitis. Si revertamini, et quieſcatis, ſalvi eritis. Omnes ergo pariter ſic operam demus, ut quieti ſimus, ut in quiete noſtra ſemper in meditatione æternæ quietis occupemur. Hoc nobis impetret beata Dei Genitrix, cujus requiem celebramus, ab eo qui requievit in tabernaculo corporis et cordis ejus. Ipſe eſt requies æterna Chriſtus Jeſus; cui eſt honor, et gloria per omnia ſæcula ſæculorum. Amen.

(Unsurprisingly, it may be said that Dormitionists read this passage in their Breviary, both on the great feast itself, and on each successive Saturday if not otherwise occupied.)

In omnibus requiem quæsivi

Previous to the revision of the Mass and Office of the Assumption consequent upon the definition of that event as a dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950, the Epistle of the Feast was as follows, to which I subjoin the commentary of Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Lesson from the Book of Wisdom.

Ecclesiasticus xxiv, 11b-13 & 15-20

In all things I sought rest, and I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord. Then the creator of all things commanded, and said to me: and he that made me, rested in my tabernacle. And he said to me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel, and take root in my elect. And so was I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, and my power was in Jerusalem: and I took root in an honourable people, and in the portion of my God his inheritance, and my abode is in the full assembly of saints. I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on mount Sion: I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose plant in Jericho: as a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted. I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatical balm: I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh.

The rest that Mary sought is the better part [cf. St Luke x, 42], the repose of the soul in the presence of the King of Peace; and when a soul is thus full of peace, she forms the choicest part of her Lord’s inheritance. No creature has attained so nearly as our Lady to the eternal, unchangeable, peace of the ever-tranquil Trinity; hence no other has merited to become, in the same degree, the resting-place of God.

A soul occupied by active works cannot attain the perfection or the fruitfulness of one in whom our Lord takes His rest, because she is at rest in Him; for this is the nuptial rest. As the Psalm says: ‘When the Lord shall give sleep to His beloved, then shall their fruit be seen.’

Let us, then, who became Mary’s children on the day the Lord first rested in her tabernacle, understand these magnificent expressions of divine Wisdom; for they reveal to us the glory of her triumph. The branch that sprang from the stock of Jesse bears the divine Flower on which rests the fulness of the Holy Ghost; but it has taken root also in the elect, into whose branches it passes the heavenly sap which transforms them and divinizes their fruit. These fruits of Jacob and of Israel – i.e., the works of the ordinary Christian life or of the life of perfection – belong therefore to our Blessed Mother. Rightly, then, does Mary enter to-day upon her unending rest in the eternal Sion – the true holy city and glorified people – the Lord’s inheritance. Her power will be established in Jerusalem, and the saints will for ever acknowledge that they owe to her the fulness of their perfection. ...

The Angelic Doctor says: ‘The trees to which the Blessed Virgin is compared in this Epistle may be taken to represent the different orders of the blessed. This passage therefore means that Mary has been exalted above the angels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, and all the saints, because she possesses all their merits united in her single person.’

— Abbot Guéranger, The Liturgical Year, Volume XIII, p.372f.

First Vespers of the Assumption

The Dominican Breviary features magnificent treasures at 1st Vespers - and the rest of their Assumption Office includes the very valuable ancient Collect Veneranda, which teaches - against the immortalists - that Our Lady truly died and yet could not be held in the bonds of death, as she had brought forth the Incarnate Son:

* Only one, extremely long and elaborate antiphon for the five psalms (which are the Laudate Psalms used for all first Vespers: Pss 112, 116, 145, 146, 147):

Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te: favus distillans labia tua, mel et lac sub lingua tua: odor unguentorum tuorum super omnia aromata: jam enim hiems transiit, imber abiit, et recessit: flores apparuerunt, vineæ florentes odorem dederunt, et vox turturis audita est in terra nostra. Surge, propera, amica mea: veni de Libano, veni, coronaberis.

(Cant. 4:7,11,10;2:11,12,13,12,10;4:8)

* Little chapter: either (1956) In omnibus requiem (Ecclus 24:11b-12), from the Common, but actually highly appropriate, what with Our Lady being granted rest in the Lord's tabernacle; or (1962) Benedixit te (Judith 13:22b,23b), since the Dominicans adopted the new proper readings from Pius XII's new Office for the Assumption - which frankly are a distinct loss.

* Long responsory, its opening based on St Luke 1:45:

R/. Beata es, Virgo Maria, Dei Genetrix, quæ credidisti Domino: perfecta sunt in te quæ dicta sunt tibi: ecce exaltata es super choros Angelorum. * Intercede pro nobis ad Dominum Jesum Christum.  V/. Benedicta et venerabilis es, Virgo Maria, quæ sine tactu pudoris inventa es Mater Salvatoris. * Intercede... Gloria Patri... * Intercede...

* Hymn - the traditional Ave, maris stella;

* Versicle Exaltata es;

* Magnificat antiphon most lengthy and ornate, which seems to betray a Byzantine original:

Ascendit Christus super cælos, et præparavit suæ castissimæ Matri immortalitatis locum: et hæc est illa præclara festivitas, omnium Sanctorum festivitatibus incomparabilis, in qua gloriosa et felix, mirantibus cælestis curiæ ordinibus, ad æthereum pervenit thalamum: quo pia sui memorum immemor nequaquam exsistat.

(Christ ascended above the heavens, and prepared a place of immortality for his most chaste Mother: and this is that goodly festival, incomparable to the feasts of all the Saints, on which the Glorious and Happy, all the orders of the heavenly court a-wondering, came to the ethereal nuptial chamber: so that no one should be unmindful of the pious memory of it.)

* Collect (for the Vigil; the Dominicans read the Sunday Collect on the Vigil itself):

Deus, qui virginalem aulam beatæ Mariæ, in qua habitares, eligere dignatus es: da, quæsumus, ut, sua nos defensione munitos, jucundos facias suæ interesse consortes: Qui vivis...

(O God, Who didst deign to choose the virginal chamber of blessed Mary wherein Thou wouldest dwell: grant, we beg, that, we strengthened by her defence, Thou make us to be sharers of her joy: Who livest...)

All this was a most welcome blessing, which I read privately just before attending the Vigil Mass.  For some idiot reason I'd thought that in the modern Rite Mass would be of the Sunday, so I was very glad to find that the Assumption still takes precedence: we had a very devout Lady Mass therefore.

Mass, as celebrated with devotion by Fr Allan, is Mass indeed: Robert (who's visiting me this week-end) and I were very glad to have attended and made our communion.  It was Catholic in the best sense.

The rest of the day, having been the Vigil of the Assumption, I'd read the Little Office (Dominican Rite), and after Communion and Mass I ended with Compline of the Blessed Virgin, as was fitting.

VE Day 65th Anniversary

On the feast of the Apparition of St Michael, the 8th of May 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered, ending war in the European Theatre of World War II; the Empire of Japan surrendered later that same year, on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin – thus, to the intercession of the great Archangel and to Our Lady may the end of the most murderous war of all history be piously attributed.

In 1950, the corporeal Assumption was declared a dogma.  By the mid-1950's, the first ransacking of the Calendar removed this feast of the Archangel (his other, on the 29th of September, remained), since it was represented as secondary and historically obscure; how lucky that Pius XII had done what he did, since otherwise the dreadful Bugnini, who rang rings around the 'Hamlet' Pope (Paul VI), would most certainly have arranged to suppress the feast of the Assumption as well!

Dormition of Our Lady

The Greek Orthodox in Launceston (and the rest of northern Tasmania) have a church, dedicated in honour of the Dormition of the Theotokos, but no priest; instead, once a month, on a Saturday, Fr Timothy comes up from Hobart to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. Since to-day is both a Saturday and their church's titular feast, not only Fr Timothy, but a whole busload of Greeks - and Ethiopians! - from Hobart came up for the Liturgy, together with others travelling by car. Among them were my friends Ron and Nicola, with their children... I had agreed to go all ecumenical and join them for this special occasion.

This morning, after walking up the Gorge to see the ever-burgeoning flood, I returned to my car and drove over to their church; hearing the Trisagion sung, it transpired that Orthros (Lauds) was ending, and, upon entering the church and lighting a candle for a consideration (as seemed fitting), I went and stood with the large congregation while the Artoklasia (blessing of bread for a name-day) was celebrated, since obviously all Greek ladies with Mary in their names were keeping this day in a special manner.

I should note here that Fr Timothy has no deacon, so he perforce sang all the litanies himself; he only had one server, too, an older man.

The Divine Liturgy commenced at 10:30, and concluded at 11:45 am. It was edifying to see the large congregation - including a dozen or so Ethiopians all in white in their church-going finery - which spilled over from the little church itself into the adjoining hall. The rites were conducted half in Greek, half in English, alternating for every petition, prayer, etc. (though the responses were sung in Greek only). Even the words of consecration were done this way: the Host was consecrated in Greek, the Chalice, in English! Certain parts, such as the Epistle, the Gospel, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer were pronounced twice, once in each language. (The sermon, on Our Lady as model of humility, was in English only.)

Here are the Epistle (Philippians ii, 5-11) and Gospel (St Luke x 38-42; xi, 27-28):

For let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain town: and a certain woman named Martha, received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord's feet, heard his word. But Martha was busy about much serving. Who stood and said: Lord, hast thou no care that my sister hath left me alone to serve? speak to her therefore, that she help me. And the Lord answering, said to her: Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things: but one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.
And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. But he said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.

I was impressed by the choir (three older laymen, joined partway through by a younger man and his two sons): they had a number of armrests to lean on, as they stood by one wall, grouped about a mediæval-style lectern for their music. Amusingly, the reader couldn't quite find the right Epistle in the lectionary, so Fr Timothy popped out through the door of the iconostasis right in the middle of the chanting to give him a hand.

The Creed was recited, first by one of the choir in Greek, then by the two boys in English. Interestingly, few sang even an Amen or Kyrie, though we were all ever fervently crossing ourselves at every mention of the Trinity (and there were many) and also at other important bits (sorry, Bugnini, more really is more, less really is less); but when it came to the Lord's Prayer, all said it aloud together.

In the reverse to the Western practice, all the children were first mustered to receive the Holy Gifts; but then an impressively large fraction (about twenty or more) of the adults present also communicated. My friend's daughter brought me some of the antidoron (the blessed bread eaten after receiving Communion). During Communion, the choir sang a beautiful hymn in honour of the Theotokos, which Ron tells me is a favourite of the Greeks and always used at Communion; many even sang the refrain.

I recognized the refrain of this hymn as the same as that of the Akathist Hymn: Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε - or, "Hail, Bride unbrided" (the Greek doesn't quite work in English). Having now searched a bit, it turns out that this hymn is Αγνή Παρθένε, a famous nineteenth century composition by Bishop Nectarius of Aegina (whom the Orthodox have canonized):

O Virgin Queen and Mother,
O dewy fleece most sacred:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O height transcending heaven above,
O beam of light most radiant:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O joy of chaste and virgin maids,
surpassing all the angels:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O brilliant light of heaven above,
most clear and most radiant:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Commanding chief of heaven above,
O holiest of holies:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O ever-virgin Mary,
O Mistress of creation:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O Bride all-pure and spotless,
O Lady all-holy:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O holy Mary, Bride and Queen,
O cause of our rejoicing:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O Maiden Queen most honorable,
O Mother most holy:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

More precious than the cherubim,
more glorious than the seraphim:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Surpassing principalities,
dominions, thrones and powers:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Rejoice, song of the cherubim,
Rejoice, hymn of the angels:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Rejoice, ode of the seraphim
and joy of the archangels:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Rejoice, O peace; Rejoice, O joy
and haven of salvation:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O bridal chamber of the Word,
unfading, fragrant blossom:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Rejoice, delight of paradise,
Rejoice, life everlasting:
Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Some other observations: while as mentioned the Greeks are forever crossing themselves at the naming of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity, I noticed that they do not have the Western custom of bowing the head at the Holy Name of Jesus; and unlike the Russians, they miss out the litanies in between the Gospel and the Great Entrance.

After the final blessing, the processional crucifix and ripidia were brought forth, and thereupon we all processed around the outside of the church with the large icon of the Dormition (covered in flowers), with an occasional stop for prayers.

The procession ended, we all received more of the blessed bread from Fr Timothy - and soon enough fell to on the huge lunch that had been prepared for all and sundry, including yours truly.

It was a sacred, festive, and familial occasion. I must say I felt very much at home. (Luckily, having some Greek, and more importantly a grasp of the flow of the Divine Liturgy through study and prior attendance of it in Russian and Ukrainian Rite churches, I didn't even need to open my pocket copy of The Divine Liturgy Explained.) How sad it is that these Orthodox are clearly so familiar with their beautiful and sacred rites, and yet would surely find the modern Roman Rite bare and alien. The Traditional Latin Mass is certainly more evidently a different, but very Catholic, form of the same Eucharistic Sacrifice, and closer in spirit to the unchanged and dearly-loved Eastern Rites.

After the lunch, my friends and I went up the Gorge (in my case, for the second time to-day) to admire the spectacle of the surging flood and whitewater rapids. I must admit, after also standing for an hour at the Greek service, my poor legs ache.

But I must now go to Catholic Mass, for the Sunday Vigil.

******

I've now returned from Mass, pleased and refreshed. I've resolved to keep attending Mass at St Francis, which is my canonical parish, since apart from anything else it delivers me from dire diocesan priests! I like the liturgy at Carmel, but for one thing: Father. Having a pious and reverent priest at the altar is more important than ever when attending the Novus Ordo.