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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Official USCCB Synod Document: “The Limited Access to the 1962 Missal Was Lamented…”

Jeff Ostrowski · September 20, 2022

HETHER ONE PREFERS the Ordinary Form or the Extraordinary Form, one thing is not open for debate: Back in the 1970s, nobody could have predicted how strong the 1962 Missal would be in the year 2022. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI declared: “What earlier generations held as sacred remains sacred and great for us, too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.” In 2015, Pope Francis distinctly told his (hand-picked) chief liturgist: “I want you to continue the good work in the liturgy begun by Pope Benedict XVI.”

Results Released • Bishop Daniel E. Flores has released the “National Synthesis of the People of God in the United States of America for the Diocesan Phase of the 2021-2023 Synod.” As far as I can tell, this is the official response by the USCCB to the Synod on Synodality begun by Pope Francis. In this document, we find a remarkable statement:

Transcription: “The most common issue regarding the liturgy is the celebration of the pre-Conciliar Mass.” The limited access to the 1962 Missal was lamented.

An Astounding Statement • How can that be? For decades, we have been told that those attached to the ancient liturgy constitute an “utterly insignificant minority.” Now we see in the results of the USA synods the issue of the Missale Vestustum being casually referred to as “the most common issue regarding the liturgy.” In the 1990s, when my family was helping to spread knowledge of the Traditional Latin Mass, it seemed like less than 0.01% of Catholics had ever heard of the ancient liturgy! The first time I ever experienced the Missale Vestustum I was (perhaps?) thirteen years old. If someone like Rembert Weakland were still alive (he’s not) seeing the Missale Pristinum mentioned in such a document would most likely give him a heart attack!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Latin Mass, Missale Pristinum, Missale Vetustum, Synod on Synodality, USCCB Last Updated: September 20, 2022

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“We must say it plainly: the Roman rite as we knew it exists no more. It has gone. Some walls of the structure have fallen, others have been altered—we can look at it as a ruin or as the partial foundation of a new building. Think back, if you remember it, to the Latin sung High Mass with Gregorian chant. Compare it with the modern post-Vatican II Mass. It is not only the words, but also the tunes and even certain actions that are different. In fact it is a different liturgy of the Mass.”

— Fr. Joseph Gelineau (1978)

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