Liturgi

Konferansen i Roma 13.-15. mai om den tradisjonelle messen


Jeg skrev om denne konferansen allerede for en måned siden – og den går av stabelen kommende helg, 13. -15. mai. Les mer om den her (på italiensk).

I artikkelen jeg nevnte tidligere i dag, skriver Anna Arco også om denne konferansen – slik:

It is interesting to note that next week, the Angelicum will host a massive conference entitled “Summorum Pontificum: a Hope for the Church“. It could not be more different than the congress described above. Four years after the publication of the Motu Proprio, the older form of the Mass has quietly entered the mainstream. Speakers here include hard hitters of the reform of the reform including the Kazakh Bishop Athanasius Schneider whose book on the Eucharist has been much vaunted, the new head of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, who will speak about ecumenical points, and the head of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares-Llovera.

Such a mainstream conference was unthinkable four years ago, but now it has come to pass without much fuss. The reform of the reform is happening. I think it is unlikely that the Extraordinary Form of the Mass will ever be very widely used, but it is good to have it, because its liberation has, slowly, slowly meant a more reverent celebration of the newer form of the Mass. …

«Målet for Vatikankonsilets liturgireform var ikke å forandre messen»

Dette skriver Anna Arco i the Catholic Herald begeistret nå hun forteller om pave benedikts innledning til en liturgisk konferanse i Roma sist uke – og det var nokså progressive krefter som arrangerte konferansen. Anna Arco åpner artikkelen slik: «Pope Benedict has said the objective of Conciliar reform was not to change the rite and texts of the liturgy, but to renew the sense of Paschal Mystery.» Og hun fortsetter:

Addressing a group of liturgists who were meeting for the Ninth International Congress on the Liturgy, organised by the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Rome’s St Anselm Pontifical Athenaeum, the Pope said: “The liturgy of the Church goes beyond the ‘conciliar reform’, the objective of which in fact was not mainly to change the rites and texts but rather to renew the mentality and to put the celebration of Christ’s Paschal Mystery at the centre of Christian life and pastoral work.

“Unfortunately the liturgy has perhaps been seen – even by us, pastors and experts – more as an object to reform than a subject capable of renewing Christian life, seeing that ‘a very close and organic bond exists between the renewal of the liturgy and the renewal of the whole life of the Church’.”

“The liturgy … lives a proper and constant relationship between sound ‘traditio’ and legitimate ‘progressio’, clearly seen by the conciliar constitution Sancrosanctum Concilium at paragraph 23 … Not infrequently are tradition and progress in awkward opposition. Actually though, the two concepts are interwoven: tradition is a living reality that, in itself, includes the principle of development, of progress”.

The conference, entitled “The Pontifical Liturgical Institute: Between Memory and Prophecy” spanned over three days and focused on the legacy of the liturgy of the past 50 years, really since the Second Vatican Council. Speakers included liturgical luminaries like the electric guitar-playing Abbot Primas Notker Wolf of the Confederation of Benedictines, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski and veteran liturgist Fr Matias Augé CMF. It also featured a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the Emeritus Archbishop of Brussels-Mechelen – a diocese where most people remain seated during the consecration and the churches are pretty empty. …

Myter om Vatikankonsilet

Jeg tok på meg for et par år siden å være ansvarlig for de katolske sidene på nettutgaven av Store Norske Leksikon. Jeg har tvilt en del ganger på om jeg burde ha tatt det på meg, og en hel del uro om leksikonets framtid har også gjort at jeg til tider har lagt ned veldig lite arbeid her. Nå har jeg begynt å gjøre litt mer; i første omgang å legge til en hel del lenker til katolsk.no – det passer også godt nå, siden katolsk.no er blitt oppdatert nylig, med bl.a. nye adresser til alle sidene.

Jeg så i dag på hva snl.no skrev om 2. Vatikankoonsil, og la inn lenker til alle konsilets dokumenter. Jeg oppdaget til min forskrekkelse at det om Sacrosanctum concilium hadde stått: «konstitusjon om liturgien (som fremmer legfolkets aktive deltagelse i gudstjenesten og går inn for å erstatte latin med folkespråk)«. Vi kan ikke ha feilaktige opplysninger i et leksikon (konsilet ville jo beholde latinen: SC 36. § 1. «Bruken av det latinske språk bibeholdes i den latinske ritus«) så nå er dette forandret – men jeg har ikke gjort mange andre forandringer.

(Jeg minner gjerne igjen om at det var jeg som i 1998 skannet inn alle dokumentene fra konsilet, slik at de kunne bli lagt ut på nettet her.)

Messe I: Lux et origo

I messen i morgen – i St Joseph kirke i Akersveien, kl 19.00 – skal vi synge den første gregorianske messen, «Lux et origo». Den er forholdvis vanskelig – og synges vel ikke i så mange menigheter, men jeg husker at den ble brukt en del i påsketiden i St Paul kirke i Bergen på 90-tallet – så her kan man lytte til den – samt til Credo I, som vi også bruker – og øve til messen i morgen.

De fleste av disse videoene fant jeg her.

Hva skjedde med messen i 1969?

Vatkankonsilets liturgidokument, Sacrosanctum concilium, ble vedtatt 4. desember 1963, og der står det i artikkel 23: «Et omhyggelig studium – teologisk, historisk og pastoralt – må alltid gå forut for enhver revisjon av liturgiens enkelte deler; slik at den sunne tradisjon blir respektert, samtidig som veien står åpen for et legitimt fremskritt. Videre skal de generelle lover for liturgiens struktur og indre mening tas i betraktning, samtidig som man baserer seg på de erfaringer som er vunnet ved den seneste tids liturgiske reformer og ved de spesielle tillatelser som er blitt gitt her og der. Endelig skal nye ting bare innføres i den monn det er sikkert at Kirkens sanne beste krever det; og man må være fullt viss på at de nye former betyr en på sett og vis organisk utvikling av dem som allerede eksisterer.» (Les større utdrag av teksten her.)

Når jeg så de siste årene gradvis har lært å kjenne Kirkens tradisjon fra før 1969 (tidligere hadde jeg bare hørt den avfeiet med krasse betegnelser), har jeg innsett at mye av det som ble gjort i kampens hete (1964-70) ikke på noen måte kan sies å være absolutt påkrevd (se over) og heller ikke kunne vise til noen organisk utvikling (se igjen over). – Noen ganger trodde man riktignok at man hadde funnet en oldkirkelig praksis, som man nå ville gjenopplive, men dette viste seg ofte å være misforståelser.

Fr. Hunwicke, i artikkelserien som jeg nå studerer, peker ganske tydelig på hva som skjedde i 1969 (i motsetning til hva som som skjedde under revisjonen etter Tridentinerkonsilet):

It was not, like the Missal of Paul VI, a rite marked on every single page with revolutionary innovations. Nobody denies that the ‘Tridentine’ Missal differs very little from earlier editions. Nobody claims that alterations were made in the Canon which had no basis in its textual history; that a dozen or so alternative ‘Eucharistic Prayers’ were added; or that the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels of every single Sunday were changed. Nobody can deny that all this is true of the Pauline Missal. (Well, I suppose that in the Pauline Missal two or three Sundays after Epiphany somehow managed to keep their collects. And Palm Sunday.)

…. the Pauline missal was not just one more light, slight, evolutionary revision of the Pian Missal. Those who most strongly argue that the Pian events and the Pauline events were parallel and congruous can hardly avoid the conclusion that Paul did not desire … any more than Pius intended … to consign the traditional forms of the Roman Rite to the rubbish dump.

I offer these thoughts as my meditation upon the words I quoted in my last post from Cardinal Ratzinger: that it is contrary to the Spirit of the Church to abolish the rites which have served the piety and lives of generations of Christians.

Fr. Hunwickes artikkelserie om messens liturgi kan leses i sin helhet her: del 1del 2del 3del 4del 5.

Tradisjonell latinsk messe i Oslo kommende søndag

Kommende søndag – 8. mai – feires den tradisjonelle latinske messen i Oslo, i St Joseph kirke i Akersveien, kl 19.00 – med muligheter for skrifte fra kl 18.30.

Denne søndagen feirer vi 2. søndag etter påske, og tekstene for messen kan leses på latin og norsk her. Musikken til messens proprium er her – og til ordinarium synges Messe I og Credo I.

Det blir et par små forandringer i messen denne gangen: 1) det blir delt ut et program med bl.a. dagens epistel og evangelium på norsk; disse tekstene blir derfor ikke lest på norsk fra prekestolen. 2) Vi synger en hymne på norsk under prestens inngang; før messen begynner.

Programmet for denne søndagen kan man se her.

(Legg merke til at søndagen i den gamle kalenderen heter 2. søndag etter påske, mens den i den nye kalenderen heter 3. søndag i påsketiden.)

Hadde pave Benedikt lov til å tillate bruk av den tradisjonelle latinske messen?

Fr. Hunwicke har på sin blogg en artikkelserie om liturgien, som tar utgangspunkt i en artikkel i januar 2011 nummeret av «Worship», skrevet av en amerikansk kirkerettsekspert, Chad Glendinning. Hovedpunktet i artikkelen ser ut til å være at pave Bendikt tar feil når han sier at den tradisjonelle latinske messen aldri var blitt fobudt, og at paven derfor også tar feil når han i dokumentet Summorum Pontificum i 2007 tillater en friere bruk av den tradisjonelle messen. Fr. Hunwicke angriper dette argumentet først og fremst ved å hevde at vi her ikke i særlig grad snakker om kirkerett, men heller om liturgiske lover. Her er et utdrag av det han skriver om dette:

My intention is to examine the earlier teaching of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger on the post-Conciliar events and to suggest that his judgement as Pope upon the non-abrogation of the Old Missal is a theological statement as important as, and indeed very closely related to, his teaching in his justly celebrated Address to the Roman Curia about a Hermeneutic of Continuity. Unlike Glendinning and the canonists he quotes, I see Papa Ratzinger’s pronouncement in this matter as another sign of his very considerable greatness. And as an ecumenical step of very profound significance. …

«The liturgy cannot be compared to a piece of technical equipment, something manufactured, but to a plant, something organic that grows and whose laws of growth determine the possibilities of further development». Notice that he uses the term ‘laws’ in a way which has nothing whatsoever to do with enacted legislation. He is discerning principles of ecclesial life which go deeper than Canon Law. …. After the Second Vatican Council, the impression arose that the pope really could do anything in liturgical matters, especially if he were acting on the mandate of an ecumenical council. Eventually, the idea of the givenness of the liturgy, the fact that one cannot do with it what one will, faded from the consciousness of the West. …. The pope’s authority is bound to the Tradition of faith, and that also applies to the liturgy. It is not ‘manufactured’ by the authorities. Even the pope can only be a humble servant of its lawful development and abiding integrity and identity.» …. It seems to me that Cardinal Ratzinger’s concerns are less with Canon Law than with an unwritten law inscribed in the very nature of the Church (the embodiment of authentic tradition), which trumps the law embodied in transient canonical codes and enactments. …

(Fr. Hunwickes artikkelserie kan leses her: del 1del 2del 3del 4del 5.)

Minnedag for den hellige Pius V

Det er minnedag for Pius V i den tradisjonelle kalenderen – ikke i den nye. katolsk.no skriver om dette slik: «Pius V ble saligkåret den 1. mai 1672 (dokumentet (Breve) var datert den 27. april) av pave Klemens X (1670-76) og helligkåret den 22. mai 1712 av pave Klemens XI (1700-21). Hans minnedag var 5. mai før kalenderrevisjonen i 1969, men i dag minnes han den 30. april. Han er den eneste pave fra nyere tid (ved siden av den hellige Pius X) som er blitt helligkåret.»

I de tradisjonelle tidebønnene leste vi i dag til Matutin (i 3. lesning):

Pius, born at Bosco in Lombardy, entered the Order of Preachers at the age of fourteen. When he had been ordained to the priesthood, he preached in many churches, and his sermons bore much spiritual fruit. For a long time he carried out the office of Inquisitor in a way that was both vigorous and praiseworthy. He was promoted by Paul IV to the bishoprick of Nepi and Sutri, and two years later he was enrolled among the Cardinals of the Church. Pius IV transferred him to the See of Mondóvi in Piedmont, where he visited his whole diocese and remedied many abuses. Thereafter, he returned to Rome, where he was engaged in many important affairs. When Pius IV died, he was elected Pope, contrary to all expectation ; and thereafter he changed nothing in his way of life except his outer garments. Not so much by arms as by the prayers he poured out, he overcame Selim, the Sultan of the Turks, who had gathered together a huge fleet at Lepanto. In the year 1572, while preparing a new expedition against the Turks, he died peacefully in the Lord, at the age of sixty-eight. His body is venerated by the faithful in the basilica of St. Mary Major. Clement XI enrolled him among the Saints.

Om noen vil lese dette på latin, kan de fortsette. …

Breviarium Romanum

Jeg har nevnt noen ganger at jeg for 3-4 måneder siden begynte å lese de tradisjonelle katolske tidebønnene. Når man begynner med noe nytt, er det alltid en del detaljer man må lære, og jeg vet ikke om noen prester eller ordensfolk i Norge som bruker disse tidebønnene her i Norge – etter at pastor Taxt døde.

Derfor hender det at jeg sjekker med Father Z. om jeg virkelig har forstått hvordan det skal gjøres. Det gjorde jeg nå i dag tidlig; sjekket vesper fra i går som han (i natt, norsk tid) hadde lest inn og lagt ut på bloggen sin her. Lytt gjerne til bønnene der.

Påskens liturgier fra Westminster Cathedral i London

NLM-bloggen viser i dag mange flotte bilder fra påskeliturgien i Westminster Cathedral i London, fra palmesøndag, skjrætorsdag, langfredag og påskevigilien – og viser både den fine kirken, flotte messeklær (også flere romerske), samt en flott baldakin til skjærtorsdags sakramentsprosesjon og en umbreletto langfredag (når sakramnetet hentes). Her er noen av bildene:





Maria Magdalena fikk se Jesus fordi hun elsket så høyt

I dag leser vi følgende evangelietekst i messens ekstraordinære form, fra Johannes 20:

Jesus viser seg for Maria Magdalena
11 Men Maria ble stående og gråte like utenfor graven. Gråtende bøyde hun seg fram og så inn i graven, 12 og fikk se to engler i skinnende hvite klær som satt der Jesu legeme hadde ligget, en ved hodet og en ved føttene. 13 «Hvorfor gråter du, kvinne?» sa de. Hun svarte: «De har tatt min Herre bort, og jeg vet ikke hvor de har lagt ham.» 14 I det samme snudde hun seg og så Jesus stå der, men hun skjønte ikke at det var han. 15 «Hvorfor gråter du, kvinne?» sier Jesus. «Hvem leter du etter?» Hun trodde at det var gartneren, og sier til ham: «Herre, hvis du har tatt ham bort, så si meg hvor du har lagt ham, så skal jeg ta ham med meg.» 16 «Maria,» sa Jesus. Da snudde hun seg og sa til ham på hebraisk: «Rabbuni» – det betyr mester. 17 Jesus sier til henne: «Rør meg ikke, for jeg er ennå ikke fart opp til Faderen. Men gå til mine brødre og si til dem at jeg farer opp til ham som er min Far og Far for dere, min Gud og deres Gud.» 18 Da gikk Maria Magdalena av sted og sa til disiplene: «Jeg har sett Herren!» Og hun fortalte dem hva han hadde sagt til henne.

I de tradisjonelle tidebønnene (som jeg bruker nå) tas denne teksten opp under Matutin, og her siteres pave Gregor den store slik:
Lesning 1

Mary Magdalene, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, through love of the truth washed away by her tears the befoulment of her sin, and the word of the Truth was fulfilled which He spake : Her sins, which are many, are forgiven : for she loved much. Luke vii. 47. She that had remained cold while she sinned, became burning when she loved. For after that she had been to the Sepulchre, and had not found there the Body of the Lord, and had believed that It had been taken away, and had told His disciples, they came and saw, and thought it was even as the woman had said : and it is written Then the disciples went away again unto their own home but Mary stood without at the sepulchre, weeping

.
Lesning 2

In connection with this matter, we ought to ponder what great store of love there was in that woman’s heart, who, when even His disciples were gone away, could not tear herself from the’ grave of the Lord. She sought Him Whom she had not found there, and as she sought, she wept, and the fire of love in her heart yearned after Him, Who she believed had been taken away. And so it came to pass that she, who had lingered to seek Him, was the only one who then saw Him, since the back-bone of a good work is endurance, and the voice of the Truth Himself hath said : He that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Lesning 3

As Mary wept there, she stooped down and looked into the Sepulchre. It was but a little while and she had seen how the Sepulchre was empty, and had told that the Lord was taken away. Why then should she stoop down and look in again? But she loved Him so well, that one look was not enough; the energy of her affection constrained her to search again and again. She began by searching and not finding; but she endured in her search, and, behold, it came to pass that she found. And this was done that our own longings for Christ’s presence might be taught to expand, and know that as they expand they will meet with Him to Whom they aspire.

Påskeoktavens lesninger i messens ordinære og ekstraordinære form

Katolske The Catholic Herald i Engalnd har en oversikt over lesningene for hver uke (her), og det ekstraordinære med lista er at den inkluderer lesningene for både messens nye og gamle form – og altså gjør den tradisjonelle messen tydeligere enn man vel skulle regne med.

For påskeoktaven kan vi se alle lesningene her – og jeg må si de er mer forkjellige enn man skulle regne med (eller: det ble gjort større forandringer i lesningene i 1969 enn man skulle tro var nødvendig, for hva er galt med det gamle oppsettet?)

For messens gamle form er dette lesningene (gradualeverset er ikke tatt med):

Sunday, April 24: Easter Sunday – 1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Mark 16:1-7
Monday, April 25: Easter Monday – Acts 10:37-43; Luke 24:13-35
Tuesday, April 26: Easter Tuesday – Acts 13:16,26-33; Luke 24:36-47
Wednesday, April 27: Easter Wednesday – Acts 3:13-15,17-19; John 21:1-14
Thursday, April 28: Easter Thursday – Acts 8:26-40; John 20:11-18
Friday, April 29: Easter Friday – 1 Peter 3:18-22; Matthew 28:16-20
Saturday, April 30: Easter Saturday – 1 Peter 2:1-10; John 20:1-9

For messens nye form er dette lesningene:

Sunday, April 24: Easter Sunday – Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Ps 118; Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8; Jn 20:1-9 or Mt 28:1-10
Monday, April 25: Easter Monday – Acts 2:14, 22-33; Ps 16; Mt 28:8-15
Tuesday, April 26: Easter Tuesday – Acts 2:36-41; Ps 33; Jn 20:11-18
Wednesday, April 27: Easter Wednesday – Acts 3:1-10; Ps 105; Lk 24:13-35
Thursday, April 28: Easter Thursday – Acts 3:11-26; Ps 8; Lk 24:35-48
Friday, April 29: Easter Friday – Acts 4:1-12; Ps 118; Jn 21:1-14
Saturday, April 30: Easter Saturday – Acts 4:13-21; Ps 118; Mk 16:9-15

«I din oppstandelse, Kristus, gleder himmelen og jorden seg»


Her er hele pave Benedikts påsketale (se kilde):

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and across the world, Easter morning brings us news that is ancient yet ever new: Christ is risen! The echo of this event, which issued forth from Jerusalem twenty centuries ago, continues to resound in the Church, deep in whose heart lives the vibrant faith of Mary, Mother of Jesus, the faith of Mary Magdalene and the other women who first discovered the empty tomb, and the faith of Peter and the other Apostles.

Right down to our own time – even in these days of advanced communications technology – the faith of Christians is based on that same news, on the testimony of those sisters and brothers who saw firstly the stone that had been rolled away from the empty tomb and then the mysterious messengers who testified that Jesus, the Crucified, was risen. And then Jesus himself, the Lord and Master, living and tangible, appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and finally to all eleven, gathered in the Upper Room (cf. Mk 16:9-14).

The resurrection of Christ is not the fruit of speculation or mystical experience: it is an event which, while it surpasses history, nevertheless happens at a precise moment in history and leaves an indelible mark upon it. …

Kirkens liturgiske (og dogmatiske) utvikling uroer enkelte katolikker

På liturgibloggen Pray Tell (ganske progressiv/liberal) leste jeg for et par dager siden et innlegg som uttrykker frustrasjonene til en del katolikker som med glede tok til seg alt det nye rundt 1970. De sier:

There’s no denying it. Many people involved in the Church admit they are tired out, or in any case without hope.” Thus begins a disturbing article in the latest issue of the Italian monthly Jesus. The author is Enzo Bianchi, prior of the Monastery of Bose near Turin. For decades he has been one of the best-selling spiritual authors in Italy and a nationally recognized symbol of mainstream Catholicism. His recent article should make Catholics everywhere stop and think. …

Those Catholics who “struggled to change” nearly 50 years ago, and obediently followed “the directives of the Council and the Pope”, are now filled with “confusion” and even “frustration” by this suspicious attitude towards Vatican II. … “I am nearly 70. I have worked my entire life for church unity and communion within my Church, but today I see many contradictions,” writes Bianchi. “And I ask with many others: where is the Church heading? This, our Church, that we have loved so much, and want to continue to love, as members that are loyal – not ones who are adulterous or who are looking for privileges and promotions.”

Som vanlig (i USA) er det kommet mange friske kommentarer til dette innlegget – her er utdrag fra noen få av dem:

Just wanted to let you know, that there are also many younger people that are “tired of the shenanigans going on in the Church”. We are tired of people “mainly older–in their 60s, products of Vatican II” who can’t get with the program and realize that you guys have already had your chance. The Church didn’t get any stronger when you guys were in charge. Mass attendance has gone down and many of your ilk have done nothing that actually brings people back into the pews (or the sanctuary for that matter). …

… In my opinion, the battle over liturgy is merely a proxy for more grave ecclesiological, social justice, and theological issues. I strongly suspect that the movement in some traditional Catholic circles to “revisit the Council” is more akin to a hostile rejection. In particular, some traditional Catholics harbor hostility towards the Conciliar acknowledgement of religious conscience and a call for justice towards Judaism and the Jewish people. I am also convinced that there is a strong desire in some sectors of the traditional community for a return to a tiara triumphalist papacy. I am utterly convinced that the advances of the Council and the model of a shepherd-bishop are intrinsically bound. I do hope that we must never return to a fortress monarchial Church which rejects dialogue and blinds itself to historical injustice. …

… Most Catholics welcomed the conciliar changes and struggled to put them into effect. Most Catholics felt betrayed by Humanae Vitae. And in fact it turned out that Humanae Vitae was the first shot in the battle to suppress Vatican II. …

Påskevigilien i Peterskirken

Her er starten av pave Benedikts preken fra påskevigilirn i Peterskirken sent i går kveld:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The liturgical celebration of the Easter Vigil makes use of two eloquent signs. First there is the fire that becomes light. As the procession makes its way through the church, shrouded in the darkness of the night, the light of the Paschal Candle becomes a wave of lights, and it speaks to us of Christ as the true morning star that never sets – the Risen Lord in whom light has conquered darkness. The second sign is water. On the one hand, it recalls the waters of the Red Sea, decline and death, the mystery of the Cross. But now it is presented to us as spring water, a life-giving element amid the dryness. Thus it becomes the image of the sacrament of baptism, through which we become sharers in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Yet these great signs of creation, light and water, are not the only constituent elements of the liturgy of the Easter Vigil. Another essential feature is the ample encounter with the words of sacred Scripture that it provides. Before the liturgical reform there were twelve Old Testament readings and two from the New Testament. The New Testament readings have been retained. The number of Old Testament readings has been fixed at seven, but depending upon the local situation, they may be reduced to three. The Church wishes to offer us a panoramic view of whole trajectory of salvation history, starting with creation, passing through the election and the liberation of Israel to the testimony of the prophets by which this entire history is directed ever more clearly towards Jesus Christ. In the liturgical tradition all these readings were called prophecies. Even when they are not directly foretelling future events, they have a prophetic character, they show us the inner foundation and orientation of history. They cause creation and history to become transparent to what is essential. In this way they take us by the hand and lead us towards Christ, they show us the true Light. …

Resten kan leses her.

Hellige erkeengel Mikael, forsvar oss i striden, verg oss mot djevelens ondskap og list.

Biskop Thomas John Paprocki, i Springfield, Illinois, USA, annonserte tirsdag kveld i forbindelse med oljevigselsmessen i bispedømmet, at man nå i alle bispedømmets menigheter offentlig kan be bønna til erkeengelen Mikael ved avslutningen av hver messe. Han delte også ut bønnekort med teksten til denne 125 år gamle bønna. I et tilleggsbrev skrev han også:

One of Satan’s greatest assets is his camouflage, the belief that he doesn’t exist. Disbelief in Satan and the forces of evil leave us unable to resist them. That is why it is good to remember the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel. We need to remember that each time we pray we work to defeat our real enemies, not each other, but rather the devil and his evil spirits …

In recent years, a number of parishes have begun reciting the prayer once more, and many individual Catholics have kept up the practice. Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have urged the faithful to pray it daily, and especially after Mass.

Her er den norske oversettelsen:

Hellige erkeengel Mikael, forsvar oss i striden, verg oss mot djevelens ondskap og list. Ydmykt trygler vi om at Gud må holde den onde i age. Og deg, som er høvding for de himmelske hærskarer, ber vi om at du, med den kraft som Gud har gitt deg, vil styrte i avgrunnen Satan og de andre ondskapens ånder som til sjelenes ulykke ferdes omkring i verden. Amen.

Anglo-katolikkene vil berike den katolske liturgiske tradisjon

Når 1000 tidligere anglo-katolikker denne uka blir katolikker, og også (av pave benedikt) har fått muligheten til å styre seg selv, og ta vare på sin egen tradisjon, vil de kunne hjelpe alle katolikker ut av den estetiske ørkenvandringen de har vandret i i 40 år. Det skriver i alle fall Damian Thompson:

… But one thing the former Holy Trinity people will be bringing with them is a meticulous and dignified Anglo-Catholic tradition of interpreting the Roman rite. In England, at least, this could turn out to be the essence of the “Anglican patrimony” of the Ordinariate. Many of those coming over anticipated the Benedictine liturgical reforms that, until now, the Catholic bishops have been slow to implement. If the Ordinariate congregations celebrate the Eucharist in the spirit of the great Mass at Westminster Cathedral that the Pope attended on the Saturday of his visit – a rare glimpse of Benedict’s ideals put into practice – then Rome will be delighted. And, at long last, cradle Catholics will be shown a path out of the aesthetic desert in which they have been wandering for 40 years.

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… Now we enter delicate territory. I don’t want to suggest that there is tension between the Bishops of England and Wales and the Ordinariate: on the contrary, the Bishops’ Conference is far more warmly disposed towards the new body than we could have anticipated a year ago. That is one of the fruits of the papal visit. Also, I’ve yet to come across any evidence that these new Catholics see themselves as a Church within a Church: for example, the former parish priest and many parishioners of Holy Trinity, Reading, are clearly looking forward to becoming integral to the town’s Roman Catholic community, celebrating their own Mass at St James’s, the town centre Catholic parish. …

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