Topics: Diocesan Priest: Celebrate the Traditional Mass Exclusively?...
Solemn Engagements: An Age-Old Engagement Ceremony
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I hope you have your reading glasses on, are in your comfiest chair, and have your choice of refreshing beverage at hand because there are two great articles posted below.
The first asks the question: Can a priest celebrate solely the Extra Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite? The second article is on solemn engagements, something that I really have never heard of. Thanks to James Spencer for bringing this to my attention.
Apparently a couple has engaged in this ceremony with Fr. Hay...I do not have the details but congratulations to the couple whoever they are.
...and now for the necessaries.
Please note: St. Anthony Catholic Church is one of only two churches celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass (EFLR) in the Wichita area. Though this blog is loosely centered around this parish and it's members, Venite Missa Est!
is by no means, in any way an official voice of, or for, St. Anthony Parish or the Diocese of Wichita.
Venite Missa Est! is strictly a private layman's endeavor.
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Can One Be a Diocesan Priest and
Celebrate the Traditional Mass Exclusively?
Rorate Caeli
Soon after the publication of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, three priests of the Diocese of Novara (Piedmont, Italy) tried to celebrate the Traditional Mass exclusively (we reported on these developments here and here).
In an interview released a few days ago, Father Alberto Secci tells his story, and presents us with the wonderful account of his life after Summorum. Yes, there is a life for diocesan priests celebrating the Sacraments according to the ancient use exclusively. And it can be beautiful, and powerful, and glorious, despite the normal difficulties of life.
"Can you imagine what would happen if all diocesan priests chose to do this?" This is the kind of weak argument one would expect to hear - it is not one that holds water, not with us, being on the same level as, "There should not be monks, for mankind would cease to exist if all men became exemplary monks": yes it would, but no they wouldn't... What we hope to provide by this example is that there can be spiritual comfort and consolation for that extremely small number of priests who choose to make use of their right of celebrating in the "Extraordinary Form" in a radical way. And why should that choice shock us? Almost all choose to celebrate the "Ordinary Form" in a radical and exclusive way, and they are not vilified for this. There is tribulation in these priests's radical choice, and that is fine: the priests who choose this path must be completely aware that they will be removed, moved, transferred, demoted, despised, mocked and ridiculed, made an example; they will have to give up favors, ecclesiastical careers, sabbatical years, special appointments; but, thanks to Summorum, they may face all this in perfect peace of conscience, with a Mass, that, in the words of a great cardinal, provides "greater spiritual fruit". And, as for the tribulation, if you may modestly allow us to quote a great layman, "they therefore, I say, that are in tribulation, have on the other side a great cause to take in their grief great inward comfort and spiritual consolation." (St. Thomas More, "A dialogue of comfort against tribulation").
Summorum is the charter of manumission of traditional-minded priests; it is good that those who contemplate making the same radical choice of these Italian heroic priests know that they are not alone, that, when there is a will, there is a way. If at least one single diocesan priest is moved by this translation to at least consider the possibility of following this radical path, then all our work here in Rorate over all these years will have been worth every second. This is dedicated to you, dear diocesan priests: if they can do it, so can you.
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The discomfort, the spiritual sufferings, the battles and courage of an authentic Catholic priest, forced to live with an ecclesial reality that most often cannot understand him.
Don Alberto Secci and his two brother priests, Don Stefano Coggiola and Don Marco Pizzocchi, all part of the clergy of Novara, suddenly reached great notoriety to the media (much to their regret) when they decided to implement faithfully the Motu Proprio of Pope Benedict XVI Summorum Pontificum, of 2007.
Opposition to the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, was resolute and violent on the part of the chancery of Novara, so much so that it placed the three priests in serious difficulty, above all, with regard to their parishioners. The logic was simple: the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass had to be an exception, therefore it was forbidden to them.
For some time afterwards the three priests were presented by both local and national press as stubborn “provokers.”
Even some strange would be “traditionalist” environments thought well to call them to moderation, reminding them that the traditional cause required exercising the virtue of obedience, even when faced with the disownment of Church laws, derision of the Holy Mass, and negligence in the care of souls. Obviously this (obedience) is asked of the weakest, that is, priests and the faithful, especially when they are confronted by bishops who do as they want as if they were “masters” of their own individual Church, while the Roman authorities are powerless to hold the reins on them and thus are unable to make them respect the rights of the priests and the faithful, even when these rights come from the present universal laws of the Church.
But the Lord sees and provides. Our three priests continue on their way- the way of faithfulness to Holy Tradition of The Holy Roman Church. As well as their churches in Vocogno and Domodossola, it is possible today to follow the apostolates of Don Alberto Secci and Don Stefano Coggiola at their internet page Radicati nella fede.
[Interview by Marco Bongi]
Don Alberto, Your role as a priest who returned to the Mass of Ages on the occasion of the Motu Proprio gained a lot of attention in the media during the years 2007 and 2008. Now that quite some time has passed since those unsettling events, we would like to ask you some questions that will consent the Italian faithful to become more acquainted with your story as well as your apostolate that is developing. Can you tell us briefly how and when your vocation to the priesthood began and how your formation in the seminary went?
A. I was born in Domodossola, but my family moved to Biellese, my father being a carabiniere, and there I spent my childhood in a good parish, led by an old parish priest (born in 1890!), a patriarch, with the strongest devotion to Our Lady. There, most certainly, the first seeds of my vocation grew. Serving at the altar, the month of May, the Sanctuary of Oropa… these, alongside the faithfulness of my mother to her daily tasks and (attendance) at Mass, a sense of duty and order from my father and many other things, marked positively my Catholic childhood.
Then I returned to Domodossola with my family, and enrolled at the state high school [Liceo Scientifico]…fond memories there, even if, even in the provinces, in 1977 the climate was very secular. In that high school I experienced an intense Catholic militancy with Communion and Liberation. We were few, but well-trained for “battle.” I remember those years: prayer (we said lauds, terce, vespers and compline, rosary, daily Mass – and we were only 15 and 16 years old! We also studied different books from those adopted by the teachers, in order to defend the Church and Her History). Love for the Church grew more and more with increasing knowledge . We read the great spiritual writers, St. Benedict, St. Teresa of Avila… to me the idea of a vocation to the priesthood was a natural, urgent desire. Christ is everything, the Church is His Body: how can one not give one's life for this?
After high school graduation, at the age of 19, I entered the seminary. (I had) great help from a very orthodox Father Confessor, a little less from theology, even though I studied it with passion. The fault? In those years it was all a “work-yard” of personal opinions, anchored ideologically in Rahner’s theories. But I went through those years serenely, having been used to confidently “battling” for the faith since high school. I have no resentments and I remember with affection all of the teachers, but I had been already prepared in Catholic militancy beforehand, to keep an eye on the teaching. Everyday in the seminary I would keep watch on the horizons - expecting the "Catholic Restoration"…that never came!
Q. Which ministries did you carry out in the first years of ordination?
A. Once ordained, at 25, they sent me to a very large orthodox Catholic parish, with a large oratory; I was the assistant. It wasn’t easy: I taught religion at middle school and the rest of the day was taken up between the oratory and the parish church: difficult work, because I had to confront ecclesial lines very different from my own, already markedly traditional. I hope I did some good and little harm. After that, I went to France for about a year, attracted by the experience of Canons Regular, because I felt the need of greater support from other priests: Canons Regular, as well as monks, had built Christian Europe, so it seemed I had found a solution to serve God and souls in a better way. I came back, though, because I discovered the theological disputes and the weariness of the seminary had entered the house: the atmosphere of confusion did not stay out of convents, as it did not stay out of our hearts. Afterwards, I “docked in” at the Vigezzo Valley, where I am now, first as assistant in the Sanctuary and then as parish priest. In all these years, I have continued to teach religion in schools.
Q. How did you happen to encounter the Traditional Latin Mass and what brought you to embrace this rite exclusively, despite the difficulties?
A. This is difficult to answer. It seemed that it had always existed. I remember I could never stand a certain way of celebrating; I recall noticing ridiculous things in many liturgies, I was always aware. It was like knowing that it was a confused moment (in time), of a dramatic crossing, but that there would be a return home eventually. Everything in the Church spoke to you about the Old Rite, that only it was missing, and so... I waited. As parish vicar, and more so when I was parish priest, I did all that seemed possible to me: ad orientem altar, Gregorian chant with the faithful, communion on the tongue, always wore the cassock, doctrinal meetings with the adults, traditional catechism for the children.
But it was not enough, there was the heart of the question, the Mass, but how could I go about it? – I had already been under “investigation” for years because of the few things I had done! In 2005, I introduced first, the Offertory, then, the Canon of the Old Rite into the Mass of Paul VI. I patiently waited for some time for news of the Motu Proprio, which seemed would never come. And on the 11th of July, 2007, (I remember it) it was a Tuesday, I began to celebrate exclusively the Mass of all time. I have to say that it was my brother who gave me the last “push”: we were on a mountain trip together the day before and he said to me ”I don’t know what you are waiting for…” …it was the sign that I had to begin.
Q. Why have you refused the so called “biritualism” in contrast to other priests who have welcomed Summorum Pontificum?
A. I shall be brief. I find the obligation of biritualism absurd. If one has found that which is authentic, which is best, that which expresses the Catholic Faith more completely, without dangerous ambiguities, why would there be the need to celebrate something much less so? With biritualism, in actual fact, one rite dies and the other stays. With biritualism, the priest gets weary, with the sadness of a sort of schizophrenia, and the people are not edified, instructed, consoled in the beauty of God. I shall avoid discussing the theological liturgical aspects - an interview is not the place for that. I will say only that whoever stays with biritualism sooner or later abandons the Old Rite and manufactures reasons to stay in the world of the reform, lived perhaps in a conservative way, but with an interior sadness, like one who has betrayed the love of God since his youth. I have to add that it was very helpful for me to read “The Anglican Liturgical Reform” by Michael Davies – a fundamental text which is very clear: the ambiguity of the rite leads to heresy in fact. Is it not this that has happened?
Q. How did your parishioners react when they learned of your decision to return to the Old Rite?
A.: No one was surprised. The supporters said: “…at last!” The ones against it said: “..we told you so!” But I would say that most of the people went to work with great zeal: they took the leaflets, they wanted to understand…there was fervor… Afterwards, I have been always helped by a group of the faithful, strong and simple people, who were always ready to work with me: I am thinking specially of those who have had choir practice together since 1995. Then they started to say that we were disobeying the Bishop and the Pope and as a result everything became more complicated, but initially it was not so.
Q. We all know of the misunderstandings with the Bishop and the subsequent solution of entrusting you to a sort of chaplaincy at Vocogno. How were the relations with your brother parish priests at the time, apart from the variances with the Curia of Novara?
A. They all disappeared. Some disapproved, the majority kept silent, someone at night told us they were not against it, it rarely happened, but anyway, publically they could not do anything about it. It was fear of official disobedience. Don Stefano, the priest who has embarked on the same road as I have and with whom I work, (even if we have different types of apostolate)...well, he and I have never missed the vicariate priests's meetings… we have always participated there with enthusiasm.
Q. How are your relations today with the Bishop and other priests?
A. They seem to be serene, even if I see that there is much that is unresolved, because an in-depth discussion about the reasons for our choice has always been avoided. It’s as if they wanted it to remain on the surface at a purely juridical level. Let’s hope that, in time, something here changes for the better.
Q. From your observation-post, how do you view the situation in the Church and what do you think the FSSPX’s role in the future will be?
A. The Church belongs to God, so I have to hope. Even if I see that this crisis which is deep and very sad, will be very long. There is a non-Christian thought that has entered Christianity. Paul VI said it! It is commonly accepted. A great many think they are Catholics, but they aren’t anymore. It’s terrible. This is abandoning Jesus Christ while remaining inside His Church - there can be nothing more ambiguous than this! The Fraternity has to continue Mons. Lefebvre’s work, i.e., guarding the priesthood, the faith, the Mass of Ages…one day, the providential role of the Society will be evident to everyone. Loving the Church means preserving the treasures of faith and grace that Our Lord Jesus Christ has consigned to it and which establish it. The Fraternity has always done this, for this I thank God.
Q. The Ossolana region has great religious traditions. Do you think that the Traditional Latin Mass could spread in this zone and those nearby?
A. I don’t know. I only know that life in our mountains took form from the Old Catholic Mass. The lives of the people up here were educated by the Tridentine liturgy, it was there for them, so that they could remain radically in front of God, that is to say, with a confidence that molds life. But the “Americanized” world has arrived up here too, thanks also to the Church, unfortunately. Humanly speaking, it has been a disaster.
Q. How is your apostolate going at present, and how many faithful habitually attend the church at Vocogno?
A. Daily Mass, 2 Masses on Sunday, confessions everyday for half an hour before Mass, school at Domodossola, this year 13 classes, meetings on Catholic doctrine every Friday, catechism for children, weekly choir practice- and then if I am able, a little of the monastic life – withdrawing a bit- because if a priest wants to do some good, he mustn’t stay too long in the midst of things. Don Stefano and I share a great priestly brotherhood – and he too has returned to the Traditional Mass, which he celebrates for the faithful in the hospital chapel at Domodossola: it’s also an effective brotherhood, seeing that our faithful share many moments together. All of this gave birth to a Newsletter and a website which gives an account of our life.
How many faithful attend? I don’t know. The number varies. There could be up to 120 on Sundays during the summer, in winter the number drops, given the distance and the place. But I have learned not to count: the kings of Israel were punished when they took a census!
Q. How do you view the recent instruction “Universae Ecclesiae” on the use of the Old Missal?
A. It has reaffirmed that the Mass of all time has never been forbidden and that it cannot be prohibited. But those who don’t want to acknowledge it will continue “to muddle up all the cards.”
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Engagements--In Church
by Chester Wrzaszczak
NOTE: This article was written while the old Code of Canon Law was in effect. Canon 1062 of the new Code states: A promise of marriage, whether unilateral or bilateral, called an engagement, is governed by the particular law which the Episcopal Conference has enacted, after consideration of such customs and civil laws as may exist. While there is no obligation to have a betrothal ceremony some Catholics may desire to do so. This article is provided to offer suggestions for those interested in becoming engaged in church.
An age-old and excellent engagement ceremony is found in Father Weller's translation of the Roman Ritual.1 The Queen's Work reproduces the rite in a pamphlet published by this writer under the title: Your Engagement Should Be in Church,2 as does the Catholic University in the author's doctoral dissertation: The Betrothal Contract in the Code of Canon Law.3
In the Oriental Church, both the contract and the ceremony have been ordinary practice for centuries. Recent codification of Eastern marriage legislation specifically treats of solemn espousals in canons six and seven of the newly codified oriental law.4
Betrothment Defined
From Roman law sources, espousals were always understood as "the mention and promise of future marriage."5 Pope Nicholas I defined them as "pacts of promise of future marriage."6 The Code of Canon Law today regards betrothals as either bilateral or unilateral contracts, accordingly as they are mutually agreed on by both parties or made by one and accepted by the other party.7 St. Thomas referred to the engagement as a "quasi-sacramental."8
The Engagement Ceremony
Officially speaking, there is no prescribed ritual for betrothals. Since, however, the engagement is so closely allied with the Sacrament of Matrimony, it is most fitting that it take place in church, preferably at the communion railing. Because Father Weller includes the ceremony in his translation of the Roman Ritual, it would be wise to adopt it. The Holy See does not permit the introduction of any new liturgical ceremonies on private authority. The ceremony is as follows:
1. The priest (vested in surplice and white stole) with his assistants (vested in surplice) awaits the couple at the communion table. At hand are the stoup with holy water and the altar missal. As the man and woman come forward with the two witnesses they have chosen, the following antiphon and psalm are sung on the eighth psalm tone:
Antiphon: To the Lord I will tender my promise: in the presence of all His people.
Psalm 126
Unless the house be of the Lord's building, in vain do the builders labor.
Unless the Lord be the guard of the city, 'tis in vain the guard keeps his sentry.
It is futile that you rise before daybreak, to be astir in the midst of darkness,
Ye that eat the bread of hard labor; for He deals bountifully to His beloved while they are sleeping.
Behold, offspring result from God's giving, a fruitful womb the regard of His blessing.
Like arrows in the hand of the warrior, are children begotten of a youthful father.
Happy the man who has filled therewith his quiver; they shall uphold him in contending at the gate with his rival.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and forever, through endless ages. Amen.
Antiphon: To the Lord I will tender my promise: in the presence of all His people.
2. The priest now addresses them:
Allocution
Beloved of Christ: It is in the dispensation of Divine Providence that you are called to the holy vocation of marriage. For this reason, you present yourselves today before Christ and His Church, before His sacred minister and the devout people of God, to ratify in solemn manner the engagement bespoken between you. At the same time you entreat the blessing of the Church upon your proposal, as well as the earnest supplications of the faithful here present, since you fully realize that what has been inspired and guided by the will of your heavenly Father requires equally His grace to be brought to a happy fulfillment. We are confident that you have given serious and prayerful deliberation to your pledge of wedlock; moreover, that you have sought counsel from the superiors whom God has placed over you. In the time that intervenes, you will prepare for the sacrament of matrimony by a period of virtuous courtship, so that when the happy and blessed day arrives for you to give yourselves irrevocably to each other, you will have laid a sound spiritual foundation for long years of godly prosperity on earth and eventual blessedness together in the life to come. May the union you purpose one day to consummate as man and wife be found worthy to be in all truth a sacramental image and reality of the union of Christ and His beloved Bride, the Church. This grant, thou Who livest and reignest, God, forever and evermore.
R. Amen.
3. The priest now bids the couple to join their right hands, while they repeat after him the following:
The man:
In the name of our Lord, I, N.N., promise that I will one day take thee, N.N., as my wife, according to the ordinances of God and holy Church. I will love thee even as myself. I will keep faith and loyalty to thee, and so in thine necessities aid and comfort thee; which things and all that a man ought to do unto his espoused I promise to do unto thee and to keep by the faith that is in me.
The woman:
In the name of our Lord, I, N.N., in the form and manner wherein thou hast promised thyself unto me, do declare and affirm that I will one day bind and oblige myself unto thee, and will take thee, N.N„ as my husband. And all that thou hast pledged unto me I promise to do and keep unto thee, by the faith that is in me.
4. Then the priest takes the two ends of his stole and in the form of a cross places them over the clasped hands of the couple. Holding the stole in place with his left hand, he says: I bear witness of your solemn proposal and I declare you betrothed. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As he pronounces the last words, he sprinkles them with holy water in the form of a cross.
5. Thereupon he blesses the engagement ring:
V. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.
R. Qui fecit caelum et terram.
V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.
Oremus: Omnipotent Deus, creator et conservator humani generis, ac largitor aeternae salutis, permitte digneris Spiritum sanctum Paraclitum super hunc annulum. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Filium tuum: Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.
R. Amen.
Et aspergatur aqua benedicta.
V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made heaven and earth.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray:
O God Almighty, Creator and preserver of the human race, and the Giver of everlasting salvation, deign to allow the Holy Spirit, the Consoler to come with His blessing upon this ring. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit God, for endless ages.
R. Amen.
The ring is sprinkled with holy water.
6. The man takes the ring and places it first on the index finger of the left hand of the woman, saying: In the name of the Father, (then on the middle finger, adding): and of the Son; (finally placing and leaving it on the ring finger, he concludes): and of the Holy Spirit.
7. The priest opens the missal at the beginning of the Canon, and presents the page imprinted with the crucifixion to be kissed first by the man and then by the woman.
8. If Mass does not follow (or even if Mass is to follow, if he deems it opportune), the priest may read the following passages from Sacred Scripture:
Tobias 7:8
Tobias said: I will not eat nor drink here this day, unless thou first grant me my petition, and promise to give me Sara thy daughter… The angel said to Raguel: Be not afraid to give her to this man, for to him who feareth God, is thy daughter due to be his wife; therefore another could not have her… And Raguel taking the right hand of his daughter, he gave it unto the right hand of Tobias, saying: The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you, and may He join you together, and fulfill His blessing in you. And taking paper they made a writing of the marriage. And afterwards they made merry, blessing God… Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and said to her: Sara, arise, and let us pray to God today, and tomorrow, and the next day; because for these three nights we are joined to God; and when the third night is over, we will be in our own wedlock. For we are children of saints, and must not be joined together like heathens that know not God. So they both arose, and prayed earnestly both together that health might be given them.
R. Thanks be to God.
John 15:4-12
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you. In this is my Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father's commandments, and do abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy be in you, and your joy may be filled. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.
R. Praise be to thee, O Christ!
9. Lastly, the priest extends his hands over the heads of the couple and says:
May God bless your bodies and your souls. May He shed His blessing upon you as He blessed Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. May the hand of the Lord be upon you, may He send His holy Angel to guard you all the days of your life. Amen. Go in peace!
Competency Of Bishops And Pastors
Except for the "local ordinary" (the bishop and the vicar-general), only the pastor is officially competent to witness a betrothal contract.13 Delegation to another priest, even the assistant in the parish, is disallowed in code law.14 However, any priest may act as a private witness, provided another private witness signs the contract with him, lay or clerical.15
In the absence of positive legislation, any priest may likewise assist at the liturgical ceremony described above, since the ritual is not mandatory.16
Advantages Of The Engagement
Priests would do well to encourage a Solemn Betrothal and discourage marriage, if possible, when:
1. Military service will separate the groom from his bride very shortly after, if not before, the marriage. An engagement in church will insure fidelity and a partner (to a degree at least) without the inexorable and permanent effects produced by matrimony.
2. Pursuit of higher education is contemplated by one or both of the contractants. Experience points to the hardships, material and moral, accompanying student husbands, wives and parents.
3. Immaturity, emotional, physical and moral, present in either or both parties. The engagement can serve as a useful period conducive to the necessary growth of the still infantile and puerile couple.
4. Uncertainty and vacillation experienced by either party in regard to the choice of consort, the willingness to assume the burdens of the married state here and now, or the like.
5. Well grounded fears harbored by any of the parties, the pastor and parents included, about the outcome and success of the marriage.
There is much to be gained and little to be lost by an engagement--in church.
Chester Wrzaszczak
Endnotes
1 The Roman Ritual, translated by Weller (Milwaukee: Bruce), I, 583-593.
2 Chester Wrzaszczak, Your Engagement Should be in Church (St Louis: The Queen's Work), pp. 22-29.
3 Chester Wrzaszczak, The Betrothal Contract in the Code of Canon Law (Washington, D. C.: CUA Press), pp. 154-159.
4 Canon 6, # 1: "The promise of marriage, even though bilateral, or in the nature of a mutual espousal, is null in both fora, unless made before
5 Momsen, Digesta Iustiana Augusti (Berlin), I, 656, n. 1.
6 Responsa, ad Consulta Bulgarum, C. III (Paris: Mansi), XV, 402.
7 Canon 1017, # 1.
8 Suppl. q. 43, art. 1, ad 6.
