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From the Pastor Traditional Ordination Rite Continued
Last weekend I wrote a little about priest ordinations (congratulations to the newly ordained Fathers Anthony Astrab, Ralph D’Elia and Joshua Hare!) and reproduced a small bit of the traditional Rite of Ordination (as seen fully at SanctaMissa.org). That section showed the bishop asking the congregation their opinion on the candidates for Holy Orders and his exhortation to the men about to be ordained. This week I want to show you a little bit more about the essential parts of the traditional Ordination Rite. It shows how the conferral of this particular sacrament, rather than either taking place outside of Mass (as is done with traditional marriages and confirmations) or being an interruption of the Mass (like a homily officially is), instead is fully incorporated into the Mass. It becomes an integral part of the Mass, or, perhaps, the Mass becomes an integral part of the Ordination Rite. The section of the Mass shown below follows the “laying on of hands” (which is the “matter” of the sacrament) as the Bishop prays over each man and then continues the Mass. This is the Preface of the Mass and, as you will see in the Ritual’s commentary notes in the brackets and in the headings, it is the “form” of the sacrament. (Each sacrament has its proper Matter, Form, and Intention, all of which are essential for validity.) The Solemn Prayer and Form of the Sacrament {This very beautiful prayer, also called the consecratory preface, is the actual form of the sacrament, and in early times the Roman rite for ordination had nothing more than a prayer or prayers of this kind, along with the imposition of hands. A theology of the sacrament could quite easily be constructed on this prayer. In brief, it asks for God's grace, for He is the source of all honors and dignities, as also of all growth and order. It states the principle that God's loving providence guides His rational creatures through stages of gradual progress and perfection. It points out how this principle operated in the Old Testament, in God's choosing Moses and the seventy elders to assist Him; and in the New, in Christ's choosing the apostles and their successors to carry out the ministry of His Church. Then follows a petition that the bishop may have helpers in the men being ordained, who will prove themselves to be elders in the best sense of the term. Lastly the Holy Spirit and His gifts are invoked on the candidates, that they be raised to the priesthood and be filled with the holiness which should characterize this office.} The bishop continues with the consecratory preface: It is indeed fitting and right, praiseworthy and salutary that we should always and everywhere give thanks to you, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, the source of all honors and the dispenser of all dignities. Through you all things make progress and receive their permanence. In accord with your wise designs all rational creatures advance to a higher excellence. And in accord with this same principle the various grades of priests and the offices of levites, instituted for sacred functions, grew and developed. For after appointing chief priests to rule the people, you selected men of lesser degree and second rank to be their associates and their helpers. Thus in the desert you propagated Moses' spirit in the hearts of seventy judicious men, with whose help he was enabled to govern easily the countless multitude. Thus too you imbued Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, with the abundant graces of their father, in order to assure a sufficient number of priests for the offering of saving sacrifices and the performance of the more common sacred rites. By the same providence, O Lord, you gave the apostles of your Son associate teachers of the faith, and by their help as preachers of a second rank the apostles made their voice heard to the ends of the earth. Therefore, we beg you, Lord, to support us in our weakness with similar helpers, for inasmuch as we are weaker, so much the more we stand in need of them. The Essential Form At this point the bishop interrupts the chant and recites the following words, which constitute the essential form of the sacrament: Almighty Father, we pray that you bestow on these servants of yours the dignity of the priesthood. Renew in their hearts the spirit of holiness, so that they may be steadfast in this second degree of the priestly office received from you, O God, and by their own lives suggest a rule of life to others. Here the bishop resumes the chant of the rest of the preface: May they be prudent fellow-workers in our ministry. May they shine in all the virtues, so that they will be able to give a good account of the stewardship entrusted to them, and finally attain the reward of everlasting blessedness. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor Traditional Ordination Rite
Saturday, May 18, Bishop Gregory Parkes ordained three men to the Priesthood (assuming everything went as planned, since this was written before that date!) Last week at Mass I encouraged all of you to attend, especially if you have never been to an ordination before. I mentioned that I have never been to an ordination in the older Rite and hope to see it happen in this diocese one day. That got me thinking, so I later went online to check out the differences between the current and the 1962 rituals. There are many! Though I cannot reproduce all of it here, below is a quite interesting address and exhortation near the beginning of the older ceremony. It comes from SanctaMissa.org if you wish to read the whole ritual. The bishop addresses the clergy and the people as follows: My dear brethren, since the captain of a ship and its passengers alike have reason to feel safe or else in danger on a voyage, they ought to be of one mind in their common interests. Not without reason, then, have the fathers decreed that the people too should be consulted in the choice of those who are to be raised to the ministry of the altar. For sometimes it happens that one or another person has knowledge about the life and conduct of a candidate that is not generally known. And the people will necessarily be more inclined to be loyal to a priest if they have given consent to his ordination. As far as I can judge, the conduct of these deacons, who with God's help are to be ordained to the priesthood, is commendable and is pleasing to God. In my opinion, then, they are deserving of being promoted to a higher honor in the Church. Yet it is well to consult the people as a whole, rather than to rely on one or a few, whose approval might be a consequence of partiality or of misjudgment. Be perfectly free, then, to say what you know about the conduct and character of the candidates and what you think of their fitness. But let your approval of their elevation to the priesthood be based more on their merits than on your own affection for them. Consequently, if anyone has anything against them, let him for God's honor and in God's name come forward and sincerely speak his mind. Only let him remember his own state. After a brief pause the bishop continues, addressing himself now in exhortation to the candidates: My dear sons, who are about to be consecrated to the office of the priesthood, endeavor to receive that office worthily, and once ordained, strive to discharge it in a praiseworthy manner. A priest's duties are to offer sacrifice, to bless, to govern, to preach, and to baptize. So high a dignity should be approached with great awe, and care must be taken that those chosen for it are recommended by eminent wisdom, upright character, and a long-standing virtuous life. Thus it was that when the Lord commanded Moses to choose as his helpers seventy men from the whole tribe of Israel, to whom He would impart the gifts of the Holy Spirit, He said to him: "Choose the ones whom you know to be elders of the people" (Num 11.16). It is you yourselves who are prefigured in these seventy elders, if now, by the help of the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit, you are faithful to the Ten Commandments, and display soundness and maturity in knowledge and in action. Under the same kind of sign and figure, our Lord, in the New Law, chose the seventy-two disciples, and sent them before Him two by two to preach. Thus He taught us both by word and by deed that the ministers of His Church should be perfect both in faith and in works; in other words, that their lives should be founded on the twofold love of God and of neighbor. Strive, then, to be such, that by God's grace you may be worthy of being chosen to assist Moses and the twelve apostles, that is, the Catholic bishops who are prefigured by Moses and the apostles. Then indeed is Holy Church surrounded, adorned, and ruled by a wonderful variety of ministers, when from her ranks are consecrated bishops, and others of lesser orders, priests, deacons, and subdeacons, each of a different dignity, yet comprising the many members of the one body of Christ. Therefore, my dear sons, chosen as you are by the judgment of our brethren to be consecrated as our helpers, keep yourselves blameless in a life of chastity and sanctity. Be well aware of the sacredness of your duties. Be holy as you deal with holy things. When you celebrate the mystery of the Lord's death, see to it that by mortifying your bodies you rid yourselves of all vice and concupiscence. Let the doctrine you expound be spiritual medicine for the people of God. Let the fragrance of your lives be the delight of Christ's Church, that by your preaching and example you help to build up the edifice which is the family of God. May it never come about that we, for promoting you to so great an office, or you, for taking it on yourselves, should deserve the Lord's condemnation; but rather may we merit a reward from Him. So let it be by His grace. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: Pope? Hello? Can You Hear Me Now?
“Can you hear me now,” for those of you too young to remember when there was bad cell phone reception everywhere, was a tagline from a large wireless phone company claiming that they had better reception than all of their competitors. For those of us who grew up with landlines, which always sounded great and always worked, even when the electricity went out, the terrible reception and constant dropped calls of wireless phones was truly aggravating. Many people simply refused to use the new technology because even at its best it was subpar compared to what they were used to. Until pay phones disappeared, only those who favored innovation over quality used cell phones. Now we have an “innovating” Pope (unless you follow the quite convincing arguments of those who believe that Pope Benedict XVI did not validly resign; or that the St. Galen Mafia, including Bergoglio, excommunicated themselves, invalidating the conclave) who is very much like the then-new wireless phone service. Whenever he teaches in an incoherent or seemingly (at least) anti-Catholic way, real Catholics, those who know the clarity and soundness of the past Catholic teachings and the clarity with which (most) past Popes spoke, are as aggravated at him as they ever were at dropped calls and poor reception. And, just like the supposed “customer service” of the phone companies, where you would call and be put on hold for an hour only to be cut off just as a real person came on the line, so it is with him whenever a faithful Catholic asks for clarification. He refuses to clarify. He responds in a very arrogant and childish way through snide remarks and innuendos in his homilies and interviews, never naming names but making it crystal clear who he means as he, in a roundabout way, calls his “customers” vile names. Just as the phone companies’ lack of service while calling it service discourages its unhappy customers from seeking redress, so with the Pope’s “humble” service. It not only is a slap in the face to those whom he should most wish to assuage as to his Catholicity, but it also is a very purposeful message to others with questions that they will be treated with just the same contempt if they dare ask. “Can you hear me now?” A group of faithful Cardinals asked for clarification on not-unimportant matters of Faith and Morals 964 days ago. They were ridiculed, lambasted, demoted, and, finally, ignored. Then a larger group of non-Cardinal scholars asked even more questions. “Please,” they begged (I paraphrase), “clarify that you hold the Catholic position on Faith and Morals. Because you refuse to respond to charitable requests for clarity people no longer believe that the press is misquoting you or that radicals within the Curia are putting out messages contrary to your own beliefs. You refuse to repudiate statements against the Faith which are attributed to you. Your pontificate makes nonsense of two interchangeable and often-used rhetorical questions, ‘Does a bear ***t in the woods?’ and ‘Is the Pope Catholic?’” Silence. Most recently another scholarly group stuck their necks out and, through an Open Letter, asked the bishops of the world to either correct the Pope or declare that he, as a heretic, has removed himself from the Chair of Peter. What has been the response from the Vatican? Silence. What has been the response from the Bishops? Silence. What are Catholics to think? A lack of clarity, a lack of interest in proclaiming the Catholic Faith after making proclamations that seem to go against that very Faith which the Pope is bound to uphold and protect, points to one very obvious answer, one which no Catholic ever wants to even imagine could be true: That the Pope is not Catholic. That the Pope does not believe what the Catholic Church professes to be True. That bears are potty trained. Louie Verrecchio and Jimmy Akin, two reputable Catholics who often have very different ideas on Catholic teachings which involve prudential judgment, have had the best intellectual exchange of all of the commentaries I have read regarding the aforementioned Open Letter (search May 3-6, so far). Jimmy pointed out that “heresy” has a new, very narrow, definition as of the new (1983) Code of Canon Law, and that the Open Letter writers seem to have mistakenly used the older definition, nullifying their accusations. Louie responded that the disciplinary consequence for one guilty of these accusations, even if it meets only the old definition of heresy and not the newer one, is exactly the same: that the Pope (unless he clarifies that he does not actually believe and teach what he has professed and taught) has removed himself from the Faith and is no longer the Pope. Those who are outside of the Faith or with poor Catholic formation have no problem accepting a “heretical” Pope, for they don’t believe in the Church as Church or in Her moral teachings as the unchangeable teachings of God. For them, to proclaim that they like what Francis is doing is like having and showing off a new piece of technology, a new toy meant to impress others, even if it is worthless or dangerous. They don’t know or care what a “good” Pope is, or what his function is, or how a bad one can be deadly to countless souls. Please, Bishops and Pope! Proclaim that there is only one true God, only one true Church, only one sure means of Salvation! You either believe it or not. Silence in these matters is not acceptable, honorable, or moral. With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka From the Pastor: The Sounds of Life!
Last Sunday at the 10:30 Mass we had a group of children who made their First Holy Communion. It was a glorious day! I don’t know about you, but seeing the children so excited about receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion is always a delightful reminder to me that I should be that excited every time I receive as well. I love that day. But this particular day brought about another delight to me that some of you might not have experienced quite the same way as I did. Most of the time I can pretty much tune out all of the noise going on behind me (thank you, Holy Mother Church, for ad orientem Mass!) such that even if I hear things I don’t pay attention to it. But this last Sunday was different. I don’t know if there were more children than usual or if they were louder than normal but I noticed them and was filled with joy. You see, I had just been talking with a priest about the way other priests and bishops see the Tridentine Mass and those who attend. I remember that even Bishop Parkes was in disbelief when he first came to this diocese and I told him that we had more people under 50 than over 70! The escalating trend is that the young Catholics leave the Church (not just their parish) in their teenage years and never return. Catholic schools which used to be teeming with kids close due to lack of enrollment. Baptisms, confirmations, and weddings are outnumbered by funerals. Yet bishops and priests whose parishes typically evidence such dreadful statistics, where young Catholics are scarce and where families with multiple children are a rarity, always assume that Traditional Latin Masses (and especially Traditional Latin Mass parishes) will have even fewer young Catholics and certainly will have no families with small children. Hahahahaha! There was one particularly noticeable young child last week. I don’t remember what she was screaming over and over but she must have been quite a handful for her mom and dad. I cannot imagine what they were thinking as she remained insistently defiant of something. Perhaps they were embarrassed. Maybe they were able to ignore her. But I can tell you with absolute certainty that that small child was the source of prayerful joy to a huge number of other parents, as each one silently praised God that it wasn’t their kid this time! Such is life at Epiphany! I can imagine that at many other parishes a mother with a child making such a “joyful noise unto the Lord” would have been scowled at. Here, though I didn’t see what was going on because only teachers have eyes in the back of their heads, I can imagine that other adults were coming to the rescue, maybe helping with the other children (assuming the family had multiple kids, which is a pretty good bet) or at least giving signs of encouragement and understanding. There is a special bond, maybe born of experience, that is shared among parents of multiple children that radiates love to even the (can I say this word?) spinsters and crotchety old priests so that nobody gets too upset even when one crying baby sets off the rest of the infants like a nighttime train setting off every car alarm at the apartments next door. Anyway, common sense shows that crying babies, defiant two-year-olds, eager First Holy Communion kids, inquisitive teens, parents striving to raise Saints, and wise and experienced elders who keep alive the traditional customs of the Catholic Faith all point to a healthy parish. Not that I am dissing old people, but a look at what should be normal for Catholic parishes shows that we should have fewer elderly than young. Always. Why? Mom and Dad, two people, have 8-12 kids. They grow up. Half become either priests or nuns. The others marry and have 8-12 kids each. How many old people are at that parish compared to the young in just three generations? The two original parents are now the elderly ones, the grandparents. The priests and nuns are obviously gone so the second generation has 4-6 adults, but each of them is married, bringing the number back to 8-12, yet half of them moved to their in-laws’ parish, for a final count of only 4-6 middle aged parishioners (which is still 2 to 6 times larger than the first generation). Of course, they have begotten 16-36 children who all attend the parish where grandma and grandpa are, making this group 4 to 6 times larger than their parents’ generation and 8 to 12 times greater than the oldest generation! If nobody died and none of the original kids entered Religious life or moved but rather all got married and raised Catholic families, the numbers would be an astounding 2 in generation one, 16-24 in generation two, and 64-144 in the third generation all at the same parish! Now multiply that times the number of families in the parish and wait for your head to explode! Numbers tell the story. It should be the normal, faithful, Catholic story of a flourishing parish. Anytime the older generations outnumber the younger ones, something is dreadfully wrong, whether it is due to a dead Faith, or a natural catastrophe, or destruction of a generation through war, and the parish will die. Which is more likely to be the parish with the largest percentage of youth today? The Traditional Latin Mass parish, of course. So let us celebrate even the noisy kids! With prayers for your holiness, Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka |
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