Bishop of Rome Celebrates Solemn Traditional Latin Mass
By Alberto Carosa
Rome Correspondent ROME—There would be nothing extraordinary about a pastoral visit from a bishop to a parish church under his diocesan jurisdiction, normally— but the ordinary does become "extraordinary" when it relates to the celebration of the "extraordinary" rite on the part of a bishop of Rome… for the first time since Vatican II.
Australian-born FSSP (Priestly Fraternity of St Peter) Father Joseph Kramer described the event as a "historic day" during his brief introduction to the Sunday solemn pontifical mass on March 30th, 2014. Father Kramer is
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They did not pay attention to warnings received beforehand. They have not had contrition, or even attrition, which with the Sacrament of Penance would have justified them. Such souls are lost for eternity. Here we find final impenitence, without any special previous refusal of the last grace.
"If on the contrary, death is foreseen, we are met with an impenitence that is final.
This last rejection of grace, offered before death by infinite mercy, is a sin against the Holy Spirit, which takes different forms. The sinner shrinks back from the humiliation involved in acknowledgement of his sins, and chooses consequently his own personal evil. At times he even scorns the duty of justice and reparation before God, scorns the love which he owes to God by the supreme precept: ‘Thou shall love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind.’ "These terrible lessons show us the importance of repentance, a state quite different from remorse, which can continue to exist in hell without the least attrition. Condemned souls do not repent of their sins as guilt against God, though they see that for these sins they are punished. They hate the pain which is justly inflicted. They hate the worm of remorse which arises from their sin. They are at war with everything especially pastor of the personal parish church of
Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini in the ancient city centre of Rome, established for the traditional-minded faithful under Summorum Pontificum in 2008. He was referring to the fact that the pontifical Mass would be celebrated by his Excellency, the Most Reverend Matteo Zuppi, Titular Bishop of Villanova and Auxiliary Bishop for Diocese of Rome (in charge of the City Center).
Fr. Kramer noted that it was the first time since the end of Vatican II that a titular Bishop of Rome has come again to celebrate according to the extraordinary rite durante munere (while in office) in one of the parish churches under his jurisdiction.
with themselves. Judas had remorse and anguish, but he did not have repentance which gives peace. He fell into despair instead of confiding in infinite mercy and asking pardon… "Deathbed conversion, however difficult, is still possible. Even when we see no sign of contrition, we can still not affirm that, at the last moment, just before the separation of soul from body, the soul is definitely obstinate. A sinner may be converted at that last minute in such fashion that God alone knows it…" (Quoted from Life Everlasting, by Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., Chap. VII, passin.) May I add that I think the most essential thing for the reader to grasp and hold is this: Return of hardened sinners to God is always difficult, but never impossible, especially if other persons of faith are praying and doing penance for them.
God’s love is omnipotent, and we should have infinite confidence in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is very encouraging if the sinner himself prays. The man who prays," says St. Alphonsus, "is the man who will be saved, and the man who does not pray is the man who will be lost."
There is a certain over-simplification in that perhaps, but by and large it is true. The man who prays humbly and perseveringly will go from strength to strength and "renew his youth like the eagle’s". ■ The bishop of Roma centro works in close co-operation with the Holy Father under the latter’s Vicar for the diocese of Rome, currently Cardinal Agostino Vallini, together with the other bishops responsible for the other four districts in which the diocese of Rome is divided: north, south, east and west. Fr. Kramer observed that the event makes it clear how the traditionalist congregation served by the personal parish is now a fullfledged component of the mainstream Church.
"We are very grateful to our bishop who wanted to show that the extraordinary form came to be part of the normal life of the church in the manner instructed by Pope Benedict XVI with his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum", father Kramer pointed out in his conclusion.
"Every priest works under the direction of his local bishop. For me, personally, it is very reassuring to have the direction of my Bishop. And for our parish this is very encouraging , Your Excellency, to have you with us today in this visible and tangible sign of your pastoral care for us.
Thank you".
Father Kramer’s words were aptly echoed by Bishop Zuppi, who said in his homily that with his decision to celebrate the extraordinary rite he intended to reach out to the tradition-minded community attached to the personal parish, as a sign of "profound communion" with their faithful, "because we are all called to the service of communion" in order not to get weakened "in front of the real enemy, which is division".
This was the only reference to the particular status of the personal parish.
For the rest, and this is also quite significant, the senior prelate addressed the theme proper of the readings pertaining to the Gospel and the Epistle of the day, as he would have normally done with any other congregation under his pastoral guidance.
March 30th was the Fourth Sunday in Lent ( Laetare Sunday) and the faithful are urged, albeit still in a penitential period, to start rejoicing ( laetare in Latin) for the fact that Easter is fast nearing, and with it the resurrection and triumph of Our Lord.
"We are all called to serve the universal Church," Msgr. Zuppi reminded the faithful who had packed out the church, "and therefore to be involved as a parish and as individual Catholics, to feed the people with the spiritual food of the Word of God and also with material food whenever necessary."
In other words, a simple and humble homily, in a truly Catholic spirit, with no trad-bashing, however veiled it might have been, no alarm sounding about the risks of unraveling the Council or "instrumentalizing" the old rite etc. Curiously, in his homily he also apologized for the inevitable mistakes he would make in celebrating a Mass to which he is not accustomed. As a result of his desire to celebrate in the traditionalist personal parish, he had even taken "lessons" to be able to do so the best he could.
His outreach continued also after the celebration, as he kindly took the time to speak with all the faithful during the post-Mass refreshments of coffee and sweets. In a very amiable way, he went on repeating how sorry he was for his inevitable mistakes, not being used to the traditional missal and rubrics. At the end of the day, Father Kramer noted that Msgr. Zuppi seemed visibly satisfied with the success of the event.
The decision to celebrate the old rite by Bishop Matteo Zuppi, who is said to have had to face resistance from a number of his ecclesial confreres, has been widely seen as somewhat stunning due to his close association to Comunità di Sant’Egidio, a Catholic-inspired lay movement normally thought to be among the most advanced bastions of Catholic progressivism in many respects, including liturgy, and whose clergy have never been known to be particularly interested in celebrating the Old Rite.
However, it would seem that there is now an exception and an interesting precedent has been set. On May 31, 2013, a new bishop of Liege in Belgium was appointed: Msgr. Jean-Pierre Delville, who is also closely associated to Comunità di Sant’Egidio and has personally celebrated the Traditional Mass since July 2007, when Benedict XVI promulgated the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum in favour of those wishing to celebrate the old rite.
If nothing else, this is a hopeful sign. ■
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Death Comes To Us All
(Napoleon on His Death Bed, by Horace Vernet)
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Bishop Matteo Zuppi Celebrates TLM in Rome