Posted on 03/21/2008 8:04:24 AM PDT by SmithL
Under the vaulted ceilings of St. Margaret Mary's Church in Oakland, a revered tradition once forsaken has gained new life.
About 300 Roman Catholics go there every Sunday to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass, a rite rich in symbolism that has been on the margins of Catholic life for more than four decades.
But over the past year, decrees by Pope Benedict XVI have given the traditional Latin Mass greater official standing in the Catholic Church, opening the door for some churches to go back to it.
Now, at St. Margaret Mary's, grandparents practice the rituals of their childhood. Young couples are being married under a tradition they encountered only recently. People drive from all over the Bay Area - and beyond - to worship there. The priest says an elderly Modesto woman comes from Stanislaus County once a month by taxi.
But the revitalized tradition is drawing controversy. Some question whether the traditional rite is too outdated for a church grappling with the needs of a diverse membership and facing unprecedented challenges, such as an increasingly interreligious world.
Those challenges are underscored this week, which is Holy Week. Today's Good Friday service has been criticized by many Jewish groups, for example, because the Latin liturgy includes a prayer for God to "enlighten" Jews so they will "acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men."
The Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism released a resolution saying it was "disturbed and dismayed" by the prayer and that it undermined decades of productive Jewish-Catholic relations.
The Rev. Michael Wiener, who presides over the St. Margaret Mary's service, said it would deny the core of his faith if he didn't say the prayer.
"Is it appropriate today to pray for the Jews? Of course," he said. "It can't harm anybody to pray...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
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Capsaicin patches
Is that pescription or OTC?
“Yes, it is a slap in the face. They didn’'t ask you to pray for them.”
Irrelevant. You didn't ask me to pray for you, but I'm going to. If you consider that a slap in the face, wait until you get the prayer punch, kick and eye gouge!
“Every time a holier than thou Christian takes it upon themselves to pray for a group they are putting down that group.”
Who is claiming to be holier than thou? No one. So, you created a false premise to build a false argument that comes to a false conclusion. Yeah, I'll be praying for you.
whoa, im in your camp on this one, i just dont find any reason for them to be offended....
BEcause it’s only one step from there to forced conversions.
how do you figure, me a catholic, praying as an individual, for others, is anyway shape or form, even remotely leaning toward, forced conversions???
What do yout think about the Mormons baptizing Jews posthumously?
Yeah, a wonderful Photoshop job. Almost looks believable!
YOU:
What do yout think about the Mormons baptizing Jews posthumously?
ME: not beliveing in the mormon faith, i think it does little, but i dont harbor them any ill will, even if the prayed for me.
Oh no! They’re praying for me! Somebody call a waaaambulance!
“BEcause it’s only one step from there to forced conversions.”
BWAHAhahahaha....., really, too funny.
It's hard for me to understand that. I'd be thrilled if a Jew were to pray for me, a Catholic, to be enlightened.
Have a splendid tip-toppitty day.
This is nonsense. I know this parish, I’ve been to Mass there, I know people who attend, and this is one of the parishes that had the indult before Summorum Pontificum, therefore have been practicing the “old” rite for years and years. There is no controversy, and they are not “under fire” by anyone except the San Francisco Chronicle.
The tradition for worship has always been a liturgical language.
The mass was standardize about 200 years after Christ, IIRC. The apostles taught in local dialects and languages after Pentacost. Peter started preaching in Latin when he went to Rome. Prior to that as far as I’ve read no follower of Christ was using Latin. I welcome information and sources to the contrary.
“Oh no! They’re praying for me! Somebody call a waaaambulance!”
I shoot pray-rays at them!!! Pew pew pew!! ZAP! BAKOOOOM!!!
Freegards
Some = three atheists, two hippies and a partridge in a pear tree.
Pray also for the writer and editors at SFGate for their ignorance and bigotry in publishing this much ado about nothing article. I wonder how they feel about Pastor Wright’s damnations from the pulpit? Or about the incendiary jihadists that likely exist in one or more mosques in the City of St. Francis? Pray also for Professor Parrella, who took the deposit of Faith that was handed down to him through the blood of martyrs and twisted it into self-worship of spiritual humanism. The Latin Mass faithful are “shopping” only for authentic Catholicism true to Tradition and the Magisterium; they are not cafeteria Catholics shopping for permission to sin.
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