A Treasure To Be Shared

In the Ordinariates, we are fortunate to have clear guidance on the language of worship. Anyone who has attended Divine Worship will recognize the traditional ‘thee/thou’ language woven throughout the sacred Liturgy. This elevated style helps focus our hearts and minds on the worship of God, offering a tone that is both intimate and reverent, perfectly suited for communication between creature and Creator. Let's take a brief look at the instruction concerning the concluding doxology that accompanies prayers. Notice the respect given to the language used in the Roman Missal, the book of the typical diocesan or Ordinary Form liturgy. Notice, too, how the language of the Ordinariate Form liturgy complements the language of the Roman Missal. 5. Regarding “Ever One God” in the Divine Worship Collects In May 2020, the Congregation for Divine Worship wrote to the English-speaking conferences of bishops regarding the concluding doxology of the Collects in the Roman Missal. Specifically, th...

A series of excerpts from articles on hieratic sacral English. hieratic (adj.) "pertaining to sacred things," 1660s, from Latin hieraticus , from Greek hieratikos "pertaining to a priest or his office, priestly, devoted to sacred purposes," from hierateia "priesthood," from hiereus "priest," from hieros "sacred, holy, hallowed; superhuman, mighty; divine". "Sacred English" is a variation of English that was developed especially for use in religious settings. Remember the language from the King James and Douay-Rheims Bibles and previous versions of the Book of Common Prayer. It is not necessary to constantly remind the reader who is speaking to whom when using sacral English. Every sentence in the language does this. Both ancient and contemporary languages are used for this. Unfortunately, common English is not one of them. This is the reason it is called "Sacral English": religious writings and prayers, particularly ...

If ever there was a master stroke of the Holy Spirit writ plain for Catholics to see, it was the establishment of the Personal Ordinariates during the pontificate of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Is that a plausible claim?  Let's look at what is being  accomplished through the personal ordinariates established by the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus . A realized ecumenism. The most effective means so far by which entire groups as well as individuals are being received into the Church.  What is the significance of this new missal to the Ordinariates and the Catholic Church? Msgr. Steenson: This is historic. This is the first time in the history of the Catholic Church that the liturgical texts of a separated Christian community have been brought back into the life of the Church of Rome. This (Ordinariate) missal is now recognized by the Church as standing side by side with the Roman Missal. Dr. Brand: This missal is the fruit of receptive and realized ecumenis...

The Council of Trent acknowledged that there were living liturgical traditions, legitimate variations of the Roman Rite, that were worthy of preservation. The Sarum Rite or Use, for one, which inhabited British lands for centuries prior to Trent and for a time continued among recusants during the Tudor persecutions, preserved elements of ancient Christian liturgical custom, east and west, and formed the core of Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer. That legacy, tested and purified, has been returned to the Church in and through the Ordinariate Liturgy. The means by which the legacy is shared blends the vernacular of ancient English spirituality, brewed in Benedictine monasticism, with the Sarum liturgy that loaned shape and content to the Book of Common Prayer synthesized by Thomas Cranmer,  and realizes the insights of the Second Vatican Council. The Sarum Use was an elaborate variant of the ancient Mass and predates the modestly reformed Mass of the Council of Trent by no less than fo...

As the Council recalls, the Church’s liturgical action is also part of her contribution to the work of civilization (cf.  Gaudium et Spes , n. 58). Indeed the liturgy is the celebration of the central event of human history, the redemptive sacrifice of Christ. Thus it bears witness to the love with which God loves humanity, to the fact that human life has a meaning and that it is through their vocation that men and women are called to share in the glorious life of the Trinity. Humanity needs this witness. People need to perceive, through the liturgical celebrations, that the Church is aware of the lordship of God and of dignity of the human being. She has the right to be able to discern, over and above the limitations that will always mark her rites and ceremonies, that Christ “is present in the sacrifice of Mass and in the person of the minister” (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium , n. 7). Knowing the care with which you prepare your liturgical celebrations, I encourage you to cult...