Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos of Colombia, left, celebrates a latin rite mass, last celebrated in 1970, inside the St. Maria Maggiore's Basilica, in Rome, Sunday, May 24, 2003
Posted on 05/27/2003 9:21:08 AM PDT by NYer
Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos of Colombia, left, celebrates a latin rite mass, last celebrated in 1970, inside the St. Maria Maggiore's Basilica, in Rome, Sunday, May 24, 2003
A Tridentine rite Latin Mass was celebrated in one of Rome's major basilicas today for the first time in decades. A turning point for the Church's liturgy?
ROME, May 24, 2003 -- In what may in future be seen as an important turning point in the history of the Catholic Church's liturgy and worship, today, for the first time in decades, a traditional Latin Mass was celebrated in a major Roman basilica.
The solemn 2-hour liturgy, which began in the basilica of St. Mary Major with a rosary at 3:30 p.m. and ended a little before 6 p.m., moved some of the approximately 2,000 present to tears.
Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy, celebrated the Mass according to the pre-Vatican II 1962 missal -- also called the Mass of St. Pius V or the Tridentine Mass -- with Pope John Paul II's explicit permission and blessing.
"The rite of St. Pius V cannot be considered extinct," Castrillon Hoyos said in his homily, which was the only part of the Mass not in Latin (he spoke in Italian).
At communion, those present were instructed to receive the host according to the traditional rite, kneeling and on the tongue, not in the hand. Castrillon Hoyos celebrated the Mass turned toward the people, facing east.
The "Latin Mass" is not entirely in Latin; it contains Greek phrases ("Kyrie eleison" or "Lord, have mercy") and Aramaic words ("Amen," "Alleluia") which would have been spoken by Jesus himself. It thus represents a fusion of the liturgies of the primitive Christian communities in the Greco-Roman world of antiquity.
Many present commented on the solemnity with the which the celebration was conducted, calling it "beautiful" and "inspiring."
Marygold Turner, from Kent, England, said: "This Mass is very, very significant. The Tridentine Mass has been banned in England. This is the rapprochement (between Rome and those who desire the restoration of the old Mass) the Pope calls for. The Pope wants it. Our Lady wants it."
But one Irish Catholic tourist, present by chance at the Mass, expressed a view shared by many "progressives" in the Church. He said he feared the Mass represented a Roman shift toward a more "clerical" and "rigid" Church. "I'm worried that this is a step backwards," he said.
Today's Mass came amid other signs that Rome will soon be pressing for wider celebration of the "old Mass" around the world. Indeed, just yesterday, a group of Catholics from England received permission to celebrate Mass according to the old rite in the Hungarian chapel in the grotto beneath the main altar in St. Peter's Basilica itself. The Mass was celebrated at 7:45 a.m. on May 23 and attended by about 25 people associated with the Latin Mass society in Great Britain. And two weeks ago, as we reported at the time, Cardinal Francis Arinze revealed to "Inside the Vatican" that Rome expects to publish a document this fall mandating the celebration of the old Latin Mass in parishes around the world wherever groups of parishioners petition their bishop to allow it.
LAW'S PRESENCE
At today's Mass, American Cardinal Bernard Law, who has kept mostly out of sight since resigning six months ago over US Catholic Church pedophile scandal allegations, resurfaced in the front row of those attending.
After the Mass ended, the former archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts declined to discuss the scandal in which his old archdiocese faces legal suits from hundreds of alleged victims. "I have come to Rome for meetings," Law told reporters.
It was believed to be the first time that Law has been in Rome since December 14, the day after he resigned over the scandal that first erupted in January 2002.
Law said he had found the old-style Latin Mass "very moving."
Also present were cardinals Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez of Chile, Alfons Maria Stickler of Austria, Armand Gaetan Razafindratandra of Madagascar, and William Baum, an American cardinal who lives in Rome.
RECONCILIATION WITH TRADITIONALISTS?
Though it was the first time this Pope had allowed the old Mass to be celebrated in a major Roman basilica, it is unclear if the celebration will spark any movement toward a reconciliation between Rome and the followers of the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
Lefebvre opposed many of the liturgical and doctrinal changes that came after the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council. The Vatican excommunicated Lefebvre for ordaining bishops without papal permission in 1988. He died in 1991, leaving a movement of several hundred thousand whose leaders still reject some Vatican policies.
But no senior leaders of the Lefebvrist movement were present at today's Mass.
U.S. Cardinal Bernard Law takes off his cap as he attends a Latin rite Mass celebrated for the first time since 1970, by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos of Colombia, inside the St. Maria Maggiore's Basilica, in Rome, May 24, 2003.
It a rare public appearance for Law since he resigned as archbishop Dec. 13 under fire for his handling of a Boston sex abuse scandal.
"I have a lot of esteem for the Tridentine rite," Law told reporters.
Two choirs chanted prayers in Latin while many in the congregation held rosary beads. Incense wafted through the basilica during the two-hour service.
Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos celebrated the traditional Latin rite Mass in an attempt to draw back into the fold followers of an ultraconservative archbishop who never accepted the Church's liberalizing reforms in the 1960s.
The Vatican said the faithful attending the Mass in Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore basilica wanted to honor Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II's 25-year papacy.
Pope Pius V, a 16th-century pope who introduced the Tridentine Mass, is buried in the basilica.
The pope has given permission for the Mass to be used for those who want it, although it was replaced in the 1960s by Mass said in modern languages. In the modern Mass, the priest faces the congregation, which takes a direct role in the service.
"It is important to pay homage to the ancient rite," said Hoyos, a Colombian who heads the Congregation for the Clergy.
Ultraconservative Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and his followers rejected the Church reforms. In 1988 Lefebvre was excommunicated for his defiance of the pontiff. He died in 1991.
A year ago, Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez said that letter exchanges were underway between the Vatican and Lefebvre's followers "but negotiations haven't matured to the point of predicting a solution soon."
Law, now a resident chaplain at the Sisters of Mercy of Alma convent in Clinton, Md., is in Rome to attend meetings of two Vatican offices of which he retains his membership despite resigning his Boston position.
Reciting the rosary while the Mass is celebrated! No active participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Very problematic with Eucharistic theology!
It's likely that those with the rosary beads-during-Mass have never actively participated. The Tridentine Rite gives them an excuse to just keep on doing what they've always done, which is a good thing, for them.
My grandmother, God rest her soul, was one of those “Rosary ladies”. When I used to go to Mass with her in the 60’s she would give me her missal so I could follow along while she silently recited the rosary. I don't really know if she did this at every Mass or only when one of her grandchildren went with her. I guess those were the good old days.
You were there? If I'm wrong about someone reciting the rosary silently during the Mass (especially the opening, liturgy of the word and offertory) then I surely stand corrected.
Personally, I love the rosary and recite it several times a week in community. But I also had a mother, grandmother, and several aunts, all very devout Catholics. All of them, more often than not, would pray the rosary during Mass when it was the Latin (Tridentine Rite) Mass. The Tridentine Rite Mass lent itself to this practice, hence did it become so widespread. I mean, think about how the Mass was separated from the congregation by the rood screen and the altar rail.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with reciting the rosary (outside of the sacred liturgy) and I strongly encourage the cult of the BVM. However, within the Tridentine Mass it had become an abuse (innocent as it may be).
There's nothing difficult about the N.O. Non-participation is do to a lack of evangelization. I DO HAVE my problems with the N.O. in it's implimentation and also with the prayers that were corrupted by the likes of Dumas and company. But the Council meant to correct the problems that also crept into the celebration of the Tridentine Mass. To bring back the Tridentine Mass in favor of the Novus Ordo, as suggested by some, will not solve the problem, IMHO. A review of the redaction of the new Roman Missal along with corrective measures and a campaign to root out liturgical abuses will be the route the Church takes over the next five to ten years.
BTW, Cardinal Law doesn't look so good.
I understand what you are saying but don't agree. The lack of reverence comes from "no sign of reverence" for instance, no kneeling, no genuflecting or no profound bowing. Belief in Transubstantiation is catechetical...typically from the pulpit (especially in ages past). Posture helps but I don't agree on the screen and rail. Only my opinion. ;^)
BTW, I love the ornateness of the rood screen and altar rails and think they are aesthetically beautiful. But other sacred art can do a better job of heightening the liturgy.
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