Jesus vekker opp enkens sønn fra de døde

Liturgi /

I dag hører vi i evangeliet fra Luk. 7, 11-16 om det som skjedde i landsbyen Nain – om vi går i den tradisjonelle messen, men i den nye messen brukes ikke dette evangeliet noen søndager. (Oppdatering: Teksten er oppført for 10. søndag år C, men i praksis brukes den bare 2 ganger på ca 40 år – se kommentarene.)

På den tid hendte det at Jesus gikk til en by som heter Nain, og hans disipler gikk med ham og en stor mengde. Og da han kom nær til byporten, se, da ble en død båret ut, som var sin mors eneste sønn, og hun var enke; og en stor mengde fra byene var med henne. Da Herren så henne, ble han rørt av medlidenhet med henne, og han sa til henne: «Gråt ikke.» Og han gikk bort til båren og rørte ved den, og de som bar, sto stille. Og han sa: «Unge mann, jeg sier deg: Stå opp.» og den døde reiste seg opp og begynte å tale. Og han ga ham til moren. Men de ble alle tatt av frykt, og de priste Gud og sa: «En stor profet er stått fram mellom oss; Gud har gjestet sitt folk.»

Selv tenkte jeg først på den store gleden vi opplever ved å høre denne fortellingen; om hvordan Jesus hjelper denne stakkars enken, som mistet det mest dyrebare (og eneste) hun hadde. Evangeliet viser også tydelig Jesu makt også over døden. Men i en av sine prekener viser den hellige Augustin til andre elementer i teksten, og snakker om åndelig liv og død:

Homily by St Augustin, Bishop of Hippo.
44th Discourse on the Words of the Lord.

That her son was called again to life was the joy of that widowed mother; that souls of men are every day called to life is the joy of our Mother the Church. He was dead in body they have been dead in mind. His death was outward, and was outwardly bewailed; their inward. Death has been neither mourned for nor seen. But He has sought for them, Who has seen that they are dead, and He only has seen that they are dead, Who has been able to make them alive. If He had not come to raise the dead, the Apostle had not said: «Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.» (Eph. 5. 14)

Jeg kjenner selvsagt denne teksten godt (den er også lett å huske), men jeg kunne ikke huske at den er søndagsevangelium i Den katolske Kirke i vår tid. Foreløpige undersøkelser viser også at den bare brukes tirsdag etter 24. søndag i kirkeåret – altså bare én gang i året i en hverdagsmesse (i den nye kalenderen). Litt sjokkerende (og helt unødvendig) at «ekspertene» på slutten av 60-tallet tok bort denne tradisjonelle prekenteksten.

Pave Benedikts økumeniske tale i Erfurt

Paven, Økumenikk /


Pave Benedikt besøkte i går det tidligere augustnerklosteret i Erfurt (nå protestantisk), der Martin Luther var munk en årrekke. Han talte til lutherske/evangeliske kirkeledere og sa mot slutten av sin tale:

…. Prior to my visit there was some talk of an «ecumenical gift» which was expected from such a visit. There is no need for me to specify the gifts mentioned in this context. Here I would only say that, in most of its manifestions, this reflects a political misreading of faith and of ecumenism. In general, when a Head of State visits a friendly country, contacts between the various parties take place beforehand to arrange one or more agreements between the two states: by weighing respective benefits and drawbacks a compromise is reached which in the end appears beneficial for both parties, so that a treaty can then be signed.

But the faith of Christians does not rest on such a weighing of benefits and drawbacks. A self-made faith is worthless. Faith is not something we work out intellectually and negotiate between us. It is the foundation for our lives. Unity grows not by the weighing of benefits and drawbacks but only by entering ever more deeply into the faith in our thoughts and in our lives. In the past fifty years, and especially after the visit of Pope John Paul II some thirty years ago, we have drawn much closer together, and for this we can only be grateful. …

Les hele pavens tale her.

Pave Benedikt imponerer tyskerne

Paven /

I alle fall er «Der Spiegel» imponert. De skrev mye negativt om paven før hans besøket i Tyskland, men nå leser vi om hvor imponerte de er over han klare tale og «fingerspitzgefühl». Her er noen utdrag:

It has been billed as Pope Benedict XVI’s most difficult trip abroad to date. But so far in Germany, the pope has not sought to shy away from controversy. His bluntness has surprised many — and could transform the visit into a rousing success. …

… many Vatican observers have noted that it could end up being the most difficult trip of his six-year-old papacy. And it could ultimately resemble his trip to Britain last October — a trip which began with heavy criticism of the Catholic Church and widespread protests only to become a wildly successful visit and a boon to Benedict’s image. …

It was, however, his speech to the German Bundestag which has been the most parsed since his arrival. Even before he got to Berlin, Vatican observers, studying the speech on the plane on the way to Berlin, were astounded at what they read. It was as if the old Joseph Ratzinger had returned, the theology professor who never really wanted to become pope.

He did not mince words. He spoke about nature and reason and demanded from the parliamentarians an increased sense of moral responsibility for ecology and equality. It was a very political speech. It was courageous. And it was unique.

A politician’s «fundamental criterion and the motivation for his work as a politician must not be success, and certainly not material gain,» the pope said. «Politics must be a striving for justice, and hence it has to establish the fundamental preconditions for peace.» A politician’s success, he continued, should be «subordinated to the criterion of justice, to the will to do what is right, and to the understanding of what is right.» Pointedly, he added «we Germans … have seen how power became divorced from right, how power opposed right and crushed it.»

Fordommer mot katolikker

Generelt, Katolsk /

Jeg leste Janne Haaland Matlarys innlegg i Aftenposten 21/9 fant senere lenken til innlegget på katolsk.no. Der skriver professor Matlary ganske interessant:

«Hvordan kan du som er en moderne, norsk topputdannet kvinne være katolikk?» spurte en journalist. Jeg svarte: «Ditt spørsmål røper dine fordommer». Da ble hun opprørt.

Med 1,3 milliarder katolikker i verden er det å være katolikk noe av det vanligste som er, det «alle» er. Om man legger til 700 millioner protestanter, blir kristendommen det mest utbredte av alt i hele verden som gruppemarkør. Å være norsk blir en severdighet, det er bare 5 millioner av oss.

Journalistens spørsmål var sikkert ikke ment slik, men var likevel et forsøk på marginalisering: Å være katolikk, eller kristen, for den saks skyld, står i motsetning til fremskrittet, frigjøring, modernitet, profesjonalitet, styrke. Dette var den implisitte fordom i hennes spørsmål.

Denne type definisjonsmakt utøves i alle sosiale relasjoner; ordene som brukes som beskrivende, er ofte normative i stedet, gjerne negativt ladet. Å bruke definisjonsmakten til å marginalisere motstandere er en gammel debatteknikk, men dette fører til enten skinndebatter eller marginalisering. Resultatet blir at noen tema er tabu, de debatteres ikke. Det er dristig av meg å skrive dette, rent sagt ubehagelig, men det er viktig: Tenk etter, uten fordommer og baktanker, hvilke tema debatteres ikke i norsk offentlighet i dag?

Idealet for offentlig debatt er en «herredømmefri dialog», som filosofen Habermas forfekter. Dette betinger at ingen bruker makt til å definere debattens premisser, er åpne mht. egne premisser og at argumentenes egentyngde er det som teller. Men ser vi på kontroversielle temaer som abort, familiebegrepet, kristendommens plass i offentligheten, etc., debatteres dette ikke ut fra disse kriteriene. ….

Les gjerne videre, der Matlary skriver mer om bl.a. abort som et moderne tabu – pluss en del kommentarer til innlegget.

«Også tempelet (synagogen) er Guds hus»

Katolsk, Paven /

Pave Benedikt holdt en interessant tale for jødiske ledere i Berlin i går, der han la mye vekt på hvor mye jøder og kristne har felles. Han sa bl.a.:

… In this place, remembrance must also be made of the Kristallnacht that took place from 9 to 10 November 1938. Only a few could see the full extent of this act of contempt for humanity, like the Berlin Cathedral Provost, Bernhard Lichtenberg, who cried out from the pulpit of Saint Hedwig’s Cathedral: «Outside, the Temple is burning – that too is the house of God». The Nazi reign of terror was based on a racist myth, part of which was the rejection of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Jesus Christ and of all who believe in him. The supposedly «almighty» Adolf Hitler was a pagan idol, who wanted to take the place of the biblical God, the Creator and Father of all men. Refusal to heed this one God always makes people heedless of human dignity as well. What man is capable of when he rejects God, and what the face of a people can look like when it denies this God, the terrible images from the concentration camps at the end of the war showed. …

Hele talen kan leses (på engelsk) her.

Imbredagene om høsten – evangeliet om kvinnen som salvet Jesu føtter

Katolsk, Liturgi /

Onsdag, fredag og lørdag hadde/har vi høstens imbredager (dvs. fastedager). Det var i «gamle dager» fire slike fasteuker i løpet av året, og det er mulig også etter 1970 å markere disse dagene, uten at jeg vet at det gjøres noen steder (der man bruker den nye kalenderen).

Teksten for denne fredagen er det kjente evangeliet fra Lukas 7:36-50:

36 En av fariseerne innbød Jesus til å spise hos seg, og han kom hjem til ham og tok plass ved bordet. 37 Nå var det en kvinne der i byen som levde et syndefullt liv. Da hun fikk vite at Jesus var gjest hos fariseeren, kom hun dit med en alabastkrukke med fin salve. 38 Hun stilte seg bak Jesus ved føttene hans og gråt. Da begynte hun å væte føttene hans med tårene, og hun tørket dem med håret sitt, kysset dem og salvet dem med salven. 39 Da fariseeren som hadde innbudt ham, så det, tenkte han med seg selv: «Var denne mannen en profet, ville han vite hva slags kvinne det er som rører ved ham, at hun fører et syndefullt liv.»
40 Da tok Jesus til orde. «Simon,» sa han til fariseeren, «jeg har noe å si deg.» «Si det, mester,» svarte han. 41 Jesus sa: «To menn hadde gjeld hos en pengeutlåner. Den ene skyldte fem hundre denarer, den andre femti. 42 Men da de ikke hadde noe å betale med, ettergav han dem begge gjelden. Hvem av dem vil da holde mest av ham?» 43 Simon svarte: «Den han ettergav mest, tenker jeg.» «Du har rett,» sa Jesus. 44 Så vendte han seg mot kvinnen og sa til Simon: «Ser du denne kvinnen? Da jeg kom inn i ditt hus, gav du meg ikke vann til føttene, men hun vætte dem med sine tårer og tørket dem med sitt hår. 45 Du gav meg ikke noe velkomstkyss, men helt fra jeg kom, har hun ikke holdt opp med å kysse mine føtter. 46 Du salvet ikke mitt hode med olje, men hun salvet mine føtter med den fineste salve. 47 Derfor sier jeg deg: Hun har fått sine mange synder tilgitt, derfor viser hun så stor kjærlighet. Men den som får lite tilgitt, elsker lite.» 48 Så sa han til kvinnen: «Dine synder er tilgitt.» 49 Da begynte de andre gjestene å spørre seg selv: «Hva er dette for en, som til og med tilgir synder?» 50 Men Jesus sa til kvinnen: «Din tro har frelst deg. Gå bort med fred!»

I dagens matutinlesninger (i den gamle kalenderen) leser vi så pave Gregor den stores kommentarer til denne teksten:

Homily by Pope St Gregory the Great. 33rd on the Gospels.
Of what is the Pharisee that was exalted by self-righteousness a type, but of the Jewish people And of what the woman which was a sinner and came and wept at the Lord’s feet, but of the conversion of the Gentiles She brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping, and began to wash His Feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His Feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Of us, therefore, even of us, was that woman a type, if after our sins we turn unto the Lord with all our heart, and imitate the example of her repentant grief. And of what is the ointment a type, but of the sweet savour of a good reputation Whence also Paul saith (God maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us) in every place for) we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ. (2 Cor. ii. 15)

If therefore we do good works, whereby we gain for the Church the savour of good reputation, what do we but pour ointment upon the body of the Lord But the woman stood at the Feet of Jesus, behind Him we stood opposite to the Feet of the Lord, what time we were in sin, and went contrary unto His ways. But when we turn again, and truly repent us of our sins, we stand behind His Feet, for we follow His footsteps against Whom we once contended. The woman washed His Feet with her tears and we do in very deed the same when we show the tenderness of sympathy to any of His humbler members, when we feel with His Saints in their tribulations, when we make their woes our own.

We wipe the Lord’s Feet with our hair when we give charity, even out of such things as we have ourselves no need of, to His holy ones, with whom we feel in their trials, in as far as our heart so sympathizeth, that the bounty of our hand showeth the truth of our compassion. He washeth the Feet of the Redeemer, but wipeth them not with his hair, who feeleth for the sufferings of his neighbours, but nevertheless, relieveth them not, even out of such things as he himself hath no need for. He weepeth, but wipeth not, who offereth words of tenderness, but sootheth not sorrow by giving such things as be lacking. The woman kissed the Feet and we do fully the same, if we warmly love those whom out of bounty we support, so that the neediness of our neighbour is not grievous unto us, nor the penury which we relieve a weariness to us, nor, when the hand is giving what is needful, the heart is untouched by compassion.

Den tradisjonelle liturgien bør heller reformeres på nytt igjen – heller enn å «reformere reformen»

Liturgi, TLM /

Bloggeren som kaller seg «A Sinner» skrev nylig i en kommentar til en annen blogg:

I have often said that we should RE-ATTEMPT the Reform rather than attempting to reform the Reform. There’s no reason we should feel irrevocably trapped in our «first try.» To use a computer analogy, we can return to our most recent «saved copy» (though I’d prefer the edition we use as our «starting» point be pre-62 even) and then re-attempt reforming it using what we’ve learned from the experiment of this first iteration of reform. Something like the Vernacular for the propers at least…is likely to be kept. Other things are likely to be discarded.

På sin egen blogg skriver han videre hva han mener (Og jeg tar det med fordi jeg syns det er interessant, og fordi pave Benedikt har tillatt at begge messeformene blir brukt bl.a. fordi de på en positiv måte skal kunne påvirke hverandre.):

There is a lot of talk in some circles about a «reform of the reform.» Usually it comes from that … influential category who waffle between trad positions and neoconservative ones. People who clearly «highly sympathize» with traditionalism, but are unwilling to publicly portray themselves as purists.

The idea is often that «liturgical abuse» is the cause of most of the problems in the New Liturgy, and that simply by dressing it up, by approaching it with a better ‘ars celebrandi’ we can make it at least tolerable and more what «Vatican II intended» …. . Just do it in Latin, ad orientem, with nice vestments, use chant and incense, always use Eucharistic Prayer #1, and voila!

Now, it’s true that there is nothing about the Novus Ordo that requires that it be celebrated in a patronizing vernacular translation in polyester vesments as a «four hymn sandwich.»

But, a lot of the problems are inherent to the rite itself, especially the removal of numerous little gestures and details. So, the «reform of the reform» crowd will tell you…the solution is simply bringing back the maniple … etc.

But, even then, there are problems inherent to the text itself; the butchered Offertory, of course, the cut Prayers at the Foot of the Altar and Last Gospel, the totally artificial three-year lectionary, the Frankenstein reworking of the Collects, a very blithe reworking of the calendar, …

Han skriver så videre i 8 punkter om hva man kan gjøre – hvordan man kan bruke den tradisjonelle messen og forandre den litt:

1) Vernacular. I think allowing a nice hieratic vernacular translation of the Old Rite (ala the Anglican Missal and Anglican Breviary) would cause a huge explosion in its popularity, and remove 95% of the objections and hesitance people have to it. …

2) Audibility. …

3) Scripture. …

4) The Calendar. …

5) The Psalter. Moving into the Breviary, …

6) The Antiphonary. …

7) Other expansions. …

8) Attitude. …

Tradisjonell latinsk messe i Oslo søndag 25. september

TLM /

Messen blir som vanlig i St Joseph kirke i Akersveien kl 19.00.

Se tekster og bønner for denne 15. søndag etter pinse HER – programmet for messen HER. Som ordinarium synger vi (som vanlig) Messe XI og Credo I.

Ang. menighetens deltakelse i messen er det denne gangen tatt med i programmet:

Vi ber alle synge godt med på messens ordinarium – det står angitt når forsanger (F) og alle (A) skal synge. Når Kyrie synges 3×3 ganger, veksles det også annen hver gang mellom (F) og (A).

Under inngangsprosesjonen (før messen starter) synger vi denne gang følgende salme:

På sannhets fjell en bygning står, hvis høye spir til himlen når. Dens grunnsten ble av Herren lagt, derfor den står tross helveds makt.

I dette hus der finnes fred med tro / og håp og kjærlighet, med næring, legedom og ro / for hver, som vil derinne bo.

Fra dette tempel livets drott / oss viser vei til himlens slott. Så vandrer vi med fremstrakt hånd / til Fader, Sønn og Hellig Ånd.

Et bispedømme har valgt å gi den tradisjonelle messen en sentral plass

Liturgi, TLM /

NLM-bloggen skriver at den tradisjonelle latinske messen ble feiret på festdagen for domkirkens innvielse i Sale, Australia. De skriver:

… one of the most interesting things about this Mass was not the mere fact of it happening but also the fact that this Mass, offered in the usus antiquior, was offered as the main 11:00am Sunday Mass for this dedication Sunday.

Mange bilder kan sees her.

Jeg må reservere meg – 2

Liturgi, TLM /

Jeg skrev også for bare noen timer siden et innlegg kalt: «Bør liturgireformen reformeres – eller gis opp?» Det innlegget var i stor grad høyttenkning fra min side; jeg har ikke konkludert på dette punktet, og det er heller ikke slik at jeg uttrykker at det bare er én løsning på liturgiproblemene – det er tvert imot slik at det bør være mange tilnærmingsmåter og strategier for å fremme en bedre liturgi i Kirken.

Men det tidligere innlegget uttrykker synspunkter, og viser til en begynnende bevegelse/ forandring blant prester og teologer som i flere år har arbeidet med liturgispørsmål, og som inntil nå bare har snakket om en «reform at liturgireformen», der man tar utgangspunkt i messen fra 1969 og forsøker å forbedre den, mest ved at man velger alternativer innenfor denne messen som gjør den mest mulig verdig.

Innlegget uttrykker at man nå (og jeg merker det selv, etter å ha feiret den gamle messen regelmessig i snart fire år) like gjerne kan ta utgangspunkt i messen fra 1962 (og hele den tradisjonelle liturgien, til alle sakramenter osv.) når man vurderer hvordan messen og de andre sakramentene best kan feires. Samtidig vet vi at mange/ de fleste ikke klar for en slik måte å tenke på ennå, og det ligger ingen ønske om å tvinge noen til å tenke som oss. (Men det hadde vært fint om det kraftige presset mot å bruke Kirkens gamle ritualer – som det jo nå er fullt tillatt å bruke – snart kunne opphøre.)

Jeg må reservere meg – 1

Katolsk /

Jeg skrev for noen dager siden et innlegg der jeg spør: «Forandres forståelsen av Vatikankonsilet?«. Father Z. skriver nokså skarpt imot en del av disse tankene i et senere innlegg; der hans hovedpodeng er at det ikke kan være snakk om å fire på ting som konsilet tydelig har bestemt i sine tekster. På den annen side (men det er ikke nytt) kan det være synspunkter (men ikke bestemmelser) fra konsilet som man ikke trenger å ta så alvorlig, og så er det jo hele den store debatten om hvordan konsilet skal tolkes/ forstås, der man jo ikke trenger å være enige. Man diksuterer jo tolkningen av konsilet nettopp fordi man ikke er enige om hvordan det skal tolkes. Han skriver:

… speculation about the “Doctrinal Preamble” offered by the CDF to the SSPX during their meeting of 14 September, last. I wrote about that here.

The speculation rises to a climax in an assertion that the “Doctrinal Preamble” might constitute a “Copernican Revolution” concerning the documents of the Second Vatican Council and subsequent Magisterial teaching.

Again, what Rorate posted from Messa in latino is a long piece of speculation about the hypothetical text of the “Doctrinal Preamble”. From my reading of what they posted, if the speculation is correct, nothing new has been offered.

As much as I enjoy astronomical comparisons, the claim about a “Copernican Revolution” isn’t accurate. It suggests something new and challenging has been offered. Not quite.

First, the hypothetical “Doctrinal Preamble” is supposed to say that the SSPX must express concerns in a respectful manner. That was already a point made in the conditions for further dialogue offered by the Holy See and accepted by the SSPX in 2008. Nothing new there. …

Bør liturgireformen reformeres – eller gis opp?

Liturgi, TLM /

På NLM-bloggen er det et svært interessant innlegg om den såkalte «reform of the reform» bevegelsen. En person – som bare kaller seg ‘a sinner’, får i kommentarene Fr. Thomas Kocik til å forandre mening, og egentlig gå med på at reformbegrepet (fra 1996) kanskje ikke er så fruktbart å bruke lenger. ‘A sinner’ oppsummerer debatten slik:

I think «reform of the reform» became «dressing up Novus Ordos» by default because, well, there wasn’t much else people could actually DO (while remaining obedient). Trads, of course, weren’t as concerned about obedience in some cases, but while the whole «indult» system remained in place, I think that version of RofR emerged as sort of «the best we could hope for.» Summorum Pontificum changed all this though, and in some ways makes the RotR idea obsolete, as there is no longer any need to «start with the Novus Ordo».

Forandres forståelsen av Vatikankonsilet?

Katolsk, Paven, Teologi /

For et par dager siden la Vatikanet fram noen betingelser til SSPX, betingelser for at man skulle kunne fortsette (og konkretisere) samtalene om forsoning. Det interessante i disse betingelsene er at de skiller tydelig (uten at vi kjenner detaljene) mellom trossetninger som alle må være enige i, og synspunkter man har lov til å være uenige om.

Det springende punkt her er nå (inntil vi får kjennskap til detaljene) hvor store deler av 2. Vatikankonsils dokumenter som hører til gruppen «det man kan være uenige om» – det meste, det var jo et pastoralt konsil, ikke et dogmatisk? På Rorate Cæli leser jeg i alle fall en ganske dristig forståelse av hva dette kan bety:

In 1988, addressing the Chilean bishops, Cardinal Ratzinger affirmed, «The truth is that this particular Council defined no dogma at all, and deliberately chose to remain on a modest level, as a merely pastoral council; and yet many treat it as though it had made itself into a sort of ‘superdogma’ which takes away the importance of all the rest.»

While affirming his remaining attachment to Vatican II, Benedict XVI, on this September 14, 2011, brought down the taboo of the Council. For while no Pope could free a Catholic from the decisions of dogmatic Councils, the Pope, by way of the text of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, liberates the souls from those of a pastoral Council. From now on, one may be of the Church without holding on to the controversial points of Vatican II. In 2007, the helmsman of the Church had already undermined the monopoly held by the Novus Ordo. Four years later, he removes from the Conciliar doctrine its non-negotiable character and its exclusivity. It is not any longer the alpha and the omega of the life of the Church; that life is now once again refocused on its object: Faith.

It is true that, in small steps, the Catholic world, and the Curia in particular, faced with what John Paul II called the «silent apostasy», have allowed themselves to be interested in the Traditional world, once exiled and condemned, now increasingly esteemed. A French bishop said a while ago that he felt forced to bow to this movement, because the youth was present in it. In Rome, the major master of ceremonies lifts from the dust the traditional ornaments of which the Supreme Pontiffs, from Pius IX to Pius XII, made use. In the doctrinal domain, some parallelism is to be found, even though it is less evident. After Benedict XVI accepted to discuss the Vatican II texts with the Society of Saint Pius X, some prelates, especially the younger ones, decided to find out in the archives what was unanimously believed before the Council. Very slowly, the phenomenon begins and widens, to the detriment of the aggiornamento… And voices rise up in Italy denouncing the spirit of the Council, which has not let fresh air in, but rather a freezing gust. These voices are those of a Monsignor Gherardini and of the author of his preface, Bishop Oliveri. Those of a Roberto de Mattei or of a Bishop Schneider. All take up their pens and do not hesitate to openly demand that the taboo of the Council be finally shattered. …

Jomfru Marias smerter – dagen etter Korsets opphøyelse

Liturgi /

Dagen etter festen for Korsets opphøyelse passer det å minnes jomfru Marias smerter da hun stod ved korset. I den tradisjonelle kalenderen kalles dagen: Septem Dolorum Beatae Mariae Virginis – II. classis- Det er alså en ganske stor festdag, mens det i den nye kalenderen er en (mindre) minnesdag. Til Matutin i dag leser vi i den gamle kalenderens lesning 4, 5 og 6:

From the Sermons of St Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux. «On the twelve stars.»

4
The Martyrdom of the Virgin is set before us, not only in the prophecy of Simeon, but also in the story itself of the Lord’s Passion. The holy old man said of the Child Jesus, Luke ii. 34, Behold, this Child is set for the fall and the rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; yea, said he unto Mary, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also Even so, O Blessed Mother! The sword did indeed pierce through thy soul! for nought could pierce the Body of thy Son, nor pierce thy soul likewise. Yea, and when this Jesus of thine had given up the ghost, and the bloody spear could torture Him no more, thy soul winced as it pierced His dead Side His Own Soul might leave Him, but thine could not.

5
The sword of sorrow pierced through thy soul, so that we may truly call thee more than martyr, in whom the love, that made thee suffer along with thy Son, wrung thy heart more bitterly than any pang of bodily pain could do. Did not that word of His indeed pierce through thy soul, sharper than any two-edged sword, even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, Heb. iv. 12, Woman, behold thy son! John xix. 26. O what a change to thee! Thou art given John for Jesus, the servant for his Lord, the disciple for his Master, the son of Zebedee for the Son of God, a mere man for Very God. O how keenly must the hearing of those words have pierced through thy most loving soul, when even our hearts, stony, iron, as they are, are wrung at the memory thereof only!

6
Marvel not, my brethren, that Mary should be called a Martyr in spirit. He indeed may marvel who remembereth not what Paul saith, naming the greater sins of the Gentiles, that they were without natural affection, Rom. i. 31. Far other were the bowels of Mary, and far other may those of her servants be! But some man perchance will say Did she not know that He was to die? Yea, without doubt, she knew it. Did she not hope that He was soon to rise again? Yea, she most faithfully hoped it. And did she still mourn because He was crucified? Yea, bitterly. But who art thou, my brother, or whence hast thou such wisdom, to marvel less that the Son of Mary suffered than that Mary suffered with Him? He could die in the Body, and could not she die with Him in her heart? His was the deed of that Love, greater than which hath no man, John xv. 13; her’s, of a love, like to which hath no man, save He.

SSPX i Vatikanet i dag

Katolsk, Teologi /

I dag møtes Troskongregasjonen med biskop Fellay og andre representanter for SSPX, og mange er spente på hva som kommer til å skje. Vatikanet har så langt skrevet om møtet (fra Rorate Cæli):

… This preamble enunciates some of the doctrinal principles and criteria of interpretation of Catholic doctrine necessary for ensuring fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church and to the sentire cum Ecclesia, while leaving open to legitimate discussion the theological study and explanation of particular expressions and formulations present in the texts of the Second Vatican Council and of the Magisterium that followed it.

In the course of the same meeting, some elements were proposed regarding a canonical solution for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, which would follow the eventual and hoped-for reconciliation. …

Det springende punkt er vel hva Vatikanet sier man må være enige om, og hvor man åpner for ulike forståelser – men det faktum at man åpner for uenighet på en del ganske viktige områder, er viktig (fra Father Z.):

… «The great novelty comes from the Roman side. Le Figaro has learned that the Holy See could, for the first time, admit that these aspects fought by the “Integrists” are not considered as “essential” to the Catholic faith to the point of keeping outside the Church those who do not admit them. And that what is foundational to the Catholic faith for twenty centuries is the sole [aspect] considered fundamental for communion with the Holy See, and not the interpretation from the last Council to this day.»

All along I have been saying it. All along. People of good will can differ on theological points and still remain in unity. People of good will can attain unity even when they disagree on matters which are by no means clear. The history of the Church’s great Councils underscores this fact. …

En diakon forteller hvordan den tradisjonelle messen har forandret ham

Liturgi, TLM /

En katolsk permanent diakon i minnesota, USA forteller hvordan det har forandret ham en hel del å delta i den tradisjonelle latinske messen – prester (og ministranter) kan fortelle lignende ting:

… “I never thought that I would be working in liturgy, especially the Traditional Latin Mass,” Deacon Peters said. When he was in formation, he was doing social work and thought his ministry might involve that. He says he didn’t even know what the old rite was.

He said the whole thing began with the Duluth Men’s Schola. (Full disclosure: This writer is the founder and director of the schola, which will be singing Sept. 14.) Then Father Eric Hastings, who will celebrate the Sept. 14 Mass, began to offer the simplest version of the Traditional Latin Mass, a “low Mass,” and there were no servers, so Deacon Peters learned how to serve.

From there, things began to develop slowly. The next step was doing the more complicated sung version of the Traditional Latin Mass, a “missa cantata,” culminating in a heavily attended missa cantata last year featuring a polyphony choir. (This year the choir will be singing William Byrd’s “Mass for Four Voices.”)

From there, the next step was a solemn high Mass, which is vastly more complex — and a vastly more demanding liturgy for a deacon. Deacon Peters said all along it was something meant to be guided by the Holy Spirit and carried out peacefully.

“There are no agendas, there were no expectations, it was just people who loved liturgy and wanted to be faithful to what the Holy Father was asking of us,” he said. …

Deacon Peters freely admits that his work with the traditional liturgy has changed him as a deacon. “I’m a different deacon than I was before,” he said. He said he is more prayerful and reverent in how he approaches the sacrifice of the Mass, in whichever form it’s celebrated, a sentiment he has also heard from altar servers. …

(Tips fra Father Z.)

Fire år siden Summorum Pontificum

TLM /

I morgen er det fire år siden pave Benedikts motu proprio om den gamle messen trådte i kraft, og jeg leser (hos Rorate Cæli) at nå skal det også (endelig) hver sødag bli feiret en tradisjonell latinsk messe i den nord-italienske bye Trento, (Trent):

Just four years after the entry into force of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the traditional Mass is finally going to be celebrated regularly by a diocesan priest in the city of… Trent, the main seat of the great Council: every Sunday at 6:30 PM (yes, that is 1830…, local time, in the Church of Santa Maria del Suffragio, in the city center), by order of the local Archbishop.

This is just the latest of hundreds of new traditional Latin Masses celebrated weekly
after Summorum Pontificum: «It’s morning again in the Vatican, and, under the leadership of Pope Ratzinger, our Church is prouder and stronger and better. Why would we ever want to return to where we were less than four short years ago?»…

I kommentarene under innlegget er det ulike meninger om denne nyheten; noen gleder seg, andre er mer skeptiske og mener at den tradisjonelle messen fortsatt møtes av mye motstand og uvilje. Det er også ulike meninger om i hvilken grad lekfolket støtter opp om disse messene – her i Oslo skulle jeg gjerne ønske at flere kom til de tradisjonelle søndagsmessene, 2. og 4. søndag jver måned i St Joseph kirke.

Folket både bør og skal synge messens ordinarium

Liturgi /

Jeg leser vider i doktoravhandlingen fra USA om katolsk kirkemusikk – som jeg skrev om her. Forfatteren forklarer hvorfor pave Piux’s motu proprio om kirkemusikk ikke ble lyttet til (i USA). Bl.a. brydde prestene seg ikke om musikk, og visste ingen ting om (kirke)musikk. Og mange steder brukte man bare amatørmusikere, som ofte bare kunne klare det vanligste og mest banale. Med også i de større menighetene i byene, med dyktige musikere, brydde man seg ikke om pavens ønsker; der øvde man bare inn flotte konsertmesser (slik at folk ikke fikk synge ordinarieleddene (som de burde)), mens proprieleddene (som koret skulle ha sunget) ble ignorert (fra s 241-43):

The glaring anomaly was that musicians – generally the ones with the most training – simply allowed choirs continually to usurp the role of the people, outlined by Pius X himself, in singing the Ordinary. Without doubt this non-compliance on the part of parish musicians was a key to the non-reception of TLS. It was the practice of the time, both in Europe and the US (albeit one often condemned), to publish programs of Mass music in the various newspapers and journals, and one can readily see in these the continued focus of choirs on providing polyphonic versions of the mass ordinaries, to the exclusion of Gregorian settings (not to say the congregation), and little attention to Gregorian propers. Pius X is said to have commented dryly on seeing just such a printed program:

«At that moment the Holy Father stood up and fingered through a pile of papers on his desk,
until he found a newspaper clipping which he pulled out and showed to me, with the remark that it was from Canada. It was a list of musical works performed in different churches of Montreal on Easter. There were pieces for orchestra, Masses in all the keys, with solos and duets composed with the virtuosity of the theatre carried over into the church. Pointing with each finger to these programs, Pius X said with an ironic smile: ‘Do they do this kind of music in Paris, too?’ All I could say was, ‘Alas, Holy Father, alas!’” (In Ehmann, “Church Music,” p. 210)

Even at conventions for “liturgical music,” the music chosen for demonstration is remarkable for its lack of attention to congregational singing. In Orate Fratres a priest warns that “Variety in music at Mass must come from the singing of the proper by the trained liturgical choir; and the choir must not be allowed to usurp the parts of the ordinary which belong to the people,” . . . [T]hese parts belong to the people ordinarily, and . . . there is no hope for better participation at Mass until they are given back to them.” and as late as 1945 Rev. H.A. Reinhold is still pleading in the pages of The Catholic Choirmaster “to give the people a part in what rightfully belongs to them – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei and all the Responses.

Sadly, the practice of choirs usurping the Ordinary is abetted both by clergy and publishers. And in a further twisting of TLS, “so often we find that, while the choir monopolizes the congregational parts, it neglects to sing its own parts”: the Propers, especially the Gregorian originals, were ignored. In his landmark 1933 letter in America, “Shall the People Sing at Mass?,” Fr. John LaFarge remarks:

«As for our more exquisite gatherings, if one quarter of the energy that the choirs put into preparing elaborate musical settings for the Common of the Mass (which the people themselves are supposed to sing) were expended on learning the figured setting of the Proper, we should have perfect achievement.»

Men kanskje messens proprium oftest bør synges på morsmålet?

Liturgi /

I våre tradisjonelle latinske søndagsmesser i Oslo synges alltid messens proprium på latin med de foreskrevne gregorianske melodier, og slik bør det være – selv om det også om nødvendig er tillatt å synge disse tekstene på latin til enklere melodier. Men i andre messer, mer vanlige menighetsmesser, mener flere at dette vil være mindre passende.

Jeffrey Tucker og László Dobszay (i artikkelen jeg nevnte tidligere i dag) mener (faktisk) også det; slik skriver Tucker:

However, he (Dobszay) was also nearly alone, for many years, in being an advocate of sung vernacular propers in the ordinary form.

For years, I couldn’t understand his thinking here. Why vernacular? Well, Dobszay saw that there was a step missing in the achievement of the ideal if we expect to take a leap from the prevailing practice of pop songs with random text to Latin chant from the Graduale Romanum. That step was to sing the Mass texts in the vernacular according to a chant-based idiom drawn from our long musical tradition.

He turns out to be incredibly correct on this point. In fact, he was the true inspiration behind the Simple English Propers, book that has permitted regular parishes to start singing chant for the first time. This book and so many others are part of his legacy that he left in this world. In fact, I would even suggest that the new translation of the Roman Missal that is implemented this Advent owes much to his influence.

Just this week, I had a conversation with a dedicated Church musician who had converted to the chant cause and implemented sung propers in Latin in her parish. This approach was making gains in Mass after Mass for two solid years. Then one day the pastor came to her and said: “I’m not really sure that the introit you are singing really serves its purpose. I think the people are afraid of the Latin, regard the schola as somewhat separate from everything else, and I fear that this approach is alienating people.”

She was stunned and of course bristled. But what the pastor says goes, as we all know. Tragically, progress stopped. Now the parish is back to singing English hymns that are not part of the Mass proper. They are just hymn selections chosen the same week from a check list of possible pieces to sing. The choir was no longer singing the liturgy; it was singing something else.

So what went wrong? … it is crucial to consider that the pastor’s objection was not to Mass propers but rather to Latin. …

I kommentarene til dette innlegget finner jeg også to spesielt interessante synspunkter:

… Does it have to be plainchant? Why not set the propers to the more standard Psalm fare available? Something like Psallite but with a closer adherence to the text. For some of us even plainchant is a big step for a parish to accept. If the primary goal is to use the propers, maybe a baby step is first needed. Then down the road, when the parish hears propers set to plainchant, the transition will be easier. …

… I had a priest friend who was a peritus at the Council. HIs understanding of the liturgical reforms was that the Ordinary was to remain in Latin with the people to learn to sing, in Latin, the parts proper to them but eventually the orations and propers would be in the vernacular. Too bad that didn’t happen that way. We would have been spared a lot of pain …

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