SCL Conference: Worth noting...

“The Sacraments of Healing” was the theme of the annual conference of the Society for Catholic Liturgy, held at the beautiful Mary Immaculate Center (a former Vincentian seminary) in Northampton, Pennsylvania, September 21-24. I will not comment at length about the Society or the conference. Those wanting to know more can visit the Society’s website, which will soon feature photos of the event. However, I think the following observations are of general interest:

Lauds, Vespers, and the Holy Sacrifice were celebrated daily in the magnificent, un-wreckovated Queen of All Saints Chapel, constructed in the late-1930s. It is no exaggeration to describe the chapel as an artistic marvel: ornate wood and stone carvings (as one architect observed, the saints are literally woven into the fabric of the church: lex orandi, lex credendi, lex aedificandi); brilliantly colored and elaborate stained glass windows; magnificent stone altars. The conference ended, fittingly enough, with a solemn Mass offered by Father Paul Keller, O.P., of Providence College in Rhode Island. The liturgy was, in a word, exemplary. Both Latin and English were used. Everything but the homily was sung, from the Sign of the Cross to the dismissal (yes, everything – even the Old Testament reading, the Epistle, the Gospel, and the Roman Canon in its entirety). A schola chanted the proper antiphons from the Roman Gradual. The Liturgy of the Eucharist was carried out ad orientem, an orientation with which Fr. Keller and the concelebrating priests seemed quite at ease. Incense was used at the Entrance, Gospel, Offertory, and Consecration. Two obviously well trained brothers (as in siblings) served with great reverence and comportment. All knew their proper roles and carried them out well, with (if you’ll pardon the wearisome phrase) “full, conscious and active participation.” It was the modern Roman-rite Mass at its finest. And with the forthcoming English translation of the new Missale Romanum, it can get even better. Speaking of which…

Monsignor Bruce Harbert, executive secretary for ICEL and a member of the Society, announced that he hopes the new-and-improved ICEL translation of the Latin Missale will first be used by the Holy Father at World Youth Day 2008 (Sydney, Australia). That, he said, is not beyond the realm of possibility, since ICEL has finished its work on the Ordinary of the Mass and is expected to complete the translation of the propers by this time next year (leaving sufficient time for Rome’s final approval of the work).

Unfortunately, the Society’s conference coincided with the annual convention of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars in Kansas City, Missouri (September 22-24), the topic of which was – any guesses? – Vatican II and the reform of the sacred liturgy. Consequently, the possibility of attending both conferences was limited to those gifted with an ability to bilocate. Which brings me to my final point…

(No, not bilocation.) There seems to be some measure of redundancy, or what management jargon terms “duplication of effort,” among those groups interested in authentic liturgical renewal. There’s the Adoremus Society. Then there’s the Society for Catholic Liturgy, founded in the same year as Adoremus (1995) and not to be confused with the Research Institute for Catholic Liturgy (2004), whose board of directors includes SCL members. Even if we consider only the pro-Latin organizations, there's the Latin Liturgy Association (1975; Novus Ordo and Tridentine) but also the St. Gregory Foundation for Latin Liturgy (1989; Novus Ordo only), the latter being distinct from the St. Gregory Society (1985; Tridentine only). In terms of mission, they all seem to be saying and doing pretty much the same things, and sometimes at the same time. Granted, some groups are geared toward scholars while others have a more popular membership. Still, I cannot help wondering what a difference it could make if there were greater coordination among these groups and, in some cases, amalgamation. But that's for another day.