Fr Tattersall's visit

Last Sunday I had the awesome privilege of meeting Fr Tattersall, a Priest who many have told me that I must meet! and I wasn't disapointed, he is clearly a holy priest.Father delivered an uplifting homily on free will and God's grace.

Father's deep voice was great at such a church, you could hear his voice just resonating after he spoke.

Here are photos of the Latin mass community after mass.

Father Jordan told everyone that "we have a good problem, of having too many people to be in one photo". Apparently the parish priest of Zillmere said that he has not met a single young person interested in the extra ordinary form, well here's a truckload!

I hope to see Father Tattersall latter in the year when I head down to Melbourne for the solemn pontifical high mass at the throne, celebrated by Archbishop Hart.

Help Of Christians

Time for one of my musical posts. A have decided to dedicate a whole post to my favorite hymn.

Help of Christians guard this land,
from assault or inward stain;
Let it be what Christ has planned,
his new Eden where you reign.

Teach us that in Christ your Son,
lies the wisdom to be free;
For the Cross, which we would shun,
is man's tree of liberty.

Should the powers of hell arise,
and our peace be trampled down,
In that night of blood and lies,
show us still your twelve-starred crown.

Take from us the coward heart,
Fleeting will divided mind,
Give us sight to play our part,
Through the world around is blind.

Image of the risen life,
Shinning in eternity,
Glimmer through our earthly strife,
Draw us to your victory.

As i said my favorite hymn, when ever i hear it it lifts my spirit
and awakes in me a sense of pride in being a Catholic in Australia.
If anyone has a recording of it being sung, please do e-mail me
and for those that do not know, my e-mail address is on my profile.

The Ordinary Form and the Extra Ordinary form

My co-bloggers have unleashed a shower of posts of a very high caliber, now hopefully i can express my take on the Forms of the Roman rite.
When I was in Canberra, my friends caught me saying what they believed to be intelligent and insisted i put it on the blog, so here goes.

My theory is that Before Vatican 2, the Church liturgically got it's self in a rut, the average parish Sunday mass was a low mass. I think this is because there just was a lot of laziness or lack of resources (no choir, or other clergy). Cardinal Ratzinger says in one of his books that the low mass became your standard parish mass. By use of simple reason we see that the Extra Ordinary form is very rigid when it comes to solemnity, but the ordinary form isn't, ie you can have incense at any mass or have a sung mass with out incense. So we see that the ordinary form appears to have been designed so you could have the most solemnity that you could, unfortunately the so called "low Mass" mentality was still at large after the implementation of the ordinary form and not only that but an "abusive" mentality flared up in the church, because of the Ordinary form's flexibility .

I myself like both forms, they both holy, but I prefer the extra ordinary form when done solemnly. The ordinary form has only it's flexibility going for it, compared with devotional qualities of the Extra ordinary form.

It will be very interesting to see this new development form maybe 500years in the future, will both forms still co-exist or will one become more dominant?

One of my current reading books is "how Christ celebrated the first mass" and apparently the first mass ever written is the divine liturgy of St James and the book goes on that the Roman rite was written by St Peter, quite interesting. I hope Elizabeth Harrington, will find out that there are more rites in the church, especially that the first mass celebrated by Christ himself was not a free for all, all encompassing and gender neutral affair, it was the Sacred passover a liturgy that was in the making ever since the Jews left Egypt!

I hope that the words of a young FSSP seminarian come true,

" I long for the days that the only argument in the church is, Lace yes or no"

Finally like my co-blogger has pointed out, that the CDF used this latest development for the more so called "controversial" document that they released regarding Vatican 2"

Reactions to the Motu Proprio (4)

As promised, I said that I would do a further analysis of local reactions to the MP. I have followed the tradition set by Fr Z in www.wdtprs.com/blog/ commenting line by line on this week's column by our local "liturgist" Elizabeth Harrington. My comments are italics.



What are the implications for the average Catholic parish of the recent statement from Pope Benedict XVI about celebrating Mass according to the 1962 Missal? (good start)

There will not be many Catholic parishes which meet the requirements set out in the document. The first requirement is ‘a stable group of the faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition’. (of course we need to say up front that no-one will be interested and it is all too difficult)

This does not mean a group in a diocese that goes around to different parishes telling them that they need to introduce a Tridentine Mass, or a few young people who suddenly discover the ‘wonders’ of Mass in Latin – until the novelty wears off! It means a sizable group located within the parish boundaries who have demonstrated a long-term commitment and devotion for the earlier form. (This is new - a band of marauding traditionalists going around and belting up other parishes! And what is worse some young people on speed are going to turn up and celebrate Tridentine Masses until they come down from their"trip". No - you have to do the time and show a long term commitment and self appointed people will then make sure that it is still difficult)

According to Canon Law, the bishop may allow priests to celebrate Mass twice a day or even three times on a Sunday if there is a scarcity of priests (Canon #905). Very many priests are already celebrating the maximum number of Masses allowable on Sunday and would be unable to add another Mass to the existing parish schedule. (True that is why we must pray for new priests who are knowledgeable and experienced in the extraordinary form)

Two other requirements listed in the pope’s document are ‘a certain degree of liturgical formation and some knowledge of the Latin language’. There would not be many priests who would fulfil these requirements and be capable of celebrating Mass according to the 1962 Missal with dignity and grace. (See the previous para)

Suppose a parish has a sufficiently large, stable group of parishioners ‘who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition’, that the parish priest is not already committed to three Masses on a Sunday and is familiar with the old rite and had some knowledge of Latin. Even then, there are several practical problems to overcome, including the layout of the church (in the pre-Vatican II rite the priest and the assembly face the altar), which lectionary, calendar and vestments to use and the availability of people’s missals. (Oops Houston - we still have a problem! The post Vatican II liturgists have really made it hard now - the churches are wrecked! Actually many churches built before 1960 still have much of their Tridentine fittings, and many modern churches could accommodate a Tridentine Mass)

One aspect of the motu proprio that concerns me greatly is the suggestion that marriages, baptisms and funerals might be celebrated according to the older ritual. These rites are attended by people who are not regular members of the worshipping community. Celebrating them in a form and language which is totally foreign will mean that wonderful outreach opportunities for the Church are lost. (Yes we heard this last week - comments already provided in my previous blog)

As I wrote a couple of months ago, the gap between the Tridentine Mass and the current Order of Mass is not so much one of language as of theology. Since liturgy is an expression of the Church’s belief, my greatest concern is that having two quite distinct Orders of Mass in use suggests that there is division within Catholicism about the nature and purpose of the Church. (Obviously she doesnt know of the various Eastern rites in the church. Anyway my observation is that there is a great division in the local Archdiocese already about the nature and purpose of the Church. Its called the hermeneutic of rupture versus continuity. I think I know which one is winning right now)

I’ll leave the last word to an older lady who wrote to me recently to express her concern at the prospect of a return to Masses in Latin: “Having tried to pray for many years in Latin, I rejoiced when it was no longer necessary. Yes, I had a missal with Latin on one side and English on the other, but it always left me feeling like the lady in the song: ‘One eye in the pot and the other up the chimney’!” (What is this all about? Incidently I was at a corporate strategy seminar today which said that you cannot hang a whole view of the world on single statistic. This sound like she talked to one of her little old ladies in the parish and presents this as market research! Obviously this says that everyone is an idiot and will not take the time to learn the liturgy. As I have said earlier, the discussion on the MP locally has been so infantile that I have not participated).

Overall the article was a pointless bit of drivel. It makes no mention of the potential for chaplaincies, whole parishes and religious communities to serve the needs of people who are attracted to the extradordinary form. It has no idea of the fact that people do move around in the Archdiocese and go to liturgies that suit them rather than their parish, and of course that the use of the internet has mobilised a lot of people. Frankly again, I think it is aimed at the liturgical elites in the parishes, to comfort them that their way of doing things is ok, and will not be disturbed.

I think that this is it in terms of comments on the MP reactions. My next postings will reflect on both the ordinary and extraordinary forms in the light of Sacrosanctum Consilium. In the meantime, I will find time to pray more and know Christ and myself better.

AHFI RETREAT

The Retreat was awesome, what else do i need to say?

Father Bing again, provided great talks on a holy life

The retreat was focused on making a good general confession, a far cry from my year 11 leadership retreat, which was good on a lower level.
Here is the hall that the Brothers converted into a chapel. as you can see it looks better then most parish churches! Daily mass, exposition and the rosary really give that spiritual charge, which is quite welcome once a year. My only regret was that I was unable to join the brothers for morning prayers (Basilian chant liturgy of the Hours) , I slept in.
On the final day of the retreat, none other then Bishop Jarret from Lismore celebrated Holy Mass for us. The Bishop is one of the most outstanding of Australia's Bishops and some might argue that he is the best.
A Bishop, at his throne is a powerful image, especially when shrouded by priests and clergy.

His lordship preached a wonderful homily, very inspiring. The Shepard, teaching the flock.

The Altar is prepared by one of the con-celebrating priests. The Mass was the ordinary form, but in Latin and ad orientam. The elevation of the chalice.

Having the retreat out in the middle of nowhere, has certain draw backs, such as a lack of servers, we were under maned. Ideally we would have had a crucifer and proper chaplains for the bishop with vimpae, but God didn't allow it, this time.
All in all the retreat was great! and provided me with a rare opportunity of serving for a bishop!

Our Lady of Mt Carmel at Marian valley

Well I'm back from the two retreats, Just to give you a bite size liturgical snack , here are photos from the Italian Pilgrimage to Marian Valley.Exposition before mass, as usual.

Finally the final blessing, if you look carefully, Fr Prior is wearing choir dress!!!! A thing rarely seen on priests! Stay tuned, I'll be posting photos from the Retreat tomorrow.

Divine Liturgy of St James, Indian Usage

The syro-Malabar Catholic rite, I was invited by one of my good friends to serve the liturgy when it was held here in Brisbane. Needless to say, for the first time i have actually served an eastern rite mass, in a completely different language and culture, too some getting used to but it was amazing.

As you might notice, unfortunately we did not have access to the vestments proper to the rite, so we had to make do with roman vestments.
In this rite, incense is well, abused, and I love it. Through the whole mass the thurifer stands in the sanctuary and basically acts like a smoke machine. The thurifer also incenses the altar! and ambo!

A roman church with a high altar and crammer table are perfect for this rite! unfortunately Holy spirit new farm, had the high altar removed. In this rite, the liturgy of the word is celebrated at a lower altar, facing the people , while the liturgy of the Eucharist is celebrated at the higher altar ad orientam. We involuntarily had to make do with versus populum the whole time.

The elevationThe incense is blessed again!It was awesome to serve for another one of the holy church's rites. The church is so much richer then people think!