[NYer]

In setting forth its decrees for the revision of the Order of Mass, Vatican Council II directed, among other things, that some rites be restored "to the vigor they had in the tradition of the Fathers";11 this is a quotation from the Apostolic Constitution of 1570, by which St. Pius V promulgated the Tridentine Missal.

Thus the Church remains faithful in its responsibility as teacher of truth to guard "things old," that is, the deposit of tradition; at the same time it fulfills another duty, that of examining and prudently bringing forth"things new" (see Mt. 13:52).

A thorough reading of the GIRM is indispensible in understanding the evolution of the mass from its beginnings after the death of Christ up to the present day.

[NYer]

A thorough reading of the GIRM is indispensible in understanding the evolution of the mass from its beginnings after the death of Christ up to the present day.

[Siobhan]

You are such a blessing to us Catholics on FR. Thank you for all you do to keep us informed as well as inspired! {{{{{hugs}}}}}

[Siobhan]

Ping!

[ultima ratio]

No amount of rhetoric can make a thing something it isn't. The Instruction you cite can claim it is a part of tradition all it wants--wishing doesn't make it so. Here is Cardinal Ratzinger:

"The liturgical reform, in its concrete realization, has distanced itself more from its origin. The result has not been a reanimation, but devastation. In place of the liturgy, fruit of a continual development, they have placed a fabricated liturgy. They have deserted a vital process of growth and becoming in order to substitute a fabrication. They did not want to continue the development, the organic maturing of something living through the centuries, and they replaced it, in the manner of a technical production, by a fabrication, a banal product of the moment." (The Angelus citing Ratzinger, April 2002, p. 19.)

[Desdemona]

I checked in early this morning before going out and about. The arguments both ways get old, but just for all of you and this thread I stayed to watch communion at my church job. We sang early so I could have left, but...

After working in a protestant church for two years, I often wonder how many Catholics have ever been in a protestant church let alone sat through service. Service has no majesty, no reverence. I sat there this morning and thought, and they make fun of us. There was so reverence. No elevation, no mystery. Nothing. The assistant took a loaf of bread and split it. The "wine" isn't even alcoholic. No eternal presence...nothing with any kind of greatness to it.

The words of the Sanctus that they use are identical to the ones we use - which do not match the exact translation. I know that. They use a Gloria Patri, but not a Gloria in Excelsis Deo. Subtle stuff.

Of late, you all know, I've switched to a more conservative parish. My mother doesn't see where I get the desire to experience the old way. Why I don't change the words of the creed and desire to sing Latin and like a Communion Rail and why I prefer Communion from a priest or a Deacon. She actually said to me, I go you to the Catholic church because of the sacraments, I don't care who administers them.

Well, I'll say this. For a while, I couldn't tell the difference. Now I can. THAT's the difference. The truth is in the details. Change enough of the details and you change the whole. That's what a lot of people are missing. That enough details are gone and corners cut, that the whole has changed.

I have to go. I'll check in later though. Translating French today.