Monthly Archives: April 2007

Off to a cabin somewhere in West Virginia.  I should be blogging again next week.

Now, I must admit, I’m waiting with some difficulty for the big news. One “side effect” I expect from this document is a time of “experimentation.”

Yes. Just as the 1960s were a time of experimentation with the liturgy away from the Tridintine Mass, this will be a time when there will be experimentation toward it.

Someone who “prophesied” this in an ironic way is Fr. Andrew Greeley. He said in his book Religion in the Year 2000 (written back in the 60s) that around the year 2000 there would be a reaction against liturgical experimentation. Indeed, and now it is to be codified in a decision that opens up a new era.

One experimental thing I’d like to see is silence in church before and after Mass. If it is presented as “an experimental idea”, maybe it will catch on.

Latin becomes the “experimental language.” How can we incorporate this new “possibility” into our liturgy?

Maybe we could use the Introit in Latin? How about experimenting with this? And because the Sacramentary talks about turning to the altar and to the people, it suggests ad orientem experimentation.

We’ve got to get with the times, man. If “old skool” is 1980s, then we’ve got an old skool liturgy that needs some updating, with the latest B16 innovations.

Audrey Santo died April 14. When someone who is clearly a victim soul dies, trouble tends to follow. Victim souls tend to hold big trouble back, preventing the wrath of God from coming down (see the origin of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy).

Divine Mercy Sunday at Stockbridge on April 15 was overall even worse weather than last year (and we were calling last year the worst ever), although the wind wasn’t too bad. It was rather cold though, and some warming tents had to be sent up. On a different note, the weather at Kraków-Łagiewniki (the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Poland) was excellent.

New York City had more inches of rain than any previous records show, and there was plenty of flooding in the surrounding area. There are lots of damaged homes and buildings.

And now, of course, we have a national tragedy. I’ve read that the Bath School Disaster of Bath Township, Michigan in 1927 was worse, but guns were not used in that case.

This is certainly a time to pray, and I recommed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

At this point, the weather is not looking all that good for Divine Mercy Sunday at Stockbridge, Mass.  I personally plan on hearing confessions in the confession tent, which is (somewhat) heated and dry.  It doesn’t matter what Mass you attend, the graces are still available, and the promise given by Jesus to St. Faustina still applies.  In general, I would recommend going to some regional celebration.

Here’s an audio entry from 2006–it could no longer be accessed because I changed blog formats. This was recorded when I lived in Plano, Illinois.

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Fr. Z’s recent entry in which he says (concerning the Motu Proprio), “When Benedict does this, he must get it as right as he possibly can. The stakes are high in other sectors of the life of the Church,” brings up some thoughts in my mind. I agree, but I have no idea what would be the correct wording. I suspect that one misplaced word could cause serious trouble, but I don’t know what that word would be. The role of bishops and their ability to control when and where the Tridintine Rite is celebrated will have to be addressed, but what will that role be? Although the Motu Proprio will obviously not be enough for some, it will clearly be a “liturgical earthquake.” I seem to imagine some people screaming when it comes out sort of like the scene at the end of The Passion of The Christ that shows Satan screaming in hell.

I don’t intend to learn the Tridintine Rite, although I would obviously learn it if asked by my community. I do enjoy celebrating the Novus Ordo in Latin, and plan on doing so this week as a concelebrant (I’ll say more about this later). As anyone with some Latin knowledge knows, there is no comparison between Eucharistic Prayer I in English and in Latin, although the early draft I saw of the new ICEL translation shows promise. I think the Motu Proprio will help priests to feel more “liberated” to use Latin in general, but it is hard to say how this will play out. At Franciscan U., Matt Maher’s Agnus Dei has been in use for a while. This is certainly not Gregorian Chant, but it is Latin (albeit mixed with English).

I realize you cannot comment on the blog at this time. I hope to do something about this soon.

Update:  A seminarian blogs on The Return of Gregorian Chant .

in Lent that is.  It’s a busy time.

A funny commercial directed by Stan Freberg:  Brave New Prune.