A Great Day for Catholic Tradition!

Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera during today's Mass at Saint Peter's Basilica (source: The Remnant Newspaper)

A few days ago, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said that the purpose of the pilgrimage is:

 “To give thanks to God and thank the Pope for the motu proprio he issued five years ago, recognising the value of the liturgy celebrated according to the missal of the Blessed John XXIII and marking continuity with the tradition of the Roman Rite. By recognising the previous liturgy one understands that reform does not mean doing away with older traditional practices.”

He also said that he was happy to celebrate the Tridentine Mass because:

“I agreed because it is a way to show people it is normal to use the 1962 missal: there are two forms of the same Rite but there is only one Rite, so it is normal to use it during mass celebrations. I have already celebrated a number of masses according to the missal introduced by the Blessed John XXIII and I will gladly do so again on this occasion. The Congregation in which the Pope has called me to act as Prefect does not oppose the use of the old liturgy, although the task of our dicastery is to enhance the meaning of liturgical renewal according to the directives of the Sacrosanctum Concilium constitution and follow in the footsteps of the Second Vatican Council. In relation to this it must be said that the extraordinary form of the Latin Rite must draw inspiration from the conciliar Constitution which in the first ten paragraphs focuses on the true spirit of the liturgy and so is relevant to all rites.”

In today's sermon, Cañizares Llovera spoke of Our Lady, the importance of the Cross, and the crisis in the Church and the world, stressing that there is no easy solution but that we must unite ourselves to the Cross. 

He spoke of the rich beauty of the Tridentine Mass, recalling that it was the Mass all the Council Fathers had heard every day during the Second Vatican Council. He spoke of how many, many vocations to the priesthood are coming now as a result of the return of the Tridentine Mass.  Cañizares Llovera also made a call for unity among all Catholics, in union with Pope Benedict XVI, and united in Christ and His Blessed Mother.

 

An extensive service including photos and videos of the events in Rome i.e. the International Pilgrimage Summorum Pontificum can be found in The Remnant Newspaper.