Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on different churches

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the USSR, especially the Gulag prison system. He was awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature. His nonfiction work The Gulag Archipelago amounted to a head-on challenge to the Soviet state and sold tens of millions of copies.

When asked by Joseph Pearce for his opinions about the division within the Roman Catholic Church over the Second Vatican Council and the Novus Ordo Missae, Solzhenitsyn replied:

"A question peculiar to the Russian Orthodox Church is, should we continue to use Old Church Slavonic, or should we start to introduce more of the contemporary Russian language into the service? I understand the fears of both those in the Orthodox and in the Catholic Church, the wariness, the hesitation, and the fear that this is lowering the Church to the modern condition, the modern surroundings. I understand this, but alas, I fear that if religion does not allow itself to change, it will be impossible to return the world to religion because the world is incapable on its own of rising as high as the old demands of religion. Religion needs to come and meet it somewhat."

Pearce then asked Solzhenitsyn what he thought of the division caused within the Anglican Communion by the decision to ordain female priests. His answer was:

"Certainly there are many firm boundaries that should not be changed. When I speak of some sort of correlation between the cultural norms of the present, it is really only a small part of the whole thing. Certainly, I do not believe that women priests is the way to go!"

From Joseph Pearce (2011), Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile, Ignatius Press.

Leo XIV on the Tridentine Mass

Last April this Blog had commented on the future of the Tridentine Mass in Malta, and whether Traditionis custodes would still apply. 

Some days ago, it was announced that Tridentine Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Raymond Burke at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica on 25 October, 2025. This represents an important return of this rite to the Basilica after it was suspended in 2022 due to restrictions issued by Pope Francis' 2021. 

Yesterday, Rorate Coeli published the text being reproduced below:

From an excerpt of the new book-interview with Elise Ann Allen, of Crux, released today -- a direct quote from the Pope's response:

[Elise Ann Allen]: Regarding the study group on liturgy, what is being studied? How much of the reason for establishing this was related to divisions surrounding the Traditional Latin Mass, for example, or issues such as the new Amazonian rite?

 

[Leo XIV]: My understanding of what the group came out of is primarily from issues that have to do with the inculturation of the liturgy. How to continue the process of making the liturgy more meaningful within a different culture, within a specific culture, in a specific place at any given time. I think that was the primary issue.

 

There is another issue, which is also another hot-button issue, which I have already received a number of requests and letters [about]: The question about, people always say ‘the Latin Mass.’ Well, you can say Mass in Latin right now. If it’s the Vatican II rite there’s no problem. Obviously, between the Tridentine Mass and the Vatican II Mass, the Mass of Paul VI, I’m not sure where that’s going to go. It’s obviously very complicated.

 

I do know that part of that issue, unfortunately, has become – again, part of a process of polarization – people have used the liturgy as an excuse for advancing other topics. It’s become a political tool, and that’s very unfortunate. I think sometimes the, say, ‘abuse’ of the liturgy from what we call the Vatican II Mass, was not helpful for people who were looking for a deeper experience of prayer, of contact with the mystery of faith that they seemed to find in the celebration of the Tridentine Mass. Again, we’ve become polarized, so that instead of being able to say, well, if we celebrate the Vatican II liturgy in a proper way, do you really find that much difference between this experience and that experience?

 

I have not had the chance to really sit down with a group of people who are advocating for the Tridentine rite. There’s an opportunity coming up soon, and I’m sure there will be occasions for that. But that is an issue that I think also, maybe with synodality, we have to sit down and talk about. It’s become the kind of issue that’s so polarized that people aren’t willing to listen to one another, oftentimes. I’ve heard bishops talk to me, they’ve talked to me about that, where they say, ‘we invited them to this and that and they just won’t even hear it’. They don’t even want to talk about it. That’s a problem in itself. It means we’re into ideology now, we’re no longer into the experience of church communion. That’s one of the issues on the agenda.

What happens to Traditionis custodes now in Malta and Gozo?

The regulations set out in Traditionis custodes and as applied in Malta and Gozo provide that (comments in bold by this Blog):

1. The bishop of the diocese is the sole authority to decide whether the celebration of Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal may take place in his diocese. - only one Sunday Mass is allowed in Malta, none in Gozo.

2. The bishop must decide the locations and times when Mass according to the 1962 rubrics may take place. This cannot occur within parochial churches, nor can the bishop erect new personal parishes dedicated to the celebration of Mass according to the 1962 Missal. - in fact the Mass is only held in the Jesuits Church in Valletta. Other, few Tridentine Masses that are held from time to time are celebrated by so-called 'independent priests'.

3. The bishop must ensure that the existing communities that celebrate Mass according to the 1962 rubrics are effective for the spiritual growth of his people, and he has the option to revoke the permissions given to these communities. He may not authorize the establishment of new groups that gather for celebration according to the 1962 Roman Missal. - this has affected Pro Tridentina (Malta) directly, also because some persons had decided to spread lies about this organisation, for their personal ambitions.

4. The bishop should appoint a priest to act as a delegate for the pastoral care of the groups of the faithful attached to the 1962 liturgical rites. The priest must understand the Missal of 1962 well, must be well-versed in ecclesial Latin, and must exhibit pastoral charity and a desire for ecclesial communion. -  this has been done with the appointment of Canon Doublet.

5. Priests ordained before the publication of Traditionis custodes (16 July 2021) who celebrated Mass according to the 1962 Missal before the publication of Traditionis custodes should request permission from the bishop of the diocese to continue to celebrate Mass according to the 1962 rubrics. - it's unclear whether these priests, some of whom appear in the section Hall of Honour did this or not.

6. Priests ordained after the publication of Traditionis custodes must submit a formal request to the bishop of the diocese in order to gain permission to celebrate Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal. The bishop must then consult the Holy See before the bishop grants permission to the priest. - as far as is known, no priest did this.

In December 2021, additional restrictions and guidelines (some of which are reproduced below) were issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in the form of a Responsa ad dubia:

1. if a non-parish church, oratory or chapel cannot be found for a group to gather to celebrate the Mass according to the 1962 Missal, the diocesan bishop can ask the Holy See for permission to use a parish church; however, the Mass should not be listed in the parish schedule and when a non-parish church, oratory or chapel becomes available, the permission to celebrate the Mass in the parish church will be withdrawn. - none was asked. If such a group grows in the number of attendees, permission to use the 1962 Missal may be withdrawn because it can be considered that the group is promoting the previous rite. 

2. The diocesan bishop is not authorized to grant permission for the use of the Pontificale Romanum (the Pontifical Missal) issued in 1962. This also means that the sacraments of Holy Orders and Confirmation may only be celebrated in the post-Vatican II form. The only exception is for personal parishes to use the Roman Ritual. But these very few exceptions must be monitored in order to ensure that the priests are accepting the liturgical reforms coming from the Council. - this eliminates all previous permissions to celebrate the Mass and the Sacraments according to the Roman Pontifical and the Roman Ritual which are the two main directories that regulated ceremonies in the Catholic Church for more than 1,000 years. 

3. In order for a priest to be granted permission to celebrate the Mass according to the Missal of 1962, he must recognize the validity and legitimacy of concelebration and is not to refuse to concelebrate at the diocesan Chrism Mass. - this is being applied in Malta.

4. The faculty to celebrate according to the 1962 missal, granted by a diocesan bishop to a priest, is restricted to the territory of that diocese. - therefore priests who celebrate in Malta cannot celebrate the Tridentine Mass in Gozo. The same would apply to any Maltese priest who was incardinated in another diocese. From testimonies gathered by some faithful who attend the different Tridentine Masses in Malta (whether authorised or not), this has been the case with at least 1 priest who attended a seminary abroad.

5. A priest who has been granted faculties to celebrate the 1962 missal is not permitted to celebrate both the Mass according to the 1962 missal and the post-Vatican II missal on the same day. - it is unclear whether an exemption was made in Malta, based on testimonies made by faithful who attend Mass in Valletta.

6. Not only the priest but the deacons and acolytes must also be authorized to serve at the Mass.- if one considers High Masses, the solemnities of the Holy Week, Easter and Christmas in which deacons and acolytes play a very precise role, we see that this demand for authorisation is intended to discourage their participation in such ceremonies. This necessarily leads to a diminishing of such ceremonies.

7. A priest who is authorised to say the Mass according to the1962 Missal cannot say two such Masses even if the group of faithful is approved by the Bishop. - this harms the faithful and puts pressure on them to attend the Novus Ordo Missae. Again, it is clear why groups such as the ASPM are not allowed to expand their attendance at Tridentine Mass while other groups, like Pro Tridentina (Malta), when possible, have to resort to independent priests. 

As if this was not enough, a Rescriptum ex audientia was issued in early 2023. The latest document clearly demands that permission for the groups who received parishes to say the 1962 Mass has to be confirmed by the Vatican. This is directly aimed at the Fraternity of St. Peter, the Institute of Christ the King, the Institute of the Good Shepherd, the Apostolic Administration of St. John Mary Vianney and other such priestly organizations. - but, what about those priests who do not belong to these organizations and say the Latin Mass in churches where both the Novus Ordo Mass and the Tridentine Mass are said once in a while?

The goal of these documents is to entirely abrogate the permissions given by both John Paul II and Benedict XVI to celebrate the Tridentine Mass according to the 1962 Missal. The documents pretend also to abolish the celebration of Mass according to the Missals prior to 1955. They affirm that from now on the only approved expression of the Latin Rite is the Novus Ordo Missae, in which the faithful must have an active participation. Using his "magisterial authority" Francis declared that "the Liturgical Reform is irreversible."

Now that the sede vacante period has begun, one can expect the current situation in Malta to remain the same, for the time being. After a new pope  is elected, one needs probably to wait for some time to see whether the current legislation continues, more restrictions are made or, perhaps, the Church reverts back to the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

BREAKING NEWS: Suppression of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite expected soon!

Sources in Rome have told this Blog that next month Pope Francis will issue an Apostolic Exhoration to suppress the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.  The only Mass in Latin allowed would be the Novus Ordo Missae. 

At this stage it is still unclear what would become of priestly societies, like the Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) and the Institute of Christ the King. They might be given some leeway, although since Traditionis custodes pressure has been building up to curtail the Tridentine Mass. 

It is pertinent to note that the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Bishop Vittorio Francesco Viola OFM, has recently written to the Archbishop of Melbourne, Australia, forbidding him from celebrating the Tridentine Mass in his cathedral and instead allowed him to celebrate the Novus Ordo Missae but in Latin.

Gozo - For everyone except for the Latin Mass

According to Fr David Wright (the new Anglican Chancellor at St. Paul’s Pro Cathedral in Valletta): 

“Relationships between the Anglican and Catholic communities in the Maltese islands are strong and cordial, with both denominations joining other Christian groups in the ecumenical group known as Christians Together in Malta. Another example of this warm friendship is that the Gozo Anglican congregation worship in the chapel of the Sacred Heart Seminary in Rabat.”

The Gozo Diocese, then under Bishop (now Cardinal) Mario Grech, has also made available the chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes (that stands on a promontory overlooking Mġarr Harbour) to the Italian community for the past eight years. Here, Novus Ordo Mass in Italian is celebrated at the chapel on Sundays and feasts of obligation at 10:00, while catechism lessons for those receiving the First Holy Communion and Confirmation are also held at the chapel. In addition, the community organises social and cultural activities for Italian residents.

What a pity that the same is not applied by the Gozo Diocese to Tridentine Roman Catholics. Different requests for Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite since 2007 were met with silence or refusals. 

Traditionis custodes & Desiderio desideravi - the soon-to-be abolished Tridentine Mass in Malta

 

With the death of Benedict XVI at the end of 2022, it became known how painful it was for the late Pope the publication of Traditionis custodes (16 July 2021) as well as Desiderio desideravi (29 June 2022). In the latter document, Pope Francis called on Catholics to overcome forms of aestheticism that appreciate only outward formality or allow sloppiness in liturgy, noting that “a celebration that does not evangelize is not authentic.”

The Pope’s Apostolic Letter reaffirms the importance of ecclesial communion around the Novus Ordo Missae to the detriment of other valid Catholic rites. Below are some pertinent points from it:

• Recalling the importance of Vatican II’s constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium  the Pope adds, ”I want the beauty of the Christian celebration and its necessary consequences for the life of the Church not to be spoiled by a superficial and foreshortened understanding of its value or, worse yet, by its being exploited in service of some ideological vision, no matter what the hue” (16).
• After warning against “spiritual worldliness” and the Gnosticism and neo-Pelagianism that fuel it, Pope Francis explains that “Participating in the Eucharistic sacrifice is not our own achievement, as if because of it we could boast before God or before our brothers and sisters” and that “the Liturgy has nothing to do with an ascetical moralism. It is the gift of the Paschal Mystery of the Lord which, received with docility, makes our life new. The cenacle is not entered except through the power of attraction of his desire to eat the Passover with us” (20).
• To heal from spiritual worldliness, we need to rediscover the beauty of the liturgy, but this rediscovery “is not the search for a ritual aesthetic which is content by only a careful exterior observance of a rite or is satisfied by a scrupulous observance of the rubrics. Obviously, what I am saying here does not wish in any way to approve the opposite attitude, which confuses simplicity with a careless banality, or what is essential with an ignorant superficiality, or the concreteness of ritual action with an exasperating practical functionalism” (22).
• He writes that “it would be trivial to read the tensions, unfortunately present around the celebration, as a simple divergence between different tastes concerning a particular ritual form. The problematic is primarily ecclesiological.” (31) 
• The Pope points out he does not see how it is possible to say that one recognizes the validity of the Council, and at the same time not accept the liturgical reform born out of Sacrosanctum Concilium.
• “A liturgical-sapiential plan of studies in the theological formation of seminaries would certainly have positive effects in pastoral action. There is no aspect of ecclesial life that does not find its summit and its source in the Liturgy. More than being the result of elaborate programs, a comprehensive, organic, and integrated pastoral practice is the consequence of placing the Sunday Eucharist, the foundation of communion, at the centre of the life of the community. The theological understanding of the Liturgy does not in any way permit that these words be understood to mean to reduce everything to the aspect of worship. A celebration that does not evangelize is not authentic, just as a proclamation that does not lead to an encounter with the risen Lord in the celebration is not authentic. And then both of these, without the testimony of charity, are like sounding a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (37).
• “Among the ritual acts that belong to the whole assembly, silence occupies a place of absolute importance” which “moves to sorrow for sin and the desire for conversion. It awakens a readiness to hear the Word and awakens prayer. It disposes us to adore the Body and Blood of Christ” (52).
• Pope Francis asks “all bishops, priests, and deacons, the formators in seminaries, the instructors in theological faculties and schools of theology, and all catechists to help the holy people of God to draw from what is the first wellspring of Christian spirituality,” reaffirming what is established in Traditionis custodes so that “the Church may lift up, in the variety of so many languages, one and the same prayer capable of expressing her unity,” and this single prayer is the Roman Rite that resulted from the conciliar reform and was established by the saintly pontiffs Paul VI and John Paul II.   
• Let us recall that in an interview a couple of days after Benedict XVI's death, Archbishop Gänswein admitted the following:

Interviewer: So, Pope Benedict’s lifting of restrictions on celebrating the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite according to the 1962 Missal did not last as long as he intended. As Pope Emeritus, he was around to see the promulgation of Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes. Was he disappointed?

Archbishop Gänswein: It hit him pretty hard. I believe it broke Pope Benedict’s heart to read the new motu proprio, because his intention had been to help those who simply found a home in the Missale Vetustum — to find inner peace, to find liturgical peace — in order to draw them away from Marcel Lefebvre. And if you think about how many centuries the old Mass was the source of spiritual life and nourishment for many people including many saints, it’s impossible to imagine that it no longer has anything to offer. And let’s not forget that many young people — who were born long after the Second Vatican Council, and who don’t really grasp all the drama surrounding that council — that these young people, knowing the new Mass, have nevertheless found a spiritual home, a spiritual treasure in the old Mass as well. To take this treasure away from people … well, I can’t say that I’m comfortable with that.

Practical suggestions for traditional Catholics

This Blog has the following suggestions for those traditional Catholics who find themselves without access to traditional celebrations of the Tridentine Mass or after its suppression following Pope Francis' Traditionis custodes:

• establish a lay-led community which focuses on the celebration of the traditional chanted Divine Office. Pro Tridentina (Malta) is exploring this possibility.
• If you do not have a sympathetic Bishop or priest, rent or purchase a retail space or church and renovate it, adding iconography and seats for antiphonal singing. Pro Tridentina (Malta) is currently conducting a study to establish which places can be used to further expand the Tridentine Mass in Malta, and especially in Gozo which remains without this Mass.
• Celebrate at least Vespers and Matins on the Lord’s Day, and other services throughout the day or week.
• Offer catechetical teachings for adults, teens and children.
• Then find a parish that offers the most traditional Novus Ordo liturgy you can find and attend the Mass. This is becoming more of a challenge in Malta and Gozo.
• Be sure to engage in the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.
• If possible, affiliate with a tradition-minded Tertiary or Lay Associate group.
• Find a priest or deacon who can help serve as a spiritual director, even from a distance.

Per non dimenticare (sul rifiuto della nuova Messa)

Per non dimenticare

di Don Pierpaolo Petrucci

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Don Pierpaolo Petrucci è il Superiore del Distretto italiano

della Fraternità Sacerdotale San Pio X.

L'articolo è sato pubblicato sul sito italiano della Fraternità

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I 6 pastori protestanti che aiutarono a inventare la nuova Messa: fotografati in Vaticano il 10 aprile 1970, accanto a Paolo VI (a destra); da sinistra: Dott. George; Canon Jasper; Dott. Shephard; Dott. Konneth; Dott. Eugene Brand e Padre Max Thurian; in rappresentanza del Consiglio Mondiale delle Chiese, della chiesa d'Inghilterra, della chiesa luterana e della comunità di Taize.

Il solo motivo che può autorizzare un cattolico a resistere all’autorità nella Chiesa è la fede. In particolare, per quel che riguarda la liturgia, solo la fede può motivare il rifiuto del nuovo rito della messa ed il motivo fondamentale per cui ogni sacerdote e fedele non può accettare il Novus ordo è proprio perché «rappresenta, sia nel suo insieme come nei particolari, un impressionante allontanamento dalla teologia cattolica» [1]

 

Tale allontanamento dalla teologia cattolica è conseguenze di un avvicinamento, voluto e consentito, alla dottrina ed alla liturgia protestante come ha dichiarato lo stesso Paolo VI stesso che ha introdotto il nuovo rito: «Allo sforzo richiesto ai fratelli separati perché si riuniscano, deve corrispondere lo sforzo, altrettanto mortificante per noi, di purificare la Chiesa romana nei suoi riti, perché diventi desiderabile e abitabile» [2].

Di fatto, come è risaputo, Paolo VI domandò a sei pastori protestanti di prendere parte alla commissione incaricata di realizzare la nuova Messa. Uno di essi, Max Thurian, della comunità di Taizé, in occasione della pubblicazione del nuovo messale, potrà dichiarare: «In questa Messa rinnovata, non c’è niente che possa veramente disturbare i protestanti evangelici» [3].

Padre Bugnini non ha mai nascosto le sue intenzioni ecumeniche. Sulle colonne dell’ Osservatore Romano, dichiarò che la riforma liturgica è stata improntata al «desiderio di scartare ogni pietra che potesse costituire anche solo l’ombra di un rischio di inciampo o di dispiacere per i fratelli separati» [4]. Per questo ha ammesso riguardo alla nuova messa che si tratta «in certi punti, di una vera nuova creazione, dato che l’immagine della liturgia data dal Concilio Vaticano II è completamente differente da quella che la Chiesa cattolica ha avuto finora» [5].

Molti esponenti di rilievo del mondo protestante – che naturalmente avevano sempre rifiutato la Messa tradizionale – hanno affermato che vi è più nessuna difficoltà nell’utilizzare il nuovo rito per celebrare la cena protestante. Oltre al già citato Max Thurian, si possono menzionare, tra gli altri, G. Siegwalt (in Le Monde del 22 novembre 1970); O. Jordahn (conferenza del 15 giugno 1975 nell’abbazia di santa Maria Laach); infine, la Dichiarazione ufficiale del «Concistoro superiore della Chiesa della Confessione di Augusta, di Alsazia e di Lorena» dell’8 dicembre 1973 [6].

 

A nuova liturgia corrisponde una nuova fede per il rapporto intimo che vi è fra la lex orandi e la lex credendi [7] e la nuova architettura delle Chiese post-conciliari, ispirate e volute da questo cambiamento lo manifestano in maniera eclatante. Per questo la nuova messa è pericolosa per la fede e induce i fedeli che vi assistono a una professione esterna contraria alla fede.

La nostra fedeltà al rito tradizionale quindi non è motivata da un attaccamento nostalgico al latino, all’incenso, ai pizzi e merletti e neppure ad un certo rituale ma essenzialmente dal dovere di conservare la fede ed aiutare i fedeli a fare altrettanto.

Per questo non accetteremo mai il nuovo rito riformato, così vicino alla “messa” di Lutero, e per questo incoraggiamo i fedeli a fare tutti i sacrifici per assistere alla Messa di sempre e fuggire le nuove celebrazioni, incoraggiando i sacerdoti a celebrare unicamente secondo il rito tradizionale.

 

NOTE

1 - A. Ottaviani – A. Bacci, op. cit.,Vaduz (Liechtenstein) 1970, p. 23 [Lettera dei cardinali Ottaviani e Bacci a Paolo VI, di presentazione del Breve esame critico del “Novus Ordo Missae”]

2 - Citato in J. Guitton, Paolo VI segreto, San Paolo, Milano 1985 (quarta edizione 2002), p. 59.

3 - M. Thurian, in La Croix del 30 maggio 1969.

4 - Cfr. La Documentation Catholique, n. 1445 (1965), col. 604. In questo quadro appare del tutto verosimile, anche se non verificabile con assoluta certezza, l’informazione che mons. Bugnini (divenuto vescovo nel 1972) appartenesse alla massoneria: la massoneria, infatti, ha sempre predicato la parità di tutte le religioni, e dunque per un massone il nuovo rito della Messa si presenta molto meno sgradevole, sotto questo profilo, rispetto a quello tradizionale. I fatti sarebbero questi: nel 1975 mons. Bugnini fu denunciato come massone a Paolo VI; l’ecclesiastico che lo accusava forniva delle prove e minacciava di rendere la cosa pubblica. Paolo VI prese la cosa molto sul serio: per evitare lo scandalo sollevò immediatamente mons. Bugnini dalle sue funzioni di segretario della Congregazione per il culto divino e, nel gennaio 1976, lo nominò pronunzio a Teheran. Successivamente il nome di Annibale Bugnini è comparso nelle liste di prelati massoni pubblicate dalla stampa (liste pubblicate da Panorama, n. 538 del 10 agosto 1976, e poi nell’Osservatore Politico di Mino Pecorelli il 12 settembre 1978). Su questo caso, si può consultare l’inchiesta del dott. C. A. Agnoli, La massoneria alla conquista della Chiesa, ed. Eiles, Roma 1996.

5 - A. Bugnini, Dichiarazione alla stampa (4 gennaio 1967), in La Documentation Catholique, n. 1491 (1967), col. 824.

6 - Catéchisme catholique de la crise dans l’Eglise, Mathias Gaudron, Le Sel 2007 p. 178

7 - La legge della preghiera è quella della fede.

The true legacy of Benedict XVI

For those who have been trying in the past few days to denigrate Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, let us remind them what he really did for the Church: 

2005: election of Benedict XVI;

2006: Lifting of declarations of excommunication from the SSPX Bishops;

2007: the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum;

2008: Canonical Erection of the Institute of the Good Shepherd;

2009: Correction of the translation of the Novus Ordo Missae imposed; 

2009: Anglicanorum Cœtibus;

2010: Doctrinal talks with SSPX begin;

2011: Instruction Universae Ecclesiae. Its main effect: overrides the bishops, who are the main problem. But this and the motu proprio re-taken back by the current holder of the Office.

Recent important developments concerning the traditional Latin Mass (2)

Press Release: CDF Decrees on new Prefaces and Saints for the Extraordinary Form - From the President and Officers of the FIUV

26^th March 2020

Yesterday the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), now exercising the functions of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, has issued two decrees, one on Prefaces to be added to the 1962 Missal (Quo Magis), and the other on the possibility of saints, canonised since 1962 to have Masses celebrated in their honour (Cum Sanctissima). (English summary here.)

The Federation was consulted on both issues, and we would like to thank the CDF for taking the views of our members into account in developing these decrees.

The Federation welcomes in particular the possibility of making a liturgical commemoration of saints canonised since 1962, without excessive disruption to the Sanctoral Calendar as it has come down to us. We wish, however, to issue some notes of caution.

On Prefaces, we note that the Note presenting the decree explains that while three of the seven newly permitted Prefaces are of the ‘Neo-Gallican’ tradition (of 18^th century French origin), the other four are Prefaces used in the Ordinary Form, though not composed from scratch for the reformed Mass: ‘their central section(s), known as the “embolism”, appear in ancient liturgical sources’.

This implies that these ancient Prefaces have been adapted for use in the Ordinary Form, a process which makes them conform less, rather than more, with the spirit of the Extraordinary Form. If the value of these Prefaces lies in their antiquity, it is not clear what is to be gained by their being used in the Extraordinary Form in a redaction designed to make them conform to the themes and preferences of the Ordinary Form.

Further, we would like to appeal to priests celebrating the Extraordinary Form to bear in mind the great antiquity, theological importance, and centrality to the ancient Roman liturgical tradition, of the Preface of Trinity Sunday, and the Common Preface, whose use would become less frequent if the newly optional Prefaces were systematically employed. These two Prefaces have been of such centrality to the celebration of ancient Mass up to this point, that to downgrade them to mere options among others would be to make a fundamental change in the balance of texts and theological ideas which the Missal presents to the Faithful over the course of the year.

On the Saints, we note the list of saints celebrated as 3^rd Class feasts, whose celebration remains obligatory. We recognise that in order to make possible the celebration of the new saints room must somehow be made for them, and we endorse the method proposed. We have reservations, however, about the composition of this list.

We note with particular dismay that the only male lay saints on the list are SS Cosmas and Damian: this seems an omission in need of correction, particularly as the excluded category include men central to the development of their countries: St Louis of France, St Stephen of Hungary, St Henry the Emperor of Germany, St Edward the Confessor of England, and St Wenceslas of Bohemia, outstanding examples of the vocation of the laity to ‘to penetrate and perfect the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel’.[1]

Also completely absent are female founders of religious orders, such as St Angela Merici, St Juliana of Falconieri, and St Jane Francis de Chantal.

Although we are pleased to see two widows on the list—St Monica and St Francis of Rome— it would seem in general that non-clerical vocations, of the active or the religious life, which are richly represented in the ancient sanctoral calendar, have been set aside as of marginal importance.

Another category poorly represented on the list are Doctors of the Church. Some of the highest importance have been excluded: St Isidore, St John Damascene, St Bede, and St Irenaeus.

The imbalance represented by the list of obligatory saints appears to have been inherited from the list of non-optional Memorials found in the sanctoral cycle of the Ordinary Form, which it closely resembles. The lack of interest in the lay vocation and in the Doctors of the Church shown by the reformers of the 1960s should not be allowed to distort the presentation of the Church’s great patrimony of saints in celebrations of the Extraordinary Form today.

In choosing when to avail themselves of the option to celebrate newly canonised saints, we would like to appeal to priests celebrating the Extraordinary Form to consider carefully the balance of the categories of the saints, the importance of maintaining the connection to the distant past represented by the most ancient saints, and the value of the Marian devotional feasts also now rendered optional, such as Our Lady of Lourdes and the Presentation of Mary.

As an indication of feasts which we regard as particularly worthy of continued celebration, we give the following, non-exhaustive, list.

14/01   St Hilary

10/02   St Scholastica

11/02   Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (of Lourdes)

17/03   St Patrick

18/03   St Cyril of Jerusalem

27/03   St John Damascene

4/04     St Isidore

27/05   St Bede

3/07     St Irenaeus

15/07   St Henry, Emperor

25/08   St Louis, King

30/08   St Rose of Lima

2/09     St Stephen, King

28/09   St Wenceslas, Duke and Martyr

8/10     St Bridget, Widow

13/10   St Edward, King

24/10   St Rafael the Archangel

15/11   St Albert the Great

21/11   Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

25/11   St Catherine of Alexandria

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[1] Second Vatican Council Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity Apostolicam actuositatem 5

Quotes to reflect upon (20)

We hold fast, with all our heart and with all our soul, to Catholic Rome, Guardian of the Catholic Faith and of the traditions necessary to preserve this faith, to Eternal Rome, Mistress of wisdom and truth.

We refuse, on the other hand, and have always refused to follow the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies which were clearly evident in the Second Vatican Council and, after the Council, in all the reforms which issued from it.

All these reforms, indeed, have contributed and are still contributing to the destruction of the Church, to the ruin of the priesthood, to the abolition of the Sacrifice of the Mass and of the sacraments, to the disappearance of religious life, to a naturalist and Teilhardian teaching in universities, seminaries and catechists; a teaching derived from Liberalism and Protestantism, many times condemned by the solemn Magisterium of the Church.

No authority, not even the highest in the hierarchy, can force us to abandon or diminish our Catholic Faith, so clearly expressed and professed by the Church’s Magisterium for nineteen centuries.

“But though we,” says St. Paul, “or an angel from heaven preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema” (Gal. 1:8).

Is it not this that the Holy Father is repeating to us today? And if we can discern a certain contradiction in his words and deeds, as well as in those of the dicasteries, well we choose what was always taught and we turn a deaf ear to the novelties destroying the Church.

It is impossible to modify profoundly the lex orandi without modifying the lex credendi. To the Novus Ordo Missae correspond a new catechism, a new priesthood, new seminaries, a charismatic Pentecostal Church—all things opposed to orthodoxy and the perennial teaching of the Church.

This Reformation, born of Liberalism and Modernism, is poisoned through and through; it derives from heresy and ends in heresy, even if all its acts are not formally heretical. It is therefore impossible for any conscientious and faithful Catholic to espouse this Reformation or to submit to it in any way whatsoever.

The only attitude of faithfulness to the Church and Catholic doctrine, in view of our salvation, is a categorical refusal to accept this Reformation.

That is why, without any spirit of rebellion, bitterness or resentment, we pursue our work of forming priests, with the timeless Magisterium as our guide. We are persuaded that we can render no greater service to the Holy Catholic Church, to the Sovereign Pontiff and to posterity.

That is why we hold fast to all that has been believed and practiced in the faith, morals, liturgy, teaching of the catechism, formation of the priest and institution of the Church, by the Church of all time; to all these things as codified in those books which saw day before the Modernist influence of the Council. This we shall do until such time that the true light of Tradition dissipates the darkness obscuring the sky of Eternal Rome.

By doing this, with the grace of God and the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and that of St. Joseph and St. Pius X, we are assured of remaining faithful to the Roman Catholic Church and to all the successors of Peter, and of being the fideles dispensatores mysteriorum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi in Spiritu Sancto. Amen.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

21 November, 1974

Ecône, Switzerland

Padre Pio: on spirituality, Vatican II and the Novus Ordo Missae

By Fr. Jean, OFMcap and printed originally in the May 1999 issue of The Angelus magazine.

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Padre Pio (May 25, 1887-September 23, 1968) was beatified on May 2, 1999, by Pope John Paul II. He is the only priest known to have received the full stigmata. He never celebrated the Novus Ordo Missae.

The final year of this dying, decaying century will see the beatification of Padre Pio, the holy monk whom God sent as a sign for our age. For, while everyone wants to make us believe in a new "charismatic" Church, strangely we do not find there any wonderworking saints like the ones we meet throughout the Church’s history starting with Pentecost. Padre Pio seems to close the procession of their number, doing so magnificently, being the only priest to have borne the stigmata of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Much has been written about Padre Pio—more than 600 works, it seems—and the authors always stress the extraordinary side of his life: not only his particular charisms (reading souls, healing, raising people from the dead, bilocating, ecstasies, exuding perfume, prophesying, etc.), but also the incredible sufferings which he endured from his earliest childhood, the persecutions undergone from some churchmen and even brothers in religion, as well as his two great charitable works: the founding of the House of Suffering, and prayer groups.

In short, they present him to us as a "saint" more to be admired than imitated, so that, ultimately, we miss the most interesting lessons to be learned from this life, and the practical applications that could transform our own. We shall try, therefore, however imperfectly, to set forth a few of these lessons, hoping that we shall all be able to profit from them, and that the Padre, from high heaven, will himself succor us, as he has promised to all those who would like to become his "spiritual children."

At the dawn of this life totally sacrificed to God and to souls, there is to be found a pious, poor and numerous family, where the abnegation of each member softens and transforms the harsh realities of daily life. Here we see confirmed the saying of Bishop de Segur that it is in families where the spirit of sacrifice is lacking that vocations are most at risk. Baptized the day after his birth—a grace for which he was grateful all his life—Padre Pio was christened Francesco, presage of his Franciscan vocation, which was to be discovered on the occasion of a visit from a Capuchin monk begging food for the convent. Even so, his vocation was not decided without struggle:

"I felt two forces clashing within me, tearing my heart: the world wanted me for itself, and God called me to a new life.  It would be impossible to describe this martyrdom. The mere memory of the battle that took place within me freezes the very blood in my veins..."

He was not yet 16 years old when he entered the novitiate. Above the door of the cloister, as a welcome, he read the sign: "Do penance or perish." The daily rule of life included very many prayers, enough work, and little reading, being restricted especially to the study of the Rule and the Constitutions.

Brother Pio made himself conspicuous by the abundance of the tears he shed during the morning period of mental prayer, which in Capuchin houses is consecrated to the meditation of the Passion; tears so abundant that it was necessary to spread a towel in front of him on the floor of the choir. As with St. Francis, it was to this loving and compassionate contemplation of Jesus crucified that he was to owe the grace to receive later on the painful stigmata in his body. Even so, as he confided to his spiritual director, Fr. Agostino: "In comparison to what I suffer in my flesh, the spiritual combats that I endure are much worse."

 

Atoning for sinners: interior trials

It would seem that God expects the just to expiate in a special way, by means of temptation, the public sins of their contemporaries. At a time when psychoanalysis, with its knack for explaining away guilt and sin, was gaining sway, Padre Pio—like the little Theresa—had to undergo an almost unbearable crisis of scruples, which tormented him for three long years. Then after the storm came the night, a night of the soul which lasted for dozens of years, with only occasional glimmers of light:

"I live in a perpetual night... I find myself troubled by everything, and I do not know if I act well or ill. I can see that it is not a scruple: but the doubt I feel about whether or not I am pleasing the Lord crushes me. And this anxiety recurs to me everywhere: at the altar, in the confessional, everywhere!"

It is with the thought of his mystical experiences in mind that his maxims should be meditated:

"Love is more beautiful in the company of fear, because it is in this way that it becomes stronger. The more one loves God, the less one feels it!"

St. Theresa of the Child Jesus opposed to the proud rationalism of her day the little way of spiritual childhood, but she also expiated it by terrible temptations against faith. Her cry, "I will believe!" is well known. Padre Pio also experience violent and prolonged temptations against faith, as his letters to Fr. Agostino testify:

"Blasphemies cross my mind incessantly, and even more so false ideas, ideas of infidelity and unbelief. I feel my soul transfixed at every instant of my life, it kills me... My faith is upheld only by a constant effort of my will against every kind of human persuasion. My faith is only the fruit of the continual efforts that I exact of myself. And all of this, Father, is not something that happens a few times a day, but it is continuous... Father, how difficult it is to believe!"

What precious lessons for us, should we, for example, be surprised at finding ourselves tempted to such a degree.

 

Spiritual director

Padre Pio overcame these terrible trials by following what had been taught him in the novitiate: perseverance in prayer, mortification of the senses, unshakable fidelity to the demands of one’s duty of state, and, finally, perfect obedience to the priest in charge of his soul. His painfully acquired experience allowed him to draw to himself souls desirous of perfection, and to be demanding.

To the souls he directed, he gave a five-point rule: weekly confession, daily communion and spiritual reading, examination of conscience each evening and mental prayer twice a day. As for the recitation of the rosary, it is so necessary it goes without saying....

"Confession is the soul’s bath. You must go at least once a week. I do not want souls to stay away from confession more than a week. Even a clean and unoccupied room gathers dust; return after a week and you will see that it needs dusting again!"

To those who declare themselves unworthy to receive Holy Communion, he answers:

"It is quite true, we are not worthy of such a gift. However, to approach the Blessed Sacrament in a state of mortal sin is one thing, and to be unworthy, quite another. All of us are unworthy, but it is He who invites us. It is He who desires it. Let us humble ourselves and receive Him with a heart contrite and full of love."

To another, who told him that the daily examination of conscience seemed useless, since his conscience showed him clearly at each action whether it was good or bad, he replied:

"That is true enough. But every experienced merchant in this world not only keeps track throughout the day of whether he has lost or gained on each sale. In the evening, he does the bookkeeping for the day to determine what he should do on the morrow. It follows that it is indispensable to make a rigorous examination of conscience, brief but lucid, every night. The harm that comes to souls from the lack of reading holy books makes me shudder... What power spiritual reading has to lead to a change of course, and to make even worldly people enter into the way of perfection."

When Padre Pio was condemned to not exercise any ministry, he spent his free time, not in reading newspapers—"the Devil’s gospel"—but in reading books of doctrine, history and spirituality. Despite this, he would still say: "One looks for God in books, but finds Him in prayer."
His counsels for mental prayer are simple:

"If you do not succeed in meditating well, do not give up doing your duty. If the distractions are numerous, do not be discouraged; do the meditation of patience, and you will still profit. Decide upon the length of your meditation, and do not leave your place before finishing, even if you have to be crucified... Why do you worry so much because you do not know how to meditate as you would like? Meditation is a means to attaining God, but it is not a goal in itself. Meditation aims at the love of God and neighbor. Love God with all your soul without reserve, and love your neighbor as yourself, and you will have accomplished half of your meditation."

The same holds for assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: it is more concerned with making acts (of contrition, faith, love...) than with intellectual reflections or considerations. To someone asking whether it is necessary to follow the Mass in a missal, Padre Pio answered that only the priest needs a missal. According to him, the best way to attend the Holy Sacrifice is by uniting oneself to the Virgin of Sorrows at the foot of the cross, in compassion and love. It is only in paradise, he assures his interlocutor, that we will learn of all the benefits that we received by assisting at Holy Mass.

Padre Pio, who was so affable and pleasant in his relations with people, could become severe and inflexible when the honor of God was at stake, especially in church.

"The whispering of the faithful would be authoritatively cut off by the Father, who would openly glare at anyone who failed to maintain a prayerful posture... If someone remained standing, even if it was because there were no places left in the pews, he would peremptorily invite him to kneel in order to participate worthily in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass."

Not even an inattentive choirboy would be spared: "My child, if you want to go to Hell, you don’t need my signature."

The post-war fashions fell under the same censure:

"Padre Pio, seated in his open confessional, all year round would ascertain that the women and girls who confessed to him were wearing skirts not too short. He would even cause tears to be shed when someone who had been waiting in line for hours would be turned away because of an offending hemline... Then some kind souls would step forward and offer help. In a corner, they would unsew the hem, or else lend the penitent a coat. Finally, sometimes the Father would allow the humiliated penitent to go to confession."

One day his spiritual director reproached him for his harsh conduct. He replied: "I could obey you, but each time it is Jesus who tells me how I am to deal with people." His severe manner, then, was inspired from above, uniquely for the honor of God and the salvation of souls.

"Women who satisfy their vanity in their dress can never put on the life of Jesus Christ; moreover they even lose the ornaments of their soul as soon as this idol enters into their heart."

And let no one reproach him for lack of charity:

"I beg you not to criticize me by invoking charity, because the greatest charity is to deliver souls held fast by Satan in order to win them over to Christ."

 

 

Padre Pio and the Novus Ordo Missae

He was a model of respect and submission towards his religious and ecclesiastical superiors, especially during the time when he was persecuted. Nonetheless, he could not remain silent over a deviation that was baneful to the Church. Even before the end of the Council, in February 1965, someone announced to him that soon he would have to celebrate the Mass according to a new rite, ad experimentum, in the vernacular, which had been devised by a conciliar liturgical commission in order to respond to the aspirations of modern man. Immediately, even before seeing the text, he wrote to Paul VI to ask him to be dispensed from the liturgical experiment, and to be able to continue to celebrate the Mass of St. Pius V. When Cardinal Bacci came to see him in order to bring the authorization, Padre Pio let a complaint escape in the presence of the pope’s messenger: "For pity sake, end the Council quickly."

The same year, during the conciliar euphoria that was promising a new springtime to the Church, he confided to one of his spiritual sons: "In this time of darkness, let us pray. Let us do penance for the elect"; and especially for the one who has to be their shepherd here below: All his life, he immolated himself for the reigning pope, whose photograph was among the rare images that decorated his cell.

 

Renewal of religious life?

There are other scenes from his life that are full of meaning, for example, his reactions to the aggiornamento the religious orders concocted in the wake of Vatican II. (The citations here are taken from a book bearing an imprimatur):

"In 1966, the Father General [of the Franciscans] came to Rome prior to the special Chapter on the Constitutions in order to ask Padre Pio for his prayers and benedictions. He met Padre Pio in the cloister. 'Padre, I came to recommend to your prayers the special chapter for the new Constitutions...' He had scarcely gotten the words 'special Chapter'... 'new Constitutions' out of his mouth when Padre Pio made a violent gesture and cried out: 'That is all nothing but destructive nonsense.' 'But Padre, after all, there is the younger generation to take into account... the youth evolve after their own fashion... there are new demands...' 'The only thing missing is mind and heart, that’s all, understanding and love.' Then he proceeded to his cell, did a half-turn, and pointed his finger, saying: 'We must not denature ourselves, we must not denature ourselves! At the Lord’s judgment, St. Francis will not recognize us as his sons!'"

A year later, the same scene was repeated for the aggiornamento of the Capuchins:

"One day, some confreres were discussing with the Father Definiteur General [The counselor or adviser to the general or provincial of a religious order—Ed.] the problems in the Order, when Padre Pio, taking a shocked attitude, cried out, with a distant look in his eye: 'What in the world are you up to in Rome? What are you scheming? You even want to change the Rule of St. Francis! ' The Definiteur replied: 'Padre, changes are being proposed because the youth don’t want to have anything to do with the tonsure, the habit, bare feet....' 

'Chase them out! Chase them out! What can you be saying? Is it they who are doing St. Francis a favor by taking the habit and following his way of life, or rather, isn’t it St. Francis who is offering them a great gift?'"

If we consider that Padre Pio was a veritable alter Christus, that his entire person, body and soul, was as perfectly conformed as possible to that of Jesus Christ, his stark refusal to accept the Novus Ordo and the aggiornamento should be for us a lesson to learn. It is also noteworthy that the good Lord desired to recall His faithful servant just before they were implacably imposed on the Church and the Capuchin Order. Noteworthy, too, is the fact that Katarina Tangari, one of Padre Pio’s most privileged spiritual daughters, so admirably supported the [SSPX] priests of Econe until her death, one year after the episcopal consecrations of 1988. [as was Don Francesco Putti, founder of the Disciples of the Cenacle and the international publication, SiSiNoNo].

 

Final lesson: Fatima

Padre Pio was even less obliging towards the prevailing social and political order, or rather, disorder (in 1966): "the confusion of ideas and the reign of thieves." He prophesied that the Communists would come to power, "by surprise, without firing a shot... It will happen overnight."

This should not surprise us, since the requests of Our Lady of Fatima have not been listened to. He even told Bishop Piccinelli, that the red flag will fly over the Vatican, "but that will pass." Here again, his conclusion rejoins that of the Queen of Prophets: "But in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph." The means by which this prophesy will come to pass, we know: by the divine power; but it must be prompted by the two great powers in man’s hands: prayer and penance. This is the lesson which our Lady wanted to remind us of at the beginning of this century: God wants to save the world by devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and there is no problem, material or spiritual, national or international, that cannot be solved by the holy rosary and our sacrifices.

This is also the last lesson that Padre Pio wanted to leave us by his example, and especially by his "prayer groups," which he established throughout the world. "He was never without a rosary, there was even one under his pillow. During the day he recited several dozens of rosaries." A few hours before he died, as those around him urged him to speak a few more words, all he could say was: "Love the Blessed Virgin and make her loved. Always say the rosary!"

The imminent elevation of Venerable Padre Pio is certainly going to arouse in many souls both curiosity and admiration. We could take advantage of the opportunity to remind them of these few lessons, if indeed we know how to put them into practice ourselves, in the merciful love of the Most Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary.