Long-time readers know that I’m interested in how technology is changing society, including the role it will play in the religious world.
I’m therefore pleased to point to the Summoroum Pontificum Contact Database, which is designed to help make connections between people interested in having the extraordinary form of the Latin rite liturgy celebrated in their area (i.e., the "Tridentine Mass").
It’s only been out (so far as I know) since the motu proprio was released, and it’s already got 1400 contacts listed. The interface even allows you to specify possible ways that you might be able to help out (e.g., if you are a priest willing to say the Tridentine liturgy, if you’re willing to sing in a schola, if you’re able to help train altar servers).
If you have an interest in having the Tridentine form Mass in your area–whether you can help out in a special way or just help by your attendance–I’d encourage you to check it out.
(CHT to the reader who e-mailed!)
Desilite, milites, nisi vultis aquilam hostibus prodere.
… lest you betray too much personal information on the internet.
Some of the information you give will be readable by anyone – the vast majority of whom will be good people …
Do a search for your country/city to see if you are comfortable with that level of disclosure. eg full UK postcodes narrow down an address to about a dozen houses – consider giving just the first half of a postcode.
A (perhaps, over-cautious) caveat, especially for those new to the internet.
From July 16, 2007
1. G. Alex Benziger, Advocate,
St. Francis Xavier’s Church, Broadway Parish.
2. Michael Amalraj Edward, Advocate,
Our Lady of Good Health Church, Little Mount Parish.
3. S. Parisutham, Advocate,
St. Mark’s Church, Adambakkam Parish.
4. Dr. S. Leonard Vasanth, Advocate,
St. Fatima Church, Kodambakkam Parish
5. A. Arokiadoss, Advocate,
Holy Cross Church, T. Nagar Parish
6. D.Irudhaya Nathan, Advocate,
St. Francis Xavier’s Church, Broadway Parish.
7. Conscious Fernando, Advocate,
St. Luke’s Church, Anna Nagar Parish,
8. A. Amalraj, Advocate,
St. Andrew’s Church, Choolai Parish.
9. Antony Jesu Rajan, Advocate,
St. Anne’s Church, Nesappakkam Parish.
(All of us are Roman Catholic Advocates, Practising in the Madras High Court, Madras, South India)
To
HIS GRACE Dr.A.M. CHINNAPPA. D.D.,
Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore,
Archbishop’s House,
Santhome, Madras-600 004.
May it please your Grace,
Sub: Our request for the grant of Indult for celebrating Tridentine Latin Mass on Sundays in St. Mary’s Church, Co-Cathedral, Parrys, Madras-600 001- Regarding.
*****
Greeting in our Lord Jesus Christ
May we place before Your Grace a kind request of permission of Indult for providing us the Tridentine Latin Mass in the Parish Church St.Mary’s Co-Catherdral Shrine at Parrys, Madras-600 001 on every Sunday at 5.30 P.M.
1. The Liturgy of Mass is the greatest ‘Action’ where Our Lord Jesus Christ is brought down on earth in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, by the anointed hands of the specially consecrated persons of priesthood. It is certainly an extension of incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Savior and His Crucifixion, manifested for the redemption of our Soul of all the sacraments of the Church. The Sacrament of Eucharistic Liturgy is the heart-beat and the richest wealth of the Holy Mother Church.
2. Tridentine Latin Mass has been too evident a testimony to the sacrificial basis of the Roman Catholic Church, based on the great “Action of Christ” for centuries where the consecrated priest becomes “Alter Christus”. This Mass has, no doubt produced all the Holy Saints and Martyrs in the Church.
3. With the vernacular presentation of the Mass and with no one rubric, each priest has his own style of celebrating the Mass. No two priest celebrate the Mass in the same manner, so much so, the general comment of the faithful is always that ‘Fr. ‘X’s’ Mass is much better than Fr.Y’s’ Mass or is not as good as the other.
4. Pope John Paul II in his Encyclical, ‘Dominicae Cenae’ dated 24.02.1980 states as,
“I would like to ask forgiveness in my own name and in the name of all of your venerable and dear brothers in the episcopate-for everything which, for whatever reason, through whatever human weakness, impatience or negligence, and also through at the time partial, one-side and erroneous application of the directives of Second Vatican Council, may have caused scandal and disturbance concerning the interpretation of the doctrine and the veneration due to this great sacrament. And I pray to Lord Jesus that in the future we may avoid in our manner of dealing with this sacred mystery anything which could weaken or disorient in any way the sense of reverence and love that exists in our faithful people”.
5. As rightly pointed out by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger-the present Pope Benedict XVI-on 24.10.1998 to the 3000 traditionalist faithful in the Eternal City who are coming from as far away as Australia and New Zealand has said,
“the differences in the liturgy according to the new rite, as it is actually practiced in many places, are often greater than the difference between the new and the old liturgy, when both are celebrated according to the prescribed liturgical books” (the journal-“Inside the Vatican”, December 1998 issue).
6. Pope John Paul II in his Encyclical, “Dominicae Cenae” dated 24.02.1980 further states
“Nevertheless, there are also those people who, having been educated on the basis of the old liturgy in Latin, experience the lack of this “one language”, which in all the world was an expression of the Unity of the Church and through its dignified character elicited a profound sense of the Eucharistic Mystery. It is therefore necessary to show not only understanding but also full respect towards these sentiments and desires are to be accommodated, as is moreover provided for in the new dispositions. The Roman Church has special obligations towards Latin, the splendid language of ancient Rome, and she must manifest them whenever the occasion presents itself”.
7. Further Pope John Paul II in his Encyclical “Ecclesia Dei” dated 02.07.1988 states as….
“To all the Catholic Faithful who feel attached to some previous liturgical and disciplinary forms of the Latin tradition I wish to manifest my will to facilitate their ecclesial communion by means of the necessary measures to guarantee respect for their rightful aspirations. In this matter I ask for the support of the bishops and of all those engaged in the pastoral ministry in the Church”……… “moreover, respect must everywhere be shown for the feelings of all those who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition, by a wide and generous application of the directives already issued some time ago by the Apostolic See for the use of the Roman Missal according to the typical edition of 1962”.
8. Further we wish to state that the Holy Father Benedict XVI in his “Post Synodal, Apostolic Exhortation” “Sacramentum Caritatis” dated 22.02.2007 states as follows:
“…………… I am thinking here particularly of celebrations at international gatherings, which nowadays are held with greater frequency. The most should be made of these occasions. In order to express more clearly the unity and universality of the Church, I wish to endorse the proposal made by the Synod of Bishops, in harmony with the directives of the Second Vatican Council, that, with the exception of the readings the homily and the prayer of the faithful, such liturgies could be celebrated in Latin. Similarly, the better known prayers of the Church’s tradition should be recited in Latin and, if possible, selections of Gregorian chant should be sung. Speaking more generally, I ask that future priests, from their time in the seminary, receive the preparation needed to understand and to celebrate Mass in Latin, and also to use Latin texts and execute Gregorian Chant; nor should we forget that the faithful can be taught to recite the more common prayers in Latin, and also to sing parts of the Liturgy to Gregorian chant”.
9. There is a great depth of reasoning in having the dead language in the liturgy, so that the words are not misconstrued, misinterpreted or mistranslated with all exaggerations to suit the individuals and consequently, they are not being misconceived by the congregation. This should be the main reason why the other religions too, Hinduism, Islamism, Buddhism etc., have their religious prayers of worship and chantings in the dead language.
10. Motu Proprio “Summorum Pontificum” be considered as “established and decreed” by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on 07.07.2007 and to be observed from September 14, 2007 is as follows:-
“Art 1. The Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the “ Lex orandi’ (Law of Prayer) of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite. Nonetheless, the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and reissued by Bl. John XXIII is to be considered as an extraordinary expression of the same ‘Lex orandi,’ and must be given due honour for its venerable and ancient usage. These two expressions of the Church’s Lex orandi will in no any way lead to a division in the Church’s ‘Lex credendi’ (Law of belief). They are, in fact two usages of the one Roman rite.
“It is, therefore, permissible to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass following the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Bl.John XXIII in 1962 and never abrogated, as an extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Church”.
and some norms of law, issued in this regard and we are eagerly awaiting your Grace’s necessary directions.
Under these circumstances, we, the undersigned Catholics and on behalf of quite a good section of Catholics, in the City of Madras humbly make our submission to Your Grace and request your Grace to grant necessary Indult for providing us the Sacred Tridentine Latin Mass in St. Mary’s Co-cathedral Shrine on every Sunday evening 5.30 p.m. which will go a long way for the salvation of our souls in search of our Eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
Thank you and pray for your Grace’s Blessings.
Yours most Obedient Children in
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Copy to :-His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrillon HoyosPresident Commission Ecclesia Dei, Plaza del Sant’ Uffizio 11,00120 Vatican City, Italy, Europe. All Communication and Correspondence to G. Alex Benziger, Advocate, 18, Pidariyar Koil Lane, Chennai -600 001.e.mail:- alexbenziger@yahoo.com Name & Address of the Catholics 1. G. Alex Benziger, 2. Michael Amalraj Edward, 3. S. Parisutham, 4. Dr. S. Leonard Vasanth, 5. A. Arokiadoss, 6. D.Irudhaya Nathan, 7. Conscious Fernando, 8. A. Amalraj, 9. Antony Jesu Rajan,
alexbenziger@yahoo.com
Hey, Jimmy, I was already in the database by the time you posted!
I was the only one from my parish, at the time.
🙁
I do not feel comfortable with revealing the amount of personal data that is called for in the data base, so I won’t be participating in it. But having checked my state, there presently are less than a couple of dozen people listed, and all are scattered throughout the state–hardly a feasable situation, if one is trying to build a ‘stable’ group in order to petition for the TLM. I’m beginning to suspect that while the motu proprio does offer much in theory, the working out of the practical logistics in reality may not prove ‘do-able’.
Hey, Truefaith,
I spend have spent much time jumping around the Catholic blogosphere this summer and this was the FIRST time I had ever heard of this contact database. I think to draw such a conclusion as yours based on what you see on the database is potentially presumptuous given that many may not even have heard of it yet, and once they do hear of it, may not sign up on it for any number of reasons.
The database could serve many purposes, like contacting others locally with whom you could brainstorm ideas about how to together support the implementation of a Tridentine Mass, or at least getting other contacts then from THAT person. Tallying up the amount of people listed on the database, however, to surmise whether a ‘stable group’ exists in your area who would desire the old Mass, may not be one of these purposes.
Richard–You raise some valid points and ideas as to how folks can ‘brain storm’ together regarding the ‘out working’ of the motu proprio. This being said, I got the distinct impression that the primary purpose of the database, was precisely to gather a ‘band of brothers (and sisters)’, together in order to petition the local clergy for a TLM, since otherwise it might not happen. Also note that the database asks ‘what role’ you can fulfill–i.e. altar server, trainer, priest, etc., but of course there are other possible ‘out workings’ of all of this. Personally, I know ALOT of folks, and I don’t know of ANY people in my parish community that want a TLM–in fact I know quite a few who don’t want it, nor is there anyone living ‘nearby’–per database to warrant my involvement, hence my comments.
Truefaith – Thanks, and I’m sure many others would share your same feelings. But still – saying “that while the motu proprio does offer much in theory, the working out of the practical logistics in reality may not prove ‘do-able'” on what you see at your parish community and the database? Come now.
Richard–I do hope my prognostications are wrong, perhaps a revisiting of this topic in a couple of years–once the dust has settled, will give a truer picture of the situation. Perhaps the liturgical views that I’ve seen and heard, represent the all around ‘liberalism’–as well as moral rebellion of the area in which I live–not exactly fertile breeding ground for the TLM.
A Latin Mass, how wonderful! All the pomp but we don’t have to listen to the dreadfully dull words in a language most people understand. At last RC ism is relevent!
Woah, zing! That’s almost as witty if we were to tell you that your words would be more relevant if every time you opened your mouth a farting noise emitted rather than the words you would say. Probably stink up the local environment less as well.
Dear Spiritus Christi:
This would be a good time for you to devote some hard thought to how and to what extent understanding comes into play in the Mass. Does the validity of the Mass, or the efficacy of the Blessed Sacrament, in any sense flow from your understanding? Is the Holy Eucharist a gnostic exercise, requiring a contribution from the enlightened? Finally, since understanding is key to your way of thinking, what can you tell us about your powers of comprehension? Are they adequate to what’s happening on the altar? Do you have a thorough intellectual comprehension of the mystery of the Incarnation? Transubstantition? Unbloody re-presentation of Calvary? Atonement via Propitiatory Sacrifice? Do you feel sorry for yourself, knowing that heaven and the New Jerusalem hold no wonders for you, as you already have it all figured out? If you understand all of that, then surely you can understand this: that the rest of us, being not quite in your league, are learning to be at peace with the idea of mystery as a thing to be received in a spirit of faith, hope, and love.
EWTN to Televise Live Tridentine Mass Celebrated by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.
DENTON, Nebraska – AUGUST 17, 2007 – For the first time in its 26 year history, Mother Angelica’s Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) will be broadcasting a live Solemn High Mass at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama on September 14, 2007 at 8:00AM EST. EWTN has asked for the assistance of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, an international Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right, to help celebrate this “extraordinary” form.
This past July 7th, Pope Benedict XVI affirmed the beauty and importance of the Tridentine Mass by issuing Summorum Pontificum, a papal document encouraging and confirming the right of all Latin Rite priests to use this more ancient use of the Mass starting September 14th. The Tridentine Mass was the normative liturgy experienced by Latin Rite Catholics prior to the Second Vatican Council.
“Most Catholics have not seen this heavenly celebration in over 40 years,” said Father Calvin Goodwin, a professor at the Society’s international English-speaking seminary located in Denton, Nebraska. “We are very excited to help EWTN and to support the Holy Father’s call for a wider presence of this form of the Mass. This is a cause for great joy.”
Priests and seminarians from Denton, Nebraska will travel to Alabama and provide the celebrant, deacon, subdeacon, preacher, master of ceremonies and altar servers.
About the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
Established in 1988 by Pope John Paul II, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter is an international society of Catholic priests entrusted with the preservation and administration of the Catholic Church’s ancient Latin liturgical traditions. Over 120 seminarians are preparing for the priesthood in the Fraternity’s two seminaries in Bavaria, Germany and Denton, Nebraska.
About EWTN
Founded by Mother Angelica, a Poor Clare nun, the Eternal Word Television Network has become the largest religious media network in the world, transmitting programming 24 hours a day to more than 123 million homes in 140 countries and territories on more than 4,800 cable systems, wireless cable, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), low power TV and individual satellite users.
Contact:
Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary
7880 West Denton Road
Denton, NE 68339 U.S.A.
(402) 797-7700
seminary@fsspolgs.org
The link you provided above has a top ten list of articles, the first of which provides a concise, compelling examination of Canon Law on headcoverings. Still Binding? The Veiling of Women and Meatless Fridays
http://www.lumengentleman.com/content.asp?id=220