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Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady

Feast of the Exaltation of Holy Cross

Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, marking the date of the dedication of the Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 335. The feast itself really celebrates both the original finding of the true Cross by the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great in 326, and most especially its recovery from the Persians by the Emperor Heraclius in 628.

For traditionalists of course it has an additional particular significance as the date that Summorum Pontificum came into effect two years ago.

And on this later event, I invite you to do is to join me in the following Novena of the Holy Cross, starting from today, for the unity of Catholics:<

Jesus, Who because of Your burning love for us willed to be crucified
and to shed Your Most Precious Blood
for the redemption and salvation of our souls,
look down upon us and grant the petition we ask for,
the unity and healing from all wounds of Catholics, especially those attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

We trust completely in Your Mercy.

Cleanse us from sin by Your Grace,
sanctify our work,
give us and all those who are dear to us our daily bread,
lighten the burden of our sufferings,bless our families,
and grant to the nations,
so sorely afflicted,Your Peace, which is the only true peace,
so that by obeying Your Commandments
we may come at last to the glory of Heaven.

Cluny 2010

Today marks the start of celebrations of the millenium of the founding of the Monastery of Cluny located in Burgundy. The Monastery was destroyed by the French Revolution - the remnants of its Paris townhouse were subsequently turned into a (very nice) Museum of the Middle Ages. But from the time of its founding in 909 or 910 up until the Revolution it was a crucial force in Christendom.

The monastery was founded by William I of Acquitaine, and enjoyed the benefit of series of very long lived, saint-abbots (Pope Benedict XVI spoke about one of them in his last General Audience). It served as a force for reform both of monasticism (at its height the Cluniac Congregation included 825 monasteries, all directly dependent on the mother house), and the Church and society more generally. It was a particularly important support base for the reforms of Pope Gregory VII.

Cluniac monasticism stressed the moderation of St Benedict's Rule rather than ascetic extremes (though the Cistericans twelfth century critique of Cluny is clearly vastly exaggerated) - and its most well known feature was its strong liturgical focus. Central to its raison d'etre was the new emphasis in the earlier middle ages on the importance of the intercessory prayer of monks.

The Monastery itself became enormously wealthy - it accumulated perhaps the largest library in the West, and its Church was certainly the largest until the construction of the new St Peter's in the sixteenth century.

As for the celebrations of its foundation - the official "Cluny 2010" website states:

"In 909 or 910, a Benedictine abbey was founded at Cluny, in Burgundy. 250 years later, the abbey was at the head of approximately 1,400 Cluniac establishments in western Europe. This heritage network, now a cultural route of the Council of Europe, is to celebrate this anniversary in a variety of ways throughout the year.The 2010 programme for Cluny is made up of large events marking the whole period of celebrations and numerous smaller projects. They are to be held from September 2009 until December 2010 so as to establish a gradual build-up at Cluny and throughout the whole network of Cluniac sites in Europe.The majority of the larger events have a singular character: festive, popular, interactive and mainstream for some, more educational for others. They unite different forms of activities and entertainment specially conceived for the occasion."

Latest year of the priest message

From the National Catholic Reporter:

Cardinal Hummes to Priests: Stay Close to Christ
Posted by Edward Pentin
Thursday, September 10, 2009 12:34 PM

"Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, has warned against priests who have an “insufficient and superficial” encounter with Jesus Christ, saying this can turn their ministry into a “kind of clerical profession” in which they carry out their duties “like officials.”

...The priest, Cardinal Hummes added, must...Be a man of love, of brotherhood, kindness, forgiveness and mercy to all,” he continued.

....However, the cardinal stressed “we must not lose heart or be afraid of today’s society, or simply condemn it. Be pastors and lead the community: this is identity that Christ has created and to which the priest must look.”

The Pope on the hermaneutic of continuity and priestly formation

The Pope has made some important remarks in the last few days, in the context of the ad limina visit of the bishops of Brazil.

The official English version (I've been wondering whether I should learn Croatian, Portuguese or one of the other shall we say less commonly standard languages for which texts appear on occasion quite quickly on the Vatican website) is not available as yet, so here are the key parts courtesy of Zenit.

The problems of a vast country

After his opening welcome, the Pope started off with some sentiments that will have resonance for Australia's bishops, on the problems of ministering over vast tracts of territory, and dealing with an occasionally hostile state:

"...In fact, only God's great heart can know, keep and govern the multitude of sons and daughters that he himself engendered in Brazil's immense vastness. In the course of our conversations these days, some of the challenges and problems you are facing have come to light, as the archbishop of Campo Grande mentioned at the beginning of our meeting. We are impressed by the distances that you yourselves, as well as your priests and other missionary agents, have to cover to serve and pastorally encourage your faithful, many of them affected by the problems proper to a relatively recent urbanization, in which the state does not always succeed in being an instrument for the promotion of justice and the common good.

Do not be discouraged! Remember that the proclamation of the Gospel and adherence to Christian values, as I stated recently in the encyclical "Caritas in Veritate" "is not merely useful but essential for building a good society and for true integral human development."....

The importance of good priestly formation

In our days, and concretely in Brazil, the laborers in the Lord's field continue to be few for a harvest that is large (cf. Matthew 9:36-37). Despite the shortage we perceive, the adequate formation of those who are called to serve the people of God is truly essential.

For this reason, in the context of the current Year for Priests, allow me to pause today to reflect with you, beloved bishops of Western Brazil, on the most important task of your episcopal ministry, which is fostering [the vocation] of new pastors.

Although God is the only one able to awaken in the human heart a call to the pastoral service of his people, all members of the Church should question if they see and feel the profound urgency of this mission and have a real commitment to it.

One day, when some of the disciples were hesitating, noting that there were "still four months to go" before the harvest, Jesus replied: "I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for the harvest" (John 4:35). God does not see as man does! The haste of the good God is dictated by his desire that "all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4).

There are many who seem to want to live the whole of life in a minute, others who wander in tedium and inertia, or abandon themselves to violence of all sorts. Deep down, these are no more than desperate lives that look for hope, as demonstrated by an extended, though at times confused, need of spirituality, a renewed search for points of reference to take up again the journey of life.

The disastrous secularization of the Church post Vatican II

Esteemed brothers, in the decades following the Second Vatican Council, some interpreted the openness not as a demand flowing from the missionary ardor of the Heart of Christ, but as a step toward secularization, perceiving there certain strong Christian values, such as equality, liberty, solidarity.

They showed themselves ready to make concessions and discover areas of cooperation. We witnessed the interventions of some ecclesiastical officials in ethical debates, which responded to the expectations of public opinion, but which failed to speak of certain essential truths of the faith, such as sin, grace, theological life and the last things. Without realizing it, many ecclesial communities fell into self-secularization.

Hoping to charm those who were not joining, they saw many of their members leave, cheated and disillusioned. When our contemporaries come to us, they want to see something that they do not see elsewhere, namely, joy and the hope that springs from the fact that we are with the Risen Lord.

But things are changing for the better

At present there is a new generation born in this secularized ecclesial environment who, instead of looking for openness and consensus, see how the gap between society and the positions of the magisterium of the Church, especially in the ethical field, is ever greater.

In this desert lacking God, the new generation feels a great thirst for transcendence. It is the young men of this new generation who knock on the door of seminaries, and who need to find formators who are true men of God, priests totally dedicated to formation, who give witness of the gift of themselves to the Church, through celibacy and an austere life, according to the model of Christ the Good Shepherd. Thus, these young men will learn to be sensitive to the encounter with the Lord, in daily participation in the Eucharist, loving silence and prayer, working first of all for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Beloved brothers, as you know, it is the bishop's task to establish the essential criteria for the formation of seminarians and priests in fidelity to the universal norms of the Church: It is in this spirit that reflections on this topic should be developed, [which was] the objective of the plenary assembly of your episcopal conference last April. Certain of being able to count on your zeal in regard to priestly formation, I invite all bishops, their priests and seminarians, to imitate in their lives the charity of Christ, Priest and Good Shepherd, as the holy Cure d'Ars did. And, with him, may they take as model and protection of their own vocation the Virgin Mother, who responded in a unique way to God's call, conceiving in her heart and flesh the Word made man to give him to humanity....."

The purpose of a Catholic funeral

I hope to have some photos from the Solemn Pontifical Requiem sung for Mrs Marian Scarrabelotti in Canberra yesterday shortly, but thought in the meantime I'd draw your attention to a couple of excellent posts on other blogs that gone up on the subject of the purpose of a Catholic funeral.

Yesterday's Requiem

Yesterday's Requiem was, from my perspective at least, pretty close to the ideal Catholic funeral; a most solemn and splendidly stark affair.

It was conducted in Canberra's vastly improved cathedral, with black vestments, black altar frontpiece and all due ceremony, all very well executed. The celebrant was Bishop Jarrett of Lismore, with Fr John Parsons as deacon, Fr Glenn Tattersall as sub-deacon, Fr Define FSSP as Assistant Priest, and Fr Popplewell FSSP as first MC. All of the FSSP priests currently in the country were present, and other priests were also present, all very good to see.

The choir, comprised of local and interstate singers, was conducted by Hugh and Maria Henry and featured chant propers, Victoria's Requiem, the Lobo motet highlighted in my previous post.

And the bishop gave an excellent homily before the Mass started, touching on, amongst other things, the nature and purpose of a Catholic funeral (but I'm afraid I didn't take notes or obtain a copy). A few recent blog posts touch on some of the same issues.

Modern conceptions of what a funeral should be

The most important purpose of a Catholic funeral (after of course the worship of God) is to pray for the repose of the soul of the deceased. No matter how subjectively certain we may be that the person concerned is in heaven, the Church's teaching is that we should assume that they are in purgatory - for if they are, they can no longer do anything for themselves, and urgently need our prayers; and if they are not, our prayers will surely benefit some other poor soul.

By contrast the typical modern funeral - of which a classic example one gathers was the recent funeral of Senator Edward Kennedy - instantly canonises the deceased, and "celebrates their life". Aside from potentially costing the deceased much pain in purgatory, it fundamentally undermines what should be a time of reflection for us all, for the implicit message of this approach is surely that heaven, hell and purgatory do not really exist, and all that counts is the visible works of this world.

Bring back the Dies Irae



Jeffrey Tucker has written a nice post on this on the New Liturgical Movement website, entitled Bring back the Dies Irae. He starts off by explaining why eulogies are generally prohibited:

"...There are many reasons for this ban, but one reason is to put a stop to the tendency of all eulogies to state with certainty that the person who died is in Heaven right now. Of course we cannot know this. It is outrageously presumptuous of us to pretend to know the mind of God and the eternal destination of the recently deceased. Why do we so badly want to do this? Is it because we want the best for the person who died? Certainly but the Church encourages us to pray for the dead to fulfill this pious impulse. [This is the crucial point - traditionally, a funeral is not about reassurance for us but about concrete work we can do for the souls in purgatory].

Another reason, perhaps the real reason, is actually more selfish. We are trying to comfort ourselves, give ourselves assurances that we are in God's good graces and so should have some sense of certainty about our own eternal destinations. We are declaring ourselves to be Heaven-bound and thereby shielding our own eyes from our sins that have stained our souls and might have separated us from God. We are seeking comfort not in truth but in the tapestry of myths that we are weaving about ourselves: all sins aside, we all deserve salvation and we are going to get it..."

Tucker goes on to make the point that the famous sequence, Dies Irae has some important messages for the living:

"Of course none of this makes any difference. The eternal destiny of the dead is not up to us. Neither will our own fates be of our own making after the day of wrath. That's an interesting phrase, isn't it? The Day of Wrath. There is a hymn that was once prescribed as part of every Requiem Mass, from at least the 13th century. Without debate and without explanation, it was removed from the Missal of 1970, so that several generations have Catholics have never been exposed to its terrifying truths. The Church has known that we want to avoid the truth when we face the death of others; we were given this hymn, the Dies Irae, to remind us of what death should teach the living. The chant tune itself is still with us, appearing in movies and popular culture and even in video games.

The music is ominous, even astonishing. The words are even more so. It contains such thoughts as:

Oro supplex et acclinis,
cor contritum quasi cinis:
gere curam mei finis.

In English verse:

Low I kneel, with heart submission,
see, like ashes, my contrition;
help me in my last condition.

Followed by:
Lacrimosa dies illa,
qua resurget ex favilla
judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus:

In English verse:

Ah! that day of tears and mourning!
From the dust of earth returning
man for judgment must prepare him;
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him!

So you can see what is being addressed. This is a song about the dead, yes, but mostly it is song directed toward the living. We need to hear this because society will not tell us these things...."

Tucker makes the point that this is a fundamentally counter-cultural message, challenging assumption of our society that things are under our control rather than God's. Do go and read the whole thing.

A parish priest on Fr Z

And Fr Z explores some of the same issues, drawing on an email from a parish priest on the Kennedy funeral. I've extracted what I think are the key points:

"Catholic Funerals are not about the person’s past achievements. Since Holy Mass is part of it, first of all, the Funeral is about worship of God.

Secondly, it is a profession of our Catholic Faith...

Thirdly, Holy Mass is offered for the repose of the deceased immortal soul and asking God’s mercy on him.

Fourthly, we pray for the consolation of those who mourn.... "

Reading the book of Job

In the breviary, the first week of September marks the start of reading the Book of Job, a particularly timely text on the meaning of suffering.

And in the Monastic Office (though not I think the Roman), the last responsory of the first nocturn today is a text that is often sung at funerals, Versa est in luctum. The words mean as follows:

My harp is tuned for lamentation,
and my flute to the voice of those who weep.
Spare me, O Lord,
for my days are as nothing...

Here is a you tube verse of the setting by Alonso Lobo (1555-1617), and written for the funeral of Phillip II of Spain.

And they'll know we are Christians by our love....***

***This is an amended version of a post that stirred up something of a hornets nest....I've deleted the original comments made on this post since the text has changed substantially, but have to some extent reflected some of the comments received in this redraft, and so my thanks to those original commenters.****

A week or so ago I wrote on the unforeseen effects of the changes to the liturgy on our sense of the nature of God.

Today, however, I want to focus on the other side of the coin, namely our sense of community, because although I think the more explicitly 'horizontal' rituals of the novus ordo Ordinary Form mass fail to achieve that sense, I do think there is a genuine problem that at least some of the reformers were legitimately trying to address.

The sense of community and the liturgy

My starting point is this. Blogger Joshua of Psallite Sapienter recently put up a post on the transcendentals that is well worth reading, noting that his own primary focuses and sources of attraction were truth and beauty. But I think it is important to remember that though truth and beauty attract some, so too does the good. Throughout history, many people have been attracted to the faith by the example of strong Christian communities exercising charity towards each other and towards those it comes in contact with. And conversely, quarrelling communities repel outsiders and undermine the practice of those within them.

The first point to make is that a sense of community doesn't just happen in my view: it has to be worked for.  Most of us today live in suburbs with little sense of neighbourliness or community - and many of our churches are the same.  Creating a real community requires leadership and discipline.

Secondly, I don't think personally that the solution to building a strong sense of a supportive Christian community that fosters our faith and the pursuit of holiness necessarily lies in tinkering with the liturgy of the Mass itself. Communities were built and thrived in the Church for centuries without the use of concelebration, the modern version of the sign of peace, or other such pale signs.

Let me clear that it is not that I think that these new rituals are invalid.  I personally find them rather jarring, but I'm all for diversity and perhaps they work for some and have some place.  I don't however believe we should over-invest in them, trusting that they can in themselves create a sense of community that would otherwise be lacking.  And I certainly don't think that the choice not to adopt them should be interpreted as a rejection of the wider Church.  For the reality is that most novus ordo parish communities are no more thriving models of the works of charity than most traditionalist ones are.

The solution in my view lies rather in developing a strong vision of what a parish or community should look like and do, and consciously striving to realise that vision with the help of grace. We can build a sense of community liturgically through the Mass and Divine Office, and outside of this through a rich devotional life, and through active engagement on key causes including works of corporal mercy. We can connect ourselves to our local diocesan Church through participation in its structures and activities.

In my view, we clearly do have to consciously pay attention to this aim: it is not enough to construct beautiful liturgies, or hold orthodox views. Charity, in the end, is the most important of the virtues.

And they'll know we are Christians...

There is a particularly atrociously saccharine modern 'hymn' which claims that Christians will be known for their love - to each other (and others). In many ways it is a silly sentiment, since true Christian love can often come across to modern eyes as quite counter to what our society thinks of as love. Christian love need not be cloying or sentimental.

And there is a reality about the fallen human condition that leads us to quarrel: read the New Testament books carefully and you will quickly realize that the early disciples were often a fractious lot, and that quarrels rent the infant church at frequent intervals. The subsequent history of the Church reinforces this diagnosis.

Nonetheless, there is a certain element of truth that underlies that song, for Our Lord does enjoin us to love and serve one another.

He does tell us that when we have quarrelled with our brother we must reconcile before presenting our offering at the altar.

Above all, Our Lord stressed that we must forgive others their trespasses against us; forgive them if necessary, seventy times seven.

Traditionalist quarrels

Let me put it bluntly. How can we claim that traditionalism and the traditional liturgy is a path to holiness when we seem so often at war with each other: appearing quick to pass judgment and think the worst of others; appear hard and unforgiving; and are reluctant to let go of past real and imagined hurts and slights?

I've been loosely associated with the traditionalist movement for a long time, but only in the last few years have I become more closely involved. And as I've become more involved I've been reminded why I stayed on the periphery for so long.

Amongst the laity, some are still acting on disputes amongst ourselves going back twenty years or more.

When newcomers to the mass they are immediately subjected to diatribes on assorted gripes and weird theories.

When new devotions or practices are introduced, rather than being supportive of the efforts to respond to pastoral needs, they are attacked.

And those who should be leading us by example too often seem to be doing quite the opposite.

I am repeatedly scandalised by what I consider to be intemperate attacks by one group of traditionalists on another on blogs, websites and conversation. It is one thing to have and debate legitimate differences of opinion on matters of style, tactics or strategy. But we often seem unable to 'agree to disagree' on matters that are not matters of the faith.

Similarly, while we all resent examples of what seem to be persecution or at least extreme unhelpfulness by our novus ordo colleagues, I do wonder how much of this we bring upon ourselves. I know of many cases where the traditionalist caravan has rolled into town paying no heed to local sensibilities. I know of several cases of apparent disregard of the normal protocols governing operation in a diocese or community other than one's own.

It's not all bad of course. Some communities are doing great things in terms of providing support for their members, and engaging with the wider community.  But for every positive action taken, a group of naysayers arise and start murmuring and sniping.

Ghettos, subcultures and personalities

Now its true that minority movements inevitably start from behind.

Let me share with you a quote in a slightly different context from Tracey Rowland's book Culture and the Thomist Tradition After Vatican II which I think is worth reflecting on:

"In the context of educational institutions, Russell Hittinger has observed that what is billed as the uniquely Catholic component of the institution usually turns out to be a 'weird little subculture, like the bar in Star Wars, that has little connection to any sociological reality beyond the gates of the campus'. To Hittinger's observations may be added the fact that the kinds of people who are attracted to marginalised subcultures are frequently people with psychological disorders. As a consequence, an interest in religion becomes associated with dysfunctionality and irrationality..." (p60)

I will admit to a degree of naivity on this subject.  I'd always taken the view that traditionalism was the hope of the Church, and the time has now come to take what we have preserved and re-evangelize the Church using it.  But perhaps the reluctance of many traditionalists to engage with the wider Church reflects an unconscious realisation that we are in fact in the quarantine ward of the hospital, gifted with the traditional mass because we need more intensive measures to fight the diseases that afflict us....

Either way, with Summorum Pontificum, we don't have to be or act like a marginalised sub-culture any more. And that means learning a whole new set of behaviours.

Towards healing

So let us all consider what we can do to build a stronger sense that we all share a common cause, and common aim even if we differ on the means to achieve it.

Let us all consider what it truly means to share a common faith.

Let us rediscover the norms of common courtesy.

Let us pray for healing of the sick.

Let us put aside the past and start again.

Let us pray and act for unity in Christ.