HERE IS MUCH that could be said about Hannibal Bugnini, famously called a “mealy-mouthed scoundrel as bereft of culture as he was of basic honesty” by his fellow reformer, Professor Louis Bouyer. I’ve never been interested in Bugnini rumors or slander: only facts. I’m particularly sensitive to slander for two reasons. First of all, the saints tell us that it’s virtually impossible to make restitution for that sin. Second of all, I have been the object of defamation online.1
Archbishop Bugnini • I hope to someday share facts I’ve learned about Hannibal Bugnini, the man responsible—more than anyone else—for the post-conciliar reforms of the sacred liturgy. We will see whether our Blessed Lord gives me the time and energy necessary to share these facts. It’s not easy to find time, since I currently have many obligations as a husband; father; choirmaster; conductor; editor; and composer. Therefore, for the moment I’ll mention just one fact. On 23 April 1967, the following was written in the private diary of CARDINAL ANTONELLI (who’d been named “Secretary of the Conciliar Commission on the Liturgy” on 4 October 1962 by Pope Paul VI):
“Father Bugnini has only one interest: press ahead and finish.”
Haste Makes Waste • Because the post-conciliar liturgical reforms were done with such haste, we sometimes find errors. I believe I may have found one such error. As you can see below, the OFFERTORY given for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Laetare Sunday”) is supposed to be Illúmina óculos meos when Year C readings are used:
I believe this is an error.
During Year A, the 2nd Reading is “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8-14) and the Gospel is “The Man Born Blind.” During Year C, the Gospel is about the prodigal son. Surely Illúmina óculos meos was meant to be used during Year A. Do you agree?
The 1984 collection of the GRADUALE ROMANUM by Deacon Cunningham omits Illúmina óculos meos. He gives no explanation for why he omits it. The collection by Richard Rice also omits it without explanation. Perhaps those two men were also bothered by this “error” I am speaking of.
In 2015, Father Samuel Weber published The Proper of the Mass for Sundays and Solemnities, but that collection doesn’t use the GRADUALE ROMANUM. Father Weber sets The Adalbert Propers. (I wish he’d gone with the Graduale Propers instead, but nobody asked me.) However, for offertories Father Weber does use the Graduale Propers, because the Adalbert Propers don’t contain the offertories. When it comes to the 4th Sunday of Lent, Father Weber omits Illúmina óculos meos without any explanation, just as Deacon Cunningham and Richard Rice did.
I would love to hear your thoughts on all of this!
1 Not long ago, I was viciously attacked online by the rector (!) of a cathedral: a priest! This unscrupulous liar claimed that I denied the validity of the Novus Ordo. Of course that’s total nonsense … and quite hurtful. Indeed, I have spent the last twenty years providing free musical scores for the Novus Ordo; scores which are used all over the globe.
