Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Open invitation for those who attended or watched via EWTN, to post their comments.
Posted on 04/24/2010 1:50:52 PM PDT by NYer
Open invitation for those who attended or watched via EWTN, to post their comments.
I didn’t see this on the EWTN schedule.
Lamh Foistenach Abu!
I only saw the sermon (excellent) and the Canon. Not really having seen the old Mass much, the offering to Christ I didn’t mind so much, but not being able to hear the words, regardless of the language, was jarring. Maybe it was just the broadcast? Some of the other elements, i.e., torch bearers, at many high Masses are part of the ceremony, so it was relatively familiar.
Uhhh, I bet it’s packed.
Latin Mass - except for the greek part
I asked one of my Vocal Clients, a 90 year old Soprano who sings in Beautiful Latin, why the Old Latin Mass was so important to her, when it is in an old language that nobody speaks anymore.
She smiled at me and said, “Because, as a Catholic, I USED to be able to go to ANY Catholic Church on the Planet, and it would be in the SAME Language as it was at home!
Made sense. I had ALWAYS understood why people didn’t want CHANGES in the Liturgy that watered down the Message.
But I hadn’t understood why the Change to the Vernacular had been such an issue.
This kind lady made it very clear to me.
I think they mean extrodinary as beautiful, special, and set apart. As opposed to the modernist mass.
It wasn’t set out too clearly on the EWTN schedule. Hopefully there will be a rerun later. I grew up with Latin Mass, and it was wonderful. In those days Catholic school students actually studied Latin, so we knew what it all meant and could translate pretty readily. I never could quite accept all the VCII changes.
There are very few priests that even know how to say the Mass in Latin. They never learned...and have a minuscule knowledge of the language.
Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.
It’s never too late to learn. Ask any musician. We learn new stuff constantly.
The thing that flashed into my mind while watching the Bishop vesting (or, more accurately, being vested) for the Mass was John 21:18: Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.
Another striking moment: at the end of the Mass, when the Bishop left the procession to walk to the Cardinal Emeritus's chair, and took his hand with obvious emotion.
Also, the look of tremendous concentration on the Bishop's face as he said the Mass. He almost looked like a different person -- very intent, very focussed.
It was a great privilege to be able to see the celebrant at the High Altar -- thanks to the cameras which were obviously set up by somebody who knew what was important. We don't often get so close a view of the proceedings.
His homily was beautiful - very plain spoken but at the same time very thought-provoking.
I do want to know why the assistant priest had a Marine Corps "high and tight" haircut!
The choirs were excellent. The children's choir did extremely well, not as well as an Anglican boys' choir but very well indeed. The schola was phenomenal, and the choir had some absolutely wonderful sopranos -- the classic pure choir sound, NO vibrato, just clear tone with exactly the right brightness. And both the deacons who chanted the Epistle and the Gospel (especially the one who chanted the Epistle) had absolutely gorgeous voices.
The inimitable Father Z was providing the commentary and a simultaneous (intermittent) Latin translation. I noticed that he got in his favorite adjective "ineffable" which will make all the fans of his blog smile.
May there be many, many more.
I hope I can record a rerun on EWTN (forgot to set my TV to record it). I was at the Mass and got a different perspective. We didn’t get Fr. Z.’s commentary. I’ll bet you had a better sound of the choir and schola. We could hear them, but the sound was somewhat faint. The music was beautiful, but it is hard to go wrong with Palestrina.
When I was a kid, my family gypsied all over the Caribbean. We usually went during Christmas and Easter vacations, when we kids were out of school, so we often found ourselves in odd places when Christmas or Easter rolled around. If we weren't on a British island (we were Episcopalian at the time) there was of course no Anglican church, so my dad would call on the local Catholic priest. I don't remember a time when we were not allowed to receive (of course, we were so 'high' our noses bled! Plus, my dad could sell walk-in freezers to Eskimos.)
But the wonderful thing was, whether we were on a French island, a Dutch island, in Mexico, or in Haiti, the Mass was always exactly the same! (usually couldn't understand a word of the homily though!)
I believe at least four if not six years of Latin are now required in seminaries.
The younger priests coming out of the seminaries know Latin! Hooray.
In fact, last year in our Archdiocese we had one young man ordained in the Latin rite and the Maronite rite, so he had multiple languages there.
Being there is better, even though you don't get the tight camera shots or the miked sound. (I noticed in the credits that an FSSP priest was in charge of the cameras. Way to do it right, gentlemen!)
And of course it is not possible to go wrong with Palestrina. The man was a genius!
Agreed.
My wife, who was unable to go due to heath, said that she got the best seat in the house.
OTOH, I was absolutely thrilled to be there with my daughter. It was absolutely glorious to be a part of the throng.
(And the blognic at the Dubliner was pretty good too!)
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