A Very Good Video from Brian Holdsworth on Liturgical Reform

I meant to share this video from the always-wise Brian Holdsworth yesterday, which was the 18th anniversary of Pope Benedict’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, but travel plans and an uncooperative router intervened. The title is “A Plea to Pope Leo For Reform”, and essentially, he lays out a very good case for why Summorum Pontificum needs to be restored, and likewise, some good food for thought as to what the future of liturgical reform in general should look like.

If I may be so bold as to summarize his argument, it basically runs as follows. Improvements in the human person do not happen at once; they require slow and steady work. If you are unhealthy and out of shape, you cannot simply decide to be healthy and in shape from one day to the next. You need to not just exercise and eat better, but get in the habit of exercising and eating better. Likewise, if you want to be smarter, you cannot simply decide to be smarter; you need to develop the habit of doing things that will make you smarter (read more good books, waste less time on scrolling through videos, etc.) And if you try to change your habits all at once, and go directly to he desired end-result, you will fail disastrously; he likens this to trying to get in shape by going from lifting 40 pounds in the gym one day to lifting 200 the next.

What this means (and this is the part which really made me take notice) is that even if the post-Conciliar liturgy were indeed a vast improvement on the traditional liturgy in every way, as some contend, it was nevertheless brought with it such an unprecedented amount of change, and was implemented at such an unprecedented speed, that it was never going to have the desired effect. Mr Holdsworth makes the analogy that it was like moving the pin in the weight machine from 40 to 200 from one day to the next, and the result has been a failure.

And here, by the way, he also makes a very wise cautionary note for those of us who love the traditional rite, and pray to see it restored to its rightful place in the Church, namely, that this cuts both ways. If, as we believe, it is the traditional Roman Rite that is superior, circumstances within the Church have nevertheless now changed in such a way imposing it all at once would be similarly imprudent, and lead to a similar failure.

This, in turn, is why Pope Benedict’s vision, that the liberation of the traditional Roman Rite, and his hope that it would gradually improve the general condition of the liturgy in the Church as a whole, were so wise. So I thank Mr Holdsworth for this very good observation, and urge all our readers to continue their prayers for the hastening of the day when the Summorum Pontificum regimen is restored as it should be.  

A Recent Discovery - Is This The Earliest Image of Our Lady of Sorrows?

I was recently contacted by my friend Fr. Andrew Marlborough, a priest based in England, who has written for the New Liturgical Movement in the past about items of interest that appear in auction houses throughout Britain and Europe. Before becoming a priest, his career was in the commercial art world.

This time, he wanted to know if I could shed any light on a recent purchase he had made, which, he was speculating, might be the earliest known example of an image of Our Lady of Sorrows, dating back over 1,000 years and possibly as much as 1,400 years. I could not offer any new information, so I open this up to New Liturgical Movement readers. It was described in the auction house as early Byzantine, but Fr. Andrew thinks it might be of Ottonian or Carolingian origin. Here is the object, followed by the letter he sent to me, with his description and thoughts. 

Fr Andrew wrote:

I recently purchased this small gilt-bronze roundel (7.5 cm diameter) at an auction in London. It was catalogued as 6th-8th century Byzantine and described as the Virgin Mary ‘grasping a long staff’. But I could see that it is clearly an early image of Our Lady of Sorrows. It is generally thought that this devotion developed between the 12th and 15th centuries. Therefore, it seemed a rather important object that could rewrite a chapter in the history of Marian iconography. I suspect the Byzantine attribution is wrong and that it is a little later, possibly Carolingian or Ottonian. If so, it could be one of the earliest depictions in art of Our Lady of Sorrows, if not the earliest.

As well as the question of dating, there is also the question of function. The auctioneers described it as a Byzantine phalera. These were decorative metal roundels which adorned the chest armour of soldiers or the harnesses of their horses in antiquity. This is possible, but I wonder if it may have been some kind of ornament for religious processions, pilgrimages, or for membership of a confraternity. Markings visible only on one side of the reverse suggest it has been used as a brooch. The amount of hand-finished detail on the roundel is impressive and finely executed. The use of gilding also indicates that it was a costly and highly prized object.

Stylistically, it seems more Western. This is supported by the fact that Eastern depictions of the Virgin Mary without Jesus are very unusual. The style of the sword/dagger may also help identify its date and origin.

I’d be grateful if anyone can shed further light on this.

He asks that anyone with information write to him at: andrew.marlborough@gmail.com.

The Translation of St Thomas Becket

On this day in the year 1220, the relics of St Thomas Becket were translated from the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral to a splendid new shrine in the main body of the church. This was one of the major religious events of the era, celebrated in the presence of King Henry III and many leading churchmen; in the Use of Sarum, it was commemorated by its own feast on July 7th, with the feast of the Holy Relics assigned to the following Sunday. It was of course the presence of St Thomas’ relics that made Canterbury such an important place of pilgrimage in medieval England, famously noted in the prologue of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (verses 15-18): “And specially from every shire’s ende / Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende (went), / The hooly blisful martir for to seke (seek), / That (t)hem hath holpen (helped) whan that they were seeke (sick).”

Because Thomas had given his life to defend the independence of the Church from undue interference by the civil power, King Henry VIII had the shrine destroyed in 1538, and forbade all devotion to him, even requiring that every church and chapel named for him be rededicated to the Apostle Thomas. The place within Canterbury Cathedral where the shrine formerly stood has been empty ever since; this video offers us a very nice digital recreation. Like the nearly contemporary shrine of St Peter Martyr and several others, the casket with the relics rests on top of an open arched structure, so that pilgrims can reach up and touch or kiss it from beneath, without damaging the metal reliquary itself.

The same source provides another video which shows sick persons praying at the original burial site in the crypt, which continued to attract pilgrims even after the relics themselves had been moved to the upper church. (The same is true of the church of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro in Pavia, where the original sarcophagus which held the relics of St Augustine is kept, although the relics were long ago moved to the main sanctuary.)

The Octave of Ss Peter and Paul

At that time: Jesus obliged his disciples to go up into the boat, and to go before him over the water, till he dismissed the people. And having dismissed the multitude, he went into a mountain alone to pray. And when it was evening, he was there alone. But the boat in the midst of the sea was tossed with the waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking upon the sea. And they seeing him walk upon the sea, were troubled, saying: It is an apparition. And they cried out for fear. And immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying: Be of good heart: it is I, fear ye not. And Peter making answer, said: Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee upon the waters. And he said: Come. And Peter going down out of the boat, walked upon the water to come to Jesus. But seeing the wind strong, he was afraid: and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying: Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretching forth his hand took hold of him, and said to him: O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt? And when they were come up into the boat, the wind ceased. And they that were in the boat came and adored him, saying: Indeed thou art the Son of God. (Matthew 14, 22-33, the Gospel of the octave day of Ss Peter and Paul)

(Public domain image from Wikimedia.)

This image of St Peter walking on the upon the water was originally made by Giotto in 1298 as a mosaic on a wall of the courtyard of the old St Peter’s Basilica, opposite the church’s façade. Only a few fragments were saved from the destruction of the old basilica; this copy is an oil painting made in 1628 from drawings of the original. In 1675, a new mosaic on the same design was mounted in the portico of the new basilica, facing the main door, as a reminder to pilgrims as they leave the church to pray for the Holy Father.

Image from Pax inter Spinas, the printing house of the Monastère Saint-Benoît in Brignole, France.

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

Visit Dr. Kwasniewski’s Substack “Tradition & Sanity”; personal site; composer site; publishing house Os Justi Press and YouTube, SoundCloud, and Spotify pages.

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