The Construction of the New Mass: "Italian super-liturgist laments the good old days" (Latin Mass 2004 Spring)

7/30/2019 The Construction of the New Mass: "Italian super-liturgist laments the good old days" (Latin Mass 2004 Spring)

1/6


2/6

Spring 2004

Publisher: Keep the Faith, Inc.Editor-in-Chief: Father James McLucas

Managing Editor: John W. BlewettAssociate Editor: Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Art Director: Ronald W. Lawson

Contributing Editors

Father Calvin Goodwin, F.S.S.P.Ronald P. McArthur

ContributorsElizabeth Altham s Matthew M. Anger s Father William Ashley

Father Ignacio Barreiro s Bishop Eugenijus BartulisFather David R. Becker s James Bemis

Father Jerome Bertram, O.P. s Laura BerquistMarie Siobhan Boland s Patrick Buchanan

Father James B. Buckley, F.S.S.P. s Neri CapponiFrancis Carey s Matthew Childs s John Clark

William Coulson s Thomas J. Craughwell s H.W. Crocker, IIILeo Darroch s Michael Davies s Michael de Tar, M.D.Brett Decker s Patrick Delaney s William Doino, Jr.Thomas A. Droleskey s Father Raymond V. Dunn

Alice Thomas Ellis s Father Evaristus Eshiowu s Edwin FaustChristopher Ferrara s Father Sean Finnegan

Father Kevin Fitzpatrick s James K. FitzpatrickFather Robert Fromageot, F.S.S.P. s John Galvin

Lord Brian Gill s Cecile Bolling von GoetzRichard Cowden Guido s Norris Harrington

Father Brian Harrison, O.S. s Father Ignatius HarrisonKathleen Howley s Kenneth Jones s Father Peter Joseph

Hermann Kelly s Thaddeus Kozinski s Joseph KungEdward G. Lengel s Susan Lloyd s James Lothian

Dino Marcantonio s Thomas McArdleAndrew J. McCauley s D. Q. McInerny s Diane Moczar

Father John Mole, O.M.I. s Thomas MolnarJohn Muggeridge s Anne Roche Muggeridge

Father Gerald Murray s George Neumayr s John NeumayrSteve OBrien s Julia Ann OSullivan s James Patrick

Father John Perricone s Jonathan PetersRobert Phillips s Father Joseph Ponessa s John C. Rao

Father Chad Ripperger, F.S.S.P. s Bishop Fernando RifanMichael Rose s Jeffrey Rubin s Claudio R. Salvucci

Msgr. Rudolf Michael Schmitz s Msgr. Richard J. SchulerVirginia Seuffert s Janet Smith s Father Russell E. Smith

Thomas Gordon Smith s Joseph Sobran s James SpencerAlfons Cardinal Stickler s Donna Steichen s Duncan Stroik

Robert A. Sungenis s Steven Terenzio s Jeffrey TuckerDaniel Van Slyke s Alice von Hildebrand

Tom J. Walsh, M.D. s Bruce Walters, M.D. s David WhiteFather Alan Wilders s David Williams

Father W. Ray Williams s Charles M. WilsonKieron Wood s John Wooten s Alessandro Zangrando

The Latin Mass: A Journal of Catholic Culture is publishedquarterly in March, June, September and Decemberby Keep the Faith Inc. Donations to The Latin Mass aretax-deductible in the United States. Simply make out acheck to Keep the Faith, Inc., and write The Latin Mass onthe memo line. The views expressed by The Latin Masscontributors are not necessarily those of the publisher, theeditors or Keep the Faith, Inc. Please address all subscrip-tion requests or questions to:The Latin Mass Keep the Faith, Inc.50 So. Franklin Turnpike, Ramsey, NJ 07446-25460HONE s &AX

Subscription Rates: YEAR n FOUR ISSUES IN #ANADA 53 YEARS n EIGHT ISSUES IN #ANADA 53 YEARS n TWELVE ISSUES IN #ANADA 53Overseas: $50.00/year (U.S. dollars)Single copy price: $7.25 (includes first class postage)

Letters and articles: Address all editorial mail,submissions, letters to the editor, advertising inquiries to:

The Latin Mass

391 E. Virginia TerraceSanta Paula, CA 93060E-Mail: [email protected]

Manuscripts should be submitted in manuscript and if pos-sible in electronic format as a Microsoft Word document.We do not return unsolicited manuscripts. Letters to theeditor may be edited for length or clarity.

Copyright 2004 Keep the Faith, Inc.

On the cover and inside the back cover:Pentecostby Titian. The reproduction on theinside back cover is designed for display.

Spring 2004

Contents

Features

4 An Exclusive Interview with Cardinal Castrilln Hoyosa written interview granted on May 5, 2004, the Feast of Saint Pius V

8 Roman Landscapeby Alessandro Zangrando

10 Kierkegaard: Critic of Luther

by Alice von Hildebrand16 Sacred Tradition A Many Splendored Thing (Part 3)

by Father Chad Ripperger, F.S.S.P.

20 How Malta Has Kept the Faithby James Bemis

26 The Vocations Crisis of the Laityby Edwin Faust

32 What to Do When There is Nothing to Doby Diane Moczar

Departments

38 Liturgy:Responses to La Civilt Cattolicaby Father Romano Tommasi and Father Ignacio Barreiro

46 Scripture: The Douay Bible: A Testimony to Tradition (Part I)by Salvatore J. Ciresi

50 Sermon: The Exaltation of the Commonplaceby Father Calvin Goodwin, F.S.S.P.

52 Theology: Traditional Catholic Moral Theology: A Thomistic Defenseby Pierre Reginald

56 Biography:Irelands Eamon de Valera: Dev Still Mattersby Steve OBrien

62 History:A Catholic at War: Douglas Jerrold and the Struggle

to Recast Christendom, 1914-1964by Edward G. Lengel

66 Science: The Church and the Birth of Modern Science (Part 1)by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

72 Literature:In Defense of Christian Snobbery Evelyn Waugh Reconsidby Adam A. J. DeVille

78 Literature:Paradise Lost: The Quest for the Perfect Futureby Matthew Anger

82 Book Reviews82 Sensous Worshipby Jeffrey Chipps Smith; reviewed by Walter M. Hudson84Literary Convertsby Joseph Pearce; reviewed by Father James Downey, O.S.B.

86 Saints for Every Occasionby Thomas J. Craughwell; reviewed by Father Ignacio Barrei

Homeschooling

88 The Rich Young Manby Susan Lloyd

91 Learning Styles and Educationby Marie Siobhan Boland

A Final Thought

92 Successors of the Apostles: From Courage to Collectivismby John W. Blewett


3/6


4/6

39Spring 2004

the sanctuary], during the rites the

laity are not able to enter, above all

the women. They make an excep-

tionfor those clerics in miniature

that are the altar boys.2

Although obviously critical, this

picture accurately generalizes whatone would notice about the arrange-

ment of any Catholic church before

the first revolutionary changes inau-

gurated by Sacrosanctum Concilium.

Also obvious is the fact that Father

Giraudo disapproves of these pre-

sumed anti-liturgical customs.

The rest of my essay has a twofold

purpose. The first is to evaluate his

critique based on unanimous histori-

cal agreement among liturgiologistsas regards the practice of authentic

liturgy of both East and West during

the entirety of the Christian tradition,

and the second is to look at the Coun-

cil to see if it actually changed or

permitted change in the tradition of

dividing the nave from the sanctuary

by a rail, and not allowing laymen,

particularly women, into the sanctu-

ary, with the exception of altar boys.

Father Giraudo finds it liturgically

offensive for there to be a separation

between priest and laity in a Christian

church. Of course, an Orthodox or

Eastern Christian would be offended

by Father Giraudos denigration of

this practice, since what he denounc-

es remains valid in the liturgical

tradition of both. Moreover, ample

numbers of these Oriental Christians

are found in Western countries and

many, though adopting Western

social culture, still continue to wor-ship in their own liturgical traditions

(which Sacrosanctum Concilium

states to be of equal status). Ap-

parently, Father Giraudo is willing

to label as defective the Byzantine,

Syro-Antiochene, Alexandrian,

Abyssinian, East Syrian, and other

liturgies in order to defend the novel

praxis of the new Mass.

None of the above-mentioned

practices of the old Mass, which

Father Giraudo labels as anti-liturgi-

cal, is considered as such, either

explicitly or implicitly, by the

Council itself. The irony of a Jesuit

making such assertions comes from

that orders generally recognized lack

of liturgical sense, resulting fromtheir traditionally weak liturgical

studies. Thus it would probably seem

inconsequential to the Jesuit Father

Giraudo that the first semi-public

worship space known in the early

Church (c. 250)3

was already known

to have had the

division between

the lay and the

clerical sectionsof the church,4

which architecture

endured until the

post-conciliar

period, and still

endures in all the

Oriental Churches.

The equality of

the sexes was not

so much an issue

with Christians

with respect to

seating (since it

was often merely

the side of the

nave upon which

they sat), but

rather purity, so

that at the sign of

peace and dur-

ing the entire act

of worship there

would be nothingimpure to distract

from proper adora-

tion, which was

radically directed

toward God. The

posture of early Christians praying

due East and their total separation

from any distracting elements from

within the congregation meant that

the communal act of worship was

more concerned with preparing for

the judgment that will mark the

Second Coming.

Father Giraudo goes on to lament,

as if it were a worldwide epidemic,

some typical Italian liturgical

practices which, by the way, are

still to be found in the post-conciliarChurch of some rural and even urban

parishes of Italy. The children, he

notes, are rigorously divided by age

and sex within the church. Of course,

division by gender has been the

traditional practice

of all three major

world religions

and one that may

still be found in

north Africa, Asia,Eastern Europe

and even some

more conservative

diasporal ethnic

communities in the

western hemi-

sphere.

Next, Father

Giraudo constructs

an impressive

straw man, one

that is supposed

to elucidate the

oppressive nature

of the pre-Vati-

can II liturgy. In

Italy everyone was

made to kneel for

most of the Mass!

Although this was

more or less the

de facto rule in

parish churches,some observations

might help us see

the rather delicate

condition of this

straw man con-

cocted by Father Giraudo.

First, Father may have forgotten

that the instructions issued by the

Holy See, especially after the dia-

logue Mass was introduced and then

Generally, the faithful of

the Latin rite still prefer

to kneel, especially

in America and some

places in Europe.

Kneeling persists even

at the reception of Holy

Communion despite

the efforts of American

and European bishops

and priests to deny

Communion and toemploy psychological

pressures to stop the

practice.

A Response toLa Civilt Cattolica Liturgy


5/6

Spring 200440

promoted, mentioned the appropri-

ateness of standing for the sung and

recited parts of much of the Mass.5

If certain parishes chose not to follow

these rubrical suggestions as promot-

ed by the Holy See, then perhaps the

blame belongs to the local devotion

and custom of the people. Gener-ally, the faithful of the Latin rite still

prefer to kneel, especially in America

and some places in Europe. Kneeling

persists even at the reception of Holy

Communion despite the efforts of

American and European bishops and

priests to deny Communion and to

employ psychological pressures to

stop the practice.

Assist at a Mass at any church

in Rome, the center of reform, andbehold what the improvement has

wrought! Some people kneel, some

people stand, some people walk

around with their cell phones. Others

sit for the entire Mass. Finally, all of

us are duly impressed with Roman

women who must have their minia-

ture canines with them, particularly

at the reception of Holy Communion.

Thank God, according to Father

Giraudo, that the days of everyone

doing the same thing are over.

Father Giraudo goes on to lament

the practice of Communion being

distributed in Italy (and in many

other places) in those pre-conciliar

days: either before or after Mass but

generally not during Mass. Now, in

these heady days of reform, Commu-

nion is often distributed at a Com-

munion service outside of Mass.

This especially happens in Western

countries seemingly for the conve-nience of the church consumer

and is most often presided over

by a lay woman. It is difficult to see

how what he considers as a former

abuse can be said to have been

corrected. It would seem, rather, that

the former abuse has been replaced

by another, still graver one.

The last part of the straw man is

that the celebrants chair was never

seen. The truth is that, depending

on the construction of the individual

church, the celebrants place general-

ly could be seen more or less imme-

diately or easily. However, in the new

Church, it is often the altar that takes

a back seat to the celebrants chair.

Some rather recent architecturalnovelties place

the celebrants

chair at the

center of the

sanctuary,

with the single

altar at the

left or right of

the sanctuary

permitting

the celebrantto trump the

altar!

Father Gi-

raudo speaks

condescend-

ingly about

the simple

faithful

praying the

Rosary during

Mass despite

the fact that

Mediator Dei,

which Anni-

bale Bugnini6

recognized

as theMagna

Carta of the li-

turgical move-

ment, defended

the practice.

Instead of

disparagingthe simple

faithful who

prayed the

Rosary during

Mass, the good

Father could

have correctly

lamented that

even the learned faithful were do-

ing so in the old days.

Many priests experience the frus-

tration of using vernacular texts on

an illiterate or semi-literate congrega-

tion (simple in Father Giraudos

lexicon). Relying solely on auricular

reception, there is little if any reten-

tion of either the Bible stories or the

themes regardless of the use of thevernacular.

At least the

educated used

missals in the

old days and

the simple

faithful were

encouraged to

pray accord-

ing to their

abilities duringMass. Now, at

the vernacular

liturgies, espe-

cially in South

and Central

America, the

priest reads in

Spanish while

many of the

simple and

educated still

pray the Rosary

and largely ig-

nore him.

Father

Giraudo must

be easily satis-

fied in the new

Mass when

some simple

faithful sing a

couple of ver-

nacular songsand respond

to the priests

Lord be with

you and

call it active

participation.

Yet there re-

mains near-total

ignorance of Scripture and a lack

of any understanding of the liturgy.

A Response toLa Civilt CattolicaLiturgy

Assist at a Mass at anychurch in Rome, the center of

reform, and behold what the

improvement has wrought!

Some people kneel, some

people stand, some people

walk around with their cell

phones. Others sit for the

entire Mass. Finally, all ofus are duly impressed with

Roman women who must

have their miniature canines

with them, particularly at the

reception of Holy Communion.


6/6

41Spring 2004

Even worse now, the sacrificial nature

of the Mass is totally unknown. One

who has spent time in these com-

pletely Catholic countries and had

this consistent experience cannot be

impressed with the fruits of the

new liturgy, purportedly so superior.

Father Giraudo proceeds toaddress the positive highlights

ofSacrosanctum Concilium as a

reforming docu-

ment. Who would

not praise the strong

emphasis on the

need for a sermon

on Sundays and holy

days? In principle, a

more ample lection-

ary, especially forAdvent ferial days,

could have been

incorporated into the

existing traditional

Missal with great

profit. Few contest

that all these things

have the potential for

good.

Unfortunately,

the articles lack

of academic rigor

soon rears its ugly

head specifically

when Father Giraudo

begins to praise the

restoration of the

Prayer of the Faith-

ful. It is interesting,

and not entirely the

fault of professors, that the advances

made in one discipline or science

sometimes do not permeate orinform another field of study until

after some time. This is especially

true in Rome, since new discoveries

and advances occur so often. One

hopes that Father Giraudo is not a

full-fledged liturgiologist, since he

would be crushed to learn that, as

one of my previous articles in The

Latin Mass explained, the existence

of a Prayer of the Faithful in the

early Church is a myth. One need

only refer to the monumental work

by Vincenzo Raffa to confirm that

there was no Prayer of the Faithful

in the liturgy in the early Church.7

His conclusions were published by

the prestigious Centro Liturgico

Vincenziano a sign that his workis taken seriously in the liturgical

academic world.

Finally, Father

Giraudo dismisses

those who wish to

return to the liturgy

of iron (as he refers

to the ancient Mass),

as proponents of

nostalgia. He unfa-

vorably contrasts thenostalgics who desire

an ordered, uniform

and Latin liturgy

with those who abuse

the rubrics and in-

structions of the new

liturgy. According to

Father Giraudo, these

abusers and radicals

are not people of bad

will (as he opines

of the traditional-

ists); they are merely

indubitably sincere

people who just

want to celebrate

their naturalism and

spontaneity.

Yet after his

verbose defense

of the reforms, Father Giraudo is

ultimately left to admit that the new

liturgy makes it difficult to distin-guish between church and plaza.

In other words, when one is at the

new Mass it is not obvious that he

has left the secular and pedestrian

world and entered into what by its

very nature should be a sacred at-

mosphere. The traffic, nonchalance,

and chaos remind the worshipper

of little more than his experience at

the local shopping mall or plaza.

In his conclusion the author

writes:

It is undeniable that there are

abuses. These are not the respon-

sibility of the liturgical reform.

Such abuses are not corrected with

reprimands. They are correctedwith that formation that the Council

Fathers did not tire of recommend-

ing: formation of teachersforma-

tionof youth in the seminaries and

faculties, formationfor all, priests

and laymento penetrate into the

spirit of the Church in prayer.8

This writer never fails to be as-

tounded by the experts who continue

to recommend that, to address theproblems of the Church, the Church

should continue to do what amounts

to nothing. After decades of forma-

tion in the new Pentecost, new

evangelization, new springtime,

new openness and renewed liturgy,

a great many of the worlds Catholics

live in a new environment of endless

abuse and unmitigated crisis.

Notes1. Uno sguardo alla liturgia prima del Concilio

2. INDICE dei sommarietti del quaderno 3684 del 20 dicembre

2003 (Civ. Catt. 2003 IV 521-656; numero 24 del 2003)

Articolo. LA COSTITUZIONE SACROSANCTUM CON-

CILIUM: IL PRIMO GRANDE DONO DEL VATICANO

II - Cesare Giraudo S.I. All parenthetical citations are

translations of the original text.

3. JUNGMANN, JOSEPH A.Public Worship, Liturgical Press,

Collegeville, 1957 (trans Clifford Howell), pp. 56-70.

4. SCIENTIA LITURGICA, Manuale di Liturgia, ed. profes-

sori del Pontificio Istituto Liturgico S. Anselmo, 5 vol.,

Piemme, Casale Monferrato 1998. Edizione Italiana. (vol.

5, pp. 379-380). Available in English as theHandbook for

Liturgical Studies published by Pueblo.

5. See:Documenta ad instaurationem liturgiam spectantia,

CLV-Edizioni Liturgiche, Roma, 2000.De missa dialogata

moderatione under Pius XI is the beginning of gradual

legislation to alleviate both the silence of the faithful and

eventually other legislation under Pius XII encourages

singing and standing and sitting at various times.

6. BUGNINI, A.Reform of the Liturgy 1948-75, Collegeville,

Minnesota. The Liturgical Press, 1990 (1st English edition.

Trans. Matthew J. OConnell).

7. Liturgia eucaristica. Mistagogia della Messa: dalla storia

e dalla teologia alla postorale practica (BEL, 100), CLV-

Edizioni Liturgiche (Ed. 2a), Roma 2003.

8. Ibid.

9 . Supra.

A Response toLa Civilt Cattolica Liturgy

Father Giraudo must

be easily satisfied

in the new Mass

when some simple

faithful sing a

couple of vernacular

songs and respond

to the priests

Lord be with you

and call it active

participation. Yet

there remains near-

total ignorance of

Scripture and a lack

of any understanding

of the liturgy. Even

worse now, the

sacrificial nature of

the Mass is totally

unknown.

Father Romano Tommasi received his

Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.)

from the Pontifical University of San

Anselmo in Rome.

Documents

The Construction of the New Mass: "Italian super-liturgist laments the good old days" (Latin Mass 2004 Spring)