Adoremus Bulletin
NOVEMBER 2021
Catholics Disapprove of Limits on Traditional Latin Mass, but Pope Francis Still Popular By Kevin J. Jones
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CNA—Pope Francis’ restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass appear to be unpopular among regularly practicing Catholics, but most American Catholics have not even heard of the changes, a survey reports. “Catholics who attend Mass weekly are both more likely to be aware of the new restrictions and more inclined to oppose them than Catholics who attend less frequently,” the Pew Research Center, which conducted the survey, said October 7. About 58% of Catholics who attended Mass weekly had heard about the restrictions. Regular Mass attendees were the most sceptical of the Pope’s move. Of these, 29% disapproved of the new restrictions, 11% approved, while 17% had no opinion. However, 42% had not heard of the changes. On July 16, in Traditionis custodes, Pope Francis issued rules giving a bishop “exclusive competence” to authorize the Traditional Latin Mass in his diocese. Bishops with groups celebrating this form of the liturgy in their dioceses are to ensure that the groups do not deny the validity of the Second Vatican Council. The council, held in the 1960s, preceded major changes in the Roman Catholic liturgy. These changes were codified in 1970 with St. Paul VI’s Roman Missal, the missal used in most Catholic parishes in vernacular languages. The restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass are a break from the practice established in a 2007 apostolic letter from Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum, which had acknowledged Please see LATIN MASS on next page
XXVII, No.3
The Many Senses of the Liturgical Haptic By Father Eusebius Martis, OSB
W
e are living here now as aliens and only for a time.”1 Saint Cyprian’s insight is included in the Office of Readings for the last Friday of the liturgical year. It is a good reminder that in the world we are exiles, living as pilgrims. That doesn’t mean, however, that Christians pass through the world as if they were immune to it, nor as frenzied tourists, snapping pictures at every monument they come across. Pilgrims pass through the land—on their way to the heavenly homeland, feeling the road beneath their feet, taking in its sights and sounds, its scents and flavors. A peregrinatus (pilgrim) is a grignoteur—a grazer, a nibbler, a gleaner. Christians engage the world, creation, and its culture through the gifts given by the Creator. Thus, the sacramental approach to the religious life—where we encounter divine realities through earthly things—is significant and, so, necessary. In virtue of the mystery of the Incarnation, the love of God is available to us: we recognize in Christ, “God made visible,” and so are “caught up through him in love of things invisible.”2
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Deep Dig into Mystery The significance of the senses became evident to me in the summer of 2017, when I had occasion to visit the Villa Romana del Casale in Sicily. It is an amazing archeological site that has its origin as early as the third century BC, though most of the visible construction is from the early fourth century AD. It undoubtedly predates the Edict of Milan (313), which signaled the end of the systematic persecution of Christians in the early Church. Of particular note is the great meeting hall, the basilica, in which the master of the domus would receive guests, make official pronouncements, and entertain dignitaries. Standing on the main floor of the partially reconstructed building, I had the immediate sense of why Christians of the patristic period chose this majestic style of architecture as appropriate for the worship of Christ, the great King. This insight, it occurred to me, came to me through my senses, and it launched me into a continuing reflection on the impact of sensory feedback in Catholic ritual life. The height and breadth of the building itself, especially in contrast with
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Adoremus Bulletin NOVEMBER 2021
AB/WIKIMEDIA
News & Views
For the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy
The Catholic religion is founded on the mystery of the eternal God taking on human flesh; we call this the dogma of the Incarnation. It follows that the in-fleshed-ness of prayer is inseparable from faith. We are able to pray more fruitfully when we are aware of the way in which our bodies, our senses engage with prayer to the Divine (Descartes’s theory of vision notwithstanding!).
“ The sacramental approach to the religious life—where we encounter divine realities through earthly things— is significant and, so, necessary.” the dark, heavy, and squat nature of the surrounding structures, gave a sense of openness and grandeur. The natural sunlight streaming through the clerestory windows suggested heavenly illumination. The marble floor and the woodwork offered a sense of dignity and nobility. The situation of the master’s seat under the dome of the apse created a sonorously sweet spot from which every pronouncement would be clearly heard. The visual perspective, the spatial sense, and even the acoustics seemed to collaborate in an expresA Sensible Approach Man does not live by bread alone, but our senses rely on the physical world to grasp through “haptic” experience the invisible realities of the liturgy, says Father Eusebius Martis. ................................................................. 1 All Things Being Equinox Amid these dying days of autumn, Lynne Boughton sheds some light on the cosmic implications for how the Church establishes the date(s) for Easter—and why it matters in season and out. .................................................. 6 In Other Words, Welcome! Michael Brummond takes a deep dive into the new version of the Order of Baptism for
sion of the dignity and grandeur of the place. About the same time, I was researching the earliest-known house-church at Dura-Europos, located on the Euphrates River in present-day Syria. I imagined myself accompanying the group of Easter Vigil electi, bowing down, physically humbling themselves, to enter the frescoed baptistery. What did they experience in their bodies, what did they see, smell, touch, as they passed painted vignettes of scripture stories on their way to the font— the healing of the paralytic, Jesus and Peter walking on the water, David defeating Goliath? I asked myself, “To what are people attuned in religious ritual today?” A Sense of Archetypes Sensory feedback, of course, is not limited to the realm of religion. In the Please see HAPTIC on page 4
Children, which excises the word “welcome” but is itself far from being an unwelcoming translation. .........................................................9 The Anatomy of Matrimony In The Mystery of Marriage, reviewed by Richard Budd, author Perry Cahall incorporates John Paul II’s Theology of the Body into the Church’s traditional body of teaching on marriage. .....................................12 News & Views ....................................................1 Quiz......................................................................3 The Rite Questions...........................................10