A big reason Pope Benedict issued his Motu Proprio mandating that the 1962 Latin Mass be made widely available is that, although it has remained permissible since Vatican II, many bishops and priests were suppressing it.
Even with Pope Benedict’s directive, many RC clergy are still trying to hamstring traditionalists wishing to have the Latin Mass. The English hierarchy is Exhibit A in that regard. There are numerous masses every day at Westminster Cathedral. How many of them are Tridentine?
The episode this past weekend at Cardiff Cathedral is particularly egregious. Permission was supposedly given for a Latin Mass there. But at the last minute, the Dean insisted that women servers be used. The Archbishop refused to intervene. And the Latin Mass Society was compelled to cancel.
The wrench the Dean threw into the Mass was so last minute, many traveled to the Cathedral for the Latin Mass only to be told at the door what had happened.
Leaving aside the issue of women servers (I have no problem with them.), when one celebrates the liturgy in whatever form, it goes without saying that you follow the rubrics. When I lead Evening Prayer tomorrow (Oops, I let the cat out of the bag!), when we have the confession, we will do it kneeling. We won’t break out into liturgical dance. The rubrics for good reason say kneel, not dance. So we will kneel. I really don't think that's terribly hard to understand. There are also other requirements. For example, for a layman to lead Evening Prayer in the Reformed Episcopal Church, he must have a nice Reader’s License from the bishop as I do.
Now the rubrics and requirements for the 1962 Latin Mass do not allow women servers. So for the Dean to supposedly permit a Latin Mass, but require women servers or anything else that violates the rubrics and laws of said Mass is a contradiction. Again, if you do a form of the liturgy correctly, you follow the rubrics. So, in effect, the Dean gave permission for a 1962 Latin Mass then arbitrarily withdrew it at the last minute at the great inconvenience and expense of many.
Whatever one's liturgical proclivities, that is flat wrong and an underhanded defiance of the Pope’s Motu Proprio.
"Girl" altar boys are the perfect solution when you want to get rid of altar boys.
ReplyDeleteTwinkletoes Magoo, I heard you talk about your son who is an “altar server” on your radio program this evening. Good show by the way.
My son Magiktheyes who turned 18 on 1/18/06 was also an altar boy. He really did not want to serve any in his teens but I made him! I actually helped train and make out the alter server schedule at our parish until a few years ago. It got down to just a very few kids willing to serve so you were lucky to have one or two at any given Mass. No schedule necessary. Now this relatively large parish has about 2 altar boys and about 12 altar girls. And many of them attend the same Mass so a few Masses have no server.
My opinion is that allowing girl altar boys has done a lot of damage here. I think a lot of young boys would be more willing to serve if it was an all boy deal. Kind of like the priesthood. What is your opinion on this topic if I may ask?
God Bless, Slartibartfast
And the Reply
Slarti, I can only share my experiences. When I was in Timbuktu I was the President of the Parish Council when our new associate pastor decided to bring in altar girls. Prior to that we had almost 60 boys in the program. When girls were introduced most of the boys dropped out. In the end the total number was small and girls outnumbered the boys on a ratio of almost 3 to 1. In my parish the pastor does not have altar girls. Twenty-three boys were on the altar on Holy Thursday and 25 on Good Friday! We also have more vocations in the seminary than most other parishes — by far.
Obviously, girls can serve well. However, at these ages the introduction of girls makes serving at the altar a “girl thing.” As a result the boys don’t join. It’s not a doctrinal issue, but I think girl altar servers ignores the differences between girls and boys at these ages.
Personally, I think it’s a mistake. Twinkletoes Magoo, King of Pies
It always shocks me when I hear of these situations.
ReplyDeleteWhy must the feminists push in everywhere.
I am so grateful that at our parish we have:
No women wardens
No women vestrymen
No Female Acolytes
No Women Lectors
No women teaching Sunday School to anyone above the age of 12 (and usually not above the age of 9).
We DO have women who run the ladies Bible Study, Run the Altar Guild (and woe to the man who tries to insert himself-GRIN), and do the Sunday Refreshments.
Nobody feels "put down" and everybody works hard.
We have 7 Acolytes, all boys. Sometimes, folks are out of town and one of the men has to fill in, but WE WILL NEVER HAVE FEMALE ACOLYTES (well at least as long as our current Rector/Vestry are around).