Who Says Studying Latin Doesn't Pay?

Giovanna Chirri, a journalist who has covered the Vatican for twenty years, got the scoop of a lifetime when she was attending a consistory of cardinals.  She explains that it consisted of liturgical and other things which the people would not be interested in.  [Comment: Benedict in his last talk with the priests of Rome told the story of the Council from his point of view as an insider.  He told the good priests that there was the Council of the Spirit and the Council of the Journalists.  Is there any clearer indication that what interests the faithful in the pews and what interests the secular press is different?] 

Suddenly the pope took a piece of paper and began reading in slow, clear Latin.  Even some of the cardinals had trouble following what he had to say.  [Comment: the state of the cardinals' Latin is not what it should be.] The journalists were lost.  They had not been given an advanced text from which to write their stories.  Ms. Chirri, in a semi panic, forced herself to remember her high school [gymnasium] Latin.  As she came to realize what the pope was saying to the cardinals and as shock spread across their faces, she realized she was witnessing an event that had not occurred for hundreds of years: a pope was announcing his resignation.

Beachtung [warning]: the link taking you to the original story leads you to a German language website, online Focus.

Justin & the Church after Vatican II

June 1st: The Feast of Saint Justin. 

One of the apostolic fathers, Justin was a philosopher trained in rhetoric and the first great Christian apologist. We have important writings from his hand and a detailed account of his trial and martyrdom. The Romans were fastidious in their legal proceedings and, by one estimate, employed 100,000 stenographers in the empire.  Thus we know of his responses at his trial and those of his young followers.  His students followed him to the arena: humbling for those of us who teach.

Justin Martyr pray for us!

Vatican II Fifty Years After

Given the initial whirlwind we reaped after the Council, it is easy to forget why it was called.  Apologetics!  John XXIII wanted to find a new way to explain the eternal truths to a world which had lost its way and had a tin ear to the traditional language of Christianity.  In Europe the cultural disease was far more advanced than in America, but even in this New World the health of mother church was much more superficial than we realized.  

The hour is late, but the Council is now finally bearing fruit with John Paul the Great's  New Evangelism and a thousand flowers that are blooming.  Benedict chose the name of the patron of Europe knowing the task facing us is much like that of Benedict of Nursia whose monasteries century by century turned the dark ages into the High Mediaeval splendor exemplified by Thomas Aquinas' Proper and Office for Corpus Christi.  That great feast is celebrated June 13th or the Sunday before as in our diocese.

The Priestly Order of St. Peter is a fairly new order of priests trained to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (the traditional Latin mass.) In this interview with Catholic News Service, Father Joseph Kramer of the Order puts Vatican II into perspective and explains why young Catholics are turning to a more traditional Catholicism: 

Thanks to Father Z for this!

The Anglican Use in America gets an Ordinary.

More on the Anglican Use in the U.S.:  The New Liturgical Movement reports Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson's consecration in Houston as the Ordinary of the American Ordinariate.  This is the special structure Benedict XVI created to allow the union of Anglican communities with Rome.

Music by Byrd, Tallis, and Newman.  Wow!

Scelata is a blog by a Catholic parish music director.

He/she has a great picture (I assume it was enhanced):

Benedict Approves a Document on the Reform of the Reform

As with past councils, it is only now that the fruits of the council are budding.

Rejoice and be glad!

Succoth, the festival of Huts, was a harvest feast. It was called Pentecost in Greek (fifty days after.) It too will come! We will harvest the fruits of the Council!

There is a special irony. The Hebrews lived in tents (huts, booths, tabernacles=tents) for forty years. We seem fated to spend forty years in the dessert living in tents before we reach the promised land. So it was after Vatican I and so it has been liturgically after Vatican II!

Pope Ratzinger's Liturgical Manifesto

Sandro Magister argues that for Benedict "The Christian revolution is born in the liturgy." He then explores Benedict's Holy Thursday homily which is a commentary on the Roman Canon and his catechesis for January 7, 2009, on "spiritual" worship. This latter, in particular, dovetails well with the Pope's recent Wednesday audience on Rabanus Maurus.

The liturgy is not something solipsistic, but draws on the integrity of body and soul, the senses as well as the mind, in one integrated whole.

In particular, he presents Benedict's "catechesis for January 7, the rest of which is dedicated to illustrating Christian worship as a whole. It is that worship which the Roman Canon, following St. Paul, defines as 'rationabile.'

"The current translation of 'rationabile,' in the modern languages, is 'spiritual.' But Benedict XVI warns against thinking that Christian worship is something metaphorical, moralistic, purely interior. No, he explains, true Christian worship draws upon men and the world in their entirety, it is also bodily and material, it is the 'cosmic liturgy' in which 'the peoples united in Christ, the world, may become the glory of God.'

"It is extremely rare, in modern theological and liturgical commentary, to find an explanation of the meaning of Christian worship that is as penetrating as in these two texts of pope Ratzinger's preaching."

Did Benedict Expect Praise?

Did the Pope err in allowing four "traditionalist" bishops back into communion with the Catholic Church? Mary Sanchez thinks so when she writes in today's (2/3/09) Wichita Eagle, that "Healing a schism is one thing, but readmitting right-wing nuts like Williamson is of dubious value to the church."

With Ms.Sanchez I deplore Bishop Williamson's foolish and prejudiced views on the Holocaust and politics as does the Vatican and Bishop Williamson's own Society of St. Pius X. Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the Society, has forcefully rejected "The position of Bishop Williamson [which] is clearly not the position of our Society. Antisemitism has no place in our ranks. We follow fully God's commandments on justice and charity and the constant teaching of the Church. Antisemitism has been condemned by the Church. So do we condemn it."

Christ gave his church the mission to save sinners and fools as well as those who are more enlightened. Benedict's decision, far from an endorsement of such views, is a courageous attempt to heal a division in the Body of Christ that never should have happened. In too many places the reforms after Vatican II were implemented with great insensitivity toward ordinary traditional Catholics. It is heartbreaking to read the accounts of Catholic intellectuals like J.R.R Tolkien and Evelyn Waugh who suffered through much callousness and sacrilege in the 1970s. Treating those so abused as pariahs led to schism and, tragically, drove some few off into the weird fringes.

Benedict seeks to heal the break by being inclusive. Let us pray he succeeds.

The Liturgy As Teacher

"Human nature is such that it can not easily rise to the meditation of divine things without external aids"

How do we learn? Particularly, how do we learn the work of adoring the Triune God? Do we listen to lectures, jotting down each word? Do we read the Monarch Notes? Do we take an on-line course?

Consider a passage in an interview in Italian language Zenit with Don Mauro Gagliardi, a Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome and a recently appointed Consultor for the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. Don Gagliardi discussed a book published by Don Nicola Bux on the topic of the liturgy and the debates surrounding it following the Council: La riforma di Benedetto XVI: La liturgia tra innovazione e tradizione.

Don Gagliardi said, "I want to take a clear stand with the author: I am convinced that the [academic] liturgical formation of the people of God - while necessary and recommended at least by the Council of Trent onwards - is not alone sufficient to foster the true liturgical spirit and proper form of adoration [to be characterized] in Christian worship. The Council of Trent taught that 'human nature is such that it can not easily rise to the meditation of divine things without external aids, and for this reason the Church as a loving mother has established certain rituals [...] to make more evident the majesty of a sacrifice so great and bring the minds of the faithful, with these visible signs of religion and piety, to the sublime contemplation of reality' (DS 1746). This means that the mind rises to God not only through formation, but also and above all through the sacred and the visible signs of divine worship, which are set by the Church. Don Bux may therefore welcome the fact that 'a new liturgical movement is emerging which watches the liturgies of Benedict XVI; the instructions prepared by experts are not enough, exemplary liturgies are that which bring us to God' (p. 123)."

The translation is by The New Liturgical Movement.

Ad Orientem

Benedict has been a consistent advocate of having the priest's facing east (ad orientem) as a theologian (Josef Ratzinger) before becoming pope. Michael Kowalewski has put together a set of his quotations on the topic which are posted on the New Liturgical Movement.

More Information on Josef Ratzinger's Complete Writings

Herder Verlag is the publisher for Josef Ratzinger's Complete Writings. (You will find the description on Herder's web site.) The first volume costs fifty euros (45 if bought as part of a subscription to the whole series.) At current exchange rates that is a pretty penny.

The sixteen volumes will each contain Benedict's complete writing on a particular topic prior to his papacy. Herder plans to publish 2-3 volumes a year and complete the project in about six years. Herder says that the individual volumes will be about 500-700 pages.

Volume XI, the first volume published, is about the liturgy (see the next posting, "Josef Ratzinger's Complete Writings Starts with the Liturgy.") The liturgy is central to his theological thinking. The volumes will be:

Der Editionsplan

1. Volk und Haus Gottes in Augustins Lehre von der Kirche. Die Dissertation und weitere Studien zu Augustinus von Hippo.
2. Offenbarungsverständnis und Geschichtstheologie Bonaventuras. Die ungekürzte Habilitationsschrift und weitere Bonaventura-Studien
3. Der Gott des Glaubens und der Gott der Philosophen Die wechselseitige Verwiesenheit von fides und ratio
4. Einführung in das Christentum Bekenntnis – Taufe – Nachfolge
5. Herkunft und Bestimmung Schöpfung – Anthropologie – Mariologie
6. Jesus von Nazareth Spirituelle Christologie
7. Zur Theologie des Konzils Texte zum II. Vatikanum
8. Zeichen unter den Völkern Schriften zur Ekklesiologie und Ökumene
9. Offenbarung – Schrift – Tradition. Hermeneutik und Theologische Prinzipienlehre
10. Auferstehung und Ewiges Leben Beiträge zur Eschatologie
11. Theologie der Liturgie Die sakramentale Begründung christlicher Existenz
    [erscheint als erster Band]
12. Künder des Wortes und Diener eurer Freude. Zur Theologie und Spiritualität des Ordo
13. Im Gespräch mit der Zeit Interviews – Stellungnahmen – Einsprüche
14. Predigten zum Kirchenjahr sowie Meditationen, Gebete, Betrachtungen
15. Aus meinem Leben Autobiographische Texte
16. Bibliographie und Gesamt-Register

Josef Ratzinger's Complete Writings Starts with the Liturgy

Herder Verlag has begone publishing Josef Ratzinger's Complete Writings. Zenit reports (in German; in English N.B.: the two articles have different information) that the first volume published treats the liturgy. Oddly enough the first volume published is Volume XI . The liturgy is central to our relationship to God so it is fitting that it be revealed first to the public (dignum et justum est.)

The bulk of the first is Ratzinger's book The Spirit of the Liturgy: An Introduction. (Der Geist Der Litugie: ein Einfuehrung.) The title comes from Romano Guardini's little classic, Vom Geist Der Liturgie.

Shawn Tribe has an excellent discusssion of the issue of liturgical orientation (Should the priest face east?) in Benedict's thought and practice. He writes in the New Liturgical Movement.

The Vocation of Teaching as a "Diakonia of Truth" and an "intellectual charity."

Benedict XVI addressed the heads of Catholic education last night in Washington. What he said disappointed the secular press hoping to hear a Jeremiad that would make “good copy.” The assembled administrators, a large assembly of busy people in some large stuffy room, no doubt found their minds wandering. Newman’s president sew it as a call to serve the poor through Catholic schools (and it was.)

I found it to be a meditation on our calling, the vocation of teaching, of educating, i.e., leading students and ourselves to the freedom of the truth as a work of love. What he said speaks to heart of what we do, transcending denominational boundaries. It is an apt sequel to our discussion with George Marsden last year.

Benedict’s talk is best read in the quiet. As Proverbs and Ecclesiaticus warn, we sometimes have to meet Wisdom as she creeps in during those tender hours before dawn.

Benedict calls us to a “diakonia of truth.” Leaving the word in Greek, he implies more than the English word, “service,” fully conveys. My mind associates it with an English cognate, “deacon.” Deacons played a large part in the stories of the Roman martyrs, particularly during the Decian and Diocletian persecutions. They guarded the doors, gave the first warnings when the magistrate came to the churches, and they had the task of defending the holy books: the books of the liturgy and sacred scripture. Many joined their blood to that of the Lamb, the Divine Fuller who washed their robes in His own blood. Theirs was a courage animated by love of the truth and Him who is Truth. They exemplify the service we are called to.

Our service should also be one of love. Benedict describes the fragmentation and pointlessness of modern secular education. Against this, our calling must have that “particular urgency of what we might call ‘intellectual charity.’ [Where you read “charity,” think of “agape” in the New Testament or in C.S. Lewis’ The Four Loves.] This aspect of charity calls the educator to recognize that the profound responsibility to lead the young to truth is nothing less than an act of love. Indeed, the dignity of education lies in fostering the true perfection and happiness of those to be educated. In practice “intellectual charity” upholds the essential unity of knowledge against the fragmentation which ensues when reason is detached from the pursuit of truth. It guides the young towards the deep satisfaction of exercising freedom in relation to truth, and it strives to articulate the relationship between faith and all aspects of family and civic life. Once their passion for the fullness and unity of truth has been awakened, young people will surely relish the discovery that the question of what they can know opens up the vast adventure of what they ought to do. Here they will experience ‘in what’ and ‘in whom’ it is possible to hope, and be inspired to contribute to society in a way that engenders hope in others.”

Much as it is difficult to indulge in quiet reflective reading while we stumble down this death march toward semester’s end, you would find the entire address worth reading. You can find it at:

http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/text-of-pope-to-educators/

Benedict XVI Visits the White House

Talk about red carpet treatment: a reception on the south lawn of the White House:

Benedict XVI Has Arrived

Benedict is here:

Peggy Noonan on Benedict XV

Peggy Noonan reminds us how it unusual for a leader to "dwell on the virtues of his predecessor." She tells us how Benedict XVI, on the anniversary of john Paul the Great's death moved her: "He spoke of the distilled message of John Paul's reign: 'Be not afraid,' the words 'of the angel of the Resurrection, addressed to the women before the empty tomb.' Which words were themselves a condensed message: Nothing has ended, something beautiful has begun, but you won't understand for a while."

Do read what she has to say.

Is the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite a "New Rite"

Is the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite a "New Rite?" Reading the following paragraph in the English translation of Benedict's letter to the bishops accompanying the motu proprio, you might conclude that:

"There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place. Needless to say, in order to experience full communion, the priests of the communities adhering to the former usage cannot, as a matter of principle, exclude celebrating according to the new books. The total exclusion of the new rite would not in fact be consistent with the recognition of its value and holiness."

That is not how I read the German, which I assume is the controlling text:

"Es gibt keinen Widerspruch zwischen der einen und der anderen Ausgabe des Missale Romanum. In der Liturgiegeschichte gibt es Wachstum und Fortschritt, aber keinen Bruch. Was früheren Generationen heilig war, bleibt auch uns heilig und groß; es kann nicht plötzlich rundum verboten oder gar schädlich sein. Es tut uns allen gut, die Reichtümer zu wahren, die im Glauben und Beten der Kirche gewachsen sind und ihnen ihren rechten Ort zu geben. Um die volle communio zu leben, können die Priester, die den Gemeinschaften des alten Usus zugehören, selbstverständlich die Zelebration nach den neuen liturgischen Büchern im Prinzip nicht ausschließen. Ein völliger Ausschluß wäre nämlich nicht in Übereinstimmung mit der Anerkennung des Wertes und der Heiligkeit des Ritus in seiner erneuerten Form."

Spe Salvi,: a sort of “Greatest Hits” collection of Ratzinger’s most important ideas

John Allen summarized Benedict XVI's main themes as:

• Truth is not a limit upon freedom, but the condition of freedom reaching its true potential;
• Reason and faith need one another – faith without reason becomes extremism, while reason without faith leads to despair;
• The dangers of the modern myth of progress, born in the new science of the 16th century and applied to politics through the French Revolution and Marxism;
• The impossibility of constructing a just social order without reference to God;
• The urgency of separating eschatology, the longing for a “new Heaven and a new earth,” from this-worldly politics;
• Objective truth as the only real limit to ideology and the blind will to power.

I'd say he's six for six. I doubt Allen's self styled "liberal" and aging readers are pleased.

Forget the Iowa Caucases and the New Hampshire Primary

Forget the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, the real polls are open already: what do we call the old mass now that that great liturgical liberal, Benedict XVI, has clarified that priests can say the mass as it said at the Second Vatican Council (which used the Missal of 1962.) Fr. Z. is conducting a poll as to what that mass should be called. My first choice lost out in the initial round (the Mass of John XXIII.) In the runoff, the top three choices are:

1) the Tridentine Mass
2) extraordinary form/use (forma extraodinaria)
3) the Traditional Latin Mass or TLM


You can vote on his blog, What Does The Prayer Really Say? The blog is a great resource to find out whether Rome (which speaks in Latin) really said what your local liturgist said Rome said.

I voted for #2. That is what Benedict called it. The "Tridentine Mass" suggests that this form dates back to the Council of Trent which is wrong by at least a thousand years. The "Traditional Latin Mass" is OK but distracts us from the fact that the ordinary form (what we have in almost every parish, every Sunday) is supposed to be in Latin most of the time and should be celebrated in a manner that preserves the tradition of the Latin rite.

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM: A GREAT FATHER OF SOCIAL DOCTRINE

From the Vatican News Service:

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM: A GREAT FATHER OF SOCIAL DOCTRINE

VATICAN CITY, SEP 26, 2007 (VIS) - In his general audience, which was held this morning in St. Peter's Square in the presence of more than 20,000 people, the Pope resumed the catechesis he had begun last week on St. John Chrysostom.

This Father of the Church was appointed as bishop of Constantinople, capital of the eastern Roman empire, in the year 397 and immediately began planning the reform of the Church. said the Pope. "The austerity of the episcopal palace," he added, "had to be an example to everyone." In fact, thanks to his "concern for the poor," the saint "was also known as the 'Alms-giver' ... and he created a number of highly-regarded charitable institutions."

"As a true pastor, he treated everyone cordially. ... In particular, he always showed tender concern for women and particular interest in marriage and the family. He invited the faithful to participate in liturgical life, which his creative genius would make particularly splendid and attractive." However "despite his kind heart, ... because of his continuous dealings with the civil authorities and institutions, he often found himself involved in political questions and intrigues, ... and was condemned to exile" where he died in the year 407.

"Of St. John Chrysostom it was said," the Pope continued, "that God caused people to see in him another Paul, a Doctor of the Universe. ... Chrysostom's ideal vision is clearly expressed in his commentary to the first pages of the book of Genesis," in which he meditates upon "the eight works accomplished by God in the sequence of six days." The saint wishes "to lead the faithful back from the creation to the Creator, ... the God of condescension ... Who sends fallen man a letter: Holy Scripture."

The bishop of Constantinople also refers to God as "tender Father, Doctor of souls, Mother and affectionate Friend." In the end "it is God Who descends towards us, He takes bodily from, ... dies on the cross, ... and truly becomes God-with-us, our brother."

"In addition to these three stages - God Who is visible in His creation, God Who writes us a letter, and God Who descends towards us - there is a fourth stage in the life and activity of Christians: the vital and dynamic principle of the Holy Spirit Who transforms the reality of the world. God comes into our lives ... and transforms us from within."

In his commentary to the Acts of the Apostles, St. John Chrysostom proposes "the model of the early Church as a model for society, creating a social 'utopia' ... and seeking to give a Christian soul and a Christian aspect to the city. In other words, Chrysostom understood that it was not enough to give alms, to help the poor one case at a time, rather that it was necessary to create a new structure, a new model for society ... based on the new Testament. For this reason, we may consider him as one of the great Fathers of the Church's social doctrine."

With St. Paul, St. John Chrysostom "supported the primacy of human beings, including slaves and the poor." This contrasted with the structure of the Greek 'polis' where "vast sectors of the population were excluded form the right to citizenship;" in the Christian city, on the other hand, "all are brothers and sisters with the same rights."

At the end of his life St. John Chrysostom returned to the theme of "God's plan for humanity," reaffirming that "God loves each of us with an infinite love, and therefore He wants everyone to be saved."

AG/CHRYSOSTOM/... VIS 070926 (610)

Benedict to His New Brother Bishops: Above all, Br Men of Prayer

BISHOPS MUST BE, ABOVE ALL, MEN OF PRAYER

VATICAN CITY, SEP 22, 2007 (VIS) - This morning in Castelgandolfo, the Holy Father received participants in the traditional meeting of bishops who have been appointed over the course of the last twelve months. With them, he reflected on the apostolic and pastoral nature of a bishop's life of prayer.

After highlighting how "the chief place in the life of a successor to the Apostles must be reserved for God," the Pope told the bishops to reserve a special mention for priests in their prayers, "that they may persevere in their vocation, faithful to the priestly mission with which they have been entrusted.

"How edifying its," he added, "for each priest to know that his bishop - from whom he received the gift of priesthood or who is in any case his father and friend - remains close to him in prayer and affection, and is always ready to welcome him, listen to him, support and encourage him. Nor," he continued," in a bishop's prayers, should there ever be lacking a supplication for new vocations. They must be asked insistently of God, that He may call 'whom He will' to the sacred ministry."

"Where men and women are constantly rushing and lose themselves, where people live as if God does not exist," the Pope told the newly-consecrated bishops, "create places and moments for prayer where, in silence, in listening to God through 'lectio divina,' in individual and community prayer, mankind can meet God and enjoy a living experience of Jesus Christ Who reveals the true face of the Father."

The Holy Father exhorted the bishops "to make the cathedral an exemplary house of prayer, especially liturgical prayer, where the diocesan community united with their bishop can praise and thank God for His work of salvation, and intercede for all humankind."

"Be men of prayer," Benedict XVI concluded. "In appealing to God for yourselves and for your faithful, have the trust of children, the boldness of a friend, and the perseverance of Abraham, who was tireless in his intercession."

AG/PRAYER/BISHOPS VIS 070924 (350)