Sunday, May 22, 2011

Organic Development of the Roman Liturgy

There's lots of talk about the Roman liturgy developing organically rather than being created "on the spot." We know what "being created on the spot" looks like: the Novus Ordo is the prime example of that. But what exactly would organic development of the Roman Rite look like?

In the East, development of the liturgy is nearly an oxymoron. In the West there has been development of the liturgy, but this occurred during eras when control of the liturgy was much less centralized than it currently is now. Until St. Pius V's Quo Primum, there was an abundance of local liturgies, liturgies whose overseer was the local bishop, not the Pope. Since Quo Primum, Rome has had direct control over all Western liturgy, right? So how is development possible EXCEPT from above (i.e., except by decree from Rome), in which case it would not seem to be organic development?

Put more concretely, how will the Extraordinary Form develop "organically" if you are required to follow the rubrics exactly? Wouldn't "organic development" always be considered abuse -- whether it's adding or removing words, or adding or removing gestures, etc.?

Thoughts?

Monday, May 16, 2011

Benedict XVI on Liturgy: Old Mass and New Mass

There is a fascinating news piece on CNS about Pope Benedict's intentions vis-a-vis the liturgy. But this is not like the usual story, not just a concatenation of a particular expert's opinions about what the Pope is doing. This is from a top Curial official's remarks at the "Summorum Pontificum" conference in Rome.

This puts Summorum Pontificum in its proper context, as the mere beginning of a new liturgical movement.

Pope's "Reform of the Reform"

Sunday, May 15, 2011

A Plug for a Worthy Cause

In your spare time, please take a look at the following website:

http://walsinghamsociety.com/

The Walsingham Society is a newly-founded, academic institute dedicated to scholarship and education in the major disciplines of the humanities -- theology, philosophy, and literature -- and in culture and the arts.