Vidimus Dominum

According to some Anglicans, YES. From The Times. Andrew has commented on this in his post.

5 Reasons why I feel the Anglicans should reunite with Rome:

All who are interested in the Church’s liturgy are wondering if the Pope will soon issue a motu proprio allowing the celebration of the "Old Mass," and (if he does), what it will say. One of the Vatican’s liturgists sheds light on the Pope’s plans

ANTHONY VALLE: Your Excellency, you have been generous in giving several interviews to the international press regarding liturgy since becoming the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship. Some of your statements have been misinterpreted and aroused controversy rather than providing the intended clarity. Would you care to clarify anything?

ARCHBISHOP MALCOLM RANJITH: What I wished to insist on in those interviews was that the post-conciliar reform of the liturgy has not been able to achieve the expected goals of spiritual and missionary renewal in the Church so that today we could be truly happy about it.

Undoubtedly there have been positive results too; but the negative effects seem to have been greater, causing much disorientation in our ranks.

The churches have become empty, liturgical free-wheeling has become the order of the day, and the true meaning and significance of that which is celebrated has been obscured.

One has to, then, begin wondering if the reform process had in fact been handled correctly. Thus, we need to take a good look at what had happened, pray and reflect about its causes and with the help of the Lord move on to make the necessary corrections.

VALLE: It seems as if Pope Benedict XVI will release a motu proprio to liberalize the use of the traditional or Tridentine Mass. Some hope that the Pope’s motu proprio will institute a juridical structure enabling priests to celebrate the traditional Mass without being unjustly harassed and persistently thwarted by, ironically, not people of other faiths or secular authorities, but by their own pastors and bishops. Is this hope for a new juridical apparatus realistic? Is such an apparatus necessary?

RANJITH: Well, there is this rising call for a restoration of the Tridentine Mass. And even certain leading figures of the elite have made public appeals for this Mass in some newspapers recently.

The Holy Father will, I am sure, take note of this and decide what is best for the Church.

You speak of the possible realization of new juridical structures for the implementation of such decisions. I do not think that this would be so much of a problem. Rather what is more important in all of this is a pastoral attitude.

Will the bishops and priests reject requests for the Tridentine Mass and so create a need for juridical structures to ensure the enforcement of a decision of the Pope? Should it go that way?

I sincerely do not hope so.

The appropriate question the shepherds have to ask themselves is: How can I as a bishop or priest bring even one person closer to Christ and to His Church?

It is not so much a matter of the Tridentine Mass or of the Novus Ordo. It is just a question of pastoral responsibility and sensitivity.

Thus, if the Tridentine Mass is the way to achieve an even better level of spiritual enrichment for the faithful, then the shepherds should allow it.

The important concern is not so much the "what" as much as the "how." The Church should always seek to help our faithful to come closer to the Lord, to feel challenged by His message and to respond to His call generously. And if that can be achieved through the celebration of the Novus Ordo Mass or the Pius V Mass, well, then space should be provided for whatever is best instead of getting down to unnecessary and divisive theological hair-splitting. Such things need to be decided through the heart and not so much through the head.

After all, Pope John Paul II did make a personal appeal in Ecclesia Dei Adflicta of 1988 to the bishops, calling upon them to be generous in this matter with those who wish to celebrate or participate in the Tridentine Mass. Besides, we should remember that the Tridentine Mass is not something that belongs to the followers of Archbishop Lefebvre only. It is part of our own heritage as members of the Catholic Church.

The Second Vatican Council, as Pope Benedict so clearly stated in his speech to the members of the Curia in December 2005, did not envisage a totally new beginning, but one of continuity with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and a new outlook that better responds to the missionary needs of the time.

Besides, we also have the serious question of the diminishing number of faithful in some of the churches in the Western world. We have to ask ourselves what happened in these churches and then take corrective steps as may be necessary. I do not think that this situation is attributable to secularization only. A deep crisis of faith coupled with a drive for meaningless liturgical experimentation and novelty have had their own impact in this matter. There is much formalism and insipidity visible at times.

Thus, we need to recover a true sense of the sacred and mystical in worship.

And if the faithful feel that the Tridentine Mass offers them that sense of the sacred and mystical more than anything else, then we should have the courage to accept their request.

With regard to the timing and nature of the motu proprio, nothing yet is known. It is the Holy Father who will decide.

And when he does, we should in all obedience accept what he indicates to us and with a genuine love for the Church strive to help him. Any counter attitude would only harm the spiritual mission of the Church and thwart the Lord’s own will.

VALLE: Like many Catholics today, my wife and I have found that we leave the celebration of the Novus Ordo Mass on Sunday exasperated and perplexed rather than spiritually invigorated. Why?

RANJITH: In the celebration of the Novus Ordo we have to be very serious about what we do on the altar. I cannot be a priest who dreams in his sleep about what I will do at the Mass the following day, walk up to the altar and start celebrating with all kinds of novel self-created rubrics and actions.

The Holy Eucharist belongs to the Church. Hence, it has a meaning of its own which cannot be left to the idiosyncrasies of the single celebrant.

Every element in the liturgy of the Church has its own long history of development and significance. It is certainly not a matter of private "traditions" and so cannot be the object of manipulation by all and sundry.

In fact, Sacrosanctum Concilium does state that other than the Apostolic See and the bishops, where this is allowed to the latter by the former, "absolutely no other person, not even a priest, may add or remove or change anything on his own authority" (SC 22). Even then, we note much free-wheeling in liturgical matters in some areas of the Church today, basically due to an incorrect understanding of liturgical theology.

For example, the mystery of the Holy Eucharist has often been misunderstood or partially understood, leaving thus the door open to all kinds of liturgical abuses.

In the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, some place too much accent on the presidential role of the priest. But we know that the priest is really not the main agent of what happens on the altar.

It is Jesus Himself.

Besides, every liturgical celebration has also a heavenly dimension "which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem towards which we journey as pilgrims" (SC 8).

Others explain the Eucharist in a way that places the accent on its banquet/meal dimension, linking it to "communion." This too is an important consideration, but we should remember that it is not so much a communion created by those taking part in the Eucharist as much as by the Lord Himself.

Through the Eucharist, the Lord assumes us unto Himself and in Him we are placed in communion with all the others who unite themselves to Him. It is thus not so much a sociological experience as much as a mystical one. Hence even as "communion" the Eucharist is a heavenly experience.

What is more important is the sacrificial dimension of the Eucharist. Each time we celebrate the Eucharist we relive the sacrifice of Calvary, celebrating it as the moment of our salvation.

And this very fact also constitutes the unique dignity and font of identity of the priest. He has been instituted by Christ to celebrate the wonderful mystery of turning this corruptible piece of bread into the very glorified Body of Christ and this little bit of wine into the Blood of Christ, enacting the sacrifice of Calvary for the salvation of the world. And this has to be lived, understood and believed by the priest each time he celebrates the Eucharist.

Indeed, Sacrosanctum Concilium placed accent on the sacrificial and salvific effectivity of the Mass. The priest thus becomes another Christ, so to say. What a great vocation! And so, if we celebrate the Eucharist devoutly, then the faithful will reap immense spiritual benefit and return again and again in search of that heavenly nourishment.

VALLE: Some have contended that the solution to the liturgical crisis -- and at bottom the crisis of faith -- afflicting the Catholic Church today would be to implement the exclusive use of the Tridentine Mass, while others maintain that all we really need is a "reform of the reform," in other words, a reform of the Novus Ordo. What do you think?

RANJITH: An "either-or" attitude would unnecessarily polarize the Church, whereas charity and pastoral concern should be the motivating factors.

If the Holy Father so desires, both could co-exist.

That would not mean that we would have to give up the Novus Ordo. But in the interaction of the two Roman traditions, it is possible that the one may influence the other eventually.

We can’t say everything is completed and finished, that nothing new could happen. In fact, Vatican II never advocated immediate change in the liturgy. Rather it preferred change to "grow organically from forms already existing" (SC 23). As Cardinal Antonelli, a much revered member of the Concilium that undertook the revision of the liturgy after the Council, noted in his diaries, some of the liturgical changes after the Council had been introduced without much reflection, haphazardly, and made later to become accepted practice.

For example, Communion in the hand had not been something that was first properly studied and reflected upon before its acceptance by the Holy See. It had been haphazardly introduced in some countries of Northern Europe and later become accepted practice, eventually spreading into many other places. Now that is a situation that should have been avoided. The Second Vatican Council never advocated such an approach to liturgical reform.

VALLE: Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi ("The law of praying (is) the law of believing, (is) the law of living"). Is it true that how we worship and pray influences what we believe, and that what we believe influences how we live? In other words, liturgy ultimately influences our moral life, does it not?

RANJITH: Yes. How can we convince the faithful to make sacrifices in their ethical and moral options, unless they are first touched and inspired by the grace of God profoundly? And such happens especially in worship when the human soul is made to experience the salvific grace of God most intimately. In worship, faith becomes interiorized and brims over with inspiration and strength, enabling one to take the moral options that are in consonance with that faith. In the liturgy, we should experience the closeness of God to our heart so intensely that we in turn begin to believe fervently and are compelled to act justly.

VALLE: What are some contemporary liturgical trends or problems that need correction?

RANJITH: One of these, as I see, is the trend to go for ecumenical liturgies in replacement of the Sunday Mass in some countries, during which Catholic lay leaders and Protestant ministers celebrate together and the latter are invited to preach the homily. Sunday Liturgies of the Word with the distribution of Holy Communion, which form is allowed in cases where a priest cannot be present, if turned into ecumenical events can give the faithful the wrong signal. They may get used to the idea of the Sunday without the Eucharist.

The Eucharist, as you know, makes the Church (Ed E. 21) and this is central to us Catholics. If it is so easily replaced by Liturgies of the Word, or worse still by so-called ecumenical prayer services, the very identity of the Catholic Church would be in question. Unfortunately, we hear also of cases whereby the Eucharist itself is being celebrated under various guises along with the Protestant pastors. This is totally unacceptable and constitutes a graviora delicta ("more grave offense") (RM 172).

Ecumenism is not something left to the ad hoc choice of individual priests. True ecumenism, such as the one espoused by Vatican II, comes from the heart of the Church. For example, the path to true ecumenism begins with serious reflection on the part of those who are deemed competent to engage in that type of reflection, such as the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and the Holy Father himself. Not everyone has the competence to know in what way this delicate search for unity is to be perceived. It needs much reflection and prayer. Hence, liturgical novelty in the name of ecumenism should not be tried out individually.

A second disturbing trend is the gradual replacement of the Mass celebrated by a priest with a paraliturgical service conducted by a lay person. This of course can legitimately happen when no priest is available and facilities for the fulfillment of Sunday obligation are scarce. However, this is an exception, not the rule. What is dangerous is to marginalize the priest even when he is available and some lay pastoral leader team arrogates to itself tasks that are reserved for the priests. I mean by this the trend to get the lay leader to preach the homily instead of the priest, even when he is present, or to distribute Holy Communion, leaving the priest to sit idle at the altar.

We have to stress here that, as the Second Vatican Council affirmed, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood "differ from one another in essence and not only in degree" (LG 10). And so it is gravely abusive to relegate to the laity the sacred obligations reserved to the priest.

What is unfortunate is the increasing tendency worldwide to laicize the priest and to clericalize the laity. This too is contra mentem ("against the mind" or "against the intention") of the Council.

There is also an increasing trend to shift the Sunday Mass to Saturdays almost as a "normal" practice. Rather than Sunday being the true day of the Lord, and so a day of spiritual and physical rest, there is a move to reduce its importance, making it become a day of worldly distractions. In Dies Domini, Pope John Paul II warned against this disturbing trend.

A final point I wish to make here concerns some practices introduced in mission territories, for example, in Asia, in the name of change, which are counter to its cultural heritage.

In some Asian countries we see a trend to introduce Communion in the hand which is received standing. This is not at all consonant with Asian culture. The Buddhists worship prostrate on the floor with their forehead touching the ground. Moslems take off their shoes and wash their feet before entering the mosque for worship. The Hindus enter the temple bare-chested as a sign of submission. When people approach the king of Thailand or the emperor of Japan, they do so on their knees as a sign of respect. But in many Asian countries the Church has introduced practices like just a simple bow to the Blessed Sacrament instead of kneeling, standing while receiving Holy Communion, and receiving Communion on the hand. And we know that these cannot be considered practices congruent with Asian culture.

Besides, the laity whose role today is being enhanced in the Church are not even consulted when such decisions are made.

All these situations do not augur well for the Church and we need to correct these trends, if the Eucharist we celebrate is to become, as St. Ignatius of Antioch affirmed, "medicine of immortality and antidote against death" (Eph. 20).

Anthony Valle is a theologian and writer who lives in Rome.

Sadly, the Sacred Liturgy has been abused, and many faithful Catholics suffer from this. The confusion that these abuses spreads would cause much harm. In Sacred Liturgy, there is not much room, if I would say, no room for innovations and creativity the tamper with the Liturgy. As Benedict out Pope would put it, “Unspontaneity is of their essence. In these rites I discover that something is approaching me here that I did not produce myself, that I am entering into something greater than myself, which ultimately derives from divine revelation. This is why the Christian East calls the liturgy the "Divine Liturgy", expressing thereby the liturgy's independence from human control.”

Somehow or another, many seem not to understand the part on the 'liturgy's independence from human control' A good friend once said to me, that everything is connected. For instance, faulty philosophy leads to faulty theology, faulty theology would also lead to faulty understanding in the liturgy. And if the liturgy is tampered with, it would spread much confusion among the faithful. It works both ways, faulty understanding of the liturgy, would lead also to a faulty understanding of theology. Liturgy is divine, not something to play around with.

Some like to use the term 'pastoral reason' to justify the 'changes' in the Liturgy. But one must note that these pastoral reasons must be SERIOUS! Therefore, it must not just be for one's convenience. An example of this is the use of extraordinary ministers of Communion. Many don't get the meaning 'extraordinary'. It means that they are out of the ordinary, and don't appear all the time. To cut short the Communion lines, we place Communion Ministers and deprive many from receiving from the priest who acts in the person of Christ (in persona Christi). We have replaced the symbolism of the priest with practicality. And it should not be so.

Those of the older generation who have experienced the Tridentine Rite, they would remember that the priest faces God, towards the east, Ad Orientem, the priest along with the congregation of the faithful faces Jesus, the Sun of Justice. Nowadays, we rarely see that. Even Vatican II documents did not intend the priest to face the people. The question to ask here is, are the prayers of the priest directed towards the people or God? If the priest is to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass to God, wouldn't the prayers in the Mass be directed to God? Yes, the prayers are directed towards God, and there is no reason whatsover to not pray Ad Orientem. If the priest faces the people, in our weak human nature, there is a strong tendency to act. But this problem is averted if the priest along with the people of God would face in one same direction. We have given in to horizontalism at the expense of verticalism. In that sense, by turning the priest around, we seem to give more concern to the people rather than to God. The conversation between God and man has been replaced by a conversation between men. One of the side effects of this one-sided conversation is religious entertainment, people tend to think that Mass is some sort of an entertainment, rather that the Sacrifice that happened on Calvary. And we know that religious entertainment, which only excites the people superficially, won't work out at all.

“Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment. Such attraction fades quickly - it cannot compete in the market of leisure pursuits, incorporating as it increasingly does various forms of religious titillation.” - Pope Benedict XVI

The bottom line is, if the Liturgy suffers, the People of God suffers! We as faithful Catholics should play our part in restoring the Liturgy, that the Liturgy may truly be Divine, not just some work of men.

I've changed the background MIDI in view of the Holy Season of Lent. Enjoy!

This post is an update of Some Photos. In the previous post, I forgot to include the photo of the Altar Crucifix. To those who have asked to see a close up... here it is.

Here's a photo which I took this evening before Ash Wednesday Mass.
I burnt the last of previous year's palm leaves left behind by some members of the congregation.

Lent preparation for Lent begins today. It includes the three Sundays called respectively Septuagesima (50), Sexagesima (60), and Quinquagesima (70). They were so named because in the early days of Christianity many communities began the fast 50, 60 or 70 days before Easter. In order not to have to fast every day of the forty.

Today- Ash Wednesday- is the Wednesday after Quinquagesima. The name Ash Wednesday is derived from the imposition of Ashes upon the foreheads of the faithful. On this day- Ash Wednesday- the season of Lent commences; it is 46 days before Easter; thus the number of days is completed without the six Sundays, on which we do not fast.

During Lent the public life of Our Lord Jesus Christ is set before us, His previous fast, His Passion and death. The 40 days which intervene before the ascension represent the 40 days He spent on earth after His resurrection. (Traditionally, the 3 days before the Ascension are Rogation days; on these processions are held.)

This Lent let us obtain actual graces by performing good works, especially by prayer, fasting, and almsdeeds; and more especially by the use of the means of grace provided by the Church, by hearing Holy Mass and worthy reception of the sacraments.

God's grace cannot be obtained by our own good works alone, otherwise it would not be grace (Rom 11:6), yet these good works are necessary, for, as St. Augustine says, "God, Who created us without our co-opertation will need not save us without our co-operation." Not according to the works we have done but out of His mercy has God saved us (Tit 3:5). Graces are given to us by the Holy Ghost as He wills, with regard however to the preparation and co-operation of the individual (Trent 6,7). Hence it is that a man receives more actual grace as he is richer in good works. Some efficacious prayers include prayes to the Holy Ghost and to the Mother of God as we know that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him and that Mary is "full of grace", and "the dispenser of all graces." St. Alphonsus, founder of the Order of the Holy Redeemer reminds saying, "Let no one consider this last title extravagent, for the greatest of Saints have so spoken of her, and the Saints, as we know, were inspired by the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth."

Some other means of confering many graces include prayer to the Blessed Sacrament and the mortification of the senses. The latter (found in the conduct of the Apostles during the time preceeding Pentecost) is a good example of drawing down grace.

Have a Holy Lenten Season!

Copiosa apud eum redemptio,
Paul D. Molina
Ash Wednesday '07

(via NLM)

It is an objective historical fact that a great deal has been lost, liturgically speaking, these past 40 years. When one considers how many unique liturgical rites in the West disappeared almost overnight, it is hard to come to any other conclusion.

The Dominican rite, the Premonstratensian, the ancient Ambrosian and so many others virtually disappeared from use. There is also the issue of the classical Roman liturgy, which was so closely related to these other Western rites.

One might ask us however, why lament over this? These liturgical rites, after all, are not absolutes. The sacraments still exist, regardless of particular liturgical form. Moreover, the Holy Trinity is our end, not the sacred liturgy which is but a means to that end pointing us to the hoped for celebration of the Heavenly Liturgy in eternal beatitude.

These things are all true. We do still have the sacraments, the necessary instruments instituted by God for our salvation. The sacrifice is affected, even if not always understood by all within our parishes. God can be worshipped.

So is it wrong for one to be so concerned with the question of the liturgy? The answer is no. First proof of this is the fact that the Church deems it important. If the liturgy is one of our greatest teaching tools, then it cannot fail to have importance.

One might compare it to a book. The content of the book itself is ultimately the purpose of the book. However the sturdiness of the book's construction, the legibility of the text, the quality of the materials employed, these all matter and have an important part to play in the delivery of the contents of the text itself and to ensure that those contents are best delivered.

We might also compare the loss of our historic liturgical forms to the loss of a family home. The loss of these liturgical rites in the day-to-day life of the Church is like the loss of a home that has been in one's family for generations and generations. The sorrow at that loss is not only real, it is legitimate. While one might still have food and shelter over one's head (the sacrifice is accomplished, the sacraments delivered) which is most necessary, nonetheless that which ties us to our family and heritage is diminished. So too with the loss of our historical liturgical rites, which tie us to our Catholic heritage and to our spiritual family. It is something passed down to us through the centuries and a tradition which we continue in. This has profound spiritual value and power.

Take advantage of your short time
on earth. Do those things that will
lead you to eternal life.

WON'T YOU PLEASE?

Come to Me frequently before the
Blessed Sacrament, especailly,
when you are hurting with worry,
fear, anxiety and pain and suffering
of any kind.

Attend Mass and receive Holy Communion more frequently.

Pray more and say the rosary.

Get to know Me better so that I can
better help you carry your cross.

LENTEN REFLECTION
for All Churches' Ministries
12-14 March 2007
1900hr

TRIDUUM
Family
Mass and Healing Service

Family and Love
1900hr Thu 15 Mar 07

Family and Prayer
1900hr Fri 16 Mar 07

Family and Eucharist
1800hr Sat 17 Mar 07

FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH
Sunday, 18 March 2007 1700hr
Mass with Procession and Benediction

Today's 13th of the Month Fatima Procession turnout was lesser than usual. Perhaps everyone went Lunar New Year shopping.

On the bright side, at least I didn't have to arrange for extra chairs.

LISBON, Portugal -- A national referendum to scrap Portugal's strict abortion law appeared headed to defeat Sunday by low turnout, though a majority of voters cast ballots in its favor.
Debate over the law, one of the most restrictive in the European Union, pitted the Socialist government against conservative parties and the Catholic Church, which claims more than 90 percent of Portuguese as followers.

Under current law, the procedure is allowed only in cases of rape, fetal malformation or if a mother's health is in danger, and only in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The center-left Socialist government wants to grant women the right to opt for abortion during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Between 57-61 percent voted in favor of allowing women to ask for abortions up to the 10th week, compared with 39-43 percent who opposed the change, according to a poll by public broadcaster Radiotelevisao Portuguesa. However, the poll said turnout was around 34-40 percent, lower than the more than 50 percent required to make the ballot valid.

We need them in life's early morning,
We need them again at its close;
We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,
We seek them when tasting life's woes.
At the altar each day we behold them,
And the hands of a king on his throne
Are not equal to them in their greatness;
Their dignity stands all alone;
And when we are tempted and wander,
To pathways of shame and of sin,
It's the hand of a priest that will absolve us--
Not once, but again and again.
And when we are taking life's partner,
Other hands may prepare us a feast,
But the hand that will bless and unite us--
Is the beautiful hand of a priest.
God bless them and keep them all holy,
For the Host which their fingers caress;
When can a poor sinner do better,
Than to ask Him to guide thee and bless?
When the hour of death comes upon us,
May our courage and strength be increased,
By seeing raised over us in blessing--
The beautiful hands of a priest.

Author Unknown

You are not an island. You have parents, relatives, friends and neighbors, groups you belong to, people who make demands on you. As if that were not enough, you know that our world is not limited to the people we see or the things we feel inside.

We live another life too, the world of the spirit, the world of the interaction - love, interest, salvation - between you and Christ. There is a further interaction - deception, seduction, undoing - that Satan is trying to establish, although he would probably blush if he had to say so in public: you see, that is his private morality and you have no right to question it.

Now, where is this leading us?

You said you think you might have a vocation but you feel you are being pressured. Well, what you have to do is sort out what you mean by that.

Is someone standing over you, waving a finger at you and saying we have a lawyer, we have a doctor and now you are going to be the priest of the family? They say it used to happen in the past, I couldn’t tell. That would be obvious pressure. I’ve never seen it. Or rather I have seen it, but only used in the other direction: Don’t you dare go into the seminary, after all your mother and I have spent on your education...

What is more common for us is to feel a vocation and then to start questioning it. Where did it come from? Was it the Sisters in school? Am I just doing this to please my parents? It seems that I got the thought of a vocation from such and such a circumstance, from someone who mentioned it to me... how can it be a real vocation if I could never have felt it without going on that on retreat?... all those interminable stumpers that seem to force us to conclude, maybe I am thinking or doing this under someone else’s influence, maybe it is not a free decision.

So I think you should look at the root of the pressure you feel. If it is from the outside and nothing more, don’t give it a second thought. Don’t let that be a motive for doing something as important as making a life-decision. If it starts from the outside, but really bothers you because there is something working on the inside too, if your conscience is saying that might be right, then it is time to do something.

It is time to go on your knees if you haven’t done so yet. Because you and your Friend have a lot to talk about.

How many winds of doctrine we have known in these last decades, how many ideological currents, how many fashions of thought? The small boat of thought of many Christians has often remained agitated by the waves, tossed from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism, etc.

Every day new sects are born and we see realized what St. Paul says on the deception of men, on the cunning that tends to lead into error (cf. Ephesians 4:14). To have a clear faith, according to the creed of the Church, is often labeled as fundamentalism. While relativism, that is, allowing oneself to be carried about with every wind of "doctrine," seems to be the only attitude that is fashionable. A dictatorship of relativism is being constituted that recognizes nothing as absolute and which only leaves the "I" and its whims as the ultimate measure.

We have another measure: the Son of God, true man. He is the measure of true humanism. "Adult" is not a faith that follows the waves in fashion and the latest novelty. Adult and mature is a faith profoundly rooted in friendship with Christ. This friendship opens us to all that is good and gives us the measure to discern between what is true and what is false, between deceit and truth.

We must mature in this adult faith; we must lead the flock of Christ to this faith. And this faith, the only faith, creates unity and takes place in charity. St. Paul offers us a beautiful phrase, in opposition to the continual ups and downs of those who are like children tossed by the waves, to bring about truth in charity, as fundamental formula of Christian existence. Truth and charity coincide in Christ. In the measure that we come close to Christ, also in our life, truth and charity are fused. Charity without truth would be blind; truth without charity would be like "a clanging cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1).

Today the 1962 Roman Missal celebrates the III Class feast of The Seven Holy Founders of The Servite Order.

Seven noble Florentines founded in 1233 the Order of the Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Servites led an austere life, meditating constantly on the Passion of our Lord and venerating the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows.

For more information, see EWTN Library.

Dr. Daniel Van Slyke, Associate Professor of Church History at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, returned to OLGS on 10th Feb to deliver the second installment (of three) of a block course on the history of the liturgy.

An example of one of Dr. van Slyke’s insights involved the increased use of the Roman Rite after Trent. Many historians believe that the Roman Rite spread throughout Europe after the Council due its imposition by the Pope St. Pius V. Yet, Trent ruled that any liturgical tradition, which was at least 200 years old, could remain in force. Since most local traditions (e.g., the Sarum and Bobbio Rites in England and the Rite of Lyons in France) fit into this category, they were not suppressed by Rome. According to Dr. Van Slyke, a major factor for the spreading of the Roman Rite was the invention of the printing press. Since it did not make sense for printers to reproduce missals that would only be used by a few hundred priests in a particular area, they latched onto the Roman Missal and by doing so made it readily available. Meanwhile, the only way to maintain regional traditions would be for copyists to reproduce local missals by hand. If the area had the financial wherewithal to maintain its traditions as the Church in Milan had, then it survived after Trent. In other areas, bishops simply found it easier to adopt the Roman Rite by purchasing a printed copy of the Roman Missal.

Let's suppose that I interviewed David Duke, the Louisiana politician who rails against what he calls Jewish supremacy, and also interviewed the lunatic preacher who disrupted the funerals of American servicemen with his message of killing all the gays.

And let's suppose I presented these men's views as typical of American Christian thought.

You'd say, and rightly so, that these men are not representative of mainstream Christianity, much less mainstream America. Well, the same thing applies to Islam. There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world. Broadcasting or reporting the words of a few extremists does not reflect mainstream Muslim thought.

Yellow journalism is never all right, but as long as it's confined to celebrities and other nonimportant matters, it is at least not too harmful. But yellow journalism applied to national security and to foreign affairs should be considered unacceptable.

A number of irresponsible journalists and broadcasters, egged on by the crazy neocons, are trying to duplicate the mass fear of foreigners that characterized earlier times in America when demagogues spoke of the "yellow peril." Now demagogues speak of the "jihadi peril." And, as was inevitable, the demagoguery slips away from Muslim extremists and talks about Muslims and Islam as if there were no difference.

Yes, there are some Muslim extremists, just as there are some Christian extremists, Hindu extremists, Jewish extremists and so forth. Extremism is a personality disorder not confined to any one religion or political system. Anyone can become infected with it.

Islam has been around for more than 1,300 years. The overwhelming majority of Muslims are peaceful people, just like you and I, and they are not plotting to storm the citadels of the West. Muslim countries are full of universities, professors, poets, novelists, scientists and engineers. It was the Muslims who preserved the wisdom of the classical world and passed it on to the Europeans, thus making the Renaissance possible.

And there have been American Muslims since at least the late 1800s. Most of them so assimilated into American society that no one noticed them. They are as patriotic as any other American.

Most of the conflict in the Middle East – at least until we stirred the caldron in Iraq – is about secular matters, not religion. Hamas and Islamic Jihad oppose Israeli occupation of Palestine. Hezbollah opposes Israeli occupation of Lebanon. Even Osama bin Laden, if you bother to read what he says, opposes us on secular matters – support for Israel, the invasion of two Muslim countries and our massive military presence in the Persian Gulf.

The neocons would like to convince you that it is a war over religious matters so they won't have to address the real causes, which are our own bad policies in that part of the world.

You should know that the wealthy powers in this world wouldn't waste a dime on a religious conflict. It's control of the world's oil that interests them, and also the arms business. War to them is a profitable enterprise, especially since they and their children don't have to fight the wars.

These elite almost panicked when communism collapsed. How could they maintain power and make money without an enemy at the gate? Then bin Laden gave them exactly what they wanted with the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Now they have an enemy so ill-defined, their "war on terror" can go on forever, provided they can keep the American public ignorant and ill-informed.

BE CONVERTED AND believe in the Gospel (Mk 1:15). This command of Jesus rings out ever more strongly today, inviting man to conversion. This inner attitude of conversion, that is the condemnation of and detachment from sin and a striving towards God, is accompanied also by external acts of penitential practices.

The interior and religious character of penance neither excludes nor lessens in any way the external practice of this virtue. By divine law all the faithful are required to do penance. Even in biblical times we see people doing some form of penance as a sign of sorrow for their sin. It is indeed a religious, personal act which has as its aim, love and surrender to God. There is no lack of examples in Scriptures also of a social or collective awareness of sin.

Reaffirming this necessity, the church continues to seek - beyond fast and abstinence - new expressions of penance, more suitable for the times. Lent remains the pre-eminent Penitential season. All Fridays are days of penance because each Friday recalls the crucifixion of Our Lord. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday remain days of fast and abstinence.

Fasting means that the amount of food we eat is considerably reduced. All Christians from the age of 18 to the beginning of 60 are bound by the law of abstinence (C. 1252). However our penance cannot be restricted to refraining from meat on Fridays.

In order that we appreciate the meaning of penance more deeply, any of the following practices may also be adopted to fulfil the obligation of penance (on Fridays throughout the year unless they are solemnities):
1) By abstaining from meat and having simple meals;
2) By abstaining from alcoholic drink, smoking or some form of amusement;
3) By making the special effort involved in family prayer, taking part in the Mass, a visit to the Blessed Sacrament or a more attentive reading of the Bible, visiting the Blessed Sacrament or praying the Stations of the Cross;
4) By fasting from all food for a longer period than usual and perhaps by giving what is saved in this way to the needy at home and abroad; and
5) By making a special effort to spend time with or help somebody who is poor, sick, old or lonely.

The obligation to do penance every Friday remains an essential part of our Christian life. However, the manner we do it can take a different form every Friday. It is hoped that all the faithful of this region may make that sincere effort in memory of the Passion and Death of our Lord.

May this Lenten Season be a special time of grace for all of us. May we learn to die to ourselves so that we will rise with Christ at Easter!

Yours devotedly in Christ,
Archbishop Nicholas Chia

ROME, FEB. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.

Q: A member of the RCIA program was told by another member of the parish that if they were going to become Catholic they needed to terminate their involvement with the Masonic lodge before they could join. Is this still the case in the United States? -- T.N., Howard City, Michigan

A: This question is more canonical than liturgical. The Church's position with respect to membership of Masonic lodges, even though canon law no longer explicitly mentions the Masons, has not substantially changed.

The new code states in Canon 1374: "A person who joins an association which plots against the Church is to be punished with a just penalty; however, a person who promotes or directs an association of this kind is to be punished with an interdict." An interdict is an ecclesiastical penalty that deprives the person of the right to celebrate or receive the sacraments but is less harsh than excommunication.

This text greatly simplified the former code which had specifically mentioned the Masons. This change led some Masons to think that the Church no longer banned Catholics from being Masons, since, among other things, in many countries membership at a lodge was merely social and had nothing to do with plotting against the Church.

In order to clarify the issue the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published a declaration on Nov. 26, 1983, shortly before the present Code of Canon Law came into effect. This declaration, signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, states:

"It has been asked whether there has been any change in the Church's decision in regard to Masonic associations since the new Code of Canon Law does not mention them expressly, unlike the previous Code.

"This Sacred Congregation is in a position to reply that this circumstance in due to an editorial criterion which was followed also in the case of other associations likewise unmentioned inasmuch as they are contained in wider categories.

"Therefore the Church's negative judgment in regard to Masonic association remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.

"It is not within the competence of local ecclesiastical authorities to give a judgment on the nature of Masonic associations which would imply a derogation from what has been decided above, and this in line with the Declaration of this Sacred Congregation issued on 17 February 1981 (cf. AAS 73 1981 pp. 240-241; English language edition of L'Osservatore Romano, 9 March 1981).

"In an audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect, the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II approved and ordered the publication of this Declaration which had been decided in an ordinary meeting of this Sacred Congregation."

The congregation's judgment, therefore, was not so much based on whether the Masons as such or any specific group of Masons effectively plot against the Church today. This does not deny that some Masonic groups have historically combated the Church nor that even today, in some countries or at certain levels, the lodge remains at the forefront of those who oppose the Church's freedom of action.

Rather, the Vatican congregation above all stressed the incompatibility of some Masonic principles with those of the Catholic Church.

This incompatibility resides in some aspects of Masonic ritual, but more importantly in elements regarding the question of truth.

In its effort to bring together people of different provenances, Masonry requires that its members adhere to a minimal belief in a supreme architect of the universe and leave aside all other pretensions of truth, even revealed truth.

It is thus basically a relativistic doctrine, and no Catholic, nor indeed any convinced Christian, may ever adhere to a group that would require him, even as a mere intellectual exercise, to renounce the affirmation of such truths as Christ's divinity and the Trinitarian nature of God.

Of course, for many people active in Masonic lodges, the conversations and activities are more social in nature and rarely veer toward the realm of philosophical speculation. A Catholic, however, cannot ignore the fundamental principles behind an organization, no matter how innocuous its activities appear to be.


Read the Pope Clement XII's 1738 bull condemning freemasonry.

"Infant baptism or not?" This has been the issue in my family for 2 generations. My grandmother decided against infant Baptism, so my father and his sisters (my aunts) were never baptised as infants. However, being half Filipino, Catholicism was always somewhere in the picture, my father went to a Catholic school and I remember my grandmother trying to admit my aunt(s?) into the CHIJ, Town Convent. Having grown up beside St. Joseph's Church in Bukit Timah, I remember how I was taught to pray to St. Joseph by placing my hands on his feet. I also learnt how to make the sign of the cross and say grace before meals. During Lent, I remember walking the life-sized Stations of the Cross. I also recall watching 'Jesus of Nazareth' on Good Fridays; my father would screen them.

Having said this, I must mention, that I too didn't receive the Sacrament of Baptism as an infant.

When I was 13 wanted badly to be in 'Full Communion' with the Church (not that I ever felt less a Catholic... Ok, so I did... I wanted the receive the Eucharist). At that time, my uncle and his family were journeying through RCIA, I wanted to join him. I father decided against it. I was so angry that when he did change his mind, I didn't want to attend it out of defiance. A year later, at 14, I consulted my Parish Chuch, to see if I could join RCIA. I was told that I was too young and I needed Parental approval; I didn't want to approach my father after the first incident. Another year went by.

Still deep longing for the Sacrament of Baptism, I decided to attend the Anglican Parish of The True Light. I knew that they'd give the Sacrament to anyone who expressed interest, regardless of age. True enough I was Baptised and annointed that very year at the age of 15 by Rt. Rev. Bishop Moses Tay, in the old Catholic rite of Baptism. When I turned 16, I sought Rev. Fr. Edmund Chong, who was the assistant Parish Priest of St. Joseph's. I did an 'express' RCIA and was finally admitted into the bossoms of Holy Mother Church at Easter.

It was a long journey but it sure was worth it. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise... my journey alone only served to strenghten my conviction that the Holy Roman Catholic Church is the One, True, Apostolic Chruch founded by Jesus Christ.

My year with the Anglicans also enabled understand that the present disarray of Anglicanism is, in itself, clear evidence of the need for a defined focus of authority in the life of the Church on earth, and that such a magisterium is to be found in the person of Peter and his successors in the Holy See; The Pope. (See Can the 39 Articles Function as a Confessional Standard for Anglicans Today?)

Now, I aspiring to the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Do pray for me.


Copiosa apud eum redemptio,
Deo Juvante
Feast of St. Jerome Emiliani, Priest & Josephine Bakhita, Virgin

Here are some of the photos that Andrew had requested for in this comment. I took them yesterday when I made a trip back home. The photo appears differently from the description in the 'Five Random Things Meme' as I did a little 'remodelling'.

(via Chiesa)

Valentino Miserachs Grau, the dean of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, blows a clarion call to the leadership of the Church. Will they listen to him?

by Sandro Magister

ROMA - Valentino Miserachs Grau, 60, from Cataluña, has been for eight years the dean of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, the liturgical-musical "conservatory" of the Holy See, the body charged with forming Church musicians from all over the world.

But - as he explains in the conference shown below - neither he nor PIMS has normative authority in regard to liturgical music. Neither has the Vatican any office so commissioned.

Do you want evidence of this absence of authority? While PIMS bases its formation on the three columns of Gregorian chant, polyphony, and organ music - in fidelity to the instructions of the Second Vatican Council - almost the entire Church, including its leadership, is going in a completely different direction.

Miserachs sees the effects of this as nothing short of disastrous, even to the point of musical and liturgical illiteracy. "Never," he says, "has there been a degeneration like the present one."

But the dean of PIMS does not despair. Just as on the other occasions in the past when the Church has responded to crisis situations in sacred music with energetic reforms, just so can it do today.

His proposal for a new reform is explained in the text that follows. It is a conference that Miserachs gave last October in Barcelona. Ample selections from the introduction and from the final chapter are presented here:


The Church and Sacred Music: Past, Present, and Future

by Valentino Miserachs Grau


Beginning in 1995, when I was named dean of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, PIMS, in Rome, little by little my life has gone down a different path. From the time of my priestly ordination in 1966, I have alternated my ministry with musical activities. [É] In 1973, I began working as the choir director at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a post I still occupy. [É] So for thirty years of my life I have dedicated myself to composition, to the direction of the basilica choir and of other choral and orchestral groups, to teaching, and to performance.

From 1995 all of these activities have been curtailed, for better or for worse, due to my responsibilities and obligations for directing the institute. [É] A sort of moral responsibility relative to the general situation of sacred music in the Catholic Church has fallen upon my shoulders. Many approach the institute as if it were a normative body in regard to liturgical music. [É]

But when I considered the matter, it struck me that there is no specific pontifical body that oversees liturgical music. [É] This has led to a scarcity of Church documents on the question. Apart from the fourth chapter of the constitution ´Sacrosanctum Concilium´ (1963) of the Second Vatican Council, which is dedicated to sacred music, and the subsequent instruction ´Musicam Sacram´ (March 5, 1967) from the Congregation for Rites, very little else has been said on the subject. There have been noble efforts to follow the right path, but this silence has permitted an anarchical proliferation of the most disparate experiments - conducted, perhaps, in good faith. These experiments, in many cases, have introduced into liturgical music a bundle of banalities adapted from pop music or other extravagantly exotic sources, in disregard of what Paul VI himself said in 1968, speaking to the participants at a national congress of AISC, the Italian Association of St. Cecilia: "Not everything outside of the temple is worthy of crossing its threshold". [É]

On the occasion of the imminent centenary of St. Pius X´s motu proprio ´Inter Sollicitudines´ (November 22, 1903), which represented an historic turning point in the reform of a Church music contaminated by the excesses of the most decadent theatrical style, I believe that a new reform should be set in motion. This reform should better diffuse and coordinate the positive efforts, both past and present, of the local churches. While taking account of the different situations and possibilities, it should also aim to recover Gregorian chant, polyphony, and organ music, the triad extolled by the Second Vatican Council and recently re-proposed forcefully by John Paul II in a speech he gave during an audience granted to PIMS on January 19, 2001, the 90th anniversary of its foundation. In so doing the reform must watch carefully and resolutely for anything in the words or music that is unworthy of or inconvenient to worship, or that does not have the characteristics of true art.

In this regard I recently went to the highest representatives of the Catholic Church to ask them to consider the possibility of creating a pontifical body with the task of overseeing sacred music and, more specifically, liturgical music.

The thesis I would like to illustrate [É] is the following. It has become almost an historic constant that a good praxis will end in abuse, and that the way marked out as being good will not be followed as it should. This provokes, or should provoke, a corrective reaction - or, put in a simple and comprehensive way, a reform.

Has the time perhaps come to undertake a reform? What must be done? We will try to answer these questions in the fourth and final part of my address, after examining in the first three parts [1. The Middle Ages, 2. The Council of Trent, 3. St. Pius X] the lesson we may gather from what has come forth from some of the moments in the history of liturgical music. [...]

4. THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL AND ITS AFTERMATH

[É] On December 4, 1963, the Second Vatican Council unanimously approved the constitution ´Sacrosanctum Concilium´ on the sacred liturgy, whose splendid fourth chapter is dedicated to sacred music. It contains the following excellent working declarations:

1. The Church approves and admits to divine worship all forms of true art endowed with the proper qualities. The aim of sacred music is the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful.

2. The patrimony of sacred music must be preserved and augmented with the greatest care, and a commitment must be made to promote the ´scholae cantorum,´ without disregarding the active participation of the faithful.

3. Musical formation and practice must be cultivated carefully in the seminaries, in both men´s and women´s novitiates, and in other Catholic institutes and schools. We also recommend, if it be opportune, the erection of higher institutes of sacred music.

4. The Church recognizes Gregorian chant as proper to the Roman liturgy: thus, in liturgical celebrations, as conditions allow, it should be given pride of place.

5. Other forms of sacred music, and especially polyphony, should by no means be excluded from the divine offices.

6. The pipe organ is greatly honored as a traditional instrument in the Latin Church. Its sound is able to add marvelous splendor to the ceremonies of the Church, and to elevate souls powerfully to God and to the supreme realities. Other instruments may be admitted to divine worship, provided that they be adapted to sacred use or may be adapted to it, that they be fitting to the dignity of the temple and truly favor the edification of the faithful.

7. Musicians, animated by the Christian spirit, should feel themselves encouraged to cultivate sacred music and increase its patrimony. They should compose melodies that can be sung, not only by the greater scholae cantorum, but also by lesser ones, and that favor the active participation of the faithful.

The instruction ´De Musica in Sacra Liturgia,´ published by the Sacred Congregation for Rites on March 5, 1967, delves much more deeply into particulars, but without detaching itself in the least from what was deliberated by the Council.

What a marvelous panorama opens up before the eyes of one reading these texts! But what a desolate landscape have we instead been given to inhabit, after the Council´s prescriptions have been ignored, and a contrary course frequently followed, for forty years!

The Council has been betrayed by the reckless daring of some and by the cowardly passivity of others. Do you want a recent example? A person who occupies a place of high responsibility in the field of sacred music, in an interview given to an Italian daily, responded to the question of what should happen to the music of Bach, Mozart, and Palestrina with these enlightening words: "These remain pages from the past, to be studied attentively and performed in concert. But in many cases they are not at all suitable for the liturgy."

How does one reconcile such a judgment with the thoughts of Vatican II mentioned above? How does one reconcile it with what John Paul II, on February 2, 1994, wrote to Monsignor Domenico Bartolucci, the permanent director of the Pontifical Musical Chapel, on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the death of Palestrina? The pope, after extolling Palestrina as a musician, as a Christian, and even as a "liturgist," continued by saying:

"He let himself be guided by the liturgical spirit in the search for a language which, without renouncing emotion and originality, would not fall into outworn and banal subjectivism. These qualities, always present in his vast musical opera, have contributed to the creation of a style that has become classic, universally recognized as an exemplar in the field of composition destined for the Church."

Continuing, the pope put his finger on what I believe is the real wound:

"Today, like before, musicians, composers, the cantors of liturgical groups, Church organists and instrumentalists must realize the necessity for a serious and rigorous professional formation. Above all, they must be attentive not to exempt any of their compositions or interpretations from the obligation of being inspired, correct, and attentive to esthetic dignity so as to become effective prayer." [É]

During the 1970´s in Rome, we witnessed the phenomenon of the so-called "beat mass" . [É] It had the effect of a nuclear meltdown, with the fatal consequence of recognizing the "right to liturgical citizenship" of a practice as dangerous as it was reckless. That is to say, liturgical music now could be - or even must be? - a simple transposition of the profane music then in style. Mass-market music - inconsistent, insipid, and ephemeral - was then erroneously and unjustly dubbed "popular," just as its disconcerting, clamorous, noisy, twisted manifestations that so delighted huge, undiscerning crowds were erroneously called "concerts." It is precisely this false "popular" genre, imposed by the overwhelming force of the means of communication at the service of unscrupulous vendors, that has dried up the pure springs of Gregorian chant and of cultured popular music that constitute the most beautiful decoration of our churches and celebrations. [É]

We were greatly comforted by what the Holy Father said during the audience granted to PIMS on January 19, 2001, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the institute´s foundation:

" [É] The study and practice of music using the forms and instruments that the Second Vatican Council designated as privileged - Gregorian chant, sacred polyphony, and the organ - should be preserved and promoted. Only thus can liturgical music fulfill its duty worthily in the context of the of the celebration of the sacraments, and in a special way, of the Holy Mass."

That "only thus" is as good as gold, but who will listen to the voice of the pope? Now that adherence to those principles, consolidated by a centuries-old tradition, has been diminished, we have fallen so far as to see the liturgy (even in the more or less prestigious cathedrals) turned into so many festivals of pop music. [É] The teachings of the Church have been distorted with the pretext of a necessary modernization, of a rightful updating, of an inculturation that will render the Christian message and the celebration of its mysteries more comprehensible to the people. [É]

I don´t know whether the competent authorities truly appreciate the scope of the malignant musical praxis that has in some measure spread everywhere, and its negative repercussions on the ´lex orandi,´ and thus also on the ´lex credendi´. [É] An unequivocal sign of the current abasement of the incorrect understanding of the function of singing within the liturgy are the expressions unfortunately now in use, such as "the liturgical celebration was performed, accompanied, gladdened by the such-and-such choir of so-and-so." It is in fact evident that those who express themselves in this way consider liturgical singing nothing other than a more or less pleasing pastime.

Doesn´t it seem to you that the current situation, at least in its most strident forms, [É] presents many analogies with the three historical moments previously outlined, and in particular with the situation that brought about the reform of St. Pius X?

But we must note an important difference: the reforms of the past had to deal with forms of music that were, perhaps, "excessive," but formally correct. But much of the "music" that is written today ignores, I will not say the grammar, but even the ABC´s of musical art. In the more or less critical situations that we have considered, there was never a degeneration like the present one. [É]

It seems evident to me that a reform is necessary that will inspire a commitment of faithfulness to the council. This question must be taken seriously, beginning with formation. Priests of a certain age will recall how much importance was accorded to musical formation in the seminaries. In the current ´Ratio Studiorum´ music is not even mentioned; this is certainly not what the council desired. What is needed, therefore, is a change in mentality, to consider liturgical celebrations - including music - as requiring our foremost attention.

What is the use of having beautiful churches, precious vestments, excellent translations of the liturgical texts, if the music is frightful? We must take into account the good proposals made by the diocesan or inter-diocesan musical commissions, and find a way to provide the churches with organs (we have lost so many), primarily with pipe organs. If many are not installed, it is also because the electronic ones have been greatly perfected. We must get used to the idea that it is necessary to set aside funds for musical expenses; volunteerism is very praiseworthy, but we must ensure that those who work in this field be well-prepared, musically and liturgically. If this is hard to accomplish, we must turn to expert professionals, guaranteeing them at least a decent remuneration. We must accelerate the creation of ´scholae cantorum,´ large or small as conditions permit. [É]

We must insist in every way possible that schools of sacred music be created. [É] Or, at the very least, we must create courses in sacred music at the music schools and conservatories that already exist, as is already beginning in Italy. There are many organists who know how to play concert pieces, but don´t ask them to accompany the choir, to improvise, to invent an accompaniment, to make musical selections for a well-structured celebration - all things a Church organist should know how to do - because no one has ever taught them this.

Let´s put aside all of the objections against Gregorian chant and Latin: let´s take our example from the Nordic countries and even from the mission territories. Should we be the most recalcitrant ones - we, who are Latins by language, culture, and music?

We are awaiting assistance from Rome that will aim to coordinate these things in a manner worthy of the Catholic Church.

In essence, I believe the time is right to initiate a reform in the sense I have tried to illustrate, a reform adapted to the historical moment in which we are living, a reform that will aim not to conquer, but to convince.

Let us make all possible efforts to restore or establish good music in our churches, taking our inspiration from the motto that illuminated the pontificate of St. Pius X, and which constitutes the program that should stimulate us to an untiring renewal: "Instaurare omnia in Christo," to renew all things in Christ.