Even at Papal Masses...

Even at Papal Masses, the readings before the Gospel are read by laypersons, not by vested, instituted lectors (of whom surely a supply would be available in Rome of all places); even at Papal Masses, despite several deacons serving at the Pope's side, the Prayers of the Faithful are read by a troop of layfolk, each reading one petition (just as teachers love to arrange a set of students to read them at school Masses), rather than – as all tradition would suggest, not to mention the rubrics – have a deacon announce the intentions for which to pray.

At least at Papal Mass in St Peter's, the Supreme Pontiff is celebrating Mass facing East, given the orientation of that basilica!

At least the Holy Father has brought back the use of an altar rail, at which, to kneeling communicants, he administers the Bread of Life, placing the Sacred Host on their tongues (and, one assumes, a following deacon then gives them Christ's Blood from the chalice).

It seems to me that, if a resacralization of the celebration of Mass is to be attempted – as is most needful, and moreover as the Pope has emphasised – then some of the first things to be done are to bring back a better adherence to the spirit of liturgical law, rather than, out of a misplaced sense of "community involvement", have members of the congregation perform what should be the proper ministries of lectors, acolytes and deacons: therefore, readings and intercessions should be read by persons vested at the least.

Almost more than anything else, restoring the ancient and rational practice of the priest facing East, standing before the altar, leading the people in prayer, rather than foolishly gawping at them (and they him) across the table thereof, is to be desired and worked towards.  The few times I've had the joy of attending Ordinary Form Mass said ad orientem, it has greatly helped make clear that what is going on is and ought to be offered as a reverent, dignified, sublime sacrifice.  It helps the priest pray, and helps both him and his flock focus on the Mystery, rather than both be distracted by and distracting to each other.

It seems to me that the administration of Holy Communion should be restored to being a more reverent ritual, with those doing so, even if EMHC's, being at least parati (vested), and those receiving kneeling to do so, as is the Papal preference.

Again, none of all of this requires any change in rubrics – only the resolve to implement, not a vulgar minimum, but a maximum.

Hence:

• Readers should be vested, instituted lectors;
• A deacon if present, or such a lector, should read the General Intercessions;
• Mass should be said employing the Eastward Position;
• EMHC's, if their use actually be necessary, should be vested;
• Communion should be received kneeling.

Why it is – as Acts of the Martyrs in North Africa demonstrate – that country congregations in the early Church had multiple lectors, subdeacons and so forth, where all too often to-day some aged priest has no servers but only a bevy of middle-aged ladies come to assist in reading and later in distributing Communion, I wonder?

(For the moment I do not speak of the parallel calls, now ever-stronger, for a return to singing the whole Mass, and the Propers thereof, not ditties or hymns but Introits and so forth.)

******

I will make one suggestion of a profitable and easy change to the modern Order of Mass: rather than having three Penitential Acts, all three ought be merged together: thus, the priest would always begin with the introductory phrase Fratres agnoscamus peccata nostra, then lead all in the Confiteor, which he answers with the Misereatur (all responding Amen) – then, having used "Act A", he would at once continue with the versicles that comprise variant "B", which form a sensible bridge to the Kyrie, either untroped, or (as in Penitential Act C) with interpolated verses (a nice revival of a mediæval practice).

A Very Dominican Doctorate

Heard yester-day: Fr Joseph (of Missa contra amicas fame) was asked how his doctoral studies are progressing; he replied, I intend to finish the first draft of my thesis this year – then I plan to begin reading.

How very Dominican!

Pray the Gradual Psalms

Yester-day, for Friday penance, and this morning, as my morning prayer, I prayed the Gradual Psalms (Pss 119–133 according to the Septuagint and Vulgate, or Pss 120–134 in the Hebrew and in modern Bibles) – which ought be ever on the lips of Christians.

It is said that these Gradual or “stepwise” Psalms were originally pilgrim chants, sung when going up to Jerusalem, or, as the more literal-minded would have it, they were songs sung by the Levites as the steps of the Temple were ascended one by one – mystical writers imagined that Our Lady, when presented as a child in the Temple, thus prayed them upon her entrance thereto.  Again, those exiled in Babylon, when at last able to return to Jerusalem, may well have prayed them during their journey: and all these images of going up, of approach, to the Holy, are of course an image of the spiritual life, an ascent from the Babylon of this world to the City of God.

The Gradual Psalms are thus figures of the ascent of the elect, who go up from this vale of tears to the heavenly Jerusalem by the steps of the virtues, and especially of charity (so states the Cœleste Palmetum, an old manual of devotion: they are figuras fuisse ascensionis Electorum, qui per gradus virtutum, ac præcipue charitatis, de valle lacrymarum ad cælestem Jerusalem ascendunt).  Therefore a Christian ought know himself to be but a pilgrim in this world, and have these psalms most familiar to him: he ought weep for being in painful exile, he ought pant after rest in the heavenly homeland, he ought ever lift himself up and make progress in the journey home to God – for, as Augustine warns, he who does not make continual progress at once goes backward.  The Gradual Psalms abound in these relevant sentiments, and so amply supply the mind with rightful thoughts and the will with holy aspirations.

(Again, I but english the words of the Cœleste Palmetum, which states: Proinde usus horum Psalmorum familiaris esse deberet cuilibet Christiano, qui se peregrinum in hoc mundo agnoscit, et nunc ærumnas exilii sui deflet, nunc ad requiem cælestis patriæ aspirat, semper autem se ad ascendendum, et in via Domini progrediendum ascendit. Ad quæ congruos affectus hi Psalmi abunde suppeditant.)

Why fifteen psalms “of degrees”, or “steps”?  I now refer to the numerical speculations of mediævals.  Fifteen is seven plus eight, and represents fitly the Old Testament, centred on the seventh day, whenas Creation was completed, and so hallowed as a day of rest in remembrance thereof, now fulfilled in the New, centred on the eighth, the Day of Resurrection, image of eternity as triumphant completion of God’s salvific work. Again, the first five psalms represent our five senses, by which we sin, and so die – hence their being sung without Gloria Patri, and being offered as prayer for the dead: Deus Israël, audi nunc orationem mortuorum Israël (Baruch iii, 4); while the second and third set of five psalms add to ten, being the number of the Commandments, the first three relating to love of God, and the last seven to love of neighbour – therefore, these are prayed for the living, and sung with Gloria Patri.  Such the mystic reasons adduced!

I like to preface the Gradual Psalms with Psalm 83, Quam dilecta tabernacula tua, since this is a psalm imaging the pilgrimage to Jerusalem: ascensiones in corde suo disposuit, in valle lacrimarum in loco quem posuit… ibunt de virtute in virtutem: videbitur Deus deorum in Sion. (And one may as well add to this the two like psalms following, Psalm 84, Benedixisti, Domine, terram tuam – found at Roman Prime de Beata – and Psalm 85, Inclina, Domine, aurem tuam; just as they are found together in the Præparatio ad Missam.)

By the way, Psalm 85, just referred to in passing above, has a moving line, a strong confession of sinful man’s grateful recognition of Divine mercy: Quia misericordia tua magna est super me: et eruisti animam meam ex inferno inferiori – “For thy mercy is great over me: and thou hast delivered” (more literally, “dug up”) “my soul from the deepest hell”.  So God’s Word struck me as I prayed after Confession this morning.

It was the practice in the Middle Ages for the Gradual Psalms to be prayed directly before beginning Matins.  As they were offered up as prayers of intercession, they were divided into three groups of five psalms each, and each group was followed by preces or prayers: Kyrie, the Lord's Prayer, some versicles and a collect.  The first group was prayed for the dead, and the second and third for the living.  While St Pius V released those who read the Office privately from saying the Gradual Psalms, he maintained the obligation of their use in choir to the extent that they were appointed to be said on Lenten Wednesdays; St Pius X removed this remnant commitment.

A check of various Breviaries reveals a surprising uniformity in the prayers added to the Gradual Psalms: they are almost always identical.  Some slight differences manifest themselves in the Uses of the religious orders, in the case of the Dominicans and especially the Carmelites, as will be detailed below; otherwise, they were prayed with the same words everywhere.

The Dominicans, as is their wont, abbreviate the collects and preces slightly: they omit the versicle Domine exaudi from all the preces; they omit the versicle Requiescant in the first set of preces, and the words et omnium fidelium defunctorum from its collect; they omit the words nos et omnes famulos tuos from the collect of the second set; they add, however, the words et ancillas tuas to the versicle Salvos in the third set of preces, and read assequantur in the last collect instead of the expected consequi mereantur.  These may be survivals of earlier practices.

The Carmelites make the most changes: firstly and uniquely, they preface the Gradual Psalms with V/. Adjutorium nostrum. As their Breviary's rubrics make clear, they sit for all the psalms, and bow at each doxology, before kneeling for the preces as is normal.

Most notably, in the Carmelite Rite the first five psalms are not prayed for the dead: instead, they are said with Gloria Patri, and are followed by what are the preces for the second set in other Uses, one of its versicles beginning not Memento but Memor esto and moreover having another versicle before it: V/. Memento nostri Domine in beneplacito populi tui. R/. Visita nos in salutari tuo. (The Cluniac Breviary also used this with the preces for the second five psalms.)

Again, the preces for the second five psalms are what in other Uses are appointed for the third, and likewise add, before its versicle Salvos, another versicle: V/. Domine, salvum fac regem. R/. Et exaudi nos in die, qua invocaverimus te. (The Cluniac Breviary had this versicle with the third set of preces, but reading salvos fac reges instead.) 

The last set of five psalms are those prayed for the dead, evidently because the first is Psalm 129, De profundis, considered the prayer for the dead par excellence, and these are said with only one Requiem at the end, just as is done in all other Uses for the first five psalms.  The preces (omitting Kyrie, as is mostly but not always done when praying for the dead) are the same as the Roman first set. It thus appears that the Carmelites changed the traditional order of praying the Gradual Psalms, thinking thus to adopt the more usual arrangement of praying for the living first, and the dead last.

I warmly commend these psalms and prayers to those who list for the Lord, lifting hearts and hands to God in heaven (cf. Lam. iii, 41).  In the text of the Gradual Psalms as given below, according to the traditional Roman form as found in the 1962 Breviary and earlier editions, laymen of course omit the versicle Dominus vobiscum when it occurs, as only a deacon, priest or bishop would say that.

PSALMI GRADUALES

Psalmus 119

Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi: * et exaudivit me.

Domine, libera animam meam a labiis iniquis, * et a lingua dolosa.

Quid detur tibi, aut quid apponatur tibi * ad linguam dolosam?

Sagittæ potentis acutæ, * cum carbonibus desolatoriis.

Heu mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est: habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar: * multum incola fuit anima mea.

Cum his qui oderunt pacem, eram pacificus: * cum loquebar illis, impugnabant me gratis.

Psalmus 120

Levavi oculos meos in montes, * unde veniet auxilium mihi.

Auxilium meum a Domino, * qui fecit cælum et terram.

Non det in commotionem pedem tuum: * neque dormitet qui custodit te.

Ecce non dormitabit neque dormiet, * qui custodit Israël.

Dominus custodit te, Dominus protectio tua, * super manum dexteram tuam.

Per diem sol non uret te: * neque luna per noctem.

Dominus custodit te ab omni malo: * custodiat animam tuam Dominus.

Dominus custodiat introitum tuum, et exitum tuum: * ex hoc nunc, et usque in sæculum.

Psalmus 121

Lætatus sum in his quæ dicta sunt mihi: * In domum Domini ibimus.

Stantes erant pedes nostri, * in atriis tuis, Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, quæ ædificatur ut civitas: * cujus participatio ejus in idipsum.

Illuc enim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini: * testimonium Israël ad confitendum nomini Domini.

Quia illic sederunt sedes in judicio, * sedes super domum David.

Rogate quæ ad pacem sunt Jerusalem: * et abundantia diligentibus te:

Fiat pax in virtute tua: * et abundantia in turribus tuis.

Propter fratres meos, et proximos meos, * loquebar pacem de te:

Propter domum Domini, Dei nostri, * quæsivi bona tibi.

Psalmus 122

Ad te levavi oculos meos, * qui habitas in cælis.

Ecce sicut oculi servorum * in manibus dominorum suorum,

Sicut oculi ancillæ in manibus dominæ suæ: * ita oculi nostri ad Dominum, Deum nostrum, donec misereatur nostri.

Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri: * quia multum repleti sumus despectione:

Quia multum repleta est anima nostra: * opprobrium abundantibus, et despectio superbis.

Psalmus 123

Nisi quia Dominus erat in nobis, dicat nunc Israël: * nisi quia Dominus erat in nobis,

Cum exsurgerent homines in nos, * forte vivos deglutissent nos:

Cum irasceretur furor eorum in nos, * forsitan aqua absorbuisset nos.

Torrentem pertransivit anima nostra: * forsitan pertransisset anima nostra aquam intolerabilem.

Benedictus Dominus * qui non dedit nos in captionem dentibus eorum.

Anima nostra sicut passer erepta est * de laqueo venantium:

Laqueus contritus est, * et nos liberati sumus.

Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini, * qui fecit cælum et terram.

Requiem æternam * dona eis, Domine.

Et lux perpetua * luceat eis.

Pater noster  secreto usque ad

℣. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.

℟. Sed libera nos a malo.

℣. A porta inferi.

℟. Erue, Domine, animas eorum.

℣. Requiescant in pace.

℟. Amen.

℣. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

℟. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
℣. Dominus vobiscum. 

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Oremus.                                   Oratio

Absolve, quæsumus, Domine, animas famulorum famularumque tuarum et omnium fidelium defunctorum, ab omni vinculo delictorum: ut in resurrectionis gloria inter Sanctos et Electos tuos resuscitati respirent. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. ℟. Amen.

Psalmus 124

Qui confidunt in Domino, sicut mons Sion: * non commovebitur in æternum, qui habitat in Jerusalem.

Montes in circuitu ejus: * et Dominus in circuitu populi sui, ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.

Quia non relinquet Dominus virgam peccatorum super sortem justorum: * ut non extendant justi ad iniquitatem manus suas.

Benefac, Domine, bonis, * et rectis corde.

Declinantes autem in obligationes adducet Dominus cum operantibus iniquitatem: * Pax super Israël.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 125

In convertendo Dominus captivitatem Sion: * facti sumus sicut consolati:

Tunc repletum est gaudio os nostrum: * et lingua nostra exsultatione.

Tunc dicent inter gentes: * Magnificavit Dominus facere cum eis.

Magnificavit Dominus facere nobiscum: * facti sumus lætantes.

Converte, Domine, captivitatem nostram, * sicut torrens in austro.

Qui seminant in lacrimis, * in exsultatione metent.

Euntes ibant et flebant, * mittentes semina sua.

Venientes autem venient cum exsultatione, * portantes manipulos suos.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 126

Nisi Dominus ædificaverit domum, * in vanum laboraverunt qui ædificant eam.

Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem, * frustra vigilat qui custodit eam.

Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere: * surgite postquam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris.

Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum: * ecce hæreditas Domini, filii: merces, fructus ventris.

Sicut sagittæ in manu potentis: * ita filii excussorum.

Beatus vir qui implevit desiderium suum ex ipsis: * non confundetur cum loquetur inimicis suis in porta.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 127

Beati omnes qui timent Dominum, * qui ambulant in viis ejus.

Labores manuum tuarum quia manducabis: * beatus es, et bene tibi erit.

Uxor tua sicut vitis abundans, * in lateribus domus tuæ.

Filii tui sicut novellæ olivarum, * in circuitu mensæ tuæ.

Ecce sic benedicetur homo, * qui timet Dominum.

Benedicat tibi Dominus ex Sion: * et videas bona Jerusalem omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ.

Et videas filios filiorum tuorum, * pacem super Israël.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 128

Sæpe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea, * dicat nunc Israël:

Sæpe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea: * etenim non potuerunt mihi.

Supra dorsum meum fabricaverunt peccatores: * prolongaverunt iniquitatem suam.

Dominus justus concidit cervices peccatorum: * confundantur et convertantur retrorsum omnes qui oderunt Sion.

Fiant sicut fœnum tectorum: * quod priusquam evellatur exaruit:

De quo non implevit manum suam qui metit, * et sinum suum qui manipulos colligit.

Et non dixerunt qui præteribant: Benedictio Domini super vos: * benediximus vobis in nomine Domini.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Kyrie, eleison.

Christe, eleison.

Kyrie, eleison.

Pater noster  secreto usque ad

℣. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.

℟. Sed libera nos a malo.

℣. Memento Congregationis tuae.

℟. Quam possedisti ab initio.

℣. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

℟. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
℣. Dominus vobiscum. 
℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Oremus.                                   Oratio

Deus, cui proprium est misereri semper et parcere: suscipe deprecationem nostram; ut nos, et omnes famulos tuos, quos delictorum catena constringit, miseratio tuæ pietatis clementer absolvat. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. ℟. Amen.

Psalmus 129

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: * Domine, exaudi vocem meam.

Fiant aures tuæ intendentes, * in vocem deprecationis meæ.

Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine: * Domine, quis sustinebit?

Quia apud te propitiatio est: * et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine.

Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus: * speravit anima mea in Domino.

A custodia matutina usque ad noctem: * speret Israël in Domino.

Quia apud Dominum misericordia: * et copiosa apud eum redemptio.

Et ipse redimet Israël, * ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 130

Domine, non est exaltatum cor meum: * neque elati sunt oculi mei.

Neque ambulavi in magnis: * neque in mirabilibus super me.

Si non humiliter sentiebam: * sed exaltavi animam meam:

Sicut ablactatus est super matre sua, * ita retributio in anima mea.

Speret Israël in Domino, * ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 131

Memento, Domine, David, * et omnis mansuetudinis ejus:

Sicut juravit Domino, * votum vovit Deo Jacob:

Si introiero in tabernaculum domus meæ, * si ascendero in lectum strati mei:

Si dedero somnum oculis meis, * et palpebris meis dormitationem:

Et requiem temporibus meis: donec inveniam locum Domino, * tabernaculum Deo Jacob.

Ecce audivimus eam in Ephrata: * invenimus eam in campis silvæ.

Introibimus in tabernaculum ejus: * adorabimus in loco ubi steterunt pedes ejus.

Surge, Domine, in requiem tuam, * tu et arca sanctificationis tuæ.

Sacerdotes tui induantur justitiam: * et sancti tui exsultent.

Propter David, servum tuum, * non avertas faciem Christi tui.

Juravit Dominus David veritatem, et non frustrabitur eam: * De fructu ventris tui ponam super sedem tuam.

Si custodierint filii tui testamentum meum, * et testimonia mea hæc quæ docebo eos:

Et filii eorum usque in sæculum, * sedebunt super sedem tuam.

Quoniam elegit Dominus Sion: * elegit eam in habitationem sibi.

Hæc requies mea in sæculum sæculi: * hic habitabo, quoniam elegi eam.

Viduam ejus benedicens benedicam: * pauperes ejus saturabo panibus.

Sacerdotes ejus induam salutari: * et sancti ejus exsultatione exsultabunt.

Illuc producam cornu David, * paravi lucernam Christo meo.

Inimicos ejus induam confusione: * super ipsum autem efflorebit sanctificatio mea.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 132

Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum * habitare fratres in unum:

Sicut unguentum in capite, * quod descendit in barbam, barbam Aaron,

Quod descendit in oram vestimenti ejus: * sicut ros Hermon, qui descendit in montem Sion.

Quoniam illic mandavit Dominus benedictionem, * et vitam usque in sæculum.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Psalmus 133

Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum, * omnes servi Domini:

Qui statis in domo Domini, * in atriis domus Dei nostri.

In noctibus extollite manus vestras in sancta, * et benedicite Dominum.

Benedicat te Dominus ex Sion, * qui fecit cælum et terram.

Gloria Patri et Filio * et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, * et in sæcula sæculorum.  Amen.

Kyrie, eleison.

Christe, eleison.

Kyrie, eleison.

Pater noster  secreto usque ad

℣. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.

℟. Sed libera nos a malo.

℣. Salvos fac servos tuos.

℟. Deus meus, sperantes in te.

℣. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

℟. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
℣. Dominus vobiscum. 

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Oremus.                                   Oratio

Prætende, Domine, famulis et famulabus tuis dexteram cælestis auxilii: ut te toto corde perquirant, et quæ digne postulant, consequi mereantur. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. ℟. Amen.

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.)

Hobart Latin Mass

Down to Hobart and back, for our State's monthly Missa cantata (there is, I am informed, an SSPX Low Mass at Sassafras on the way to Devonport, also held on the first Sunday of the month): a good trip, a very quick run through in fact, with scarcely any traffic on the road (but then again, to-day is both the day daylight saving has started, and also the day after the AFL Grand Final, so one suspects many had a sleep-in this morning), but I do feel tired from the driving, enjoyable though driving is.

I fear I am a very bad M.C.: I don't know all the rubrics well enough, and serving only once a month means that I don't get enough practice to learn from my mistakes.  Why, just to-day I had the priest read the Introit &c. before censing the altar, which was quite wrong!  Mea maxima culpa.

It would be good if more came to our little Mass: I think the congregation (exclusive of choir and servers) was only about thirty, with many familiar faces absent.  Of course, given the late hour of the service, and it being held but once a month, lower numbers than the ideal are no great surprise.  God will give the increase I suppose, and thirty at Mass is a great deal better than none.

"Fear not, little flock" - Nolite timere pusillus grex (St Luke xii, 32) – and the Lord continues, quia complacuit Patri vestro dare vobis regnum, "for it hath pleased your Father to give to you the kingdom".  Nolite timere pusillus grex: wouldn't that be a nice motto for our next bishop?!

To-day, if not the 16th Sunday after Pentecost, would have been the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels: may they guard us from harm, and guide us to the Kingdom.

St Michael, Come to Our Aid

I must recall to pray St Michael more often, that that blessed Archangel intervene for the people of God, as once the prophet Daniel saw him do, and may thrust down to Hell Satan and all evil spirits.

Here are some collects from his Vespers according to the Ambrosian Rite; I haven't quite finished translating the last one:

Oratio I

Da nobis, omnipotens Deus, beati Michaelis Archangeli honore ad summa proficere: ut cujus in terris gloriam prædicamus, ejus quoque precibus adjuvemur in cœlis. Per…

Give to us, almighty God, to profit to the utmost by honouring blessed Michael the Archangel: that as we tell of his glory on earth, we may be helped by his prayers in heaven. Through…

Oratio II = Roman

Oratio III

Adesto plebi tuæ, misericors Deus: et ut gratiæ tuæ potiora beneficia percipiat, beati Michaelis Archangeli fac supplicem deprecationibus sublevari. Per…

Be present to thy people, merciful God: and that they may perceive greater benefits by thy grace, make them, prostrate in prayer, to be lifted up by the prayers of blessed Michael the Archangel. Through…

Oratio IV (cf. Roman Postcommunion)*

Beati Archangeli tui Michaelis interventione suffulti, supplices te, Domine, deprecamur: ut, quos honore prosequimur, contingamus et mente. Per…

Supported by the intervention of thy blessed Archangel Michael, bowing low, Lord, we pray thee: that, those we accompany with honour, we may lay hold of with our mind. Through...

* There seems something strange here: the Roman recension reads intercessione not interventione, a merely verbal difference, but also reads not quos honore but quod ore – and the meaning seems quite cryptic in both cases.  Help!

And furthermore: glancing at Dominican Vespers of St Michael, what did I see but that the Magnificat antiphon was all but identical to the Ambrosian Collect IV above (excluding the Per Dominum &c. of course), excluding only the words Beati and tui and supplices, and adding an alleluja.  Hmm, all very interesting...

A Nice Surprise

Having sat through a rather annoying Mass the other day (it being obvious that the celebrant begrudged having to say Mass on Monday, that priestly Sabbath more sacred than any other, and for that matter couldn't be bothered even to try saying the new words for his parts at Mass - when the laity present had all long since accepted and memorized theirs - and didn't even bother to use any Penitential Rite at all, this being dispensable in his estimation it appears, given the evident objective to get the liturgy over and done with), it was joy indeed to arrive at Mass, albeit rather late (being afflicted with hayfever), and to find at the altar, not some lacklustre cleric itching to be gone, but a godly religious, preaching a moving sermon about priestly and religious holiness, all to the glory of the Sacred Heart and its conquest of souls.  I couldn't remember his name until he reminded me of it, since I have a bad memory for names oddly enough, but I did recognize him, and did recall the name of his companion in the pews: it was Fr Benedict and Br Louis, those stalwart Conventual Franciscans, with whom I studied theology about a decade or so ago.  Very kindly they said hello to me after having made their thanksgiving after Mass, and I'm glad to wish them well for the remainder of their time here in Tasmania.  How good to see a priest happy to be a priest, and one who cares for the flock.

Getting Ready for Christus Rex

Soon enough I'll be off on the 21st annual Peregrinatio Christi Regis (Christus Rex Pilgrimage) from Ballarat to Bendigo, from the cathedral of one to that of the other – in exactly five weeks, to be precise, since I will fly over to Melbourne on Thursday the 27th prox., in order to get to Ballarat very early the next morning (staying the night as a guest at a priest friend's residence en route).

I'd best start walking further each day!  (Last year, I just about killed myself by ludicrously insisting on walking the whole of Friday, despite being quite unprepared, to the extent that I honestly felt like crawling into a ditch to die that evening...)

To-day, I've registered, bought the plane tickets, and booked accommodation in Bendigo for the Sunday night, setting me back about $630 all told... plus whatever I've lost through taking two days off work without pay.  I suppose that's quite reasonable for a long weekend away, from Thursday night to Monday afternoon.  (The pilgrimage officially ends with Mass of Christ the King on Sunday afternoon, but unofficially there follows dinner that night, then another High Mass the next morning before brunch and a bus trip back to Melbourne airport.)

I must say, I don't like camping at all, though I don't mind walking (if prepared), so having to sleep in a tent two nights running is a most unwelcome prospect (no offence intended to those who kindly let me share their spacious structure: it just isn't my idea of fun).  However, a pilgrimage should involve penance, so that seems fair, though hard.

As is to be expected, I mused to-day about whether the 113 km Ballarat to Bendigo is the shortest distance between Catholic cathedrals in Australia: of course, it's not, since Sydney (including Wollongong to the south) has seven Catholic cathedrals within that range (including the Melkite, Maronite and Chaldean ones), but it would not be as pleasant marching to and fro through the suburbs as it is to peregrinate through country Victoria.

In any case, I hope one day to do that ancient pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella through northern Spain – as did some friends of mine in Hobart, who were 67 and 73 when they did it!

It is a very pleasant thing really, to go on pilgrimage.

Frigescente mundo

Yester-day, there was anticipated Mass of the Stigmata of St Francis in my Franciscan parish, since there is no Saturday morning Mass at St Francis (most unfortunately), and it seems to be ranked as a feast by the Friars Minor, given that the Gloria in excelsis was used.  To-day, I suppose, I'll read some Office in honour of this feast... my Dominican Diurnal treats it as a double feast, whereas by 1962, as in my Breviary, it was reduced to a Memory.

I do like the Collect of his Stigmata:

Dómine Jesu Christe, qui, frigescénte mundo, ad inflammándum corda nostra tui amoris igne, in carne beatíssimi Francisci passiónis tuæ sacra Stigmata renovásti: concéde propítius; ut ejus meritis et précibus crucem jugiter feramus, et dignos fructu pœniténtiæ faciámus: Qui vivis et regnas.

O Lord Jesu Christ, who when the world was waxing cold, to the inflaming of our hearts with the fire of thy love didst renew in the flesh of thy blessed Saint Francis the sacred marks of thy passion: mercifully grant that by his merits and intercession ; we may be enabled ever to bear thy Cross, and to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.  Who livest and reignest...

"When the world was waxing cold..." – what of our own age!

******

Unfortunately, pressures of work won't allow me to go to weekday Mass at St Francis for a while, given that it is held at 9 am: a pity, since I do like going to Mass there.  If one must attend the Novus Ordo, as I must but for once a month (pray Tasmania get a new bishop who is au fait with Papal policy and supportive thereof), then really I am spoiled for choice, since Mass at Carmel (albeit at 7.30 am) is also celebrated very reverently (the only drawback being that sometimes one of the priests supplying Mass there can say odd things in his sermons).

In both places, we have the unusual modern spectacle of singing in Latin at weekday Mass: at Carmel, if it is a feast day, the Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei are all chanted, and some other parts are sung in English; at St Francis, Riverside, as I have only recently learnt, there is often a hymn sung before and after weekday Mass, and the Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei are all chanted to the simple chant of Mass XVIII, while the Alleluia is also sung.

This seems to me a good example of how use of a small amount of music, well within the compass of a small weekday congregation, greatly contributes toward the sacralization of the liturgy.