Interesting Saints on July 4th

In the Middle Ages, very few churches celebrated July 4th as a day within the octave of Ss Peter and Paul as Rome did. In most places, it was kept as a secondary feast of one of Western Christianity’s most popular Saints, Martin of Tours, commemorating the anniversary of both his ordination and the translation of his relics. The origin of this commemoration is narrated by the famous historian St Gregory of Tours, who succeeded to that see about two centuries after Martin did. The following excerpt from his book “On the Miracles of St Martin” was read at Matins of the feast in the breviary of Sarum.

The modern basilica of St Martin of Tours, built between 1886 and 1924 to replace a great medieval basilica which was destroyed during the Revolution. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by rene boulay, CC BY-SA 3.0.)

“In the 64th year after the passing of the most glorious lord Martin, the blessed Perpetuus obtained the dignity of the See of Tours… and decided to set the foundations of a church over (Martin’s) blessed body, greater than that which has had been. … When the desired time came for the priest (i.e. bishop) to dedicate the church, and translate the holy body from where it had been buried, Perpetuus brought together to the feast day the nearby bishops, and no small multitude of the abbots and various clerics. And because he wanted to do this on July 1st, after they had kept a vigil through the night, in the morning, they took a hoe, and began to dig out the dirt which was over the sacred tomb. Once it was uncovered, they put their hands to it to move it, and the work of the whole multitude could do nothing at all (by way of moving it) for the whole day.

(This happened again the next day, after which) one of the clerics said, ‘You know that after these three days was the beginning of his episcopacy, and perhaps he is admonishing us that it is on that day that he wishes us to move him.’ Then giving themselves over to fasting and prayer and continual silence day and night, they passed the three days … but on the fourth day, coming and putting their hands (on) it, they were completely unable to move the sarcophagus. Being all then thoroughly terrified, and ready to cover over the vessel which they had uncovered, there appeared an old man (of venerable appearance), saying that he was an abbot, and he said to them, ‘How long will you be confused and (thus) delay? Do you not see the lord Martin standing there, and ready to help you if you put your hands to it?’ Then casting aside his cloak, he put his hand on the sarcophagus with the rest of the priests… and (thus) at last at the attempt of the old man, the sarcophagus was moved with the greatest ease, and brought to the place where it is now venerated by the Lord’s favour. And being set in its place as the bishop wished, when the Mass was said, they went to a banquet, and looking diligently for the old man, they did not find him anywhere. Nor was there any man who had seen him leave the church. I believe that it was some angelic power, which proclaimed that it saw the blessed (Martin), and thereafter appeared no more.”

The tomb of St Martin in the crypt.

The Use of Sarum also kept the feasts of four other relic translations in July: St Thomas of Canterbury on the 7th, St Benedict on the 11th (this feast was kept in many other parts of Europe), St Swithin and Companions on the 16th, and St Osmund on the 17th. For this reason, a general feast of all relics was also instituted for the Sunday following July 7th.

In many parts of Germany, however, July 4th is the feast of St Ulrich. He was born in the Bavarian city of Augsburg in 890, and studied at the famous monastery of St Gallen in Switzerland; in 924, he was appointed to succeed his own uncle as bishop of his native place. The Magyars, not yet converted to Christianity, frequently attacked the southern and eastern parts of the Holy Roman Empire, and shortly before his appointment had raided Augsburg and destroyed its cathedral. Ulrich built a temporary church to replace it, and devoted himself entirely to divine services, beginning with Matins in the early hours of the morning, and to caring for the people both spiritually and temporally. In 955, he successfully preserved the city from another Magyar assault, personally taking charge of the defences until an imperial army could relieve it. He died on July 4, 973, and has the distinction of being the first Saint canonized by the Pope through a formal process.

St Ulrich, ca. 1510, by the painter Leonard Beck (1480 ca. - 1542) a native of Augsburg. Ulrich is often show holding a fish, in reference to a legend that he once was traveling, and forgot to eat his meal until it had gone past midnight of a fast day. On opening his container of provisions, he found that the meat had been miraculously turned into fish so he could eat it.

In some parts of eastern Europe, especially Bohemia, today is the feast of a Saint called Procopius, not to be confused with the 4th-century martyr of the same name noted in the Martyrology on July 8th. He was a married man who later became a hermit, and like so many truly holy hermits, attracted many disciples (thereby effectively ceasing to be a hermit). After his death in 1053, this community was organized into a Benedictine monastery that celebrated the liturgy in Church Slavonic, a tradition which continued until the end of the 11th century. (No records survive of which rite they used, but circumstantially, it seems more likely that it would have been the Roman Rite in Church Slavonic, since the Byzantine liturgy was not used by any of the monastic communities with which he was associated, or which evangelized the region.) Procopius was canonized in 1204 by Pope Innocent III, and has long been venerated as one of the patrons of the Kingdom of Bohemia.

St Procopius, together with St Vicent Ferrer, on one of the decorative pillars of the Charles Bridge in Prague. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by ZP, CC BY-SA 2.5) 

In the treasury of the cathedral of Reims in France there is kept a Gospel book written partly in the Cyrillic alphabet, and partly in the early Slavic script known as Glagolitic. The Glagolitic parts are pericopes that follow the tradition of the Roman Rite. The true origin of this manuscript is unknown, but it was long attributed to the hand of St Procopius. After being lost during the Hussite wars of the 15th century, it passed through various hands until it was acquired by a French cardinal and donated to Reims cathedral in 1574. By that time, the legend was current that St Jerome himself (who was in fact a native of the Balkan peninsula) has made the first translation of the Gospels into Church Slavonic, and this manuscript was believed to be his original copy of this (non-existent) translation. It was therefore incorporated into the coronation ritual of the French kings, which was traditionally held there. Unfortunately, the cover, which was covered with jewels and small relics, was destroyed during the Revolution.

A page of the Reims Gospel book, with a picture of St Jerome in an illustrated letter. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

The Preface

Lost in Translation #130

The 1962 Missal contains twenty Prefaces (including the five so-called Gallican Prefaces added by Pope St. John XXIII in November of that year), but it may be more accurate to say with Abbé Claude Barthe that the Roman Rite has one Preface with twenty different options, just as there is one Roman Canon with different versions of the Communicantes and Hanc Igitur. [1]

The Opening

The opening of the Preface is almost always the same:

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutáre, nos tibi semper et ubíque gratias ágere, Dómine sancte, Pater omnípotens, ætérne Deus:

Which I translate as:

It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God;

The two exceptions are the Preface for Easter and the Preface for the Apostles or Evangelists. The former bespeaks the sheer exuberance of Paschaltide:

It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, that at all times, but more especially on this day [or in this season], we should extol your glory, Lord, when Christ our Pasch was sacrificed:

The Preface for the Apostles is more unusual in that it addresses God the Son rather than God the Father:

It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, to pray humbly to You, O Lord, eternal Shepherd, not to desert Your flock but to keep it in continual protection through Your blessed Apostles…

Together all the Prefaces declare that giving thanks to God everywhere and always, that extolling God’s glory, and that humbly praying to God have four qualities in common: they are dignum et justum, aequum et salutare. Since we discussed dignum et justum last week, let us now turn to aequum et salutare.

Aequus, which is etymologically related to “equality” and “equity,” originally referred to an area that was level or even, and because it was level or even (as opposed to steep or bumpy), it was considered favorable or advantageous. Applying this notion to the realm of morality, to be aequus was to be even-handed, fair, equitable, and impartial. From this understanding there developed the formula aequum est plus an infinitive verb, the meaning of which is “it is reasonable, proper, right, etc.” [2]

It seems that the claim of the Preface is that giving thanks to God is both morally correct and very much to our advantage. Of course, one can argue that the two are one and the same: to be just is to act to one’s true advantage and vice versa. Such is the thesis of Cicero’s classic De officiis, with which Catholic moral theology is in agreement. Nevertheless, the two ideas are distinct. It seems to me that the Preface uses two words to denote advantageousness and two words to denote moral correctness, and that it arranges these words chiastically:

To say that giving thanks to God is dignum is to say that it is worth our while; and to say that it is salutare is to say, as several preconciliar hand missals do, that it is “profitable for our salvation.” These concepts of advantage appeal to our enlightened self-interest, if you will.

Justum, on the other hand, clearly invokes justice, and I believe aequum plays a similar role in affirming the moral rectitude of thanksgiving. I therefore side again with the preconciliar hand missals when they translate aequum as “right.” The new Missal’s 2011 English translation of aequum also acknowledges the moral connotation of aequum here, but I believe it goes too far by translating it as “our duty,” for not everything that is right is a duty (it may be right for me to have a glass of wine with dinner, but it is not a duty). Similarly, I contend that the new translation of salutare as “our salvation” goes too far, for our salvation and something that contributes to our salvation are not the same thing.

The Ending

The majority of Prefaces end with sine fine dicentes (“saying without end”) while six, including the Gallican Preface for All Saints’ Day, end with supplici confessione dicentes (“saying with suppliant confession”). Only one, the Preface for the Holy Trinity, ends with una voce dicentes (“saying with one voice”), but since this Preface is used during the Time after Epiphany and the Time after Pentecost, it is the one heard the most by the average Latin Mass goer.

It is curious that the Preface, which was composed to be sung and which sometimes includes images of the congregation and the Angels singing together, ends with dicentes, speaking or saying. It is a reminder that the Latin verb dico can also mean “To describe, relate, sing, celebrate in writing.” [3] This usage is mostly found in poetry, which fits the lyrical quality of the Preface.

Claude-Marie Dubufe, La Suppliante, 1829

Of the various endings, supplici confessione dicentes, which I have slavishly rendered “saying with suppliant confession,” is the most difficult to translate. Most preconciliar hand missals have “with lowly praise” while the 2011 English translation of the new Missal has “in humble praise.” “Praise” is not wrong, but it is incomplete. For the early Church, confessio meant three things: praise of God, accusation of self, and profession of faith. There is, then, a slightly dolorous note to confessio insofar as it involves a recollection of our sinfulness, and this dolorous note, I believe, is reinforced by the adjective supplex: from sup-plico, bending the knees.

On the other hand, the dolorous note may not be the dominant one since supplici confessione dicentes is used on joyful occasions such as the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of Saint Joseph, and it is also found in the Common Preface. The phrase is not found in the Preface for the Dead (where one might expect it), but it is found in the Preface for Lent and the Preface for the Holy Cross, which is used during Passiontide. Liturgical context may therefore be the deciding factor as to which meaning of confessio should be in the foreground. For instance, on a feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it may be more proper to translate confessio as “praise,” while during the season of Lent it may be more proper to translate it as “confession.”

Notes

[1] Claude Barthe, Forest of Symbols: The Traditional Mass and Its Meaning, trans. David J. Critchley (Angelico Press, 2023), pp. 97-98.

[2] Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary (Clarendon Press, 1879), “aequus,” II.B.3, p. 58.

[3] Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary, “2. dico,” I.B.4, p. 571.

[4] The Roman Missal, 3rd edition (USCCB Publishing, 2011), p. 552.

Photos from the CMAA Colloquium

Here are some pictures of the liturgical celebrations held last week during the Church Music Association of America’s 35th Annual Sacred Music Colloquium, at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota

On Wednesday, June 25th, a Votive Mass of St. Joseph was celebrated in Spanish and Latin by Fr Michael Connolly, with the Mass ordinary Misa en Honor a San José, Christopher Berry as organist, the Men’s Schola directed by Fr. Bachmann and the Women’s Schola directed by Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Saints Processus and Martinian

For many centuries before the feast of the Visitation was instituted, July 2nd was kept as the feast of the martyrs Ss Processus and Martinian, who remain as a commemoration. According to a legend current since the sixth century, they were the jailers in charge of keeping Ss Peter and Paul in the Mamertine prison in Rome during the reign of the Emperor Nero, and having been converted by the Apostles, allowed them to escape. For this, they were put to death after a long series of torments, through which they simply said over and over again, “Blessed be the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, whom his blessed Apostles have preached!” Originally buried in a cemetery off the via Aurelia, their remains were transferred to the ancient basilica of St Peter by Pope Paschal I in the early ninth century. The north transept of the new basilica is named for them, where their relics are kept under the middle of the three altars.

The north transept of St Peter’s Basilica

The central altar is where this painting of their martyrdom, by the French painter Valentin de Boulogne (1629) was originally displayed; it is now replaced by a mosaic copy.

Since the windows of St Peter’s Basilica are so high up, the marble walls are never exposed to direct sunlight for any great length of time, and generally remain cooler than the air. In the summertime, when Italy is often very hot and humid, a great deal of moisture comes into the building and condenses on the cooler marble. In the middle of the 18th century, it was realized that the paintings over the altars were being destroyed because they had a slick of condensation over them for several months of the year; there were therefore all taken down and replaced by mosaics. The original is now in the Painting Gallery of the Vatican Museums.

Valentin was an unabashed plagiarist of Caravaggio, in terms of both style and subject. One of the latter’s more prestigious commissions was a series of three paintings of the life of St Matthew in the Contarelli Chapel of the church of San Luigi dei Francesi. The angel whom Valentin shows here bringing the palm of victory to the martyrs is essentially a cross between the two angels painted by Caravaggio, one inspiring St Matthew in the writing of the Gospel, and the other bringing him the palm of martyrdom.

Dr. Kwasniewski’s Lectures in Spain (Seville, Cordoba, Toledo, Madrid, Segovia, Oviedo), July 18 to 25, 2025

I am very pleased to share with NLM readers the themes and schedule for my lecture tour in Spain later this month. Between July 18 and 25, I’ll be speaking on the traditional Roman liturgy in Seville, Cordoba, Toledo, Madrid, Segovia, and Oviedo, then participating in the 3-day pilgrimage to Covadonga. Lectures will be given in English with a Spanish translation provided. My books that have been translated into Spanish (six of them) will be available at the events. All details may be found in the poster below.

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Me complace compartir con los lectores de NLM los temas y el programa de mi gira de conferencias por España a finales de este mes. Entre el 18 y el 25 de julio, hablaré sobre la liturgia tradicional romana en Sevilla, Córdoba, Toledo, Madrid, Segovia y Oviedo, y luego participaré en la peregrinación de tres días a Covadonga. Las conferencias se impartirán en inglés con traducción al español. Mis libros traducidos al español (seis de ellos) estarán disponibles en los eventos. Todos los detalles se pueden encontrar en el cartel al final de la página.

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SEVILLA — Viernes, 18 de julio, 20.00h

“Por qué es mejor no entenderlo todo inmediatamente: la sabiduría de la liturgia tradicional”

Una Voce Sevilla

Plaza Pintor Amalio García del Moral, nº 11, local 9

41005 Sevilla

CÓRDOBA — Sábado, 19 de julio, 20.00h

“La genialidad del rito más antiguo del Cristianismo”

Hotel Córdoba Center

Avenida de la Libertad, 4

14006 Córdoba

TOLEDO — Lunes, 21 de julio, 18.00h

“Cómo Nuestra Señora nos enseña el significado de la misa”

Alcázar de Toledo

C/ de la Union, s/n

45001 Toledo

MADRID — Martes, 22 de julio, Santa Misa 20.00h, Conferencia 21.00h

“Por qué es bello el rito tradicional y por qué necesitamos esta belleza”

Parroquia de la Sagrada Familia

C/ Antonio Toledano, nº 23

28028 Madrid

SEGOVIA — Miércoles, 23 de julio, 19.00h

“Por qué la misa tradicional es majestuosa y cortesana”

Casa de Espiritualidad «San Frutos»

C/ Obispo Gandásegui, nº 7

40001 Segovia

(detrás del Obispado y del antiguo Seminario Conciliar)

OVIEDO — Viernes, 25 de julio, 19.00h

“Por qué es mejor no entenderlo todo inmediatamente: la sabiduría de la liturgia tradicional”

Hotel Gran Regente

C/ Jovellanos, 31

33003 Oviedo 

Interview with Abbot of Fontgombault on the 1965 Missal, Questions of Reform, and the Current Situation in the Church

In these times when much discussion is under way about the restoration of the pre-55 Roman Rite in view of the problematic aspects of the Pius XII Holy Week reform and the Bugninian aspects of the 1962 missal, it seems more than a curiosity to be reminded that the monastery of Fontgombault adheres to the 1965 interim missal, a sort of island that has nearly disappeared due to erosion from the oceans of controversy. Of interest to NLM readers will be this interview given by the abbot, Jean Pateau, to Lothar Rilinger in early May (translated from the German at kath.net). N.B. This article was scheduled long before a version of the same interview was posted at Rorate Caeli. Nevertheless, it won’t hurt to have the interview at both places. -PAK 

Interview with Abbot of Fontgombault on the 1965 Missal, Questions of Reform, and the Current Situation in the Church

Lothar C. Rilinger

The Abbey of Fontgombault was founded in 1091. After an eventful history, the Romanesque monastery complex, which is also of extraordinary value in terms of art history, now belongs once again to the Benedictine Order, specifically to the Congregation of Solesmes. The religious community of Fontgombault celebrates the liturgy in the extraordinary form. Abbot Jean Pateau OSB provides insight into the background of this in an interview with lawyer Lothar C. Rilinger.

Lothar Rilinger: You celebrate Mass in the old rite in your monastery. Do you believe that this type of celebration could jeopardize the unity of the faithful?

Abbot Jean Pateau OSB: First of all, I owe you a clarification. The monastery Mass in the abbey is not celebrated according to the 1962 Missal, known as the Vetus Ordo or old rite, but according to the 1965 Missal. Although this Missal is the result of the implementation of the reform demanded by the Council on December 4, 1963, but it remains closely linked to the 1962 missal and retains the Offertory and most of the gestures. In addition, we have decided to use the current [Novus Ordo] calendar for the Sanctoral. We have retained the old temporal calendar, which includes the season of Septuagesima, the octave of Pentecost, and the Ember Days, but we celebrate with the universal Church on the last Sunday of the year, Christ the King. All of this contributes to a rapprochement with the current 1969 Missal.

To answer your question about ecclesial unity more directly, I would like to recall that Benedict XVI, in his letter to the bishops on the occasion of the publication of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, examined two fears that opposed the publication of this text:

- to diminish the authority of the Second Vatican Council and to cast doubt on the liturgical reform.
- causing unrest and even divisions in parish communities.

As regards the questioning of the authority of the Second Vatican Council, it should be recalled that, a few months after the publication of the Ordo Missae of 1965, the Archabbot of Beuron sent a copy of the post-conciliar edition of the Schott Missal to St. Paul VI. On May 28, 1966, Secretary of State Cardinal Cicognani sent a letter of thanks to the abbot on behalf of the pope, in which he stated: “The characteristic and essential feature of this new revised edition is that it represents the perfect crowning achievement of the Liturgical Constitution of the Council.”

As for the second point, I think we must guard against overly simplistic caricatures. There are places where there have been and still are divisions. There are also places where things are peaceful. Many would be surprised to learn that the majority of young people who decide to join so-called traditional communities are not young people who originally came from traditional communities. I myself am an example of this.

As for the young people who are drawn to traditional communities, they are very free in their liturgical practice and have long since left their home parishes.

Unity in the Church is not uniformity. An example of this is the Eastern Church.

Working toward unity does not mean working toward uniformity. I would even say that imposing uniformity is detrimental to unity. The question is how to work toward unity. This, it seems to me, was Benedict XVI's perspective.

Do believers in France want to attend Mass according to the old rite?

This question is difficult to answer, as the 1962 Missal is hardly used. What we can say, however, is that people who attend such celebrations have a sense of their contemplative dimension and are more focused on God. Many are willing to attend Masses celebrated according to this Missal from time to time and readily admit that it strengthens their faith.

Benedict XVI had already pointed out in the letter quoted above that, contrary to all expectations, “many people remained strongly attached to the old missal.” It is certain, and we can add that many people who get to know it develop an attachment to it.
 

Have you noticed that young believers in particular appreciate the old form of the missal and therefore go to church more often?

I can testify that a young religious who attended a Mass according to the Vetus Ordo asked me the following question, which was completely unexpected for me: “How is it possible that the Church hid this from us?” Others have expressed to me their desire to attend a Mass according to this Ordo.

Contact with the Mass in its old form can sometimes be surprising: “I came here because people speak badly of you!” “...Since then, this lady has persevered. Young people who remain steadfast in their religious practice today have high expectations. Drowned in a hyper-connected and noisy world where news is omnipresent, they appreciate the silence and sobriety of the texts in the Vetus Ordo. This more expressive, less intellectual character seems to me to be an advantage on a pastoral level.

It is said that believers who attend Mass according to the Vetus Ordo have a more regular practice. I believe this without hesitation. But I believe that the same is true for young people who are connected to a parish or a community.

Could the celebration according to the old rite also be a means of beginning a new evangelization?

To answer your question correctly, let us return to the 1965 Missal. Pierre Jounel dedicated a book to the rites of the Mass in 1965. In the introduction, he remarks: “When the Congregation for Rites published a new typical edition of the Roman Missal in 1962, no one had the impression that it was a real novelty. On the contrary, on March 7, 1965, priests and faithful discovered a new liturgy ...: the use of the vernacular, the celebration of the liturgy of the word outside the sanctuary, the fact that the celebrant no longer recited silently the texts proclaimed by a cleric or sung by the congregation.”

These reflections by a liturgist who witnessed the implementation of the reform, and the aforementioned judgment of Pope Paul VI, seem to me to lend the 1965 Missal a special authority and thus a specific missionary effectiveness. It is from this perspective that I would like to respond to you.

However, Jounel continues in his introduction by stating that “since March 7, certain problems raised by the liturgical reform have matured surprisingly quickly” – the imprimatur of the book dates from July 16, 1965! “In the celebration facing the people ... gestures dating back to the Middle Ages, such as the many altar kisses, the blessing of the oblates, the repeated genuflections, or even the quiet recitation of the canon, became a real burden for the priests, who until then had followed the rubrics in complete tranquility.”

This is precisely one of the criticisms of the current missal.

The connection between the celebration before the people and the fact that liturgical gestures suddenly become a burden is remarkable and seems to me to be evidence of a change in the mindset and spirit of these priests. Why have these gestures, which were previously taken for granted, become a burden? Is the priest ashamed? Does he find it ridiculous when the faithful see him doing what he has always done before God as a matter of course? Not everyone is able to ignore the stares.

Hasn't the same change of heart and soul taken place among the faithful? The undeniable striving for holiness among young people and many believers certainly deserves that liturgists hear this question and that we pause and reflect on it. The Apostolic Letter Desiderio desideravi has the merit of addressing this question.

Today, priests profess that they celebrate privately according to the Vetus Ordo. This nourishes their spiritual life. Even if the celebration of the Eucharist is not a matter of personal devotion, one cannot blame a priest for wanting to draw from it, for seeking substantial nourishment from it. In this sense, we can regret the abandonment of the orientation toward the Offertory and the drastic reduction of gestures.

Furthermore, I believe that evangelization could undoubtedly be strengthened by a rediscovery of the traditional orientation and gestures, which could very well be included in the current missal at will and which remind us that the Eucharist is the living memory of redemption, that there is Another who is made present, and that before this Other all go in adoration. The only subject of the liturgy is the mystical body of Jesus Christ, whose head and only high priest is Christ and whose members are the priests and faithful. A mutual enrichment of the two missals should be accompanied by a mystagogical catechesis in the spirit of the Church Fathers.

Do you believe that the Pope's motu proprio Traditionis Custodes represents a break with the theology of Benedict XVI/Ratzinger, who had actually made the celebration in the old rite possible?

It cannot be denied that Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI made the celebration according to the Vetus Ordo possible. Benedict XVI also paved the way for mutual influence between the two missals, first through his choice of terminology: ordinary form and extraordinary form of the same Roman rite, then through his invitation: “The new saints and some of the new prefaces can and must be inserted into the old Missal... In the celebration of Mass according to the Missal of Paul VI, this holiness, which attracts many people to the old rite, can be expressed more fully than has often been the case in the past.”

It is surprising that the Ecclesia Dei Commission took 13 years to introduce new saints and new prefaces into the old missal. Such a delay can only be explained by resistance that may have come from circles interested in retaining the old missal without any additions, as well as from liturgists who, after the death of the Vetus Ordo, were very opposed to updating this missal in a way that could prolong its use.

It seems important to me to reread Pope Benedict's letter to the bishops on the occasion of the publication of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which attests to its objectives:

- internal reconciliation within the Church
- that all who truly desire unity may have the possibility of remaining in this unity or of rediscovering it

Has the desired reconciliation taken place? It must be admitted that this is not the case. The Church, its members, bishops, priests, and faithful are suffering as a result, albeit for different reasons. Nevertheless, the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum undeniably calmed the situation. It ushered in a new era. However, I always believed that this era would not last unless real work was done in the direction desired by Benedict XVI. This work was not done.

Pope Francis' motu proprio Traditionis custodes has now changed the discipline. The situation has become more difficult for the faithful who are attached to the old missal. Some have turned to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X. Others travel many miles to attend Mass according to the 1962 or 1965 missal or to receive a sacrament. In many places, tensions have flared up again. Jealousy is intensifying; misunderstandings are exacerbated, especially when the number of faithful attending Mass according to the Vetus Ordo increases and their average age is rather low. Anyone looking for political motives behind this success is mistaken. If the faithful go to these places, it is simply because they find what they are looking for there. Pope Francis' motu proprio ended the work desired by Pope Benedict to bring the two missals closer together.

In my opinion, there are two reasons for resuming this work. First of all, we cannot ignore the fact that the Second Vatican Council took place and that the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, was published, calling for a reform of the missal. The retention of the 1962 missal or the old Pontifical seems to me difficult to reconcile with this fact.

Furthermore, we cannot ignore the sharp decline in religious practice. Contrary to what is often claimed, the appeal of the old missal is not limited to certain European countries or the United States. The question is therefore justified as to whether a more expressive rite might not halt this decline to some extent. The reactions of the faithful and tourists who happen to attend a convent Mass in our monastery and are deeply moved lead me to believe that an enrichment of the 1969 Missal at will in terms of gestures, specifically the use of the Ordinary of the 1965 Missal with the Offertory and a celebration oriented towards it, would not be without fruit. Then it would be legitimate for all priests and Christians to benefit from it.

The 1969 Missal is a missal developed by learned liturgists, a missal “from above.” After more than 50 years, by drawing on the accumulated experience and feedback of a considerable number of faithful and priests, we can embark on a synodal path that for some is also a path of healing. The Church and her liturgy can only be enriched by this.

Pope Francis has invited us to be pilgrims of hope this year. I would like to believe that dialogue will be possible and that this dialogue will be beneficial for the whole Church. But genuine dialogue can only take place in trust, in truth, and in openness to what the other can teach me.

The Eucharist is the sacrament of God's love, in which Christ communicates his life. Too many believers, priests, and bishops are torn apart because of this sacrament, while Christ is present there with his body, his blood, his soul, and his divinity, begging for love.

Daily private Masses at Fontgombault: a definitive sign that this monastery is not "on board" with the liturgical reform's general thrust

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Vespers of the Precious Blood

Although the feast of the Precious Blood is very new to the general Calendar, added in 1849 by Bl. Pius IX, the exegetical tradition behind some of its liturgical texts is very ancient indeed. Here I will focus on the antiphons sung with the Psalms of Vespers, four of which are taken from Isaiah chapter 63, and one from Apocalypse 19, both passages long associated with the Passion of Christ and the Redemption effected by it.

The high altar of the Jesuit church in Mindelheim, Germany, with the motif of Christ in the wine-press on the antependium. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by Thomas Mirtsch)

Aña Who is this that * cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this one, that is comely in His apparel. Isa. 63, 1
Aña I that speak * justice, and am a defender unto saving. ibid.
Aña He was clothed * with a garment sprinkled with blood, and His name is called The Word of God. Apoc. 19, 13
Aña Wherefore then * is Thy apparel red, and thy garments as of them that tread in the wine-press? Isa. 63, 2
Aña I have trodden * the wine-press alone, and of the nations there was no man with Me. Isa. 63, 3

The passage from Isaiah is traditionally the first of two Old Testament readings on Spy Wednesday, when the station is held at St. Mary Major. In the middle of Holy Week, as the Church of Rome commemorates Christ’s Passion, and visits its principle sanctuary of the Mother of God, this Mass begins with a prophecy of the Incarnation, which took place in Mary’s sacred womb. The full reading is Isaiah 63, 1-7, preceded by a part of verse 62, 11.

Thus sayeth the Lord God: Tell the daughter of Sion: Behold thy Savior cometh: behold his reward is with him. 63, 1 Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength? I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save. Why then is your apparel red, and your garments like theirs that tread in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the gentiles there is not a man with me: I have trampled on them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel. etc.

The Fathers of the Church understood this passage as a prophecy of the Passion of Christ, starting in the West with Tertullian.

The prophetic Spirit contemplates the Lord as if He were already on His way to His passion, clad in His fleshly nature; and as He was to suffer therein, He represents the bleeding condition of His flesh under the metaphor of garments dyed in red, as if reddened in the treading and crushing process of the wine-press, from which the laborers descend reddened with the wine-juice, like men stained in blood. (Adv. Marcionem 4, 40 ad fin.)

This connection of these words with the Lord’s Passion is repeated in very similar terms by St. Cyprian (Ep. ad Caecilium 62), who always referred to Tertullian as “the Master”, despite his lapse into the Montanist heresy; and likewise, by Saints Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechesis 13, 27) and Gregory of Nazianzus (Oration 45, 25.)

The necessary premise of the Passion is, of course, the Incarnation, for Christ could not suffer without a human body. Indeed, ancient heretics who denied the Incarnation often did so in rejection of the idea that God Himself can suffer, which they held to be incompatible with the perfect and incorruptible nature of the divine. St. Ambrose was elected bishop of Milan in the year 374, after the see had been held by one such heretic, the Arian Auxentius, for twenty years. We therefore find him referring this same prophecy to the whole economy of salvation, culminating in the Ascension of Christ’s body into heaven, thus, in the treatise on the Mysteries (7, 36):

The angels, too, were in doubt when Christ arose; the powers of heaven were in doubt when they saw that flesh was ascending into heaven. Then they said: “Who is this King of glory?” And while some said “Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.” In Isaiah, too, we find that the powers of heaven doubted and said: “Who is this that comes up from Edom, the redness of His garments is from Bosor, He who is glorious in white apparel?”

In the next generation, St Eucherius of Lyon (ca. 380-450) is even more explicit: “The garment of the Son of God is sometimes understood to be His flesh, which is assumed by the divinity; of which garment of the flesh Isaiah prophesying says, ‘Who is this etc.’ ” (Formulas of Spiritual Understanding, chapter 1).

The Risen Christ and the Mystical Winepress, by Marco dal Pino, often called Marco da Siena, 1525-1588 ca. Both of the figures of Christ in this painting show very markedly the influence of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment.

In his Commentary on the Prophet Isaiah (book 18) St Jerome explicitly connects this passage with St John’s vision in Apocalypse 19.

John also in the Apocalypse bears witness that he saw these things: “I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and with justice doth he judge and fight. And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many diadems, and he had a name written, which no man knoweth but himself. And he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood; and his name is called, the Word of God. And the armies that are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp two edged sword; that with it he may strike the nations.” The Lord and Savior sat upon a red horse, taking on a human body; to whom it is said “Why are thy garments red?” and “Who is this that cometh from Edom, his garments bloodied from Bozrah?” St Jerome presumes his reader’s familiarity with the exegetic tradition that the “garment” and “bloodied vestment” in Isaiah 63 refer to the Incarnation. He does even need to finish the thought by pointing out that both passages refer to a “wine-press” as a symbol  of the instrument of Christ’s sufferings.

The Rider on the White Horse, Apocalypse 19, from the Bamberg Apocalypse, 1000-1020 A.D. The lower part shows the angel calling to the birds of prey in verse 17 of the same chapter.

Well before St Jerome, the great Biblical scholar Origen had also described this vision of St John as a prophecy of the Incarnation and the Passion.

Now, in John’s vision, the Word of God as He rides on the white horse is not naked: He is clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood, for the Word who was made flesh and therefore died is surrounded with marks of the fact that His blood was poured out upon the earth, when the soldier pierced His side. For of that passion, even should it be our lot some day to come to that highest and supreme contemplation of the Logos, we shall not lose all memory, nor shall we forget the truth that our admission (into heaven) was brought about by His sojourning in our body. (Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book II.4)

Pilgrimage Following in the Footsteps of Newman - London, Oxford, Birmingham and Rome; October 2025

This October marks the 180th anniversary of the conversion to Catholicism of St. John Henry Newman. Here is an opportunity to mark the occasion with a pilgrimage led by Father Peter Stravinskas, editor of The Catholic Response and president of the Catholic Education Foundation, and Dr. Robert Royal, editor of The Catholic Thing. It runs from October 5th to 19th, beginning in London, where Newman was born, and ending in Rome. During the English leg of the pilgrimage, in addition to London, there will be visits to Littlemore near Oxford, the University Church in Oxford, Maryvale, and the Birmingham Oratory.  

It is planned as a holistic experience that embraces the spiritual, historical, theological, and literary aspects of the great Cardinal’s life and work. To reflect this multifaceted approach, Pontifex University is offering three credits at the Master’s level in either theology or education for an additional fee of $450.

Cost: Double occupancy round-trip from Newark, NJ (EWR): $7,320.
Single occupancy: +$2,300.

To Register:
www.The-Catholic-Journey.com/1025Newman

For questions, contact Father Peter Stravinskas:
Phone: (215) 327-5754
Email: fstravinskas@hotmail.com

More information contact The Catholic Journey at:
Phone: (201) 523 - 6148
Email: info@the-catholic-journey.com

The interior of the Birmingham Oratory

Another Update from the Palestrina500 Festival in Grand Rapids

On Friday, April 25th, the Friday of Easter Week, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Grand Rapids, Michigan, welcomed the world-famous Tallis Scholars to sing a choral meditation and Mass for the parish’s year-long Palestrina500 festival. The choral meditation consisted of:

• Palestrina: Missa “ut re mi fa sol la”
• Palestrina: Laudate pueri Dominum
• Lassus: Media vita in morte sumus
• Lassus: Timor et Tremor
• Palestrina: Tu es Petrus

The Mass featured the Missa Papae Marcelli as well as the maestro’s Tribulationes civitatum, and Descendi in hortum meum.

And on Thursday, May 29th, the feast of the Ascension, Sacred Heart welcomed VoxGR, a local mixed-voice professional ensemble, to sing for the festival as well. The choral meditation consisted of pieces sung by VoxGR alternating with the psalms from that evening’s Vespers, chanted by the Men’s Schola of Sacred Heart, including:

• Mendelssohn: Am Himmelfahrtstage
• Jonathan Dove: Into Thy Hands
• Manuel de Sumaya: Adjuva nos Deus
• Blake Henson: My Flight for Heaven
• Palestrina: Assumpta est Maria
• David Bednall: Assumpta est Maria
• Stephan Paulus: Splendid Jewell

The Mass featured Palestrina’s Missa Ascendo ad Patrem as well as the motet “Ascendo ad Patrem” (which the Mass parodies), and his “Surge, propera amica mea.”

On June 27, the Patronal Feast of the Sacred Heart, the parish welcomed Floriani for a Solemn High Mass celebrated by Fr. Michael Caughey, FSSP, and on July 16, the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Sacred Heart will welcome the London Oratory Schola Cantorum, under the direction of NLM contributor Charles Cole, to sing a Pontifical Mass celebrated by His Excellency, Archbishop Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco.

For the full schedule of Palestrina500 events, go to palestrina500.org

The Feast of Ss Peter and Paul 2025

On this day, * Simon Peter ascended the gibbet of the cross, alleluia: on this day, he that beareth the keys of the kingdom of heaven passed rejoicing to Christ: on this day, Paul the Apostle, the light of the world, inclining his head, for the name of Christ was crowned with martyrdom, alleluia. (The antiphon at the Magnificat for Second Vespers of Ss Peter and Paul.)

Ss Peter and Paul, with Ss John the Evanglist and Zeno; the left panel of the polyptych of San Zeno by Andrea Mantegna, 1457-60.

Aña Hodie * Simon Petrus ascendit crucis patibulum, alleluia: hodie clavicularius regni gaudens migravit ad Christum: hodie Paulus Apostolus, lumen orbis terrae inclinato capite pro Christi nomine martyrio coronatus est, alleluia.

This antiphon is musically very similar to the antiphon for the Magnificat at 2nd Vespers of Pentecost.

In the Roman Rite, the feast of St Peter and Paul was originally always the first feast of any of the Apostles to occur after Pentecost. The musical similarity between the two antiphons therefore signifies that Peter and his successors lead the Church in the long period from the descent of the Holy Ghost to the end of the world, a period symbolized by the season between Pentecost and Advent. (Since the 11th century, when the feast of St Barnabas was taken into the Roman liturgy from the Byzantine Rite, and kept on its Byzantine date, June 11th, it can occur between Pentecost and Peter and Paul. However, this doesn’t really disturb this ancient arrangement, since Barnabas was not one of the Twelve.)

A polyphonic setting of the Apostles’ Hodie by William Byrd.

The Vigil of Ss Peter and Paul

In the Roman Rite, the term “vigilia – vigil” traditionally means a penitential day of preparation for a major feast. The Mass of a Saint’s vigil is celebrated after None, as are the Masses of the ferias of Lent or the Ember Days, and in violet vestments; however, the deacon and subdeacon do not wear folded chasubles, as they do in Lent, but the dalmatic and tunicle. The Mass has neither the Gloria nor the Creed, the Alleluja is simply omitted before the Gospel, not replaced with a Tract, and Benedicamus Domino is said at the end in place of Ite, missa est.

The Mass of the Vigil of Ss Peter and Paul in the Echternach Sacarmentary, (895 A.D.; Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, Latin 9433) Note that it is preceded by the Mass of Pope St Leo II, as will be explained below; the preface of the Apostles is said, instead of the common preface prescribed by the Missal of St Pius V.

The vigil of Ss Peter and Paul is one of the oldest observances of the Roman Rite, attested in all pertinent liturgical books as far back as we have them. The Mass chants (except for the Communio) and the two Scriptural readings are the same in the most ancient sources as those in the Missal of St Pius V; the three prayers are the same in the earliest versions of the Gregorian Sacramentary, from the end of the 8th century.

It is one of the Church’s oldest and most universal customs to celebrate Ss Peter and Paul in a joint feast on June 29. However, the Roman liturgy naturally tends to lay greater emphasis on Peter as the one who was a close friend of the Lord in His earthly life, and in whom the primacy was conferred upon the church of Rome. Therefore, just as Peter figures more prominently than Paul in the main feast, so also in the vigil; the Introit, Epistle, and Gospel are all about him, as is the modern Communio taken from the Gospel. This is balanced by the fact that Paul has a special feast of his own on June 30th, while at the vigil, the prayers all refer to “apostles” generically, without naming either one.

Collecta Præsta, quáesumus, omnípotens Deus: ut nullis nos permittas perturbatiónibus cóncuti; quos in apostólicae confessiónis petra solidasti. - Grant, we ask, almighty God, that Thou may not permit us to be shaken by any disturbances, whom Thou hast strengthened on the rock of the apostolic confession. (Here, of course, the “rock” also refers more to Peter.)

Secreta Munus pópuli tui, quáesumus, Dómine, apostólica intercessióne sanctífica: nosque a peccatórum nostrórum máculis emunda. – Sanctify the service of Thy people, we ask, O Lord, by the intercession of the Apostles, and cleanse us from the stains of our sins.

Postcommunio Quos caelesti, Dómine, alimento satiasti: apostólicis intercessiónibus ab omni adversitáte custódi. – O Lord, by the intercession of Thy Apostles, defend from all adversity those whom Thou hast satisfied with heavenly food.

The Introit is taken from the Gospel, as it is some of the other very ancient Roman vigils, such as those of St John the Baptist and the Apostle St Andrew.

Introitus Dicit Dóminus Petro: Cum esses junior, cingébas te et ambulábas ubi volébas: cum autem senúeris, extendes manus tuas, et alius te cinget et ducet, quo tu non vis: hoc autem dixit, signíficans, qua morte clarificatúrus esset Deum. Ps 18 Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei: et ópera mánuum ejus annuntiat firmamentum. Gloria Patri. Dicit Dóminus Petro.

Introit The Lord said to Peter, ‘When thou wert young, thou didst gird thyself and walk where thou would, but when thou shalt be old, thou wilt stretch forth thy hands, and another will gird thee, and lead thee where thou wouldst not. Now this He said to signify by what manner of death he should glorify God. Ps 18 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the works of His hands. Glory be. The Lord said to Peter.

The Epistle, Acts 3, 1-10, is chosen in part because it is the first miracle which Peter performs after Pentecost, the healing of the paralytic at the Beautiful Gate. This signifies his role as the head of the Church in the long period from the descent of the Holy Ghost (which is recounted in the previous chapter) to the end of the world, a period symbolized by the season between Pentecost and Advent. This miracle happened when Peter and John had gone up to the temple to pray “at the ninth hour”, which refers to the hour of the vigil’s celebration after None.

The psalm verse with which the Introit is sung is repeated in the Gradual, and was associated with the Apostles from very ancient times. For example, a commentary on the Psalms written in the 4th century, and formerly attributed to a correspondent (and later disputant) of St Jerome, Rufinus of Aquileia, says “the Apostles and Evangelists … are rightly called ‘heavens’, because of the loftiness of their life, and the ‘firmament’ because of the solidity of their faith and charity; they declare the glory of (Christ’s) divinity, and proclaim to the works of (His) humanity.” (PL 21, 712B in fine) The first part of the Gradual, “Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world,” likewise refers to the Apostolic preaching of the Gospel to the whole world. (The exact same verses are also sung in the Byzantine Rite as the Prokimen, the chant before the Epistle, at the Divine Liturgy on June 29.)

Since the Gospel of the feast is Matthew 16, 13-19, the conferral of the primacy of the Church upon Peter, that of the vigil is the prophecy of his death which Christ makes to him at the end of the Gospel of St John.

“Jesus saith to Simon Peter: Simon son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs. He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs. He said to him the third time: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because he had said to him the third time: Lovest thou me? And he said to him: Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee. He said to him: Feed my sheep. Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God.”

In the brief reading in the breviary in which St Augustine comments on this passage, he explains that Peter here makes a three-fold confession in place of his three-fold denial of Christ during the Passion.

The Crucifixion of St Peter, depicted in the Papal Chapel known as the Sancta Sanctorum at the Lateran Basilica in Rome, ca. 1280.

Since at least the later part of the 8th century, June 28 was also kept as the feast of Pope St Leo II, who died on this day in 683, after a reign of less than 11 months. The Liber Pontificalis records that on the previous day he celebrated the ordination of nine priests, three deacons, and twenty-three bishops; it is not said that it was the ordination ceremony that killed him, but the heat of Rome in June and the inevitable length of such a ceremony make this seem likely more than coincidence. The principal achievement of his pontificate was the confirmation of the acts of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, the third of Constantinople, which condemned the Monothelite heresy; being fluent in Greek as well as Latin, he personally made the official Latin translation of the council’s acts. It is one of the oddities of hagiography that his predecessor St Agatho, in whose reign the council was held, and whose intervention (through his legates) in its deliberations was acclaimed with the words “Peter has spoken through Agatho!”, has never been honored with a general feast day in the West, but is kept on the Byzantine Calendar. Leo, on the other, was a Sicilian, and therefore born as a subject of the Byzantine Empire, but is not liturgically honored in the East. (Back when there were plenty of canonical and monastic churches, such foundations would have celebrated two Masses in choir, that of St Leo after Terce, and that of the vigil after None, just as was done with the feasts of Saints which occur in Lent.)

In this altar in St Peter’s Basilica are kept the relics of three Sainted Popes named Leo, the Second (682-3), the Third (795-816) and the Fourth (847-55). The altar of Pope St Leo I (440-61) is right next to it, and Pope Leo XII (1823-29) is buried in the floor between them.

In 1921, Pope Benedict XV extended the feast of St Irenaeus of Lyon to the general Calendar on his traditional Lyonese date, June 28, moving Leo II to July 3rd, the next free day on the calendar, and the day of his burial according to the Liber Pontificalis. In the reform of 1960, St Irenaeus was moved to July 3rd, and Leo II suppressed, in order to free June 28th up entirely for the Mass and Office of the vigil of Ss Peter and Paul. This was fundamentally a rather odd thing to do, since so many of the vigils then on the general Calendar (including all those of the other Apostles, and, inexcusably, those of the Epiphany and All Saints), were abolished by the same reform.

Less than a decade later, however, with the promulgation of the Novus Ordo, vigils in the classic Roman sense, penitential days of preparation for the major feasts, were simply abolished altogether, “freeing” June 28th from the one observance which had hitherto been absolutely universal on that date, the vigil of Ss Peter and Paul. Irenaeus was therefore returned to that date.