Jeg skrev for noen dager siden om msgr. Nicola Bux’ bok om liturgien: Benedict XVI’s Reform. The Liturgy between Innovation and Tradition. Nå har jeg lest halvveis gjennom den, og kommer de neste dagene til å presentere noe av innholdet. Første selve innholdsfortegnelsen:
I. THE SACRED AND DIVINE LITURGY
The Liturgy: The Place Where God Meets Man
The Liturgy: “Heaven on Earth”
Rediscovering the Courage for the Sacred
Signs Evoke and Point to the Mystery
The Importance of Tradition
The Liturgy as Rule of Faith
II. THE ONE TO WHOM WE DRAW NEAR IN DIVINE WORSHIP
Looking upon the Crucified Lord Orients Worship and the Heart
The Eucharist as Essence of Christian Worship
In Him We Have Been Made One
Christ Is the True Celebrant
III. THE BATTLE OVER LITURGICAL REFORM
The Liturgy Must Be Understood Again in Every Generation
The Reform Proposed by the Council and Its Implementation
Paul VI’s Corrections
IV. THE POPE CALLS A CEASE-FIRE
The Motu Proprio’s Key Doctrinal and Disciplinary Points
A Little History
Misinterpretations of the Papal Action
V. THE ECCLESIAL CRISIS AND THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE LITURGY
Ecclesial and Liturgical Continuity
The Missal of Pius V Was Not Abrogated
Two Theories Originating from Biblicism
VI. HOW TO ENCOUNTER THE MYSTERY
The Priestly Service
The Participation of the Faithful
Looking upon the Cross
The Sacrality of the Church Building
VII. A NEW LITURGICAL MOVEMENT
Liturgical Formation
Translations and the Case of the Pro Multis
The Council, Latin, and Gregorian Chant
With the Patience of Love
I dag er det fem uker siden p Arnfinn Haram brått døde, søndag ettermiddag, 11. juni. Jeg fikk nettopp en lenke til fine minneord som ble sagt av Eskil Skjeldal under minnesamværet på Katarinahjemmet etter begravelsen 19. juni. Minneordene ble nylig lagt ut på den nye bloggen Sta. Sunniva av Selja. Her er noen korte utdrag:
Arnfinn var temperert i en utfordrende teologisk grunnstemning. Dermed er det å bare holde et minneord om ham, en vanskelig øvelse. Arnfinn levde hver dag som om han skulle stå foran Dommeren neste natt. Det er klart at en slik person, en slik asket, er utfordrende. Jeg ønsker jo på ingen måte å ramme ham inn; ingen tale kan noensinne omfatte et annet menneske fullt og helt. Og vanligvis kan man skille personen og yrket, og snakke om selve personen i et minneord. Det går ikke denne gangen. Dominikanerpresten og Arnfinn gikk i ett. Mange ganger har jeg forsøkt å si til ham hvor mye han betydde for oss alle, og meg personlig. Men hver gang sa han bare at jeg skulle spare det til minnetalen. Så her kommer den. …
Arnfinn transcenderte de fleste dennesidige kategorier, han var alltid mer enn min venn, mer enn skribenten, den intellektuelle, mer enn poeten. Flere ganger tenkte jeg at han var Guds egen eiendom, ingen andres, og mange ganger har jeg følt at hans forpliktelser lå langt utenfor tid og rom. Han var først og fremst prest, med hele det åket dette medfører. Dette var svært vanskelig for ham, men aldri umulig. Arnfinn virket for Kristi gjerning på jorda. Han hadde evighetens perspektiv på alt, han søkte Guds mening i alt. Mange ganger følte jeg at jeg bare hadde han til låns. …
De siste fire dagene av hans liv så jeg en veldig fred. Men samtidig hadde han en klar bevissthet om at han var sliten. Han ønsket å bare være Arnfinn. I disse dagene snakket vi mye om hans liv, hans kall, og om den sterke ambivalensen hans. Han var på den ene siden fornøyd med hvor mye han hadde fått til, men samtidig var han aldri fornøyd. Jeg skjønner nå i ettertid at han kanskje forstod at han var ved veis ende. Det han egentlig gjorde i de siste fire dagene var å gjøre opp status. Han gikk gjennom forholdet sitt til Gud, til brødrene, til alle vennene og til familien. Dette gjorde han ganske systematisk. Han følte en fred. Men samtidig var det en uro i ham, noe ubestemmelig som han ikke forstod, når det gjaldt fremtiden. Han sa gjentatte ganger de siste månedene, og senest den siste kvelden han levde, at han ikke så veien videre. …
I dag, 14. juli, feires den hellige Bonaventura i den tradisjonelle kalenderen, men i 1970 ble han flyttet én dag, til 15. juni – og feires ikke i år siden det er søndag. I de tradisjonelle tidebønnene leste jeg i dag følgende om Bonaventura til Matutin:
Born at Bagnorea in Tuscany, Bonaventure entered the Order of St. Francis of Assisi as a young man. Here he gave himself to study, and made such progress under his teacher. Alexander of Hales, that after seven years he publicly interpreted the book of Sentences at Paris, and gained the highest praise. He was a man of the greatest sweetness and humility, with a most ardent devotion to the Passion of Christ the Lord. When he was only thirty-five he was made Minister General of the whole Order. He carried out this office so prudently that he gained fame not only for his learning and holiness, but also for his diplomacy and skill. Because of this fame, Pope Gregory X made him Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He wrote many very learned works, not the least of which were his commentaries on the four books of the Sentences. He died at Lyons while the Council was in progress, at the age of forty-three. He was enrolled among the Saints by Sixtus IV, and Sixtus V gave him the title of Seraphic Doctor.
Den intellektuelle Bonaventura understreket at en tåpes kjærlighet og kunnskap om Gud kunne være langt større enn menneskelig visdom. Som teolog var han mer augustinsk enn aristotelisk som Thomas, han understreket viktigheten av en følelsesmessig mer enn en rent rasjonell tilnærming til de guddommelige mysterier. Hovedtrekkene ved Bonaventuras teologiske tenkning finnes i hans kommentar til Peter Lombards «Sentenser» (Sententiae in IV Libris Distinctae) (Commentaria in Quatuor libros sententiarum Magistri Petri Lombardi) (1250-54), som dekker hele feltet av skolastisk teologi.
Mens han ofte var enig med Thomas i mange konklusjoner, var det også områder der de var uenige, blant annet Bonaventuras påstand om at verdens skapelse med tiden kunne bevises av menneskelig fornuft. Da Thomas en gang besøkte Bonaventura og ba om å få se det biblioteket som hadde sine store kunnskaper fra, trakk han et forheng til side og pekte på krusifikset: «Jeg studerer bare den korsfestede, Jesus Kristus». …
I dag, søndag 8. juli, er den store valfartsdagen endelig kommet. Om en liten time står små og store pilegrimer og tripper spent på Klosterbåt-kaien i Selje. Vi skal til Selja, Norges eldste pilegrimsmål, for å feire Seljumannamesse i klosterruinene der.
Selja er et helt spesielt sted der den åndelige gravitasjonskraften er til å ta og føle på. Dette er stedet der Kirken i Norge ble født. Selv ikke-troende som besøker Selja fornemmer stedets hellighet.
Sogneprest Dom Alois Brodersen i St. Paul menighet skal feire den katolske høymessen klokken 8.30, og vi gleder oss. Det blir katolsk pilegrimsvandring over øya på vei til messen. Prosesjonen går på sti i fint og flatt terreng, og tar om lag en halv time.
Den lutherske Seljumannamesse-komiteen har uttrykt ønske om et sterkt katolsk nærvær i den lutherske gudstjenesten klokken 11.00. Der skal St. Hallvardsguttene synge og den lutherske Nidaros-biskopen Tor Singsaas vil tale. Blir fint!
I starten av den lutherske gudstjenesten blir det åpning av klosterets nyrestaurerte klokketårn, samt markering av Riksantikvarens 100-årsjubileum, der riksantikvar Jørn Holme og miljøvernminister Bård Vegar Solhjell deltar. …
Besøk gjerne den ganske nye bloggen: Sta. Sunniva av Selja – jeg legger den også inn i venstre spalte i min egen blogg.
Mange av oss (langt borte fra Selja og Bergen) merket lite til den hellige Sunniva i år, siden 8. juli falt på en søndag og hun ikke ble feiret de fleste steder. Men vår sogneprest i Bergen, dom Alois Arnstein Brodersen, feiret en fin messe i klosterruinen på Selja, og holdt der denne preskenen – som begynner slik:
Kjære troende
Vi er samlet her i klosterruinene på Selje for å feire Seljumannamesse. Den hellige Sunniva og Seljemennene er de første helgener vi kjenner til i Norge. Kanskje var det noen før dem, vi kan forestille oss irske eller andre kristne som ble slept hit som treller og som utholdt sitt liv i troen inntil enden, eller de prestene som Håkon den Gode tok med seg fra England – vi vet ikke hvordan det gikk med dem. Kirkene ble brent – og prestene? Men det fortaper seg i det forhistoriske mørke. Men om Sunniva og Seljemennene vet vi noe, for der har noe, om enn sørgelig lite, av overleveringer og legender overlevd. Altså vet vi mer enn ingen ting, og mer enn om så mange andre helgener fra de tidlige århundreder.
Vi er ikke kommet hit til Selja for å studere gamle ruiner, eller for å se høye fjell eller høre storhavet bruse – alt det har vi hjemme også. Vi er kommet hit for å søke Gud på dette hellige sted, der den hellige Sunniva og hennes ledsagere fant martyrdøden for over tusen år siden. Det er ikke naturens storslåtthet eller historiens sus, og heller ikke mystiske, umålbare stråler eller esoteriske krefter (som noen vil ha det til) eller spor av radioaktivitet i kildevannet (som man i hvert fall hevdet for femti-seksti år siden) som gjør dette stedet til et hellig sted, men det er tilknytningen til helgenenes liv, deres tro og deres død, som gjør at vi på dette sted kan føle nærværet av Det hellige. ….
I Ann Arbor, Michigan, har kongregasjonen Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist vokst fra 4 søstre i 1997 til over 100 i dag. De fleste av søstrene tar visstnok lærerutdanning, så fokuset for kongregasjonen er tydeligvis på katolske skoler og katolsk katekese. I Norge (og mange andre land) fantes det veldig mange søstre av denne typen tidligere, men nå er de (nesten) helt borte. Hva er det som gjør at denne nye gruppen i USA klarer seg så godt?
Sheiscatholic har lagt ut tre videoer på youtube som handler om dette. Hennes 17 år gamle søster har fått et kall til ordensliv, velger disse dominikanerinnene, blir akseptert og trer inn – på prøve i første omgang.
Denne morsomme videoen på youtube har blitt sett av noen tusen de siste dagene, etter at Father Z. nevnte den på sin blogg. Sheiscatholic har også en del andre videoer der hun forsvarer den katolske tro.
I det engelske, katolske tidsskriftet Catholic Herald skrev William Oddie nylig en artikkel der han gleder seg over utnevnelsen av en ny biskop (msgr Egan til Portsmouth), men der han også skriver om tidligere nuntiers – og engelske biskopers – aktive motstand mot pave Johannes Pauls og pave Bendikts ønsker for Kirken. Les selv – her er starten av artikkelen:
When Archbishop Antonio Mennini was first appointed as papal nuncio, we all had a good look at his record, for clues as to what his policy would be in one of the the most important areas of a nuncio’s work: making recommendations to the Congregation for Bishops and the Holy Father as to who to appoint to dioceses which become vacant. We were all well aware what the explanation was of the great conundrum, for the English Church, about the reign of John Paul II: why was it, when he had appointed most of our bishops, did nearly all of them go out of their way to undermine his vision for the Church? The answer was that a succession of nuncios had “gone native”, and had advised the Holy Father to appoint the men suggested to him by our own existing bishops, and especially by Cardinal Hume and then Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor: in other words, nuncios had been agents for the continuing project of the English bishops endlessly to perpetuate themselves and their de-Romanising, even secularising, vision for the English Church.
On Archbishop Mennini’s appointment, I hopefully speculated that an interview he had given in Russia (where he had previously been nuncio) might indicate that he was firmly behind the Pope’s agenda on the fight against secularisation, and might, therefore, be on-side when it came to the appointment of bishops here who would similarly be of the papal mind, on this and other key elements in the Ratzingerian analysis of where the Church needs to go. It was, I said, “good and hopeful stuff, which encourages one to hope that he will be using his obvious capacity to work out what’s going on in a particular secularised culture to help the Church here to begin the fightback, in the most effective way open to him – that is, by helping the Pope to appoint bishops who will do everything they can to implement rather than to undermine the Holy Father’s agenda.”
Well, the appointment of Mgr Philip Egan could hardly be a more striking demonstration that that is precisely what Archbishop Mennini does intend. To Portsmouth, the diocese in England where more than in any other the subversion of everything Pope John Paul stood for has proceeded unchecked ever since the appointment of its present bishop in 1989, the Holy Father has appointed the right-hand man of Bishop Mark Davies, probably the most passionately orthodox bishop in England today. …..
Jeg møtte Fr. Berg (som har norske aner) i Fribourg Sveits i mars i år. Han var meget vennlig og sympatisk, så jeg er glad for å lese i dag at han er gjenvalgt som superior for FSSP for 6 nye år. Fra FSSPs nettsider leser vi nå følgende kunngjøring:
Communiqué of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter: Wednesday, July 11, 2012, Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, Denton, Nebraska, USA
The General Chapter of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), gathered from July 3 to July 18, 2012 at the International Seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Denton, Nebraska, in plenary session elected Fr. John Berg as Superior General for 6 years. This election, at which the 33 capitulants were present, took place on July 9. The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei was immediately informed and sent a congratulatory message.
The election of the Assistants and Counselors will follow in the next days.
An American priest born in 1970, Fr. John Berg studied philosophy at St. Thomas Aquinas College (California, USA) and theology at the International Seminary of St. Peter in Wigratzbad (Bavaria, Germany). Fr. Berg holds a licentiate from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. Ordained a priest in 1997, Fr. Berg taught as a professor at the International Seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Nebraska, USA) from 1999 to 2000. Afterwards he exercised his ministry from 2000 to 2005 at the FSSP parish in Sacramento (California, USA), before being appointed again as professor at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary. In 2006, the FSSP General Chapter elected him Superior General for a first term of office. The Chapter reelected him on 9 July 2012 for a second term of six years.
I dag feires den hellige Benedikt (i den nye kalenderen); og i Europa feires han som fest, siden han i 1964 ble utropt til vernehelgen for hele Europa. I dagens messe hørte vi om to passende temaer for Benedikt; om visdom og om fattigdom.
Første lesning Ordsp 2, 1-9
Min sønn, ta imot mine ord, og ta vare på mine bud, så du lytter til visdommen og prøver å forstå med hele ditt sinn. Ja, bare kall på forstanden, og rop med høy røst etter innsikt. Let etter den som om det var sølv, grundig som når en graver etter skatter. Da skal du skjønne hva gudsfrykt er, og vinne kjennskap til Gud. For det er Herren som gir visdom, kunnskap og innsikt går ut fra hans munn. Han lar de rettsindige ha fremgang og er et skjold for dem som er hel i sin ferd. Han verner de stier hvor retten rår, og vokter veien for sine fromme. Da skal du skjønne deg på rettferd og rett, på rettsinn og all god fremferd.
Ecangelium Matt 19, 27-29
På den tid tok Peter til orde og sa til Jesus: «Men vi, vi har forlatt alt og fulgt deg. Hva får vi så igjen for det?» Jesus svarte: «Dette skal dere vite: Når tiden for verdens gjenfødelse kommer, når Menneskesønnen troner i sin herlighet – da skal også dere som har fulgt meg, sitte på tolv troner, som dommere over Israels tolv stammer. Og hver og en som har forlatt sitt hjem, sine søsken, sin mor og far, sine barn eller sine marker for mitt navns skyld, – han skal få det mangedobbelt igjen, og det evige liv i eie.»
Under sin første onsdagsaudiens som pave – 27. april 2005 – forklarte pave Benedikt hvorfor han valgte navnet Benedikt. Se og hør videoen under.
I den gamle kalenderen var Benedikts minnedag dødsdagen 21. mars, mens 11. juli er dagen for overføringen av helgenens relikvier til Frankrike, Benedicti translatio. Ved kalenderrevisjonen i 1969 ble hans minnedag i Universalkirken også flyttet til 11. juli for at den ikke skal falle i fastetiden. Dagen er fest i Europa, som Benedikt er skytshelgen for. I Frankrike feires han også 4. desember, og i Østkirken feires han den 14. mars. Hans minnedag 21. mars er avmerket på den norske primstaven.
Landsbyen Nemi ligger ca 30 km sørøst for Roma, og pave Benedikt var der nylig – og også våren 1965, da siste sesjon av Vatikankonsilet ble forberedt. Fra Zenit.org:
I am really pleased to have the possibility to see this House in Nemi again after 47 years. I have a beautiful memory of it, perhaps the most beautiful memory of the whole Council. I was living in the center of Rome, in the Santa Maria dell Anima College, with all the noise: all this is also beautiful. But to be here surrounded by green, to have this breath of nature and also this freshness of the air, was already in itself a lovely thing. And then there was the company of so many great theologians, with the important and beautiful task to prepare a decree on the mission.
I remember first of all the General of that time, Father Schutte, who had suffered in China, he was condemned and then expelled. He was full of missionary dynamism, of the need to give a new thrust to the missionary spirit. And I was there, a theologian of no great importance, very young, invited I know not why. But it was a great gift for me.
Then there was Fulton Sheen, who fascinated us in the evening with his talks; Father Congar and great of Leuven. For me it was a spiritual enrichment, a great gift. It was a decree without great controversies. There was this controversy, which I never really understood, between the school of Leuven and that of Munster: is the principal aim of the mission the implantation Ecclesiae or the Evangelii proclamation? However, everything converged in the unique dynamism of the need to take the light of the Word of God, the light of the love of God to the world and to give new joy to this proclamation.
And thus a new and beautiful decree was born in those days, accepted almost unanimously by all the Conciliar Fathers, and, for me, it is also a very good complement to Lumen Gentium, because you find in it a Trinitarian ecclesiology, which stems above all from the classic idea of the bonum diffusivum sui, the good that has need to communicate itself, to give itself: it cannot remain in itself, the good thing, goodness itself is essentially communicatio. And this appears already in the Trinitarian mystery, in the interior of God, and it is diffused in the history of salvation and in our need to give to others the good we have received.
Thus, with these memories I have often thought of these days at Nemi which are in me, as I said, an essential part of the experience of the Council. …
Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth avslutter sitt foredrag med å sitere pave Benedikt som sier at «mye mer må gjøres for å fornye liturgien», og Wadsworth kommer så med en del konkrete forslag:
– A sense of reverence for the text: the unity of the Roman Rite is now essentially a textual unity. The Church permits a certain latitude in the interpretation of the norms that govern the celebration of the liturgy and hence our unity is essentially textual: we use the same prayers and meditate on the same Scriptures. This is more clearly evident now with a single English text for universal use.
– A greater willingness to heed Sacrosanctum concilium rather than continual recourse to the rather nebulous concept of the ‘spirit of the Council’ which generally attempts to legitimize liturgical abuses rather than correct them. Currently, these teachings are more likely to be evidenced in a well prepared presentation of the Extraordinary Form than in most Ordinary Form celebrations.
It need not be so.
– In relation to both forms of the Roman Rite, a careful attention to the demands of the calendar and the norms which govern the celebration of the liturgy, not assuming that it is possible or acceptable to depart from these norms.
– A re-reading of the encyclical Mediator Dei of Pope Pius XII in conjunction with more recent Magisterial documents. In this way, the light of tradition might be perceived to shine on all our liturgical celebrations.
– The widespread cultivation of a dignified and reverent liturgy that evidences careful preparation and respect for its constituent elements in accordance with the liturgical norms.
– A recovery of the Latin tradition of the Roman Rite that enables us to continue to present elements of our liturgical patrimony from the earliest centuries with understanding. This necessarily requires a far more enthusiastic and widespread commitment to the teaching and learning of Latin in order that the linguistic culture required for interpreting our texts and chants may be more widely experienced and our patrimony enjoy a wider constituency.
– We should seek to see the exclusion of all music from the Liturgy which does not a ‘liturgical voice’, regardless of style.
– The exclusion from the liturgy of music which only expresses secular culture and which is ill-suited to the demands of the liturgy. A renaissance of interest in and use of chant in both Latin and English as a recognition that this form of music should enjoy ‘first place’ in our liturgy and all other musical forms are suitable for liturgical use to the extent that they share in the characteristics of chant.
– An avoidance of the idea that music is the sole consideration in the liturgy, the music is a vehicle for the liturgy not the other way around!
– A commitment to the celebration and teaching of the ars celebrandi of both forms of the Roman Rite, so that all priests can perceive more readily how the light of tradition shines on our liturgical life and how this might be communicated more effectively to our people.
– A clearer distinction between devotions, non-liturgical forms of prayer and the Sacred Liturgy. A lack of any proper liturgical sense has led to a proliferation of devotions as an alternative vehicle for popular fervour. This was a widespread criticism of the liturgy before the Council and we now have to ask ourselves why the same lacuna has been identified in the newer liturgical forms.
– A far greater commitment to silence before, during and after the Liturgy is needed.
Da vi besøkte USA for noen få uker siden, og bl.a. korherrene dom Elias og dom Daniel på Long Island, hørte vi at dom Gabriel (som vi møtte i Wien i 2008) skulle diakonvies 29. juni – og deretter begynne å arbeide i korherrenes to menigheter på Long island; St Patrick og St Rocco. Bildet øverst viser de tre korherrene, og man kan lese mer om ordinasjonen her.
Denne boken av p Nicola Bux ble utgitt på italiensk i 2008, og nå nylig (21. juni) kom den på engelsk, på Ignatius Press i USA, og i dag kjøpte jeg den som Kindle bok fra Amazon. jeg har lest det interessante forordet av Vittorio Messori, og så vidt fått tid til å begynne på innholdet. … Fortsettelse følger …
Amazon beskriver boken på følgende måte:
When Benedict XVI reestablished the celebration of the older Latin Mass, voices of protest rose up from many sides. The widespread fear was-and is-that the Pope had revealed himself as the reactionary defender of tradition that many have accused him of being since he was the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the former Holy Office.
Defenders of Benedict XVI have responded to these objections by explaining that the use of the Tridentine Rite is not a «step backward» to pre-Vatican II times, but rather a step forward. Now the Church can see what the older rite offered in terms of beauty, reverence, and meaning and perhaps desire more of those elements in the ordinary form of the Mass.
A professor of theology and liturgy, the author of this book explains the motives behind the Pope’s decision to allow two forms of the Mass. He does this by turning to the Pope’s own theological and liturgical writings, but he also draws from his experiences on various Church commissions and in offices of the Roman Curia.
The author also brings to his subject an astute understanding of current social and spiritual trends both inside and outside the Church. Sensitive to modern man’s hunger for the sacred, he desires with Pope Benedict XVI that the Mass be first and foremost a place of encounter with the living God.
Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth sier videre i sitt foredrag om liturgien at den viktige «deltakelsen» i liturgien ikke er det samme som ytre aktiviteter – og han nevner som et eksempel til skrekk og advarsel hovedmessen ved den Eukaristiske kongressen i Dublin nylig:
The Holy Father then went on to say that: 4. “not infrequently, the revision of liturgical forms has remained at an external level, and «active participation» has been confused with external activity”
In my view, this is the very crux of the matter and I would like to illustrate it with reference to the Mass at which Pope Benedict’s remarks were heard – the closing Mass of the recent Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. The improvements in liturgical culture and particularly the improvements in liturgical music, that have become increasingly evident throughout this papacy, particularly in large-scale celebrations were sadly almost entirely absent from this occasion, giving the event a sort of ‘eighties’ feel to it. More specifically:
– the entire liturgy had a ‘performance’ quality to it, with the assembly as the principal focus. This was borne out by the fact that musicial items were frequently greeted with applause.
– There was a frequent disregard for the provisions of the GIRM. This was particularly evident with reference to music:
+ None of the antiphons of the proper were sung for the entrance, offertory and communion processions (cf GIRM #40)
+ Gregorian Chant was conspicuous by its absence (cf GIRM #41). None of the Missal chants was used for the people’s parts of the Order of Mass (with the single exceptions of the gospel and preface dialogues), even though the liturgy was predominantly in English and these chants would have been known by most people present.
+ In the Profession of Faith, after the Cardinal celebrant had intoned Credo III, lectors read the Apostles’ Creed (which has a different intonation to the Nicene Creed) in a variety of languages, spoken paragraphs were punctuated by the sung response ‘Credo, Amen!” This is not recognizably one of the modes for the Creed described in the GIRM (cf GIRM #48).
+ Much music did not ‘correspond to the spirit of the liturgical action’ [GIRM #41] such as the celebrity spot during the distribution of Holy Communion of 3 clerical tenors, ‘The Priests’, singing the impossibly sentimental song “May the road rise up to meet you”. I feel like asking, just what is wrong with the Communion antiphon and psalm?
+ Despite the international character of the occasion, the use of Latin in the people’s sung parts was almost non-existant (cf GIRM #41).
The depressing cumulative effect of the disregard for all these principles in a major liturgy, celebrated by a papal legate, and broadcast throughout the world, is hard to underestimate. If I were given to conspiracy theories, I would almost feel persuaded that this was a deliberately calculated attempt to broadcast a different message and to oppose the better liturgical spirit of recent times. But surely it cannot be so?
Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth referer videre til pave Bendikts hilsen til den Eukaristiske konferansen i Dublin. Paven vurderer liturgiforandringene fra 1970, og monsignoren legger til hva han selv syns har vært mislykket:
2. «a great deal has been achieved» and
3. «it is equally clear that there have been many misunderstandings and irregularities»
– A sense of the communion of the Church has become limited to local communities that are in many ways self-selecting – many Catholics have a poor understanding of what it means to belong to the Universal Church but a highly developed understanding of what it means to belong to a self-selecting parish community of people like themselves.
– Any notion of the shape of the Liturgical year has been greatly lessened by an ironing-out of those features which characterized the distinctive seasons of the year.
– The universal tendency to ignore sung propers and to substitute non-liturgical alternatives. …
– The frequent tendency to gloss or paraphrase the liturgical texts, supplying continuous commentary, has contributed to an improvised or spontaneous character in much liturgical celebration. …
– The liturgy often seems to have the quality of a performance with the priest and liturgical ministers cast in the roles of performers and behaving accordingly. Consequently, congregations are often expecting to be ‘entertained’ rather as spectators might be at a theatre.
– The manner of the distribution and reception of Holy Communion (including the appropriateness of one’s reception of Communion at a particular Mass) has led to a casual disregard for this great Sacrament. …
– The appalling banality of much liturgical music and the lack of any true liturgical spirit in the use of music in the liturgy has been a primary generating force in anti-liturgical culture.
We drove for over four and a half hours each way on Thursday to spend an hour and a half in prayerful contemplation before the heart of Saint Jean Marie Vianney in Saint Anthony’s Church, Wythenshawe, and it was worth every moment. Hearty and heartfelt praise are owed to Bishop Mark Davies for organising the visit of this precious relic which will undoubtedly bring an outpouring of graces to the Catholic Church in England. In addition to the long queues to venerate the heart of the Cure d’Ars, it was encouraging to see long queues for the many confessionals.
There is still time to see, venerate and pray before this important relic: now more than ever our priests need the intercession of Saint Jean Marie Vianney. See below for the remaining dates. Even if you only manage a short visit after a long journey it will be worthwhile. …
Jeg nevnte for et par dager siden at Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth holdt et foredrag kalt: «The Reform of the Roman Rite». Han begynner dette foredraget med å sitere fra et budskap pave Benedikt kom med til den nylig avholdte Eukaristiske konferansen i Dublin, Irland:
«The Congress also occurs at a time when the Church throughout the world is preparing to celebrate the Year of Faith to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council, an event which launched the most extensive renewal of the Roman Rite ever known. Based upon a deepening appreciation of the sources of the liturgy, the Council promoted the full and active participation of the faithful in the Eucharistic sacrifice. At our distance today from the Council Fathers’ expressed desires regarding liturgical renewal, and in the light of the universal Church’s experience in the intervening period, it is clear that a great deal has been achieved; but it is equally clear that there have been many misunderstandings and irregularities. The renewal of external forms, desired by the Council Fathers, was intended to make it easier to enter into the inner depth of the mystery. Its true purpose was to lead people to a personal encounter with the Lord, present in the Eucharist, and thus with the living God, so that through this contact with Christ’s love, the love of his brothers and sisters for one another might also grow. Yet not infrequently, the revision of liturgical forms has remained at an external level, and «active participation» has been confused with external activity. Hence much still remains to be done on the path of real liturgical renewal.»
Etter å ha sitert dette, kommenterer Msgr Wadsworth flere ting i pavens budskap, og begynner slik (ved å spørre om liturgiomveltningene virkelig bygget på en korrekt forståelse av liturgihostoien):
1. “the Second Vatican Council, an event which launched the most extensive renewal of the Roman Rite ever known”
Very few people could have foreseen the wholesale revision of the liturgy which would come in the wake of the Second Vatican Council and certainly few could foresee that the unifying experience of a Latin liturgy would become entirely alien to most Catholics born in the last third of the twentieth century. The unchangeable nature of this characteristic of the Liturgy was a view largely shared by Blessed John Henry Newman, … …
The factors which fed into the liturgical reform after the Council were complex and in some ways, not entirely contemporary. I think we must admit that until relatively recently there has been very little scholarship that is able to accurately identify the sources of the liturgical reform. In some cases, the scholarly opinions upon which some decisions were based does not stand the test of time. We must hope that scholarly commentary which unravels some of the mystery surrounding the making of the new liturgy becomes more readily available in the near future.
Whether or not we have any scholarly insight, many of us have lived in the Church through this period and have thereby accumulated a vast reservoir of experiences which for good or ill shape our perceptions in relation to the liturgy and guide our expectations when we consider what we would hope to find when we come to worship God in the liturgy. While there is a sort of commonality to these observations across a wide spectrum of liturgical preference, it goes without saying that whether something is considered desirable or not will largely depend on your view of what the liturgy is meant to achieve. I have come to the view that there is little agreement in this important matter and many people proceed on what is essentially a privatized view of something which is by definition common property.
Om man vil, kan man under høre pave Benedikts budskap til den Eukaristiske konferansen i Dublin, som Msgr Wadsworth siterer utdrag fra.
Jeg skrev tidligere i dag om at det er fem år siden pave Benedikts motu proprio om den tradisjonelle messen ble offentliggjort, og mange spør kanskje seg selv hva som har skjedd siden den tid. I Norge har det skjedd noe, men ikke veldig mye. Vi er tre bispedømmeprester (alle norske) som feirer den tradisjonelle messen noenlunde ofte. Selv feirer jeg TLM offentlig to ganger hver måned og en privatmesse hver uke. De offentlige messene i St Joseph kunne gjerne vært bedre besøkt (og her er det en oppfordring til lekfolket), men det hadde selvfølgelig vært mye bedre om denne messen kunne blitt feiret hver søndag og på et bedre tidspunkt (enn kl 19.00). Disse to praktiske spørsmålene nevnte jeg for bispen for noen få uker siden. Han skulle se på det, sa han – og så får vi se hva som skjer.
Bloggen Rorate cæli har et innlegg i dag, der de ber leserne fortelle hvordan pave Benedikts brev (og vilje) er blitt implementert der de bor: «Tell us if and how the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, of Pope Benedict XVI, has been applied in your diocese and changed your Catholic life. You do not have to identify your diocese, if you do not wish to do so (in this case, please identify at least your country).» Dette er litt skuffende lesning, må man innrømme, men det skjer i alle fall en langsom forbedring mange steder.
I dag er det fem år siden pave Benedikt «frigjorde» den tradisjonelle latinske messen, og på Father Z’s blogg fant jeg dette intervjuet med kardinal Burke.
Jeg skrev for noen dager siden om msgr. Nicola Bux’ bok om liturgien: Benedict XVI’s Reform. The Liturgy between Innovation and Tradition. Nå har jeg lest halvveis gjennom den, og kommer de neste dagene til å presentere noe av innholdet. Første selve innholdsfortegnelsen:
I dag, 14. juli, feires den hellige Bonaventura i den tradisjonelle kalenderen, men i 1970 ble han flyttet én dag, til 15. juni – og feires ikke i år siden det er søndag. I de tradisjonelle tidebønnene leste jeg i dag følgende om Bonaventura til Matutin:
I Ann Arbor, Michigan, har kongregasjonen 
