The Manner of Hearing Mass

For some years, I have found the most convenient way to hear Mass, since there is only a monthly Latin Mass here, is to split the difference between hearing Sunday Mass at my nearby parish church (which is quite orthodox, and even features the use of incense) and having to drive for hours to go to the Mass in the Extraordinary Form. The way I do this is by attending my local parish Mass, and bringing my layfolk’s hand missal with me, from which I read the Mass propers of the day, while joining in the responses made by all, and sitting, standing or kneeling in conformity with the usual congregational postures.

Before Mass

A few minutes or more before Mass begins, I recite to myself the prayers at the foot of the altar: In nomine Patris... Introibo ad altare Dei... Judica me Deus... Introibo... Adjutorium... Confiteor... Misereatur... Indulgentiam... (changing the last three to their forms for use at Compline when no priest is present) Deus tu conversus... Ostende nobis Domine... Domine exaudi orationem... (omitting the Dominus vobiscum...) Oremus... Aufer a nobis... Oramus te Domine... (changing the last prayer to the first person plural and adding Per Christum Dominum nostrum). 

To these prayers, I adjoin the following statement of intention (from a brief formula of preparation for Mass, adding the phrase per manus sacerdotis tui – “by the hands of thy priest”): Domine Jesu Christe, in unione illius divinæ intentionis, qua ipse in ultima cœna, et in ara crucis, sacrificium corporis et sanguinis tui Deo Patri obtulisti, hoc idem sacrificium ei offerre intendo, per manus sacerdotis tui. Complaceat sibi, o Jesu, in te; et per te propitius nobis sit in vitam æternam. Amen.

Then, I read the Introit of the day from my old missal – my preference is to “triple” the Introit, by reading the Introit antiphon between its psalm verse and the doxology, as well as before and after as usual. 

The Outset of Mass

All that done, I can then, if I choose, join in singing the processional hymn, before making the sign of the Cross, replying to the priest’s salutation, participating in the penitential act, and singing along with the Kyrie (and Gloria in excelsis). But while the priest reads the Collect (to which I respond Amen), I read the traditional Collect from my missal – to which I often add, for reasons of devotion, other Collects also (which fills up the time taken for the Old Testament reading to be read). 

Typically, after the Collect of the Day (say, that of the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost), I will add the Collect of the Saint of the Day, if any, followed by the Votive Collect in honour of Our Lady and All the Saints, the Votive Collect for the Living and the Dead, the Collect from the Mass in Time of War, the Collect from the Mass in Time of Pestilence, and the Collect from the Mass for the Sick – all of these extra collects being read together with only one concluding formula at the very end. While I do not follow the exact rules about the particular collects to be read at Mass, I try to employ an odd number of Collects, not exceeding seven; I do likewise for the Secret and Postcommunion.

To prevent appearing too singular, I still make the correct response after the first reading, and join in the response to the Responsorial Psalm (which is a good way to check my short-term memory). Then I read the Epistle and following chants from my missal (repeating the respond of the Gradual after its verse), join in singing the Alleluia if the tune is one I know, respond to the priest as he introduces the Gospel – and read the traditional pericope while he reads the one prescribed in the modern Lectionary. (Often at the end of the reading I will pray inwardly, Per Evangelica dicta, deleantur nostra delicta.) All that done, I can settle back and relax while the sermon is preached.

After the Sermon

I join in the Creed – if unfortunately the Apostles’ Creed is read, during the Prayers of the Faithful I read the Nicene Creed in Latin sotto voce, but making the correct response to each petition and the final prayer thereof. As I am used to the gracious English custom of inserting a “Hail Mary...” before the concluding prayer of the general intercessions, if one isn't said, I’ll inwardly say one anyway. Once all those prayers are over, I read the Offertory from my missal (to which I would ideally add the Offertory verses as well), and follow it with Domine exaudi... (as substitute for the priestly Dominus vobiscum...), Oremus and the Secret (plus other Secrets corresponding to whichever additional Collects I may have read earlier). 

That done, I can join in the Offertory hymn if I choose; I make the usual replies to the priest’s prayers, up to and including the Sursum corda dialogue, but I read the appropriate traditional Preface in Latin while the celebrant reads the modern Preface, then join in singing the Sanctus. Note that I do not read to myself any of the traditional Offertory prayers, as they are proper to the priest alone, apart from saying to myself when censed, “The Lord enkindle in us the fire of his love, and the flame of everlasting charity” – in Latin, Accendat in nobis Dominus ignem sui amoris, et flammam æternæ caritatis. Amen.

During the Canon

It is too difficult to attempt to read the Roman Canon in Latin to yourself during the Eucharistic Prayer (especially if it is E.P. II), so simply attend to the actual words being prayed. Sometimes my parish priest uses the Roman Canon, which is the best; but I don’t mind his use of E.P. III or IV either.

As the Canon is recited silently by the priest in the Traditional Mass, ne impediatur populus orare (lest the people be impeded from praying), as Lyndwood, a noted mediæval English canonist stated, in other words, each layman ought pray as he can during the Eucharistic Prayer – while for years I used to read silently the Roman Canon, initially in English, and latterly in Latin, while the priest prayed it, for a long time now I have instead quietly recited the five decades of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy (in Latin) and its concluding triple Trinitarian petition; but when perforce at the Novus Ordo, this is not possible, so instead I listen to what the priest prays aloud, and add my own short silent invocations throughout.

At the consecratory Epiclesis, addressing the Three Divine Persons, I pray, Jube, Domine, benedicere, and Veni, Sancte Spiritus, and Veni, Domine Jesu, and, at the end thereof Amen, Amen, Amen.

At the Words of Consecration, I inwardly pray an Amen after every phrase, adding the Mozarabic formula Sic credimus, Domine Jesu, after the last Amen, the ancient Irish or Gallican phrase pro sæcula vita after the words of the Consecration of the Host, and the traditional Roman phrase mysterium fidei in its position amongst the words of the Consecration of the Chalice.

At each Elevation, I adore Our Lord, truly, really and substantially present in his Body and Blood, saying inwardly Omnis gloria tibi, Domine Altissime, then Dominus meus et Deus meus and Salva nos, plus In te, Domine, speravi, non confundar in æternum, followed by Tu nobis, victor Rex, miserere, and a final Amen, Alleluja (or a triple Amen when Alleluja is not said).

After the Memorial Acclamation (or in place of it), I recite the stanza O salutaris Hostia..., as was the old French practice.

At the communion Epiclesis, I make the sign of the Cross at the mention of the coming reception of Christ’s Body and Blood, and the consequent infusion of the Holy Spirit; at the memorial of the faithful departed, I say Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem thrice, adding sempiternam and Amen after the last invocation.

During the Canon’s magnificent concluding doxology Per ipsum, marked as it is by the Little Elevation of Host and Chalice, I bow my head (as was the Dominican custom) at omnis honor et gloria.

From the Lord’s Prayer until Communion Time

Ideally I should silently say Oremus before the priest exhorts all to join in the Lord’s Prayer, and then I join with all in singing or saying it. But while he then reads the modern version of the Embolism, I instead recite the traditional Libera nos quæsumus, pausing to give the reply – how crazy, though, to make a doxology into the people’s response! – to its modern form, then complete the Libera and its proper doxology while the priest says the prayer for peace, so I am in time to reply to the Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

Thankfully, the pandemic has reduced the exchange of the sign of peace from an irreverent melee heedless of the worship due to the divine Lamb upon the altar (but instead more reminiscent of the wanton rioting of the children of Israel in honour of the Golden Calf) into a more restrained and dignified silent nod of the head to those nearby.

Next, I join in singing the Agnus Dei, and once the priest has led the congregation in the Ecce Agnus Dei, I recite the Domine non sum dignus once aloud in the vernacular in union with all, then twice more in Latin. As there probably would not have been sufficient time to recite the third Confiteor before that point, instead I pray quietly the Confiteor, Misereatur and Indulgentiam in the time remaining before receiving Communion.

During and after Holy Communion

Not always, but sometimes, I say some short prayers to myself as I go forward to communicate, such as the three following chants:

(a) a version of the Mozarabic communion chant Gustate, et videte quam suavis est Dominus, * Alleluja, alleluja, alleluja. Benedicam Dominum in omni tempore; semper laus ejus in ore meo. * Alleluja... In Domino laudabitur anima mea: audiant mansueti, et lætentur. * Alleluja... Magnificate Dominum mecum, et exaltemus nomen ejus in idipsum. * Alleluja... Accedite ad eum, et illuminamini; et facies vestræ non confundentur. * Alleluja... Beatus vir qui sperat in eo. * Alleluja... (Ps. 33, 9. 2-4. 6. 9)

(b) a Latin translation of the Cherubic Hymn at the Great Entrance of the Presanctified Liturgy of the Byzantine Rite: Nunc virtutes cælorum cum nobis invisibiliter adorant: ecce Rex gloriæ introit. Ecce mysticum et perfectum sacrificium hic deduxerant: appropinquemus cum fidelitate et desiderio, ut facti simus participes vitæ æternæ, alleluja.

(c) the Gallican communion chant Venite, populi, ad sacrum et immortale mysterium, et libamen agendum: cum timore et fide accedamus, manibus mundis: pœnitentiæ munus communicemus: quoniam Agnus Dei propter nos Patri sacrificium propositum est. Ipsum solum adoremus: ipsum glorificemus cum Angelis clamantes: Alleluja.

Ideally, if circumstances permit, I receive Communion “kneeling on the tongue – not standing on the hand” (and as there is an altar rail at which to kneel in my parish church, doing so is my usual practice there), but I always remember that there is no sin in either approved method, and wish to avoid giving scandal to others, whether clergy or layfolk, who are so fixed in their ways as to be ignorant of this.

Having returned to my pew, I say to myself Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat me in vitam æternam. Amen. – note I do not use the Roman phrase animam meam, but the more direct Dominican me – while making the sign of the Cross. Then I pray the Sarum Ave in æternum sanctissima Caro Christi, mihi ante omnia et super omnia summa dulcedo, which I follow with the Ave verum... and the modified Mozarabic chant Refecti Christi Corpore, te laudamus, Domine, alleluja, alleluja, alleluja. Gloria et honor Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. Alleluja, alleluja, alleluja. Refecti Christi Corpore, te laudamus, Domine, alleluja, alleluja, alleluja. Sometimes I may add the antiphon O sacrum convivium... and the Gospel canticle Nunc dimittis... Of course, sometimes the Communion hymn is quite decent, and I will join in singing some or all of it.

In the time remaining before the priest says the Prayer after Communion (to which I of course respond Amen), I read the Communion antiphon of the day from my old missal, and follow that with Domine exaudi... (again substituting for the priestly Dominus vobiscum...), Oremus and the relevant Postcommunion(s). Then I make the usual replies to the priest’s final words, receive his blessing, and may sing the recessional hymn, or not, while also reciting the Marian Anthem of the season – though I don’t tend to read the Last Gospel to myself, though I could and indeed sometimes do so.

When kneeling down after Mass has ended, I often say the following prayer, taken from of all places the 1954 South African Book of Common Prayer, which is evidently an English version of the Placeat tibi, rendered suitable for lay use: 

LOOK with favour, most Holy Trinity, on this our act of worship and service; and may this sacrifice set forth before thine eyes be acceptable to thy Divine Majesty, and avail for us and all for whom we have offered it; who livest and reignest, [ever] one God, [blessed for ever,] world without end. Amen.

Launceston Latin Mass Update

Tonight, Fr Rowe – my former parish priest in Perth, W.A., who is visiting again, having been in Hobart for a conference – offered our monthly Missa cantata. The attendance was good, with several new faces present who promised to return, and afterward we shared a cuppa and a chinwag.

I have just learnt from Fr Suresh, who is chaplain to the Latin Mass community in this Archdiocese, that from our next Mass in August onwards, our monthly Latin Mass in Launceston will be held on the second Sunday, which will be more convenient for many.

Our next Missa cantata, therefore, will be held at 6 pm on Sunday the 9th of August, at St Francis Church, Riverside.

Thank you, St Patrick

It struck me on St Patrick's feast day that I really ought thank him, that truly noble Apostle of Ireland and Patron of Tasmania – since the prayers made to the Lord through his intercession (see side bar), that the Traditional Latin Mass, the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, be available in Tasmania, at least on all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, have been answered: His Grace Archbishop Porteous appointed Fr Suresh as Chaplain to the Archdiocese of Hobart Latin Mass Community earlier this year, and we have had weekly EF Masses ever since the end of January, thanks to him and Fr Quinn.

First Friday EF Masses have begun; this week, those in Hobart can attend a sung 6 pm Mass for the Annunciation; and again this year, we will have Fr Mannes visiting from Sydney in order to celebrate the sacred rites of the Paschal Triduum. As if that were not enough, since March, on the first Sunday of each month, there is a Missa cantata in Launceston – Truly, my cup runneth over!

I discovered an old posting of mine from December 2012: how much has changed in so little time! And to my surprise, the prayer to St Patrick asking for Latin Masses in this State I found I put together back in October 2008, before I moved back to Tasmania from Western Australia (together with some rather verbose additions unused for years). (I also again thank Fr Hunwicke for assisting me with Latinizing part of it – and for suggesting the addition of "at least".) So it took only 6 years and a quarter for this prayer to be answered: Deo gratias et Patricio.

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.

Latin Mass This Sunday: at St Canice, at 10:30am

I've just had it confirmed: our first "extra" Traditional Latin Mass for the Hobart Latin Mass Community will be sung this Sunday, the 16th of February, at the usual location – St Canice Church, Sandy Bay – but an hour earlier than usual, at 10:30 am.

We are grateful to Fr Marshall for flying in from Melbourne to offer Mass for us; he will be visiting for several days, and once details of when and where he will say Mass each day are available, I will assist in publicising them.

First Day of Summer, First Day of the New Year of Grace

A glorious first day of summer in Hobart: after our sung Latin Mass at St Canice for the first Sunday of Advent, we gathered outside for lunch and a meeting, in order to plan for the future of our Latin Mass Community, in response to His Grace's instructions to do so. A committee was formed, and, God willing, arrangements will be made to organise more Latin Masses in the future.

There was a good attendance at our Missa cantata, the servers and I did our best, and the choir sang well: I was especially taken with their rendering of Veni, veni, Emmanuel at the Offertory and the Advent Prose Rorate cæli desuper at Communion.

Of your charity, please pray that, as our limited resources may allow, we may give greater glory to God by our liturgical worship and by our evangelical witness to Christ and His Church, that more and more may come to love and serve the Lord.

Good News, Tassie Traddies!

The text following was distributed to-day as a printout to those attending our monthly Missa cantata:

Anna Greener and Tony Robbie met with His Grace, Archbishop Porteous[,] on Friday 1 Nov. The following points came out of this meeting:

• Archbishop Porteous is very supportive of our Community and would like to assist us to become a Parish in our own right. This would then mean that we would be able to celebrate all the Sacraments in the Tridentine Rite[.]

• This cannot take place until we are able to find a Priest to regularly minister to our Community. His Grace is in the process of attempting to find a Priest for us but would welcome any suggestions of Priests who may be prepared to take on this role. He is very happy for us to have Mass said as often as we can find someone to say it for us.

• He is happy for the proceeds of our offertory to be used to support the running of our Community, although there are administrative details to be sorted out[.]

• He gives us his blessing as a Community and assures us that he will actively support us expressing our Faith in the traditional rite[.]

Anna Greener

Tony Robbie

Please join us in giving thanks to God for His Grace's support, and pray that this venture may prove fruitful. It is vital that our financial contributions suffice to support a priest to minister to our Latin Mass Community, so we must henceforth be even more generous…

I understand that to begin with arrangements will be made to have a Latin Mass each fortnight, beginning in December.

Christmas at St Anne's in Perth

My old parish priest, Fr Rowe, sent me this photograph of the sanctuary at St Anne's Church, Belmont, new headquarters of the Latin Mass in Perth, Western Australia. (It also features himself and the two workers who made the altar rail gates and restored the Marian altar, not shown.)

I remember what an ugly sanctuary it was back when it was arranged for the modern Mass: but the forward "Cranmer table" was ripped out, its low platform replaced with a high stepped affair, and a proper high altar put in, with altar rails installed.  Anything iconoclastic done to a church can be reversed.  

Here are the details about Christmas Masses at St Anne's (11 Hehir St, Belmont):

Christmas Eve Monday 24th December: 11.00pm Rosary & Carols, 12.00 Midnight Mass.

Christmas Day Tuesday 25th December 2012: 8.00am Dawn Mass; 10.00am Day Mass. 

Please note confessions are not able to be heard before these Christmas Masses unless arranged with the priest, except during Rosary & Carols at 11.00pm before Mass. (Normally, Fr Rowe hears confessions before all Masses, but at Christmas this is precluded by all the extra burdens.)

New Year’s Day, the Octave Day of Christmas, Tuesday 1st January 2013: Masses at 8.00am & 10.00am & 6.00pm - the plenary indulgence for the faithful who publicly recite the Veni Creator on New Year's Day may be gained on the usual conditions by joining in the singing of this hymn, which will be sung after each of these Masses.

Sunday Masses at St Anne's are as follows: 7.30am, 9.30am, & 11.30am.  (From memory, the 9.30am Mass is the Missa cantata.)

Proposed Latin Mass Chaplaincy

Here in Tasmania, all are playing a waiting game, as news of the appointment of our next Archbishop is confidently expected.  (I heard a very pleasing rumour as to the name only yester-day.)  One matter that the new Ordinary must take in hand is that of making long-overdue provision for the legitimate aspirations of many Catholics in Tasmania, who wish for regular Extraordinary Form Masses to attend.

1. Currently, the Society of St Pius X is active in north-west Tasmania; a priest of the society flies down once or twice a month (1^st and 3^rd Sundays) and celebrates a Saturday evening (6 pm) and Sunday morning (9.30 am) Mass at Sassafras in the Village Church there, with confessions heard beforehand. Given the ongoing negotiations between the Holy See and the S.S.P.X., it is much to be hoped that their apostolate may be regularized, and for this all right-minded folk will pray, as the Pope would wish.  In charity, I assume that in God’s good time this will come to pass (in the meanwhile, many of the faithful, including myself, would feel unable in conscience to attend their Masses), and so will mainly restrict myself to consideration of what may be done in the rest of the State.

2.  For over fifteen years, there has been a monthly 11.30 am Sunday Mass, a Missa cantata, in Hobart, firstly celebrated by Fr (now Bp) Jarrett at Sacred Heart, New Town, and, since his departure to be Bishop of Lismore, by Fr Gerald Quinn, C.P., at St Canice, Sandy Bay.  The laity have repeatedly indicated that there would be a substantial congregation for a Latin Mass every Sunday. However, their repeated petitions, made over several years, for a weekly Sunday Latin Mass addressed both to the Archbishop and to the Ecclesia Dei commission in Rome have had no result so far.  Similarly, approaches to the Archbishop by the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter to obtain his approval for them to work in Tasmania have not been accepted.  This is particularly unfortunate, given that, while the Archdiocese has a shortage of priests, men entirely suited to this work have been turned away.  It is common knowledge in Melbourne that His Grace has gone so far as to forbid his seminarians (who study there) to attend Latin Masses anywhere!  It is much to be hoped that the next Archbishop will find it in his heart to agree with the Holy Father’s express wishes in this matter, and concede what has been many times legitimately and politely requested.

Given that the present monthly Mass is celebrated at a late hour, and, being a sung Mass, puts off some by its length (just over an hour), if it could be paired with an early Low Mass, many more would come, just as, if Mass were offered in the Extraordinary Form every Sunday, a larger congregation would stabilize, since obviously people are more likely to come along each week and make it their habit, rather than have to remember to come along at a special time and place once a month.

To begin with, a Latin Mass Chaplaincy would offer:

• Sunday morning Masses (one Low, one Missa cantata) in Hobart (presumably at St Canice, as it is a worthy venue, easy to access, and otherwise unused most of the time, apart from for weddings and the private Mass of a retired priest who lives nearby);
• Daily Mass (usually) in Hobart;
• Monthly Masses (Sunday evening and Monday morning) in, say, Launceston (a 200 km drive from Hobart), or another central population centre in the north or north-west ;
• Confessions heard before and after each Mass;
• Sundry devotions and groups, as need and opportunity arise.

One priest could easily fulfil this plan (which reflects Fr Rowe’s schedule as Latin Mass Chaplain in Perth, W.A.); if there were two priests, of course, much more could be done.

Frs Bob Maguire & Bill Uren - Say the Trad Mass!

I hear on the grapevine that Fr Bob Maguire, that lovable independent thinker, has taken to saying the Trad. Mass on Sunday evenings, and has even spoken in praise of it on the radio.  Extraordinary!

More amazing still, Fr Bill Uren, S.J., not normally thought of as a traditionalist, has promised to say such Masses at Newman College, given that many young people there have asked for it.

I think to-day I really have believed three impossible things.

To Hobart for Low Sunday

It's the first Sunday of the month again, and time to drive 200 km down to Hobart, where I'm the M.C. at our Missa cantata, this State's only permitted Latin Mass (though I hear the S.S.P.X. are active).

I am reminded of the words of Thomas à Kempis in The Imitation of Christ (Book IV, Chapter 1):

If this most holy Sacrament were celebrated in only one place and consecrated by only one priest in the whole world, with what great desire, do you think, would men be attracted to that place, to that priest of God, in order to witness the celebration of the divine Mysteries!

Of course, every Catholic Mass is valid; it is rather that, as Benedict XVI has written, in his Letter to Bishops accompanying his Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum:

...it has clearly been demonstrated that young persons too have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist, particularly suited to them.

******

Just this afternoon, inspiration struck, and some new words came to mind to match the tune of that ditty "Gather your people, O Lord", referring (let the reader understand) to those priests and people of a certain age and outlook on matters ecclesiastical, from whose influence Father Time will deliver us:

Crabby old people, O Lord!

Crabby old people, O Lord!

Stuck in the seventies,

They hate Latin Mass,

Crabby old people, O Lord!

15th Sunday after Pentecost

Another first Sunday, another Missa cantata - how good to be at a proper celebration of the sacred liturgy, not some dumbed-down committee-designed version thereof.

There were about sixty present, all told (which would be at the very least 1% of all Catholics at Mass in Tasmania, if not nearly 2%, given how Faith and practice are slip-sliding away): pretty good for the one, grudgingly-allowed Traditional Latin Mass, held at 11:30 but once a month; this time round, on a wet and miserable day in early spring.  If we had Mass every Sunday, and a Low Mass too, numbers would more than double.  As it is, the age breakdown is most promising, with lots of families with lots of children, and several more new faces among our choir and servers.

How nice it will be come late next year, when the Archdiocese finally gets a better leader, we trust, one who agrees with Rome rather than suffers the angry bitterness of a certain generation... perhaps Summorum pontificum will be implemented at last.

Offertories Old and New

The essential difference between the Offertory Rite in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, and that ("the Preparation of the Gifts")  in the Ordinary Form, is the degree of prolepsis.

Prolepsis - strange word!  What does it mean?  It means a "foreshadowing", a "foretelling", an anticipation (deriving from the Greek verb προλέγω).

We know – as Bishop Elliott reminded us in one of his liturgical handbooks – that the Mass is not a cereal sacrifice.  Furthermore, there is no oblation of bread and wine as such, since clearly such offerings cannot placate the Almighty.  Only insofar as the bread and wine will become the Body and Blood of the One Priest and Victim, Christ Jesus, the Lamb once slain Who lives for ever, do they have value: thus, anticipating their transformation into His Flesh and Blood Most Precious, already at the Offertory they are offered up.

This explains the language used in the Traditional Offertory prayers over the bread and wine and both together – in the Suscipe sancte Pater, the Offerimus tibi Domine, and the Suscipe sancta Trinitas.  The bread and wine are spoken of as already: the "spotless host" offered for all Christians, living and dead, that it profit unto salvation; the "chalice of salvation" whose sweet savour may ascend unto the Lord to avail for the salvation of the whole world; as "this oblation" offered to the Trinity in memory of Christ's saving works, honouring the saints and availing unto our salvation.  It would make no sense to speak of the bread and wine, before the consecration, in such terms except precisely proleptically.

Whence comes this language of prolepsis?  From the language of the Roman Canon itself: at its outset, long before the consecration of the elements by the very Words of the Lord (Verba Domini), the bread and wine are spoken of as hæc dona, hæc munera, hæc sancta sacrificia illibata ("these gifts, these presents, these holy unsullied sacrifices") and as hanc... oblationem, "this oblation".

The Offertory Rite, as the mediævals perceived, is thus already an anticipated doublet of the Canon of the Mass – which is why it was known then as the Canon minor.

The modern Mass, on the other hand, shies away from such full-blooded words.  This reflects the "problem" that theologians of the fifties and sixties had with prolepsis – despite it having been the norm in the Church for many centuries, in the Eastern Rites no less than in the Western.  (Indeed, the Mozarabic Rite is if anything the most proleptic of all, since its elaborate intercessions are offered up, speaking of the sacrifice of the Mass, long before the Preface and Consecration is reached.)

What to substitute for the old prayers?  Bugnini reports in his long apologia for the reform of the liturgy that at one stage, various Scriptural passages were suggested as possible for praying while the bread and wine were readied, such as "Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn her out seven pillars.  She hath slain her victims, mingled her wine, and set forth her table." (Wisdom ix, 1-2) Then someone had the bright idea of adapting the Jewish table blessings of bread and wine, much as, just perhaps (who can say?), Our Lord did at the Last Supper.  We therefore bless the Lord God of all things for the bread and wine we have to offer (that controversial word "offer" was retained), the produce of plants and of human effort (how didactic!), which will become – what?

It was decided that, unlike in the Ambrosian Rite, to pray directly and in anticipation of the epiclesis that the elements be transsubstantiated would be to anticipate too much (that dratted prolepsis again!), so instead, two poetic phrases were used: "bread of life" and "spiritual drink".  ("Spiritual drink" sounds very meagre, almost risible, in English: whisky is a spirit that we drink, for instance!)  Many commentators have noted that unfortunately (or ecumenically!) these phrases are rather equivocal, neither affirming nor denying the total change of the substance of bread and wine into the Body and Blood.

What has been lost?  There is now, in the Ordinary Form, no prayer in the Preparation of the Gifts offering them for such determinate ends, anticipating the offering up of the Divine Victim to compass our salvation and deliverance from our sins and all other blessings.  What remains?  The Orate fratres and its response, the Suscipiat.  This is a very important prayer: the priest asks the people to pray that the sacrifice that he offers, and that they offer up in union with him, may be acceptable to the Lord, that it may indeed be a true and saving satisfaction and impetration.  The people's response, to the effect that they beg God accept the offered sacrifice, to His praise and glory, and to benefit them and all the holy Church, does teach the truth of the Sacrifice.

The Novus Ordo also, it must be remembered, still retains the In spiritu humilatis, quoting from Daniel iii, 39-40, wherein the priest prays that (as new ICEL puts it), "With humble spirit and contrite heart may we be accepted by you, O Lord, and may our sacrifice in your sight this day be pleasing to you, Lord God."  It is important that sacrificium nostrum... placeat tibi, Domine Deus be read in the strongest sense, as praying that the sacrifice offered – which is Christ – please the Lord, placate Him, appease Him, be a propitiation availing for us men and for our salvation.  Undeniably, however, this is doctrine is deëmphasised in the modern Liturgy relative to the old.

A secondary difference is the degree of what might be called (by moderns) "uncomfortable words", relating to sinfulness and unworthiness.  In the Old Mass, the priest offers the host as a propitiation "for my innumerable sins and offences and negligences" – such a prayer is well-nigh unimaginable in the sunny New Mass!  Yet, strange to say, events of recent times have revealed that priests might well need to beseech forgiveness "for innumerable sins and offences and negligences" - can anyone dispute this, after so many scandals, "so much filth in the Church" as the Pope himself said, yea, as he has just said during his visit to Fatima, the greatest enemies of the Church are the sins of her members!

The Supreme Pontiff formerly known as Cardinal Ratzinger mentioned, while yet in that rank, that Gaudium et spes has passages that sound almost semi-Pelagian in their overconfident view of "modern man".  It is evident that this hubristic spirit is not absent from the liturgy drawn up by those too-optimistic men of the sixties...

Let us be clear, it is worse than foolishness, it is wilful blindness, to speak not of the need to offer God sacrifices in reparation "for... sins and offences and negligences" – are we to continue the pretence that "all is calm, all is bright" and still smile pathetically at Mass, "fiddling while Rome burns"?

Again, though, I must be fair, and note that the priest in the Ordinary Form, while washing his hands, prays the Lava me – "Wash me, Lord, from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin" (Psalm 50:4) – so the sense of sin is not entirely lacking in the modern Mass.

Note well: throughout this post I have left the Secret or Prayer over the Gifts out of the discussion!  I well know that this ancient prayer is the very soul of the offertory, since it existed before any other offertory prayers at all were developed and added.  But as to whether the emphasis of the doctrine it conveys has changed in the development of the modern Missal, that is a more complex topic, requiring much careful analysis...

Offerimus tibi Domine

This saving chalice too we bring,
receive it graciously, O King;
with fragrant odour may it rise
to your high throne above the skies.

— D. M. Coffey, "Receive, O Father, God of might", v. 2

Jungmann, in his magisterial work The Mass of the Roman Rite, has much to say of the prayer Offerimus tibi, which is used in the Traditional Latin Mass at the offering of the chalice; according to his sources, it first appears as a 9th or 10th century supplement to a manuscript Sacramentary.  There, and in other early records, it did not yet include the stirring and dogmatically significant words pro nostra et totius mundi salute.

The Canon of the Mass, in the oblation after the Consecration, has the words offerimus præclaræ majestati tuæ... calicem salutis perpetuæ.  In these words we find the proximate source of the prayer Offerimus tibi:

Offerimus tibi, Domine, calicem salutaris, tuam deprecantes clementiam: ut, in conspectu divinæ majestatis tuæ, pro nostra et totius mundi salute cum odore suavitatis ascendat.  Amen.

(We offer unto Thee, Lord, the saving chalice, beseeching Thy clemency: that it may go up with an odour of sweetness in sight of Thy Divine Majesty, for our and the whole world's salvation.  Amen.)

In Exodus, and repeatedly through Leviticus and Numbers, are found phrases about offering sacrifice as a sweetest savour to the Lord, just as once the Almighty smelt the odour of sweetness arising from Noë's sacrifice and was appeased (Gen. viii, 20-21).  This finds its true meaning in the New Testament, where we read that "Christ loved us and handed over Himself for us, as an Oblation and Victim to God in the odour of sweetness", in odorem suavitatis (Eph. v, 2).

As Aquinas put it in one of his hymns for Corpus Christi, Christ "gave Himself with His own Hands" when He took the chalice and made the wine within become His Blood, the price of our salvation; and having made His Apostles Priests of the New Testament, well may all the ordained say Calicem salutaris accipiam, et nomen Domini invocabo, "I will take the saving chalice, and invoke the name of the Lord" (Ps 115:4).  This chalice, wherein soon again Christ's Blood will be made present, is therefore seen as lifted up, and giving forth the sweet savour whereby the Deity is propitiated: and we know that "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours alone, but for the whole world's" – pro totius mundi (I John ii, 2).

Originally, this prayer was said by the deacon, not the priest, when the former brought the chalice, already filled with wine, to the altar and said this prayer of offering himself.  It was conceived that the priest offered the chalice through the ministry of the deacon, hence the usual opening word Offerimus, "We offer", not the expected Offero, "I offer" (which was used in some places); in process of time, it became the custom for both to say the prayer together, the deacon touching the chalice and supporting the priest's arm; thus was kept alive in the later Use of Rome the ancient dignity of the Deacon as minister of the chalice, long after Communion under both kinds died out.

One source, an 11th century missal from Hamburg, has, by prolepsis, sanguinem Filii tui ("the Blood of Thy Son") instead of calicem salutaris; another, a Westminster missal from the late 14th century, makes this a formula for offering up both elements with the words calicem et hostiam salutaris, and changing the verb to the plural ascendant.  (It is easy to spot that the words "and host" are added, since normally one would say "host and chalice", not "chalice and host".)

Since my own encounters with priests celebrating the Dominican Rite – which, like most variants of the Roman Rite, does not contain the Offerimus tibi – I have rather neglected this prayer in favour of the Suscipe sancta Trinitas in its short Dominican form, which is one of my customary private prayers at Mass (adding per manus sacerdotis tui, "by the hands of Thy priest", to make it a fit prayer for a layman).  But it is too beautiful to neglect wholly.

One suggestion is that, in some future revision of the Ordinary Form, the rather grand offertory prayers of the Extraordinary Form could be made alternatives to the untraditional formulas that I call Bugnini's bastard twins – "Blessed are you... through your goodness we have this bread / wine to offer..." – which  seem intended to teach 'modern [urban] man' that human hands make bread and wine from the produce of plants; at least it is acknowledged that God, the Lord of Creation, ought be blessed for His goodness in providing that this be so; the prayers also presume to state that they will become "the bread of life" and "spiritual drink", in case anyone is unsure of their purpose; at least the basic verb "to offer" is retained.  

How insufferably didactic!  To take benedictions of God from Jewish table prayers, and then to clumsily adapt them to Christian use at Mass by alluding to the new purpose to which the elements will be put, is a wholly untraditional approach not seen before.  I think Bugnini in his prolix account of the reform of the Roman liturgy rather ingenuously states that it was realized that some new offertory prayers just had to be made up, since otherwise (horribile dictu) the older ones would simply have continued to be said...

Offerimus tibi is only slightly longer than its replacement, and is certainly more poetic, as well as being more Scriptural: I would be delighted to hear it at ordinary Mass –

We offer you, Lord, the chalice of salvation, imploring your mercy, that it may arise with a sweet savour before your divine majesty, for our salvation and that of the whole world.  Amen.

In Hobart for the 4th Sunday after Easter

Six of us formed the choir for our monthly Missa cantata at St Canice in Sandy Bay, Hobart; I noted the usual five servers assisting Fr Quinn in the sanctuary, and about forty-five in the congregation.  Mass took an hour and ten minutes.  The only drawback was that confessions before Mass ran way over time: Mass started twenty minutes late, at 11:50 am.  I think Father realized that this was a problem (there was muttering about this), because at the end of the service he made a point of saying that next month, confessions will be available, God willing, for the half-hour before Mass, beginning at 11 am (so Mass can begin on time).

We sang the Proper chants of course – Cantate is a good Introit, and we were all greatly relieved at getting through the very difficult Offertory Jubilate Deo; for the Ordinary, Mass I (Lux et origo, for Paschaltide), except for the Sanctus, was used, plus Credo I; to fill in time remaining, there was Adoro te devote at the Offertory and a setting of the Anima Christi at Communion; and the simple Regina cæli was our recessional.  The Sanctus used was the so-called "Czech Sanctus" consisting of plainchant from Mass XI but with certain portions of the text (Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth, and Hosanna in excelsis) in parts.

So much for the (necessary) mechanics!  But the texts of the Mass bear close attention this day as always. The Collect and Secret and Postcommunion contain much deep doctrine: the Collect in particular is almost a conspectus of moral theology.  In summary:

• God makes the faithful to have one heart and mind and will: may he therefore grant us to love what He commands (as Augustine said to God, Da quod jubes, et fac quod vis, "Give what Thou commandest, and do what Thou wilt", and to man, Ama, et fac quod vis, "Love, and do what thou wilt", for love is the great commandment) and therefore to desire His promises, setting our hearts not on transient, terrene things, but fixing them "where true joys are to be found".  (Collect)
• By the rightly-revered commerce or exchange of this Sacrifice – Christ the One Sacrifice gives us Himself to be the Victim re-presented upon our altar – we are made sharers of the Divine Nature, and are indeed divinized and deified!  Knowing this therefore, we beg God grant us to live up to our most high calling by worthy deeds.  (Secret)
• May What we have received faithfully – God's Body and Blood – cleanse us from vices and deliver us from dangers.  (Postcommunion)

The Collect Deus qui fidelium mentes cannot but be quoted in full, for its loveliness and to remember it:

Deus, qui fidelium mentes unius efficis voluntatis, da populis tuis id amare quod præcipis, id desiderare quod promittis: ut inter mundanas varietates ibi nostra fixa sint corda, ubi vera sunt gaudia.  Per...

(O God, Who dost makest the minds of the faithful to be of one will, grant to Thy people to love that which Thou commandest, to desire that which Thou dost promise; that among the changing things of the world, there our hearts may be fixed where true joys are.  Through...)

Cranmer well-rendered this prayer, but replaced its first phrase; wierdly enough, in the present Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship, following the revision made in the U.S. 1979 B.C.P., this Collect is found not on the 4th Sunday after Easter, but on the 5th Sunday of Lent (presumably it was felt to be less Paschal, despite its evident looking toward heaven):

O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men, Grant unto thy people that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may be surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found.  Through...

Likewise, the Epistle is noteworthy for the very practical reminder that we ought be tardus ad iram, "slow to anger": "for man's anger worketh not the justice of God", but is also very rich in religious truths: every best and perfect gift comes from above, from the changeless Father, Who genuit nos verbo veritatis, "hath begotten us by the word of truth" – "wherefore... receive the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls".  

The text of the second Alleluia verse is a dear one to me, made familiar by its repetition as little chapter at Eastertide Lauds, Terce and Vespers: "Christ, rising from the dead, dieth now no more: death shall no more have dominion over Him."

But the Gospel – upon which Father briefly preached, as is his wont – is most significant, for therein Our Blessed Lord speaks of the Paraclete, the Comforter, the Advocate, God the Holy Spirit, Whom He sends us, to enlighten our minds and inspire our wills, giving us the power to know and do what is right and true.  The Holy Ghost is the New Law of grace, written on our hearts.  Just as He transforms the bread and wine upon the altar into Christ's very Flesh and Blood, so he lifts us up to a supernatural plane of operation beyond our natural capacities.  He even intercedes for us "with sighs too deep for words", perfecting our imperfect prayers, making our clumsy utterances God-pleasing.  God, God the Holy Spirit, sent to us by Christ Who merited this Gift, thus so amazingly perfects us by gracing us, making our good works truly and so richly meritorious.

Off to Hobart for Mass

To-morrow, being the first Sunday of May, I'll make the drive down to Hobart, for to attend and sing at our monthly Traditional Mass, which will be that of the 4th Sunday after Easter: Cantate Domino.  I so wish I had the chance to assist at the Liturgy in this manner every Sunday!

Hopefully, as the Traditional Anglican Communion's Australian members have already petitioned for an Australian Ordinariate, and now plan to formalize matters on their side by a Synod at the end of July, even before this year is out – perhaps by Advent 2010? – the local T.A.C. parish (under their prelate, Robarts) will be in full union with Rome, and I will have a Zoar (Genesis xix, 22 – KJV; the Douay has Segor) or place of refuge there, with a pious, reverent, traditional, eastward-facing liturgy in sacral English.  

I won't mind that at all (though if they let me I'll sing a bit of Latin for them too!).

But yet, I do miss my old parish in Perth, with ample opportunities to sing and serve at Mass...

Perhaps once Hobart gets a new bishop, we won't have to put up with Summorum Pontificum being but a dead letter here.

Passiontide & Holy Week in W.A.

Fr Rowe has just emailed me the latest copy of the bulletin of his Latin Mass apostolate:

 March - April 2010 Holy Week Notices

Month of  St Joseph

Latin Mass Apostolate

Mass can be followed in Latin/English/Italian Missals available for use at the door. 

Hymn books and purple Kyriales for sung Masses are available for use also.

                              Schedule for St Anne's Church, 11 Hehir St, Belmont

SUNDAY      March  21   7.30am & 9.30am               PASSION SUNDAY

 

Wednesday                                24   10.15am            Preceded by Holy Hour & Benediction. 9.00am – 10.00am           

                                                                                Pasiontide Feria

Thursday                                25     6.30pm             Preceded by Holy Hour & Benediction. 5.15pm – 6.15pm           

                                                                                ANNUNCIATION OF OUR LADY

Friday                                            26     5.30pm            STATIONS OF THE CROSS then Mass – Passiontide Feria 

Saturday                                 27     9.00am             Passiontide Feria

SUNDAY     March   28   7.30am & 9.30am                     PALM SUNDAY

 

Wednesday                                31   10.15am            Preceded by Holy Hour & Benediction. 9.00am – 10.00am           

                                                                                Wednesday in Holy Week

Please note the Easter Triduum is to take place at St Anne's Church, 11 Hehir St, Belmont.

Thursday          April      1    7.00pm     Maundy Thursday followed by Adoration

Good Friday                        2          1.30pm      STATIONS OF THE CROSS 

   3.00pm           GOOD FRIDAY SOLEMN LITURGY OF PASSION &

DEATH OF OUR LORD (Day of Fast & Abstinence)

                                                         7.00pm     TENEBRAE 

 Holy Saturday              3     10.00pm      HOLY SATURDAY VIGIL – CEREMONIES AND

                                                                        MASS OF EASTER. (fulfills Sunday obligation)

SUNDAY      April    4     7.30am & 9.30am                  EASTER 

Monday                                     5      9.00am             Easter Monday (Public holiday)

 

CONFESSIONS: Heard before Mass on Sunday, weekday Masses and after if necessary.  Please make the effort to go to confession during the week so that those only able to make Sunday Mass can go then.

On Sundays please be there at least 10 minutes before Mass to go to confession otherwise may miss out.

Please note that confessions at Belmont are heard in the oratory next to the church, enter via the outside door to the presbytery which is on the left side of the church.

Schedule for St John Pro-Cathedral, Victoria Avenue, Perth

 

SUNDAY   March 21  11.30am          PASSION SUNDAY

Monday                                  22    5.30pm             Passiontide Feria

Tuesday                                    23    7.45am             Passiontide Feria

Thursday                              25               12.10pm            Annunciation of Our Lady

SUNDAY   March 28  11.30am          PALM SUNDAY

Monday                                  29    7.45am             Monday in Holy Week

Tuesday                                    30    7.45am             Tuesday in Holy Week

SUNDAY   April     4   11.30am         EASTER SUNDAY

 

Schedule for Good Shepherd Church, 44 Streich Ave, Kelmscott.

                                  

SUNDAY     March    21   2.00pm               PASSION SUNDAY

SUNDAY      March   28   2.00pm                    PALM SUNDAY

SUNDAY       April     4   12.00noon                EASTER 

SUNDAY       April    11    2.00pm                   LOW SUNDAY 

SUNDAY       April     18   4.00pm                   GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY

SUNDAY       April     25   2.00pm                   Third after EASTER 

And thereafter at 2.00pm.  Please note the different times in April.

Schedule for St Thomas Church, Locke St, Carey Park, Bunbury

MASS IN BUNBURY: St Thomas Church, Locke Street, Carey Park.

Sunday at 6.00pm:            21 March 10   Sun 4^th April 10    25 April 10            Sun 30^th May 10     20 June 10

Monday:                 22 Mar (8.00am)    5^th Ap(9.00am)    26 Ap(9.00am)  31^st May (8.00am)  21 Ju (8.00am)         

Lent: Our Lord showed His obedience to His Father and His love for us by making the supreme sacrifice of Himself on Calvary.  In Lent we remember this and give Him our love by making daily acts of penance, fasting, prayer and the reading of the Passion.  During Lent we must reaffirm our love for God by seeking His forgiveness for our sins and offenses by making daily acts of penance.

Holy Week:  Please note that the Sacred Triduum is at St Anne's Church, 11 Hehir St, Belmont. 

Six Precepts of the Church: 1. Attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. 2. Confess sins at least once a year. 3. Receive Holy Communion at least once during Easter season. 4. Observe the days of fast and abstinence. 5. Help provide for the needs of the Church. 6. Marry in a Catholic church.

Summer Attire: During the warmer months it is all too easy to let down our guard of wearing modest clothing.  Please be diligent in assuring that your clothing is fit for being in the presence of Almighty

God, and is not an occasion of sin to someone around you.

Seating at Sunday Masses: If possible, please always occupy the front pews close to the windows first, then the back pews. Be aware if you arrive late there are usually seats up the front so feel free to move up there.  Each pew can comfortably fit six people so please move up to be courteous to others so they can find a space to sit.

Bus and Map to St Anne's Church: Please take note of additional information of map to St Anne's Church and bus timetable information available.

Parking on Sundays in Mercedes College: Gates are locked after 11.30am Sunday Mass so make sure your car is out promptly. Please remember Mercedes College in your prayers and park courteously.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU PARK IN THE MARKED BAYS AND NOT ILLEGALLY.

Please note that smoking is not permitted in Mercedes, and ensure that your children are under adult supervision on school grounds at all times.

New email addresses: If you wish to receive a copy of the bulletin and notices by email, please email the following address: latinmassbulletinwa@iinet.net.au   Each month the notices will be emailed to you automatically.  If you wish to contact Fr about any other matter use the following email address: latinmasschaplaincywa@iinet.net.au    Please use this email for all matters.

ANY QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT FR MICHAEL ROWE: Ph/Fax: (08) 9444-9604

PO Box 337 NORTH PERTH  W.A.  6906

Email: latinmasschaplaincywa@iinet.net.au

PLEASE TAKE THIS WITH YOU FOR FUTURE REFERENCE