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.

A day in the life of the Good Shepherd students in Rome

by Fr Tim Finigan

Thanks to NLM for this video of a day in the life of the students of the Institute of the Good Shepherd in Rome. There is much here with which to be impressed - the devout celebration of Lauds and Mass in the morning, the friendly engagement with the lay students at the University Santa Croce, the parish priest's sensible recognition that here are some chaps who can help him with parish catechesis, the community gathered for a festive meal (prepared with consummate ecological correctness from natural ingredients) and the sense of hope and joy in the priesthood. Hey! there are even some scenes featuring the house mascot "Gustave" the cat.


L'Institut du Bon Pasteur à Rome
by KTOTV (French language)

(reproduced with permission from The Hermeneutic of Continuity)

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)

Benedictines of Mary - investitute

On Tuesday, January 6, 2009, the Feast of the Epiphany, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, a traditional community in the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph (MO), had a novice make her first profession of vows and also had the investiture in the Benedictine Habit of four postulants. This happened at the Oratory of Old Saint Patrick in Kansas City, MO.

The Kansas Catholic blog has reproduced some photos from the Holy Mass (extraordinary form), celebrated by His Excellency Robert W. Finn, as well as the profession of Sister Grace of the Merciful Face of Jesus and the investiture of the four postulants:-

The Sisters' website is here, whilst one can view more photos at Kansas Catholic.

The Little Sisters of the Good Shepherd

On 8th September, 2008, M. l'Abbé Philippe Laguérie, I.B.P., celebrated Mass in the small chapel of the Chateau of Arrou.

L'Abbé Laguérie, is the Moderator General of the Institute of the Good Shepherd. The Mass marked the foundation of the Little Sisters of the Good Shepherd, les Petites Soeurs du Bon Pasteur, something akin to the 'second order' of the Institute of the Good Shepherd.

The Little Sisters are seen above with M. l'Abbé Forestier, I.B.P., who is the Rector of the Institute's Seminary at Courtalain, during a pilgrimage made to the shrine of the Little Flower at Lisieux on 8th December, 2008. The formation of the Little Sisters is taking place at the Chateau of Arrou, which you can see below, not far from Courtalain, to the west of Chartres.

The sisters, now four in number, have come together to be formed in the spirit of the Institute of the Good Shepherd as apostolic sisters in accord with the vision of St. Vincent de Paul, the great Apostle of Charity.

Their beginnings, like those of the Good Shepherd, Himself, and like the beginnings of the works of St. Vincent de Paul, are humble and hidden.

However, they promise great things for the future. The Little Sisters of the Good Shepherd have entered upon an heroic journey to create a religious Institute, living the burning zeal of apostolic Charity while maintaining the great traditions, not only of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, but also that traditional religious life that was so often France's great gift to the Church.

Their website states that, as with the Institute of the Good Shepherd, itself, the proper Rite of the Little Sisters will be the Traditional Roman Rite contained in the Liturgical Books of 1962. May the good God grant them increase of holiness and increase of sisters!

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)

First Conventual Mass in the Usus Antiquior at Mariawald

by Gregor Kollmorgen

A month ago, the German Trappist Abbey of Mariawald was granted the privilege to return to the Liturgy and the Observance in use in the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists) until 1963/64 (cf. NLM articles here and here). Now the Abbey reports that on 18 December, for the first time since the reforms, the conventual Mass was sung according to the usus antiquior in the Abbey church. The Mass was sung by Rev. Fr. Jehan de Belleville OSB of the Benedictines of the Immaculate in Villatalla, Italy (formerly of Le Barroux, France), who had been a guest of the convent for a few days - and, it may be assumed, instructed them about traditional monastic life. As the Trappists announce,

The next conventual Mass according to the Missal of our Sacred Order of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance will be celebrated in January.

(reproduced from The New Liturgical Movement)

New Vocations Video from the Institute of the Good Shepherd

Ordo for the Extraordinary Form

by Gregor Kollmorgen

NLM friend Daniele Di Sorco of the Rinascimento Sacro blog has written in to let us know that he has composed a 2009 Liturgical Directory for the usus antiquior. The Liturgical Directory or Ordo recitandi is a calendar for the year, in which there are printed against each day concise directions concerning the Office and Mass to be said on that day. This directory follows the traditional model in every respect, including being written entirely in Latin. It is composed according to the calendar of the Universal Church, and seems to be, from what I have seen, quite excellent. In its 60 page introduction it contains a wealth of information regarding, among other things, tables for the moveable feasts and days and their proclamation in the Mass of the Epiphany, concise schemes of the different kinds of offices and where their parts are taken from, the different kinds of votive Masses and Masses for the dead, useful decisions by the SCR (e.g. about when the Leonine prayers can be omitted).

Here are some sample pages to give you an idea (click to enlarge):





The Directory can be bought at Lulu.com, either for download (€ 4.99, i.e. about $ 7.20) or as a book (€ 14.99, i.e. about $ 21.60).

(reproduced from The New Liturgical Movement)

more on Clear Creek Benedictines

A previous post highlighted Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek, a Benedictine monastery in the diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

It included a high-quality, 15 minute documentary made for Oklahoma State University in 2003. The following video provides an update to that:-

Immaculate Conception in Rome

by Shawn Tribe

The following comes in from the ICRSS in Rome:

On December 8, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest organized a candlelight Marian procession through the very heart of Rome for the closing of the Lourdes Jubilee year. Lead by Canon Joseph Luzuy, the procession began at the Church of Jesus and Mary (Chiesa Gesu e Maria), which serves as the church of the Institute’s apostolate in Rome. A very large crowd of more than a 1000 faithful then filed down the Via del Corso, an avenue which serves as a main artery to the center of the city, to Chiesa Santa Maria in Aquiro (Piazza Capranica), where the plenary indulgence for the Lourdes Jubilee was made available to the faithful (Chiesa Giubulare). It was here in this church that the image of Our Lady of Lourdes was publicly offered for the veneration of the faithful for the first time in Italy.

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

The Story of a Seminary...

The following is a translation of the account in French of the foundation of the House of Formation of the Institute of the Good Shepherd in Rome that is to be found on their website:

"From the foundation of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, Father Philippe Laguérie, Superior General of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, wanted to give a specific training of our seminarians: they follow their studies of philosophy in our 'first cycle' Seminary, to receive, in silence and prayer, a solid education and a knowledge of the Aristotelian and Thomist school. The 'second cycle', that of theology, takes place in Rome at the Pontifical Universities, in conjunction with many courses given by members of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, in order to seal our scholastic specificity and to give them a better understanding of the contemporary issues and the intellectual challenges that lie ahead of them.

There are various reasons for studies in Rome:

- It is important that these future priests, proud of their beliefs and their commitment, in line with the statutes of the Institute complete, their training in Rome, close to the See of Peter. Indeed, studying in Rome is always a source of many graces and forever mark the priests who have had this opportunity, giving them a depth of vision, at once Catholic and universal.

- Since the Institute of the Good Shepherd wishes to train priests who can work at the heart of the parishes but also address the serious intellectual and cultural crisis today, it is fundamental that they can study at the Pontifical faculties and obtain university degrees.

- By receiving this training, both of the University (3 hours per day) and our theology courses (3 hours per day), they will have the privilege to understand all the issues and challenges of the major problems of today.

Based on these motivations, the Abbé Laguérie sent to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, on 26 March 2008, a letter introducing the Roman project. Less than 10 days later, the personal secretary of the Supreme Pontiff, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, advised, by telephone, that the attention of the Pope had been given to the letter of Abbé Laguérie and his keen interest in the project, and his personal support for it. A week later, our community in Rome was received by His Eminence Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos who, in the presence of all the officials of his Commission: "This project is one of the greatest of which I know! It extends beyond the interests of Institute of the Good Shepherd, as it is of immense value to all communities, but also for the whole Church."

Thus, with his close collaboration, and that of the Secretary General of the Vatican and the Vicariate of Rome, a new home was found to receive the 2008-2009 academic year, our new theologians.

But this house, desired and supported by the Holy Father, is very costly: we need you to meet this challenge with great energy. This is a bold project with the promise that your future priests receive training outside the common and that traditional vocations will be still more numerous in Rome and much better known. The price of rent reaches 2,500 euros per month, excluding various expenses, caretaking, fresh water, electricity, heating. This brings the annual budget to 50,000 euros. This is a colossal sum and the subject of great concern. We are very confident because, with faith firmly fixed, we follow the advice of the Divine Master, who commanded us not to worry about those things that concern the pagans ... But the other great reality is that we greatly need your help, both through your prayer and through your material support. Your help is the future of this promising enterprise!