Flippin' a coin with the Latin Mass

I must say I've been having an enjoyable time learning the finer points of the Latin Mass Ordo. Especially when I come to find that my own generation (those of us born mid 50s) was not the only "jacked around generation." I'd known the low Mass a bit as a child (they literally switched to the NO within two week of my 1st Communion.) But I'd never known the ins and outs of the more arcane things like ember/rogation days, etc.

The powers that be had gradually been tweaking things around all through the 20th century. The three missals I have are all pre-1962 - the year the last changes were made to TLM. [Although I gather there's a tweak here and there now with those saints we "got rid of" an a quibble here and there.]

Friday's Mass was "interesting" - being both the feast of some saint I'd never heard of AND the anniversary of the coronation of the pope. The priest did the saint, and added on bits from the propers for a pope's anniversary. [In former times prior to '62 the Mass of the Chair of St. Peter would have been said.] I guess they changed that bit, because with a pope with a long reign, if it had been a feast day, that particular saint would be you-know-what-outta-luck for potentially decades. My speculation as to the reasoning. Regardless, they simplified everything.

It was one ladies first time at a latin Mass in years (she's older vintage than me, but was probably late grammar school or high school in 62 - so she wasn't completely clueless) but a few of us after the Mass said "well, this wasn't an easy one, the changeable parts were all over creation in the Daily Missal."

Saturday, I get there and think "no sweat" as it was slated for St. Mark. BUT upon inspection, my older missal also had something about being a potential rogation day. Purple. A litany and procession added in, and different propers.

But my 50s missal seemed to do some sort of combo of procession, and litanies and St. Mark's mass. So I didn't know what was up - some hybrid no doubt - but what? Then when the sacristan put out the Red tabernacle veil I knew Mark was ON. So I marked on missal with an eye out for Mark, and kept an eye out for rogation stuff too (given what had happened the day before), because I knew Father G. (pastor of St. Anne's) must have seen the "bear pit" a little later, because the sacristan had to bring the missal back from the altar where it had already been set up. [Father confirmed I was right after Mass on that point!]

We did the mass for St. Mark, with bits like the prayer, and postcommunion etc from the rogation Mass tacked on to the propers for Mark. No procession or litany though. And I wondered if this had been one of the those '62 changes. I had a quick conversation with Fr. after Mass and asked about that procession business. He said his ordo didn't mention it, but did mention the rogation business. [And I KNOW he did those as add ons, 'cuz I listened for them specially and he did them in addition to the rest.]

So I chalked it up to "well, they must have simplified that bit." Then this morning I looked at the post done by mulier-fortis and it turns out in her parish they did the Rogation day but no St. Mark. Which means they are doing it when in England? [Bueller? Bueller?]

So I pulled out my '25 missal and half understood the rubric mentioned (my latin isn't good enough for the fine points) so I called up the Sainted Fr. Shipley who was only too happy to translate for me as I read off the latin. He had no idea what the 62 changes were re: this....but the 1925 instruction basically said "If you people [wherever the heck your diocese is] depending if you're persecuted and used to doing this go ahead and do the rogation day and transfer St. Mark to the 3rd day after Easter .. but if it's Easter and there's a pink Cadillac on Mainstreet you can do what Fr. G. is going to do years from now and watch out for whatever things are coming down the pike in '62....]"

So they were both right. Maybe England is especially persecuted with all those people dying in the Tower and all that jazz but here in the US it's like ... "What, Me Worry?" Which is why I have the picture I do to accompany this post.

[Okay for the nerds out there the '25 missal said... for St. Mark (April 25) -

"Ad processianem dicitur Missa de Rogationibus, ut habetur suo loco in Proprio de Tempore, 287 [the rogation Mass] et, si contingat tranferri Festum S. Marci, non tamen, transfertur Processio, nisi quando praedictum Festum occurrat in die Paschae: tunc enim in Feriam III sequentem transferatur."]