Benedict XVI: No Unauthorized Changes in the Liturgy

Vatican City (KNA) Pope Benedict has spoke out against unauthorized alterations in the Liturgy. 

Because of the universality of the Church with its "rich tradition and creativity" the Liturgy "is not to be  distorted by communities or experts",  the Pope said this in his general audience at St. Peter's Square. 

(photo:  today in Germany this can be found almost everywhere:  the laity play in sanctuary theater) 

It's not the individual priest or believer who celebrates the Liturgy, but it is God,  who is the center of the Church, he stressed. 

For that reason these forms must be true to the universal Church.  The religious service is about the living presence of Jesus Christ and not for the recollection of something past, said Benedict XVI further. 

If the celebration doesn't proceed with Christ as the center,  then it doesn't concern Christian Liturgy.   The Liturgy of the smallest community also has the entire Church present, the Pope stressed.

An example for alterations in the Liturgy can be found in a video presentation at a Carnival "Mass" in Ochsenhausen.

From the German District Page of the SSPX...

Episcopal Consecration Celebrated "Facing God" in Italy

(Rome) The news is not new, yet it is subsequently newsworthy. On the occasion of the consecration of the new bishop of the Diocese of Carpi, Italy, Monsignor Francesco Cavina removed the main altar from the chancel and celebrated ad Dominum Cathedral of Imola. This report on tradition is associated website Messa in Latino. The consecration was in the presence of Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State.

The consecration took place on 22 January 2012 in the Cathedral of St. Cassian instead. It must have been a one-time process that is still remarkable, and not least because of the importance of the event. Two weeks ago, Pope Benedict XVI. also celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord in the Sistine Chapel ad Dominum.

Destruction of the High Altar

Back in 2006 there was an episcopal ordination in Italy ad orientem, as on 25 June 2006, the new Archbishop of Oristano was ordained in the local cathedral. The consecration was before the then President of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Camillo Ruini. The Parish Priest Msgr Costantino Usai had decided to end the "provisional solution" of a popular shrine. He justified the decision to the cathedral chapter, among other things, that the initiative that had been was not caused by the Second Vatican Council. The main altar is hindering the full enjoyment of the great dynamic power of the liturgy, and it runs the risk of a reduction in the danger of self-celebration in itself. The outgoing Archbishop Monsignor Pier Giuliano Tiddia had welcomed the decision.


As the newly appointed Archbishop Msgr Ignazio Sanna was consecrated and enthroned, he was forced to celebrate ad Dominum. Immediately after his enthronement the new Archbishop explained then that the "experiment" ad orientem is "not successful" and "this form of celebration" will lead back "to a pre-Conciliar dimension", "which, as I must assure, does not correspond to the sensibility of the people of God." The people's altar was rebuilt, this time the high altar was permanently bricked up and broken off from the possibility of another "restoration trial".

Text: Giuseppe Nardi Images: Messa in Latino / Fides et Forma

To Boldly Go Where no Liturgy Has Gone Before

Edit: There was a lot of liturgical and architectural experimentation going on before the Second Vatican Council.  Here is one such attempt, sixty years hence.

This is the 60th Anniversay of the 35th International Eucharistic Congress in Barcelona --  this is a monumental altar which is today the Plaza of Pius XII along The Avenue of the Generalissimo (now Diagonal) in Barcelona.  It was the first Eucharistic Congress after World War II.  Courtesy Francisco de Morandé

Petition For Pope Benedict to Say the Traditional Mass Publicly

Young people want a Liturgy that inspires them to be extraordinary Catholics -- not a Liturgy in which they can be ordinary and commonplace -kreuz.,net [whoever he may be]

(kreuz.net)  The Brazilian Attorney Ottavio Demasi has started an Internet Petition.  It aims to move Pope Benedict XVI to publicly celebrate the Rite of 1962.  The petition has been running since early July.  Demasi is active in a southern Brazilian city of 20,000 on the edge of Sao Paulo.

The Only Real Mass

The signatories have the opportunity to justify why they have signed the petition.

Jonathan Sipangkui from Malaysia writes: "Because I am a Catholic".

Or Gabriela Parra from Brazil:

"I have signed because it is the only true Mass, which we have.  The other is a great lie, which was established by evil men, who wanted to destroy the Catholic Church."

Only the Mass Can Defeat the Enemy

Nathan Allen from the USA maintains that it would have been unthinkable for every Catholic before 1969, that the Pope would need a special reason to offer a Holy Mass according to a Mass book, which all of his predecessors had used.

Actually "because we find ourselves in the special situation, in which the enemies of the Church are in its highest positions" was another reason given by Allen.

"The Roman Mass is the offering of the cross and the greatest weapon the Church has against all heresies."

And: "Only the true Mass can defend the Church from so many enemies both within and without."

Activism Instead of Prayer

Elizabeth Fitzmaurice from the USA writes, that she only visits the New Mass in exceptional circumstances:

"I fight the whole time during that, to bring myself to prayer."

Because:  "The New Mass was designed to keep the people occupied, occupied, to keep them occupied, so  that they can't experience prayer, silence and contemplation."

John Polhamus from the USA continued:

"Young people want a Liturgy which inspires them to become extraordinary Catholics -- no Liturgy, which leaves them ordinary and commonplace."

Link to kreuz.net....

Bishop Schneider Says: Communion in the Hand is a Great Wound in the Church

A reform of the Church is advanced by an end to Communion in the hand and supper tables.  Proceedings and Old Liberal committees will play a completely subordinate role.

Auxiliary Bishop Schneider
on der Homepage of the
Shrine of Maria Vesperbild. 

(kreuz.net)  "The more committees, the more proceedings, the more fear of public opinion and the politically correct, the less there will be real reforms in the Church."

This is what Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider from Astana in Kazakhstan said on Pentecost Sunday at the Swabian pilgrimage Maria Vesperbild.

For Msgr Schneider it is "more than clear that the Church has experienced a great crisis."

Communion is Handed out Like Bread

The crisis  shows itself in its most gripping in the declining Liturgy, for the prelate:  "Today's manner of receiving Communion spread throughout the world is a great wound."

The body of Christ has been received "without recognizable sacral gestures of worship".

Hand communion leaves one with the impression as if one is taking a regular meal, which "one puts in ones' own mouth".

The Bible gives a different example of reverence

Msgr Schneider recalled that the angel and prophets in Holy Scripture knelt before Jesus Christ:

"How great is the contrast between  today's widely spread form of handcommunion with the minimalistic signs of reverence on the one side and the glorious examples in Holy Scripture and the examples of Catholics frm the past two thousand years, and  also the edifying examples of our own associates, parents, grandparents on the other side."

The example of the Pope

Msgr Schneider recalled then that Pope Benedict XVI has been distributing Holy Communion in the mouth since Corpus Christi of 2008 to the faithful on their knees:

"A true Catholic, and even more a Catholic Bishop, can not ignore the Pope's  gestures."

That would be a true renewal

For the Auxiliary Bishop it would be a poignant sign of Faith if all the Masses world-wide "were brought back to clear signs of reverence, silence, the holiness of the music".

He criticized the supper table very carefully:  priests and people should interiorly and exteriorly look together upon Christ -- he said.

All faithful should "receive the body of Christ self-evidently in the state of sanctifying grace, having gone too confession, and  to receive it directly in the mouth with the piety of a child."

In this Msgr Schneider sees "powerful sings of a true renewal in the Church".

In such Masses a God fearing man should fall on his knees and say:  "Verily,  God is among you"  [1Cor 14 24-25]

A Church of Believers -- not of Church-tax payers

The Auxiliary Bishop explained in his sermon an example of reform from Kazakhstan.

In the city of Karaganda the Catholics built one Church every 35 years under the Communists.

The authorities allowed only a lowly, utilitarian building without towers or a cross.

For two years the faithful -- also the elderly and the children --- were occupied with the building.

They dug even in the earth, in order to put the church deeper in order to allow for a larger interior space.

Without Discussions or Commissions

After the completion of construction there was no Bishop far and wide who could have blessed the church.

Actually the parish priest -- he was called Pater Alexander Chira by everyone -- promised the faithful that God would send a Bishop.

On the day of the blessing he appeared himself with a mitre and shepherd's staff in the church.  He was a secret Bishop.

According to a woman who witnessed the event, there were even more tears flowing than holy water.

The church blessing is an example for Msgr Schneider "of true reform of the Church without a lot of commissions and discussions."

Link to kreuz.net...

UK Priest Turns Church Into Profane Hall

"When we enter ornate and clean Basilicas, adorned with crosses, sacred images, altars, and burning lamps, we most easily conceive devotion. But, on the other hand, when we enter the temples of the heretics, where there is nothing except a chair for preaching and a wooden table for making a meal, we feel ourselves to be entering a profane hall and not the house of God" -St. Robert Bellarmine (Octava Controversia Generalis, liber II, Controversia Quinta, caput XXXI).

An Anglican So Broad He's Completely Flat

Edit: Jesus might have attended festivities and cheered sinful guests in an edifying way, but he didn't turn the Holy of Holies into a beer garden.  The same priest has used a bar for Mass last year.

Thousands of real ale lovers are being welcomed into an East Yorkshire church for a beer festival.
The Hull Real Ale and Cider Festival is being held at Holy Trinity Church, in the city centre, for the first time.
Pioneer minister the Reverend Matt Woodcock said he thought it was the kind of event Jesus would have enjoyed.

Read further...

Diminishing Liturgical Latin Invariably Leads to Schism and Separation from Mother Church

Linguistic Nationalism Was the Beginning of the End

The Old Liberal Council Fathers laughed at his sensible voice: "Quickly one leaves the safe >>old way<< -- but the new ideas may tear open before us an abyss."

(kreuz.net) The sensible Bishop Giovanni Battista Peruzzo (1963+) of Agrigento in Sicily gave a remarkable speech at the Second Vatican Council.

Actually, the Old Liberal faction sent him off with laughter.

Historian Roberto Mattei (63) wrote this in his book "The Second Vatican Council. A story untold till now".

The prize winning work appeared in December in German in the 'Edition Kirchlich Umschau'.

The anti-Liturgical Movement



Msgr Pruzzo argues historically in his assertions. He recalled the anti-Liturgical movement, which arose at the end of the 15th Century and the beginning of the 16th century.

It appeared in the circles of a heathen humanism.

The first Italian anti-Liturgists were "true and actual heathens" -- maintains the Bishop

The leadership of the movement was undertaken by humanist Erasmus von Rotterdam (+ 1536).

All anti-Liturgists showed themselves in their erratic faith: "They followed each other as brothers in competition, who would later separate themselves from the Catholic Church" -- explained the Bishop.

Finally, we arrived at the Modernists.

They had no Saints on their side.

Bishop Peruzzo insists that there is not a single sainted Bishop who promoted this movement. On the contrary, they would have bound everything to Latin tradition.

He named St. Charles Borromeo (+1584), St. Antonio Maria Claret (+1870), St. Francis de Sales (+1622) or St. Alfonsus de Ligroui (+1787).

Bishop Preuzzo stressed caution:

"One quickly leaves the >>old way<<, which is secure; but the new ideas, what abysses they loom and make ready for us."

A Prophetic Judgement

Msgr. Peruzzo cited the anti-Liturgical theories of the fallen priest Erasmus of Rotterdam.

This one found it "inopportune and comical, when the simple people and women murmured and repeated their Sunday prayers and Psalms like parrots, while they didn't understand their meaning."

The Parisian University condemned Ersasmus' theses as "Godless, erroneous and encouraging of new errors".

Bishop Peruzzo indicated these incisive condemnations as "excessive". Yet still: "They were prophetic."

Everyone, who promotes a reduction of Latin in the Liturgy, always brings the same argument -- he stated.

It is supposed that the people will "be better instructed, inspired to a greater love of God and be more faithful."

The abandonment of latin after the Pastoral Council should have fundamentally refuted this argument.

The Struggle Against Latin Leads to an Abyss

Msgr Peruzzo asserted that the Germanization of the Liturgy thorugh the Reformers was "the first act of separation from Holy Mother the Church".

He cited the famous Abbot Prosper-Louis-Geueranger (+1875) from the Benedictine Cloister of Solesmes.

He admonished, that the separation of the Liturgical language has in the past, "even if a Papal dispensation is granted, led to schism and complete separation from the Catholic Church".

  Link to kreuz.net original...

Part of a Series:

Cool Headed Council Fathers Warned

Modernists Masked Themselves as the Middle Position

A Prophetic Voice at the Vatican Council

50 Theologians Petition Holy Father

A Priest Need Not Celebrate "Versus Populum" or Facing the People

Vienese theology professor Feulner: according to accepted Liturgical order, every priest can celebrate Mass at the front side of the "people's altar" while "facing the Lord"

Wien/Vienna (kath.net) "In no document of the Second Vatican Council does it say, especially not in the Constitution on the Liturgy "Sancrosanctum Consilium"(1963), that the priest should or must celebrate the Eucharist "versus populum"." [To the people] This is what the Viennese theology professor Hans-Jürgen Feulner said in a recent interview in the newspaper "Der Sonntag".  Feulner explained then that the foundation for the alteration according to the second Vatican Council is the instruction "Inter Oecumeninici"(1964), in which it states, that the high altar must be separated from the back wall, so that one can easily go around to the back side and say Mass facing the people.

This is to begin with only precautionary clause, which had been quickly introduced, that almost in every Catholic Church so-called people's altars were to be erected, which Feulner describes as constituting "the most obvious achievement" of the Council, although there were before the Council in individual churches such "volks-altars". The designation was later addressed in the "General Introduction to the Roman Mass Book" (Nr. 262) and in the 3rd edition of the Mass book.

The theologian pointed out however on that, that at the same time the Congregation of Divine Rites is said to have clearly ordered, that Mass should not be celebrated to the people. "The rubrics themselves of the past Mass books report indirectly, that the rule for celebration "versus Dominum" ("Facing to the Lord, i.e., not facing the community) is, if it meant to say there, e.g.: "...e (except when he turns to face the people); "...facing the Community.../... turning to face the community" (at the kiss of peace and "Behold, the Lamb of God"); „turn toward the altar” (at the Communion of the priest).", observed the professor of the University of Vienna.

As to the question, why then do priests celebrate today the way they do, turned in most cases to the people, Feulner said that this was often derived from the "Meal character" of the Eucharist and calls by the General Council for "active participation", which required an awareness of what was going on at the altar. "Does this, however, overlook the fact that the meal excludes the sacrificial nature or is opposed irreconcileably to facing each other, rather the Eucharistic sacrifice is complete at least partly in the form of a meal," concluded the theologian and pointed also to the cosmic dimension of the Liturgy an the orientation of prayer "ad orientum". The East is a symbol of the Resurrection on Eastern Sunday, of the assumption into heaven and the coming of Christ at the end of all times (compare Mt 24,27; Offb 7,2).

When asked as to whether the priest may celebrate the Liturgy away from the participants of the liturgy, if there were an [editor: unsightly] people's altar in this church/chapel, Feulner then explained, that both ways of celebration are correct. "According the current valid Liturgical order every priest can thus celebrate at the Euchastic celebration self-evidently (except for the offertory) also stand during Mass at the front side of the altar "facing the Lord", that means, facing the same way as the Community, which corresponds to an ancient tradition of Christians.

Cool Headed Conciliar Fathers Warned Against the Vatican Council

"Countless Interpretations of Sacred Dogmas"

The Mass of All Ages at Vatican II

The far sighted Cardinal James Louis McIntyre of Los Angels warned expressly against intervening in the traditional Rite and a suppression of the language of the Church.


(kreuz.net) Cool headed Conciliar Fathers warned against the Second Vatican Council: A change in the Liturgy means a change in Dogma.

The Italian historian Roberto de Mattei (63) wrote this in his book, "The Second Vatican Council. A Story Untold Till Now."

The prize winning work appeared this December in Germany in "Edition Kirchliche Umschau."

"The Holy Mass Must Stay, as it is."

The far-sighted Cardinal James Louis McIntyre († 1979) of Los Angeles expressly warned of a change in the traditional Rite and the language of the Church.

De Mattei cited the Cardinal's remarkable summation:

"The attack on the Latin language in the Holy Liturgy means an indirect attack, but in the truest sense on the stability of the Holy Dogma, because the Holy Liturgy necessarily contains the Dogma in itself."

The Prince of the Church then recalled that in the language of the people the meaning of words are fundamentally changed.

From that he concluded: "If the Liturgy is degraded in the common language of the people, then the unalterability of doctrine would be endangered.

From that he concluded that the Mass must remain as it is.

The Liturgy is understood visually

In the Preces of the Benedictine Congregation of Beuron, Archabbot Benedikt Reetz, warned against reform in the Liturgy.

He rejected the thesis, that one must use the language of the people, in order for them to understand the Liturgy:

Even the priest doesn't understand everything -- argued the Benedictine.

"The active participation of the faithful consist not so much in singing and prayer, rather in the visual apprehension of things, which happen on the altar."

Symbolic: the humbled Guardian of the Faith

De Mattei took up the enlightening case of Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani († 1979), who as prefect of the Holy Office, had his microphone shut off during the Conciliar negotiations.

Cardinnal Ottaviani criticized the proposals for reform of the Liturgy.

He warned of "excessive alterations", which would harm the faithful, if not even bring them to vexation.

The Cardinal went over his allotted time to speak by ten minutes.

Thereupon the Old Liberal destroyer of the Church, Bernard Jan Cardinal Alfrink(† 1987) of Utrecht in the Netherlands, sounded the bell.

The Supreme Prefect was humbled.

The Old Liberal faction greeted the humiliation with applause.

Next time: The linguistic Nationalism was the beginning of the end.
Link to kreuz.net...

Benedictine Monastery Streams Sung Liturgy of the Hours on Line

Edit: want to help the Church?  Want to see what it's like to be a monk? Pray the Liturgy of the hours on line.

(Le Barroux) The monks of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Madeleine de Le Barroux have made a special Christmas gift for the faithful.  Over the internet site of the Abbey it is now possible, four times a day, to directly participate in the Divine Office of the Convent.  The monks present the sung Office completely in the Immemorial Roman Rite.  The faithful in the entire world may pray along over iPhone, over iPad in the small hours of Prime, Sext as well as the Grand Hours of Vespers and Compline.



The monk's day begins at 3.20 and ends at 20.30 hours. The Liturgical day begins at 3:30 with Matins and is complete at 19.45 with Compline.


Live streaming Liturgy of the Hours:


• Prime : 7.45 Uhr oder 8 Uhr (see calender)

• Sext : 12.15 Uhr
• Vespers : 17.30 Uhr
• Compline : 19.45 Uhr

For all who want to celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours in the Old Rite itself, the Cloister Store of Le Barroux has a complete Office of the Hour or appropriate Liturgical Calender in a single volume.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Abbeye du Barroux

Tell that to the Pope

Edit:  interesting that this otherwise conservative Bishop needs to clarify the situation.  Other authorities can posit a correlation between "standing" and lack of reverence, though.  

“The proper posture is standing”

Oakland bishop provides detailed instructions on receiving Holy Communion in his diocese

(The following undated “Instructions on Receiving Communion Properly” by Oakland Bishop Salvatore Cordileone have been posed on the website of the diocesan Office of Worship.)

All Catholics, before receiving Communion, are to be free from serious sin and fast from all food and drink (except water and necessary medicine) for one hour before receiving. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1385; Code of Canon Law, canons 916 and 919)

The proper posture for receiving Communion is standing. This is to show the respect that is due the Most Blessed Sacrament (in our culture, standing up shows respect to someone of importance who enters the room); the bow before receiving Communion signifies the humility with which we must approach the Sacrament.

The deeper meaning of this posture, though, is that the position of standing is symbolic of the Resurrection, and so -- as is done in the Eastern Rites of the Church -- we assume this position when we receive the Sacrament of our salvation. 

Link to California Catholic, here...

Bishop Schneider: The Problem Lies -- Even Without Abuses -- In the Rite Itself

Edit: He stops short of saying for Vatican II what he says of the New Rite of the Mass. He's not just criticizing abuses in the Liturgy, or Communion in the Hand, but the Rite itself.

The new Eucharistic celebration gives the impression of a gathering and not the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. -kreuz.net

Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider
© Marko Tervaportti, Wikipedia,CC

(kreuz.net) Priests and Bishops supposedly had to regard the Liturgical Revolution of Paul VI. († 1978) "with awe", because it had been "formed by the Church".

This is the opinion of Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider (50) of Astana in Kazakhstan at the end of October for the video site 'gloria.tv'.

The Auxiliary Bishop assures that it may be possible to celebrate the new Mass worthily.

A Work of Man
 
The infallibility of the Pope does not correspond to the Liturgical reform -- remarked Msgr Schneider.

No human labor is complete and the Liturigal Reform is a human work.

The Auxiliary Bishop commented in the Pope's declaration in the Motu Proprio 'Summorum Pontificum" on the mutual enrichment between the Old Mass and the Eucharistic celebration.

For him the enrichment is if anything, one sided: The new Eucharistic celebration should be enriched by the elments of the Old Mass.

The Meal is only a part of the Mass

Msgr. Schneider is turned against a Mass celebration with the back to God.

There is no precedent for it in Church history.

The Supper Table makes a gathering or a meal out of the Mas. The representation of the Sacrifice on the Cross of Christ disappears into the back ground.

In reality the elements of a meal appear first at the distribution of Communion: "There is the table and the table cloth."

On the contrary, both -- the Communion rail and the Communion cloth -- have been eliminated.

The Problem is in the Rite

In the new Sunday Mass there is -- even without abuses -- the impression of a meeting.

As causes Msgr Schneider described the celebration facing the people and the fact, that laity stand, go into the sanctuary and read readings or accomplish other activities.

In the new Mass, everything is loudly recited. Everything must be seen.

There is too little room for the contemplative, the silence and prayer.

Msgr Schneider believes that the Liturgical Revolution had never been the intention of the Conciliar Fathers.

The true intention of the Conciliar Fathers is still not realized.

Link to original...

A Prophetic Voice at the Vatican Council: Bishop Giovanni Battista Peruzzo

Edit: the following is an excerpt taken from the Protocols of the Second Vatican Council. It is taken from Roberto de Mattei's new book on the Vatican Council, Concilio Vaticano II. Una storia mai scritta (The Second Vatican Council: a story which has never been told.). It has met with some controversy, and is not presently available in English.

Wikipedia of Bishop Peruzzo

From the Protocols of the Council

I am the last [who  speaks], but I am old, the eldest in your midst, and perhaps I have understood little; so try to see things my way, if some of my  expressions are distasteful to you.  I have heard many observations and proposals against the sacred tradition of the precious use of the latin language in the Sacred Liturgy and many words have been cause for anxiety and concern.  I would like to shortly contribute something where my remarks will not rest on theological, but on a historical basis.  The anti-Liturgical movement is not so telling because of its origins.   It is more significance importance to be concerned with the noteworthiness of the origins of families, institutions, circumstances and instruction: who is the father, who is the mother and who is the leader.  If the source [of origin] as the beginning is done well, they will easily remain healthy over time.  If the source was contaminated, it will be difficult to clean.  While I draw on these principles, I would like to look the origin of the anti-Liturgical Movement in the eye.

Their fathers, their leaders, this movement was begun at the end of the 15th and as the 16th century began.

The first anti-Liturgists were the humanists, true and real pagans in Italy, better-minded in France and the Nordic countries, led by Erasmus, but all wavering in Faith.   Among them were many of our brothers who joined the contest and later left the Catholic Church.  From them the Jansenists arose, in Italy the participants in the Synod of Pistoia and finally the Modernists: this is the society, who are in many ways comparable.

On the other side is found not a single sainted Bishop who was a promoter of this movement.  From St. Charles Borromeo to Saint Anthony Mary Claret, to St. Francis de Sales to St. Alfons, old as new, all held fast onto the Latin Tradition.  These facts must raise concern about these proposals for novelty.   One quickly leaves the "old way", which is safe; but the new ideas, what voids might we encounter and fall into!

 Erasmus wrote the forward to his Gospel of St. Mathew as follows:  "It seems incongruous and ridiculous that the that the common people and women murmur the Psalms and the Sunday prayers like parrots in a constant repetition, while they do not understand their significance."

The University of Paris condemned this opinion, the simply and justifiably appears as Godless, and promotive of new falsities: one reads in Duplessy.  This condemnation which appears to us as exaggerated, turns out to be really prophetic. All of those, who are of one or another type favoring the reduction of the Latin language, brought to the Liturgy, in the past as today,  the same grounds:  so the people might better understand and come to a stronger faith and greater love of God.

In the Augsburg Confession there was nothing more proposed than that the songs of the people would be  in the common language during the celebration of Mass. But what happened?  The general introduction of the people's language in the Mass was the first act of separation from our Holy Mother the Church.  This harsh statement is not mine, but was that of Abbot Dom Guéranger who is truly the father of the Liturgical Renewal.  So here are his words:

"The separation of the liturgical language for some unexplained motive, which we do not know, has almost always done well in obtaining a dispensation from the Pope, to the schism and the complete separation of the Catholic Church."  

He demonstrates this assertion also, as one can glean this in the 3rd Volume of his "Institutions Liturgique". These words, these facts must make us proceed in this matter very carefully.

I will briefly mention a third evident reason: the loyalty of the bishops, more than any other, have always proved to be to the Holy Father.  Since about five centuries the Popes have steadfastly defended Latin in the Sacred Liturgy against the requests, recommendations and threats.  In more recent times, from Leo XIII. to the reigning Holy Father, they have pronounced on the necessity of the Latin language in the Sacred Liturgy  in various Apostolic Letters.

Bretheren, are these instructions merely suggestions, or do they include an order? Opposing points of discussion are allowed;  actually it will show me right, if  you are content to be silent and in obedient subjugation to the Holy Father.  We all desire that today's men become better Christians. Are we all bent on reaching this goal?  History teaches us in fact that the sanctity of souls is bound with the Liturgy, but it requires that  it, especially our holiness, our strength of faith, heroism of apostolate, prayerfulness, intellect, penitence and also outward devotion would lead people to God.  Please look beyond my vanity and pray for me too!

The Address of Mons. Giovanni Battista Peruzzo, Bishop of Agrigento, a 29 October 1962, quoted from Acta Synodalia sacrosancti Concilii Oecumenici Vatican II: Roberto de Mattei: The Second Vatican Council. A hitherto unwritten story. Ecclesiastical Umschau Edition, p. 278 ff  

[Roberto De Mattei holds to that Peruzzo was ridiculed for this talk by the "progressives" in the auditorium.]

Translated from Elsa's Nacht[b]revier...

Bishop Follows Pope Benedict's Example: Kneeling Only

(Brasilia)  Bishop Msgr Antonio Keller, of German descent, head shepherd of the southern Brazilian Diocese  Frederico Westphalen is only giving Holy Communion since Christmas in his Cathedral church to those who are kneeling and on the tongue.  He is following the example of Pope Benedict XVI in this and is intending to support the "reform of the reform".

The internet site, Salvem a Liturgia has published Bishop Keller's pastoral letter about the reception of Communion.   The Bishop reminded the priests and faithful of his diocese that every recipient of Communion must have the grace in order to be able to receive the Body of Christ.  The Bishop underlined the fundamental difference between bread as normal sustenance and the Holy Eucharist, body, blood soul and divinity of the Lord to sustain the soul.

Bishop Keller also reminded on the duty, to fast at least one hour before receiving communion and called for the necessity of having the right disposition at the reception of Holy Eucharist.  In the pastoral letter, Msgr Keller informed his Diocese that he would be following the example of Pope Benedict XVI and giving Holy Communion to the faithful only while they are kneeling and on the tongue.

The words he directed to priests, were: "The refusal of Holy Communion to the faithful, because they want to receive it in a kneeling posture, would be a great injury to a fundantal rights of a Christian believer, namely the right to receive spiritual support from their pastors through the sacraments. (CCC Canon 213). Even where it is allowed to the congregation to properly receive Communion standing by the respective Bishops Conference, that the faithful, who wish to Communicate Holy Communion on their knees may not be refused that for that reason. (Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, written on 1. Juli 2002, Notitiae 2002, S. 582-585).

The Diocese of Frederico Westphalen was founded in 1961 by Pope John XXIII. and is the suffragan Diocese of the Archdiocese of Porto Allegre. The name of the city, in which the Bishop's See is located, comes from a German engineer. The population of the Diocese shows a strong German presence, which is apparent even from the family names of the recent Bishops. (Msgr. Hoffman 1962-1971, Msgr. Maldaner 1971-2001, Msgr. Hastenteufel 2001-2007, Msgr. Keller seit 2008).
Text: Giuseppe Nardi Bild: Salvem a Liturgia Translated from katholisches...

A Crusade for Birettas and Latin Mass Readings

The Old Mass is on the March

A Call to Crusade

Battle for the Biretta and latin readings:  What came of the revolution of Paul VI, is a clerical abuse scandal in any case.  by Dr. Ansgar von Rotenhelm

(kreuz.net)A Crusade for Biretta and latin readings is more promising of success, more pleasing to God and for winning souls than a Crusade against global terrorism.

The Good Beginning

The present heap of broken glass which is the New Eucharistic Celebration did not fall from heaven.

It had its origins in modernism of the 20s.


Dom Prosper Gueranger's restorative, high liturgical movement lent its monastic stamp to that time. It was also stamped by St. Pope Pius X († 1914).

This movement was a great hope for the Church.

The Tragic End

Actually, there was a people's liturgical movement, which is affiliated with Romano Guardini.

The result was streamlined in the Second Vatican Pastoral Council and in the fatal liturgical revolution of Paul VI († 1978).

The Catholic philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand (†1977)warned of the "trojan horse" in the Church.

Several Conciliar Fathers  corroborated the author of these lines, that the intentions of reform of Blessed Pope John XIII. († 1963) were fulfilled by the fully approved liturgy of 1962
 .
A New Danger for the Old Mass

Sadly, to this day,  the Old Mass is celebrated under the specter of the Modernists of the 1920s.

They try to customize it.

So it was in some places -- in opposition to the instruction 'Universae Ecclesiae' -- to even say the readings of the Holy Office [Breviary] in  the vernacular or -- although prescribed -- to use no biretta.

The present Papal Commission, 'Ecclesia Dei' shows no interest in assuring adherence to the papal laws.

That would only happen if the media effected the necessary pressure.


The 'Weltbild' scandal has shown: change is possible only when the media supports vocal Catholics.


DemagogicSpeech on Non-Essentials

The Holy Teresa of Avila  (†1582) once said: "I would suffer martyrdom for the smallest ceremony of the Church."

From this it is absurd to ask if then latin readings and head gear are so important. This demagogic talk of the non-essential was the beginning of the catastrophe in 1920.

We could win a Crusade for Birettas and latin readings. Deus lo vult -- God wills it.

Link to original...

Sicilian Priest Refuses Communion in the Hand

Edit: this story from Sicily is of interest. It was reported in Messainlatino a few days ago on the 18th.

A layman wanted to receive Communion in the hand, but the pastor of Acquaviva Platani is opposed to this practice. There was a confrontation after Mass in the Sacristy and the police were called.


CALTANISSETTA - The police were called 'to intervene and restore calm to a faithful Pastor in Acquaviva Platani, Don Francesco Novara, had refused delivery of the Host in his hand.'

This priest only gives Communion on the tongue. This decision by Don Novara has already split the community between those who believe it's the correct decision by the parish priest and those who think it's exaggerated. The man who had been denied the Host, came to the Sacristy after the church service, as reported in the edition of the Journal of Caltanissetta of Sicily, and railed against the priest. The police were called shortly after that by others in the Sacristy. The police arrived and convinced the offended layman to desist from his protests and to return home.

source: the Repubblica.it / chronicle of Palermo


Bravo, Don Francesco Novara! Communion only in the mouth!

Link to Messainlatino...

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...