the Pope and One Big Book

On the Pope's Latest Works

I'm quite glad that the 1962 Missal will have freer use in the future. The replacement of the Missale Romanum and the early insanity associated with the Novus Ordo somewhat alienated one of my grandfathers from the Roman Catholic Church. I'm can't exactly justify his reasons, which I suspect had something to do with his own affection for the Latin tongue and a profound hatred for the folk mass, but I think many of my Roman Catholic friends will appreciate the opportunity to arrange a regular Tridentine mass wherever they can find a priest to say it. The especial benefit lies in a rich hymnody and an integrated seasonal rhythm within the old rite that is simply lacking in the new. The problems mainly lie in worries about anti-Semitism, cultural elitism, and fears of division in the faithful of the Roman rite. I've heard complaints about how this motu proprio is just going to embolden the fundamentalist RCs. I think there's a much wider set of Roman Catholics who would appreciate the old Mass than such a statement would imply.

On the latter document released by the Pope, I echo the common sentiment of lack of surprise. My reply would have to be, "If our Orders were invalid, so would yours be." Not only do I feel supremely confident in this statement on independent grounds, I am merely paraphrasing Saepius Officio .

Indeed, I was thinking of this little phrase especially, "Finally, we would have our revered brother in Christ beware lest in expressing this judgment he do injustice not only to us but to other Christians also, and among them to his own predecessors, who surely enjoyed in an equal measure with himself the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Saepius officio also contains a lovely little summary of Anglican eucharistic theology, though I'm sure it would not go down well with certain Zwinglians in our midst.

One Big Book

That's what I have to say about M.J. Hatchett's, Commentary on the American Prayer Book , which is nearly as large as my Bible and came today. It is helpfully organized to be a companion text to the 1979 BCP. Everything is in order. Indeed, there's even commentary on the Certificate. I may read a few pages before bed each night.