Posted on 05/10/2004 9:01:42 AM PDT by CatherineSiena
By Richard Fausset and Joy Buchanan, Times Staff Writers
Conservatively dressed Roman Catholics packed into a tiny wooden church a few blocks from the sand in Huntington Beach on Sunday to pray and chant in Latin, and to celebrate the priest who delivered them from all that they believe is lax, laid-back and touchy-feely in their religion.
They came to say goodbye to Father Daniel Johnson, the 75-year-old retiring priest who tripled the membership of this parish with his emphasis on the church's centuries-old traditions. Chief among them was introduction of the Latin Tridentine Mass, the ancient, highly choreographed rite that for hundreds of years was the only Mass celebrated by Catholics worldwide.
Because of Johnson's retirement, the Diocese of Orange has decided to stop offering the Tridentine Mass at St. Mary's by the Sea, saddening conservative Catholics who came from all over Orange County to experience the Eucharist the way it was celebrated for generations of sinners and saints: with all the pageantry and plainsong and traditional language of Rome.
Starting next week, St. Mary's will continue to hold Sunday Masses in Latin, but it will be in the form of the modern Mass, with different prayers from those of the Tridentine service.
The Tridentine Mass is "more holy somehow," said parishioner Georg Christa, 70, who learned the Mass as an altar boy in Augsberg, Germany. "The reason we have problems in the church is that we're getting step-by-step away from the holiness."
Parishioner James Lewis, 64, said he chose the Tridentine Mass because he did not want to be subjected to the modern Mass, with its "peace hugs," its "campfire music and hootenanny music."
"I think that stuff is distracting," he said. "It's inappropriate for a holy Mass."
The loss of the old Mass at St. Mary's does not spell its end in Orange County, where two churches, St. Michael's Abbey in Silverado Canyon and the Mission Basilica in San Juan Capistrano, still offer the service.
But the frustration of St. Mary's parishioners and their fondness for Father Johnson's conservative practices reflect a continuing tension in a religion seeking to maintain its relevance in the modern world without losing its reverence for tradition.
Believed to have existed since the 6th century, the Mass was officially standardized for Western churches by Pope Pius V during Rome's Council of Trent in 1570. For hundreds of years, it was the only Mass celebrated by Catholics worldwide. Then, during the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, a new service was introduced — using familiar languages and allowing priests to face their congregations — and has been in use ever since.
The point, reformers argued then, was for the liturgy to be adjusted to fit individual priests' styles and worshipers' needs. Some conservative Catholics, however, were outraged, arguing that the Mass should not have been changed. Some priests even continued using the Tridentine Mass against the Church's orders until 1984, when Pope John Paul II decreed that it could be celebrated with the permission of local bishops.
That was like a clarion call to Johnson, who introduced the Tridentine Mass at St. Mary's in 1992. Johnson considers the old Mass a sacred liturgy symbolizing the Passion of Christ.
"I'm quite traditional," said the man ordained in 1954 who calls himself a "simple parish" priest. "The greatest thing that a priest can do is the celebration of the holy Mass. Maybe the modern way isn't the only way."
Five years ago, Johnson — who was born to devout Catholic parents in Michigan and grew up in Los Angeles, where he served as an altar boy — developed a cancer on his ear that required multiple surgeries and more than 30 radiation treatments. More recently, he came down with Bell's palsy, which paralyzed the right side of his face and prompted him to turn his favorite golf putter upside down for a cane. He plans to retire in Torrance with his brother.
Johnson stopped leading the church's weekly Mass several weeks ago, when the disease began affecting his speech. But on Sunday, after altar boys helped him to his feet, he delivered a long, often passionate sermon in English summarizing the success he has had in bringing some of the lost traditions back to this church.
With his head listing to the right and his voice wasted with age, Johnson's words were sometimes difficult to make out. But it was clear that he was no fan of New Age influences that have crept into some church services.
In the early church, he said, pagans were attracted by Christianity because Christians showed their love for one another. They didn't say, "Look at how ecumenical they are, or look how they're dialoguing with non-Catholics," he said.
He also paid homage to the Tridentine Mass, which many parishioners say was a key to the expansion of St. Mary's from 500 families to about 1,600 under Johnson's 25 years of stewardship.
Johnson quoted theologian Frederick Faber, who once called the old Mass "the most beautiful thing this side of heaven."
"I would agree with him," Johnson said.
The 2 1/2-hour service was indeed a far cry from the "folk Masses" many U.S. Catholics have attended in recent decades. A sign at the door asked visitors to wear "proper dress," and women were encouraged to wear lace veils over their heads.
At the beginning of Mass, 11 altar boys, most in red satin robes, announced the entrance of a coterie of priests with candles and incense. Father Justin Ramos, who said the Mass, walked down the aisle in a gold brocade cape.
Their arrival at the altar was marked by unadorned male voices from the choir that delivered Gregorian chant. Then Ramos walked back up the aisle, sprinkling the congregation with holy water that prompted members of the standing-room-only congregation to bow in waves.
In Latin, Ramos led a prayer for mercy and salvation:
"Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam."
"Et salutare tuum da nobis," the worshipers responded.
Some church members followed the Mass in a missal that carried the English translation. French native Liliane Rains, 63, followed with a tattered Latin and French missal that once belonged to her father.
"When we went to Spain or Germany or Italy, it was in Latin, and always the same," said Rains, who grew up in Bordeaux. "You went to Mass and you felt that you were home. It was a wonderful tie, and I think we should go back to it. It made Mass universal."
Rains said she could understand why the church translated the Mass into different languages. Others took a stricter stance.
"Is this your first time going to a real Catholic Mass?" James Scott, 59, of Tustin asked a St. Mary's visitor. "Well, this is what it really is. Everything else is garbage."
Damian Garcia, a layman at the church, said he would miss the elements of the Tridentine Mass that give it its "vertical thrust," or emphasis on the adoration of God.
Parishioner Thomas Chand- lee, 72, said he would miss the beauty of the old Mass. Chand- lee was one of the many people who packed into the building next to the chapel to bid farewell to Johnson. Eight years ago, Chandlee converted to Catholicism, and he has attended the Tridentine Mass ever since.
Now, he said, he plans to start his Sundays in San Juan Capistrano so he can keep hearing the echoes of centuries.
"There's no question," he said. "It's like comparing Andy Warhol with Michelangelo."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I consider that remark a slappable offense.
I encountered precisely that attitude, about 15 years ago, during an inadvertent visti to an "independant" Traditional Latin Mass chapel in Chesapeake Virginia.
I didn't go back.
The chapel has since gone legit, and changed its name.
This is "St. Ann's Part Deux." (If you don't know what I am talking about, a similar situation took place earlier this year with St. Ann's Armenian Catholic Church in New York City). I visited this church this past year on All Saints Day. It is so beautiful. It would be a crying shame if they closed this church. Contact the Boston Archdiocesan Chancery: 2121 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA, 02135-3193, Telephone 617-254-0100, FAX 617-783-4564
A saint in the making, perhaps? He will be sorely missed. He sounds a lot like a modern day Cure d'Ars, St. John Vianney. If anyone knows of any particular gift he had for the sacrament of Confession, then that clinches it. What a wonderful and sad story. Hopefully, somewhere, he will have inspired someone to follow in his footsteps.
Well you sure showed them! Looking back with the hindsight of 15 years, don't you have to wonder if you did the right thing? Especially if you live in the Diocese of Richmond where the priests who are given parishes are the ones who drive their motorcycles down the aisle.
I have attended Mass at that chapel, and I have to admit that the people did come across as somewhat cold and standoffish. But that wouldn't stop me from attending the traditional Catholic Mass.
Actually, the other article about Fr. Johnson (links above), mentioned confession as the basis of his apostalate. The former pastor only had 17 confessions during the Christmas season, Fr. Johnson hears more confessions every single day of the week. When Fr. Johnson saw a priest visting the parish for a seminar, he told him to jump right into the confessional and get to work earning his keep. You're right that does reflect the spirit of the Cure of Ars.
I wasn't trying to "show" anyone anything. I was trying to find a Church ... and it was my first Sunday in Virginia. I spent the next X years sort of bouncing around Norfolk/Chesapeake/Virginia Beach, growing increasingly disgusted with the Dreadful Diocese of Richmond. That was certainly a low point in my life, a trial by fire in more ways than one. It's been a long, strange trip since then, through more than one other State, but I find myself very much at home in the Diocese of Arlington.
I'm pointing out that to the average slob in the pews, that "cold standoffishness" is a neon sign saying "go away". It has consequences.
Don't shoot the messenger.
I really hope this isn't the case with my church. My pastor is in his upper seventies too. There are a couple priests that I know of that can takeover when he decides to retire or dies. One is the priest who says the monthly Solemn High Mass, which we actually had yesterday. He is currently the pastor of a parish in Southeastern DC, in a not so good part of town.
Well, interestingly enough, it has taken the Maronite Catholic Church more than 400 years to restore its litury to its Syriac Antiochene sources!
The Maronite Church in its liturgy is fortunate in being the heir of at least two rich traditions, those of Edessa and Antioch. The Church of Edessa traces its origins to the preaching of the liturgical contributors included St. Ephrem and James of Saroug. The first Christian converts to the Church of Edessa included the earliest Jewish-Christians. Therefore, its liturgy is strongly influenced by the world-view of the Bible. As one of the oldest established churches, it developed its prayer forms before being influenced by Greek thought. The Maronite liturgy today still has many hymns and prayers from St. Ephrem and James of Saroug. The Anaphora of the Apostles (also known as III Peter and by the Syriac word Sharrar), which the Maronite Church shares in common with the Church of Edessa, is the oldest Anaphora in the Catholic Church, and is still found in adapted form as the Anaphora of the Signing of the Chalice on Good Friday.
The first edition of the Book of the Qurbono was printed in Rome (1592-1594). The first edition was initially rejected, because it altered some of the tradition of the Syriac Antiochene Maronite Church (in fact, the title of the edition was: The Book of the Chaldean Qurbono). Along the way, no less than 40 versions of the Quorbon were written. In the 1716 edicition, the anaphora of the Latin Mass, translated into Syriac and Arabic, was inserted and the Anaphora of Sharar was removed. The present edition, though after 400 years, makes the proper correction and brings back the Service of the Qurbono to its authentic Maronite tradition.
Be patient! Hopefully, it won't take 400 years.
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