Transfer the Feast or Have an External Solemnity...that is the question

In the ordinary form of the Roman rite, the celebration of the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord may be transferred to a Sunday if it is not observed as a holy day of obligation in a certain region. I find this rule strange because the Scriptures say that the Lord ascended into heaven on the 40th day. If the Ascension is celebrated on Sunday, it would not be the 40th day but the 43rd. I may sound very petty but I have just been thinking that with regards Christmas, there is no rule that allows us to transfer the celebration of this feast to a Sunday if this were not observed as a holy day of obligation in a certain place. And yet, we all know that the date of the feast (December 25) is not indicated in Scriptures (unless there is something from Apostolic Tradition that I am unaware of). The Ascension event is different. The Acts of the Apostles really mention the 40th day. 

Of course, in the extraordinary form, the celebration of an external solemnity on Sunday is allowed. However, even with an external solemnity, Ascension is still celebrated on a Thursday, which is the 40th day. Besides, the novena to the Holy Spirit begins on the Friday after Ascension Thursday. Even if the Feast is moved to Sunday, the novena should still begin on the Friday before that Sunday in order to have complete 9 days for the devotion (or else it could not be called a "novena"). Sometimes, I am amused by people who say, 'We will have a 7 day novena.' I find it strange that the novena to the Holy Spirit should begin before Ascension is celebrated. Did not Our Lady and the Apostles begin praying after the Ascension? 

Should we resist the precious and the sublime?

Father Z's comment on the red shoes and mozetta reflects the true humility which is demanded of the priest who should see the honorific gestures not as accorded to his person but rather to Christ in whose person he comes.

The seeming simplification of vestments and anything about the rites which Pope Francis prefers is really sending the wrong signal that the Church of the poor must have poor liturgy! I now hear people saying that the Church must veer away from its high church liturgies and perform low church rites in order to be more relevant, and even more "people-friendly". I find it disturbing that the liturgy is once again being regarded as a theater performance wherein we should look poor in order to appeal to the masses. In the present political season in the Philippines, I notice that political candidates no longer have themselves photographed in the formal barong tagalog wear but in t shirts and blue jeans. A politician (born again fundamentalist) used to put the title "bishop" before his name. Now he reverts to being called "brother". Are these for real???

Unfortunately, everybody wants to ride the "simplicity" band wagon on account of the new Pope. However, everybody seems to forget that sacred ministers are not actors who pretend to be poor in order to be relevant. Sacred ministers are, in reality, "sacramental signs" of Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. We come in the name of Christ. We come in the person of Christ. In the Sacred Liturgy, the priest is Christ and Christ is the priest. The priest must have enough humility to be able to accept the fact that he is no longer his own.

I find Fr. Z's reflection very relevant to the present issue:

"The Catholic priest is simultaneously the victim offered on the altar.  All the older, traditional ceremonies of the Roman Rite underscore this foundational dimension of the Mass. If we don’t see that relationship of priest, altar, and victim in every Holy Mass, then the way Mass has been celebrated has failed.  If we don’t look for that relationship, then we are not really Catholic.  Mass is Calvary.

The use of beautiful marble in the church building, precious fabrics and metals for vestments and vessels, music that requires true art and skill to perform, ritual gestures which to worldly eyes seem to be the stuff of bygone eras of royals and the like, all underscore the fact that step by step during Holy Mass the priest is being readied for the sacrifice, which – mysteriously – he himself performs.

Back when I resisted the liturgical kissing of my hand when being handed a chain, spoon or chalice, I had made the mistake of imagining myself to be more humble by that resistance.  That was a mistake.  Ironically, my resistance to those gestures turned the gestures into being about me.  Submission to the gestures, on the other hand, erases the priest’s own person and helps him to be what he needs to be in that moment: priest, victim, alter Christus.   The trappings, the rubrics, the gestures erase the priest’s poor person.  Resisting these things runs the risk of making them all about the priest again.

In a sense, I had made the objection of Judas about the precious nard which the woman brought to the Lord.  Jesus responded that the precious stuff should be kept for His Body, which was to be sacrificed.  People who object that we should have only poor liturgy are falling into the argument of Judas.  We must submit to the precious and sublime in recognition of the truth of what is going on.   To pit the sublime and complex and precious and beautiful against the low, simple and humble is schizophrenic and not Catholic."

The Transfiguration and the Pontificate of Benedict XVI

The papacy of Pope Benedict XVI is like the Transfiguration of the Lord. At the Transfiguration, our Lord manifested his glory as God's only begotten Son - that glory which lay hidden beneath the veil of his human nature. During his pontificate, the Holy Father unveiled for us the true glory of Catholic Liturgy - that glory which, for some time, lay hidden beneath much of the confusion that occurred after the 2nd Vatican Council. For some time, the liturgy seemed to be no more than just a social assembly, a fraternal meeting of members of the Church, a fellowship and even to some extent, a show that was meant to entertain. For some time, many members of the Church lost sight of the Supernatural in the Liturgy. The Holy Father unveiled for us the  true glory of Catholic Liturgy. He reminded us that Liturgy is not about us, but about God. He reminded us that Liturgy is not some project made by some committee but a gift that we have received from God. He reminded us that Liturgy is not an exchange of pleasantries between celebrant and people but rather, it is a procession towards the Lord. He taught us that Liturgy is seeking the face of the Lord. Indeed, in the illustrious pontificate of Benedict XVI, the glory of Christ's face was once again beheld through the Liturgy.

My only worry is that at the Transfiguration, the Lord gave his disciples only a brief glimpse of his hidden glory. Will the close of Benedict's papacy also hide again the glory of the Liturgy which shone for but a brief moment? As the radiance of Christ's face will later on disappear to give way to the blood, sweat and spittle of the passion, will the same happen to the Liturgy? Will the glory of the Liturgy be covered once again with human attempts to make it more man-oriented than God-oriented? Will Liturgy be once again a project subject to the tinkering of human committees? I hope not.

But should it happen, I am confident that just as the radiance of Christ's face will reappear on a permanent basis at the Resurrection, so also will the glory and radiance of the Liturgy be made manifest again at a time we do not know. How I wish that the glory of the Liturgy which was unveiled for us by the Holy Father should never fade! How  I wish that the Benedictine Reform continues! 

This gives us reason to pray and fast even more seriously for the election of the new Pope when the Holy Father abdicates from the papal throne. Like Queen Ester and Mordecai and the Jewish People, we should fast and pray as if our lives depended on it. May the Holy Spirit appoint a Pope who would show the splendor of the Liturgy even more. Let us pray and fast as if our lives depended on it!

Pope Benedict's Legacy and the Transfiguration

PRAISED BE JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH!

Jesus took Peter, James, and John to Mount Tabor and while he was praying, he was transfigured before them. What took place was the revelation by Jesus of his glory as God’s only begotten Son: his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzlingly white. “On the transfigured face of Jesus a ray of light which he held within shines forth. This same light was to shine on Christ’s face on the day of the Resurrection. In this sense, the Transfiguration is a foretaste of the Paschal Mystery.” (Benedict XVI, 6 August 2006.) This glory of the Lord was revealed in prayer. “The Transfiguration is a prayer event” (17 February 2008.)

I find it significant that of the three disciples who were with Jesus that day, it would be Peter who would point out the beauty of what they saw. It was Peter who would say to Jesus: “Master, it is good that we are here.” It was Peter who would express the desire to linger on in that wonderful place by volunteering to build 3 tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. I find these significant because this is precisely the legacy which the Holy Father Benedict XVI is leaving us. This Pope is one who constantly invited us to seek the face of the Lord. Benedict constantly tells us that seeking the face of the Lord, desiring to know him is our daily task: “The desire to know God truly, that is, to see the face of God, is in every man, even atheists. And we perhaps unwittingly have this desire to see simply who He is, what He is, who He is for us. But this desire is realized by following Christ, so we see his back and finally also see God as a friend, his face in the face of Christ. The important thing is that we follow Christ not only when we are in need and when we find space for it in our daily affairs, but with our lives as such. The whole of life should be directed towards encountering Him, towards loving Him…” (16 January 2013)

At the very heart of the ministry of Benedict as successor of Peter is his concern that the liturgy be celebrated in the proper way. To him, “the true celebration of the Sacred Liturgy is the center of any renewal of the Church.” “The Church stands or falls with the Liturgy.” “His profound concern is that the Church worships Almighty God correctly, and thereby be fully connected to the indispensible source which sustains and empowers Christian life, witness and mission. If the liturgy is impoverished or off-track our ability to live the Catholic faith and to evangelize suffers.” (A. Reid) “At the heart of his reform is Pope Benedict’s conviction that Catholic liturgy ‘is not about us, but about God’.” (Ibid.) Thus, the liturgy, as also the entire Christian life, must be a procession towards the Lord. It must constantly seek the face of God. The glory of Christ which was revealed at both the Transfiguration and the Paschal Mystery, is revealed to us in the Sacred Liturgy. In the Liturgy, Christ shows us the radiance of his face. And Benedict, like Peter, constantly reminds us: “It is good to be here.”

By doing so, Benedict encouraged us to look beyond this world and to look towards heaven. Our concerns should be higher than our stomachs. Our minds must not be occupied only with earthly things. “Our citizenship is in heaven.” Our minds must be elevated towards sublime things. Our hearts must seek Jesus who inspires and perfects our faith. Our eyes must constantly seek the beauty of Christ’s face. Benedict would always say: “Conversi ad Dominum” – let us turn towards the Lord. Thank you, Holy Father, for this wonderful legacy!

Jesus, I trust in you! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Dr. Taylor Marshall | Canterbury Tales: Eleven Great Quotes from Pope Benedict XVI on Litu...

As the Illustrious Pontificate of Benedict XVI draws to a close, an article by Dr. Taylor Marshall of Canterbury Tales testifies to the significant contribution of this Pontificate to the re-orientation of the Liturgical Reform. Indeed, the Holy Father is leaving to us a legacy of a truly Catholic liturgical reform. In this article, he puts forward eleven quotations from the Holy Father on liturgy:

Ratzinger on the Liturgical Reformers Creating a 'Fabrication, Banal Product'
The liturgical reform, in its concrete realization, has distanced itself even more from its origin. The result has not been a reanimation, but devastation. In place of the liturgy, fruit of a continual development, they have placed a fabricated liturgy. They have deserted a vital process of growth and becoming in order to substitute a fabrication. They did not want to continue the development, the organic maturing of something living through the centuries, and they replaced it, in the manner of technical production, by a fabrication, a banal product of the moment. (Ratzinger in Revue Theologisches, Vol. 20, Feb. 1990, pgs. 103-104)

Ratzinger on Those Who Appreciate the Latin Mass being Wrongly Treated Like 'Lepers'

"For fostering a true consciousness in liturgical matters, it is also important that the proscription against the form of liturgy in valid use up to 1970 [the older Latin Mass] should be lifted. Anyone who nowadays advocates the continuing existence of this liturgy or takes part in it is treated like a leper; all tolerance ends here. There has never been anything like this in history; in doing this we are despising and proscribing the Church's whole past. How can one trust her at present if things are that way?" (Spirit of the Liturgy, 2000)

Ratzinger on the Degeneration of Liturgy and 'Liturgical Fabricators'

"[W]e have a liturgy which has degenerated so that it has become a show which, with momentary success for the group of liturgical fabricators, strives to render religion interesting in the wake of the frivolities of fashion and seductive moral maxims. Consequently, the trend is the increasingly marked retreat of those who do not look to the liturgy for a spiritual show-master but for the encounter with the living God in whose presence all the 'doing' becomes insignificant since only this encounter is able to guarantee us access to the true richness of being." (Cardinal Ratzinger's preface to the French translation ofReform of the Roman Liturgy by Monsignor Klaus Gamber, 1992).

Ratzinger on the 'Disintegration of the Liturgy'

"I am convinced that the crisis in the Church that we are experiencing today is, to a large extent, due to the disintegration of the liturgy." (Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977)

Ratzinger against 'Homemade Liturgy'

"It is also worth observing here that the 'creativity' involved in manufactured liturgies has a very restricted scope. It is poor indeed compared with the wealth of the received liturgy in its hundreds and thousands of years of history. Unfortunately, the originators of homemade liturgies are slower to become aware of this than the participants..." (Feast of Faith p. 67-68)

Ratzinger on the Latin Mass as the 'Holiest and Highest Possession'

“I am of the opinion, to be sure, that the old rite should be granted much more generously to all those who desire it. It’s impossible to see what could be dangerous or unacceptable about that. A community is calling its very being into question when it suddenly declares that what until now was its holiest and highest possession is strictly forbidden and when it makes the longing for it seem downright indecent.” (Ratzinger Salt of the Earth (1997)

Ratzinger on the Danger of Creative "Presiders" at the Mass

In reality what happened was that an unprecedented clericalization came on the scene. Now the priest -- the "presider", as they now prefer to call him -- becomes the real point of reference for the whole Liturgy. Everything depends on him. We have to see him, to respond to him, to be involved in what he is doing. His creativity sustains the whole thing. 

Ratzinger on the Danger of 'Creative Planning of the Liturgy'

Not surprisingly, people try to reduce this newly created role by assigning all kinds of liturgical functions to different individuals and entrusting the "creative" planning of the Liturgy to groups of people who like to, and are supposed to, "make a contribution of their own". Less and less is God in the picture. More and more important is what is done by the human beings who meet here and do not like to subject themselves to a "pre-determined pattern". (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

Ratzinger on Why the Priest Should Not Face the People During Mass

The turning of the priest toward the people has turned the community into a self-enclosed circle. In its outward form, it no longer opens out on what lies ahead and above, but is locked into itself. The common turning toward the East was not a "celebration toward the wall"; it did not mean that the priest "had his back to the people": the priest himself was not regarded as so important. For just as the congregation in the synagogue looked together toward Jerusalem, so in the Christian Liturgy the congregation looked together "toward the Lord". (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

Ratzinger on the Priest and People Facing the Same Direction

On the other hand, a common turning to the East during the Eucharistic Prayer remains essential. This is not a case of accidentals, but of essentials. Looking at the priest has no importance. What matters is looking together at the Lord. (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

Ratzinger on the 'Absurd Phenomenon' of Replacing the Crucifix with the Priest

Moving the altar cross to the side to give an uninterrupted view of the priest is something I regard as one of the truly absurd phenomena of recent decades. Is the cross disruptive during Mass? Is the priest more important than Our Lord? (Spirit of Liturgy, ch. 3)

Dr. Taylor Marshall | Canterbury Tales: Eleven Great Quotes from Pope Benedict XVI on Litu...

Quo Vadis?: The New Liturgical Movement Post-Benedict XVI

The Holy Father's Last Public Mass (Ash Wednesday 2013)

One of my apprehensions about the impending resignation of Pope Benedict from the Petrine Office is the future of the Reform of the reform of the Sacred Liturgy. I found this article in the New Liturgical Movement very insightful.

follow the link: Quo Vadis?: The New Liturgical Movement Post-Benedict XVI

RIP: Fr. Anscar Chupungco, OSB

The Feast of the Translacion of the Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno this year was marked by the passing away of Rev. Fr. Anscar Chupungco, OSB. Known as a very prominent Liturgist, Fr. Anscar has influenced the Church in the Philippines with regards the liturgical reform and inculturation. He served as Rector of the Liturgical Institute of San Anselmo in Rome for many years. He also founded the Paul VI Institute of Liturgy in the Philippines and also the Graduate School of Liturgy in San Beda College, Manila. He was part of the ICEL group that made the English Translation of the Roman Missal which is now replaced by a new English Translation. His passing marks the closing of an era for liturgical reform in the Philippines. I hope and pray that his passing will bring about a new era of liturgical reform in the Philippines which is closer to the spirit of the reform envisioned by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI.

That in all things God may be glorified. Rest in peace, Fr. Anscar.

Sing the Liturgy

Fr.Mark Kirby of Vultus Christi blog points out what I perceive is a pressing liturgical problem: that of singing in the Liturgy and NOT SINGING THE LITURGY. For a long time, we have been substituting inferior songs for the ACTUAL LITURGICAL TEXTS of the Proper of the Mass. The coming of the new translation must be a challenge to put into music the actual text of the Proper of the Mass. We should rid the Liturgy of the "termites of the Church." Follow the Link: And what are you singing today?

Msgr. Bux on the Reform of the reform

Over at Rorate Caeli is an article about an interview granted by Monsignor Nicolas Bux on the Reform of the reform. I find the article significant:

"... the reform that took place after the Council had to be resumed, and in some ways corrected there where, always using his words, the restoration of the painting had been too much, that is, by trying to clean, it had taken the risk of removing too many layers of color. He started this restoration through his own style. The Pope celebrates the liturgy in a subdued, not loud, way. He also wants the prayers, songs, and anything else not to be in exhibitionist tones. And two special actions in his liturgies that are obvious should be noticed: he places the Cross between himself and the assembly, indicating that the liturgical rite is not addressed to the priestly minister, but to Christ; and kneeling in the reception of Communion, indicating that this is not a supper, in the worldly sense of the word, but a communion with the body of Jesus Christ, that is worshiped first, in the words of St. Augustine, and only then eaten."

He also spoke about reading the signs of the times:

"It is clear that the pastors of the Church, first the bishops and then the parish priests, although often saying that we must be able to grasp the signs of the times, an expression very much in use after Vatican II, often fail to understand that the signs of the times are not defined by them, but they happen and are regulated mainly by young people. I think this is the most interesting symptom, because, if [only] the elderly, the adults, went to the Traditional Mass, one might harbor a suspicion that it is nostalgia. The fact that it is mostly young people who seek and participate in the Latin Mass is completely unexpected and therefore deserves to be read, understood, and particularly accompanied by the bishops. "

I agree with him because those who invoke the necessity of reading the signs of the times are stuck with reading the signs of the times of the 70's. They refuse to recognize the fact that 40 plus years into the liturgical reform, the pendulum is going back to the center. The excesses of the experimentation are at last being rejected in favor of Tradition. Young people are able to recognize what old "reformers" refuse to acknowledge. The Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary Form in my own parish has a steady increase of young people in attendance. We are not bring time backwards. The reclaiming of Tradition is really going forward. In fact, those who object even to the new English translation of the Roman Missal refuse to feel and move with the entire Church!

On the Subservience of Reform to the Development of the Liturgy

In November 1955, Worship published an article by Bugnini entitled "Why a Liturgy Reform?" It may be said to articulate some of the rationale behind the decree Cum Nostra. However, Bugnini also enunciated principles he regards as applicable for a general reform. He asserts:

"Liturgical reform is something that is needed if the Liturgy
is to preserve its vitality and splendour...

"The act of the Church [the liturgical rites]...bounded by
time, by space, by the ministers who perform it, is necessarily linked in its
exercise to the changeableness of human matters.

"On this account the Liturgy in its structure has required a
corpus of formulas, gestures, rites, and ceremonies which make of it a living
organism, exposed like all organisms to outside influences, to luxuriant
vitality and, sometimes, to decay."

Bugnini's opening sentence betrays his agenda. He is writing in the "age of reform." As Crichton related, pressure was being applied to achieve reform at this time. And, according to Bugnini, reform is a necessity. Yet, while one must accept that liturgical reform is indeed part of the life of the Church, surely reform must be subservient to the development of the liturgy, in which there is a dialogue between Tradition and adaptation, wherein it is Tradition that must be persuaded. This distinction is important.

Bugnini rightly notes the changeableness of the human elements of the Liturgy, but his account is defective. He does not give any indication that liturgical elements of human origin, the Roman Canon for example, are integral parts of liturgical Tradition that have never been regarded as chageable. His account of the nature of objective liturgical Tradition is therefore limited. We also note that in his account of the organic nature of the Liturgy (he does not speak of liturgical reform as organic), Bugnini proffers the possibility, popular in his circles, that the Liturgy may be decayed.

A. Reid OSB, The Organic Development of the Liturgy, 2005, 214-215.