Corpus Christi in the Diocese of Camden

The two traditional-centered parishes in the Diocese of Camden will be having large celebrations for the Feast of Corpus Christi:

MATER ECCLESIAE, BERLIN: Tonight, Fr. Robert Pasley, KHS, will celebrate a Choral High Mass at 7:30pm with an outdoor procession with the Blessed Sacrament and benediction at the various altars following the Mass. The music will be composed of the Gregorian propers, Victoria's Missa 'O Quam Gloriosum' and Saint-Saëns's Ave Verum Corpus.

ST. PETER, MERCHANTVILLE: On Saturday, there will be a Solemn Choral Mass in the Ordinary Form at 5:00pm followed by an outdoor procession with benediction at the various altars after Mass. The music will be Mozart's Messe in C KV 259. The celebrant will be Fr. Anthony Manuppella, KHS, V.F. assisted by Fr. Allain Caparas and Deacon Joseph McHugh.

At the 12 noon Mass on Sunday, there will be a Choral High Mass in the Extraordinary Form for the external solemnity of Corpus Christi (as permitted in the United States by Pope Leo XIII) followed by benediction. The celebrant will be Fr. Allain Caparas.

This pretty much sums it up

Thanks to Fr. Z and the Creative Minority Report for this one:



BTW-This is my 100th post, wow, didn't think I'd make it this far!

Pope Paul VI and the Octave of Pentecost

Being that yesterday was the feast of Pentecost, I always like to refer back to this op-ed piece written last year and published on the New York Times (Yep, you read that right, "hell's bible" published this piece, why can't they always be this normal?):

LATIN MASS APPEAL
By KENNETH J. WOLFE
Published: November 28, 2009

WALKING into church 40 years ago on this first Sunday of Advent, many Roman Catholics might have wondered where they were. The priest not only spoke English rather than Latin, but he faced the congregation instead of the tabernacle; laymen took on duties previously reserved for priests; folk music filled the air. The great changes of Vatican II had hit home.

All this was a radical break from the traditional Latin Mass, codified in the 16th century at the Council of Trent. For centuries, that Mass served as a structured sacrifice with directives, called “rubrics,” that were not optional. This is how it is done, said the book. As recently as 1947, Pope Pius XII had issued an encyclical on liturgy that scoffed at modernization; he said that the idea of changes to the traditional Latin Mass “pained” him “grievously.”

Paradoxically, however, it was Pius himself who was largely responsible for the momentous changes of 1969. It was he who appointed the chief architect of the new Mass, Annibale Bugnini, to the Vatican’s liturgical commission in 1948.

Bugnini was born in 1912 and ordained a Vincentian priest in 1936. Though Bugnini had barely a decade of parish work, Pius XII made him secretary to the Commission for Liturgical Reform. In the 1950s, Bugnini led a major revision of the liturgies of Holy Week. As a result, on Good Friday of 1955, congregations for the first time joined the priest in reciting the Pater Noster, and the priest faced the congregation for some of the liturgy.

The next pope, John XXIII, named Bugnini secretary to the Preparatory Commission for the Liturgy of Vatican II, in which position he worked with Catholic clergymen and, surprisingly, some Protestant ministers on liturgical reforms. In 1962 he wrote what would eventually become the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, the document that gave the form of the new Mass.

Many of Bugnini’s reforms were aimed at appeasing non-Catholics, and changes emulating Protestant services were made, including placing altars to face the people instead of a sacrifice toward the liturgical east. As he put it, “We must strip from our ... Catholic liturgy everything which can be the shadow of a stumbling block for our separated brethren, that is, for the Protestants.” (Paradoxically, the Anglicans who will join the Catholic Church as a result of the current pope’s outreach will use a liturgy that often features the priest facing in the same direction as the congregation.)

How was Bugnini able to make such sweeping changes? In part because none of the popes he served were liturgists. Bugnini changed so many things that John’s successor, Paul VI, sometimes did not know the latest directives. The pope once questioned the vestments set out for him by his staff, saying they were the wrong color, only to be told he had eliminated the week-long celebration of Pentecost and could not wear the corresponding red garments for Mass. The pope’s master of ceremonies then witnessed Paul VI break down in tears.

Bugnini fell from grace in the 1970s. Rumors spread in the Italian press that he was a Freemason, which if true would have merited excommunication. The Vatican never denied the claims, and in 1976 Bugnini, by then an archbishop, was exiled to a ceremonial post in Iran. He died, largely forgotten, in 1982.

But his legacy lived on. Pope John Paul II continued the liberalizations of Mass, allowing females to serve in place of altar boys and to permit unordained men and women to distribute communion in the hands of standing recipients. Even conservative organizations like Opus Dei adopted the liberal liturgical reforms.

But Bugnini may have finally met his match in Benedict XVI, a noted liturgist himself who is no fan of the past 40 years of change. Chanting Latin, wearing antique vestments and distributing communion only on the tongues (rather than into the hands) of kneeling Catholics, Benedict has slowly reversed the innovations of his predecessors. And the Latin Mass is back, at least on a limited basis, in places like Arlington, Va., where one in five parishes offer the old liturgy.

Benedict understands that his younger priests and seminarians — most born after Vatican II — are helping lead a counterrevolution. They value the beauty of the solemn high Mass and its accompanying chant, incense and ceremony. Priests in cassocks and sisters in habits are again common; traditionalist societies like the Institute of Christ the King are expanding.

At the beginning of this decade, Benedict (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) wrote: “The turning of the priest toward the people has turned the community into a self-enclosed circle. In its outward form, it no longer opens out on what lies ahead and above, but is closed in on itself.” He was right: 40 years of the new Mass have brought chaos and banality into the most visible and outward sign of the church. Benedict XVI wants a return to order and meaning. So, it seems, does the next generation of Catholics.

Kenneth J. Wolfe writes frequently for traditionalist Roman Catholic publications.

A Glorious Day for the Church in America

I got back to Philadelphia from Washington, D.C. sometime around 3:00am this morning (and didn't get back to my place in Jersey until about 4) after a marvelous day day in Washington with my friends after our 24-hour pilgrimage for the Solemn Pontifical Mass at the National Shrine. It was arguably one of my most memorable and spiritually enriching celebrations of the Holy Sacrifices of the Mass that I've ever attended.

Here are some pictures from the Mass as well as the blognic at The Dubliner after Mass:

The High Altar


Bishop Edward Slattery


Prayers at the Foot of the Altar


Fr. Z and myself


The blognic at The Dubliner

Blognic at The Dubliner

For those of you going to the Pontifical Mass at the National Shrine, Fr. Z's Washington blognic will be at The Dubliner. It's about 7 minutes away from the National Shrine if you drive and 3 metro stops from Catholic University. It is on the Senate side of the Capitol, and since the Senate isn't in session, parking should be a little easier than usual.

Hope to see you there!

Pontifical High Mass in DC - UPDATE

As I'm sure everyone knows by know, Dario Cardinal Castrillon-Hoyos will not celebrate the Solemn Pontifical High Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception this Saturday due to a recent controversy surrounding him (though when you look at it, there's nothing to fret about). Fortunately, The Paulus Institute did get Bishop Edward Slattery of the Diocese of Tulsa to celebrate the Pontifical Mass. They also confirmed that William Cardinal Baum will also be in attendance.


For those planning to attend, get there by 12:15 to claim a good seat. Prior to the Mass, a few childrens choirs will be singing in honor of our Holy Father. Mass will begin at 1:00pm. After Mass, I will probably join other bloggers (and anyone else) for a blognic being hosted by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf of What Does the Prayer Really Say?.

Solemn High Mass in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes

On February 11, 2010, Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia will celebrate its patronal feast with a candlelight procession and a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Since it is the parish's patronal feast, a plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful under the normal conditions of receiving Holy Communion, going to Confession, and saying the Lord's Prayer, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be for the intentions of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. A wine, cheese, and dessert reception will follow after Mass in Nolasco Hall.

The Mass that Made Saints

I just got home from Mater Ecclesiae's Candlemas Mass, and it was beautiful as always. But I got to thinking as the Solemn High celebration of Our Lady's purification, how anyone who goes to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite cannot fall in love with it? As the Mass progressed, and the sounds of the chanting and polyphonic music struck my ears and the scent of sweet-smelling incense enveloped my nostrils, you could feel yourself in the presence of the Almighty and fully participated with the angels and saints in adoration of Christ truly present on the altar. Absolutely breathtaking.

Not to put down the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite (yes it's a valid Mass, so quit your whining hippies and lower your egos trads), when it is celebrated PROPERLY, it can be beautiful as well. But there's something about the traditional Roman form of worshiping the One, True God that cannot be explained because there is no word in any dictionary that can explain the beauty of the mystery that unfolds before our eyes at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Perhaps it's the uniformity, the ideal taken from our Jewish roots of following precisely what is prescribed in the rubrics of the Mass, that adds to the beauty. I know it plays a part in it, but is it? I don't know.

What I do know is that in the Extraordinary Form, our souls fly to God Who is the center of worship, unlike many a parish where irreverence continues to occupy the sacred space and people wait for Christ the rock star to make his big entrance while the band plays on. The traditional form of worship draws people of all ages, and especially young Catholics who flock to these Masses, and makes the toughest of pompous men break out in tears (I've seen it). It made saints since the earliest days of the Church, it released many souls from purgatory, and it drew many back into the fold of Christ and His Church. And it will continue to do so until the triumphant second coming. Wow!

You want to save the world? Then save the Liturgy! LAUDETOR IESUS CHRISTUS IN AETERNUM!

Septuagesima 2010

I know I'm a day late with this post, but for those of you in "Ordinary Time" mode, I celebrated with other traditional Catholics all over the world Septuagesima Sunday, the beginning of the time of Septuagesima, which is a time of preparation for the Lenten journey. A period of penance, the vestments return back to the penitential violet. The Alleluia ceases to be sung, not heard again until the Easter Vigil, as well as the Gloria and the Te Deum. It's really a shame that this time was dropped when the Missal of Pope Paul VI was introduced. It's times in the liturgical calendar like this that makes me thank God for Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

Tradition has it that the origins of Septuagesima date to the time when Christians used to fast 70 days before Easter, reminiscent of the Babylonian Exile. Since this is a time of preparation for the 40 day journey with our Lord, it is only appropriate that the Gospel for Septuagesima Sunday be that of the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, a reminder of God's yearning for all to become workers in His vineyard and enjoy equally the full joy that the other laborers in the Lord's field enjoy. It is also a reminder for us to be cautious when judging others, considering that we too are sinners that need God's mercy and compassion, to do what we must do to buid up the Kingdom of God, lest the just anger of God look upon you for your intent to look at the flaws of others, while ignoring the fact that you have your own unique part to play.

Whether or not you attend the Traditional Mass or not, still take this time to prepare for lies ahead as we prepare ourselves for that long journey with Christ to Calvary, knowing that what lies ahead is the joy of the Resurrection.

Pontifical High Mass in DC

On Saturday, April 24, 2010, the feast of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, His Eminence, Dario Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos, the former President emeritus of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, will be celebrating a Solemn Pontifical High Mass according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite in the Upper Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC at 1:00pm. For official information from the National Shrine, click here.

Pontifical High Mass at the Throne

On Thursday, March 25, 2010, the Feast of the Annunciation, His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan, retired Archbishop of New York, will be celebrating a Solemn Pontifical High Mass for Life at the throne according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The Mass is being sponsored by the Agnus Dei Council #12361, a traditional Catholic council of the Knights of Columbus based at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church in the Bronx.


Agnus Dei Council's Mass for Life is meant to emphasize the Incarnation of Christ, which is commemorated in the Feast of the Annunciation, and the beginning of human life at the moment of conception. I am elated that Cardinal Egan has agreed to celebrate this Mass according to the Extraordinary Form. It is testimony that the traditions of our Faith are alive and are being made available to a new generation of Catholics who will play a great role in the pro-life and liturgical aspects of the Catholic Church. More information to follow.