Cologne Liturgical Congress: Following Rubrics a Sign of Love

The bread baking materials for first communion instruction demonstrate how the approving Bishops think about the Eucharistic Celebration.

Photo From Facebook of Cologne's 14th Liturgical Congress

(kreuz.net, Herzogenrath) The catechetical materials for first Communion preparation are not suitable.

Pastor Guido Rodheudt of St. Gertrud in Herzogenrath described this during his lecture on the 14th Cologne 'Liturgical Congress' at the end of August from the article in the Catholic paper 'Tagespost'. 

Baking Class Instead of First Communion Preparation

Fr. Rodeheudt complained that First Communion preparation should be more important than how bread is made.

Even worse, the children are hardly instructed that the consecrated Host is the true Body of the Lord.The participants in the congress discussed those responsible for this misunderstanding.

This led them to consider "theologians" and Ordinaries.

The Cathedrals Were Built for the Mass

When the Motu Proprio 'Summorum Pontificum' was published, said Fr. Rodheudt, the Old Mass has supposedly been let out of the "doghhouse'.

The Liturgy of All Times should not be limited to "reservations" for Traditionalists.They should be "on free hunting grounds", in the great Cathedrals and simply parish churches. 

New Mass Hostile to Thought

The Augsburg theologian, Fr. Hofman explained that the New Eucharistic Celebration's vestments are often neglected.Fr. Bernward Denekie of the Society of St. Peter criticized the "strip mining in the visible area".

It has led many individuals to lose their faith in the Eucharist.

The Australian, Alcuin Reid of the French Diocese of Frejus-Toulon complained of a diversity -- it would probably be systematic -- of abuses of the rubrics in the New Mass.Truth to the rubrics is "nothing else than an act of love and loyalty to God himself." 

Is Matussek Going to Abandon Communion in the Hand?

 The Catholic journalist Matthias Matussek read from his book "The Catholic adventure" where he discusses Communion in the hand.Matussek commented on this passage at Herzogenrath:"Perhaps I will come over to Communion on the Tongue after this Congress."

Austrian Parish Liturgically Restored

The Graz Pastor Paul Scheichenberger reported that he has restored the Old Rite to days during the week.It is working like a gradual change of diet long and lasting.It states openly in the 'Tagespost' article what plots the Old Liberal Bishop Egon Kapellari of Graz-Seckau is planning to accomplish.

Link to kreu.net original...

Highlights to Aachen's Cathedral on the 14th Liturgical Congress.

Dramatic Changes in Music Rubrics for New Missal

Dramatic Changes in Music Rubrics for New Missal

Posted by Jeffrey A. Tucker

Some of the most advanced thinkers in the world of music and liturgy have long identified the critical problem in Catholic music today. They have pointed out that the Mass itself provides for the texts and the music for the Mass, but in the General Instruction on on the Roman Missal, there appears a loophole. Musicians can sing what is appointed, or (“option 4”) they can sing something else, and that something else is limited only by what the musicians themselves deem as “appropriate.” What this has meant, in effect, is: anything goes. This is why it often seems that when it comes to music at Mass that, well, anything goes.

I’m happy to report that the legislative ground has just shifted, and dramatically so. The new translation of the General Instruction removes the discretion from the music team to sing pretty much whatever it wants. The new text, which pertains to the new translation of the Missal that comes into effect on Advent this year, makes it clear beyond any doubt: the music of the Mass is the chanted propers of the Mass. There are options but these options all exist within the universe of the primary normative chant. There can be no more making up some random text, setting it to music, and singing it as the entrance, offertory, or communion.

 Link to Tucker blog...

H/t:  Stella Borealis

Reform-Cardinal Forbids Communion in the Hand

Editor: Sri Lanka, only our favorite place in the world.

Super Cardinal Ranjith on 'sanctepater.com'

The most progressive Archbishop in the world doesn't complain about Old Liberal decadence.  He rushes to act.


(kreuz.net, Vatikan) At the end of June Malcom Cardinal Ranjith of Colombo in Sri Lanka condemns the celebration of the Mass on the supper table facing the pews.

The Cardinal spoke in the framework of a conference, which took place in Rome from 20th to the 24th of June in Rome, organized by the "Missionaries of the Most Holy Eucharist".

The Priest as a Boring Entertainer

The Cardinal stressed that the Priest at the supper table is forced in the role of an entertainer.

The Second Vatican Council never talked about a Calvin Box: "The people's altar is not suitable for the fear inducing Mystery of the Holy Eucharist" -- admonished the Cardinal.

He received enormous applause for stating this truism.

The Cardinal stated that the active participation in the Mass is not an external activity rather the significance interior worship.


How does one reform a Diocese?

At dinner during the Conference Cardinal Ranjith described, according to the US Traditionalist Website 'rorate-caeli.blogspot.com' that he had abolished Communion in the Hand in his Diocese.

At the same time he restored communion rails in every church as well.

His priests may only use proper vestments in their celebration of Holy Mass.

Finally he has forbidden all of the priest, to hold syncretic Liturgies, in which elements of other religions are introduced into the Liturgy.

The Website 'sanctepater.com' has photoshopped an image of the Cardinal as a valiant superhero.

Link to kreuz.net...

In Liturgy It's Only the Right of the Powerful

How can it be that in the Church where "Tolerance" has long been the Superdogma, such intolerance exists? Answer: Because tolerance is only valid for the devil.

(kreuz.net) The German Bishops invite to dialog. They are, however, "not immediately dialog-ready" about the Old Mass.

Pastor Hendrick Jolie from the Diocese of Mainz said in the middle of this May on his website.

This is how he sees the Bishops' Offer of Dialog

There interest in the Old Mass is small -- cited Fr. Jolie the Bishops. That has a diverse number of causes said Father Jolie.

He says there's a "steadily growing indifference of many Christians for Faith and Liturgy".

Fr. Jolie sees a second cause in the "open secret that in many Seminaries, the interest in the Old Mass alone can be dangerous."

The clergyman knows seminarians who are hesitant to participate in the Old Rite, because they fear the consequences.

He cites a Seminarist with the words: "I just want to get ordained."

That cause Fr. Jolie to comment: "Is this how the Bishops see dialog?"

In the Diocese of Mainz there are priests who are open to the Old Liturgy, but are under pressure.

On that point he recalled the word of then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from the year 2000:

"Whoever today is inclined to this Liturgy or participates in it, will be dealt with as an outsider; here all tolerance comes to an end."

Fr. Jolie put the question: "How can it be that in our Church where "Tolerance" has long been spoken of as the Superdogma, can such intolerance rule?"

Only the Right of the Strong

The clergyman is appealing to the consciences of the Old Liberal Bishops:

"Experience teaches that unresolved injustice in the Church can have fatal consequences."

Because: "Through silence, ignorance and the "right of the strong" solves no problems in the Kingdom of God."

Fr. Jolie recalled then that the Pope in 2007 had described the de facto prohibition against the Old Mass a "profound injustice".

Then he asked the question:

"Is it not indisputable, that on the one hand in our Church ecumenism is written of highly, while at the same time even Catholics, who are, very directly addressed and given permission from the Pope, are still punished with marginalization?"

Link to kreuz...

Church Latin Was Never the Everyday Language of the People

Editor: If you're queezy about the tone of the article from the Kreuz.net, just look at the arguments and conclusions from Father Lang. He's right you know.

At Least the New Massbook will Orient Itself on the Sacral Latin Language

The backwoods Council discovered the national languages exactly at the moment, when these were increasingly losing their significance after the end of Nationalism and National Socialism.

(kreuz.net, Vatikan) In every form of religion there is a sacral language -- Sanskrit in Hinduism, Pali in Buddhism or Koran-Arabic in Islam.

This was explained by German Oratorian, Father Uwe Michael Lang, this 30. May on the neo-Conservative snooze site, 'Zenit'.

Father Lang is a collaborator of the Roman Liturgical Congregation.

There are No Stable People's Languages

In Christian services there were -- says Father Lang -- in the course of history a variety of languages in use:

-Greek in the Byzantine Tradition,

-The language of the old oriental like Syriach, Armenian, Georgian, Coptic and Ethiopian,

-Church Slavonic.

-Ltain of the Roman and successors in the Western Rites.

Father Lang stresses that the increasingly stylized forms of speech were established. They differ from the common language:

"Often this division follows a linguistic development in the common language, which does not occur in the Liturgical language because of its sacred character."

Church Latin has been from start to finish -- probably also because of its regression to older Latin speech forms -- differentiated from daily Latin speech.

The Romans did not speak in the style of the canons or the Mass prayers -- Father Long stresses:

"As soon as Greek was displaced in the Roman Liturgy by Latin, a significantly stylized language was used, which serve in the service and which would have been very difficult for the average late antique Christian in Rome to understand."

Father Lang also pointed out that the Latin Liturgy would not have been understood by the Catholic Goths, Celts, Iberians and Punic peoples:

"All the same -- thanks to the foresight of the Church of rome and the unifying power of the Papacy -- Latin was the only Liturgical Language of Christendom, and consequently the foundation of Western culture."


The Council Fathers Limped Behind the Times

At this point Father Lang made a noteworthy about face.

Actually he had still shown that the Church Latin at no time part of the common language and generally understood.

Actually now he speaks of a growing "Gap between the Liturgical Lating and the people's language with the development of the national cultures and languages in Europe."

This -- which in any case existed during the entire history of the Church -- situation has "not promoted" supposedly "the active participation of the Faithful in the Liturgy".

For that reason the Pastoral Council desired to promote the use of the mother language -- said the priest.

The council Fathers had not intended that Latin would be displaced by the National languages -- Father Lang said as he attempted to rescue the long discredited honor of the Pastoral Council:

"The linguistic splintering of the Catholic Liturgy was so widely advanced that many Faithful these days can hardly recite any other prayers than an "Our Father" together --- he lamented.

In reality, the back woods Council had discovered National Languages exactly at the moment as these were just increasingly losing their importance after the end of Nationalism and National Socialism in the wake of US-Hegemony.

Link to original...

The Mass of All Ages Will Outlast Newer Rites

The Pastor's Corner column on Dici makes common cause with Cardinal Koch about the Mass. Eventually one Mass will disappear. Perhaps it will be as Cardinal Ranjith envisions, the more ancient Missal of All Ages?

“Benedict XVI knows well that in the long term we cannot remain with a coexistence between the ordinary and extraordinary forms in the Roman rite, but that the Church will again need in the future a common rite... However, given that a new liturgical form cannot be decided in an office, as it requires a process of growth and purification, for the time being the Pope stresses above all that the two forms of use of the Roman rite can and must enrich one another mutually.” (Ibid.) According to Cardinal Koch, Rome’s permission of a Mass that needs no permission would be that it might ultimately disappear!

Holy Father: No Opposition Between Tradition and Progress in the Liturgy

Editor: Pope Benedict is addressing one of the chief sources of Liturgical abuses in the Church today, the Benedictines of Sant'Anselmo. He seems to make a backhand swipe at Dom Beauduin, perhaps. New Liturgical Movement got an Italian translation which describes Benedict's critique in terms of going "beyond" the Council. [About which Rorate Caeli was more circumspect, and Vatican Radio didn't touch on any of this at all.]Basically, this is more reform of the reform talk to Old Liberals who will do their best to ignore the Holy Father's admonitions and prescriptions. That doesn't appear in the following essay by theologian Armin Schibach, but there it is:

'sana traditio' and 'legitima progressio': The program of reform of the Council Fathers. Back in the future on the way to "Sacrosanctum Concilium'. The river of Tradition. by Armin Schibbach

Rome (kath.net/as) In the area of Liturgy, Tradition and progress are not put together in "an "awkward manner" one against the other. Actually, both enrich each other: Tradition contains in itself the principle of development and is always a living reality: "The river of Tradition always flows from its source as it strives toward its mouth". With these words Pope Benedict addressed today's Friday lecture, taking part in the event, organized for the the Papal Liturgical Institute 'Sant'Anselmo', on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of its founding.

Benedict XVI next addressed the reason for the memorial, which lead to the founding of the Liturgical Institute. In this, it was the wish of Pope John XXIII to take up the Liturgical Movement [Editor: Its Revolutionary character, founded primarily in illicit and therefore sinful liturgical abuses don't get mentioned in talks like this.], whose aim was to give a new impetus to the prayer of the Church, shortly before the Vatican Council, by forming the Liturgical Institute at the Benedictine University at the Aventine. The Pope was to have a firm basis for the Liturgical Reform of the Council in this way.

On the eve of the Council, continued Benedict XVI, the need for the reform of the Liturgy made itself ever more certain. The pastoral necessity, which the Liturgical Movement ensouled, made it requisite that the active participation of the faithful in the Liturgical Celebration would be encouraged by the use of the vernacular and that the adaptation of the rites deepening the various cultures.

Similarly, there has been a necessity present from the beginning, to study the depths of the Liturgical foundation, "in order to avoid falling into Ritualism or to validate the subjectivism and protagonism of the celebrant." The reform should find itself centered in the area of the offering of the divine Sacrifice and its justification in the Tradition of the Church.

Proceeding with the theme of the Congress (The Papal Liturgical Institute between Commemoration and Prophesy") the Pope stressed that the reason for the institute is "Commemoration". The Institute has accomplished its task toward the reception of the IInd Vatican Council. For that reason it has become possible to help the holy people of God, "to live the liturgy as an expression of a praying people, as Christ's presence in the midst of the people and as constitute an actuality of salvation history".

The Constitution of the Holy Liturgy "Sacrosanctum Concilium" poses the twofold theological and ecclesiological character of the Liturgy: "The celebration simultaneously makes real an Epiphany of the Lord and an Epiphany of the Church, two dimensions, which is bound to the reality the Liturgical assembly". In the Liturgy of the Church "gives the active presence of Christ: What he brought into fruition during His stay among the people, whose focus formed in the Eucharist is made real."

The Liturgy of the Church "goes out from the 'Conciliar Reform'", says Benedict XVI. Its goal is not, above all, to change the rites and texts, but it is much more to renew the mentality and put the Christian life and the pastoral care of the celebration of the Pascal Mystery of Christ at its center.

"Unfortunately the Liturgy would-- even among us shepherds and experts -- be seen as an object, that it was necessary to reform, and not as a Subject, that is capable of renewing the Christian life, where there was a very narrow band between the renewal of the Liturgy and the renewal of the whole life of the Church: the Church draws its power to live from the Liturgy." In that point, he recalled Pope John Paul in his Apostolic writing "Vinesimus quintus annus" (4. Dezember 1988)on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Constitution of "Sancrosanctum Concilium".


The Liturgy is "the highpoint, to which the action of the Church reaches and is the source from which all of her virtues proceed", said Benedict XVI. So She becomes the great tutor of the primacy of the Faith and of Grace. The Liturgy is the "privileged witness of the living Tradition of the Church", in truth Her fundamental mission, in the "Today" of human affairs the "opus Redemptionis" between the apparent and the existent. For that reason the Liturgy lives "of a correct and standing relation between 'sana traditio' and 'legitima progressio'" (compare. Sancrosanctum Concilium, Nr. 23).

With these two concepts the Council Fathers desired to lay out their "program of reform", "to put the same weight on the great liturgical Tradition of the past with that of the future".