Qui cantat bis orat.

"He who sings prays twice." These words, often erroneously attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo, are actually a paraphrase or restatement of something he did say in his commentary on Psalm 72:1: "Qui enim cantat laudem, non solum laudat, sed etiam hilariter laudat; qui cantat laudem, non solum cantat, sed et amat eum quem cantat." ("For he who sings praise, not only praises but praises joyfully; he who sings praise, not only sings but also loves Him about whom he is singing.") Here is Father John Zuhlsdorf's discussion on this matter.

The norms for the people's participation in the various forms of both sung Masses and read Masses were set out by the Instruction "De Musica Sacra et Sacra Liturgia" ("On Sacred Music and the Sacred Liturgy") of the Sacred Congregation on Rites (3 September 1958).  "His Holiness, [the Venerable Pope Pius XII], deigned to approve [the Instruction] in its entirety and in all it parts. He commanded that it be promulgated and be conscientiously observed by all whom it concerns. Anything whatever to the contrary notwithstanding."

Click here to see the full English text of this Instruction.

Blessed Pope John XXIII issued a Motu Proprio Rubricarum instructum on 25 July 1960 by which he approved a new code of Rubrics of the Roman Breviary and Missal and ordered this new code of rubrics to be observed by all beginning 1 January 1961. This code of rubrics governs the 1962 Roman Missal and is printed in the preliminary pages of its typica editio and all of its editions authorized for use at the altar. Part 3 of the 1960 code of rubrics is entitled "General Rubrics of the Roman Missal," and No. 272, which reads as follows, expressly incorporates the Instruction "De Musica Sacra" (3 September 1958) as a part of the general rubrics of the 1962 Roman Missal:

272. Of its nature the Mass demands that all those present take part in it, after the manner proper to them.

A choice must be made, however, among the various ways in which the faithful may take part actively in the most holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in such a way that any danger of abuse may be removed, and the special aim of the participation may be realized, namely a fuller measure of worship offered to God and of edification obtained for the faithful.

This active participation of the faithful has been dealt with at greater length in the Instruction on Sacred Music and the Sacred Liturgy given by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on September 3, 1958.

This blog, of course, in promoting the full, conscious, and active participation of the faithful in Masses of the Extraordinary Form (that is, the so-called Traditional or Tridentine Latin Mass under the 1962 editio typica of the Roman Missal) desires to see, as does Mother Church herself, the greatest level of such active congregational participation in both sung Masses and read Masses. Sadly, however, where the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite has been reestablished in the United States all too often congregational participation is encouraged in sung Masses but discouraged and made impossible by the actions of celebrants in read Misses so that silent-spectator Low Masses predominate. Clearly this should not be the case. Cf. Cardinal Ratzinger's Address on the Tenth Anniversary of the Promulgation of the Moto Proprio "Ecclesia Dei."

For the reasons set out in the preceding paragraph, the greater emphasis of this blog is on the Low Mass offered as a Dialog Mass (in Latin, "Missa Dialogata" or "Missa Recitata"), and its name reflects that emphasis.

Archbishop Lefebvre on the Council's Liturgical Reform (6/6/1965)

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre participated fully in the Second Vatican Council; indeed, he had been appointed by Blessed John XXIII to serve on the 120-member Central Preparatory Commission for the Council and took an active role as a member of that Commission. The Archbishop voted in the affirmative on the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium), which was adopted by a vote of 2,147 in favor with only 4 opposed. His support of the principles set forth in Sacrosanctum Concilium must be seen as separate and distinct from his reservations on the revision of the Roman Missal that was to follow in the wake of the Council. The following comments by Archbishop Lefebvre on the Council's liturgical reforms were made on 6 June 1965; the emphasis added is that of the blogger.

LITURGY

Amidst all the antagonisms, exaggerations and discussions which have characterised this period of liturgical change, may a few reflections be outlined?

In view of the speed, rare in the Church, with which these changes have been carried out in all countries, it is difficult to avoid the fear that some measures may bring unforeseen and unhappy consequences. It is thus with devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and devotion to the Virgin Mary and the saints whose statues have been banished from many churches, regardless of the simplest pastoral teaching, and catechetics; the meet and proper ordering of the house of God which has become a house of men rather than a house of God; of the truly divine beauty of the Latin chants which are now banned and have not been replaced by other such melodies.

Must we, however, conclude from these considerations that all these things should have been kept unchanged? The Council with temperance and prudence has answered otherwise. Some reform and renewal was needed.

The Virgin Mary watches over the Magisterium and authority of her Roman and Catholic Church.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Despite today's confusion of ideas, may we seek the light of the new dawn that the Council will bring to the world?

Such perspectives will doubtless be more easily discoverable in a few years. Is it not devoutly to be wished, however, that those who have lived through the Council should strive, in perfect submission to the Successor of Peter, so to bring them about as to arouse true and generous undertakings sprung from the purest tradition of the Church and born of the Spirit of God yet living in His Spouse.

The first part of the Mass, intended for the instruction of the Faithful and a a means of expressing their faith, clearly stood in need of a means of achieving these ends more plainly and, in some way, more intelligibly. In my humble opinion, two of the reforms proposed for this purpose appeared useful: first the rites of this part and some vernacular translations.

Let the priest draw near the faithful, communicate with them, pray and sing with them, stand at the lectern to give the readings from the Epistle and Gospel in their tongue, sing the Kyrie, the Gloria and the Credo with the faithful in the traditional divine melodies. All these are happy reforms restoring to this part of the Mass its true purpose. The arrangement of this teaching part of the rite should set, in the sung Masses of Sunday, the pattern to which other Masses should conform. These aspects of renewal seem excellent. Let us add, above all, guiding lines necessary for true, simple, and moving preaching, strong in faith and resolution. That is one of the most important ends to achieve in the liturgical renewal of this part of the Mass.

Where the Sacraments and sacramentals are concerned, the use of the language of the faithful in admonitions may be useful since these concern them more directly and personally, but this is not the case with exorcisms, prayers and benedictions.

The arguments for keeping Latin in those parts of the Mass which take place at the altar are, however, so strong that it is to be hoped that the days may shortly come when a limit will be set to the invasion of the vernacular tongue of this treasury of unity, of universality, a mystery that no human tongue can express or describe.

How deeply we must long that the souls of the faithful may be united in spirit and in person with Our Lord, present in the Eucharist, and with His divine spirit, so that all that might be prejudicial to this union, whether by an excess of vocal prayers and ceremonies, by lack of reverence for the Eucharist or by unseemly vulgarisation of the divine mysteries, must be totally prohibited. Any reform in this domain can be good only if it ensures more fully the essential ends of the divine mysteries established by Our Lord and brought down to us by Tradition.

Source: Lefebvre, Marcel. A Bishop Speaks: Writings and Addresses 1963-1975. Edinburgh, Scotland: Scottish Una Voce, n.d. pp. 37-38

Selected Provisions from Sacrosanctum Concilium

Today marked the fiftieth anniversary of the promulgation by Pope Paul VI on 4 December 1963 of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium). The following provisions relate directly to the Dialog Mass.

Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (4 December 1963)

Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 56, pp. 97-138 (1964)

14., paras. 1 & 2. The Council earnestly desires that all the faithful to be lead to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations called for by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" (1 Pt. 2:9, see 2:4-5) is their right and duty by reason of their baptism.

In the reform and promotion of the liturgy, this full and active participation by all of the people is the aim to be considered before all else. For it is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit and therefore pastors must zealously strive in all their pastoral work to achieve such participation by means of the necessary instruction.

19. With zeal and patience pastors must promote the liturgical instruction of the faithful and also their active participation in the liturgy both internally and externally, taking into account their age and condition, their way of life, and their stage of religious development. By doing so, pastors will be fulfilling their chief duties as faithful stewards of the mysteries of God; and in this matter they must lead their flock not only by word but also be example.

30. To promote active participation, the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bearing. And at the proper times all should should observe a reverent silence.

43. Zeal for the promotion and restoration of the liturgy is rightly held to be a sign of the providential dispositions of God in our time, a movement of the Holy Spirit in his Church. Today it is a distinguishing mark of the Church's life, indeed of the whole tenor of contemporary religious thought and action. (Remainder omitted.)

48. The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred service conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full involvement. (Remainder omitted.)

54. para. 2. Nevertheless steps should be taken enabling the faithful to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass belonging to them.

English text from Documents on the Liturgy: 1963-1979. Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1983. pp. 4-27.

Directory of Dialog Mass Locations in the United States

This is a continuing post that will be revised from time to time as new information becomes available.

It was last revised on 1 January 2014.

DIALOG MASS LOCATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

All locations shown are in full communion with the Holy See and the diocesan bishop.
Low Masses at these locations are regularly offered as Dialog Masses.

The Mass schedule shows only Extraordinary Form Masses (1962 Roman Missal).

It is always prudent to call to confirm Mass times for locations that you attend infrequently.

California -- Oceanside

Mass Location: Saint Margaret of Scotland Church, 4300 Oceanside Boulevard, Oceanside, CA 92056

EF Mass Schedule: Sun, 6:00 p.m. (Dialog)

Pastor: Father Cavana Wallace

Mailing Address: use Mass location address

E-Mail Address: none

Telephone No.: (760) 941-5560

Website:  www.oceanside4christ.com

Degree of Dialog Mass: uncertain

Diocese & Bishop: Diocese of San Diego; Bishop Cirilo Flores

Indiana -- Brooksville

Mass Location: Saints Philomena and Cecilia Church, 16194 St. Mary's Road, Brooksville, IN 47102

EF Mass Schedule: Sun, 7:30 a.m. (Dialog), 10:30 a.m. (High); Mon thru Sat (Dialog), call for times

Administrator: Father Karl Pikus, F.S.S.P.

Mailing Address: use Mass location address

E-Mail Address: none

Telephone No.: (765) 647-0310

Website: none 

Degree of Dialog Mass: first

Diocese & Bishop: Archdiocese of Indianapolis; Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin

Indiana -- Indianapolis

Mass Location: Holy Rosary Church, 520 Stephens St., Indianapolis, IN 46203

EF Mass Schedule: Sun, 11:30 a.m. (High); Tues & Thurs, 12 noon (Dialog); Wed & Fri, 5:45 p.m. (Dialog); Sat, 9:00 a.m. (Dialog); holy days, call for times

Pastor: Father C. Ryan McCarthy

Mailing Address: use Mass location address

E-Mail Address: info@holyrosaryindy.org

Telephone No.: (317) 636-4478 (parish office)

Website: www.holyrosaryindy.org 

Degree of Dialog Mass: third with Pater Noster

Diocese & Bishop: Archdiocese of Indianapolis; Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin

Missouri -- Creve Coeur

Community: Oratory of Saints Gregory and Augustine

Mass Location: Chapel of St. Anselm Parish Centre, Saint Louis Abbey, 530 South Mason Road, Creve Coeur, MO 63141 (weddings and funerals are held in the Abbey Church)

EF Mass Schedule: Sun, 7:30 a.m. (Dialog), 9:00 a.m. (Dialog), 11:00 a.m. (Dialog), but on the First Sun the 11:00 a.m. Mass is a High Mass; Mon thru Sat, 7:30 a.m. (Dialog); holy days, as announced, usually 7:30 a.m. (Dialog) and 7:00 p.m. (Dialog), call to verify times

Rector and Principal Celebrant: Father Bede Price, O.S.B.

Other Celebrants: Father Ambrose Bennet, O.S.B.

Mailing Address: use Mass location address

E-Mail Address: office@benedictineoratory.com

Telephone No.: (314) 439-0151

Website: www.benedictineoratory.com

Degree of Dialog Mass: third

Diocese & Bishop: Archdiocese of Saint Louis; Archbishop Robert J. Carlson

West Virginia -- Charles Town

Mass Location: Church of the Priory of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem, 301 South George Street, Charles Town, WV 25414

EF Mass Schedule: Sun, 10:15 a.m. (High); Mon thru Fri, 11:15 a.m. (Dialog); Sat, 9:30 a.m. (Dialog) (except all Masses during the Octaves of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost are High Masses; Mass times for holy days, major feast days, and the Octaves may vary from the normal times, call to verify)
Prior and Celebrant: Very Rev. Daniel Augustine Oppenheimer, CRNJ

Mailing Address: Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem, 219 South George Street, Charles Town, WV 25414

E-Mail Address: information@canonsregular.com

Telephone No.: (304) 724-6995

Website: www.canonsregular.com

Degree of Dialog Mass: third with Pater Noster

Diocese & Bishop: Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston; Bishop Michael J. Bransfield

---------------

This directory is only just being started and is by no means complete.

Please inform the blogger of any corrections or additional locations
 by commenting to this post or by direct e-mail at JMSinKY@aol.com

PAX

Cardinal Ratzinger on Sacrosanctum Concilium and the Traditional Latin Mass

On 24 October 1998, His Eminence, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, later to become our much loved Pope Benedict XVI, now retired from the Petrine ministry, spoke to the pilgrims gathered in Rome on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the motu proprio "Ecclesia Dei." Below are set out some extracts from that address. These words of the author of the motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum" are particularly timely and pertinent as we mark the fiftieth anniversary tomorrow of the promulgation of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, "Sacrosanctum Concilium."

"The Council did not itself reform the liturgical books, but it ordered their revision, and to this end, it established certain fundamental rules. Before anything else, the Council gave a definition of what liturgy is, and this gives a valuable yardstick for every liturgical celebration. Were one to shun these essential rules and put to one side the normae generales which one finds in numbers 34-36 of the Constitution De Sacra Liturgia (SL), in that case one would indeed be guilty of disobedience to the Council! It is in the light of these criteria that liturgical celebrations must be evaluated, whether they be according to the old books or the new. It is good to recall here what Cardinal Newman observed, that the Church throughout her history, has never abolished nor forbidden orthodox liturgical forms, which would be quite alien to the Spirit of the Church. An orthodox liturgy, that is to say, one which express[es] the true faith, is never a compilation made according to the pragmatic criteria of different ceremonies, handled in a positivist and arbitrary way, one way today and another way tomorrow. The orthodox forms of a rite are living realities, born out of the dialogue of love between the Church and her Lord. They are expressions of the life of the Church, in which are distilled the faith, the prayer and the very life of whole generations, and which make incarnate in specific forms both the action of God and the response of man. Such rites can die, if those who have used them in a particular era should disappear, or if the life-situation of those same people should change. The authority of the Church has the power to define and limit the use of such rites in different historical settings, but she never just purely and simply forbids them! Thus the Council ordered a reform of the liturgical books, but it did not prohibit the former books. The criterion which the Council established is both much larger and more demanding; it invites us all to self-criticism! But we will come back to this point."

"On the other hand, it is considered essential [by those attached to the pre-Conciliar liturgy] for a celebration according to the old rite to be in Latin, with the priest facing the altar, strictly and precisely according to the rubrics, and that the faithful follow the Mass in private prayer with no active role. From this viewpoint a particular set of externals is seen as essential to this or that liturgy, rather than what the liturgy itself holds to be essential. We must hope for the day when the faithful will appreciate the liturgy on the basis of visible concrete forms, and become spiritually immersed in those forms; the faithful do not easily penetrate the depths of the liturgy."

"The contradictions and oppositions which we have just enumerated originate neither from the spirit nor the letter of the conciliar texts. The actual Constitution on the Liturgy does not speak at all about celebration facing the altar or facing the people. On the subject of language, it says that Latin should be retained, while giving a greater place to the vernacular 'above all in readings, instructions, and in a certain number of prayers and chants' (SL 36:2). As regards the participation of the laity, the Council first of all insists on a general point, that the liturgy is essentially the concern of the whole Body of Christ, Head and members, and for this reason it pertains to the Body of the Church 'and that consequently it [the liturgy] is destined to be celebrated in community with the active participation of the faithful'. And the text specifies  'In liturgical celebrations each person, minister or lay faithful, when fulfilling his role, should carry out only and wholly that which pertains to him by virtue of the nature of the rite and the liturgical norms' (SL 28). 'To promote active participation, acclamations by the people are favoured, responses, the chanting of psalms, antiphons, canticles, also actions or gestures and bodily postures. One should also observe a period of sacred silence at an appropriate time' (SL 30)."

"These are the directives of the Council; they can provide everybody with material for reflection."

"On the other hand [the Cardinal having first considered issues with the revised liturgy], it must be admitted that the celebration of the old liturgy had strayed too far into a private individualism, and that communication between priest and people was insufficient. I have great respect for our forefathers who at Low Mass said the 'Prayers during Mass' contained in their prayer books, but certainly one cannot consider that an ideal of liturgical celebration! Perhaps these reductionist forms of celebration are the real reason that the disappearance of the old liturgical books was of no importance in many countries and caused no sorrow. One was never in contact with the liturgy itself. On the other hand, in those places where the Liturgical Movement had created a certain love for the liturgy, where the Movement had anticipated the essential ideas of the Council, such as for example, the prayerful participation of all in the liturgical action, it was those places where there was all the more distress when confronted with a liturgical reform undertaken too hastily and often limited to externals. Where the Liturgical Movement had never existed, the reform initially raised no problems. The problems only appeared in a sporadic fashion, when unchecked creativity caused the sense of the sacred mystery to disappear."

"This is why it is very important to observe the essential criteria of the Constitution, which I quoted above, including when one celebrates according to the old Missal! The moment when this liturgy truly touches the faithful with its beauty and its richness, then it will be loved, then it will no longer be irreconcilably opposed to the new Liturgy, providing that these criteria are indeed applied as the Council wished."

The full text of this address by Cardinal Ratzinger may be found at this location on the American website of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. The Institute indicates that the translation is by Father Ignatius Harrison of the London Oratory at Brompton and that it is used by courtesy of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales.

Another posting may be found here on the website of Adoremus, the Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy.

BLOGGER'S OBSERVATIONS

These words of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, later to become Pope Benedict XVI, provide us with very clear statements of his thoughts on how the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy ("Sacrosanctum Concilium") (SC) applies to celebrations of the Mass under the Extraordinary Form. From his comments, one may conclude that he believes:

1. The essential teachings of Sacrosanctum Concilium apply to the celebration of the Mass both under the 1962 Roman Missal and under the 1970 Roman Missal and its subsequent editions. -- How could this not be the case? Vatican II was an ecumenical council of the Universal Church, duly convened by a validly elected Pope; its documents, adopted by majorities of the bishops assembled, were confirmed and promulgated by a validly elected Pope. (The final vote on Sacrosanctum Concilium was 2,147 in the affirmative and 4 in the negative.) Every faithful Catholic is bound in conscience to give "religious respect of intellect and will" to the Council's teachings and must "take care to avoid whatever is not in harmony with that teaching." Canon 752 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law.
2. Failure to observe the essential teachings of Sacrosanctum Concilium in celebration of Mass in the Extraordinary Form is an act of disobedience to the Second Vatican Council.
3. Celebration of the Sacred Liturgy with the full, conscious, and active participation of the faithful is an essential teaching of Sacrosanctum Concilium. -- In Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Council expressly teaches that "the Church earnestly desires that all the faithful [are] to be lead to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations called for by the very nature of the liturgy" and that "in the reform and promotion of the liturgy, this full and active participation by all of the people is the aim to be considered before all else." (SC, no. 14) "With zeal and patience", pastors must promote active participation in the liturgy by the people, "both internally and externally"; "by so doing, pastors will be fulfilling their chief duties as faithful stewards of the mysteries of God, and in this matter they must lead their flock not only by word but also by example." (SC, no. 19)
4. The silent-spectator form of Low Mass that existed prior to the Council "had strayed too far into private individualism" and the degree of "communication between the priest and people was insufficient." Low Mass with the people not responding to the priest and not joining with him where appropriate but silently reading prayers cannot be considered "an ideal of liturgical celebration." -- If not the silent Low Mass, then what? The Council teaches that "the Church earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith [that is, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass] should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred service conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full involvement." (SC, no. 48) Norms for the Dialog Mass were established by the Sacred Congregation of Rites in 1958, and these provisions were expressly incorporated by reference in Blessed Pope John XXIII's revision of the Rubrics of the Roman Missal in 1960. The Council recognized that the these developments from the liturgical movement were "a sign of the providential dispositions of God in our time, a movement of the Holy Spirit in his Church." (SC, no. 43) It expressly mandated that "steps should be taken enabling the faithful to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass belonging to them. (SC, no. 54, para. 2) It made clear that active participation included the people taking part "by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bearing." (SC, no. 30) Surely, now, after the Second Vatican Council, for Low Masses in the Extraordinary Form, the ideal to be striven for is the highest degree of the Dialog Mass that a congregation can celebrate with a priest celebrant.

Happy Church New Year!

With this First Sunday of Advent, we begin a new liturgical year. May it be a year of grace, peace, health, and happiness for us all.

There is no text post today, but I have been spending quite a bit of time working on links in the right sidebar and relearning html coding, as best I can. Please do leave comments with any suggestions for links that you may have and with information on any additional locations that you know of where Dialog Masses are routinely celebrated.

Pax!

Degrees of the Dialog Mass

The Instruction "De Musica Sacra et Sacra Liturgia" (3 September 1958) of the Sacred Congregation of Rites establishes four degrees of the Dialog Mass. The following provisions are excerpted from that Instruction:

"28. In the case of low Masses, too, let special care be taken that the faithful are present "not as strangers or as mute spectators", but that they exercise the kind of participation which is required by so great a mystery and which yields most abundant fruit."

"31. A third and more perfect [see note 1, below] form of participation is achieved when the faithful respond liturgically to the priest celebrant, taking part as it were in a dialogue with him, and saying aloud the parts that belong to them.

In this more perfect form of participation, four degrees or stages can be distinguished:

a) The first degree, when the faithful make the easier liturgical responses in answer to the priest celebrant: namely, Amen; Et cum spiritu tuo; Deo gratias; Gloria tibi Domine; Laus tibi, Christe; Habemus ad Dominum; Dignum et iustum est; Sed libera nos a malo;

b) The second degree, when the faithful also say the parts which according to the rubrics are to be said by the server, and if holy Communion is distributed during Mass, also [the Confiteor and (see note 2, below)] the triple Domine, non sum dignus;

c) The third degree, when the faithful recite with the priest celebrant parts of the Ordinary of the Mass as well, namely: the Gloria in excelsis Deo; Credo; Sanctus-Benedictus; Agnus Dei;

d) The fourth degree, when the faithful likewise say aloud with the celebrant parts what belong to the Proper of the Mass: Introit; Gradual; Offertory; Communion. This last degree of participation can be employed with fitting dignity only by more advanced groups well trained for it."

"32. In low Masses the entire Pater Noster, since it is a fitting and ancient prayer of preparation for Communion, may be recited by the faithful together with the priest --  but only in Latin, with all adding the Amen. In no case may this recitation be in the vernacular."

"34. The priest celebrant, in pronouncing all those parts which according to the rubrics he must say aloud, should, especially if the church is large and the congregation numerous, so raise the voice that all the faithful will be able to follow the sacred action properly and conveniently."

"This Instruction on sacred music and the sacred liturgy was submitted to His Holiness Pope Pius XII by the undersigned Cardinal Prefect [C. Cardinal Cicognani] of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. His Holiness deigned to approve it in its entirety and in all its parts. He commanded that it be promulgated and be conscientiously observed by all whom it concerns.

Anything whatever to the contrary notwithstanding.

Rome, from the office of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, on the feast of St. Pius X, September 3, 1958." [see note 3, below]

NOTES

1. The original Latin text here reads as follows: "31. Tertius denique isque plenior modus obtinetur ...." A.A.S. (1958) 642. At least one translation uses "most perfect" for plenior, perhaps because the third form is one of three, but the Latin clearly uses the comparative. Also, one wonders if using "more perfect" rather than "fuller" or "more complete" for plenior evidences a personal bias on the part of the translator.

2. This so-called third Confiteor of the Mass was eliminated in the revision of the Ritus Servandus for the 1962 Roman Missal.

3. The Venerable Pius XII, Pope, died on 9 October 1958, a little over a month after the promulgation of this Instruction.

In principio.

Next week on 4 December 2013 we observe the fiftieth anniversary of the promulgation by Pope Paul VI of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC).

This blog is being created as a resource for those Catholics who desire to see the teachings and directives of the Second Vatican Council respected and observed in the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Latin Rites of the Catholic Church. The 1962 Roman Missal was the missal of the Second Vatican Council. The final vote on the Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy was 2147 in the affirmative (including Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre) and 4 in the negative.

From the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy

of the Second Vatican Council

4 December 1963

"The Church earnestly desires that all the faithful be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations called for by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as 'a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people' (1 Pt 2:9, see 2:4-5) is their right and duty by reason of their baptism." (SC no. 14, para. 1)

"Nevertheless steps should be taken enabling the faithful to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass belonging to them." (SC no. 54, para. 2)

From the Encyclical "Mediator Dei"

of the Venerable Pius XII, Pope

20 November 1947

"Therefore, they are to be praised who with the idea of getting the Catholic people to take part more easily and more fruitfully in the Mass strive to make them familiar with the 'Roman Missal,' so that the faithful, united with the priest may pray together in the very words and sentiments of the Church. They also are to be commended who strive to make the Liturgy even in an external way a sacred act in which all who are present may share. This can be done in more than one way, when, for instance, the whole congregation in accordance with the rules of the Liturgy, either answer the priest in an orderly and fitting manner, or sing hymns suitable to the different parts of the Mass, or do both, or finally in High Masses when they answer the prayers of the minister of Jesus Christ and also sing the liturgical chant."

From the Motu Proprio "Tra le sollecitudini"

of Saint Pius X, Pope

22 November 1903

"There [i.e, in their churches] Our people assemble for the purpose of acquiring the Christian spirit from its first and indispensable source, namely, active participation in the most sacred mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church."

. . .

"Gregorian Chant must be restored to the people so that they may again take a more active part in the sacred liturgy, as was the case in ancient times."