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Latin Mass Society
  1. About Us
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  3. Chairman's Blog

Chairman's Blog

    20/03/2020 - 16:54

    Prayer resources for epidemic
    This Lent we are experiencing a special time of penance, including the cessation of public liturgies, even those of Easter itself.

    At this time we must remember the Church’s patrimony of devotions suitable to such times: prayers expressing our sorrow for sin, and filial confidence in the mercy of God.

    With this in mind I have created a printable booklet with the Seven Penitential Psalms in it (free download). Yes you can find these on lots of websites but this booklet has a facing translation, stress marks on the Latin, and 'pointing' to facilitate singing. 

    The Psalms (without the translation) and many other such devotions can be found in the Latin Mass Society’s Vademecum Peregrini: a Pilgrims’ Handbook.

    The Stations of the Cross: we include the version found in many editions of the Manual of Prayers, the official handbook of devotions and prayers for public use authorised by the Bishops of England and Wales over many decades up to the time of the Second Vatican Council.

    Rosary Meditaions: to accompany the Rosary, the Vademecumincludes the meditations on each mystery found in the Manuel of Prayers.

    Prayers set to chantincluding the Marian favourite Salve Mater, Misericordiae; the Lenten Sequence, Attende, Domine; the Passiontide chants the Vexilla Regis and the Crux Fidelis; and the perennial prayer of penance, the Parce Domine.

    In addition to these, the Vademecum includes chants, prayers, and hymns of Easter joy and thanksgiving, and the prayers of the Mass, including a Spiritual Communion.

    Buy the Vademecum here. The LMS online shop may be slower than usual because of the steps we have taken to protect the staff, but we are still fulfilling orders.

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    20/03/2020 - 12:00

    Taking part in the Prayer of the Church during the epidemic

    My latest in the Catholic Herald, below.

    This would, incidentally, be a great time to discover the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary: a wonderful way to take part in the Public Prayer of the Church, which can easily be said or sung in Latin, or said in English, with 'offices' (Matins, Vespers etc.) of very managable length, connecting you to the devotions of our Medieval predecessors. 
    You can get two different editions of this from the Latin Mass Society online bookshop: this one includes what you need to sing it; this one includes the Office of the Dead.
    An alternative would be to take up Compline from the Roman Office: this is quite short, mostly unchanging, and you can get a book dedicated to it from the LMS here.
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    Public Masses, the Bishops of England and Wales have announced, will cease from tomorrow. It makes perfect sense, given the speed with which coronavirus can spread. It is also a reminder that Mass is about more than Communion, and the public prayer of the Church is more than Mass. Saying the prayers of Mass at home, and making a Spiritual Communion, perhaps in the context of a recorded or live-streamed Mass, is one way of uniting ourselves with the Holy Sacrifice. We also participate in the perfect prayer offered to the Father through the Son by praying the Office (Liturgy of the Hours), including the Little Offices, and the rosary.

    Read the whole thing there.
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    20/03/2020 - 10:37

    EF Communion Rite outside Mass: handy printable pdfs
    From Una Voce Scotland
    We have prepared PDFs of the formula for administering Holy Communion outside of Mass in the Traditional Rite. It should be noted that Holy Communion in the Old Rite can only be received kneeling and on the tongue. This is still permitted in some of the Scottish Dioceses.
    • Click here to download a PDF including the rubrics for priests (2pp, A4)
    • Click here to download a PDF for servers or communicants (2pp, A4)
    • Click here to download a PDF for servers or communicants, which can be cut to A5 size.
    Please make these sheets available to priests with whom you are in contact, or print it out and take it to a priest if you wish to receive Holy Communion in the Traditional Rite.
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    18/03/2020 - 10:18

    LMS Caversham Pilgrimage cancelled
    The Latin Mass Society's annual Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Caversham, at the church of Our Lady and St Anne's outside Reading, due to take place on Saturday 21st, has been cancelled.
    This is due to the extra burden of sick visiting falling on the priests of the Fraternity of St Peter in Reading, who were due to celebrate this Mass.
    Please remember them in your prayers.
    Above all, do not allow the necessary practical measures to distract you from the appropriate spiritual response to public calamities. Persevere in prayer and penance, and unite yourselves with Our Lord in His Passion.
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    14/03/2020 - 10:00

    Corona virus and Holy Comunion: letters in the Catholic press
    IMG_0099
    Holy Communion at the LMS Oxford Pilgrimage, at the Oxford Blackfriars (Dominican Rite)

    This weekend I have had a letter (the same one) published in The Catholic Herald, The Tablet, The Catholic Universe, and The Catholic Times.

    I am very grateful to the Editors of our UK Catholic national weeklies for publishing it, and in this way making it possible for the Latin Mass Society to get our vi

    ew out to the widest possible public.

    As well as publishing our own 'statement' online and through social media, we have written on related matters to all our priest supporters, and to the Bishop Chairman of the Bishops' Conference Committee on Worship (Bishop Alan Hopes of East Anglia), who is our regular liaison with the Conference.

    The current situation is a reminder of the utility of an organisation such as the Latin Mass Society which has the recognition and standing, and the resources and contacts, to do something like this when the need arises.

    Here it is. (It has been edited slightly in different ways in the different papers; this is the ur-text.)

    -------------------

    Sir,

    In light of the news of the continuing Corona virus epidemic and measures responding to that from bishops around the country, I would like to note the following.

    At celebrations of the Extraordinary Form (the Traditional Mass) it is not permitted to distribute the Host in the hand. Should the suspension of distribution on the tongue be necessary for the safety of the public, there would be no Communion of the Faithful at celebrations of the Extraordinary Form.

    This is not a matter of legalism. The Extraordinary Form places great emphasis to the reverence due to the Blessed Sacrament in all its ceremonies and texts, and reception in the hand in this context would be not just incongruous but a cause of distress to the Faithful. The overwhelming majority of Catholics attached to the ancient Mass would rather make an Act of Spiritual Communion.

    There seems, however, to be no objective medical foundation for the claim that reception in the hand is safer than reception on the tongue. The office of Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon, notes, following consultation with medical specialists, that in terms of the danger of passing on infection from one Communicant to another by the Minister inadvertently touching them in turn, ‘done properly the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue or in the hand pose a more or less equal risk.’

    There is also the danger of each Communicant infecting his own Host from his own hands, which is entirely avoided by the method of receiving on the tongue.

    Yours faithfully,

    Joseph Shaw
    Chairman, Latin Mass Society

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    13/03/2020 - 09:57

    Corona virus and God's anger

    My latest in LifeSiteNews.

    Immediately this was published someone in the LifeSite comment box appeared to say I am wrong: God is not punishing us. It's not me who needs to be persuaded, however, but the Holy Ghost who inspired so many texts in both Testaments about divine punishment. 

    What we should certainly avoid doing is trying to determine individuals' spiritual state according to the burden of suffering they bear. Perhaps such an extrapolation works in Budhism or Hinduism, but Christians are familiar with the fact that the saints frquently suffered, and sometimes the more God loved them, the more they suffered, and the greater their glory in heaven. But not always: you can't read off an inner state from outward circumstances the other way either.
    -----------------------
    In relation to an epidemic, we must exercise prudence and take seriously the consequences of what we are doing for the good of our neighbor. Exposing others to a significant and unnecessary risk of infection, for example, is a sin against justice. There is also a risk involved in excessive caution. Closing down all schools and businesses, were that to happen, would have a huge cost. To impose this cost on children and employers without sufficient justification would also be a sin against justice.
    Of even greater concern are measures taken or considered that affect the spiritual good of the faithful. In nearly all cases, the response of bishops to the epidemic has been restrictive, public Masses being suspended in Italy being the most extreme, but the suspension of the Kiss of Peace or the Reception of the Chalice, at the less serious end of the scale, are now becoming widespread. All of these measures may, or may not, be justified; I do not have the expertise to judge. But what they have in common is that they are negative and reactive.
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    10/03/2020 - 09:48

    Sense on COVID 19 from Peru

    This is a Google-translate (slightly improved) version of an article from Aciprensa. The medical experts consulted by Archbishop Eguren of Piura, Peru, agree with those consulted by Archbishop Sample of Portland, Oregon.

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    Based on the advice of world experts in immunology, José Antonio Eguren, Archbishop of Piura (Peru), will allow Communion to be received in the mouth during the COVID-19 Coronavirus epidemic, and called not to close the churches or yield to the "virus of fear."

    In a statement published on March 7, Mons. Eguren announced measures to "contribute to this evil not spreading among us."

    The Metropolitan Archbishop of Piura said that “Holy Communion can continue to be received in the usual way at the choice of the faithful Christian, that is, either in the mouth or in the hand, since world experts in immunology point out that the risk of contagion, between to give communion in the mouth or in the hand is the same ”.

    "Ordinary and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are asked to avoid the risk of touching the mouth or hands of communicants, and that the faithful be instructed on how to receive Communion properly in each of these cases," he said.

    Bishop Eguren also asked “ordinary and extraordinary ministers of holy communion should wash their hands carefully before and after the distribution of it.”

    “Washing should include the front and back of the hands and the area between the fingers. For this, it is advisable to use alcohol gel, which should be available in all the sacristies of the churches of Piura and Tumbes, ”he said.

    The Peruvian Archbishop also indicated that at the time of giving peace during Mass “instead of shaking hands or giving a hug, another kind of greeting and fraternity gesture can be made, such as a nod, and this give it only to the person we have on each of our sides, avoiding displacements to exchange peace. ”

    "The stoups of holy water of the churches should be kept empty," he said, but said that "this does not mean to stop blessing the water that the Faithful customarily bring to Mass for blessing."

    Bishop Eguren then encouraged the faithful that "in our daily lives we follow the measures and instructions that are issued by the health authorities, and we invoke to keep calm and trust in God."

    The Metropolitan Archbishop of Piura recalled that “churches are places of salvation and healing where we welcome who life itself is: Jesus Christ, our Lord,” and recalled that “throughout history when great plagues struck humanity, churches remained open and the Christians kept helping the sick. ”

    Churches, he stressed, “are spaces where faith is strengthened, hope is renewed and grows, and charity is revived. They are also places of fraternal encounter where trust is strengthened and peace is revived.”

    “That is why it is important to keep them always open, because along with this world virus, another as dangerous as the 'virus of fear' has emerged, and it is overcome above all in shared prayer, which reaches its maximum expression in the Sacred Liturgy, ”he said.

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    09/03/2020 - 10:00

    Una Voce International Magzine: new edition

    Una Voce International, the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce (FIUV), the federation of lay groups attached to the Traditional Mass, publishes a magazine twice a year. Here is the latest: Gregorius Magnus 9.

    Contents include:
    -Photographic report of Bishop Schneider in St Petersberg
    -Photographic report of the Polish Ars Celebrandi conference
    -News from Canada, Nigeria, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and India
    -Articles from the magazines of Una Voce France, PMT Germany, and the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales
    -Book reviews and more!

    It can be downloaded here.
    Join the email distribution list here.

    See past editions here.

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    03/03/2020 - 12:25

    LMS Statement on the Coronavirus and Holy Communion

    STATEMENT ON COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS) AND THE RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION AT CELEBRATIONS OF THE MASS ACCORDING TO THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM,

    FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY, 3rd MARCH 2020
    The Bishops of England and Wales have issued ‘Guidelines’ (dated 27th February 2020) on steps to be taken in parishes in relation to the possible spread of COVID-19 (the Coronavirus).
    While noting that these guidelines do not take the form of a decree with the force of canon law, we welcome them. We should like to make the following clarifications on their application to celebrations of the Extraordinary Form and other traditional Rites and Usages of the Latin Church, such as the Dominican Rite.
    1.  In these celebrations the Sign of Peace is not given among members of the congregation; the Precious Blood is not distributed to the Faithful (from the Chalice); and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are not employed. In these respects these celebrations already adhere to or render unnecessary recommendations given in the Guidelines for a heightened level of hygiene necessary in the case of a more serious outbreak of the virus.
    2.  In these celebrations Holy Communion (the Host) may not be distributed in the hand, according to the universal liturgical law applicable to them. Should the spread of COVID-19 necessitate the suspension of the distribution of Holy Communion on the tongue, this would mean the suspension of the distribution of Holy Communion to the Faithful in these celebrations.
    The Communion of the Faithful is in no way necessary to the validity or liceity (in such circumstances) of the Mass. Should prudence dictate the necessity for such a step, the Faithful should be encouraged to make a ‘Spiritual Communion’. One form of words for making such a Spiritual Communion is given below.
    3.  We wish to observe, however, that the distribution of the Host in the hand does not appear to be less likely to spread infection than the distribution on the tongue. On the contrary, distribution on the hand has the result that the Host touches possibly infected surfaces, the palm of the left hand and the fingers of the right hand of the communicant, which is avoided in distribution by a priest directly onto the communicant’s tongue.


    The Guidelines state:
    When giving communion in the hand seek to ensure you place the host in the hand of the recipient in such a way that you do not touch their hands.
    In the same spirit the distribution of the Host on the tongue should never involve the touching of the communicant’s tongue by the priest.
    Instruction and training on the correct manner of distributing Holy Communion on the tongue, to those not used to this manner of distribution, may be useful in this context.
    Issued by the Chairman and Officers of the Latin Mass Society, 3rd March 2020

     
    Further information
    An Act of Spiritual Communion
    My Jesus, I believe that thou art present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love thee above all things, and I desire to receive thee in my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace thee as if thou wert already there, and unite myself wholly to thee. Never permit me to be separated from thee. Amen.

    The Latin Mass Society
    The Latin Mass Society, founded in 1965, is an association of Catholic faithful dedicated to the promotion of the traditional Latin liturgy of the Catholic Church, the teachings and practices integral to it, the musical tradition which serves it, and the Latin language in which it is celebrated.
    More information about the Society and its work can be found on its website:
    Our Publicist Clare Bowskill can be reached at clare@lms.org.uk
    A pdf copy of this Statement may be downloaded HERE.
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    24/02/2020 - 10:00

    New CTS booklet on the Traditional Mass

    A new booklet from the Catholic Truth Society is coming out on the Traditional Mass. It is available for pre-order now and will launch on 3rd April. It is the standard pocket-sized CTS production, and priced at £3.50.

    It is by me. Here is a little excerpt:


     

    ... attending the Extraordinary Form can be understood as the privilege of seeing, from a distance, something of great solemnity and holiness. The things which contribute to the distance between the priest and his doings, and the congregation, are essential to creating the corresponding sense of the sacred. The fact that we can’t see things clearly because the priest has his back to us; the use of Latin; silent prayers; the exclusion of the laity from the sanctuary, except for vested servers: all these things serve to remind us that we are looking in at something very special, from the outside.

    The distance here is not a distance of understanding. We can, if we wish, learn all about the ceremonies and prayers; those who learn to serve Mass must do so. We can follow all the texts in a hand missal. Even without doing either of those things, a Catholic attending Mass can, should, and usually does know what is going on, in general terms—it is the Sacrifice of the Mass—and in specific terms—the significance of each part of the Mass.
    There is a distance all the same. It is the distance between heaven and earth, between what is holy and set apart, and what is profane, the everyday world: not between the good and the bad, but between the supernatural and the natural. By acknowledging the reality of the distance between heavenly and earthly things, the Extraordinary Form allows us to witness, to experience, heavenly things, and not only to experience them, but to unite ourselves with them. In other words, by representing, symbolically and dramatically, the chasm which separates us mortals from the things of God, the EF makes it possible to bridge that chasm. 
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