A free market approach might help clean up the Novus Ordo, or -- this is the really cool part -- might hasten it's lurching progress toward the pure, undiluted insipidity that is its logical terminus. If the Tridentine rite were given equal prominence with the Novus Ordo, its majesty and reverence for the sacred would be glaringly evident in contrast to the protestant-style reductiveness, and forced congregationalist self-congratulation, of Pope Paul's Mass. If people came back to the Tridentine in large numbers, the Novus Ordo might no longer have the weight to resist the suction power of the Black Hole of Relevance. Soon it would be an embarrassment even to the bishops who have invested their careers in the nurturing of it.
Then I woke up.
In a particularly foul and uncharitable funk one day, I developed this great idea for a t-shirt: a picture of Archbishop Bugnini, the one with the silly grin, shrugging his shoulders, palms up, and the caption . . . well, I'll leave the caption to you.
The day I see this happening in the diocese in which I live is the day I'll seriously cross the Tiber from Canterbury.
Thanks!
We have an indult Mass in the Diocese of Camden NJ. Haven't made it yet...90 minute drive north and all.
Then-bishop DiMarzio (now of Brooklyn) established Mater Ecclesiae as the only (still?) diocesan parish in the US that follows only the old rite. It's not just a Mass here and there...it's a diocesan parish church, with no juridical boundaries and open to all in the diocese, stricly following the '62 missal.
http://www.materecclesiae.org/
Mark,
I have to diagree with your thoughts on the NO. I've been blessed to attend a sung NO Latin Mass (ad orientem) for some time and find it to be quite edifying. If you are ever in Detroit check out Assumption Grotto at 9:30 on sunday mornings. To bad such liturgies aren't more widespread.
We have the Indult here in Mobile once a month. It is not very well attended, but I think part of the problem is that no one knows about it. I am in the process of trying to revive it and get the word out. If y’all know of anyone in the Mobile, AL area who would be interested, have them e-mail me.
FYI I recently read a great article on the TLM.
http://www.oriensjournal.com/why.html
Thanks, David, but for me the basic flaw of Novus Ordo is always there -- the pull away from the traditional and toward the self-gratifyingly innovative. You see it in the hand jive of parishioners during the Our Father; in the proliferation of EMHCs, creating, for no good reason, a chinese fire drill during the distribution of the Eucharist, especially in some of our more "innovatively" designed churches; in the studious avoidance of the mention of the soul in the "Lord I am not worthy. . ."; in the uninspiring secularity of the music; in the gladhanding hurly burly of the sign of peace, which it is sometimes downright mortifying to be a part of; and so on.
I find it hard to believe any of this will change soon. Bashing the bishops on this issue is fair game, but the real bottom line, I suspect, is that most parish priests don't want the Tridentine rite to make a comeback either, for much the same reason that the 30 year COBOL programmer doesn't want to have to reinvent him
to finish the thought:
. . . doesn't want to have to reinvent himself as a Java geek.
St. Worm: O do be-HAVE: If THAT'S all that's keeping you from crossing the Tiber, then you certainly have much fussier tastes than our Lord, who did not shun a manger for His crib and and a stable for His nursery, nestled among the braying asses. The hootenanny N.O. Mass may not be a far cry from that, but if our Lord puts up with our braying stupidity, as He dwells there in the reserved Sacrament, then why can't we tarry with Him a while until we come to our senses and built Him a more fitting House of Worship?
I'd take the manure and stench found in the house of the Nativity of our Lord over against the rot found in some of Christ's own parishes any day. Nobody was trying to desacralize and tear down what was beautiful. God came to them in the nature they were found. The 60's bra-burning brigade has pushed their way in and become the new iconoclasts, de-gracing the sanctuaries with vomitous hymns and sterile architecture. Yeah, give me a mules and shepherds any ol' day.
St. Worm
St Worm,
If you've read my notes I'm sure you've detected a certain dissatisfaction with NO liturgy and rubric. But Bishop Trendy, Fr Groovemaster and Sister Mary Relevant have not as yet found a way to compromise the Eucharist itself, no matter how many Keystone Kop EMHCs may be hanging off the paddy wagon during its distribution. You really ought to focus on that. Cross the %*$%& river already!
BE PATIENT, MAN! I'm trying! Man, you RCs are pushy!
:P
With all brotherly love,
St. Worm
My dream:
(1) High-church Anglicans flee the Episcopal Church in record numbers, swim the Tiber, and help rescue the Roman Rite.
(2) Millions of blogs cease to exist as the world is filled w/ liturgically happy parishioners.
TonyC,
Me too! Me too!
St. Worm
Mark, many of your problems with the Novus Ordo Mass are not to be found in the rubrics. The rubrics do not mention hand-holding during the Our Father; the rubrics explicitly forbid EMHC if they are not necessary; I think the "Lord, I am not worthy . . ." is a mistranslation of the original Latin by ICEL; the secularity of the music is not in the rubrics; I don't know about the sign of peace.
A Novus Ordo Mass, celebrated properly, does not contain any of these liturgical innovations and abuses that you have mentioned. That's not to say that there aren't innovations in the Novus Ordo Mass (that would be a lie), but the ones you mention are the creation of bizarre liturgists, not the Church.
Nathan,
You are right that the things I mention are abuses, not liturgy/rubric itself. But what's the difference, man, in an atomosphere where "innovations" of these sorts are NOT DISCOURAGED? There is no governance, no SMACKDOWN! And why should there be, when the squishy GIRM itself leaves so much to the fertile imaginations of creative Catholics? Thus, for example, I talk to my pastor about the various and sundry postures adopted by parishioners during the Our Father, and he shrugs and says "well, the cat's out of the bag." You say the rubrics "forbid" excessive use of EMHCs, but that stricture has the force of a wet noodle because the GIRM does not define excessive use, many pastors wouldn't pay much attention even if they did, and so in most parishes there's enough EMHCs to field a bowling league. Abuse, or "innovation", is encouraged because it is not discouraged.
By the way, in the interest of full disclosure I will admit that my name is Mark but I originally registered under the pseudonym ralph roister-doister. I thought pseudonyms were the way to go, then I saw people using their own first names, so I attempted to fit in by changing my name in the blog form. But sometimes I forget. Ralph Roister-Doister is a longwinded [dare I say falstaffian?] dolt from Elizabethan drama. I suppose it fits, so I will henceforth drop the charade and go with ralph.
I like the pertinacious papist blog... You guys are level-headed Roman Catholics!
Thanks!
On a related note, have y'all seen the new 1962 Missal released by Angelus Press? It looks quite nice, but I am unsure about whether it is appropriate to purchase an Angelus publication. As you may know, Angelus is the printing arm of the SSPX. Thoughts?
http://www.angeluspress.org/
roma...aily_missal.htm
Why would it be inappropriate? It is the only way for the consumer to pressure the publishing industry. And it is a way of congratulating Angelus Press for its good work. I did not hesitate to watch the Passion of the Christ, even if I'm not 100% comfortable with Mel Gibson's canonical arrangements. I do not hesitate to buy good books from Orthodox publishers -- why would I hesitate to buy the first good contemporary lay edition of the 1962 Missal if I can? That would be unhealthy scrupulosity.
It'd be about a 40 minute drive deep into the heart of Miami for me to celebrate the Tridentine every week. But I guess that's better than celebrating Us intead of Him when singing "Blest are They" during the Eucharist. I simply don't know if "All are Welcome" there though. Should I first contact the parish?
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