One Year Anniversary

Today is an anni-

versary for me. It's not a pleasant one to remember. It was one year ago today that I was told by my former pastor not to "chase after" and "embarrass" people who walk away from Holy Communion without consuming the Host. I quit on the spot. Usually you don't quit after 37 years all in a shock to the system like that. But I had to do it. Needless to say, the diocesan non-response of just shining it on without an apology is despicable to me. I never thought much of our bishop to begin with, but his non-response/handling is about as bad as the original offense as it condones what the pastor did.

Thankfully, I had already been going to St. Anne's parish in San Diego for frequent daily Mass, it having been close to my work. If not for Fr. Sean Finnegan's visit in the summer of 2008, I'd have been unaware of that new parish being given over to the TLM.

I still go to see the Sainted Fr. S. at his home to assist at his Sunday Mass. [He is not able to drive any longer, due to an eye problem.] But I also frequently make a morning Sunday Mass at St. Anne's, as well as get there for daily Mass when I can.

The TLM still has a few drawbacks for me. I'm no "silent" canon fan. But at least I know that the priest is going to say and do exactly what the Mass calls for. The priest isn't going to ad lib. And for sure he'd like as not personally put someone in a headlock who tried to waltz away with Holy Communion without consuming it. That's probably what I like best about the Latin Mass. Fr. Gismondi [aka "The Amazing Fr. G." on this blog] would follow through on St Tarcisius's example. Sadly, today, some priests would consider him a "meanspirited" naive rube.

Today Fr. Gismondi had a votive Mass for Vocations. Most appropriate. We need more good priests. And also prayers for priests who seem to have lost their way.

Mary Magdalen - they done her wrong!!!

...really. It's a never ending cycle of discovery for me this last half year with the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. I'm particularly fascinated by the propers for the Mass and the readings selected.

Today, I thought they did St. Mary Magdalen a nasty turn. Hey, you goobers that put that together: why did you choose Luke 7 for the gospel re: the "If he only knew the type of woman who was touching him.....yada-yada, ding dong." Thereby seeming to imply the woman in Luke 7 was Mary Magdalen.

Luke 8 CLEARLY states that LATER, after that event, he met up with Mary Magdalen the one he "drove seven demons out of." That could have well meant he cured her of epilepsy.

No wonder people conflated these two for years. The Baronius press wasn't exactly helpful in their commentary remarks on the Mass. They said she was "the sister" of Martha and Lazarus. Hey, not so fast there, Sparky....

Dom Gueringer, please pick up the courtesy white phone....

TLM '62 does St. John Fisher, St. Thomas More DIRT

Really. It's not on the "Universal calendar" of '62, so John and Tom don't get ZIP WORTH of recognition in the US. Oh, in England they do. But not here.

The pasta fazzoo eaters back in the Vatican then would have thought NOTHING of giving some grenouille eatin' peasant girl, or Sicilian guy who'd had a vision of St. Buonafangulo in his wheaties a whole day to themselves and put it on the Universal calendar. But the anglophone world? It took them around 400 years to get to even acknowledge St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More as Martyrs of the noblest sort -- but do they give them a place on the TLM Universal calendar? HELL NO.

Hey, if any of you spaghetti benders in the Vatican are reading this: CORRECT THIS. John and Tom mean a lot more to me than a "feria" day. These saints are especially important in the English speaking countries, and frankly, should be on the TLM universal calendar - given the go-along-to-get-along types which now infect civil governments everywhere.

The "Our Lady of Perpetual Help" votive Mass was said today. Frankly, I love her as 2nd mom, but John and Tom deserve their snaps and the church owed them better.

Cumque? Give us a break...

Fr. G. likes to have fun. Really. He takes full advantage of doing a votive Mass when there would otherwise be a plain old feria latin mass with "nothing doing." I was pleased yesterday morning when he'd chosen to do a memorial requiem Mass "just because." I knew something was up when I walked into church and saw the purple veil over the tabernacle. The sacristan was already in the pews, so I went over and asked "what's it going to be today" and he said "requiem memorial."

So I marked out "Mass for the dead" Basically the Mass said on Nov. 2nd for All Souls - with exception -- depending the "class of people" you're to remember. Well, we were okay, sorta. After Mass we compared notes and Fr. G. must have pulled some Gallician "only said twice EVER" Mass propers out for the Collect, Secret, and Post Communion. Everyone, including the sacristan thought "huh?" The collect started with "cumque" ["and with..."] -- none of us had that particular class of people in our Missals. Fr. G. "got us."

S'okay, score is one to one. The other week he didn't catch that he'd started to do the Mass he did on the Monday AGAIN on Tuesday. He caught himself after the first para. of the Gospel. He abruptly stopped. You could see the gears turn. "Hey, I THOUGHT I'd done this." So he flipped a few pages and started the right gospel. It pays to pay attention and follow the Latin...those who don't wouldn't have had the giggle. Didn't turn a hair, good man!

Mass today was easily the first Mass of that type I'd been to since Nov. 2, 1963!!! [Assuming mom and I went to Mass on that particular Saturday.] It was really neat to hear the Dies Irae said in the right context of the Mass. I've been enjoying the last few months, having been gradual exposed to every type of Mass. I'm collecting the whole set, bit by bit.

[On reflection I think there must be a "memorial Mass" somewhere for bank accounts - who knew?]

Around the Mulberry Bush with Mary

Sorta. I am beginning to appreciate that my own generation was not the only "jacked around one." I went down today to St. Anne's. Nice Holy Hour, Benediction, Mass, and Rosary and prayers for the 1st Saturday. Bits from 1920, bits from 1942, bits from '62, and a bit for the Feria of the day (St. Athanasius.)

The ordo on line wouldn't have helped, particularly. I think whomever jacked around with this stuff must have had shares in the printing companies that had the rights to publish at the time. Cynical? Moi? :-D

I didn't know the Immaculate Heart of Mary Mass was only made a universal in '42. Whatever. :-D It wasn't *quite* what it was (I think!) in 1920. I had it all marked out to follow the "Missae de sancta Maria in Sabbato" in "Tempore Paschali" Which wasn't quite right. (The Latin book I have is from the 20s. Close, but no cigar.]

I quickly grabbed the 1948 Mass which did have a Mass for the Immaculate Heart of Mary -- which irritatingly doesn't have the Epistle or Gospel in Latin. But I knew the Gospel was same in '62 as in the 20s. I'm not so sure about the Epistle though!

But I don't feel too bad. I'm pretty sure Father started to say the Gradual instead of the Greater Alleluia. He caught it and corrected. Unless going to the EF is giving me auditory hallucinations. Whatever. I didn't ask afterwards. Father had bigtime box office business in the confessional after Mass. Must be a good confessor. [No, I don't know. I usually go to complete strangers for confession! Easier for me to dump that way.]

[Uh, Fr. Gismondi, if you run across this, could you, like, maybe, when you put the bulletin together, just note the Epistle and Gospel readings to be done in the bulletin, as an extra clue? I knew it was going to be for the BVM today, but not the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Commems. didn't throw me. TLM pulls that often enough for even me to get that.]

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."]

Hey, Karen can play "spot the error" in the EF form too.

I think. This morning there was a substitute priest for the pastor at the UA Mass. the Mass was done for St. Anselm, a doctor of the church. I noted the Credo was to be added, but the supply priest (of the Sainted Fr. S's vintage) added the Gloria, and didn't do the Creed.

UNLESS this was some tweak put in in the '62 Missal as opposed to prior ones. Which wouldn't have made sense. Given he was a doctor who defended the Creed against those heretics in the east, it makes more sense to say the Creed rather than a Gloria. Whatever.

Still -- I think something like this would a nice little extra to do with a weekday Mass in honor of St. Anselm (and other doctors of the church.) Something, I expect, that got lost - along with various Octaves, etc.

I'd asked the deacon after Mass about this, but he wasn't sure, and I was in a rush to get to work. So if anyone can say: "No, it was supposed to be the Gloria, and not the Creed as was done" let me know.

What are the best webpages that might point out the various changes in the Missal done since, say, 1900 or thereabouts?

You know, no matter where you go to Mass you are never satisfied with the details...

.. I had a bit of a chuckle this a.m. I got to church an hour early to do adoration and take part in the Benediction given before Mass. Usually the powers that be are just taking out the pyx to put in the monstrance just about 8 on the dot. Well, today they were a little behind schedule, not much, maybe 5-7 minutes ... then the deacon rolled on out to do that. I was sitting in the front row, and an older lady behind me had just come in and knelt behind me and whispered in my ear "Aren't they a little late?" I said "just a few minutes." And she said "and why is HE doing it? He's not a priest." So I said "he was just ordained a deacon" and she said "But I thought you had to be a priest" and I said "no, deacons can do the full ceremony, and technically, if need be a layman can also lead a benediction, but can't do the blessing." She chewed on that a bit.



Then when the deacon had set up the monstrance and knelt, there was silence for a bit, and the lady whispered "Aren't we supposed to sing O Salutaris?" And I said "I expect he'll start it." About 10 seconds later, he started the verse. We all joined in and then the deacon got up from his kneeling position to go in the sacristy before the first verse was finished. The lady behind me was astonished. "WELL, I never ... he didn't even stay! WELCOME to the NEW CHURCH." Very miffled. [About 45 minutes passes, then the benediction proper is done, and very nicely too.] But I had to laugh a bit, if that's the worst abuse she has to put up with.

Oh, and there was a trifecta of sorts. This is the 3rd time someone asked if I wanted a veil. The first time it was by a very sweet old lady. The last two Sats. in a row two different guys came trotting all the way up front, veil in hand, to offer me one. The 1st guy made haste to leave me in peace at the first refusal. This last guy was clearly put out that I wasn't playing ball with St. Paul, who as far as I am concerned about the women covering their heads bit, can go fly a kite. I about told the last guy as much, if not in words by intonation. My refusal kind of had that "hell no" ring to it.

Misguided one: "Would you like a veil?"
Minding own business one: "No, thank you."
Misguided one: "Oh, do you already have one?"
Irritated one: "NO, and I don't WANT one."
Whimpering one: "But you're *supposed* to." (said as he retreated)

Dude, I don't "have to" do jack squat!!! St. Paul never intimidated me, and this guy striding up with a Peptobismal Pink(tm) mantillia isn't going to either! He can consider himself lucky I didn't tell him what he could do with himself and the pony he rode up on. Believe me, I was tempted. The worst of it is, he probably actually believes I "need to." Which is, if anything, what's "wrong" with some of the LM people. Been isolated too long. If this is to be participated in by the whole western church, then it's for ALL of us. Even the ones who would have told Paul to go chase himself. As to those who really think this way: If St. Paul came back today to tell two guys they needed to get circumcised so they could go preach to some Jews, don't tell me today's adult guys would hack off a bit of their wee-wee to comply. "Dude, can't you find some guys who were born Jews to do this? This whole town, and you can't find Jews who converted to Christ? Matter of fact, why don't YOU do it? April fool's day is OVER."


[Sorry for the funny angle on the video, but I was guesitmating by holding it in front of my sternum. Note the brand new altar rail and step facings and flooring. No, it's not an ideal angle, but it was a good angle for the Mass to follow.]

Sitientes Saturday, Skipping the Judica Mea and all that

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but so far I've been having an interesting Lent.

1) I haven't blown it yet on the Friday abstinence...but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that I make it all the way through, because it seems like 2 out of 3 Lents I blow it somewhere.

2) I've been going to daily Mass more. I go to my own parish for Sunday Mass, but I've found the times very convenient at the new EF St. Anne's parish for some weekday Masses. I don't make it every day by far, but I've been going anywhere between 2-4 additional weekday Masses.

3) I never knew before there was a "Sitientes Saturday." It's the Saturday after the 4th Sunday (Laetare) in Lent. I knew there was a "Gaudete Sunday" and "Laetare Sunday," but never realized there were other days that had a special name taken from the 1st word of the Introit. "Sitientes" means "thirsty [ones]" -- the ubiquitous "they" translate it as "you who thirst." The English translation of the verse begins "You that thirst come to the waters, saith the Lord: and you that have no money, come and drink with joy." Sitientes Saturday was traditionally a day on which ordinations are done ... which finally solved the mystery to me of why so many of our Irish priests have February and March ordination dates. Here I always assumed it was because they were more likely to be on trimesters rather than semesters in their seminaries.

4) Autopilot. Yeah, as I suspected, one of the drawbacks with Latin is I think sometimes because a 2nd language isn't your own native tongue, unless you are really bilingual, there is always a delayed reaction in understanding. In the TLM, unless it is a requiem Mass or Passiontide (like it is from the start of before vespers Saturday) the priest and server(s) alternate Psalm 42 at the beginning right after the 1st priest/server exchange. Yesterday morning, father messed it up...launched into the "Judica me...." then after a back and forth or so, caught himself and skipped to where he should have gone.

This morning, determined to get it right, he firmly said "Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini." [Our help is in the name of the Lord...] But the servers, NOT LISTENING, did the 2nd response they'd have normally given, i.e. "Quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo mea: quare me repulisti, et quare tristis incedo, dum affligit me inimicus?" ["For Thou, O God, art my strength, why hast thou forsaken me? And why do I go about in sadness, while the enemy afflicts me?" (You're probably in sadness because of all these purple draped figures around you, dude.) According to my Jungmann's Rite of the Roman ritual it's likely skipped because these very words are incongruous given the Passiontide. In other words "yeah, dude, well, duh!!! no need to wonder why you're so sad, given what we're going to commemorate very soon now."] I heard Father *sigh* just a bit, knowing that was 2 days in a row it was blown. Rather than correct, he acted like they hadn't answered incorrectly and carried on the whole way through the 42nd psalm.

Given that the priests who do the Latin Mass don't give the girls the "golden hand shake" keeping all the interesting stuff for the boys, I wonder if they don't first do the run throughs IN ENGLISH to make sure the servers know what they are saying. Because even in English most Catholics would know that the response to "Our help is in the name of the Lord" should be "who made heaven and earth."

Whatever. Lapse. But then in English people also go into brain freeze, so I wouldn't guarantee by a long shot necessarily much better, though I would have thought they'd self-correct sooner.

4. The missals are nice, but it's somewhat of a pain to use three. I have a small Sunday Missal. Excellent small pictures to the side to enable one to "self-check" during the silent canon if you're in the same ballpark spot as the priest. Nice big type that even my occasionally smeared contact lenses can see through come hell or high water. All the crosses the priests makes are clearly marked, which helps. Well, that's a good missal good for the common parts of the mass, but not the changeable parts. Need a daily missal for that. Smaller type font, and though the English and Latin is given for SOME of the short prayers like the introit and post communion, it doesn't have the Latin for the Epistle and Gospel. Geek that I am, I like to follow the Latin. But the Daily Missal is also good for making sure I've understood the readings in English first, to fill in the words I don't know in Latin. PLUS there is a nice section for Latin/English prefaces side-by-side, which isn't contained in the Sunday Missal OR my missal #3. A small, compact, entirely in Latin hand missal with very small type font and no illustrations. I use a plastic see through bookmark that also acts as a magnifying glass with this. The priest was curious to see it, as he hadn't seen one from the 1920s like I have. "A seminarian's missal" he called it. Big plus to this one is, all the changeable parts, save the preface are pretty much confined to two pages, and I don't have to do a lot of flipping around, I just turn at most (usually) one page.

So here's the drill: I get to Mass 15 minutes early. Grab the Daily [English] Missal, and mark the preface and read all the readings in English. Then I grab the Latin missal, find the Mass there (and this I keep book marked with a yellow sticky as the ribbon died long ago) and keep it on the edge of the page (and believe me it can be a bitch to find if you lose the place.) Then I read the readings in Latin and go back to the English if-I-am-really-not-getting-it until I do get it so as to be able to get both meaning and words more or less simultaneously. Then I lay those two books sideways next to me. The Latin Missal open to the right propers and the Daily Missal open to the right preface. (Believe me, you have to practically go on a Ranger Search and Rescue mission to find that.) Father walks in and I grab the Sunday missal to follow the common parts. When we hit the changeable parts, I lay the Latin missal (already open) right smack on top of the Sunday missal, and use that until after the gospel, then put it aside for the offertory. The Secret can STAY the secret, usually, as far as I'm concerned, because it's always short AFAIK, and it's too much of a hassle to lean over grab the magnifying bookmark and read it at the right time for that short passage - and I already read it privately earlier. But I do lean over for the preface, because the prefaces are AWESOME. Too cool for words. Soaring Latin prose...maybe not as good as the "six winged many eyed" angels in the Eastern rite, but close. Darn close. Then I can turn my attention to following that silent canon in the Sunday missal. I smile if I pace it so I hit that "nobis quoque peccatoribus" thing right on. Thank-you-subdeacons-who-aren't-there-anymore-waiting-for-the-signal-to-grab-the-Communion-bags-which-no-longer-exist. Then I eventually have fun changing the "Domine, non sum dignus" to "Domine, non sum digna" just to tick off Fr. Sean's friend, should he happen to be there and sitting next to me which hasn't happened but I hope will because I have never seen a cow, or a bull for that matter, give birth in church. I love to see men have hissy fits. [Google Z's blog for "Domine non sum digna" if you don't know what I'm talking about.] Then I get to stand during Communion, my eastern rite heritage way of saying "hey, I am standing aright and in awe, and my right knee, in particular, is blown, baby." Then at the end I use the Sunday missal and plop on the Latin Missal when need be.

5. IMO, Father reads the last Gospel way-too-fast-like-he's-in-a-race-but-then-maybe-all-the-cool-90-year-old-priests-he-may-have-learned-from-said-it-that-way-because-they-were-in-a-hurry-to-get-to-the-breakfast-bacon-before-some-other-guy-got-it-because-there-were-10-guys-in-the-rectory-back-then-and-it's-no-fun-sucking-hind-teat-at-breakfast.

6. The church is in an "interesting[?]" neighborhood/barrio/whatever. Let me just say if you lived in that school district you'd probably try and have your kids bussed somewhere else. BUT, on the plus side, I have seen some interesting phenomenon. One Saturday morning, about a block from the church, there were ROOSTERS, and only roosters, hanging all around one particular house. Haven't seen them out and about before or since, though I did hear one of them this morning. [Sometimes the "silent canon" is accompanied by some nearby barking dogs. The roosters are too far away.] Oh, and yesterday, I was running late, else I would have stopped and fished out the camera, there was a house, ENTIRELY painted with a Charger logo and in team colors. Insane and bizarre, but somehow refreshing because you KNOW that condo association people would die of apoplexy over something like that. I think I'd prefer overall, the occasional neighbor having a house painted as only a fanatical Charger fan would - or have someone who kept fowl to dealing with neo-nazi condo association people who never got over being treasurer of their sophomore class. Unless, of course the Charger house was right next to mine, or the mafia was involved in the cock fights. [How do you know the mafia was involved in a cock fight? They bring a duck. The duck wins.] I think I'll do pics of the Charger house and the city slicker roosters on Fri. or Sat. after I've had time to take a pic of the former - it's been a while since I did any San Diego Travelogue posts - and I've got another one of those besides that in the works.

I suppose I could just be there at Mass and say the rosary, but what fun would that be?

Nobis quoque peccatoribus to you too, buddy....

Last summer, for the first time since I was 7, I attended a Latin Mass. Fr. Sean was visiting, and I knew he was going to say this form of the Mass and I didn't want to miss out. And in the last month, since St. Anne's parish has been given to the EF form, and I've been "doing extra" for Lent, and some of the daily Mass times are convenient for me to attend and still get to work, I've been going occasionally.

I've been disappointed in the silent Canon...we're supposed to "pray along" but "they" [rubrics Nazis] seem insistent on not caring if the lay people know _Exactly where_ the priest is. If you bag the correct seat or two, where you can see the priest's hand movements, etc., you can be "in the ballpark" but not necessarily right on.

The ONE part of the canon that WAS said out loud were these three weensie words. I mean, if you're going to say SOMETHING out loud during the canon, you'd think it would be something major like "Hoc est enim Corpus meum." [This is my Body.] Nah. But WHY, I wondered, get the congregants to stir by saying aloud "Nobis quoque peccatoribus...?" [...to us, sinners also ...]

I figured it was something arcane. And it was. But I didn't know quite how arcane. I looked it up in my copy of Jungmann's "Mass of the Roman Rite." Here's what it says:

"In the Roman Ordines of the seventh century the plan supposed that the subdeacons, who, at the start of the preface, had ranged themselves in a row opposite the celebrant of the other side of the free-standing altar, and who during the canon bowed profoundly, would straighten up at the Nobis quoque and go to their assigned places so they might be ready to assist in the fraction of the bread as soon as the canon was over. This rule, which naturally had no meaning except at the grand pontifical services, was retained even when, at the end of the eight century, it became customary to recite the canon in a low tone. So, to give the subdeacons the signal when the time came, the celebrant had to say these words tin an audible voice. [etc.]"

Then the practise of having the subdeacons help in this way fell by the wayside over the centuries.

Great. So now these few words are said out loud to allow the now non-existant subdeacons a chance to help do stuff they aren't going to do because they stopped doing in centuries ago...Brilliant. But ask a little favor like "speak up so we can follow along in the missal" can't be accomodated. Sheesh.

[On another note I notice a friend of Fr. Sean's have a hissy fit over on "Z"s blog [even Z wasn't too upset about it] over a female substituting "Domine, non sum digna" [the female form] over "Domine, non sum dignus." I think I'll start saying the "digna" bit too just to tick off Fr. Sean's friend, should he be dancing in attendence.]

No, LM goers - you DON'T have to be dowdy

Really.

Jackie Kennedy, Easter Sunday, 1962 - that's as in going on close to 50 years ago.

Notice the length of Jackie's dress. Yes, right around the knee-cap. Where NORMAL Catholic women of the day wore their dresses. Notice how she is not wearing thin cotton trousers underneath for some weird-o sense of "modesty." Notice her dress is not mid-calf or longer. Notice she is not competing for the "Duggar dowdy" award and does not feel compelled to unite with the Pakistani "sisterhood."

Padre Pio allegedly would have fainted over the lack of sleeves, but most normal American women, even then, especially in warm climes, would not have.

So, please. Do yourselves a favor. Muslim men don't go to church, so you really don't have to worry about being leered at by Muslim men at a Catholic Mass.

For Latin Mass Priests, Especially Fr. Sean

This photo was taken this past Monday, on George Washington's Birthday. I went to Mass at St. Anne's in San Diego, which was given over to the Fraternity of St. Peter as personal parish. I thought Fr. Sean would like to see how they re-ordered it, since the half-way-there re-order he saw last July when he was out here. They still have a ways to go with the altar rail, you see a sort of intact rail, but the other side consisted hap hazard "stuff." [Cuz I can't spell prie-dieu right now for diddly.]

Is there some sort of Latin Mass Priest pact that the rest of us chumps are unaware of? When Fr. Sean was out here, I couldn't hear the canon. The most glorious canon written and I couldn't hear him for squat. Bah-humbug!!! I had my missal, but Father DUDES, if you're going to do this PLEASE SAY IT SO WE CAN HEAR IT. This priest -SAME THING. Otherwise you may as well say it in Sanskrit, or slaughter a pig. Can't tell the difference. I was discussing TLM with a friend of mine, and unprovoked she had similar thoughts. [She's in her early 60s. She said "it's too hard to try and figure out where Father is, even when you have a missal. I have to try and see his gestures, and try to find the right place in the missal, too hard without aural cues."]

I did bag one of the two seats acceptable for viewing purposes, so that was okay. And I have to say I enjoyed how well the servers executed their tasks. So easy to do it WELL with a bit of effort. Thoroughly unlike the two boys to served the NO rite Mass I attended Sat. Like chalk and cheese. I have seen many well excuted NO Masses - St. John's the Evangelist's servers, San Diego, are uniformly excellent from what I've seen - they PERFECTLY have the "symmetry thing" down - so I don't want to hear "well, the EF servers are better, blah, blah." But it irritates when servers aren't held to a high standard.

Also, you know it would REALLY help if in the bulletin for an EF parish, they'd be print out in advance WHAT readings are done. If you insist on not doing them in English, there is NO WAY you can convince me the Mass goer staring into space at that time has a freakin' clue. One thing to know the unchangeable parts of the Mass - quite another to be able to get the Latin on the fly with no advance warning. [Also this particular priest did largely SILENT offertory prayers too. GRRRRR!!!!]

They have Mass with benediction Fri nights, so maybe I'll go down there - but the "silent" thing is a real barrier for me. Darn good thing the FIRST canon done wasn't a silent one, otherwise none of us would have ever had a clue.

TLM and the "Silent Canon"

Whatever. Glad that Jesus DIDN'T do this, though to hear some Latin Mass fans, they might argue the point. And just out of curiosity, after they "sang songs" and went off into the night, who did the washing up? Or was it catered by Moishe Feldstein?

H/T to "anonymous"in combox on Pastor at Valle's out loud(2) blog entry for the inspiration.