E HAVE MENTIONED Fr. Philip Caraman before, and will have occasion to do so again, but today focus on Fr. Caraman’s dear friend, Evelyn Waugh. Here is the full text of the panegyric (public speech) preached by Fr Philip Caraman at Waugh’s Latin Requiem Mass in Westminster Cathedral on 21 April 1966:
* * Panegyric (Complete) • Preached By Fr. Philip Caraman
The Tablet article says this was preached by Fr. Caraman, but I thought Requiem Masses traditionally lacked a homily. Moreover, was this a eulogy? Were eulogies forbidden? Are they forbidden now? Didn’t Fr. George Rutler famously deliver a funeral eulogy for William F. Buckley in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral? Anyway, here’s an excerpt:
“He was sad when he read of churches in which the old altar was taken down and a table substituted, or of side altars abolished as private Masses were held to be unliturgical or unnecessary. With all who know something of the pattern of history, he was perturbed. It was a struggle to accept it all, but he did accept it, and with enviable fidelity.”
Remember: this was 1966, so the massive liturgical changes would not arrive for another half decade.
A discussion about this post is underway.
