Old Latin Mass Makes a Comeback (in St. Louis)

St. Louis Catholic Blog ^ | June 14, 2007

[NYer]

It seems the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has finally heard about the traditional Mass. The following story appears in today's edition--the headline, above, is theirs. My comments follow.

Old Latin Mass Makes a Comeback
By Tim Townsend
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/14/2007

Melinda Scanga (left), of Jefferson County, prays during Latin mass at St. Francis De Sales Oratory. (Dawn Majors /P-D)

The church's windows are broken, its beige bricks are sooty, its paint is chipped. The 300-foot steeple, a hallmark of the St. Louis skyline, is pulling away from its foundation. One day it could tumble into traffic on Gravois Avenue.

St. Francis de Sales church, often called the Cathedral of South St. Louis, is an ideal home for a group of Roman Catholic priests devoted to restoration. But restoring this 19th-century neo-Gothic church to its former glory is only one reason St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke assigned the priests to oversee St. Francis de Sales.

The real mission of the group, called the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, is the restoration of the traditional Latin Mass.

The 1,600-year-old Mass isn't used much today, but it's making a comeback.

That effort will get a boost Friday when Burke — one of the most devoted supporters of the old Latin rite among U.S. bishops — will ordain two deacons of the Institute at the Cathedral Basilica. Burke has ordained members several times in Italy, where the institute is based outside Florence. But Friday will mark the first time members of the 17-year-old institute will be ordained in the United States and the first time the traditional Latin liturgy will be used in an ordination here in more than 40 years.

Most of the world's 1 billion Catholics are familiar with the celebration of Mass in their own languages. The traditional Latin Mass, also referred to as the Tridentine Mass, Classical Latin Mass, Old Rite, Classical Roman Rite or Mass of Ages, was largely set aside by the church in the 1960s when the Second Vatican Council approved changes in the liturgy.

The Latin Mass is thick with pageantry, solemnity and symbolism and is often referred to as "smells and bells" for its generous use of incense and music.

A papal decree, which Vatican officials have said should be released soon, is likely to expand the use of the ancient Mass. The decree — called a motu proprio — is expected to allow any priest to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass without the permission of his bishop.

Vatican watchers say the decree could be released July 14, the date, in 1570, when Pope Pius V published the liturgical text that would be used to celebrate Mass for the next 400 years — until the reforms of Vatican II.

In today's church, priests are free to celebrate the post-Vatican II liturgy, or new order Mass, in Latin — though most don't. What a priest cannot do without the permission of his bishop is celebrate the traditional Latin Mass as it was structured, worded, sung and heard in 1962, the last time it was changed before Vatican II.

Audio slideshow of the Latin Mass


Because two generations of American Catholics are accustomed to hearing the Mass celebrated in English, it's unlikely most will want to switch to a liturgy that is longer, more formal and celebrated in a language they don't understand.

But some Catholics would welcome a choice.

Eric Kraenzle, 44, of Webster Groves and a member of St. Pius V parish in St. Louis, said he thought it was a good idea for the Vatican to expand the use of the traditional Latin Mass.

"It would be a nice option," he said. "I'm not sure it's for everyone because of the language barrier, but why not let people experience that tradition if they want to?"

In St. Louis, Catholics who love the traditional Latin Mass have a bishop who shares their feelings. Burke was the first bishop to bring the Institute of Christ the King to the United States when, as bishop of LaCrosse, Wis., he invited its priests into his diocese. He also established another group of religious men dedicated to the old Latin rite, called the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem, while in Wisconsin. He has since moved that group to St. Louis.

Burke declined to be interviewed for this story.

The institute is a "society of apostolic life" within the church. Its priests are not quite part of a religious order, nor are they quite diocesan priests. They live in community as religious order priests do, but they take no vows.

A papal decision reinstituting the wider use of the church's ancient liturgy would be a celebratory moment for the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.

Monsignor Michael Schmitz, the institute's U.S. superior, has said the motu proprio "will be like seeing your mother all dusty and in rags on the streets; you go up to her and rip off the old dusty clothing and below that you see the golden clothes that she has brought for the most beautiful ball she has ever attended.

"Many of those Catholics who love the traditional Latin Mass are part of a younger generation, people who are seeking a connection with the ancient history of their faith, said the Rev. Karl Lenhardt, St. Francis de Sales rector. For instance, he said, the average institute priest (there are 50 around the world) is in his 30s, and the institute has 70 young men in various states of training.

The Rev. Eugene Morris, a theology professor at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, said younger Catholics who have no memory of the old Latin Mass are attracted to the "traditional symbols and rituals that in some ways communicate more clearly the historicity and mystery of what we are celebrating."

Outside St. Francis de Sales on Sunday, Daniel Frasca, 28, of St. Charles said he attends Mass there "because it feels more like church here than at other Masses.

"Natalie Kummer, 31, a mother of four from Florissant, said she liked to experience the same Mass as Catholics a millennium ago. "It's more reverent," she said, "more beautiful."

St. Agatha Church, also in south St. Louis, hosted the archdiocese's old Latin Mass before it was moved to St. Francis de Sales in 2005. According to Lenhardt, about 300 people came to one traditional Latin Mass each Sunday at St. Agatha. At St. Francis, the number is close to 1,000 for two Masses each Sunday, he said.

On Sunday, about 500 people gathered in St. Francis, for a 10 a.m. Mass that lasted more than two hours. Before Mass, and for about 45 minutes after it began, the line for confessions was 10 deep at three different elaborately carved wooden confessionals inside the church. Most of the women and girls wore black or white lace head coverings. The army of priests, deacons, subdeacons and altar boys in the sanctuary, which is separated from the nave by an altar rail, wore an array of ornate vestments. Six members of the Knights of Columbus, dressed in full regalia and bearing swords, escorted the clergy to the altar before the Mass began.

The pace of the traditional Latin Mass can seem slow and drawn out to those used to the newer liturgy. Long periods go by while the congregation sits still, watching the rituals in the sanctuary, praying and listening to the chanting of the choir. But it is exactly this meditative quality of the Mass that attracts some Catholics.

Mostly, though, it is tradition — as important in Catholicism as Scripture — that draws so many people to the old Latin rite. With the traditional Latin Mass, "we merge into a stream that has its origins in Christ himself, and that goes until the end of time," said Lenhardt.

Before high Mass on Sunday, Kummer stopped her son Joseph outside the church to wipe a smudge of dirt from his forehead. She seemed excited but contemplative as they walked through St. Francis de Sales' large wooden doors into a two-hour ritual that would be the same this Sunday as it was for some of the earliest Christians.

"They used to say Mass was the most beautiful thing this side of heaven," said Kummer. "That's what it's like here."

__________________________

My comments: All in all, for a secular paper, a very nice story, and largely favorable. The article starts out with some doom and gloom about how the Church building needs restoration (it does, but is presently still gloriously beautiful). You think it will be the typical, "these people are stuck in the past" hatchet job. But it isn't.

The Mass is making a comeback, they note. True. Some of my favorite parts of the article--

A novus ordo Catholic is quoted as supporting giving the faithful the choice of this rite.

Fr. Lenhardt at de Sales is quoted well, noting that many of the people who choose the traditional Mass are young, "people who are seeking a connection with the ancient history of their faith."

Fr. Morris, of the local archdiocesan seminary, states that the traditional Mass "in some ways communicate[s] more clearly the historicity and mystery of what we are celebrating."

A member of the oratory is quoted saying "it feels more like Church here than at other Masses." Amen.

The reporter notes that close to 1,000 people go to Mass at St. Francis de Sales Oratory each Sunday,and that the several confession lines were jammed all day. You don't see that everywhere, do you?

How better to some up the experience than to quote Fr. Lenhardt about the traditional Mass: in it, "we merge into a stream that has its origins in Christ Himself, and that goes until the end of time."

Oh, as an aside, I don't know where the local paper gets the inside info on the next expected date of the motu proprio. We hope, but so far all predictions have left us disappointed.

If you can make the ordination Mass at the Cathedral tomorrow at 1pm, you won't be disappointed.

[Pyro7480]

I also found it interesting how the power to transform bread and wine was conferred separately from the power to forgive sins.

Two different prayers during the ordination?

[adiaireton8]

Let's see if I can sum this up. The ordination began after the homily. This began with the call, the scrutiny and the instruction. Then came the prostration of the two deacons (who were to made priests) during the litany of the saints. Then the bishop (and all the priests) imposed their hands on the deacons for the "bestowal of the office" of the priesthood. Then came the investiture with the priestly vestments (chasuble). But the chasuble was still folded up, not full length. Then came the anointing of their hands, so that [quoting from the English translation]: "whatsoever they shall bless may be blessed, and whatsoever they shall consecrate be consecrated and sanctified, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Then came the "Bestowal of the power to offer Holy Mass", where Archbishop Burke said to the two deacons [translated to English]: "Receive the power to offer sacrifice to God and to celebrate Mass for the living as well as for the dead. In the name of the Lord." Then came the Alleluia. Then the Gospel was chanted in Latin. The Creed was then sung in Latin. Then [skipping a bit], after the Sanctus, came the Agnus Dei, then we received the Eucharist. Then both of the deacons cited the Creed in Latin in unison. And then Archbishop Burke imposed his hands upon them again, for the "Bestowal of the Power to Forgive Sins", saying [translated to English], "Receive the Holy Ghost; whose sins thou shalt forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins thous shalt retain, they are retained." Then the chasuble was unfolded full length. There was more that I am skipping over. The point I'm making is that the conferral of the power to transform bread and wine took place before the Eucharist, but the conferral of the power to forgive sins took place after the Eucharist.

-A8

[Dajjal]

bumpus ad summum

[Suzy Quzy]

What is a spiritual communion?

[NYer]

I'll be there tomorrow.

Awesome! Please post a thread about the experience.

[ichabod1]

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

[Suzy Quzy]

WOW!! Thanks.

[kosta50]

The point I'm making is that the conferral of the power to transform bread and wine took place before the Eucharist

Do I understand it correctly that in the Catholic Church it is the priest who transforms the bread and wine, or is it the priest who is given to grace to call on the Holy Spirit to transform the bread and wine? In other words, who is doing the changing?

[ELS]

God performs the miracle. The priest calls on Him in the words of the consecration of the bread and the wine.

[ELS]

My favorite part, I think was the litany of the saints, in Latin, in chant, while the priests (to be) were prostrate.

I LOVE the Litany of the Saints. About a year or two ago, I participated in an act of reparation in NYC (there is a thread about it on FR somewhere) where the crowd chanted the Litany of the Saints in Latin, with the priest leading it, and hearing the chant echo through the canyons of the skyscrapers in NYC was quite moving.

Was it all chanted by the clergy/schola/choir or did the congregation take part in it?

[ELS]

More photos from Friday's ordinations.

[Pyro7480]

Thanks for the link!

[Pyro7480]

Thanks for that explanation.

By the way, do you know who the other bishop in the photo is? I know one is Bishop Finn from Kansas City, Missouri (who I actually met briefly back in the autumn).

From Archbishop Burke of Saint Louis, MO, Ordains Two ICRSS Priests, June 15, 2007

[kosta50]

God performs the miracle. The priest calls on Him in the words of the consecration of the bread and the wine

I thought so, I just needed a clarification, Thank you.

It is my understanding that the tradiitional Latin Mass either doesn't have epiklesis or that epiklesis is diminished. Can you clarify that?

[kosta50]

Pyro, I see the archibishop's hat is taller than, say what you see nowadays such as this example. Is this just another style or is this significant?

Compare to Archbishop Burke's hat

[Pyro7480]

Yeah, even Pope Benedict XVI has worn mitres smaller than the one Archbishop Burke is wearing in the pic. That one is a more traditional design I guess.

[vladimir998]

You wrote:

“It is my understanding that the tradiitional Latin Mass either doesn’t have epiklesis or that epiklesis is diminished. Can you clarify that?”

Yes and no. There is no explicit prayer called the epiclesis, but:

“This is the theory defended by their theologians at the Council of Florence (1439). A deputation of Latins and Greeks was appointed then to discuss the question. The Greeks maintained that both forms are necessary, that Transubstantiation does not take place till the second one (the Epiklesis) is pronounced, and that the Latin “Supplices te rogamus” is a true Epiklesis having the same effect as theirs.” http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05502a.htm

Apparently this view, that the “Supplices te rogamus” is a true Epiklesis, is still held by Eastern Orthodox liturgists such as Nicholas Cabasilas:

“According to the great Orthodox liturgical scholar and saint, Nicholas Cabasilas, the prayer in the Roman rite “Supplices te rogamus” (”Most humbly we implore Thee”) is an “ascending epiklesis.”” http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/liturgics/johnson_western_rite.htm

[vladimir998]

Oops! Nicholas Cabasilas was not a modern liturgist, but a 14th century Orthodox saint.

My bad.

Friends of mine who had suffered many years in Novus Ordo parishes used to tell the following joke:

You know what the difference is between a terrorist and a liturgist?

You can negotiate with the terrorist.

[Pyro7480]

You know what the difference is between a terrorist and a liturgist? You can negotiate with the terrorist.

LOL!!

[kosta50]

Yes and no. There is no explicit prayer called the epiclesis

The epiklesis is the supplication of the Holy Spirit to mystically change (i.e. transubstantiate in the western terminology) the bread and wine. My understanding is that the traditional Latin Mass does not call on the HS specifically, but that there are additional prayers that do.

It is also my understanding (from having heard post-vatican II Masses) that the so-called NO Mass does have epiklesis.