Beginning October 28, Mr Louis Tofari of Romanitas Press will host a 12-week curriculum of live Zoom webinars for priests seeking to understand better the liturgical requisites of the traditional Roman Mass, and to improve their knowledge and celebration of it. Each weekly session will be held on Wednesday, 3:00—6:00pm EST, and will consist of three 40-minute lessons with 20-minute intervals (thus two hours per week). Topics to be covered include the liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the historical development of the Missale Romanum and a section-by-section examination of its contents, the different tones of voice prescribed by the rubrics, the proper positioning of the hands at various parts of the Mass, and the layout and appointments of the church building. Priests may subscribe to individual sessions or, ideally, to the entire curriculum. These webinars are intended for Catholic priests, but seminarians may also subscribe. Lessons will be recorded for the sake of participants who may be called away or unable to “tune in” live. For detailed information and to register, click HERE.
I would encourage any priest to avail himself of this opportunity, especially those who may be inclined to think they don’t need it because they’ve already attended a training seminar such as Sancta Missa, or have watched an FSSP or SSPX training video, or have been saying the traditional Mass for years now. The more knowledge, experience, and confidence priests accumulate, the more they tend to rely on their quick “already know the answer” instincts. Too many are making mistakes big and small, as I have, because “they don’t know what they don’t know.” I have learned many things, and learned to “unlearn” a few things, from these webinars. Mr Tofari’s “building block” approach provides participants not simply ritual instruction that builds upon previous lessons, but the rationale for it (which often has more to do with practicality than symbolism or aestheticism).
