Ave Regina

I received a nice call yesterday - there’s a Missa Solemnis on the schedule this Sunday in a parish about two hours from where I live, and they want me to serve. I did, thankfully, have the possibility to go, so I’m on my way now, as we’re going to train with the Altar servers today. I have to be there at 11 AM, so I had to get up at 6 AM to reach the train. Early for a Saturday, but for a nice reason :-) It will be the first Missa Solemnis I’ve served in, so I’m really looking forward to it. A visiting priest from the FSSP will be the Celebrant, the parish priest will be the Deacon, and a seminarian will act as a straw Subdeacon. I think this is the first Missa Solemnis being celebrated in this country since the reforms (including illicit Masses) so it’s really a big event. I’ll post a report afterwards :-)

I still haven’t got to looking at the “new Little Office of The Blessed Virgin Mary which I wrote about in the last post, but I’ll start reciting it as soon as I can and comment on it when I feel I have got a thorough enough impression. Other than that, I’m still enjoying my summer break, but I’m starting to look forward to go back to college. I’m going to take introductory Greek, Dogmatics and a Philosophy subject. Especially Greek is going to be challenging, but as my hypersomnia has lessened I probably will having an easier time studying as I won’t be that prone to falling asleep at the library :-) So all in all I think this will be a good year at college compared to the last couple of years.

I’m being picked up at the train station any moment now, but I’ll post a report on the Mass tomorrow as soon as I have time for it. TTYL :-)

Yesterday I served at the Altar in the Gregorian Rite / Traditional Latin Mass for the first time! It was also the first time my parish priest celebrated this Mass, so we are not yet “fluent,” but it went pretty well and Father has at least become idoneus, which is the requirement of Summorum Pontificum. We’re going to celebrate in private again today, and tomorrow Father will say Nuptial Mass, probably the first public Traditional Mass celebrated in this parish since the reform (there may have been some single occurences but I haven’t heard of any). The Mass yesterday (and probably today) took place in a chapel nearby instead of the parish church, partly because it’s almost unaltered - they’ve placed another wooden, freestanding Altar in front of the Sanctuary, and removed the altar rails, but the High Altar, side Altars etc. are still there. It’s also a good place for private Masses, as it’s usually closed except for scheduled Masses. The Nuptial Mass tomorrow will take place in the parish church however, which was heavily altered (I try not to say “devastated”…) in the 70′ies, so we’ll have to rearrange the Sanctuary and use the new Altar, but it’ll work. At any rate I’m glad to see the Traditional Mass returning, though slowly - I doubt we’ll see scheduled Masses in the Gregorian Rite for a while, but at least things have started happening. May the fruits of our Holy Father’s pontificate be manyfold through our Blessed Mother’s intercession and the Grace of Our Lord.

I’ve had to take a break from blogging the last few months, but I’m finally back. I’ve had some problems with hypersomnia (excessive sleepiness), and the doctors haven’t been able to find a solution until a little while ago, but things are going better and I hope things will normalize soon, preferably before my next school term begins. Please pray for me, I’m feeling better than I have done in a long while, but I’ll need the help of God, our blessed Mother and all the saints to get back to normal.

As I had to take a break from school work, I’ve spent the last few months working on liturgy, which is my main field of interest academically, and also the place I - and hopefully all of us - first and foremost encounter our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As you may know, I’m traditionally inclined, though I’m not a traditionalist - I rejoice in having the priviledge of serving at the Altar in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite (which is celebrated in a worthy and reverent way in my parish), but I also rejoice in the fact that I’m also going to serve in the Extraordinary Form of the same Rite very soon, probably this week. The Gregorian Rite (as Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos now terms it) will probably not be celebrated on a regular basis in my parish yet, as this is for a special occation, but I’m still happy to see Summorum Pontificum making an impact in my parish, and I hope to see this truly extraordinary form of the Roman Rite returning on a more regular basis in time.

I’ve also been following the Holy Father’s activities through other blogs (WDTPRS is my favorite, I recommend setting it as your browser’s homepage immediately if you haven’t done so already), and I’m thrilled to see what he’s doing through his way of celebrating Mass and other Liturgies. Only a few years ago, you’d be suspected of schism or worse if you received Communion kneeling and on the tongue (though many priests would appreciate you doing so, even if they didn’t dare admit it). Just a few weeks ago, on Corpus Christi, we saw people receiving Communion in that way - from the Pope! And this was not a one-time event, he’s been doing that in every Mass he’s celebrated publicly since then. I also love to see the old Altar arrangements coming back (even though Mass is still celebrated versus populum - but hey, you have to start somewhere), how the Pope vests, how old customs, like Cardinal Deacons, are coming back, and so on - the list is long. Through his own practice, he tells the Church not only how Mass should be celebrated, but how the Ordinary Form really can be celebrated in continuity with Tradition, and this is going to have ripple effects in the Church. Through his action, and through his gift of Summorum Pontificum, I think we’ll see a shift of mind in the Church within the next few years, a shift which in many places is sorely needed.

I’ve also had the joy of seeing my sister being united in Holy Matrimony with a wonderful man who truly loves her, the wedding was not Catholic as they are Protestants (I’m a convert), but it was still a beautiful wedding and I truly rejoiced with them as they (as baptized Christians nonetheless) were joined in the Sacrament of Matrimony. They’re actually going on their honeymoon tomorrow :-) Please pray for their marriage and their future children.

Yesterday I had the profound priviledge of serving in a priestly Ordination, the ordinands were two friends of mine and I was really glad to be there. Our Bishop always offers Mass in a truly reverent and solemn way, and the church was packed with attendants. Receiving the newly ordained priests’ First Blessings was a deeply moving moment. May our Mother keep leading them - and us - towards her Son in and through their ministry.

To the more “profane”; iPhone was finally released in my country! The subscription plans are obscurely expensive, but I’ve cancelled my cable TV subscription (I only watch DVD’s anyways) and downgraded my broadband connection (the cheaper alternative is now at the same speed the more expensive one was at only two years ago…), and that should pretty much make up for the difference between my current cell phone plan and the new one. My Windows Smartphone has quit cooperating altogether, so it’s time for a change. I’ve heard the iPhone 3G will have some nice addons for blogging, which I’m looking forward to test.

I’m also progressing in World of Warcraft, of which I must be the most casual player ever, having been thrown out of two casual (!) guilds because I don’t play enough. I quit playing altogether for a couple of months (got bored), but after a break it became fun again, and though I’m progressing slowly, I’ll be getting to level 70 in a little while. I’m in a nice and friendly guild again, but no doubt they’ll kick me sometime for not progressing quickly enough (they’re becoming scarily obsessed about raiding and that’s not a good sign), at that time I may set up a one man guild just for the looks.

Well, that’s it for now, I’ll try posting more often from now on. It seems like this blog is turning in to a more personal-style blog than I planned, but then a purely theological blog would be boring, I think. Please check back for updates, and best wishes from me in the meantime :-)

Closely connected to the Brown Scapular is the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Probably dating back to the eighth century, it is one of the oldest traditions of Marian devotion, and for that sake one of the oldest traditions of prayer in the Church at general. It has been used by religious, priests and lay people, and in several religious orders it has been recited in addition to the Divine Office up until our time. It has been used as a means to learn children to read, and it has been the favorite devotion of those who knew how to read - people even knew it by heart! Try memorizing Our Lady’s Matins…

Reciting the Little Office is one of the conditions to be observed if wearing the Brown Scapular (though this can be substituted with some other good work with the permission of a priest), but I also recommend reciting it if you are not wearing a Scapular. The Manual of Indulgences of 1999 grants a partial indulgence for piously reciting an approved little office, and The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of them. It is commonly held that this applies also to reciting parts of it - I’ve found that reciting Lauds, Prime, Sext, Vespers and Compline works great taking my daily schedule into account. Some days I recite all or most of the hours in the evening, but that used to be normal among both lay people and diocesan priests up until recent times, and I find actually reciting the hours more important than reciting them at the right time if I can’t do both.

The Little Office (1961 edition) is composed of the normal hours (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline), but there is no day cycle, the Office remains the same every day. However there are variations for Advent and Christmastide, and the “normal” Office changes a bit during Lent and Easter. The Office also don’t have variations for commemorations and feasts. This results in a very small book (”Little Office”, remember), which makes it incredibly practical to carry around compared to the Roman Breviary or the Liturgy of the Hours. On the more spiritual level, you get the chance to meditate on the same texts over and over, and the Marian theme of the psalms will stand out more and more clearly after having recited the office for a while, thus giving you a greater understanding of God’s plan for the Blessed Virgin, and how this is found throughout the whole history of Israel. Reciting the Little Office is thus in my opinion perhaps the most important Marian devotion we have, and I’m glad to see - both online and among people I know - that it’s on its way back after sadly having been almost abandoned in mainstream Catholicism for a while.

As I’ve never even looked at the post-1970 edition, I can’t really say which version I prefer, but as the differences probably resemble the difference between the 1961 Roman Breviary and the current Liturgy of the Hours, I went for the 1961 version when I decided to start reading the Little Office. Having read the current Liturgy of the Hours for years, both in vernacular and Latin, I found, at some point, that I personally prefer the 1961 rubrics, as its focus is more on reciting the psalter and less on intercessions etc., which suits my liturgical sense better. However there’s nothing wrong with the current rubrics if you happen to prefer them (which is the great thing about the Papal gift of Summorum Pontificum, you’re allowed to prefer the form you want - or both of them for that sake), and if so taking a look at the newer edition can be fruitful.

As for the 1961 edition, it has newly been republished by Baronius Press, with a beautiful blue leather cover and gilded pages. It is the first ever edition that contains the Gregorian Chant for every part of the Office, which makes it a wonderful book if one is to sing the Office in a parish or other community. It follows the text of the 1961 editio typica of the Roman Breviary, and it uses the Douay-Rheims Bible for the English translation, which is perhaps the best translation for liturgical use in my opinion, due to its reverent and poetic language. This book is highly recommended for all Catholics!

The post-1970 edition is published by Catholic Book Publishing, other than that I don’t know anything about it. I plan to buy it and review it, but that’ll take some time. In case you want to take a look at it, I’ll link to both versions. The one to the left is the 1961 edition :-)

The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Little Office Of The Blessed Virgin Mary