OUR LADY OF SORROWS IN LENT

The New Roman Missal has, for the Friday of the 5th Week of Lent, an alternative collect which commemorates Our Lady of Sorrows. At last, the Missal recognizes the pious devotion rendered to the Virgin of Sorrows on this day. In the past, this day was known as Viernes de Dolores on account of the old Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin.

Deus, qui Ecclesiae tuae in hoc tempore tribuis benigne,
beatam Mariam in passione Christi contemplanda
devote imitari,
da nobis, quaesumus, euisdem Virginis intercessione,
Unigenito Filio tuo firmius in dies adhaerere
et ad plenitudinem gratiae eius demum pervenire.

Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sanctus, Deus,
per omnia in saecula saeculorum.

O God, who in this season
give your Church the grace
to imitate devoutly the Blessed Virgin Mary
in contemplating the Passion of Christ,
grant, we pray, through her intercession,
that we may cling more firmly each day
to your Only Begotten Son
and come at last to the fullness of his grace.

Who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Clerical Narcissism and Lent

Clerical Narcissism is a problem that afflicts many priests who think that the Mass is a venue to assert their own personality and preferences. I agree with George Weigel with his observation that this narcissism needs to be corrected.

"One implicit purpose of the new translations, with their deliberate recovery of a sacral vocabulary and their adoption of a more formal literary rhythm, was to discipline the tendency of priests to turn the Mass into an expression of the celebrant’s personality. The difficulties some priests have had with adjusting to the changes suggests that this tendency was, in fact, a real problem in implementing the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Prominent Catholic psychologist Paul Vitz once wrote of this as a problem of “clerical narcissism,” and while the phrase undoubtedly stings, there’s something to it—something that needs correcting."

Clerical Narcissism and Lent | First Things

Brick by Brick

I offered Mass for a Charismatic Community last Monday and I was delightfully surprised. Even with the date of the implementation of the use of the new English translation of the Roman Missal (for the Philippines) still a long way off (2012 Advent), the said community is already using it! I was further delighted when, at Holy Communion, the faithful knelt to receive our Lord. And this is not a conservative Latin Mass community but a Charismatic one! Even with the great influence which opponents to the Reform of the reform exert in the Philippine landscape, it seems that little by little, the reform is underway. I know for a fact that this Charismatic community is steeped in Scriptural formation. I am of the belief that a person who takes the Sacred Scripture seriously will begin asking questions about reverence in worship.

New English Edition of Roman Missal by Midwest Theological Forum

The new English Edition of the Roman Missal will be used in the Philippines starting the first Sunday of Advent 2012. It is now made available by the Midwest Theological Forum. The Roman Missal editio typica tertia is also made available by the same publication.

Follow the link: New English Edition of Roman Missal by Midwest Theological Forum