Holy Coat Pilgrimage 2012 - Pontifical Mass with Cardinal Brandmüller

by Gregor Kollmorgen


As mentioned previously, the quincentenary pilgrimage to the Holy Coat of Trier is currently taking place.

In addition to the Extraordinary Form Mass celebrated as one of the six daily pilgrimage Masses, last Saturday, 21 April, a pilgrimage of the Ecclesia Dei communities took place. About 2,500 pilgrims took part. Due to the great number of pilgrims, the liturgical functions took place in the former abbey church of St. Maximin's. The church belonged to one of the oldest European monasteries, having been founded, according to tradition, by St. Maximin, bishop of Trier, in the 4th century, and it is also the burial place of St. Agritius, bishop of Trier, who brought the Holy Coat to Trier, along with the body of St. Matthias the Apostle. It was sadly profaned at the secularisation of 1802, being used for various profane purposes since, but was prepared for the sacred actions with the generous help of the diocese.

On the morning, His Eminence Cardinal Walter Brandmüller celebrated Pontifical Mass. The Cardinal and the pilgrims were greeted by the local ordinary, H.E. Msgr. Stephan Ackermann, who attended the entire Mass in choir, together with the Provost of the Cathedral Chapter. The ministers of the Mass were provided by the FSSP, while the music was performed by a choir and instrumentalists from the Servi Jesu et Mariæ and the Catholic Scouts of Europe.

Msgr. Ackermann greeting the pilgrims

Card. Brandmüller's sermon

At the end of Mass, the German District Superior of the FSSP announced the Apostolic Blessing with a plenary indulgence granted by the Holy Father
After Mass, the pilgrims went in procession to Trier Cathedral, where - after waiting more than two hours due to the number of pilgrims - they venerated the Holy Tunic.

In the afternoon, Card. Brandmüller, served by the ICRSS, sung Pontifical Vespers followed by Benediction.

The event was reported on both the diocesan and the pilgrimage's official website. Here is a video with parts of the Mass and the procession:


The photos shown above, as well as an additional report, were sent in by reader Dr Schilling from Trier.

(reposted from The New Liturgical Movement)

Pilgrimage to Trier

Clergy pilgrimage to Catholic Bavaria

Clergy pilgrimage to Catholic Bavaria 7-11/12 May 2012,

led by Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP.

Deacons and priests, secular and religious welcome

Quiz: in which country can one order a – very good local – beer at a local 'Gasthaus' with a crucifix in every room – and with for every 'Gasthaus' two baroque churches to pray in?

[Answer: AIRAVAB]

Programme:

• Monday 7 May, 3.10pm: landing at Memmingen Airport (direct Ryanair flights from London-Stansted, Manchester, Edinburgh, Dublin) and 45-minute drive to Wigratzbad (45minutes);
• Tuesday: visit colossal Baroque Benedictine Abbeys of Ottobeuren, and Weingarten (with a relic of the Precious Blood venerated at the largest annual equestrian procession in the world);
• Wednesday: preached recollection;
• Thursday: visit shores of Lake Constance (Lindau peninsula, Cistercian Minor Basilica of Birnau cf picture right, ferry crossing to ancient Monastery Island of Reichenau where monk Hermann Contractus composed the Salve Regina);
• Friday: free time and take off from Memmingen at 3.10pm – or stay on and attend Diaconal Ordinations at FSSP Motherhouse next door on Saturday morning by Bishop Castet of Luçon (French Vendée), with take off at 3.10pm after ceremony and landing in London at 3pm (or any airport of your choice).

Also planned: next door is the International Seminary of St Peter and motherhouse of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger visited there on Easter 1990 and offered Easter Mass in the usus antiquior. A visit of the seminary and meal(s) with community can be planned for us. Possibility of attending some of the community Masses and Divine Office.

Although a pilgrimage, it will not be penitential but surely Marian, especially in Bavaria in the month of May, when the immaculate Queen of the country – Maria Patrona Bavariae – is honoured in a particular way.

Accommodation: We will be staying at the Marian shrine of Wigratzbad, in the comfortable Pilgrims' Hostelwith the option of single rooms with ensuite bathroom.

Estimated cost: £400 (all inclusive for 5 days in single room). Cheaper if 4 days and no ensuite bathroom. For convenience, each priest will book his own flight.

Booking: We only ask you to send us a £30 cheque as deposit made payable to FSSP ENGLAND. Please specify your name, contact details and whether you wish a single or shared room, with or without ensuite bathroom.

Liturgy: Priests are obviously free to offer daily Mass using the Missal of their choice.

Please contact Fr de Malleray if you have any questions: malleray at fssp.org.

32 seminarians tonsured the same day

On 22nd October 2011, 14 and 18 seminarians were tonsured in each of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter's two seminaries, making it 32 altogether: the largest number of ‘tonsurati’ in the history of the Fraternity. Among them were three from the United Kingdom: Revs Krzysztof (originally from Poland), Alex, and Mark. The latter reports on the ceremony in Bavaria.

In the Old Testament the tribe of Levi had no inheritance to call their own; they had no land to pass on to their sons. According to God's merciful plan they were accorded forty-eight cities to dwell in – scattered amongst the other tribes – but this was for their maintenance; they had no "heritable property" as we would know it today. And yet, having nothing, they had everything, for "the Lord God of Israel Himself" was their possession (Jos. 13:33).

So it is for the cleric. He is singled out, set apart – after a particular call from the Lord – to bring sacrifice to the Lord. Living in a spirit of poverty, he has – like the Levites – nothing material to give. Rather he brings the offerings of others, and above all he brings himself to be offered. Thus with a joyful heart I, and thirteen of my confrères, prayed the immortal words from Psalm XV– "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: it is thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me" – and received the clerical tonsure on October 22nd in Lindau, on the shores of Lake Constance in Bavaria, from His Excellency Vitus Huonder, Bishop of the neighbouring diocese of Chur (Zurich) in Switzerland.

In a moving ceremony, the Seminarian is "called forward" to receive the tonsure, where he answers "adsum", that he is present and ready; he is prepared. The Seminarian having donned the collar, soutane and cincture privately in the Sacristy – the collar representing Christ's yoke, and the cincture chastity – the Bishop proceeds to cut five locks from the Seminarian's hair in the form of a Cross, at the same time reciting the above verse from the Psalter in Latin. Then the Surplice – the cleric's particular garb for Liturgy (the Soutane being his everyday clothing, it must be remembered) – is "imposed" onto the Seminarian, with the prayer that the Lord will make him a "new man, created by God in justice and the sanctity of Truth" (c.f. Eph. 4:24).

Whilst the Code of Canon Law now recognises the clerical state only with the conferring of the Diaconate, the ceremony of Tonsure and Clothing as Clerics makes us such liturgically and „existentially‟. One may not yet canonically be a cleric, but for us, and for the eighteen further Seminarians who received the Tonsure on the same day in America, a very visible change has taken place. To the world we look like clerics, or – not knowing any better – we are mistaken for Priests, and we are confronted with a new identity each time our reflection is seen in a pane of glass or a mirror. Is it really me there? Yes, and – trusting in God's call – I will continue to "put on" My Lord each day, and suffer for His sake. (Though, most encounters are positive, because – even in today's "Godless" society – people recognise a commitment as such.)

And so began my second year as a Seminarian for the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter. After a first, "probationary" year, the very visual ceremony and change from civil clothes into always dressing like a cleric, is one that strikingly confirms that one is continuing in formation. With six years still "to go", there is plenty time to become used to the soutane, and also to be formed by it. After all, our formation here is not only academic, as Pope John Paul II noted in the Apostolic Exhortation "Pastores Dabo Vobis", but must also encompass human, pastoral and spiritual formation. And even a piece of clothing contributes to that (though, having been blessed by the Bishop, our Soutanes are also sacramentals!).

The Seminary formation here follows the model prescribed by the Council of Trent while conforming to the Ratio Studiorum of the Holy See. The first year, probationary in nature, is a year of spiritual formation, during which the candidate becomes disciplined in a community life of prayer and penance. The next two years comprise a thorough grounding in thomistic philosophy, during which the Seminarian also continues studies in Latin, scripture, and Gregorian chant, already begun in first year. This is then followed by four years of theological studies, during the last of which one is on placement as a deacon.

Already in the first year there were many challenges to be met: dealing in a foreign language "all day, every day" has its initial frustrations but immense benefits. After years of disuse my childhood German had become very rusty, and I prepared for entering the Seminary by going "back to school", to night classes. That said, the first few weeks were daunting as the artificial environment of my Hometown University could only prepare me so far, and I found many gaps: the language of philosophy being somewhat different from that of the holidaymaker or business traveller.

The daily régime of the Seminary is also demanding, but very rewarding: the day centres around the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Hours of the Divine Office (the Breviary). By 6:25am Seminarians are in the Church praying Lauds in choir, this is then followed by silent mental prayer and then the community Mass. Likewise, Seminarians gather in the chapel for Sext (midday prayer) and Vespers, or Rosary in common, or Adoration and Benediction, and again in the Church for Compline (night prayer). The rest of the day is made up of classes and tasks and chores. Despite there being two mandatory recreation periods, one after lunch and one after the evening meal, the day seems full-packed and in second year it does not show any signs of slowing down!

That said, the daily rhythm bears for me a great deal similarity to that one finds in, for example, a Benedictine monastery. By that I mean that there seems a healthy mix between all the aspects of life necessary for formation: not one seems to rule at the expense of the rest. There is work and study, time for silence and then time to talk, private prayer and contemplation, public liturgy and outreach; all has its right place. This follows the succinct maxim of the Middle Ages: "in medio stat virtus", virtue lies in the centre. Hence, whilst the life can be hard at times, there is a real sense of reward and valuable work, especially when one looks to the goal: the Catholic Priesthood. I cannot presume to second-guess the Lord's divine plan for me, but should it be that He wishes me to be His Priest, then here is the place to realise that end. And so I am reminded of the prayer of the cleric each day he dons his Surplice: "Clothe me, O Lord, in the new man, who is created by God in justice and the sanctity of truth".

(originally published in Downry, no. 12 (Autumn 2011), magazine of the FSSP in England)

Cardinal Ricard at Wigratzbad

by Shawn Tribe

The following photos of the recent FSSP ordinations at Wigratzbad were sent in to us by a reader in France. Jean-Pierre Cardinal Ricard, the archbishop of Bordeaux and a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, was the celebrant.

(reposted from The New Liturgical Movement)

Tonsures in Lindau

The excellent blog Fides et Forma features a slideshow of images from the recent conferral of Tonsure to Seminarians of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter International Seminary at Wigratzbad.

First Mass of New FSSP Priests

by Gregor Kollmorgen

On Sunday (July 18th) I was blessed to attend here in Berlin the First Mass (in German Primiz; you can read about that term and customs surrounding it in the posts about our Holy Father's First Mass which I wrote a while ago here and here) of two of the new priests who were ordained for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter on 3 July in Wigratzbad by His Eminence Antonio Cardinal Cañizares Llovera (cf. here). The Mass was celebrated as a Solemn High Mass by Fr Jérôme Bücker FSSP, the other newly ordained, Fr Gerald Gesch, acting as deacon, and Fr Sven Conrad FSSP as subdeacon. Both new priests hail from the parish of St. Matthias in Berlin, where Blessed Count Clement Augustus Cardinal Galen was parish priest from 1919 to 1929. This parish has always been known for a dignified celebration of the liturgy, and has an Ordinary Form Latin Sung Mass every second Sunday. The parish priest had traveled to Wigratzbad for the ordination, acted as presbyter assistens for today's High Mass, and also gave the sermon (in which he mentioned that what most struck him at the ordination at Wigratzbad was the exalted prince of the Church kissing the newly ordaineds' hands, a custom he did not recall from his own ordination, even though that was still according to the usus antiquior books). The Mass replaced the regular 11 am Sunday High Mass, and a good number of faithful filling the church belonged to the parish without having prior familiarity with the usus antiquior, as was evidenced when they sung the entire Pater noster, as is the norm in the Ordinary Form. It was a wonderful occasion, and a very good sign of unity, as well as for the Extraordinary Form taking its rightful place at the centre of the Church, fruitfully co-existing with the Ordinary Form. Another son of the parish celebrated his First Mass in the Ordinary Form there last year, another will be ordained transitional deacon next year, and yet another is a seminarian with the Servi Jesu et Mariæ. Congratulations again to the newly ordained, and to the parish!

Since I did not want to take pictures during Mass, here are some from the German site www.summorum-pontificum.de:

Ordinations videos from Wigratzbad

by Martin Bürger

Yesterday, five deacons were ordained at Wigratzbad, Germany, for the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, including two from Germany. The Ordination, performed by Cardinal Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, was broadcast live on K-TV and excerpts have already been uploaded to gloria.tv.

The German translation of Cardinal Cañizares Llovera's homily was presented by Fr Franz Karl Banauch, Rector of the seminary in Wigratzbad:

The main part of the Ordination ceremony:

We are still waiting on the official pictures of the Ordination. I will announce when these are available.

(tr. from EXSVLTET.net)

Monastic Studies at Mariawald

Readers will remember the heroic decision of the Trappist Abbey of Mariawald to seek the benefit of the provisions of Summorum Pontificum to permit the restoration of the traditional rule and liturgy in the Abbey. Readers will understand the difficulties that would face any community that turned its face back to the venerable traditions abandoned by the rest of their Order.

The Abbey of Mariawald is by no means large, even by modern standards, with a total community of 11 present as of the beginning of 2009. However, if fruits are yet to appear, there are the shoots of growth. It was announced that from the feast of the Purification, 2nd February, the Abbey has commenced a programme of formation for new postulants and novices.

In fact, three postulants, one of them a Priest formerly of the Archdiocese of Hamburg, were received into the Abbey within one year of the application of Summorum Pontificum to the Abbey. One was later received into the Noviciate as Brother M. Dominic and the Priest was received as a novice under the name of Father M. Ignatius. Effectively, almost half the community consists of members in formation, a unique claim among Trappist monasteries.

As the abbot of Maria Wald, Dom Joseph Vollberger OCSO has said, the Abbey has decided to institute a programme of formation within the monastery to train monks, organized and supervised by Dr. Dr. Erich F. Zehle as a delegated principal of studies. It is fundamental for proper formation that the monks remain in the monastic community and operate in the very well-equipped library of the monastery conducting their studies in a reasonable peace.

On the feast of Candlemas, the 2nd February, 2010, the summer semester of the academic year 2010/2011 commenced. Since the Abbey, with papal privilege, returned to the ancient customs of the Trappists after the usage of Monte Cistello of 1964, it has experienced an influx of postulants, some of whom are now novices.


Prof. Dr. Klaus Berger will teach exegesis and the noted philosopher, Prof. Dr. Robert Spaemann has promised to participate in the formation programme. Other subjects will include general canon law and the Constitutions of the Order, the ratio institutionis, the provisions of the General Chapter and the traditions of the Order.

Seminars, lectures, tutorials and revision courses will lead to a solid philosophical, theological, historical and linguistic training for the holy priesthood. If their superiors approve it, monks and clerics of other monasteries and institutes of consecrated life will be admitted to the programme of formation.

Those wishing to stay at the monastery guest house can contact the porter here.

Tonsure 2009 (Wigratzbad)

Just as in Lincoln, Nebraska, October 24th, saw 16 men of the FSSP's European Seminary tonsured at Lindau, by Mgr. Wolfgang Haas (Abp. of Vaduz).

Photographs can be found on the Fraternity's website here. Meanwhile, a brief video is available on the dailymotion website here.

Official Photos of Ordination in Wigratzbad

by Martin Bürger

The official photographs from this year's Priestly Ordinations at the end of June are now online. They have been complemented by some photographs of the Pontifical Vespers from the evening before.


These photographs and many more can be found on the FSSP's website.

(tr. from exsultet.net)

Priestly Ordinations in Wigratzbad

by Gregor Kollmorgen

On Saturday morning, H.E. Most Rev. Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Karganda, Kazakhstan, and author of the book "Dominus est", ordained new priests for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter in the shrine church of Wigratzbad, Germany, where the Fraternity has its European seminary. Here are some images from the ceremony (Henri de Villiers of the Schola Sainte Cécile):














Those who understand German may watch the bishop delivering the excellent sermon on the centrality of the offering of the most holy sacrifice of the Mass in the life of the priest here.

(reproduced, with permission, from The New Liturgical Movement)

Are the Servi Jesu et Mariae traditionalists?

This question has been put more than once. It must be admitted that many 'traditionalists' don't consider the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus and Mary, the Servi Jesu et Mariae, to be a traditionalist Congregation. Since they celebrate the Sacraments using the régime of 1969 as well as that of 1962, there is some room for doubt whether they fall into the pidgeon-hole of traditionalism.

The effect of Summorum Pontificum upon the question is also debatable. Is traditionalism now a broader sub-set of the Church since the Holy Father has called for a mutual enrichment between the Missals:

"For that matter, the two Forms of the usage of the Roman Rite can be mutually enriching: new Saints and some of the new Prefaces can and should be inserted in the old Missal. The "Ecclesia Dei" Commission, in contact with various bodies devoted to the usus antiquior, will study the practical possibilities in this regard. The celebration of the Mass according to the Missal of Paul VI will be able to demonstrate, more powerfully than has been the case hitherto, the sacrality which attracts many people to the former usage. The most sure guarantee that the Missal of Paul VI can unite parish communities and be loved by them consists in its being celebrated with great reverence in harmony with the liturgical directives. This will bring out the spiritual richness and the theological depth of this Missal." - Benedict XVI, Letter to Bishops accompanying Summorum Pontificum

On the other hand, since the Liturgical Regime of 1962 is firmly placed within the mainstream of the Church, can exclusivist and exclusionary traditionalism continue?

At any rate, the appearance of the guitar in this video from gloria.tv will hardly conciliate the traditionalist sensibility on the question, especially if 'fiddleback' vestments start to be called 'guitarfronts' instead:

However, what can be said of the Servi Jesu et Mariae, and it is no small boast, is that their purpose is the restoration of traditional religious life in the Ignatian mold, doing so by means of the Traditional Liturgy. The founder and first Superior General, Father Hönisch, entered the German Province of the Society of Jesus in 1952. In 1976, while still a member of the Society, he founded the KPE, the Catholic Scouts of Europe, to counter what was happening to Catholic youth ministry at the time. His solidly Catholic teaching and youth work brought him into conflict with his superiors, which led to his expulsion from the Society of Jesus and his incardination into the Diocese of Augsburg.

While a Priest of the Diocese of Augsburg, he was approached by several members of the KPE who asked him to found a Society that might permit them to persue their vocation that had been formed through the KPE. Fr. Hönisch was said to be extremely reluctant to establish an entirely new Society and attempted to encourage them to join existing Congregations. Eventually, he bowed to the zeal of his spiritual children and, in 1988, established the Servi Jesu et Mariae, along the lines that he had learned while a member of the Society of Jesus. His wish, it has been reported, was that, once the situation in the Church and the Society had settled, that the the Servi Jesu et Mariae could be absorbed into the restored Society, an admirable and generous spirit of gratitude to the Society of his formation and ordination.

Are the Servi Jesu et Mariae traditionalists? Does it matter? Is there salvation outside the strict lines of traditionalism? The answer is probably best found in the souls of those who find there vocation among those who set out to be Servants of Jesus and Mary.

Pilgrimage to Wigratzbad for Priestly Ordination of British deacon

Pilgrimage of UK group to Priestly ordination of Rev William Barker:
Wigratzbad, Bavaria, June 26-29, 2009

Message from Fr de Malleray FSSP:

Dear Friends,

For the first time since the ordination of Fr Brendan Gerard, FSSP in 2006, a British deacon formed by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter according to the Roman traditions of the Church is going to be ordained a priest in Europe. Rev William Barker, FSSP will be ordained a priest in Wigratzbad (Bavaria), the European international seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, on Saturday 27th June 2009, by His Exc. Bishop Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C., Auxiliary Bishop of Karaganda in Kazakhstan (Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith wrote the preface to Bishop Schneider’s book Dominus est on Holy Communion).

We intend to have a delegation of British faithful. A rough estimate of cost for 2 days and 2 nights is £170/person. Includes all transportation with direct Ryanair flight from London Stansted, and bed & breakfast accommodation.

Depart from London Stansted airport on Friday 26th June 2009 at 1.50pm. Arrival back at London Stansted on Sunday 28th June 2009 at 5.30pm (return flight £65.94, as of today)

Follow in the footsteps of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who, on Easter Sunday 1990, visited the motherhouse and first international seminary of the FSSP and offered Holy Mass. With the FSSP (a priestly society of pontifical right now numbering 350 members worldwide; see www.fssp.org), come and pray with and for this future British FSSP priest.

~~*~~
If you are interested in this pilgrimage, please leave a comment here with contact details. (All comments are moderated for your privacy.)

Mariawald moves to Traditional Latin Mass

A reader of What Does the Prayer Really Say? reports:-

You might be interested in the fact that, starting next Monday, the Trappist abbey of Mariawald, Germany, will begin the transition to the usus antiquor. As can be seen here, daily Holy Mass in the "Tridentine Rite" is being announced. I do not know if this includes the Hours, too.

First Sunday Mass in the Usus Antiquior at Mariawald

Via NLM friend Martin Bürger of exsultet.net comes the following, very encouraging report about the first Sunday conventual Mass in the usus antiquior of the Trappists at Mariawald Abbey from the Aachener Zeitung, a local German newspaper (NLM translation; if you have missed the previous articles about Mariawald, click on the respective label below):

First Tridentine Mass in Mariawald Monastery
by Christoph Hahn

The change in Mariawald continues. For the first time in a long while a Sunday High Mass in the traditional form commun until 1969 took place again in the church above Heimbach. As already on a week day in December, this service also was celebrated by a guest of the Abbey.

But Abbot Joseph Vollberg, since 2005 the superior of the only Trappist Abbey in Germany, is confident of being able to take over this task in future. However, the 45-year-old religious said in an interview with the Dürener Zeitung: "I am still learning."

The overwhelming rush on Sunday, however, also testifies that the return [to the traditional liturgy and observances] of the monastery on the ridge of the Kermeter announced at the end of November 2008 has found grateful acceptance and support with many Catholics in the region.

A walk across the car park of Mariawald Abbey documented: Many faithful had set out already in the early morning from Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), Cologne, Bonn and other cities and villages, in order to to be there in time for the start of the service by 10 clock.

The popularity with participants was surprisingly great even for the Trappists - so great that, in addition to the pews in the nave, the gallery, otherwise sealed to visitors, was opened.

With visible emotion the attendees followed the service in which abbot Josef Vollberg gave the sermon. The celebration of Mass in the traditional form he described as "wonderful reflection of our Catholic Faith."

Even if Latin were initially unintellegible to many faithful, the preacher advised his listeners to engage with it and thus develop a sense for the message behind the words.

Moreover, there were many forms and gestures which open up to the faithful an access to the meaning of the Eucharist according to the old rite which is not bound to language. Patience would be needed, the superior of Mariawald admitted - but the reward would be much greater than any trouble.

Then the abbot called the attention of his audience on a special feature of the Tridentine rite: The Communion is, in this form of Holy Mass, only received kneeling vy the faithful. But that was as good as natural for the attendees, among whom many young people and families with children. Even more: what still encounters much criticism, has long since found grateful and loving acceptance among the friends of Mariawald.

The author of the article, Christoph Hahn, has written in to tell us that a slightly expanded version of it has also been published in another newspaper (the Kölnische Rundschau). This article was accompanied by the following picture (click to enlarge). You can see the people crwoding the loft. In the picture to the bottom right is Abbot Vollberg giving the sermon.


(reproduced from The New Liturgical Movement)

Germany bishop assists in choro at FSSP Mass

by Shawn Tribe

On Gaudete Sunday in Augsburg, Germany, the Bishop of that diocese, Walter Mixa, assisted "in choro" at Mass in the usus antiquior at the church of St. Margareth in Augsburg. The Mass was offered by a Fraternity of St. Peter priest, Fr. Walter Huber.



The bishop also preached and helped in the distribution of Holy Communion.



These sorts of participations on the part of acting bishops, and particularly ordinaries within their own dioceses, are quite important and can do a great deal to help support and foster Pope Benedict's new liturgical movement; a movement which is expressed in both within the context of the usus antiquior and usus recentior.

When diocesan ordinaries do these things, most particularly when done with evident respect, they first of all can help to build toward a more constructive, less polarized climate. Second, they can help to encourage priests who may wish to pursue the activity of re-enchanting their own parish liturgical life, whether that means applying the motu proprio within their parishes, or in their approach to the modern liturgy -- or, even better, both.

(reproduced from The New Liturgical Movement)