EF on EWTN

Good to see that there is an old rite Mass on EWTN tomorrow at 1pm UK time.

Plugs

In a moment of idleness, and remembering that I have a blog, I would like to plug three things:

First, a blog, self-evidently good, from the title, which a commentator asks to be promoted: http://tradvocations.blogspot.com/

And secondly and thirdly, two books:

The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture by Philip F Lawler

and The Realm - An Unfashionable Essay on the Conversion of England by Aidan Nichols OP

Is this goodbye, or just au revoir?

I remember a splendid Beyond the Fringe sketch where a soldier in the War is told by his commanding officer that he is going to be asked to sacrifice himself: 'we need a futile gesture at this stage, Jenkins.' The young soldier says 'yes, sir, goodbye sir; or should I say, 'au revoir'? 'No Jenkins, goodbye.' Rather dark, but bloody funny.

For those of you still checking this blog for any signs of life, I think this is the last post on Gravissimum Educationis. I enjoyed my brief career as a blogger, and may one day return in another manifestation. I hope I made at least one valuable post.

Thank you for reading. I think Tolkien says somewhere 'faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.' May we all be filled with the light of Christ as we journey to our heavenly home, pilgrims under the guidance of the chief shepherd, the Successor of Peter.

Au revoir

SEASONS GREETINGS!

Only joking - wishing you all a very merry Christmas and all the blessings of this wonderful feast of the birth of the Redeemer. God bless. Hope to post more in the next few days, though I am feeling thoroughly out of touch.

Cessation

Apologies for not posting. It's the end of term here and we are moving house tomorrow! I think this blog will be largely dormant for a week or so more.

Second Sunday of Advent - more from Newman

Raphael, Saint John the Baptist Preaching (National Gallery), 1505

THE Holy Baptist was sent before our Lord to prepare His way; that is, to be His instrument in rousing, warning, humbling, and inflaming the hearts of men, so that, when He came, they might believe in Him. He Himself is the Author and Finisher of that Faith, of which He is also the Object; but, ordinarily, He does not implant it in us suddenly, but He first creates certain dispositions, and these He carries on to faith as their reward. When then He was about to appear on earth among His chosen people, and to claim for Himself their faith, He made use of St. John first to create in them these necessary dispositions.

Now these passages cannot mean that faith is against reason, or that reason does not ordinarily precede faith, for this is a doctrine quite contrary to Revelation, but I think I shall not be wrong in understanding them thus,—that with good dispositions faith is easy; and that without good dispositions, faith is not easy; and that those who were praised for their faith, were such as had already the good dispositions, and that those who were blamed for their unbelief, were such as were wanting in this respect, and would have believed, or believed sooner, had they possessed the necessary dispositions for believing, or a greater share of the them. This is the point I am going to insist on: I am led to it by the Baptist's especial office of "preparing the way of the Lord"; for by that preparation is meant the creating in the hearts of his hearers the dispositions necessary for faith. And I consider that the same truth is implied in the glorious hymn of the Angels upon Christmas night; for to whom was the Prince of Peace to come? They sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will." By "good will" is meant, "good disposition"; the peace of the Gospel, the full gifts of the knowledge, and of the power, and of the consolation of Christian Redemption, were to be the reward of men of good dispositions. They were the men to whom the Infant Saviour came; they were those in whom His grace would find its fruit and recompense; they were those, who, by congruous merit, would be led on, as the Evangelist says, to "believe in His Name," and "to be born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Dispositions for Faith, Sermons Preached on Various Occasions (1856)

'I am the Immaculate Conception'

Francisco de Zurbarán. Our Lady of Immaculate Conception.
c. 1628-1630.

Newman, in his letter to Pusey, writes thus of the Immaculate Conception:

It is then an integral portion of the Faith fixed by Ecumenical Council, a portion of it which you hold us well as I, that the Blessed Virgin is Theotocos, Deipara, or Mother of God; and this word, when thus used, carries with it no admixture of rhetoric, no taint of extravagant affection,—it has nothing else but a well-weighed, grave, dogmatic sense, which corresponds and is adequate to its sound. It intends to express that God is her Son, as truly as any one of us is the son of his own mother. If this be so, what can be said of any creature whatever, which may not be said of her? what can be said too much, so that it does not compromise the attributes of the Creator? He indeed might have created a being more perfect, more admirable, than she is; He might have endued that being, so created, with a richer grant of grace, of power, of blessedness: but in one respect she surpasses all even possible creations, viz., that she is Mother of her Creator. It is this awful title, which both illustrates and connects together the two prerogatives of Mary, on which I have been lately enlarging, her sanctity and her greatness. It is the issue of her sanctity; it is the origin of her greatness. What dignity can be too great to attribute to her who is as closely bound up, as intimately one, with the Eternal Word, as a mother is with a son? What outfit of sanctity, what fulness and redundance of grace, what exuberance of merits must have been hers, when once we admit the supposition, which the Fathers justify, that her Maker really did regard those merits, and take them into account, when He condescended "not to abhor the Virgin's womb"? Is it surprising then that on the one hand she should be immaculate in her Conception?

The Belief of Catholics concerning the Blessed Virgin, as distinct from their Devotion to her

New education document online today

At last the Vatican website has placed online the English translation of the new document from the Congregation for Catholic Education. The document is called EDUCATING TOGETHER IN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: A SHARED MISSION BETWEEN CONSECRATED PERSONS AND THE LAY FAITHFUL. Follow the link for the full text.

I haven't had a chance to look at it, so perhaps people can post comments on their first impressions.

BINDIN' & LOOSIN'

Over at Rorate there are further treats: a plenary indulgence for the 150th anniversary of the manifestation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes; and a new vocations initiative centring on Eucharistic adoration. You can even download a form.

Who needs Christmas presents?

Love of Neighbour

Unable to sleep I arose at a monastic hour to do some marking, drink tea, and pass the time. I was very pleased to find this comment in one of the boxes below, which I think is worth publishing; a good example of spiky Christian charity. It's actually given me one or two ideas, because I hadn't thought of posting on incense smell tests.

The correspondent is James Hastings, who like me also lives in Somerset, and he has a blog.

Hi Gravi,

I came across your blog while out blogwandering. I love the pretty pictures and illustrations.

However, all the entries seem to focus on religious issues, ie, Communion on the tongue or hand, the right way to light candles or smell tests for incence.

I wonder what are your views away from the pedantic? What about life outside legalism? I mean, are you following Jesus' Great Commission? (Mark 16: 15-18) Is your parish having to install more seats to accommodate converts? Are you raising the dead, healing the sick and preaching the Good News to the masses?

Or are you lost in the love of legalism?

Blessings

James

I can feel a Newman/Kingsley literary moment coming on. Thanks James.

PS I couldn't find a pic of me raising the dead so here's one of St Paul preaching the Gospel in Athens, by Raphael.

Custom should rule

Photo credit: http://hallowedground.wordpress.com/

Over at WDTPRS, Fr Z invited comments on the following:

Fr. W said that he wished that older Rituale Romanum could be used in English, because doing a baptism entirely in Latin would be very hard for people.

I invite mostly priests, especially priests with experience of using the older form of liturgy, to post what things they would like to see clarified about Summorum Pontificum.

Unfortunately as a layman with an anti-clericalist streak I'm excluded so I'll have to post on my own blog. (I compensate for my lay disability by always wearing my biretta whilst writing posts; I fold my maniple of course on the kichen table before starting.)

My position is that no clarification is necessary; we simply have to celebrate the liturgy according to the custom as it was on the eve of the changes (and this might be different in England than in the US, for instance).

In actual fact I would say that priests, even ones who celebrate the old rite, are not necessarily the best people to ask for advice, for a number of reasons. But the main reasons are two in number:

1. They are mainly younger priests who cannot remember the older form as it was celebrated before the Council
2. They have a Latin fetish

In the first case, this is a problem because how the rite was actually celebrated varied according to region and what the bishops had permitted. Especially in the period 1960-1964 a number of concessions were allowed; and customs and permissions varied. Has this knowledge been lost? It is my firm belief that any priest who performs the forma extraordinaria in England should have all the freedoms and flexibility of a priest who was celebrating Mass or the other sacraments in 1964 in England. Just because you've swotted up your Fortescue and O'Connell doesn't mean you know the mind of a pre-conciliar priest. I think that is something that you would actually have to ask a pre-conciliar priest about. Or a layman with a good memory, a server or MC perhaps.

There is a great server at the FSSP chapel in Rome, an old man, who serves in a way that would surprise many. But in the traditional Roman custom. Or the story of Belloc at Westminster Cathedral standing, in the French custom, when we would kneel; and giving the verger short shrift when invited to sink to his knees.

In the second case, we have an absurd situation where, because we are sick of our dreadful ICEL translations in the new rite, we decide that the old rite is exclusively in Latin and we won't hear a word of the vernacular. The most bizarre case I have come across is where a priest was indulging a 'traditional' couple who wished to make their marriage vows in Latin. Since the vows are not made to God but to each other, (and presumably they use the vernacular at home? - or maybe they don't), and necessarily before the community, to make it in any other language than the vernacular is, I think, sheer pretension. Any sensible Catholic priest would say (in a pastoral way), (a) no, because that was never the tradition, and (b) stop being so precious.

I was married in the old rite but made my vows, of course, in the language I usually submit to my wife in!

In the case of my own marriage and the baptism of my son my concern was that I was married in the old rite but in the most sane form possible. And, low and behold, the Rituale Romanum says in its preface that the vernacular translation is authorized for public use.

Secondly, once one has read the preface, it is worth speaking to people who can remember the custom at the time (this is living tradition: reconstructing a rite from books is antiquarianism and will always fall into inauthenticity). People with memories of the 1950s and 60s can remember the priest turning round to bless the married couple in the vernacular 'May the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob be with you.' (This is, after all, directed to the couple, not to God.) And baptisms were in the vernacular, in the authorized vernacular of the Rituale, before the close of the Council. Fr W should read Gravissimum Educationis where sane traditionalism rules!

Over at WDTPRS people are haughtily saying things like, 'Latin isn't too difficult for people to understand, how patronizing!' They miss the point. Of course Mass should mostly be in Latin, but baptisms and marriages are different. They are not the worship of the whole Church offered to God the Father. They are different, and the vernacular is more appropriate; indeed, to insist on making vows in Latin is pretentious and might even carry the risk of invalidating them (or providing grounds for annulment)!

The rather puristway in which the traditional rite is being revived by enthusiasts will not impress those of the pre-Vatican II generation because they will simply say 'that's not how I remember it'. And they will be right, no matter what is written in the manuals. Because tradition, as we Catholics know, is not always written down.

And so I, a humble (as you can see!) layman, say, what is all the fuss about?

PS I suspect that among the most well informed priests are the first generation of FSSP or SSPX (I hasten to add that I am not a supporter of the latter but they will have had the old customs passed on.)

Education doc from Lancaster Diocese 'Fit for Mission'

Joanna Bogle recommends this document on Catholic schools from the Diocese of Lancaster. I must read it, when I get a moment; we are preparing for our move to London and it's an awful time in school for marking exams and writing reports.

Anyway, Auntie Joanna thinks, or hopes, it could mark a sea-change: '... a Bishop seems to have spoken out about the reality of Catholic schools, and the tragic fact that in many cases they are simply not teaching the Catholic Faith.'

Tom Macintyre of Frome and 'the perfected rite'

Someone has brought to my attention this splendid letter from this week's Tablet. It's a classic. Almost so good that one suspects it's a spoof. John Medlin, mentioned in the letter, is in charge of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales.

Tastes and essentials

Does John Medlin's conscience never trouble him when he reads letters like Neil Walker's (17 November)? The Latin Mass Society no doubt does a good job enabling the last few Latinists to pray the Mass and participate actively in Latin. But it also encourages this subjective approach - that the liturgy is what one "wishes" or "feels at home in", so that people seek out revivals of the extraordinary form and, worse, advocate it to others. There is a particular danger - at this time when antiquarianism, early music and mysterious pagan rituals are in vogue, in a liberal culture where personal inclination rules - of the young being lured away from the perfected rite to the beautiful arcane form that emphasises nonessentials, in a language that they cannot understand. Not that one fears for the actual seminarians that that minority enthusiasm generates. In time study and devotion will lead them too along the route from Benedict XIVto St Pius X, Pius XII and Vatican II, and a deep, full understanding of what Pius XI called "the principal organ of the Magisterium of the Church".

Tom McIntyre

Frome, Somerset

Cardinal Newman - the First Sunday of Advent (C)

Signs in the Heavens

One day the lights of heaven will be signs; one day the affairs of nations also will be signs; why, then, is it superstitious to look towards them? It is not. We may be wrong in the particulars we rest upon, and may show our ignorance in doing so; but there is nothing ridiculous or contemptible in our ignorance, and there is much that is religious in our watching. It is better to be wrong in our watching, than not to watch at all.

Nor does it follow that Christians were wrong, even in their particular anticipations, though Christ did not come, whereas they said, they saw His signs. Perhaps they were His signs, and He withdrew them again. Is there no such thing as countermanding? Do not skilful men in matters of this world sometimes form anticipations which turn out wrong, and yet we say that they ought to have been right? The sky threatens and then clears again. Or some military leader orders his men forward, and then for some reason recalls them; shall we say that informants were wrong who brought news that he was moving? Well, in one sense Christ is ever moving forward, ever checking, the armies of heaven. Signs of the white horses are ever appearing, {247} ever vanishing. "Clouds return after the rain;" and His servants are not wrong in pointing to them, and saying that the weather is breaking, though it does not break, for it is ever unsettled.

And another thing should be observed, that though Christians have ever been expecting Christ, ever pointing to His signs, they have never said that He was come. They have but said that He was just coming, all but come. And so He was and is. Enthusiasts, sectaries, wild presumptuous men, they have said that He was actually come, or they have pointed out the exact year and day in which He would come. Not so His humble followers. They have neither announced nor sought Him, either in the desert or in the secret chambers, nor have they attempted to determine "the times and seasons, which the Father has put in His own power." They have but waited; when He actually comes, they will not mistake Him; and before then, they pronounce nothing. They do but see His forerunners.

Waiting for Christ, PPS VI, p. 246-7. 29 Nov & 6 Dec, 1840

In Spe Salvi, 5, the pope has an interesting comment, very much in the same vein as Newman above, about looking for signs in the heavens and Roman religion at the time of the Incarnation:

Paul illustrates the essential problem of the religion of that time quite accurately when he contrasts life “according to Christ” with life under the dominion of the “elemental spirits of the universe” (Col 2:8). In this regard a text by Saint Gregory Nazianzen is enlightening. He says that at the very moment when the Magi, guided by the star, adored Christ the new king, astrology came to an end, because the stars were now moving in the orbit determined by Christ. This scene, in fact, overturns the world-view of that time, which in a different way has become fashionable once again today. It is not the elemental spirits of the universe, the laws of matter, which ultimately govern the world and mankind, but a personal God governs the stars, that is, the universe; it is not the laws of matter and of evolution that have the final say, but reason, will, love—a Person. And if we know this Person and he knows us, then truly the inexorable power of material elements no longer has the last word; we are not slaves of the universe and of its laws, we are free.

Communion - straight in the mouth please

Francisco de Goya, The Last Communion of Saint Jose de Calasanz, 1819

Fr Tim Finigan writes an excellent essay on the two ways of administering communion: contrary to what even many conservative Catholics believe, the 'ordinary' way of administering Holy Communion is still 'on the tongue'; 'in the hand' is by special permission, or indult.

The occasion for these comments is an interview with Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Archbishop Ranjith seems to have taken up the role of straight talking on liturgical matters that the Pope had held when still just a cardinal:

I mention for example, a change not proposed by the Council Fathers or by the Sacrosanctum Concilium, Holy Communion received in the hand. This has contributed to some extent to a weakening of faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This, and the removal of altar rails and kneelers in church and the introduction of practices which oblige the faithful to sit or stand at the elevation of the Sacred Host, weakens the genuine significance of the Eucharist and the Church's profound sense of adoration for the Lord, the Only Son of God. Moreover in many places, the church the 'house of God', is used for meetings, concerts or interreligious celebrations. In some churches the Blessed Sacrament is almost hidden away in a little chapel, hardly seen and little decorated. All this obscures a belief so central in the Church, belief in the real presence of Christ. The church, for Catholics, is the 'home' of the Eternal One.

'This day is fulfilled this scripture in your ears'

Raphael's Transfiguration (in the above section), flanked by Moses and the Prophet Elijah

I am just planning a lesson on the prophets. So I turn to the usually OK - but nothing special - CTS series, The Way, The Truth, and the Life.

I want to explain how Jesus fulfils the prophets. This is what I find

• Hosea reminded the people of God's love, goodness and faithfulness. So did Jesus.
• Amos and Micah urged them to show kindness to the poor, to be compassionate, honest and generous. So did Jesus.
• Jeremiah warned that if the people did not turn back to God, they would be punished. So did Jesus.
• Isaiah proclaimed the coming of the Messiah and of his kingdom. That Messiah was Jesus ...

Only at the end is any mention of the fact that the prophets spoke of Jesus (among other things). This is one of the ways that we know that Jesus was not bad or mad, but God. We know we can trust him, because the Jews were expecting him. Here are some of the prophecies the CTS authors could have made use of:

Genesis 3: 15 – the Protogospel

And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. 15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

Genesis 49: 10 – The Prophecy of the Dying Jacob

The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.

Isaiah 7: 14 – The Virgin shall Conceive

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.

Isaiah 9: 6-7 – A Child is Born

For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 53 – The Suffering Servant

1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2 And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him: 3 Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed ... ...

Micah 5: 1-3

Now shalt thou be laid waste, O daughter of the robber: they have laid siege against us, with a rod shall they strike the cheek of the judge of Israel. 2 AND THOU, BETHLEHEM Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity. 3 Therefore will he give them up even till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth: and the remnant of his brethren shall be converted to the children of Israel.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King (34th Sunday)

The famous Pantocrator icon, with Christ's face one side gentle, one side stern

The last Sunday before Advent. Here is an excerpt from the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman.

The Royal Pardon from the Throne of the Cross

Consider the deep and serene compassion which led Him to pray for those who crucified Him; His solicitous care of His Mother; and His pardoning words addressed to the robber who suffered with Him. And so, when He said, "It is finished," He showed that He was still contemplating, with a clear intellect, "the travail of His soul, and was satisfied;" and in the solemn surrender of Himself into His Father's hand, He showed where His mind rested in the midst of its darkness. Even when He seemed to be thinking of Himself, and said, "I thirst," He really was regarding the words of prophecy, and was bent on vindicating, to the very letter, the divine announcements concerning Him. Thus, upon the Cross itself, we discern in Him the mercy of a Messenger from heaven, the love and grace of a Saviour, the dutifulness of a Son, the faith of a created nature, and the zeal of a servant of God...

...Who, on the other hand, does not at least perceive that all the glare and gaudiness of this world, its excitements, its keenly-pursued goods, its successes and its transports, its pomps and its luxuries, are not in character with that pale and solemn scene which faith must ever have in its eye? What Christian will not own that to "reign as kings," and to be "full," is not his calling; so as to derive comfort in the hour of sickness, or bereavement, or other affliction, from the thought that he is now in his own place, if he be Christ's, in his true home, the sepulchre in which his Lord was laid? So deeply have His Saints felt this, that when times were peaceful, and the Church was in safety, they could not rest in the lap of ease, and have secured to themselves hardnesses, lest the world should corrupt them.

Bodily Suffering, PPS III p149, 151. Given 3 My, 1835

November 23 - Feast of St Clement, Pope, Martyr

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Pope Saint Clement Adoring the Trinity (1737-38)

Here is a snippet from Pope Benedict's audience on St Clement, given earlier this year:

St. Clement, Bishop of Rome in the last years of the first century, was the third Successor of Peter, after Linus and Anacletus. The most important testimony concerning his life comes from St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons until 202. He attests that Clement "had seen the blessed Apostles", "had been conversant with them", and "might be said to have the preaching of the apostles still echoing [in his ears], and their traditions before his eyes" (Adversus Haer. 3, 3, 3).

We have, of course, Pope Clement's extant Letter to the Corinthians (c. 96AD), remarkable as the first instance of papal intervention in the affairs of another Church (he was asked by the elders of the church in Corinth to restore order and hierarchy after some upstarts had removed them.) In the early Church this letter had an 'almost canonical character'. I find it especially interesting that the Corinthians sought Clement's intervention even though the Apostle John was still living, and far more local to them than Clement was, all the way over in Rome.

According to my Missal, the epistle for today (Philippians 4) confuses Clement, bishop of Rome, with another Clement. Whoops.

Why do we baptize infants; and why is abortion so wrong?

It's interesting to take a look at the GCSE mark schemes for various questions. Take the question, 'Why do Catholics believe in infant baptism?' Answers to be credited include:

• Baptism brings someone into the Church
• It takes away original sin
• It brings the family and community together
• It shows the faith of the parents

At no stage is it ever mentioned that baptism is necessary for salvation. This is the reason why Catholic mothers get nervous with unbaptized babies; not because they feel that they haven't had the opportunity to display their faith or bring the baby into the parish community, but because unbaptized babies may not be able to enjoy the Beatific Vision.

A friend of mine recently argued that the real issue with abortion isn't the humanitarian one - the vulnerability of the innocent lives so cruelly taken - but the theological one, the impossibility of salvation for the souls of those babies who have been denied baptism and therefore go to Limbo. If we believe in Limbo...

An Encyclical on Hope; and a New Document on Education

Hope, Kazimierz Wojniakowski (d. 1812)

The Congregation for Catholic Education has published a new document, Educating Together in Catholic Schools. A Shared Mission between Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful. Although reports of the press conference say that the document is published in English, I can only find it in Italian, on the congregation's page.

Other great news is that the Pope will sign his second Encyclical, on Christian hope, on November 30 (I don't think we know when it will be published). One just relishes everything that comes from our Holy Father's pontifical pen. The title, Spe Salvi, is from St Paul:

For we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen, is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he hope for? But if we hope for that which we see not, we wait for it with patience. Rom 8.24-5

Recess for a few days

I'm getting a very early train to London tomorrow morning, so no posts until Friday.