New Manual on the Mass

It seems as if the principles expressed in Joseph Ratzinger's 'Sprit of the Liturgy' might actually achieve some concrete form. Cardinal Antonio Cañizares announced earlier this week that the CDW are preparing a manual to help priests celebrate Mass properly. It should be published in the summer.

He reiterated the importance Vatican II gave to the liturgy, "whose renewal must be understood in continuity with the Tradition of the Church and not as a break or discontinuity." "God wants to be adored in a concrete way and it's not up to us to change it."

Interestingly he said that the Council did not speak of the priest celebrating Mass facing the people, that it stressed the importance of Christ on the altar, reflected in Benedict XVI's celebration of the Mass in the Sistine Chapel facing the altar. This does not exclude the priest facing the people, in particular during the reading of the word of God. He stressed the need of the notion of mystery, and particulars such as the altar facing East and the fact that the sacrificial sense of the Eucharist must not be lost.

Since the earliest days of this Pontificate there have been rumour upon rumour coming from the CDW about a document that would bring in some conformity in the celebration of the Mass and "outlaw" the worst excesses, and introduce some sense of continuity with the Missal of the Blessed John XXIII, the Mass of the Council.

The problem is there has been so much dithering over the last forty years from the CDW it seems quite unlikely a single document will even be noticed, every priest has "his" own way of celebrating Mass, which presumably reflects "his" own theology, and we have accustomed our people to mawkish sentimentality in the liturgy, that a move away from it will be tough battle. The alternative is that the personal tastes of priest, and of "liturgical directors" alienate the faithful.

I was watching the video below, I am not sure that my own faith would be strong enough to cope with either the music or the "liturgical" action, in fact I think it would have me running from the Church. Bad liturgy costs souls!

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Like the Monks of Egypt

The European Court has ruled against Christians practising their faith in public by doing anything more than wearing pieces of decorative jewelry. When the Deputy Prime Minster's speech writers brand those who oppose David Cameron's social engineering policies as "bigots", meaning basically Christians, and increasingly politicians and the media present Christianity as something alien, even harmful to human dignity, to the point where not only are Christians becoming increasingly unappointable to national and EU governments, probably they are becoming unelectable too because of secular opposition. When it seems that many professions, especially those controlled by the state such as social work, education, areas of medicine and care, are becoming no-go zones for Christians. When the faith  that formed the culture and values of Europe and Britain is rejected, we must ask: what place will be left for us?

Today (OF) is the memoria of St Anthony of Egypt, his life covered the transition from the age of martyrs to the Council of Nicea and beyond. It was the age when vast numbers of young Christians seem to have left the cities, especially Alexandria, and fled to find God in the desert. It seems that the peace brought about by Constantine's conversion and the toleration that it brought about broke down the walls of the Christian ghetto but Christians  chose rather than living alongside the rest of the Empires citizenry they would live apart.

It seems that in many parts of Europe, there is often visceral hatred and intolerance of Christianity, Nick Clegg is the tip of an iceberg, behind him lies the bitter little asides on the BBC, the anti-Christian distemper of Guardian journalists, the contempt of Dawkins, the keeping at arms length of religion by the younger Royals, the continuous pushing of Christianity to edge of our society. The French are setting up the frighteningly entitled ‘the National Observatory of Secularism’, to keep "religious pathology" under surveillance, this is a mark of our brave new world but is doubtless the beginning of other similar committees throughout the West.

The hatred for Christianity will grow as our societies become increasingly divided and polarised, what will happen as unemployment and poverty rise? There is growing evidence of attacks on religious monuments and symbols, not just through the courts but acts of destruction and vandalism, presumably the next stage are attacks on people and Christians banding together for defence both intellectual and moral but also physical, after that presumably Christians living apart, like the monks of Egypt.

In today's Gospel, Jesus touches the leper, and then seems to take the lepers place having to dwell in places where no-one lived, is that our fate?

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The Letter of the 1,000 Priests

This is the letter which appeared in today's Telegraph from a thousand English priests:

Sir,
After centuries of persecution Catholics have, in recent times, been able to be members of the professions and participate fully in the life of this country. 

Legislation for same sex marriage, should it be enacted, will have many legal consequences, severely restricting the ability of Catholics to teach the truth about marriage in their schools, charitable institutions or places of worship. 

It is meaningless to argue that Catholics and others may still teach their beliefs about marriage in schools and other arenas if they are also expected to uphold the opposite view at the same time. 

The natural complementarity between a man and a woman leads to marriage, seen as a lifelong partnership. This loving union – because of their physical complementarity - is open to bringing forth and nurturing children. This is what marriage is. That is why marriage is only possible between a man and a woman.  Marriage, and the home, children and family life it generates, is the foundation and basic building block of our society.
 We urge Members of Parliament not to be afraid to reject this legislation now that its consequences are more clear.

The signatories are here 

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A Quarter of England's Priests Write

A quarter of England and Wales' priests, that is just over a thousand, have written a letter about the Tory party's redefinition of marriage. The letter appears in today's Telegraph. I am proud I am part of that quarter!
As the signatures were collected over the Christmas period, I am sure that many of the other three quarters of us simply intended to sign but didn't get round to it.

Here is the Telegraph's backstory.

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Dome of Home Vision

Fr Z has a story lifted from the Catholic Herald about the revival of the "Dome of Home" by the Institute of Christ the King on the Wirral.
The story seems to be same with most of the Institute's churches, which are on the edge of a large conurbation,  huge, beautiful, in need of a great deal of work but often until they get involved, closed. Their secret fom this story seems to be getting people involved. The landmark nature of their churches presumably means they receive a degree of local publicity, and especially as they have the "unique selling point" of the traditional liturgy.

There seems to be more going on than this, it seems as if it is part the Shrewsbury initiatives -like getting the Cure D'Ars heart to visit the diocese or starting the new bishop's episcopate by a Year of Prayer and Marian  devotion. There seems to be a connection with this and ladies with "brasso" and mops, with raffles and secret donations, with repairing emboidered vestments and huge jewelled monstrances. I think it is something about capturing imagination and in a sense giving people ownership.

I have been reflecting on the dancing at Liverpool; that seems have been about limiting imagination and dumbing down as opposed to "raising the mind and heart" to a new vision.

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Soho Masses end: Mayfair Masses begin

Under the Bishop engagements in the Catholic Press last month there was a brief announcement that Archbishop Nichols had a meeting in Rome. Previously Archbishop Mueller expressed concern about the Soho Masses. The meeting was apparently between Mueller, Bertone and Nichols.

Both the CDF and the Secretariat of State have been very concerned about the the "measured support" given by the English Bishops to the Ordinariate; remember the Pope had to dip has hand into his own pocket to help to stop them going bankrupt whilst still in the cradle, Archbishop Nichols has until yesterday resisted making a church available to them. From the beginning the English bishops were deliberately excluded from discussions with the then Anglican bishops and the CDF in the preparations to set up the Ordinariate, and when it was finally announced, it was done from Rome and Vin was left doing an embarrassing joint interview with Rowan Williams, in which it seemed Williams was slightly more clued up than Nichols. The problem seems to have been that neither Rome nor the then Anglican bishops trusted Nichols or the other English bishops to co-operate with the plan that came directly from the Pope.

So, yesterdays announcement was apparently a major step forward for the Ordinariate, having at last a London centre but not necessarily a victory for Rome. The intriguing thing is the future of the Soho Masses. The problem hasn't been that they cater for a particular sexual minority. I am told by people who are sensitive to this type of thing that even the Oratories 11.30am Mass has more gay people than Warwick Street, the problem is not sexuality but orthodoxy and the politicisation of the Mass. Many people have been to these Masses expecting help to deal with their sexuality and found a dating agency.

 The Archbishop has announced that the Masses will end and the "ministry", that supports the Masses, will move to the prestigious Jesuit Farm St Church in Mayfair, and they will be expected to integrate with the parish. Which actually seems to suggest that actually they will take over the Farm Street evening Mass.
The Jesuits are hardly known for their liturgical acumen or their orthodoxy, their provincial novitiate house in Birmingham recently hosted A Call to Action meeting, at the moment the Jesuits of Farm Street are quite involved in celebrating the Soho Masses. When the Soho Masses were set up by Archbishop Longley as Cardinal Murphy O'Connor's Auxilliary, with the blessing of Cardinal Levada the CDF Prefect, the intention was that various safeguards and monitoring would be in place, under Archbishop Nichols the Masses have taken place but with little or no oversight. Distancing the whole scenario by placing it under the Jesuits hardly bodes well for the supervision that is necessary for such a sensitive celebration of Mass. Can we expect a change? Well yes, a more prestigious London address for the Masses but hardly a change of style or tone especially as the Archbishop explicitly says there is no change in the personnel involved. Indeed Terence Weldon, one of the organisers welcomes the move in article which suggest the Soho Masses will live on.

There has been bungling and mishandling of the announcement, that we have come to expect; the Guardian, the Independent see it as yet another phlegm-flecked homophobic attack by the Catholic Church but as I say above this really should have been presented and dealt with as matter of Catholic "authenticity" and liturgical conformity. The Archbishop himself seems deliberately to be causing this distortion, he has promised to meet with "Soho Community", he has assured them of his support. I can't quite work out what is going on. Is His Grace really trying to ensure there is care for people with a same sex attraction or is he just cocking a snook at Rome and orthodox Catholic belief? Considering his rather feather duster approach, until last weekend, to Cameron's redefinition of marriage, one has to ask what is really going on.

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New Years Gift from Wantage

On the 1st of January, in the Year of Our Lord 2013 the 11 sisters, formerly members of the Community of Saint Mary the Virgin, Wantage, were reconciled to Our Holy Mother the Church.
What wonderful a New Year's gift for the sisters, for the Church and for the Holy Father, whose own particular project and gift to the English Church the Ordinariate is.
I offered Mass for their intentions yesterday. Now, all the sisters need is a permanent home, and a little cash, presumably, to set it up, so pray!
The Ordinariate in England is the real touchstone of whether we are with the Benedictine "programme" or not. It touches how we see Ecclesiology: the Church's relationship with other Christians bodies, the relationship of individual Christians with the Holy See. The setting up of the Ordinariates throughout the English speaking is just one of the ways in which we have moved to a more authentic interpretation of Vatican II, recognising what we have in common, but recognising what is defficient. Yesterday, for these sisters, who were living a Catholic life "in much fullness", received what was defficient, namely visible Communion with the See of Peter.

Pray for the Ordinariate, that this year the might be given a London home, a little money.

A Happy and Blessed New Year

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